Networking nights, pitch events, mixers and workshops — for founders, investors, operators and builders across San Francisco.
Pitch nights and mixers. For founders, investors and operators — one format an evening, a room small enough to finish a conversation, and every guest checked in at the door.
The record in San Francisco
Every evening below happened: a room, a date, the people in it.
The history of San FranciscoSan Francisco is where the frontier gets built first — AI, infrastructure and the next platform shift start here, and the density of founders, capital and operators per square mile is unmatched anywhere. Ascent Valley runs curated, in-person events across the city: networking nights, pitch events, mixers and demo nights where founders, investors, operators and builders actually meet — verified in the room, matched by stage and focus, then kept connected across the network. No badges, no pitch-deck tourism — just the people doing the work.
Next in San Francisco
Startup pitchRick & Roxy's · 🇺🇸 San Francisco · Free – $29
Before the doors open: set what you offer and what you're looking for in the community layer, in beta, and you'll see matches from the same event.
The calendar
Rick & Roxy's · 🇺🇸 San Francisco
Five founders, five minutes each, then questions from the room. Tables on topics San Francisco voted for, and an open hour after the stage.
Rick & Roxy's · 🇺🇸 San Francisco
Five founders, five minutes each, then questions from the room. Tables on topics San Francisco voted for, and an open hour after the stage.
Who you'll meet at the event
Sectors and stages are declared up front, so you know who is attending before you register.
Pre-seed to Series A — mid-build, raising, or hiring. Met in person, then tracked in the startup base.
Pitch slotsEngineers, product people and technical co-founders — looking for a team or a problem worth solving.
Co-founder matchesAngels and seed funds who come when the stage fits. Every company met in person also reaches investors through the weekly digest.
Approved on applicationBusiness owners moving into tech, or scaling a company that isn't a startup yet — here for partners, customers and playbooks.
Asks & OffersGrowth, sales, hiring and finance leads who have already done the job — the experience layer founders come for.
Experience exchangeThe community layer · live in San Francisco
Your ticket includes a real profile in the Ascent Valley community. Two fields do the work — what you offer and what you're looking for — and matches are made on that overlap: in San Francisco first, then across cities and globally when the fit is real.
Say what you need and what you can give. Introductions are made on substance, not on who has the loudest profile.
See who to meet before the doors open. Accept a match and it becomes a direct line.
Who you met, what happened, what's next — the event's memory in one place.
After the event you land in the San Francisco space — topics, intros and momentum that keep going.
Already have a ticket? Join in Slack · Open on the web · Open in Telegram
One system, six layers
Working today
Curated, in-person nights in San Francisco — pitch nights, mixers, themed tables. Every guest checked in at the door.
Real profile, asks and offers, curated matches, the San Francisco community, recap and gallery.
Apply and present in person, and your startup joins the private base behind our weekly investor digest. Introductions are made by our team.
In development
A founder's weekly report, read by the investors following that company — progress followed over time instead of re-read from a deck.
Practices, recommendations and tools from founders across stages in the community — an answer written down once instead of repeated at every table.
What you need and what you can offer: a co-founder, an introduction, a hand with something specific.
Past evenings · 7 delivered
Wed, Oct 7 · Rick & Roxy's
Met in person here
5 pitched
See what happenedWed, Sep 9 · Rick & Roxy's
Met in person here
3 pitched
See what happenedWed, Aug 5 · Rick & Roxy's
Met in person here
2 pitched
See what happenedWed, Jun 10 · Russian American Community Services
See what happened19 companies met in person at San Francisco events
Stage, sector and traction in the city listing.
These are the venues we have actually run nights in — bars, breweries and rooms that hold a real conversation rather than a conference hall. Useful whether you are coming to one of ours or looking for somewhere to host your own.
San Francisco has more tech events than any city on earth and most of them are noise. Ours are deliberately small and weighted toward AI, infrastructure, fintech and enterprise, with engineers and technical founders at the event rather than only the commercial layer.
Formats rotate between demo nights, pitch nights, mixers and working sessions.
Startup events in San Francisco are where the frontier gets argued out loud, and where the gap between a warm introduction and a cold one is widest. We close it by meeting both sides in person and matching by stage and focus.
Pre-seed through Series A, with operators who have built at that stage in the same room.
Business networking in San Francisco is mostly founder-to-investor by default, which makes the generic mixer format almost useless here. The event is built around who is building what, so the conversation starts at the work rather than at the job title.
Guests checked in at the door, introductions by stage and focus, registration through Eventbrite.
San Francisco — frequently asked
Curated, in-person events across San Francisco — networking nights, pitch events, mixers, demo nights and workshops for founders, investors, operators and builders. Upcoming dates are listed above.
In the Ascent Valley room — verified attendees, matched by stage and focus across AI, infrastructure, fintech and enterprise.
Access is by application; tickets go through Eventbrite (some free, some paid). We curate the room, not open the doors.
Founders, investors, operators, builders and entrepreneurs — everyone verified in person.
Yes, with one difference from the usual format: the event is weighted toward founders, investors and operators rather than general business networking. Every guest is checked in at the door and introductions are made on request, so you meet four relevant people instead of collecting twenty cards.
Yes. Technical founders, engineers and product operators are a deliberate part of the event, and the sectors are declared up front so you know who is attending before you register. Formats rotate between pitch nights, demo nights, mixers and working sessions.
Three things. Every guest is checked against a real profile and checked in at the door, so the people you meet are who they say they are. Every evening has one format with a stated purpose, and you write your role and your ask on your badge, so introductions are made on request rather than left to luck. And the city community layer, in beta, keeps the conversation going between evenings.
No. The room is built around founders, but investors and operators (product, engineering, marketing, people who have done the job) are who founders come to meet. Each format says who it is for, and the event page repeats it for that evening.
Founders from pre-seed to Series A, engineers and product people, operators who have done the job, and investors when the format is Investor Connect or a pitch night. Sectors are declared up front, so you know who you are talking to before you register.
Every guest is checked against a real profile when they register and checked in against the list at the door. It is a check, not a rating: it tells you the people you meet are who they say they are, nothing more.
Next in San Francisco
Wed, Oct 21 · Rick & Roxy's — the profile, the matches and the San Francisco community come with the ticket.
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