Oakland Tech Week Venture Forum
Futures✦
Sponsor theventure forum
October 2, 2026 · Kissel Uptown · Downtown Oakland
Brought to you by
The opportunity
Following the success of our inaugural Venture Forum in March, we're bringing the event back with a decidedly Oakland flavor for Tech Week.
At the Kissel Uptown, in the heart of downtown Oakland, the day opens with a hands-on working session for 100 founders and small-business operators, breaks for an open lunch across three restaurant partners in the neighborhood, then opens to the broader Tech Week audience at 1:30pm. Up to 150 tech operators, founders, investors, and tech-curious Oaklanders join us for an afternoon on the latest in startups and AI, and on the future of venture capital and economic mobility. Immediately after, the conversation continues at an ecosystem reception on the rooftop of the Kissel Hotel.
150
Main program attendees
5
Main-stage sessions
1
Ecosystem reception
Brand & positioning
Why this matters to your business
Category leadership is earned in rooms where the next decade is being argued out loud. Venture Forum brings capital allocators, private-market investors, and founders to Kissel Uptown for an afternoon on AI, venture, and economic mobility. Sponsorship can place your business inside that conversation as a host of it: on stage, in the program, and in every piece of content that follows.
Named presence across pre-event, on-site, and post-event marketing
Speaking time in front of an audience that decides where capital goes
Branded video content with a long tail well past October
The day
A working morning, an open lunch, and an afternoon on the record
9:30 – 11:30
Hands-on AI workshop
A working session for founders and small-business operators: real tools, real workflows, and the practical question of how to land value with AI day to day. 100 seats available.
Owned by the title sponsor: your team runs the room and the demos.
12:00 – 1:30
Open lunch in Uptown
Attendees break into the neighborhood across three restaurant partners, each with a branded activation and free lunch where founders, investors, and tech operators can mix and mingle.
Branded activations and curated seating available to the title sponsor.
1:30 – 5:00
Main-stage programming
Doors open to the broader Oakland Tech Week audience for five sessions on AI, Oakland's economy, philanthropy, venture, and the leap into founding a company.
Title lockup on stage, in the program, and across the recap video.
5:00 onward
Ecosystem reception
The day rolls into a networking reception on the rooftop of the Kissel Hotel, co-hosted with partner communities from across the Bay.
Reception co-branding included at the title tier.
What you're attaching to
Five main-stage sessions · Tap a session to expand
We open the afternoon with a fireside featuring an Oakland-rooted innovator whose work has shaped how we build, invest, and scale. The highest-attention moment of the day, and the one most likely to be clipped and shared afterward.
Proposed panel
- James NormanBlack Operator VenturesModerator
- Colin KaepernickKaepernick Ventures
- Andre IguodalaMosaic General PartnershipBackup
Title sponsor is named in the opening welcome that leads into this session.
Capital, compute, and physical AI are landing on Oakland's doorstep at the same time. This panel looks at how the city can move on that moment deliberately: where physical AI, robotics, and infrastructure create real local jobs and companies, how tech wealth next door can be routed into Oakland balance sheets rather than around them, and what it takes to build here for both financial return and community impact.
Proposed panel
- Fred BlackwellSan Francisco Foundation
- Michael SeibelY Combinator (former CEO, YC Startup Programs)
- Jeremiah GordonGVOpen slot
- Erik MooreBase Ventures, Oakland nativeBackup
Available as a main-stage speaker slot for the title sponsor.
Catalytic capital, foundation investing, and community-aligned philanthropy can unlock outcomes traditional venture cannot. With the data center and Prometheus building coming to Oakland, we'll discuss what this investment means for the community and how we can leverage it for shared prosperity. We explore the models that are working, and how Oakland in particular can benefit.
Proposed panel
- Bert FeussCommunity Capital AdvisorsModerator
- Daryn DodsonIllumen Capital
- CJ JohnsonBlack Cultural Zone
- Ana MarshallHewlett Foundation, CIO
- Allison ScottKapor FoundationBackup
Natural fit for mission-led and health-equity sponsors.
In a market where capital is increasingly commoditized, edge comes from network, operating experience, and on-the-ground know-how. We discuss what the next decade of venture leadership looks like.
Proposed panel
- Arjun AroraFormat OneModerator
- Adeyemi AjaoBase10 Partners
- Marlon NicholsMaC Venture Capital
- Scott BeechukNorwest Venture Partners
Interlude speaking slots sit between this and the preceding session.
You started a company. Now what? This panel is about what comes after the leap: how to activate your network, leverage your geography, and put together the pieces you need to scale something bigger than a small business. We will talk fundraising, traction, and what it actually takes to build a venture-scale company.
Proposed panel
- NAJI BARNES MCFARLANEGoogle for StartupsModerator
- Google panelistReserved for the title sponsorOpen slot
- Decarlos LoveFounder
- James NormanBlack Operator Ventures
A natural fit for an ecosystem partner whose mandate is creating new founders.
T I E R S
Two ways to partner · October 2, 2026
Silver Sponsor
$20,000
Present in the room, the bag, and the recap.
- Logo on every attendee giveaway bag
- Logo and a 100-word company profile in the digital program
- Logo across pre-event marketing: event site, email, and social
- 5-minute interlude speaking slot between sessions
- 2 passes to the forum and ecosystem reception
Title Sponsor
$40,000
Your name in the event lockup. One partner only.
- Event title lockup across all pre-event marketing
- Giveaway bags presented as your welcome bag, plus a branded insert item
- Cover placement and a full-page feature in the digital program
- Named in the post-event recap plus a dedicated thank-you post
- Co-branding throughout the post-event video, plus a standalone branded cut you own outright
- Full speaker slot on a main-stage panel
- Co-branded event step and repeat at the entrance for arrivals and photo content
- Ecosystem reception co-branding and 10 passes
Custom packages are available, including in-kind partnerships, reception hosting, and multi-event commitments included.
Who shares the stage
Our March forum drew the investors below. For October we're building a speaker slate in the same register, including an invitation to Colin Kaepernick for the Innovator's Fireside. Sponsors are named alongside this programming.
InvitedColin Kaepernick
Founder
Kaepernick Ventures
James Norman
Managing Partner
Black Operator Ventures
InvitedArjun Arora
Managing Partner
Format One
March forumScott Beechuk
Partner
Norwest Venture Partners
InvitedAndre Iguodala
Investor, NBA champion
Mosaic General Partnership
InvitedMichael Seibel
Partner, former CEO of YC Startup Programs
Y Combinator
InvitedFred Blackwell
Chief Executive Officer
San Francisco Foundation
InvitedAna Marshall
Chief Investment Officer
Hewlett Foundation
InvitedMarlon Nichols
Managing General Partner
MaC Venture Capital
March forumCharles Hudson
General Partner
Precursor Ventures
March forumMonique Woodard
General Partner
Cake Ventures
March forumMitch Kapor
Founder
Kapor Capital, Lotus
March forumJasmine Richards
Head of Diverse Manager Research
Cambridge Associates
March forumDavid York
Managing Director
Top Tier Capital
March forumNdu Ozor
Investments
University of Michigan
Speaker slate in progress · Final lineup confirmed closer to the date
The venue
Kissel Uptown
A landmark in the heart of Downtown Oakland. Sessions run through the afternoon downstairs; the ecosystem reception takes over the rooftop as the light drops. Sponsor branding lives in both rooms.
October 2, 2026