By james art To further build its tech startup ecosystem, the city of Glendale announced programs led by FoundersBoost and SmartGateVC LLC as recipients of a $1 million grant from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-BIZ) secured by state Sen. California Anthony Portantino for Technology Startup Growth Programs.
This program marked the second time the city has awarded grants to technology accelerators. In 2019, the city of Glendale received a $1 million state grant. As part of this agreement, the city issued a request for proposals and awarded the funds to KidsX from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and Hero House, which were selected as the final two accelerator operators. Since then, Hero House and KidsX have successfully nurtured a number of start-ups in the region, laying a strong foundation for future initiatives.
Grant Proposal Process
Earlier this year, the city invited qualified respondents to submit a proposal to be considered as a grantee for the operational management and program management of a technology startup accelerator, incubator, startup studio or similar program to grow technology startups in Glendale. A total of 17 proposals were received. A selection committee reviewed all proposals and interviewed the top five based on predetermined metrics, qualifications and experience, leading to the final decision.
One of the recipients, a joint effort of the FoundersBoost Foundation, Hacker Fund and the Alliance for SoCal Innovation, proposed a program called the Glendale Growth Alliance, which will support innovation at multiple stages of maturity, from idea generation through startup scaling and growth. FoundersBoost is a global technology pre-accelerator that works with early stage entrepreneurs. Hacker Fund is a model that empowers hackers to help the disadvantaged, educate the community and protect the environment. The Southern California Innovation Alliance is a nonprofit organization that brings together Southern California’s many leading research institutions, local business leaders and world-class advisors. Together, they will build and manage the Glendale Growth Alliance, which will host public hackathons, run accelerator programs and provide additional avenues for startups to grow and obtain funding.
The second recipient is the “Venture Building Program” from SmartGateVC LLC, a firm that seeks out industry-defining ideas and injects the capital, talent and industry connections needed to drive the transformation from pre- to seed-stage. The Venture Building Program will bring together researchers from leading universities with industry experts to develop and build products and companies, dramatically bridging the gap between the research and business communities. SmartGateVC currently runs startup hub HeroHouse in Glendale and has had success with investments in companies such as Krisp, Britive and SuperAnnotate.
“There were several compelling factors that stood out for these two outstanding programs. They were able to demonstrate a track record of success and presented unique propositions that addressed different needs of the Glendale ecosystem and stages of growth for startups,” said Sua Wang, Glendale’s Deputy Director of Economic Development. “We look forward to seeing how they will help us further shape the technology industry in Glendale.”
SmartGateVC Director Armine Galstyan shared, “We are excited to continue our collaboration with the City of Glendale. We’ve been working within the Glendale tech ecosystem through SmartGateVC and Hero House, focusing on early-stage AI startups for the past three years. Glendale is the perfect base for our US operations, offering a thriving tech community, strong civic support and a central location in the Los Angeles area. Hero House has become a hub for collaboration, and we look forward to deepening our influence in the tech community through these new programs.”
FoundersBoost CEO and Co-Founder Blake Caldwell said, “We are excited to be a part of Glendale’s tech growth and contribute to building a dynamic, inclusive startup ecosystem. Glendale Growth Alliance supports the entire startup journey – from sparking inspiration to building capacity and ultimately raising seed capital. By bringing together three organizations, each a leader in their field, we provide comprehensive support to help early-stage founders thrive. Our approach builds on the strong foundation already in place in Glendale, leveraging the city’s strengths in key sectors such as SaaS, media, entertainment and lifestyle, among others. Through this collaboration, we’re not just supporting startups—we’re fostering long-term innovation and economic prosperity for Glendale’s future.”
“The quality of proposals received from the city was impressive. What’s more, we saw the incredible vision for the future of our city presented by the two grant recipients. This program is just one more critical aspect of the city’s ongoing technology strategy that has had a huge impact on our ability to attract innovators and entrepreneurs to Glendale,” said David Crowley Delgado, Glendale’s Senior Economic Development Coordinator.
Much of this success is due to Glendale’s Technical Strategy Report, published and adopted by the City Council in 2017, which outlined several recommendations to strengthen the local ecosystem.