This fall, a2Tech360 brought the Ann Arbor region’s innovation community together for 10 days of ideas, connections and discovery. From September 22 through October 2, startups pitched to investors. Job seekers connected with hiring companies. Researchers shared new discoveries. Industry leaders explored emerging technologies. And people from across the region came together to see what’s happening in their own backyard.
Produced by Ann Arbor SPARK, a2Tech360 ran September 22 through October 2, with eight SPARK signature events and 13 Partner Events across the region. From raising capital and growing companies to exploring AI, mobility and life sciences, the series offered something for just about everyone interested in where technology is headed — and the people helping move it forward.
But some of the most valuable moments happened between sessions. Attendees talked about the energy in the room, the conversations that carried on after panels ended, and the chance to meet people they might not otherwise have crossed paths with. Founders showed up to support other founders, mentors shared advice, and new connections were made between people at different stages of their careers and businesses. It was a reminder that a strong innovation community isn’t just about the technology being developed here. It’s also about the people willing to share ideas, open doors, and help each other succeed.
“The Ann Arbor region has an incredible concentration of talent, research, technology and entrepreneurial activity, but our real competitive advantage is how well those assets work together,” said Paul Krutko, president and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK. “a2Tech360 puts that collaboration on full display. It brings together the people and organizations driving innovation, creates opportunities for new partnerships, and reinforces why this region is such a strong place to start, grow, and invest in a business.”
The 2026 a2Tech360 series was made possible with the support of presenting sponsors Oracle and OpenAI and supporting sponsor Washtenaw Community College, along with the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone Local Development Finance Authority (LDFA) and a broad group of corporate, institutional, and community sponsors.
From Talent to Capital to Company Growth
The series opened with Tech Homecoming, which drew its largest crowd yet, bringing together job seekers, hiring companies, and community resource partners. The room was buzzing as attendees connected with employers and explored career opportunities over professional headshots, food, drinks, and plenty of conversation. More than a recruiting event, Tech Homecoming reflects an important part of the region’s economic development story — helping innovative companies find the talent they need to grow while connecting people with opportunities to build their careers and lives here.
The next day, attention shifted from talent to capital at the Invest360 Summit & Pitch Competition, where 15 Michigan startups competed across life sciences, mobility, and information technology before a sold-out audience of investors, founders and ecosystem leaders.
Ann Arbor SPARK awarded $200,000 in investments, with Constrat receiving $100,000 after winning both the Information Technology category and the People’s Choice vote. Crank Bio received $50,000 as the Life Sciences winner, and RoboWorkX received $50,000 in Mobility.
But the pitches were only part of the story. Attendees appreciated the opportunity to connect with a broad cross-section of investors from southeast Michigan and beyond, while conversations throughout the day explored what it takes to move a company from an idea toward commercialization and growth — including access to investors, mentors, customers, technical expertise and other local resources. For participating founders, Invest360 was also an opportunity to sharpen their stories, learn from one another and take the stage alongside other Michigan companies working through many of the same challenges.
The FastTrack Awards turned the spotlight on companies demonstrating sustained growth, as SPARK celebrated 10 Washtenaw County businesses that have achieved significant revenue growth over multiple years. This year’s honorees ranged from first-time recipients to InfoReady Corporation, which earned its 10th FastTrack Award. The expanded 2026 program also recognized the broader range of businesses and people contributing to the region’s economic vitality.
Bird Dog Baking received the Washtenaw County Small Business Award, while Julius Buzzard of Growing Hope received the inaugural Washtenaw County Community Builder Award from Cunningham-Limp.
Keynote speaker Don Hicks — founder of LLamasoft, CEO of Optilogic, and managing director of Multiverse Investments — brought humor and candor to a personal reflection on building and investing in companies in Ann Arbor, lessons emerging from the AI revolution, and what those changes may mean for entrepreneurship and the future of work.
Together, Invest360 and FastTrack captured two ends of the entrepreneurial journey: companies working to secure the capital and connections needed to grow, and businesses demonstrating what sustained growth can look like over time.
Technology Changes. People Still Matter.
Of course, growing a strong innovation economy takes more than successful companies. It also takes people who are supported and empowered to build their careers. That was front and center at Women in Tech, one of a2Tech360’s largest gatherings, which introduced a new daytime format that was well received by attendees.
A packed room at Washtenaw Community College brought together women at very different points in their careers and from fields extending well beyond traditional technology roles. Former Google executive and author Alana Karen anchored the day with a keynote based on her book, The Adventures of Women in Tech: Navigating the Hard Tech Era, with each attendee receiving a copy of her companion workbook to continue reflecting on and applying the ideas from the day. Panels explored career decisions, leadership, self-advocacy, risk, relationships, and the changing role of AI in the workplace.
Attendee reactions afterward reflected the energy and encouragement in the room. Women appreciated the combination of practical career and business advice with genuine empowerment, and the encouragement to be more authentic, advocate for themselves, and take up space. Across different careers, industries and experiences, there was a shared sense of learning from one another, cheering each other on, and making space for what comes next.
And while AI was naturally part of the discussion, one idea surfaced repeatedly: as technology becomes more capable, distinctly human qualities — judgment, relationships, curiosity, self-awareness, and leadership — become more important, not less.
“What makes Women in Tech so special is how engaged everyone is — not just with the speakers, but with each other,” said Jenn Hayman, senior vice president of marketing, communications and events at Ann Arbor SPARK. “There’s a real sense of women showing up for one another, sharing what they’ve learned, and making connections. You can feel that support and energy throughout the room, and it’s what makes this event so inspiring every year.”
From Discovery to Deployment
The second half of a2Tech360 turned toward two sectors where southeast Michigan has significant research and industry assets: life sciences and advanced mobility.
At The Business of Life Sciences, researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders explored what happens between scientific discovery and commercial impact. Keynote speaker Lindsay Puscas, vice president of clinical operations at ONL Therapeutics, shared perspective from more than 15 years in clinical research, followed by a panel examining how research institutions, startups, contract research organizations and industry partners can work together to move discoveries from the laboratory toward patients and the marketplace.
The following day, the Ann Arbor Mobility Summit took over the American Center for Mobility, putting attendees inside one of Michigan’s most important testing assets for connected, automated, and next-generation transportation technology. Attendees also had the opportunity to explore the facility through tours of ACM’s test track and EV charging basecamp, getting a closer look at the infrastructure supporting mobility development and testing.
Morning keynote Dushyant Wadivkar, vice president and global head of Advanced Driving and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems at Woven by Toyota, shared his perspective on automated driving, AI, and the evolving transportation landscape. Sessions throughout the day expanded the definition of mobility even further, examining autonomous vehicle deployment, space and satellite infrastructure, robotics in hazardous environments, driver safety, and autonomous trucking.
The day closed with a live recording of the At the Wheel podcast, featuring Tu Le and Joe White in conversation about the rapidly changing global automotive industry — a lively and entertaining format that stood out in attendee feedback.
Bringing Innovation Into the Street
a2Tech360 concluded with Tech Trek and Tech Talk, bringing the celebration into the heart of downtown Ann Arbor and transforming Liberty Street into a free public showcase of the technology and innovation being built throughout the region.
Free and open to the public, Tech Trek transformed Liberty Street between Division and Fifth Avenue into a lively celebration of local innovation. Companies and organizations offered demonstrations and hands-on experiences alongside food, games, giveaways and a2Tech360 swag. Students, families, professionals, and the simply curious had a chance to explore what’s being built right here in the region and meet the people behind the technology.
For many attendees, one of the biggest highlights was discovering just how much innovation is happening in their own community. Visitors enjoyed meeting people from across the technology sector, learning about companies and products they hadn’t encountered before, and hearing the stories behind ideas that are becoming real-world solutions.
At Liberty Plaza, Tech Talk brought that innovation to the stage through a series of live demonstrations. The program featured the winner of Epic Games’ Early Talent Competition; autonomous vehicles, EVs and robotics from Square One Network; extended reality from OXR; Consumers Energy’s use of drones and thermal imaging to inspect the electric grid; the winning agentic AI project from the JacHacks A2Tech Hackathon; and MindsEmerge’s AI-enabled, screen-free approach to early literacy.
Together, Tech Trek and Tech Talk provided a fitting close to a2Tech360 — bringing innovation out into the community and giving people a chance to see, experience, and connect with the technology being developed right here in the region.
More Than a SPARK Event
While SPARK produces a2Tech360’s eight signature events, the series is intentionally bigger than any one organization.
This year, 13 Partner Events extended a2Tech360 into venues across Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, giving organizations throughout the region an opportunity to contribute their own expertise, audiences, and ideas.
The 2026 lineup included the University of Michigan’s Celebrate Invention, the MichBio Medical Device Summit, New Enterprise Forum’s Healthy Founders, Healthy Exits, the JacHacks A2Tech Hackathon, Digital Summer Clinic’s Start Your Modern Career, Maker Works’ 15th Anniversary Open House, Yeo & Yeo HR Advisory Solutions’ Ready, Set, Network webinar, ZingTrain’s Systems that Serve, Ann Arbor Art Center’s tours and workshops, Samaratas’ Reimagining Impact, YpsiTasty, One Million Cups, and an a2Tech360 After Party at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum.
The variety is intentional. Innovation does not happen only inside startups or research labs. It happens in classrooms and coworking spaces, manufacturing facilities and established companies, community organizations, and informal conversations between people who might not otherwise have met.
Attendee feedback throughout the series captured that dynamic particularly well: founders presenting one day and supporting another company the next; coworking spaces becoming gathering places; mentors, sponsors and organizers appearing across multiple events; and entrepreneurs crediting local programs, advisors, and relationships with helping them reach milestones that would have been harder to achieve alone.
“One of my favorite things about a2Tech360 is watching all of these different communities come together over the course of 10 days,” said Lydia Mitchell, a2Tech360 program manager at Ann Arbor SPARK. “Each event has its own audience and energy, but you start to see the connections between them — founders, students, investors, researchers, industry leaders and community partners learning from each other and showing up to support what’s happening across the region. That’s when a2Tech360 really comes to life.”
An Ecosystem Built by Showing Up
Presenting sponsors Oracle and OpenAI, along with dozens of event sponsors, speakers, volunteers, host organizations and community partners, played an important role in bringing a2Tech360 to life.
“a2Tech360 brings companies, entrepreneurs, researchers, and emerging talent together at a time when AI is opening up new ways to address real-world challenges across the country,” said Beatrice Fullan, Vice President of Community Relations, Oracle. “Those connections help move ideas toward practical applications. Oracle is building the infrastructure to support that work, creating jobs and economic opportunity here in Michigan.”
Oracle’s sponsorship reflects the growing importance of AI infrastructure and enterprise technology across industries including automotive, manufacturing, agriculture, and healthcare — many of the same sectors represented throughout a2Tech360. OpenAI’s involvement reinforced the role of emerging technologies in creating new opportunities for businesses, workers, and communities.
“OpenAI is proud to support a2Tech360 and the broader Ann Arbor innovation community. What stood out throughout the series was the way people across the region came together to learn, share ideas, and explore how emerging technologies like AI can create new opportunities for businesses, students, and workers. Strong innovation ecosystems are built through those kinds of connections, and we’re excited to be a part of that work in Washtenaw County,” said Don DeFoe, Community Engagement Lead, Midwest, OpenAI.
That emphasis on connection was echoed in feedback from attendees throughout the series. For SPARK, the impact of a2Tech360 extends well beyond the presentations, panels and demonstrations.
“The best feedback we hear isn’t just that someone enjoyed an event,” Hayman said. “It’s that they met someone they’re going to follow up with, discovered a company they didn’t know was here, found a resource that can help their business, heard something that changed how they think about their career, or simply felt more connected to this community. That’s the point of bringing everyone together.”
Ultimately, a2Tech360 is about turning connections into opportunities — helping companies find talent, entrepreneurs access capital, and people across the region build relationships that support business growth.
Learn more about a2Tech360 and explore the 2026 events, speakers and full agendas at a2Tech360.com.
