Pitch Event Momentum Builds as Founders Engage Investors and Deep Tech Ecosystem

Following the strong momentum outlined in our recent Mid-Week Update, Silicon Valley Start-up & Investor Week (SVS*IW) Edition III reached one of its defining milestones with a high-impact Pitch Event in San Francisco. This event brought together founders, investors, Smart Cities Council members, and deep tech ecosystem leaders for an evening of innovation, engagement, and global opportunity.

The Pitch Event represented the culmination of an intensive week of preparation, mentoring, advisory sessions, and ecosystem immersion, transforming preparation into real-world engagement and positioning founders directly in front of investors and strategic partners.

Welcoming the Edition III Cohort as New Smart Cities Council Members

Several companies stood out for their compelling vision, clarity of execution, and strong engagement with the investor audience. These organisations represent the Silicon Valley Start-up & Investor Week Edition III cohort and are now the newest members of the Smart Cities Council global ecosystem, further strengthening the Council’s mission to enable and accelerate technologies shaping the future of cities and communities.

We are proud to welcome the following Edition III cohort companies as new Smart Cities Council members:

• Treelyon – delivering planetary-scale vegetation intelligence to support climate resilience, infrastructure planning, and environmental management
• Helixis Technology – advancing next-generation infrastructure and systems capabilities designed to enable smarter, more adaptive urban and industrial environments
• Reelo – providing AI-enabled infrastructure that empowers independent retailers with the intelligence and operational leverage traditionally available only to large-scale platforms
• Kurrier – solving critical first-mile logistics challenges through innovative and scalable delivery infrastructure
• Avvista – enabling intelligent water management and infrastructure optimisation for utilities and local governments
• SNAAP Transportation – transforming urban mobility through sustainable, intelligent transportation systems

In addition, Orca Connect, an existing Smart Cities Council member, participated in the Pitch Event and demonstrated its leadership in addressing one of the most critical challenges of the robotics and autonomous systems era — managing finite RF spectrum to enable scalable, reliable connectivity for intelligent infrastructure and next-generation urban systems.

The addition of the Edition III cohort to the Smart Cities Council membership strengthens a growing global ecosystem of innovators committed to accelerating deployment and delivering meaningful impact for cities and communities worldwide.

Recognising Outstanding Founder Achievements

A highlight of the evening was the recognition of standout founders whose presentations demonstrated exceptional innovation, technical depth, and global potential.

Congratulations to the winning presenters:

• Orca Connect — CEO Alex Shevchenko
• Reelo — CEO Arjun Thaker
• Adialante — CEO Efrain Torres

Their recognition reflects both the strength of their technologies and their readiness to engage with global markets and investors.

The evening also reinforced the exceptional quality of the entire Edition III cohort, with founders demonstrating strong market positioning, scalable solutions, and clear global ambition.

Deep Tech Leadership and Collaboration with Andrew Cote and Deep Tech Week

A special thank you to Andrew Cote, Founder of Deep Tech Week, who served as Master of Ceremonies and played a critical role in facilitating a highly engaging and valuable experience for founders and investors alike.

Andrew’s leadership and ongoing work through Deep Tech Week continues to strengthen one of the world’s most important deep technology communities, providing accessible platforms where founders, investors, and technologists collaborate to accelerate breakthrough innovation.

Smart Cities Council is proud to collaborate with Andrew and the Deep Tech Week ecosystem and looks forward to returning to San Francisco in June 2026 for Silicon Valley Start-up & Investor Week Edition IV, which will align closely with Deep Tech Week and further expand opportunities for founder engagement, ecosystem integration, and investor access.

Enabling Meaningful Investor Engagement and Global Pathways to Scale

The Pitch Event brought together a highly engaged audience of venture capitalists, angel investors, ecosystem leaders, and strategic partners, creating a dynamic environment that enabled meaningful engagement and relationship development.

These interactions supported:

• Strategic partnership exploration
• Follow-up meetings and introductions
• Integration into the broader Silicon Valley and global deep tech ecosystem

This access represents a core pillar of the Smart Cities Council mission, enabling companies building critical infrastructure, AI, climate, and mobility solutions to accelerate their global growth and deployment.

Continuing Momentum Beyond Silicon Valley Start-up & Investor Week

Silicon Valley Start-up & Investor Week is designed not as a standalone event, but as a gateway into ongoing global engagement, investment readiness, and ecosystem integration.

Following Edition III, participating companies now continue to benefit from:

• Ongoing investor introductions and strategic connections
• Participation in global Smart Cities Council programs and initiatives
• Access to international markets, partners, and city leaders
• Opportunities to engage with future delegations, including Silicon Valley Start-up & Investor Week Edition IV in June 2026

The addition of the Edition III cohort to the Smart Cities Council ecosystem strengthens a growing global network committed to accelerating innovation that delivers real-world impact.

Silicon Valley Start-up & Investor Week continues to serve as a critical platform connecting global founders with Silicon Valley’s deep tech ecosystem, enabling investment readiness, accelerating growth, and advancing technologies that will shape the future of cities and communities worldwide.