More than 100 founders, venture capital investors and startup ecosystem leaders came together on August 22 for ASAN’s Investor x Founder Connect in Milpitas, California.
The event, focused on pre-seed through Series B founders and active investors, sold out several days in advance, reflecting continued demand for smaller, curated gatherings where founders and investors can build meaningful relationships.
The evening centered on direct conversations around fundraising, company building, investment interests, introductions and opportunities to help one another. The format was designed to give founders and investors more time for substantive conversations than they typically get at large conferences or traditional pitch events.
For Shomir Dutt, founder of Intro, the value was immediate:
“At the Founder & VC Connect especially, investors were incredibly generous with their time, insights, and introductions. More than anything, I genuinely felt like people were rooting for us. In one evening, I probably made more meaningful connections than I could have in weeks behind my laptop.”
That experience captures a core part of ASAN’s philosophy and mission: building a stronger network around founders where access to investors, peers, advisers and introductions can compound well beyond a single event.
The Silicon Valley gathering is part of an ongoing series of sold-out ASAN founder and investor events across the country. ASAN hosted a similar gathering in New York City in June, followed by another in Los Angeles in July. The series continues in September with multiple events in Santa Monica, California, and New York City, furthering ASAN’s effort to build a connected national network of founders, investors and operators.
“The goal extends beyond networking. Strong startup ecosystems are built through trusted relationships, repeated interaction and people willing to open doors for one another,” said Dr. Nitin Bajaj, co-founder of ASAN. “By creating those connections across cities, ASAN is working to make capital, knowledge, mentorship and opportunity more accessible to the next generation of South Asian founders and leaders.”
You can sign up for ASAN’s upcoming events at here.
