Tough Tech Summit 2019
Back to This Year’s Summit500 founders, investors, academics, policy makers, and business leaders joined us at Tough Tech Summit 2019 to explore the challenges of bringing Tough Tech to market and how the Tough Tech ecosystem can work together to accelerate the commercial success of world-changing technologies.
Day one, Build, featured a fireside chat with Vinod Khosla, founder keynotes, interactive panels, and case study workshops. Attendees worked together to help solve some of the core challenges faced by Tough Tech companies.
During day two, Invest, founders pitched their businesses and connected with other Tough Tech founders and investors. Josh DeFonzo, Peter Hebert, and Bijan Salehizadeh, some of the lead investors, advisors, and executives behind Auris Health, had a frank and illuminating discussion about the company’s journey from startup to multi-billion-dollar acquisition. The day also featured panel sessions and open networking time.
We were thrilled to release the 2019 Tough Tech Landscape, a report by The Engine and PitchBook, to attendees of day two. The report investigates the surge in venture funding of Tough Tech in segments as diverse as robotics & drones to agtech.
Katie Rae & Vinod Khosla The Future of Technology, Perspectives on Founding Companies, and How Tough Tech Will Change the World
Auris Health Panel Turning a $600M Investment into a $6B Acquisition 
Rodney BrooksFounding Companies and Reaching Customers
Keenan WyrobekLessons Learned Building Zipline
Joy Dunn Building Fusion Reactors and Rockets
Geoffrey von Maltzahn Plant Microbiomes and Decommoditizing Agriculture
Stan LapidusEntrepreneurship and Finding the Perfect Problem
Summit Recap An Overview of Day 1 & Day 2Day 1.Build
Track A. Business Model Strategy | Solidia Technologies
Track B: Supply Chain Strategy | Formlabs
Track C: Strategic Partnership Strategy | D-Wave & Lockheed Martin
Track X. Building and Leveraging Your Board
Track Y. Building and Scaling Technical Teams
Track Z. Building Your Organization
Day 2.Invest
Track A. Financing by Strategic Corporates
Track B. Navigating Capital Markets
Track C. New Models for Government Enabling Commercialization
Track Y. Pitches
Track Z. Pitches
Platinum Partners
Gold Partners
