StrictlyVC’s first San Francisco event of 2026 brings founders and investors together, with Eclipse CEO Lior Susan discussing massive funding for physical AI and what autonomy could mean for real-world industries.
StrictlyVC is heading back to San Francisco next week, and this year’s opening event spotlights a theme that’s moving from prototype to promise: physical AI.
The venture and founder communities will gather at the Sentro Filipino Cultural Center on April 30 for an evening built around conversation and networking. not panel theater.. With a ticket still available for those who want to join. Misryoum readers should see the lineup as more than a calendar item—it’s a snapshot of where capital and attention are leaning as AI spreads beyond software into the systems that run workplaces and supply chains.
Lior Susan. founder and CEO of Eclipse. is set to join the discussion after raising $1.3 billion to back “physical AI” startups.. The core of his message is expected to revolve around autonomy in the real world: how AI’s digital capabilities can connect with physical environments as sensors. robots. industrial systems. and on-the-ground operators evolve together.. The number is large. but the underlying story is the shift it signals—investors are increasingly funding AI that has to function amid real constraints like time. safety. equipment limits. and messy. dynamic conditions.
Susan’s background adds a practical lens to the conversation.. He has served in the military and previously led hardware investments at Flex. a blend that matters because physical AI is not only about models—it’s about hardware. integration. and deployment.. In industrial contexts. a breakthrough isn’t useful until it survives the real world: uneven lighting. variable materials. human workflow. and maintenance realities.. That’s where “physical AI” tends to separate from “AI demo. ” and it’s also where capital-intensive bets like Susan’s can justify their size.
Misryoum also expects the broader event to reflect how AI is reshaping multiple layers of the startup economy at once.. Replit co-founder and CEO Amjad Masad will discuss an AI-driven shift in software development—an area that has direct implications for employment. productivity. and the pace at which new products can be built.. When tools change how people write and test code. it can alter founder strategies. hiring plans. and even which early-stage companies can scale fastest.
Another thread running through the agenda is capital itself.. TDK Ventures president Nicolas Sauvage will sit down with TechCrunch editor-in-chief and StrictlyVC founder Connie Loizos to talk through corporate venture capital—what it looks for. how founders should position deals. and lessons from securing strategic backers.. For startups, this matters because corporate investors can bring more than money: they may offer distribution, partnerships, and credibility.. The flip side is that founders often need to navigate alignment, timelines, and expectations that differ from purely financial investors.
Forum AI co-founder and CEO Campbell Brown will add a different kind of urgency.. She’s slated to discuss building trustworthy AI systems at a time when skepticism is rising around the accuracy of information across platforms.. Her perspective—shaped by work including Meta’s media partnerships and hosting experience—ties into a point investors and operators increasingly make: reliability isn’t just a technical benchmark; it affects adoption.. If AI outputs can’t be trusted, deployments stall, budgets shrink, and the market waits for better guardrails.
From a networking angle, Misryoum views events like StrictlyVC’s as unusually valuable during periods of fast-changing strategy.. These meet-ups are designed to be intimate and conversational. giving founders a route to ask direct questions and giving investors a way to test the temperature of new ideas early.. The timing is also strategic: with the year starting and attention shifting toward the next wave of funding narratives. early conversations can influence what teams prioritize next—partnerships. go-to-market. product focus. or fundraising approach.
San Francisco is often treated as a proxy for the broader tech economy. but physical AI adds a stronger “off-screen” dimension.. When autonomy is aimed at real environments. the winners may be those who can coordinate multiple capabilities—data collection. edge deployment. robotics or industrial workflows. and operator training.. That makes this April 30 discussion relevant beyond the conference room: it points to where the next competitive edge could form. and where investors may demand clearer evidence of deployment readiness.
For those looking to understand what’s likely to shape Silicon Valley and beyond in 2026. the event’s agenda connects four parts of the same story: capital for physical systems. AI’s impact on software creation. how strategic investors operate. and why trust will determine adoption.. If you’re trying to read the market early. next week in San Francisco is the kind of starting point that can turn curiosity into a concrete perspective.
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