About the San Diego Venture Group
Building the VC Community in Southern California
Attend SDVG Events
Meet successful founders, CEOs, and investors from around the region.
San Diego Venture Group
Elevating the San Diego Innovation Economy
Founded in 1986, SDVG is a non-profit organization designed to bring together people who are interested in new ventures and furthering individual companies, as well as our overall innovation community.
We are working hard to further San Diego’s status as a leading entrepreneurial and venture region. We regularly meet with startup companies and investors – both here and outside of San Diego. It is our mission to elevate the funding environment and growth prospects for our local startups. It is all about the companies, for the companies. We further work to support our venture capital eco-system by providing an informal and dynamic environment for entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, community leaders, and business advisors to develop greater insights into the process of forming, funding, and scaling high growth companies.
There are ten monthly meetings of the SDVG each year. Each meeting typically features a panel discussion by cross-industry experts on a specific entrepreneurial topic. Panelist are most always a combination of been-there-done-that CEOs along with venture capital investors. Meetings provide a friendly atmosphere for social contacts with peers — opportunities to expand one’s circle of friends and acquaintances with common interests.
We encourage you to connect and stay tuned!
Become a Member of SDVG
Play a principal role in bringing about high growth enterprise in San Diego.
Join the SDVG LinkedIn Group
Join members in the SDVG LinkedIn Group for funding news and discussions.
Follow SDVG on Twitter
Join in real-time discussions and updates in the San Diego funding scene.
“ San Diego Venture Group is on a mission to help grow the emerging startup community in San Diego.
Helping existing companies get better.
Helping those that are ready connect with capital.
Developing the San Diego brand in Silicon Valley, such that the VCs there proactively seek out our companies.
San Diego a great place to park their VC dollars. ”
— Mike Krenn
President of SDVG
The SDVG Team
Mike Krenn
President of SDVG
Mike has been fortunate to work with hundreds of companies and entrepreneurs, helping over 75 companies raise startup capital, in excess of $150M. He also has experience (and empathy) with startups, having worked as a COO and VP of BD at a privately-funded technology startup. He was a founder of both the Tech Coast Angels and CommNexus. While at DLA Piper, he founded Venture Pipeline — a free service that matches entrepreneurs with capital sources nationally, though primarily VC funds based in Silicon Valley. He has served on boards for Connect, The MIT Forum, the San Diego Software Council, and numerous other organizations.
Cait Kelly
Program Manager
Cait is Program Manager for SDVG. She’s also the BeachHead Coordinator, SDVG’s SF office. She’s an Analyst at SEED San Diego and Program Coordinator for the new accelerator program, Ad Astra Ventures. She’s a boss.
Nicole Leandra
Creative Director
Nicole is the creative and web designer for SDVG. She’s web designer and creative director for SD’s new Ad Astra Ventures. She advises the brand and communications for Startup San Diego and SD Startup Week. She designed the community campaign for The BeachHead, and the brand and website for SDVG’s Tacos & Tech #UltimateLifeHack recruitment campaign.
The SDVG Board
The SDVG Board of Directors is comprised of some of San Diego’s top executives, market influencers and investors. It is by design, a diverse group, inclusive of been-there-done-that leaders, along with CEOs currently in the trenches. With a dedicated “working” board, SDVG is committed to making a meaningful and tangible impact for our start-up companies and overall innovation economy.
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Megan2015-01-15 07:16:422016-07-19 06:03:46David Titus
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Megan2016-03-09 00:21:272016-07-15 05:17:46Gerardo Godinez
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Ariel Ruben2018-01-17 14:06:432018-01-17 14:09:50Grant Jordan
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admin2011-09-26 17:32:032016-07-18 20:28:44Jeremy Glaser
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Megan2016-03-03 02:05:412017-12-04 10:59:20Jonathan Kabakoff
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Megan2016-03-04 06:09:542017-08-21 14:58:38Ken Hood
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Ariel Ruben2017-05-04 06:16:242017-05-04 06:16:24Killu Sanborn
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Ariel Ruben2017-12-07 13:52:392018-02-22 00:29:04Kim Kamdar
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Ariel Ruben2017-12-08 15:54:202017-12-08 15:54:55Kris George
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Ariel Ruben2016-03-04 06:13:062016-07-16 05:21:18Kristi Jaska
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Megan2016-03-04 06:05:232016-07-16 05:16:35Kristina Hess
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Megan2013-01-24 02:58:072016-07-17 07:06:14Lee Barken
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admin2014-04-09 08:24:302016-09-29 01:31:33Mark Bowles
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admin2011-09-26 17:32:592016-07-18 20:44:02Michael Howard (Treasurer)
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admin2014-02-01 08:12:382016-07-18 19:43:39Michele Comtois
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Nicole Leandra
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Nicole Leandra2016-06-17 02:55:432016-08-17 05:39:17Mike Grey
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Ariel Ruben2016-03-03 04:33:092016-07-17 06:52:32Neal Bloom
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Megan2015-01-13 23:44:262018-03-28 14:52:47Quinn Li
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Megan2013-01-24 03:15:132016-07-19 05:54:29Randy Socol
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Megan2013-01-24 02:54:052016-08-17 02:48:02Robert Baltera
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admin2011-09-26 17:30:572016-07-18 20:26:08Scot Ginsburg
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admin2014-02-01 08:33:092016-07-18 19:46:52Shannon Conway
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Megan2016-03-03 02:08:552016-07-19 05:50:12Sureel Sheth
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Megan2015-01-13 23:05:592017-12-01 07:57:48Tim McIntire
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Ariel Ruben2017-12-08 16:34:572017-12-08 16:34:57Todd Poling
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Megan2013-01-24 03:07:062017-12-07 10:30:45Tyler Wilson
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Ariel Ruben
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Ariel Ruben2017-12-08 15:14:062018-02-22 00:25:42Wendy RogersSan Diego Venture Group HQ is located at the Alexandria across from Torrey Pines.
SDVG Press
Upcoming Events
Oct
24
Wed
5:00 pm
QuickPitch 2018
@ Qualcomm Hall
QuickPitch 2018
@ Qualcomm Hall
Oct 24 @ 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm
10 startups go head-to-head for over $75K in prizes.