INNOVATION NEWS
We don’t only report the news, we make the news. Check out our news highlights and archive here.
Not on our mailing list yet? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Interested in getting 10,000+ eyeballs to view your company’s content? Become a Santa Cruz Works Partner or, see 3rd party content Sponsors.
The Man Who Built a Better Wheel: Inside Future Motion's Company Spotlight Breakfast
Future Motion founder Kyle Doerksen opened his Santa Cruz factory to a sold-out crowd of 40, tracing the Onewheel's path from garage prototype to a category he invented — and still dominates.
Santa Cruz Export: Rope Partner, the Local Firm That Hangs Off Wind Turbines, Acquired by FairWind
Rope Partner, the rope-access wind specialist with deep Santa Cruz roots, has been acquired by Danish wind giant FairWind — a milestone exit for a company that turned climbing culture into clean-energy infrastructure.
AI Brake Check
On the eve of a trillion-dollar IPO, Anthropic published proof its AI is building itself — and asked the world for a brake pedal. Is this the Cuban Missile Crisis, or the best-timed press release in history?
Builder Night Welcomes Santa Cruz Builders on Monday Nights
Builder Night welcomes builders to Pleasure Pizza on Monday night to build the Oracle!
The Duck That Ate the Data Warehouse (and the Santa Cruzian helping it fly)
MotherDuck — the cloud data warehouse built on DuckDB — just launched Flights, letting AI agents build data pipelines from a prompt. Santa Cruz's own Margaret Rosas, formerly of Looker, is right at the center of it.
The Hardest Problem in Sales Was Never the Product. It's the Person.
Amotions AI founder and CEO Pianpian Xu Guthrie — a Yale-trained sociologist turned product leader — brings her emotionally intelligent sales teammate to Santa Cruz Works New Tech on July 1.
SmartBrowse Wants to Close Your 14 Shopping Tabs (All of Them. Yes, That One Too.)
Born at CruzHacks, SmartBrowse is an AI shopping agent that does the tab-hoarding, Reddit-spelunking, price-checking grind for you — then shows its work in a transparent dashboard. See them live at New Tech on July 1.
How a Stranger at a Trade Show Booth Got Treeswax Into Japan
Treeswax founder Christian Shaw — Santa Cruz Accelerates graduate and Demo Day winner — on the improbable chain reaction that turned one conversation into a Treeswax x Oshman's co-brand in Japan.
SCWorks New Tech on July 1, 2026
For the last New Tech before the summer break, we return to River Row with a slew of great companies and a new program format. We talked and surveyed many of those who attended the June New Tech. And we heard you. Reduce the admission price: DONE. You loved the River Row venue - a combination of outside and inside activities. And the proximity to the San Lorenzo River! And you have asked for more time to network.
Monterey Bay DART and Hartnell College Launch Drone and Aerospace Program
Hartnell College and Monterey Bay DART, are launching a two-year workforce initiative designed to connect local residents to careers in drones, aerospace technology, and advanced aviation.
Mimofit Advances from New Tech to Global Stage
Local Med‑Tech startup mimofit advances quickly after New Tech.
AHSC Intern Spotlight: Noemi at Radi8
Meet Noemi, an intern at Radi8, an AI social media tool that grows your business in your own voice.
The Future of Work Needs Flexible Spaces — And Santa Cruz Has One of the Most Unique
Some of the region’s most interesting companies, makers, designers, and founders have come from spaces that never looked or felt like traditional offices. That is exactly what makes 108 High Road on Santa Cruz’s Lower Westside so compelling.
New Tech Comes Home to the River
Santa Cruz Works brought its June New Tech gathering to River Row — a new riverfront venue beside the San Lorenzo — and debuted an expo-style format that let founders, engineers, and community members actually talk to each other. Seven companies showed what innovation looks like when it grows from this place.
$17 Million and Counting: How Climatize Is Making Clean Energy Investing Go Mainstream
May was a big month for Climatize. The platform crossed $17.3 million in total investments, added hundreds of new investors, and shipped technology that puts them in the same room as major banks and institutional lenders. The goal has always been simple: make clean energy investing accessible.
What We’re Reading: Santa Cruz Works Launches a Recommended Books Section
Santa Cruz Works’ new Recommended Books section brings together titles on hospitality, meaning, AI, privacy, entrepreneurship, history, grit, systems thinking, and spotting what comes next.
Reservoir Farms Offers Free Associate Membership Tier
Reservoir Farms unveils a new membership tier option: Associate.
Here For You Is Almost Here
Here For You is a platform that makes it easier for people to show up for one another during life's hardest moments, bringing together communication, task coordination, fundraising, gift registries, and resources all in one place.
The Central Coast Is Playing a Long Game. Most Regions Don't.
A Dutch-California drone exchange lands in Santa Cruz this month — and buried inside the coalition-building and workforce jargon is a genuine economic strategy that most regions are too fragmented, too timid, or too late to pull off.
Joby Aviation Acquires Additional Facility to Expand Operations
Joby Aviation expands its footprint again! Joby’s newest facility adds an additional 47,500 sq ft to the company.

