Quantum is closing in on the math that secures the internet. Biology is becoming programmable. Money is becoming code. Machines are learning to see, move and decide.

The breakthroughs aren't the hard part anymore. Turning them into companies that take on the world's biggest problems is. Most people will read about it later. This room gets there first.

Join the founders taking frontier technology out of the lab, the corporate leaders putting it to work and the investors backing it for one afternoon on what's real, what's next and who's building it.

What to expect

Learn from the leaders shaping the frontier: An opening keynote from one of technology's most influential leaders. Past speakers: Harper Reed, CEO, 2389.ai, and former CTO, Obama for America · Alvin Wang Graylin, Stanford HAI Fellow and former China President, HTC

Hear from the leaders building what's next: An emerging leaders keynote from a founder turning frontier technology into a fast-growing company. Past speakers: Adam McElhinney, CEO, Uptake · Chris Gladwin, CEO and co-founder, Ocient

Understand the rules being written: Policy leaders on how regulation, export controls and public funding are shaping who gets to build, and where. Past speakers: Arry Yu, Convergence: Tech Policy Institute

Meet the startups: A pitch showcase and Startup Alley expo of founders putting frontier technology to work on the world's biggest problems, seed through Series A. Examples include quantum, AI, blockchain, robotics, synthetic biology, space tech and more.

See how corporations are putting it to work: Innovation leaders from the world's biggest companies on which frontier technologies they're betting on, which they're passing on and why.

Get the investor view: Deep tech investors on where capital is heading across the frontier, and what it takes to back a company built on science.

Get to the edge: Rapid-fire Tech on the Edge conversations on the technologies that will define the next decade, and the questions nobody can answer yet.

Leave with the right connections Networking and purposeful introductions, made before, during and after the Lab.

Who you're around changes what you believe is possible.

Based in Chicago. Serving the world.

Agenda

11:30 AM · Invite-only pre-event Separate registration required

  • CorpInno Exchange - Emerging Tech For senior corporate innovation and functional leaders. One leader walks through a real implementation: what they set out to do, what it took to get through the building, and where the plan changed. Then the room takes it apart.

  • Emerging Tech Investor Insider Seed-stage and Series A founders raising capital pitch for 60 seconds to a room full of emerging tech investors actively writing checks. Then the real conversations start.

12:30 PM · Startup Alley Expo: corporate and investor preview Invite-only Corporate leaders and investors get first access to the startups, before the doors open.

1:00 PM · Doors open · Startup Alley Expo opens to all

1:30 PM · Welcome from 1871

1:40 PM · Opening keynote One of technology's most influential leaders on which breakthroughs will reshape business first, and what to do about it now.

2:00 PM · Tech on the Edge Three to four rapid-fire 15-minute conversations with the people closest to the frontier.

Sample topics might include:

  • Q-Day is coming. Is today's encryption already obsolete, and who's exposed first?

  • When AI makes a scientific discovery, who gets the patent, and the Nobel?

  • When AI agents start paying each other, does money become code?

  • A chip can now read signals from the brain. Who owns your thoughts?

  • Washington, Brussels and Beijing are all writing the rules for AI and quantum. Whose rules will startups actually live by?

3:00 PM · Networking and facilitated breakouts Pick a table, pick a topic, led by industry experts. Past tables: turning AI chaos into clarity · what's blocking AI adoption · human-centered AI for a voice-first future

3:50 PM · Founder pitch showcase The frontier tech startups to watch, pitching to the corporate leaders and investors who can move them forward. Past winners: xBlock · Levee

4:30 PM · Emerging leaders keynote A founder turning frontier technology into a fast-growing company, on the decisions that got it out of the lab and into the market.

5:00 PM · Happy hour in Startup Alley Drinks with the startups, and the introductions we lined up for you.

Tickets: Pre-sale $150 · Free for 1871 members