Parallel Flight Technologies and Alpha Unmanned Systems are collaborating to develop a heavy-fuel version of the Firefly UAS for U.S. Navy research, aiming to boost endurance, lift capacity, and logistics compatibility for demanding missions.

A Monet-like hero image: an impressionist garden scene at golden hour where a small group of employees (soft, painterly silhouettes) plant trees and hand out care packages beside a calm river. Floating “value” words appear as subtle reflections on the water, dissolving into ripples that spread outward toward a nearby town.

Join Santa Cruz Works New Tech for networking at 6:00 pm with live music, food, drinks, and real conversation. At 7:00 pm, catch rapid-fire startup demos from Innovation Within, BrandCapsule, Radi8, Activity Ally, and RoomForty. Thanks to Wynn Capital for sponsoring.

Join Santa Cruz Works March 6, 2026 for a free, fast-paced webinar with world-renowned author Tony J. Hughes (Sentient) and moderator Craig Vachon. Explore how AI is reshaping humanity, agency, and responsibility. Bring questions.

PassportOS which housed Santa Cruz Works community platform, is shutting down.

Santa Cruz Launchpad is back and its even bigger and better this year!

UCSC Professor Gary Griggs and 2025 Titan Dan Haifley joined Neil Pearlberg to discuss Santa Cruz West Side climate change, offshore oil drilling, the "new" Santa Cruz Downtown, and more.

Doug Erickson, a UCSC English and Latin Literature grad, reflects on Anthropic co-founder Daniela Amodei’s ABC News interview, arguing AI makes empathy, communication, and humanities-trained judgment essential as startups shift from coding to coordination.

Activity Ally is a new Santa Cruz startup helping parents find and book kids’ activities in one place. It aims to replace frantic searching, outdated websites, and blurry flyers with a simple, local hub for families.

Tempest has partnered with Atlantic Packaging and Cruz Foam to create a compostable and recyclable protection system.

Davenport’s idle Cemex plant has scarred a stunning stretch of coast for decades. A new proposal would clean it up and turn it into a town center with services and housing, testing whether California can actually build.

Many nonprofits are held back by stretched teams and disconnected data, but LiveImpact’s "Co-Intelligence" platform is changing the game by embedding AI directly into fundraising, case management, and program delivery. Join us to see how organizations are ditching clunky legacy systems for smart automation and predictive insights that actually scale their mission.

The underlying reality of the Santa Cruz Branch Line corridor has not changed—while the RTC’s available choices finally have.

Santa Cruz-based Fortuna Tech Labs is building regulated, AI-driven infrastructure that helps institutions and high-volume traders access digital assets without the usual compliance and operational chaos. Their unified stack streamlines KYC/AML, fiat rails, liquidity, and onboarding.

Climatize continues to build momentum with strategic team additions, expanding AI capabilities, and strong platform performance to start the year.

Executive teams are invited to A.I. + Me, a curated Santa Cruz retreat (Feb 24-27) exploring human leadership in the age of AI through candid dialogue, coastal reflection, and guided facilitation by Steve Fortunato and Sasha Strauss.

More than 420 business leaders united to urge Congress to sustain National Science Foundation funding, helping avert deep proposed cuts.

When people hear “Catalyst,” they fixate on the grants. Fair. More than $200,000 in unrestricted funding can keep an early-stage team alive long enough to build something real. But the bigger payoff is what usually takes founders years to earn: credibility, coaching, and a national stage that puts your solution in front of the people who shape policy and the wireless ecosystem.

New nonprofit continues a 33-year legacy of technical assistance, workforce development, and operational excellence across the state