IGNITE22: A tech expo and collaborative experience celebrating innovations shaping the 22nd century

Manufacturing activity

Federal research grant funding

Gini coefficient

Jobs per capita

Measures of cultural and global economic influence (“soft power”)

Minority- and women-owned firms

High growth startups

Patents per capita

Percentage of graduates from local higher education institutions that remain in LA County 5 years after graduating

Recruiting and retention rates for local higher education institutions

Venture capital investment

County of Los Angeles

City of Los Angeles

IGNITE22 is a catalyst for collaboration. We chose an event over a program to generate the broadest reach of stakeholders across industries and across a wide variety of audience groups. The interaction between these stakeholders will make LA the best place to CREATE.

Entrepreneurs will benefit from the connections with industry collaborators and investors, as well as access to academic researchers and deep science. Investors benefit from making connections with a vast array of tech entrepreneurs. Corporate executives and industry leaders get an opportunity to experience new technology that may impact their businesses while they explore how early adoption will lead to competitive advantage. University students and faculty will connect with industry to move projects beyond the lab toward the goal of commercialization. The event will engage high school students interested in STEM careers inspiring them to become tech entrepreneurs. Elected officials and policymakers will learn about technology trends and therefore, better understand impacts and opportunities within their communities.

Collectively, IGNITE22 is the spark that will attract visionaries that will help make LA be the best place to CREATE. As a result of connections being made and collaborations being formed, IGNITE22 will positively impact the metrics we’ve identified. We believe these partnerships will result in more patents per capita, increased venture capital investment and increased federal research grant funding. Through strategic partnerships, startups have a better chance of gaining market traction and realizing exponential growth. This results in more and better jobs, increased manufacturing in the region and an improved Gini coefficient. By engaging high school and college students from the LA Harbor area we will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and STEM leaders, offering role models that will lead to more minority and women-owned businesses. These students are then more likely to attend and then graduate from local higher education institutions and more likely to remain in the region due to the improved career opportunities.

In the long-term IGNITE22 will support LA County’s goals to build technology hubs, particularly in biotech, aerospace, trade and transportation, and clean tech, thereby contributing to LA’s creative and entrepreneurial ecosystem with global economic influence.

IGNITE22 aims to bring together a diverse group of entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders to foster the commercialization of transformative technologies. By engaging creators, adopters and facilitators, we are connecting all parts of the ecosystem critical to bringing new technology to market. Our goal is to initiate meaningful partnerships between academic institutions, technology startups and corporate partners that will lead to accelerated commercialization of technology and employment opportunities for the region’s graduates.

We will measure success based on the following:

- Number of tech startups exhibiting by industry

- Number of CSUPERB researchers presenting

- Number of corporate/industry influencers and investors attending

Through pre- and post-event surveys, we will measure the following:

- % of attendees interested in participating in collaborative opportunities

- % of students who express an interest in pursuing STEM-related careers or entrepreneurial endeavors

While one event alone cannot impact the CREATE metrics such as federal research grant funding or high-growth startups, we believe that offering a platform for collaboration across the entrepreneurial ecosystem will, over the long-term, result in more manufacturing activity, more STEM-related job opportunities, more patents per capita, increased venture capital investment, and an increase of minority- and women-owned tech startups reflecting the diversity of Southern California’s residents.

Money

Volunteers

Advisors/board members

Publicity/awareness

Community outreach

Network/relationship support