INNOVATION NEWS
We don’t only report the news, we make the news. Check out our news highlights and archive here.
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PassportOS Platform To Shut Down
PassportOS which housed Santa Cruz Works community platform, is shutting down.
Santa Cruz Launchpad Returns: Bigger and Better!
Santa Cruz Launchpad is back and its even bigger and better this year!
Off the Lip Radio Show: Gary Griggs & Dan Haifley
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.
Daniela Amodei and the Return of the Humanities
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: The Santa Cruz Startup That Makes Kids’ Activities Way Less of a Nightmare
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 It aims to replace frantic searching, outdated websites, and blurry flyers with a simple, local hub for families.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 Partners With Cruz Foam and Atlantic Packaging
Tempest has partnered with Atlantic Packaging and Cruz Foam to create a compostable and recyclable protection system.
Replacing Cemex’s Ghost With a Town
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.
Nothing Has Changed, Yet Everything Has Changed
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 Builds the Compliant Backbone for Institutional Crypto
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 Builds Momentum With AI Expansion and Strategic Team Growth
Climatize continues to build momentum with strategic team additions, expanding AI capabilities, and strong platform performance to start the year.
The Human Advantage: An Executive Sanctuary in the Era of AI
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.
NSF Funding Victory Following Letter of Support from 420 U.S. Business Leaders
More than 420 business leaders united to urge Congress to sustain National Science Foundation funding, helping avert deep proposed cuts.
Apply to Catalyst for more than just a mere $200k
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.
Roadmap 4 Innovation Launches to Preserve and Strengthen Critical Support for California Manufacturers
New nonprofit continues a 33-year legacy of technical assistance, workforce development, and operational excellence across the state
Five Student Projects Funded by 2025-26 CITRIS Tech for Social Good Program
Tech for Social Good supports cross-disciplinary student projects and events aiming to address significant social challenges with technology-based solutions.
Orbital data centers: Elon Musk’s newest “why not” and the carbon math behind it
Musk, after folding xAI into SpaceX, is pitching “data centers in space”: satellite-based compute powered by solar energy to dodge Earth’s grid and politics. It’s alluring, messy, and launch-heavy: ~580 car-years of CO2 per Falcon Heavy launch.
UCSC’s “Science in the Neighboorhood” Series Invites Community to Explore Cutting Edge Research
Interested in learning about the latest scientific research and innovations? Check out UC Santa Cruz’s Science in the Neighborhood series!
How to Live a Meaningful Life
The #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Designing Your Life return with a groundbreaking guide to transforming your daily routine into one brimming with joy, purpose, and meaning.: How to Live a Meaningful Life
Join the Waves of Change in Biarritz France
The City of Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Sister Cities Committee is forming an adult delegation to attend the three-day global Waves of Change Forum in Biarritz, France, June 1-3, 2026. As sister cities, Santa Cruz and Biarritz have much in common, in particular their desire to remain sustainable and resilient coastal towns.

