Table of Contents
Introduction
From May 21 to 23, 2026, more than 1,000 founders, investors, and tech leaders gathered at San Diego State University for TechCon SoCal 2026, Southern California’s premier innovation and investment conference.
Thanks to the brilliant organizers, CEO Faisal Mushtaq and Co-Founder Aniqa Hijazi, for bringing such a wonderful gathering to sunny San Diego and creating a space where big ideas could flourish.
The conference featured world‑class speakers across a wide range of industries, including healthcare, AI, SaaS, finance, sports, entertainment, beauty, wellness, and medical devices. These experts came together to exchange knowledge, explore innovations, and build valuable connections.
Across three days, more than 125 speakers, 11 focused tracks, and a high‑stakes startup pitch competition delivered a working bridge between bold ideas and the capital, partnerships, and mentorship needed to scale them.
A standout moment was the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Joe Kiani, honoring his extraordinary contributions to medical technology and innovation and highlighting the spirit of leadership and impact that TechCon SoCal celebrates.
TechCon SoCal 2026 at a Glance
- Dates: May 21‑23, 2026
- Venue: San Diego State University
- Attendees: 1,000+
- Speakers: 125+
- Active investors on site: 100+
- Strategic partners: 50+
- Conference tracks: 11
- Startup finalists: 7
- Grand prize pathway: $1M Startup World Cup pitch slot
Keynote Moments That Defined the Conference
- Pradeep Khosla, Chancellor of UC San Diego, followed with a sharp argument for the “university-as-platform” model. At the same time, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria connected the city’s life sciences, defense, and AI clusters into a single innovation story.
- In the AI track, Siddharth Sheth (d-Matrix) and Raghib Hussain (Altera) made the case that the next decade of AI value will be captured at the chip and memory layer, not the model layer.
- Maneesh Goyal of Mayo Clinic Platform showed how AI is now reducing diagnostic time in real clinical pilots, not in slides, in production.
- Adam Markowitz of Drata reframed compliance automation as a competitive moat, and Amir Khan of Alkira demonstrated how cloud infrastructure is being rebuilt for AI workloads at scale.
The Startup Innovation Showcase
After 150+ applications and a competitive semifinal at Mintz’s San Diego office, seven startups pitched live on the main stage for a path to the $1M Startup World Cup prize:
- Bairitone Health – Digital Health: At-home anatomy imaging for sleep apnea care
- MVI Medical – Women’s Health: Rosa Spec™ redefining the pelvic exam market
- EZ-Robot – Robotics + EdTech: Unified robotics & AI platform, 90% faster prototyping
- TRL11 – Space / Deep Tech: Telepresence for space operations
- Hyivy Health – Women’s Health: Pelvic floor rehabilitation technology
- ReRoute Americas – Logistics: Reshoring and route optimization for the Americas
- BioMetal Health – MedTech: Resorbable metal implants for faster bone and tissue growth
What stood out: three of the seven were healthcare or women’s health companies, and almost all came out of university research or deep-tech labs, a pattern that says a lot about where SoCal’s edge actually lives.
Featured Speakers at the Conference
TechCon SoCal 2026 brought together an extraordinary lineup of global experts spanning multiple industries: With over 125 speakers across 11 tracks, TechCon SoCal 2026 offered unmatched insights from pioneers in AI, healthcare, SaaS, medtech, deep tech, logistics, and venture capital.
Attendees learned from leaders driving innovation globally, gained perspective on emerging trends, and discovered pathways to scale ideas into impactful businesses.
Joe Kiani
Joe Kiani founded Masimo, a global medical technology company, in 1989. He also serves as Chairman and CEO.
- Kiani’s desire to develop medical technology that improves patient care and decreases medical errors led him to co-invent what is known as modern pulse oximetry.
- Kiani serves on several boards of directors. Kiani speaks at events globally, championing the rights of those who are not always empowered to speak for themselves.
A standout moment was the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Joe Kiani, honoring his extraordinary contributions to medical technology and innovation and highlighting the spirit of leadership and impact that TechCon SoCal celebrates.
Todd Gloria
On December 10, 2020, Todd Gloria was sworn in as the 37th Mayor of the City of San Diego, America’s eighth-largest city. He was re-elected for a second term in November 2024.
- In 2008, Mayor Gloria was elected to the San Diego City Council and, after serving his first term, Mayor Gloria’s City Council colleagues elected him as their City Council President.
- In 2013, he assumed the reins of the City, beginning his time as Interim Mayor. In 2016, Mayor Gloria was elected to the California State Assembly to represent the 78th Assembly District.
Pradeep Khosla
Chancellor, University of California, San Diego, leads UC San Diego with a vision of the “university-as-platform,” bridging research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
- Drives collaborations across academia, industry, and government to accelerate technology translation and societal impact.
- Focused on empowering students and faculty to transform ideas into scalable solutions.
Ganesh Iyer
Ganesh Iyer leads NIO’s U.S. operations, guiding one of the most dynamic electric vehicle brands in smart mobility and user‑centric automotive experiences. He brings over 35 years of leadership across tech, autonomous systems, manufacturing, and telecom industries.
- Before NIO, he was Vice President and CIO at Tesla, where he shaped key digital and operational systems.
- His work bridges advanced tech and real‑world implementation in the evolving future of transportation.
Siddharth Sheth
Sid Sheth is a serial entrepreneur and seasoned executive in the semiconductor industry. Sid is currently the co-founder of d-Matrix, the company changing the trajectory of commercially viable generative AI.
- Sid spent over two decades as a business and technical leader, transforming startups into industry leaders and creating new technology categories, taking them from innovation to commercialization.
- Before founding d-Matrix, Sid served as senior vice president & general manager for the Networking Business Unit at Inphi Corporation, where he incubated and grew the group into a $1B+ business by focusing the business on the cloud and enterprise data center segment.
Raghib Hussain
Raghib Hussain’s vast technical expertise, coupled with astute entrepreneurial skills, makes for a classic Silicon Valley success story. He’s best known for founding Cavium Inc. (CAVM) and taking it public in 2007.
- He led the company as Chief Technology Officer from inception and catapulted it to its status as a leader in the security and multi-core processor space, competing with Intel and Broadcom.
- Later, as Chief Operating Officer, he guided product strategy and business operations, and was responsible for the company’s strategic direction, which led to an annual revenue run rate of $1B and ultimately a successful acquisition by Marvell at a valuation of $6.6B.
Maneesh Goyal
Maneesh Goyal is chief operating officer, Mayo Clinic Platform, at Mayo Clinic. Mr. Goyal oversees the financial and operating performance and growth of the Mayo Clinic Platform.
- Mr. Goyal brings a cross-disciplinary background of finance, investing, operations, product development, and engineering.
- Mr. Goyal has accountability for the ongoing refinement and execution of the Platform’s strategic and operating plans; acquisition of executive and expert talent.
Adam Markowitz
Adam Markowitz is the co-founder and CEO of Drata, a trust management platform that champions AI-driven automation to streamline governance, risk, and compliance for over 7,000 companies across the globe, including Calendly, Notion, and Lemonade, among many others.
- Before Drata, Adam was the founder and CEO of Portfolium, an academic portfolio network for students and alumni to visually showcase their work and projects directly to employers, faculty, and fellow students/alumni.
- Adam earned a B.S. in Structural Engineering from UC San Diego and an M.S. in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Southern California.
Irwin Jacobs
Dr. Jacobs received his BEE in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1956 and his S.M. and Sc.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from MIT in 1957 and 1959.
- Qualcomm led the industry in the transition to fourth-generation (4G) LTE, fifth-generation (5G), and now is leading the transition to sixth-generation (6G).
- It licenses its technology worldwide and is among the largest suppliers to global manufacturers of integrated circuits for mobile devices.
High‑Impact and Future‑Focused Tracks
TechCon SoCal 2026 wasn’t just about great speakers and networking. What really set this event apart were the focused content tracks that brought clarity to the complex forces reshaping business and technology.
Across three days, attendees could dive into topics where capital meets execution from foundational infrastructure to the newest breakthroughs in software and life sciences.
Here’s a look at the major tracks that defined the agenda and energized conversations throughout the conference:
- Investors: Insights from leading VCs and angel networks on where smart money is flowing and why.
- Artificial Intelligence: From enterprise AI infrastructure to real‑world applications, this track explored the full spectrum of what AI is unlocking today.
- Digital Health & Life Sciences: Innovations in diagnostics, therapeutics, and care delivery that are transforming patient outcomes.
- Future of Transportation: How EVs, autonomy, and new mobility platforms are converging to reshape how we move.
- Data, Infrastructure & Security: Conversations on secure, scalable systems and the frameworks that support next‑gen technologies.
- Semiconductor: Deep dives into chip design, fabrication, and the critical role semiconductors play in AI and connectivity.
- Deep Tech: Breakthrough research and hardware‑driven innovation moving beyond software alone.
- Consumer Tech: Trends and products that are redefining how people live, work, and interact with technology.
Influencers & - Enablers: Thought leaders, educators, and ecosystem builders sharing insights on growth and impact.
- FinTech: The evolution of financial platforms, digital currencies, payments, and capital markets.
- SaaS: Strategies for scaling software‑as‑a‑service companies in a competitive landscape.
Each track delivered both high‑level perspectives and actionable takeaways, making TechCon SoCal 2026 a conference with real substance and forward momentum.
Deepak Wadhwani has over 20 years experience in software/wireless technologies. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies including Intuit, ESRI, Qualcomm, Sprint, Verizon, Vodafone, Nortel, Microsoft and Oracle in over 60 countries. Deepak has worked on Internet marketing projects in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange Country, Denver, Nashville, Kansas City, New York, San Francisco and Huntsville. Deepak has been a founder of technology Startups for one of the first Cityguides, yellow pages online and web based enterprise solutions. He is an internet marketing and technology expert & co-founder for a San Diego Internet marketing company.
