Physical AI Founder × Funder: San Francisco

About the Event

A Physical AI system that works in a demo is impressive. A system that works reliably in the real world is a business.

As AI moves beyond screens and into factories, warehouses, laboratories, vehicles, and other physical environments, a new generation of founders is working to turn intelligent models into systems that can perceive, decide, and act.

But real-world deployment introduces challenges that don't always appear in research demonstrations. Physical systems must operate under constraints around latency, safety, reliability, limited compute, changing environments, and unpredictable human behavior.

What does it take to turn these breakthroughs into venture-scale companies? What infrastructure is still missing? And what do investors need to see before funding the next generation of Physical AI startups?

Physical AI Founder × Funder returns to San Francisco for an evening bringing together technical founders, active investors, researchers, and industry operators building and backing Physical AI.

Following our November edition focused on world models, simulation, and foundational intelligence, this gathering explores the next challenge: making physical intelligence work in the real world.

Expect a candid founder-investor panel, five selected startup pitches, and dedicated time for meaningful introductions between people building, deploying, and funding Physical AI.

What We're Exploring

Embodied Intelligence & Autonomous Execution

How do intelligent systems move from understanding the physical world to taking reliable action?

We'll explore embodied intelligence, robot learning, vision-language-action models, autonomous planning, adaptive control, and the systems connecting perception, reasoning, and physical execution.

Edge Intelligence & Real-Time AI

Physical AI systems often need to make decisions locally, with limited compute, strict latency requirements, and unreliable connectivity.

We're interested in founders building efficient inference, edge execution, real-time intelligence, and software that enables autonomous systems to operate outside controlled environments.

Physical AI Deployment Infrastructure

What does it take to deploy, monitor, and scale autonomous systems beyond the laboratory?

This includes robotics middleware, orchestration, deployment platforms, fleet management, monitoring, observability, model updates, and the infrastructure connecting intelligent machines to real-world operations.

Evaluation, Reliability & Safety

A successful demonstration is not the same as reliable autonomy.

We'll explore how founders evaluate physical intelligence, test performance across environments, handle failures, design human oversight, and build systems that customers can trust.

Physical Data & Continuous Learning

Physical AI requires feedback from the real world.

We're interested in data engines, teleoperation, sensor infrastructure, real-world learning loops, simulation-to-real-world transfer, and technologies that help autonomous systems improve through deployment.

Commercialization & Defensibility

What makes a Physical AI company commercially viable and venture-backable?

We'll discuss customer pilots, deployment economics, measurable ROI, proprietary data, technical differentiation, and the transition from early prototypes to repeatable commercial systems.

Who Should Attend?

Founders Building Physical AI

We're especially interested in pre-seed and seed-stage technical founders building:

• Embodied intelligence and robot learning
• Edge AI and real-time inference
• Autonomous planning and control systems
• Robotics deployment and orchestration software
• Physical AI infrastructure and middleware
• Simulation-to-real-world deployment platforms
• Robotics evaluation, safety, monitoring, and reliability
• Physical data infrastructure and continuous learning systems
• Industrial autonomy and intelligent control
• AI software enabling intelligent machines to operate at scale

Whether you're developing a foundational technology, building an early prototype, running customer pilots, or preparing to raise capital, we want to meet founders solving difficult problems at the intersection of AI and the physical world.

We particularly welcome founders with deep technical expertise, differentiated technology, and a clear understanding of the commercial problem they're addressing.

Investors & Funders

We're inviting active investors across venture capital, deep tech, robotics, autonomy, AI infrastructure, and industrial technology.

This includes:

• Pre-seed and seed venture funds
• Specialist Physical AI and robotics investors
• Deep-tech and frontier technology investors
• Corporate venture teams and strategic investors
• Active angels and family offices interested in Physical AI
• Investors backing infrastructure, enabling software, and autonomous systems

Our goal is to connect early-stage technical founders with investors who understand the challenges of building and commercializing Physical AI.

Researchers, Engineers & Industry Leaders

We're also welcoming selected researchers, engineering leaders, robotics operators, and industry executives with experience developing or deploying intelligent systems.

This includes people working across robotics, manufacturing, logistics, autonomous systems, industrial technology, and physical infrastructure.

The Founder × Funder Panel

Beyond the Demo: What Makes Physical AI Investable?

What separates a promising research breakthrough from a scalable Physical AI company?

We'll bring together investor, technical, and company-building perspectives to explore what it takes to move from intelligent models to reliable systems, real customers, and venture-scale businesses.

Questions we'll explore:

• Where are investors finding the strongest opportunities in Physical AI beyond foundation models?
• What does a successful deployment look like, and what evidence matters at pre-seed and seed?
• Which infrastructure layers are still missing for Physical AI to scale?
• How do founders demonstrate reliability, safety, and measurable customer value?
• What creates defensibility: proprietary data, software infrastructure, technical performance, or deployment experience?
• How should founders think about capital intensity, hardware dependencies, and commercialization?
• What would make an investor write a check today?

Expect a candid discussion about what gets funded, what makes Physical AI companies difficult to build, and where the next wave of opportunities may emerge.

Panelists and moderator to be announced.

Five Founders Pitch Live

Five selected early-stage Physical AI companies will pitch their technology and business to investors and experienced technology leaders.

We're especially interested in founders building embodied intelligence, edge execution, deployment infrastructure, autonomy software, physical data platforms, and evaluation and reliability systems.

Each founder receives:

• 5 minutes to present their company, technology, and vision
• 3 minutes of live questions and feedback
• Opportunities to connect with relevant investors and industry operators following the pitches

Two selected founders will also receive additional visibility through post-event spotlights and potential introductions across our network, subject to founder consent and investor interest.

Building a Physical AI startup and raising pre-seed or seed funding? Apply to pitch.

We also welcome relevant Series A founders to participate in the broader Founder × Funder community.

Pitch slots are limited and selected by the organizing team.

Agenda

5:00 PM | Doors Open & Founder-Investor Networking

Drinks and introductions with Physical AI founders, active investors, researchers, and industry leaders.

5:30 PM | Welcome from House of 434

A brief introduction to the Founder × Funder series and the challenges and opportunities emerging as Physical AI moves toward real-world deployment.

5:35 PM | Founder × Funder Panel: Beyond the Demo

A conversation about venture investment, commercial deployment, reliable autonomy, technical differentiation, and building scalable Physical AI companies.

6:10 PM | Audience Q&A

Bring your questions directly to investors and experienced technology leaders.

6:20 PM | Five Physical AI Founder Pitches

Five selected founders present their companies and receive live feedback from the panel.

7:00 PM | Investor & Technical Takeaways

What investors and experienced operators want to see from founders taking Physical AI into production.

7:10 PM | Founder × Funder Introductions

Dedicated networking and curated introductions between founders, investors, researchers, and potential commercial partners.

7:45 PM | Closing Conversations

Continue discussions and connect with people you'd like to follow up with.

8:00 PM | Event Concludes

Ways to Get Involved

Pitch Live

Five selected Physical AI startups will present to investors and technology leaders. Founders actively raising pre-seed or seed capital are encouraged to apply.

Submit Your Pitch Deck

Building in Physical AI but not selected to pitch? Share your deck for consideration and potential introductions.

Investors, Funds & LPs

Meet early-stage technical founders building embodied intelligence, edge AI, deployment infrastructure, and autonomous systems. Connect with other investors and discover emerging opportunities across Physical AI.

Speak on the Panel

Nominate yourself or recommend an investor, researcher, technical founder, or industry operator with relevant Physical AI expertise.

Industry & Strategic Partners

We welcome companies and operators interested in meeting emerging Physical AI startups, exploring potential pilots, and supporting commercialization.

Media & Event Partners

We welcome relevant media, ecosystem partners, venues, and organizations supporting Physical AI innovation.

Submissions are reviewed by the hosts. Seats are limited and confirmed by invitation.