G-SPACE Wins Startup World Cup Santa Cruz Regional; Stork Labs Takes Second

Written By Doug & Claude

Fifteen finalists, most of them women, pitched at The Catalyst on October 17. Sunnyvale’s G-SPACE took the regional title and a ticket to the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco. Photo credits: Kalen Dion, Doug Erickson

Startup World Cup came to Santa Cruz for the first time on October 17. Luminarium Pacifica and Love My Robot produced a full day at The Catalyst: qualifying pitches, a finalist round, workshops, and an afterglow that ran late. SBDC, Sandbar Solar, and Santa Cruz Works were proud to be a sponsor.

The Winners

1st Place: G-SPACE, Inc. — is building an AI-powered software platform, founded by former NASA scientist Dr. Ioana Cozmuta, to design materials and manufacturing processes for gravity-free environments. Sunnyvale.

2nd Place: Stork Labs Medical — is developing a flexible, semi-autonomous delivery tool to keep birthing people and babies safe during birth. Santa Cruz.

3rd Place: Rovex Technologies Corporation — builds Rovi, an autonomous robot that attaches to hospital stretchers and moves patients through corridors, elevators, and doors on its own. Gainesville, FL.

G-SPACE now heads to San Francisco, where the semifinals run November 4 and 5 and the Grand Finale is November 6, with a $1 million investment prize on the line.

Women on the Global Stage

Organizer Carolina Castilla, CEO of Love My Robot, put it best: “Something I’m especially proud of: the majority of our 15 finalists were women. Women building companies, solving difficult problems, and taking their place on a global stage.”

Guy Kawasaki, and a Room Full of the World

Guy Kawasaki sat down for a fireside conversation with Bill Reichert and brought what Castilla called “warmth, honesty, and laughter” to the room. Founders and guests came from Austria, Bogotá, Barcelona, Taiwan, New Delhi, Australia, New York, and beyond.

Thank You, Judges

Thank you to Bill Reichert and to the judges who gave up a weekend day to ask thoughtful questions and help founders grow: Deepak Gupta, Assel Seitova, Tim Pryde, Amy Peck, Rachel Chalmers, Kevin Klemmick, Prof. PK Prasanna Kumar, Jon Luini, Sergio Togliatti, Brian Shulman, Stephanie Hurst, Doug Erickson, Miguel Silva, Kimberly Catherine, Alexander Pedersen, Chih-Chieh H., Tyler Pinckard, Tord Olav Dønnum, and Jen Dugen. Judging used the Venture IQ and Getting to Wow frameworks to help founders turn feedback into stronger pitches.

Special thanks to Kelly Foss for bringing art into the event, Antoine Dislie of Forge Films Company for his workshop, the Santa Cruz Film Festival, and photographer Kalen Dion for capturing the day.

Next Year: A Santa Cruz Company Goes to San Francisco

Seven of the 15 finalists were Santa Cruz companies, and Stork Labs came within one spot of the trip to San Francisco. Santa Cruz Works, the SBDC, Sandbar Solar, and our fellow Santa Cruz sponsors are committed to sending a local company next year. If you’re building here, start your pitch now.

Your Next Shot: Santa Cruz Launchpad, May 13, 2027

Want to compete on a big stage closer to home? Santa Cruz Launchpad is the largest startup competition in the tri-county region of Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito. Our 10th year takes place May 13, 2027, in the spectacular Cocoanut Grove at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. One rule matters most: to win, you have to be a startup from our region. Applications open in March 2027.

Congratulations to All 15 Finalists

  • 3D Entrepreneurs Club / Inventor Academy — teaches kids ages 8–12 to design, 3D print, and sell their own toys and products. Santa Cruz.

  • CherryWheels — makes colorful wheelchair wheel covers designed to spark conversation and confidence, co-founded by a UC Santa Cruz student and her mother. Santa Cruz.

  • Confection — helps businesses collect and manage customer data in a privacy-conscious way as traditional tracking methods fade. Fremont.

  • Conqueror Biopharma — is developing a precision-oncology platform built to get past the limits of conventional antibody–drug conjugates for cancer. Fremont.

  • Delphi — creates interactive AI replicas of experts, entrepreneurs, and creators so they can share their knowledge with audiences at scale. San Francisco.

  • Elevation Sky Park — is developing an immersive entertainment destination on the Pier 70 waterfront. San Francisco.

  • G-SPACE, Inc. — Regional Champion, building AI software for manufacturing in microgravity. Sunnyvale.

  • Happaning — is a crowdsourced video app that lets users request real-time previews of any event or location from people already there. San Francisco.

  • Here For You — is building a platform that connects people with resources, guidance, and support for everyday challenges. Santa Cruz.

  • Line Mobility — is building an elevated pod transit system designed to move ten times more people than a bus at a fraction of rail’s cost. Santa Cruz.

  • Rovex Technologies Corporation — Third place, with autonomous robots for in-hospital patient transport. Gainesville, FL.

  • Stork Labs Medical — Second place, making childbirth safer with a semi-autonomous delivery tool. Santa Cruz.

  • TerraNova Bio — uses mushrooms from the coastal hills to break down plastics in days instead of centuries. Santa Cruz.

  • Treeswax — makes a reef-safe, petroleum-free surf wax designed for performance. Santa Cruz.

  • Wander Workspace — a portable workstation for hikers and beachgoers. SF

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