Funders & Founders Meet in Shadelands to Talk Health-Tech & Sports-Tech
Start Up Walnut Creek is a partnership initiative designed to support and showcase technology-driven innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit, and to advance Shadelands and the greater Walnut Creek region as a hub for health-tech and sports-tech ventures. The initiative aims to attract and nurture tech and other innovative startups, building on the area’s economic strength and vitality.
Funders & Founders, Early Stage Venture Funding in Health & Sports Tech, was held in Shadelands on November 12.
In support of the effort, Five Star Bank, the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, and Shadelands Walnut Creek held a Funders & Founders event at Shadelands on November 12, presented by Sutter Health and co-hosted by Band of Angels, with a focus on early-stage venture funding for health and sports technology startups.
Entrepreneurs and investors mingled and networked during the Funders & Founders opening reception.
The event drew more than 180 business leaders, venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators from around the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley to Shadelands for an evening of networking, conversation, education, inspiration, expert panels, Q&A, and a startup pitch competition for cash prizes. This was the second Funders & Founders event held in Shadelands in 2025.
Key take aways for entrepreneurs: Seek out connections and partnerships; Be coachable; Embrace big data and data analytics; Incorporate AI in every venture; and Persevere.
Entrepreneurs and investors made introductions and connections, shared contact information, and forged new partnerships and collaborations.
Networking was in full bloom during the opening reception – friends and colleagues, and entrepreneurs and investors mingled, made introductions and connections, shared contact information, scheduled follow-up coffee dates and team introductions, and swapped anecdotes and personal journeys.
Paul Ratner, Vice President, Marble Bridge Funding Group, welcomed attendees to Walnut Creek and Shadelands, and set expectations for the evening’s agenda. [Photo credit Five Star Bank]
Paul Ratner, Vice President, Marble Bridge Funding Group, kicked off the evening agenda, welcoming attendees to Walnut Creek and Shadelands, recognizing the resources and potential right here in Shadelands in healthcare and sports fitness/performance spaces, citing the 227,000-SF Shadelands SportsMall and the 800,000-SF footprint of medical offices and healthcare facilities in Shadelands, at our own front doors.
James Beckwith, President & CEO, Five Star Bank, spoke of the importance of connections and strategic partnerships when launching a startup. [Photo credit Five Star Bank]
Five Star Bank President & CEO James Beckwith noted that it takes strategic partnerships to move the needle in terms of creating high-growth, venture-backed health tech and sports tech businesses. “Tonight is a great example of how we encourage and support connecting investors and entrepreneurs” to do just that.
Current Academic Affairs in Sports & Health Tech was moderated by Paul Ratner (far right) and included (l-r) Roger Thompson, President, Saint Mary’s College; Dan Rascher, Professor, Sport Management Master’s Program, USF & SportsEconomics LLC; and Charlie Faas, SVP, Saint Mary’s College & San Jose Sports Council. [Photo credit Five Star Bank]
The first panel, Current Academic Affairs in Sports & Health Tech, was moderated by Paul Ratner and included Roger Thompson, President, Saint Mary’s College of California; Charlie Faas, Senior Vice President, Saint Mary’s College of California, and a member of San Jose Sports Council; and Dan Rascher, Professor, Sport Management Master’s Program at University of San Francisco, and president of SportsEconomics LLC.
How are sports and health technologies emerging at their universities?
“We see wearable technology that started in research and high performance athletes that’s now spread into nonprofessional sports spaces,” said Faas, noting that wearables have expanded into everyday use by sports enthusiasts who want to improve athletic training, performance, and the overall sports experience.
“At St. Mary’s, we’re putting big data and data analytics into every major,” said Thompson. “Big data and analytics are critical to sports to help athletes perform better. How do you practically apply that data as it relates to competitive sports” and team and individual sports performance? “That’s an emergent field that’s underutilized.”
If you are looking to explore and invest in health tech or sports tech and you’re looking to hire graduates, “insert yourself into the process,” Rascher advised. If you’re hiring people in health and sports industries, “Be an adjunct at a university or college. Make that connection yourself, rather than waiting to catch graduates after they come out. Be proactive in the academic space.”
Jon Gregory, Senior Vice President/Venture Banking Manager, Five Star Bank, moderated State of the Pre-Seed and Early-Seed Fundraising Market.
The second panel, State of the Pre-Seed and Early-Seed Fundraising Market, moderated by Jon Gregory, Senior Vice President/Venture Banking Manager, Five Star Bank, was a blend of individual angel investors and local/regional/national investor groups: Rebecca Stafford, Band of Angels; Ron Weissman, Band of Angels; Krishna Chidambaram, Bay Angels; Laurel Mintz, Fabric Ventures; Rick Spencer, Growth Factory Ventures; Bob Karr, LinkSV; Dave Sanders, Sacramento Angels; and Vineet Jain, Wild Tree Ventures.
It’s all about connections – look for and be introduced to local leaders. Leverage the backyard advantage here in the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, and Walnut Creek. Build partnerships inside and alongside your mission. Building your network is even more critical while capital continues to be short.
I want to be surprised: Teach me something I didn’t know before that’s really important about your business or your market.
I want to see a founder who’s coachable because, as investors, we have a lot of skin in the game and we truly are a value add in the process. Being coachable leads to the right founder solving the right problem at the right time. A non-coachable founder is a deal breaker.
Members of the Pre-Seed and Early-Seed Fundraising Market panel, moderated by Jon Gregory, Five Star Bank, shared pointed opinions about what they look for in startups — deal makers and deal breakers.
I’m focused on startups that are looking at the use of analytics and big data to fundamentally change outcomes in areas of healthcare, education, and business to uncover patterns, make better decisions, and create business value.
The biggest cataclysmic change we’ll see in the next ten years is that our population is aging, and the caregiver-to-caretaker ratio is going to be skewed even more than it is now. How does that change society? We’re looking for startups that understand what’s happening and use that insight to innovate solutions.
We look for founder market fit. The founder should love the problem, not the solution. The solution is going to change, so we dig deep into why they love the problem. What is the connection? Why the commitment? And how are they going to persevere through the commitment – because there are going to be challenges and obstacles. Love of the problem has to be their driving force.
What’s the big thing of 2026 in the venture world?
AI applied to real life. AI agents and orchestration. Patient monitoring. Wearables. Women’s health. Defense. Aeronautics. Mineral extraction. Energy. Infrastructure. Reshoring – bringing manufacturing and physical jobs back to the U.S. through expanded automation and robotics and upscaling human capital.
Jon Gregory, Five Star Bank, also moderated the State of Seed Series A Fundraising Market, with a panel of angel investors and investor groups.
The third panel, also moderated by Jon Gregory, was State of Seed to Series A Fundraising Market, with six panelists: Jamie Linden, Alpine Software Group; Yash Hemeraj, Benhamou Global Ventures; Daniel Hoffer, Deep Venture Partners; Patrick Sagisis, Iolar Ventures; Peter Loukianoff, Portal Ventures Partners; and Brian Bell, Team Ignite Ventures.
What do investors look for in founders? What makes them want to write the check?
We’re looking for a super hungry team that is always working the problem because these things are hard. I have a lot of empathy – it is hard to build a business, but the ones who have the drive, who are getting up early and staying up late grinding and figuring ways to make it work are the businesses we seek.
We’re basically getting married to you for five to seven to ten years. And if we’re fortunate enough, you are a serial entrepreneur, and we’ll see you again. So, it matters a lot to choose the right business partners and investment partners because you will be wedded together for many years.
AI is going to transform the way we think about healthcare and communication, and I look for the sense of urgency to incorporate AI into their work. This shift will move medicine toward a more efficient, accurate, and personalized system, fundamentally changing how we approach health and wellness.
How do we drive more adoption of AI across our businesses and business plans? We do so by mandating that our startups use viable AI tools around tech and go-to-market strategies.
Josh Broward, Wisdom Partners, introduced the Startup Showcase Competition.
The evening’s agenda wrapped up with the Start-Up Showcase & Investor Input presentations moderated by Josh Broward, Wisdom Partners. Three health-tech startups and three sports-tech startups pitched to a panel of ten expert panelists for a chance to walk away with a $5,000 cash prize.
Jason Storey and Christian Oswald, representing Rainfall Digital, pitch their startup that captures digital identities and brand stories of sports items and memorabilia for gamification and customer engagement
Competing in the sports-tech space were Demotu, which uses an AI-powered mobile platform that captures advanced movement data to help gyms and trainers elevate training, prevent injuries, and boost overall athletic potential; FanUp.AI, which uses AI to help professional sports teams and leagues turn their amassed fan data into productive and valuable assets, solving the problem of inert databases in sports; and Rainfall Digital, which captures digital identities and brand stories of sports items and memorabilia for gamification and customer engagement.
Dr. Melis Yilmaz Balban, founder & CEO of NeuroSmart, pitched her start-up that develops wearable biofeedback technology for real time and accurate stress monitoring.
Competing in the health-tech space were Mednition, which provides AI-powered clinical decision tools for nurses to help identify high-risk patients, flag potential issues in real time, and improve care decisions; NeuroSmart, which develops wearable biofeedback technology for real time and accurate stress monitoring to manage stress and improve decision-making in high-pressure situations for military officers, health care workers, first responders, and professional athletes; and Pandora Health, which uses AI and gut microbiome insights to help individuals manage chronic conditions and improve overall wellness and long-term health through personalized, data-driven guidance.
Steven Reilly, co-founder & CEO of Mednition, took the top spot and $5,000 in the health-tech category, presented by Melinda Mata (c) and Farah Montalvo (r) with Sutter Health.
Standing in the winner’s circle after the vote tally were Steven Reilly, co-founder & CEO of Mednition, and Evan Ledahl, co-founder of Demotu.
Evan Ledahl, co-founder of Demotu, took top honors and $5,000 in the sports-tech category. (l-r) John Weems, BPM Accounting; Paul Ratner, Marble Bridge Funding Group; Evan Ledahl, Demotu; Josh Broward, Wisdom Partners; Jared Asch, Capstone Government Affairs; Jon Gregory, Five Star Bank.
Funders & Founders events are part of a larger economic development effort designed to create opportunities and avenues in Walnut Creek and in Shadelands where connections are made, ideas flourish, and new ventures take flight. This effort is about fostering entrepreneurship and transformative solutions in healthcare and sports fitness/performance, and showcasing data-rich, AI-powered technologies and systems that make premier healthcare and sports performance accessible to everyone.
One panelist expressed a common theme shared among the gathered attendees: The internet has unleashed entrepreneurship. You can be an entrepreneur anywhere. And that excites me. Entrepreneurship is global, with cross border ventures and international bridges to all parts of the world. Entrepreneurship is the best thing for our societies. If we had more entrepreneurs, we’d have a much better world.
Founders & Founders, Venture Funding in Health & Sports Tech was presented by Sutter Health; hosted by Five Star Bank, Shadelands Walnut Creek, Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, and Start Up Walnut Creek; sponsored by California Capital & Investment Group, City of Walnut Creek, HansonBridgett, TriNet, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, and VisitWalnut Creek; and made possible in partnership with Band of Angels, BPM, Capstone Government Affairs, Marble Bridge Funding Group, and Wisdom Partners.
