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Upcoming Get-Togethers with Founders and Investors
Sbur Founders’ Office Hours: Unblock Your Venture & Tour Sbur
Hosted by Varnit Khanna, Co-Founder • Sbur
Virtual Get-TogetherRSVP to see the link
Building a company shouldn’t be a solo sport. Join us for an open, unscripted Office Hours session designed exclusively for founders.
Whether you’re a prospective member curious about how Sbur can support your journey, or a current member looking to tap into the collective brainpower of the community, this space is for you. Drop in with your sharpest questions or current bottlenecks—from pitch feedback and fundraising sanity checks to GTM strategies, early hiring, and navigating product-market fit.
Come ready to get real answers, meet fellow founders, and see how Sbur operates behind the scenes.
No upcoming Virtual Get-Togethers at this time. Check back soon.
Say It in 60 Seconds: Sharpen the Pitch That Gets Follow-on Meetings with Investors
Hosted by Mark Connell, President • SLBST Pharma
RSVP to see the addressBoston, MA, USA
Most Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A BioTech founders lose investor interest in the first minute — not because the science is weak, but because the story isn't sharp. If you can't distill your therapeutic's value in 60 seconds, you're leaving capital, partnerships, and talent on the table.
This session is built to fix that. You'll be in the room with fellow BioTech/Therapeutics founders and investors who've navigated the same fundraising, positioning, and translational hurdles you're facing now — and who give direct, practical feedback, not polite nods.
What we're doing: Each founder delivers a 1-minute pitch of their startup, followed by 4 minutes of open feedback from peer founders and investors in the room. This is not an investor pitch — it's a peer workshop to help you refine clarity, framing, and delivery before it matters most, in a low-pressure setting built for honest, constructive input.
Why attend: Whether you're pitching for the first time or the fiftieth, this is where you stress-test your narrative among people who understand the BioTech capital and partnership landscape — and walk away with a sharper story.
Seats are capped at 15 to keep the dialogue interactive and substantive.
This is our regular BioTech founders gathering, held bi-weekly on the 2nd and 4th Friday at 2:30 PM. Any founder in the group can propose and self-organize a future session topic.
When AI Ate the Funding: What's Left for MedTech Founders?
Hosted by Robert Garces, Investor • Boston Harbor Angels
RSVP to see the addressBoston, MA, USA
Capital that once flowed steadily into MedTech has slowed to a trickle, while AI startups keep raising record rounds. If you're building in diagnostics, devices, digital health, or health IT and wondering where the money went (and how to get your share of what's left), you're not alone. Carl Becker, Schooner Capital and I, Bob Garces, Boston Harbor Angels, will lead a Roundtable discussion on this subject matter on September 11.
Join Sbur's MedTech Group, a gathering of founders and investors across the space — from imaging and surgical robotics to remote monitoring, SaMD, and healthcare IT — meeting every Friday afternoon (virtual or in-person) to trade insights, resources, and warm introductions that open doors to capital, customers, and partnerships. As a member, you can pick a topic and lead the group discussion.
This Session: Navigating the MedTech Funding Drought
We'll unpack why capital has shifted so heavily toward AI, what that means for MedTech valuations and deal terms right now, and, most importantly, what founders in the room are actually doing to stay funded: alternative capital sources, strategic partnerships, revenue-first strategies, and how investors are still finding conviction in this space despite the headwinds.
Why You Should Be in the Room
This isn't a panel. It's a working session with people facing the exact same pressures you are. Founders will leave with tactics they can use this quarter. Investors will leave with sharper pattern-recognition on where real opportunity still exists in MedTech.
Seats are capped at 15 to keep the conversation genuinely interactive. RSVP to request your seat.
Hosted by Jonathan Bronson, Managing Partner • J2 Ventures
RSVP to see the addressBoston, MA, USA
Most founders think government contracts are only for defense primes. They're wrong.
The dual-use technology opportunity is broader than most people realize. Take M&M's: the U.S. government was its first customer, buying the candy-shell chocolate for military rations before it ever became the commercial icon we know today.
At J2 Ventures, we invest in that same dual-use logic. We're a Boston-based investor backing early-stage companies whose technology serves both commercial and national-security markets — bringing deep government and defense relationships that help our portfolio companies win federal customers and secure non-dilutive funding.
RISE is a great example of this thinking in action. Their SuperJammer robotic arm set the Guinness World Record as the world's strongest robotic arm, lifting over 7,000 pounds — and the Government is already among its first customers. Their Beltdraulic platform, an electric actuation system delivering hydraulic-level power and durability without hydraulic fluid, is positioned to replace hydraulics across construction, industrial, logistics, and defense equipment, enabling a new generation of cleaner, smarter, autonomous heavy machinery.
That's why I'm excited to join Hilten Sonpal, RISE's CEO and Kyle Dell’Aquila, Co-Founder for a roundtable on this exact topic. Together, we bring real authority on what it takes to build at the intersection of technology, manufacturing, and defense.
This is also a room worth being in. Manufacturing, robotics, and AI company CEOs and Founders joining us will have real customer development opportunities — shared government relationships, cross-portfolio introductions, and a faster path from prototype to procurement.
What you're building can be dual use. Don't miss the opportunity with the government. Seats limited — please RSVP today.
Following our industry-specific founder discussions and the robotics and investor session, we’re bringing everyone together for a relaxed mixer with founders and investors from the startup community. What to Expect: • Drinks, light bites, and live music • Genuine conversations with like-minded founders and investors. Come for the sessions, stay to connect with the people in the room. You never know which conversation turns into an introduction, a new perspective, or something bigger down the road. Space is limited, so RSVP early.
An Evening Where Manufacturing, Robotics, and AI Collide
Hosted by Kyle Dell'Aquila, Head of Industrial Design and Customer Experience • RISE Robotics
RSVP to see the addressSomerville, MA, USA
I'm Kyle Dell'Aquila, Co-Founder of RISE — and I want to personally invite you to something we've been building toward for a while.
If you've ever hit a wall that traditional hydraulics just can't solve, this is for you. We're pulling back the curtain on some of the most advanced technology in the space — engineered specifically to go where conventional hydraulic systems fall short.
You'll get a firsthand look with a facility tour, where you can look at our RISE actuators in action on the floor — not a slide deck, the real thing.
But this isn't just a product showcase. It's a room.
A room full of the people building the future of motion, manufacturing, robotics, and AI. That means real customer development conversations — the kind that turn into partnerships, pilots, and pipeline, not just business cards. We'll bring it all together with a CEO Roundtable discussion, where you're not just listening — you're trading notes, sharing what you're seeing in the field, and learning from people solving problems adjacent to your own.
Grab some lite bites and drinks and stay a while.
When: September 28, 5:00 – 7:00 PM
What you'll get: A factory tour of RISE robot arms in action, a CEO roundtable with leaders across manufacturing, robotics, and AI, real customer and partnership conversations, and food and drinks to keep the night going.
Space is limited — I'd love to see you there.
