All good things come to those who wait. The first StrictlyVC of the year is headed to San Francisco in less than a month, on April 30, at the Sentro Filipino Cultural Center. And you won’t want to miss out on another lineup of stellar speakers to punctuate the night’s networking and mingling. AI innovators and founders in search of funding will be particularly well-served by the event’s discussions.
Who’s taking the stage
You can get a ticket right now, but for those who haven’t been to a StrictlyVC event in the past and already clicked that link, let’s dive into what’s particularly exciting about this one …
TDK Ventures president Nicolas Sauvage will kick things off after you get your requisite beverages and networking in, as he makes the case for corporate VCs in a conversation with TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos. Sauvage, who leads TDK Ventures’ $500 million effort to invest in early-stage startups, will explain what makes corporate VCs operate differently and what founders should know about what catches his eye in an investment.
Image Credits:Nicolas Sauvage / TDK Ventures
And founders on the fence should take note: Sauvage has steered TDK into backing 45 startups and three unicorns — Groq, Ascend Elements, and Silicon Box — during his tenure. TDK will also be hosting and sponsoring this StrictlyVC event, so attendees will get ample opportunity to learn from and get some potential face time with their team.
Then we’ll move to a conversation with Campbell Brown, former CNN host and head of news at Meta who has since made the pivot toward the startup scene as she looks to make AI platforms more trustworthy while more and more people turn to them for advice and information. She’s now the co-founder and CEO of Forum AI, and in the thick of the conversation over how to vet, verify, and sustain the veracity of information provided by LLMs.
Image Credits:Forum AI
And those who are similarly a part of the AI revolution will be excited to hear that Amjad Masad, co-founder and CEO of Replit, is also taking to the stage to share his firsthand experience helping lead a revolution in how software is constructed. The rise of vibe coding has changed the ways many have worked, especially in the Bay Area, and that’s also brought in some potent competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI. Anyone looking for a peek into the future of programming is going to need to join us and stick around for Masad’s talk.
As if that all wasn’t exciting enough, we still have one more speaker to announce, so you’ll be getting even more insights and expertise leading into the concluding round of networking and connection-making that defines the real proving point of StrictlyVC. Some of the greatest minds and most well-connected members of the startup community join us for these events, and you can be a part of it by registering, so get your ticket today!
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA
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October 13-15, 2026
