StrictlyVC Los Angeles is set to bring venture capital, defense technology, artificial intelligence and advanced industry into focus on June 18, 2026, as investors and founders look beyond standard software startups toward companies building for security, robotics, space and industrial systems.
The event will take place at The Aerospace Corporation Campus in El Segundo, a location that fits the program’s theme. Southern California has become one of the most important U.S. regions for aerospace, defense, space and hard-tech startups, supported by legacy contractors, engineering talent, government-adjacent institutions and a growing group of venture-backed founders working on physical systems.
Unlike a large expo-style technology conference, StrictlyVC Los Angeles is positioned as a curated evening of interviews, networking and investor conversations. The program is expected to bring together founders, operators, venture capitalists and technology executives for discussions around where capital is moving and which startup categories are gaining momentum.
This year’s agenda makes the shift clear. Defense tech, physical AI and fundraising strategy are no longer side topics in venture capital. They are moving closer to the center of the startup conversation.
Defense technology takes the headline slot
The headline speaker is Ethan Thornton, founder of Mach Industries, whose session is titled “Built for a New Era of Defense Technology.” The conversation is expected to focus on how young defense companies can move quickly in a sector shaped by autonomy, manufacturing, national security demand and government procurement.
Thornton’s appearance is especially timely. Mach Industries recently announced a $300 million Series C round at a $1.8 billion valuation, nearly quadrupling its valuation within a year. The three-year-old defense technology startup has become one of the most closely watched companies in the category, partly because of how quickly it has attracted both capital and attention.
Its rise reflects a broader shift in venture funding. Defense technology was once a difficult category for many mainstream venture firms, partly because of long sales cycles, government procurement complexity and ethical concerns around military applications. That has changed sharply as geopolitical tensions, drone warfare, autonomy, space systems and national security modernization have pushed defense startups into the investor spotlight.
The category still remains difficult. A startup may build an impressive prototype but struggle to win production-scale contracts. Companies must navigate compliance, testing, manufacturing, security requirements and the “Valley of Death” between early government interest and durable revenue. Those challenges are why the conversation around defense tech is becoming more serious. Investors are no longer asking only whether a product is exciting. They are asking whether it can be deployed, trusted and scaled.
Physical AI moves beyond software demos
Another major session will feature Delian Asparouhov of Founders Fund and Saif Khawaja of Shinkei Systems in a discussion about physical AI. The phrase refers to AI systems that operate in the physical world, including robotics, automation, manufacturing tools, logistics systems and machines that interact with real environments.
That theme is important because venture investors are increasingly looking beyond chatbots, enterprise copilots and software-only AI apps. The next major opportunity may come from AI models that control robots, optimize factories, guide autonomous systems, inspect infrastructure, handle industrial workflows or support defense and aerospace operations.
Physical AI is harder than software AI because the margin for error is smaller. A chatbot can produce a weak answer and be corrected. A robot in a warehouse, a drone in a contested environment or an automated manufacturing system can create operational, safety or financial consequences if it fails. That makes the sector more capital-intensive, slower to validate and more dependent on real-world deployment.
At the same time, the upside is large. If AI can move reliably into machines, factories and field operations, it opens markets far beyond office productivity. That is why physical AI has become one of the more closely watched themes in venture capital.
Fundraising gets more selective but bigger for the right companies
StrictlyVC Los Angeles will also feature Carter Reum, co-founder and partner at M13, in a session titled “Finding the Next Big Thing.” The discussion is expected to examine how AI is reshaping industries and how investors are trying to separate durable companies from short-term excitement.
That question defines the current fundraising environment. Venture capital has become more selective in many software categories, but large rounds are still flowing into AI, defense, robotics, space, infrastructure and other areas where investors see long-term strategic demand.
The market is no longer simply rewarding companies for putting AI into a pitch deck. Investors are looking for deeper proof: technical defensibility, access to hard-to-reach customers, strong teams, government or enterprise demand, and a path from impressive demos to repeatable revenue.
This is especially true in defense and hard tech. These companies often need more capital than pure software startups because they build hardware, manage supply chains, test physical systems and sometimes manufacture at scale. The payoff can be large, but the execution risk is also higher.
Why El Segundo matters
The choice of El Segundo is more than symbolic. The city and the wider Los Angeles region sit near major aerospace, defense and space institutions, giving the event a stronger hard-tech signal than a standard startup venue would provide.
Los Angeles has become a natural meeting point for older aerospace infrastructure and newer venture-backed companies building drones, satellites, robotics, defense software, manufacturing systems and AI-enabled physical products. That mix is exactly what makes the region relevant to the current venture conversation.
Holding the event at The Aerospace Corporation Campus reinforces that message. It places the discussion in a setting connected to space, security and advanced technology, rather than in a generic conference center. For a program focused on defense tech and physical AI, the venue becomes part of the story.
A sign of where venture attention is moving
StrictlyVC Los Angeles is not built around a single product launch or company announcement. Its importance comes from what the agenda says about venture capital in 2026.
The startup market is shifting toward companies that can bring AI into the physical world, serve national security needs, modernize industrial systems and build infrastructure for more complex technology. Software is still important, but investors are increasingly interested in startups that combine software with hardware, data, autonomy, manufacturing and real-world operations.
That shift is also changing what founders need to prove. In a software boom, speed, growth and product adoption often carried the story. In hard tech and defense, founders also have to prove reliability, deployment readiness, customer trust and production capability.
The result is a more demanding but potentially more durable market. Defense agencies want faster modernization. Industrial companies want automation. Investors want companies with large markets and defensible technology. Founders want to build at software-startup speed while operating in sectors that move much slower.
StrictlyVC Los Angeles is designed to bring those groups into the same room. The event’s focus on defense tech, physical AI and fundraising strategy shows where some of the most serious venture conversations are heading: away from lightweight AI wrappers and toward companies trying to build the next generation of real-world technology.
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