Our Take
This is an event announcement with no news hook, no reported deal, no product launch, and no capability claim—just an invitation to a curated networking evening.
Why it matters
If you work in defense tech, physical AI, or early-stage venture fundraising in the West Coast ecosystem, closed-door conversations with active funders and builders matter. The timing aligns with a visible uptick in founder-investor alignment around autonomy and hard tech.
Do this week
Defense or robotics founder: secure your spot before June 18 so you can connect directly with Founders Fund, M13, and operators scaling hard tech at speed.
Event Details
StrictlyVC Los Angeles will take place Thursday, June 18, at The Aerospace Corporation Campus in El Segundo. The evening brings together investors, founders, and tech leaders for conversations on venture capital, defense technology, artificial intelligence, and advanced industry.
The confirmed speakers and sessions are:
- Ethan Thornton (Mach Industries) on building hard tech at speed and the role of autonomy and manufacturing in defense.
- Delian Asparouhov (Founders Fund) and Saif Khawaja (Shinkei Systems) discussing physical AI, robotics, and automation beyond software.
- Carter Reum (M13) on how AI is reshaping industries and how venture investors are filtering hype from durable companies.
Additional speakers will be announced as the agenda grows. The event is designed to enable direct access and unscripted conversation between attendees, not lecture-format presentations.
Who Should Pay Attention
Defense and advanced manufacturing founders are seeing capital flow into their category with renewed urgency. The presence of Founders Fund and M13 signals where institutional LP attention is concentrated. For practitioners in robotics, autonomous systems, or hard tech manufacturing, the guest list and curator selection matter more than the speakers themselves.
The event also reflects a shift in how venture markets are evaluating AI companies. Reum's session explicitly frames the investor pivot away from short-term AI hype toward "long-term durability"—a signal that the VC market has begun separating commodity AI applications from category-defining businesses. This is not new thinking, but the fact that it is now a public conversation point at a curated LA event suggests the market correction is being named openly.
What to Do Now
If you are fundraising in defense, robotics, or physical AI, the June 18 event offers a compact opportunity to meet three active, relevant funders in a setting designed for substantive conversation. Secure a spot and prepare a 60-second pitch that avoids the generic AI framing—focus instead on the specific autonomy challenge, the manufacturing or supply chain problem, or the national security angle that defines your work. The curated audience size means the value is in direct access, not visibility.