Sunstone Management Opens Irvine Tech Week with Sold Out Early-Stage Founders Panel
Sunstone is a proud sponsor of the inaugural Irvine Tech Week.
March 22, 2023
Sunstone is a proud sponsor of the inaugural Irvine Tech Week.
March 22, 2023
Students will compete in developing public-private partnerships to attract early-stage entrepreneurs, financial investment into communities.
February 10, 2023
Partnership to develop and grow local startups will continue through 2027.
February 6, 2023
Coalition of organizations kickstart project alongside new Mayor.
January 26, 2023
Meet the founders of up and coming startup anthym.
January 13, 2023
Highlighting this week’s Founder: Alex Hejazi, CEO & Founder of BallBox.
January 1, 2023
Commitment through Sunstone Management’s Donor Advised Fund will support diverse early-stage founders.
December 19, 2022
New addition to spearhead efforts providing startup founders with necessary resources to reach development goals.
40 startups representing ten University of California campuses to pitch at Sunstone-sponsored investor event.
November 16, 2022
Sunstone sits down with Dovran Amanov, CEO and Founder of Neuronspike.
October 28, 2022
Diverse set of founders representing all 23 CSUs pitch at entrepreneurial event.
October 21, 2022
Meet the founders of one of the best accelerators in the world, Lair East Labs.
October 20, 2022
Global group of founders to receive funding, mentorship support as part of Sunstone partner Lair East Labs, a cutting edge New York-based accelerator program for AI, SaaS, FinTech, eCommerce platforms.
October 12, 2022
Sunstone Management, American Lending Center, Partake Collective, TrustCard, and Sunstone Trust Company hosted “The Five Founders” social event celebrating the innovative Southern California entrepreneurial ecosystem.
September 27, 2022
Let’s chat with Trevor Thoma & Aidan Pinter, Cofounders of Rideshine: “The only subscription service that washes your car while you sleep.”
September 23, 2022
Zarina Bahadur has been featured in the likes of Forbes and Business Insider. Now it’s Sunstone’s turn to speak with the CEO and Founder of 123 Baby Box.
September 16, 2022
A Sunstone Founder Focus interview with Brynley Lee, CEO and Founder of Basilard BioTech.
September 9, 2022
A chat with James Jones Jr. – Harvard alum, attorney, CEO, and co-founder of Bump by Ownors.
September 2, 2022
Long Beach Accelerator Center of Excellence Grant will assist the development of new tech accelerator network.
August 29, 2022
Ocra’s Ethan Glass on parking – an industry on the cusp of transformation.
August 26, 2022
Funds will expand access to community-based accelerator programs for TiE members.
August 22, 2022
Both companies rank on distinguished list for third consecutive year.
August 16, 2022
Funds will support entrepreneurship programs and activities at CSU campuses.
August 15, 2022
Gritty In Pink’s Shira Yevin on communicating, connecting and providing a market for talented women.
August 5, 2022
A founder focused interview with Zero Infinity One CEO Michael White – musician, music producer, networker and visionary.
July 29, 2022
An interview with the founders of Noveil, an innovating dating platform for Gen Z college students and Grand Prize winner of the Stella Zhang New Venture Competition.
July 20, 2022
Rising star Kurt Busch is the CEO and founder of AI and deep learning company, Syntiant.
July 19, 2022
Former Business Development Officer for the City of Long Beach Economic Development Department to spearhead relationship building with local municipalities for early-stage business ventures, reaffirm company’s commitment to public/private partnership investments.
July 18, 2022
Sunstone corporate partner, the Long Beach Accelerator, announces their fourth cohort!
July 12, 2022
Evolectric co-founders Jakson Alvarez and Bill Beverley turn their dream into reality with the involvement of Sunstone and the Long Beach Accelerator.
July 7, 2022
Sunstone sits down with Blue Aqua Food Tech, winner of the Stella Zhang New Venture Competition in Social Enterprise at the University of California, Irvine.
June 28, 2022
Sunstone founding partner John Shen shares his thoughts on the American Dream, AANHPI, and making California home.
June 27, 2022
Sunstone goes nationwide in new partnership with New York-based accelerator Lair East Labs.
June 23, 2022
Sunstone sits down with Dr. Yi Chao, CEO and founder of renewable “blue tech” startup Seatrec.
June 17, 2022
Innovation Leader and Sunstone Management founding partner John Shen joins President Biden at White House bill signing.
June 14, 2022
Finalists gathered at the University of California, Irvine to compete for $100,000 at the Stella Zhang New Venture Competition Grand Finale.
June 9, 2022
CEO John Keisler invited to speak at CALED conference in Long Beach on accelerating entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships.
May 23, 2022
Twenty teams from six universities gathered at Cal State Long Beach for the inaugural Sunstone CSU Startup Launch.
May 9, 2022
Finance and Startup Development Veteran Joins Sunstone as Top Advisor, Partner.
May 5, 2022
Sunstone Management presents top teams with startup seed funding and professional resources.
April 21, 2022
Sunstone ranks 222nd, ALC ranks 452nd.
April 11, 2022
Former Long Beach Economic Development Director Set to Spearhead Significant VC, P3 Growth.
February 22, 2022
LBA creates the largest accelerator funding opportunity to date in the US.
February 17, 2022
Inc. 5000 recognizes Sunstone Management for successful growth strategies two years in a row.
August 19, 2021
Sister company Sunstone Trust approved as first de novo trust in California in nearly 14 years
August 2, 2021
LBA congratulates the inaugural cohort on its completion of the program and greets a new class.
July 8, 2021
Sunstone ranks 59th, ALC ranks 390th on list of 500 for 2021.
April 13, 2021
Sunstone Management awards two innovative startups seed funding and professional resources at California State University, Long Beach.
April 8, 2021
Companies on the 2021 Inc. 5000 Regionals: California list had an average growth rate of 535 percent.
March 17, 2021
Long Beach Accelerator announces new board members and the commencement of its first class of startups.
February 16, 2021
Andrea White-Kjoss brings over 20 years of business expertise and an extensive network of entrepreneurs to the Accelerator’s team.
November 12, 2020
Sunstone Management was not the first company founded by John Shen, a serial financial entrepreneur, but it could easily be the most efficient he has built in a short period of time.
October 27, 2020
Company expands initial market of research and defense to power Blue Economy including aquaculture and maritime transportation.
October 27, 2020
Sunstone recognized by Built in LA, additionally under “50 Best Small Companies to Work For in Los Angeles” and “50 Companies with the Best Benefits in Los Angeles.”
September 2, 2020
Sunstone recognized for supporting growth and job creation in US Economy.
August 12, 2020
Sunstone investment in Series A and B supports Syntiant’s continued growth.
August 10, 2020
Sunstone Management founding partner John Shen presents winning teams at CSULB Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
May 12, 2020
Proceeds will support American families who have adopted Chinese infants with disabilities.
March 10, 2020
American Lending Center and Sunstone Management implement long-term donation plan to distribute direly needed medical supplies to hospitals throughout China.
February 6, 2020
Sunstone leadership talks AI, big data, and startup investing.
December 19, 2019
Welcome to The Sunstone Way, a new blog from John Keisler, the CEO at Sunstone Management. Come back here every week as we explore how Sunstone is helping enrich companies, communities and lives through investment. It’s our goal with this blog to explain how we are working here at Sunstone to enrich the world by helping startup founders turn a dream into a viable business, create valuable and interesting jobs, and improve the community by providing a needed service or product.
Yesterday, while sitting on stage at TiEcon Southwest, I was asked to answer the most difficult question facing all early-stage venture capital investors: “What information do you use to identify great startups?” This is such a difficult question to answer because there is so little information available to forecast the potential for future success. At Sunstone Management, we believe in creating partnerships to identify, engage, and support the growth of early-stage Founders. Here are five strategies that we use to identify great startups.
Almost every city in America—large and small, rural and urban, coastal and inland—is looking for new and creative ways to attract and grow new small businesses in their communities. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy and provide several critical resources to the health of a city including job creation, revenues to pay for city services, and creating a high quality of life through quality goods and services. But small businesses need support to survive and thrive; and, most cities are failing to provide the key support services that are needed to grow their local small business economy.
We often hear that “government should run more like a business”. Typically, this statement is meant to imply that the private sector is more innovative, creative, and efficient—that the American economy would grow more if only government would get out of the way. This is a common assumption in American business culture that limits economic growth and shows a lack of understanding about how the public sector supports economic growth through economic development. Real economic growth requires a partnership between government and business.
Sunstone Management announced the launch of our most recent investment in early-stage entrepreneurs with Sunstone University, a monthly education series that brings university-based startup Founders together to share resources and support one another. Sunstone has emerged as a Statewide leader among early-stage venture capital firms in supporting university-based entrepreneurship.
This week, Sunstone Management announced its exciting nationwide expansion into New York City through a new partnership with early-stage startup accelerator Lair East Labs (LEL), one of the Top 100 Accelerators Worldwide. This is a big investment for two organizations located on separate sides of the continent over 2,780 miles apart. How can this big investment result in benefits to Founders of early-stage technology startups located in such different regions of the country?
Earlier this month, Sunstone Management distributed approximately $1 million in Simple Agreements for Equity (SAFE) to 10 early-stage technology startups with the hope that these diverse entrepreneurs would become partners in the creative, complex, and challenging journey of risking it all to realize their entrepreneurial dream.