September 22, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tech Week Media Contact: Soua Vang
Deputy Director of Community Development/Economic Development
Email: SVang@GlendaleCA.gov
Office: (818) 548-2005
City Media Contact: Stephanie Mkhlian
Email: SMkhlian@GlendaleCA.gov
Office: (818) 548-4424
Glendale Tech Week Elevates City’s Growing Tech Community BrandLens Announced as GTW 2023 PitchFest Winner
Glendale, CA – Many of Glendale and the greater LA area’s major tech players came together during Glendale Tech Week, a celebration held September 12-14th at venues across the city.
The Glendale Economic Development team partnered with local tech leaders, investors, and education partners for the wide-ranging celebration that brought together more than 2,000 local and regional attendees to share ideas, gain insights, make connections, and celebrate the achievements of Glendale’s growing tech community.
Some of the week’s highlights included a Women in Tech Panel, sponsored by Phonexa, a first-ever Chess Tournament, and signature Demo Day Pitchfest sponsored and hosted by Hero House, where early-stage startups presented to a panel of judges and investors. Panels held throughout the week covered leading edge topics such as negotiation skills, impact of AI and machine learning, navigating finances, and bootstrapping vs. attracting venture capital.
Glendale Tech Week concluded with a Closing Party & Tech Awards where BrandLens, was announced as the winner of the Pitchfest competition. BrandLens is a cutting-edge B2B SaaS platform that enables businesses to crowdsource authentic, engaging, and fun branded video stories directly from their community, customers, and fans. The start-up received a prize package valued at $139,500.
The closing party also featured a Mayor’s commendation presented to Disney for its 100th Anniversary and investment in the city as well as a video featuring some of Glendale’s top tech firms to showcase what drives Glendale’s tech ecosystem.
“When Glendale launched its tech initiative in 2017, one of the primary strategies was the creation of Glendale Tech Week. Now in its 8th year, the value of bringing together the tech community in such a high-profile way shows how important it is to encourage community building and inspire the next generation of tech innovators,” said Deputy Director of Economic Development Soua Vang.
Glendale is home to more than 1,500 tech firms that employ more than 20,000 people. That ecosystem includes three unicorns ServiceTitan, Age of Learning, Legal Zoom and two tech accelerators, Hero House and the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles KidX Digital Health Accelerator.
About Glendale: Glendale is one of the largest cities in Los Angeles County, with a population of 201,000. Glendale is a thriving cosmopolitan city that is rich in history, culturally diverse, with a bustling downtown that is home to many corporate headquarters and tech giants, two first-class regional shopping malls, and a walkable Arts & Entertainment District with endless fine dining opportunities. Visit ChooseGlendaleCA.com for more information about Economic Development in Glendale or connect on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @ChooseGlendale.
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