Somarae Builds a More Intentional Founder-Investor Morning at SF Tech Week
Networking gets easier to count as the room gets larger. The relationships worth carrying forward usually begin somewhere smaller. Somarae is building Friday morning around that distinction, bringing founders and investors together for breakfast, a fireside conversation, and enough unstructured time for the introductions to become actual conversations.
Founder Marian Bacol will co-host with Asya Bradley, Startups and Venture Capital Lead at Stripe, Auburn Stevens, Head of Partnerships at COMP AI, and Dave Garland, Managing Partner of Second Century Ventures. The program moves from check-in and coffee into a forty-five-minute speaker session before returning the room to networking.
The mix of voices gives the morning several ways into the same founder problem. Capital matters. So do payments infrastructure, compliance, partnerships, and the ability to keep leading while the nervous system carries the cost of every unresolved decision. Somarae works directly on that last layer, offering short regulation practices for ambitious women and organizations. Its presence changes the room from another transaction-first mixer into a conversation about the person expected to survive the growth plan.
A breakfast cannot manufacture trust on schedule. It can make enough room for people to stop collecting contacts and notice which conversation deserves a second one.
Event details
- Date: Friday, October 9, 2026
- Time: 08:30-10:30 PT
- Location: Downtown (SF), San Francisco Bay Area, CA
- Format: Breakfast, Brunch or Lunch
- Host: Somarae
- Registration: Official SF Tech Week event page
Registration status, capacity, meeting details, and program information can change. Use the official event page for the latest organizer updates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is hosting COFFEE + CONNECT?
Somarae is the listed host, with Marian Bacol named as founder and co-host.
Who is participating in the fireside conversation?
The official listing names Marian Bacol, Asya Bradley of Stripe, Auburn Stevens of COMP AI, and Dave Garland of Second Century Ventures.
What does the morning include?
The organizer lists check-in and networking, a speaker and fireside session, and additional coffee and networking.
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