Physical AI Pitch Night @ Beckhoff
Join us for an evening of live pitches and demos from founders working at the frontier of AI for the physical world. Apply to pitch! (closed) We'll be showcasing breakthrough startups pitching to a live panel of leading VCs giving on the spot feedback. Real pitches, real feedback, and the kind of in-person networking that only happens when people who love hardware, build hardware, and invest in hardware are in the room. Hosted by our friends at Beckhoff Automation. Agenda 5:30-6:15p: Arrival & Networking 6:15-7:15p: Pitches & Feedback 7:15-8:30p: Networking, Food, and Wrap up Judges: Katie Vasquez, Investor at Calibrate Ventures Nima Ashraf, Founder / Managing Director at Physical Fund and former robot builder. Akshay Bhushan, Partner at Tola Capital The startup line up: Uthana Orpheus Ocean Anaco Opal AI Gatlin Robotics This event is part of SoCal Deep Tech Week 2026, a week of events hosted by VCs, startups, corporates, universities, and labs to build community in the deep tech and dual-use ecosystem in Southern California. Thank you to our community partners! informal is a freelance collective for the most talented independent professionals in hardware. Whether you're looking for a single contractor, a full-time employee, or an entire team of professionals to work on everything from product development to go-to-market, the informal collective has the perfect collection of people for the job. Learn more. Hardware Meetup is a volunteer organization and relies on sponsorships to cover the costs of putting on these events. We share the RSVP list with sponsors who support 3 or more events. By RSVPing to this event you consent to us sharing your email address and other registration information with our sponsors.