INNOVATION NEWS
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NOTE: Our blogs are typically “assisted by AI”. We use AI to assist us in research and style the way a human editor would.
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Cruz Foam’s Rise and Closure Offer a Lesson in Product-Market Fit
After nearly a decade of developing sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging, the Santa Cruz startup has closed, with its intellectual property acquired by TemperPack. Former executive Toby Corey reflects on the challenges of building a business around promising technology and the lessons for other entrepreneurs.
Fitafter50: David Schutz Builds an AI Coach for Healthy Aging
After watching dementia reshape his father's life, David Schutz built Fitafter50 , an AI-enabled platform delivering personalized, bite-sized fitness and wellness guidance for people over 50. He will present at SCWorks New Tech on November 5.
Now Hiring: 10+ Paid Internship Opportunities Available for Santa Cruz Young Adults
Local young adults ages can earn a paycheck and build real career skills through our AHSC Internship Opportunity Program, now in its second cohort and partnering with Cabrillo College.
Kharros Now Serves Both Sides of the Government Market, and Wants Introductions
Bootstrapped and cash-flow positive, Santa Cruz startup Kharros is now listed on the Pentagon's CDAO marketplace and running an autonomous BD engine for about 30 government-focused companies.
Kai Lenny Just Rode a 200-Foot Wave. Mathematically Speaking.
OpenAI just dumped 722 math manuscripts on a field that can't read them fast enough. Picture Kai Lenny backflipping out of a 200-foot barrel. Now picture trying to judge it.
Joby’s Success in the Monterey Bay Region Didn’t Happen by Accident
Joby Aviation's rise in the Monterey Bay region is often told as a story about one company. It's really a story about a region that spent years building the workforce infrastructure making that success possible, long before most people were paying attention.
Disney’s Ross Blocher Joins 3DE Club Advisory Board
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Ross Blocher, a Santa Cruz County–raised animation veteran who once memorized 3,200 digits of pi, joins 3DE Club’s Advisory Board to mentor Gen Alpha students at the intersection of creativity, technology, and storytelling.
The Titans Awards Gets a New Name
Our annual Titans Awards gets a new name…find out what it is.
October 2026 New Tech Photos
A big thank you to everyone who came out to Santa Cruz Works New Tech last night at River Row. It was a great evening of networking, conversation and big ideas from four companies tackling very different problems
Guy Kawasaki and Bill Reichert Bring "Tough Love" to Startup World Cup Santa Cruz
Chief Evangelist for Canva, and former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki joins longtime partner Bill Reichert of Pegasus Tech Ventures for a fireside chat at Startup World Cup Santa Cruz Regional, October 17 at The Catalyst.
The Boring Billions: Why Santa Cruz Ventures Just Backed Farmblox
Santa Cruz Ventures adds Farmblox to its portfolio — a Santa Cruz–headquartered farm automation company that began in maple syrup and now guards California irrigation pumps against a copper theft epidemic.
How to Run User Research on a Startup Budget
Santa Cruz local Kelea Liscio has spent 12 years leading UX research strategy, from helping teams take products from 0-1, to helping newly launched features grow to millions of users. She'll share the two questions that matter most at every stage of product development at the CEO Works Luncheon on October 28th.
Clean Oceans International Is Hiring a Paid Intern
Help protect the ocean while building real marketing experience in a paid, hybrid internship with Clean Oceans International.
UCSC, Santa Cruz, and Water: The Deal Was Made a Long Time Ago
Santa Cruz promised UCSC water in the 1960s to win the campus, and an appeals court has upheld that deal. The real question isn't whether UCSC gets water. It's how growth can use less.
Santa Cruz's Next Economic Opportunity May Already Live Here
Santa Cruz County's greatest economic asset isn't something we need to attract. It's already here: a workforce more educated than California's. The opportunity now is building local jobs worthy of it.
When Fiction Gets There First: Sentient and a Real AI Safety Chief Sound the Same Alarm
Tony J. Hughes imagined it. AI safety scientist Geoffrey Irving warns of it. Scott Galloway says Trump and Xi just missed a chance to address it. Fiction and forecast are converging.
Court Throws Out Archer's Counterclaims Against Joby for Good
A federal judge has dismissed Archer Aviation's counterclaims against Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation a second time, this time with no option to refile. Joby's core trade-secret case keeps moving.
Could the Monterey Bay Region Support a Data Center?
Data centers are becoming a midterm battleground. In the tri-county region, they're a political flytrap: the economics don't work, and our communities' collective will makes them a nonstarter from the start.
Omni's Trevor Heath to CEOs: Bet Big on AI, But Don't Stop Hiring
Omni's Trevor Heath told CEO Works luncheon attendees how AI powered the ex-Looker startup's 10x scale-up, and why governance, semantic layers, and human judgment still matter.
RoboticsCats' AURA Foresight Team Takes Third Place in $11M XPRIZE Wildfire Competition
Santa Cruz Accelerates alum RoboticsCats and its international consortium, AURA Foresight, earned third place and $500,000 in XPRIZE Wildfire's Autonomous Wildfire Response track, capping a four-year journey from team formation to podium.