APPLY TO PITCH - Orange County Innovation Week 2027

Live pitch slot in front of 100+ investors, strategics, and industry leaders.
Take the stage for a 5-minute pitch followed by a 2-minute Q&A.
Pitch coaching from Octane’s LaunchPad SBDC advisors.
Sharpen your story and your delivery before you step on stage.
Direct access to investors before, during, and after the event.
Connect, book meetings, and keep the conversation going well past the day itself.
One (1) full-access ticket to the Innovators & Investors Forum and Tech Innovation Forum
Post-pitch networking at the Evening Reception.
Continue conversations at UCI Beall Applied Innovation @ The Commons.
Promotion across Octane’s portfolio and marketing channels.
Your company is featured in the Octane event app, on the website, and across Octane’s network and audience.
Professional photos and a recorded pitch.
Walk away with polished content you can share with investors, customers, and your team.
Octane-branded executive summary.
A professional one-pager you can put in front of investors, backed by the Octane name.

Aurris AI combines deep domain expertise with cutting-edge technology to help brands and practices turn patient interest into action. Free from FDA regulatory constraints, our HIPAA-compliant platform deploys rapidly, enabling fast go-to-market scalability. With multiple revenue streams—including a SaaS subscription for practices and brands, and a per-transaction broker fee for patient financing—Aurris delivers immediate value while building a defensible, high-growth business in one of healthcare’s fastest-growing segments.

Drake Precision Optics was founded in 2012, specializing in opto-mechanical design and prototype manufacturing of medical laser delivery systems in ophthalmology and dermatology. In consultation with leading ophthalmologists, we have produced, tested, and patented the P300 femtosecond eye surgery laser with the capability to provide leading-edge clinical performance at a much lower cost of operation than today’s available systems. Currently, we have a low-profile optical design that can further improve workflow and is uniquely compatible with robotic surgery and/or operating microscopes. We are seeking pre-seed investment of 750K to produce the low-profile prototype and support commercialization.

Exactice is developing the AIM device, the industry’s 1st combined imaging and transseptal (TS) access device, to simplify cardiac procedure workflows, vastly improve safety, and decrease costs. There are over 1 million TS procedures performed worldwide annually, and the patented AIM device with its ICE catheter and steerable puncture needle was preferred unanimously by clinicians over the existing two-device approach in animal studies. The San Diego-based company is founded by clinicians, led by accomplished executives, and supported by KOLs. Exactice is seeking a $3M seed financing to fund development and 510(k) clearance of the AIM device by 2027.

Any organization attempting to build AI models using images as a foundation, understands the frustration and time consumption this process takes. This especially happens when labeling medical images as it requires Medical/Dental experts to be involved taking up massive training and support. We designed Labelty from the ground up to allow Medical/Dental experts to start Labeling images with 30 minutes of training on a tablet with a e-pen. Our HIPPA secured environment allows faster and simpler time to build data sets and faster to FDA submission. We can Label on 2D radiographs and DICOM files.

The Makani Science Respiratory Monitor is a bandage-sized, wireless, wearable respiratory monitor that can be used by ambulatory individuals. It is FDA approved for measuring respiratory rate in adults and can generate a waveform of breathing patterns accessible from anywhere. The data generated by this Continuous Respiratory Monitor can be analyzed using machine learning to potentially identify precursor patterns that can predict deterioration. Due to its small size and expansive capabilities, the company received an NIH grant to use this same technology to identify and terminate episodes of apnea of prematurity in neonates.

Its SmartOR™ platform captures millions of real-time signals from the operating room—workflow, timing, actions, and conditions—and transforms them into measurable insights that improve clinical efficiency, safety, and profitability. Hospitals lose over $80 billion annually from OR inefficiencies; SmartOR™ recovers that value by turning untapped operational data into actionable intelligence. With major partnerships across medical device, capital equipment, academia, and national health systems, including the University of Maryland, STERIS, and the UAE Ministry of Health, OMNIMED is addressing an $83 billion global market and is raising a $15 million Series A to scale commercialization and global expansion.

AWS co-sell partnerships close deals 65% faster, drive 51% higher revenue growth, and produce 5x higher win rates — yet most ISVs never operationalize the motion consistently enough to capture those outcomes. Skematic is the AI-powered platform built to close that gap. Built by the team that scaled CrowdStrike's AWS Marketplace program to $1B+ in revenue, Skematic combines AI-guided workflows, real-time execution visibility, and expert-level advisory — giving alliance teams and portfolio operators a single system to assess their standing, build a clear strategy, and execute at scale.

Time Machine is an AI Native / AI First Onboarding & Training Platform for Sales Teams. Our platform rapidly creates high-quality role-based training and then delivers it in a highly interactive way (including with AI Role Plays, Real World Scenarios, and lots of coaching and feedback). We utilize a DARPA proven methodology to fast-track learning and our platform creates adaptive training that is highly personalized for every individual. Customers are seeing significantly decreased ramp times, improved overall performance, and a huge time savings for sales leadership.

Viranova is a biotechnology company developing a first-in-class antiviral therapy designed to prevent recurrence of herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) keratitis, the leading infectious cause of corneal blindness in developed countries. Current antivirals suppress viral replication but do not address the underlying biology that drives recurrent disease. Viranova’s approach targets ICP0, the viral master regulator responsible for HSV reactivation, using a precision antisense oligonucleotide therapy delivered locally to the eye. By silencing the molecular trigger of recurrence, Viranova aims to move treatment beyond temporary suppression toward durable disease control and prevention of vision-threatening flare-ups.