New Format and Venues for the First Look SoCal Innovation Showcase in 2025
We are excited to announce big changes to the First Look SoCal Innovation Showcase for 2025 that will supercharge how we support early stage startups from SoCal’s world-class academic and research institutions.
To better serve startup founders and the innovation community we are splitting the annual First Look SoCal Innovation Showcase into two separate events: Life Science on May 21-22 and Deep Tech on September 18.
The First Look SoCal Life Science Innovation Showcase will be hosted at UCLA’s LABEST Conference held at the Luskin Conference Center. Selected startups focused on medtech innovation will present on Wednesday, May 21, while biotech-focused startups will present on Thursday, May 22. The back-to-back events historically attract over 1,500 life science industry professionals from leading corporations, VCs, and research institutions around the world.
There are many benefits for the innovation community due to this new format and partnership including our ability to now showcase up to 24 life science startups (12 Medtech startups on day one + 12 Biotech startups on day two) instead of just 12 total life science startups in years past under the old format. In addition the founders get access to a full day of highly relevant industry-specific programming and networking which should improve the quantity and quality of startups wanting to be selected for the First Look SoCal showcases.
The First Look SoCal Deep Tech Innovation Showcase will take place during our Deep Tech Symposium on September 18 in El Segundo, the marquee event of SoCal Deep Tech Week (September 15-19). Last year’s event gathered over 150 top corporate leaders, government representatives, and early-stage investors in fields such as Space, Aerospace & Defense, Vehicle Electrification, Materials Science, Advanced Manufacturing, Robotics, Energy, Cleantech, and AI. Including First Look SoCal startups in an industry-specific context will expose them to the most relevant industry connections to accelerate their lab to market journey.
STARTUP TEAM APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Teams will still be selected based on factors such as potential for disruption, novelty of the innovation/discovery, size of the commercial opportunity, and overall potential for impact.
Startups who meet the criteria should apply before the deadlines posted below.
APPLICATION DEADLINES
Life Science: April 4
Deep Tech: May 30
LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENTS
Life Science: April 17
Deep Tech: June 15
ATTENDING THE UCLA LABEST EVENT
Visit the event website to learn more about the event agendas and to register (early bird ticket prices end soon): https://tdg.ucla.edu/news-events/events/labest-week-2025-medtech-5-21-bioscience-5-22