A five-day innovation event series co-hosted by a volunteer-run nonprofit and the City of Pasadena opens Sunday, backed by a Caltech office that has spent years building a pipeline to keep deep-science startups from leaving for the Bay Area.
Connect Week 2026, running Sunday, April 12 through Thursday, 16, spans quantum computing, life sciences, climate innovation, and deep tech across multiple Pasadena venues. The series is co-hosted by Innovate Pasadena, a nonprofit co-founded in 2013, and the city’s Economic Development Division.
“Companies can stay here and don’t have to move to the Bay Area,” said Frederic Farina, Caltech’s Chief Innovation and Corporate Partnerships Officer, whose office runs a suite of programs designed to move research from the lab to the market. Those include a proof-of-concept fund, an Entrepreneur in Residence program, an internal venture fund, and incubator space on campus, Farina said. Caltech is also working on a new building on Green Street to house life science companies, with a hope of being operational within two years, he said.
The spinouts emerging from that system are “based on deep science,” Farina said, spanning quantum computing, optical lasers, carbon capture, cybersecurity, and therapeutics targeting conditions including type 1 diabetes and Rett Syndrome.
Innovate Pasadena operates with no paid staff, said Mike Giardello, the organization’s chairman and co-founder, who returned to the Board in January after the city and others asked him to resume leadership. Giardello and co-founder Andy Wilson launched the nonprofit in the summer of 2013. Its website states it has operated since 2012.
“We’ve always had an embarrassment of riches, but we want to put the spotlight on that and make the awareness of what our community is capable of doing,” Giardello said.
The week arrives alongside a separate milestone: the Pasadena BioCollaborative Incubator, a nonprofit founded more than two decades ago, is celebrating 22 years of operation and welcoming its 100th company, according to a city press release dated April 9.
That milestone will be recognized during Connect Week on April 15 in partnership with the city’s Economic Development Division.
The showcase event on Monday has drawn more than 160 signups between registrations and a wait list, Giardello said, and will feature a student pitch competition with participants from Caltech, Pasadena City College, and ArtCenter College of Design. Quantum Day Pasadena, organized by the Pasadena-based venture capital firm Qubits Ventures, is scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Hameetman Auditorium in Caltech’s Cahill Center. An evening panel titled “The Climate Cost of AI” follows at 6 p.m. A BioTech Crawl is Wednesday, and the week closes Thursday with a Pasadena Tech Happy Hour at 6 p.m.
The VIP Kickoff Reception runs from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at The Langham Huntington, 1401 South Oak Knoll Ave. Attendance is limited to 50 guests. Tickets are $500; 15 seats are invitation-only. Confirmed attendees include Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, Economic Development Director David Klug, Georgina Goode of JPL, and Farina.
Registration for all Connect Week events is at Luma.com/InnovatePasadena.
“This business is all about partnerships,” Farina said of Caltech’s participation. “It’s important to be connected to the community, understand who the people are, the network of people who can help our scientists.”
