g-SPACE won Startup World Cup Santa Cruz on October 17. Now it needs your vote to reach the Meet the Drapers final and compete for $1M. Voting closes November 20.
Last month, g-SPACE took the regional title at The Catalyst. Now it faces a different kind of judge: the public. An online vote decides which startups advance to the Meet the Drapers final, where g-SPACE could compete for $1 million. Santa Cruz voters can help it get there.
Why g-SPACE matters
Founder and CEO Ioana Cozmuta, Ph.D., spent 15 years at NASA before starting g-SPACE. She is a member-elect of the International Academy of Astronautics and chairs NASA’s working group on microgravity materials.
Her central idea is to treat gravity as a variable rather than a constant. Understanding ultra-low temperatures unlocked whole new technologies. Cozmuta believes understanding near-zero gravity can do the same for manufacturing. g-SPACE uses physics and AI to make production smarter, faster, and more sustainable, both here on Earth and eventually in orbit.
“The future of humanity should not come at the expense of our planet,” she says. “I believe we can do better.”
How to help
Watch g-SPACE’s short video on the voting page: short video.
Cast your vote at drapertv.com/voteforstartup.
Share it with people in your network who care about innovation.
Voting closes Friday, November 20, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. Every vote counts. A strong showing also shows what a small, determined startup from our region can do.
Santa Cruz put g-SPACE on the global stage. Now we can help keep it there.
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Why the Winner of Startup World Cup Santa Cruz Wants to Turn Off Gravity — Our profile of how g-SPACE uses physics and AI to model what happens when gravity disappears.
G-SPACE Wins Startup World Cup Santa Cruz Regional; Stork Labs Takes Second — The recap of the night g-SPACE won the regional title at The Catalyst.
November 2026 New Tech Photos — Pictures from our 198th New Tech Meetup, where g-SPACE presented alongside five other companies.
Startup World Cup Comes to Santa Cruz October 17 — Our preview of the global competition’s first stop in Santa Cruz.