Smart Venture Media Unveils "Smart AI 100" List and Exclusive Silicon Valley Summit

Silicon Valley, CA – Smart Venture Media, led by founder Grace Gong, today announced the launch of its inaugural "Smart AI 100" list, a curated selection of the most promising early-stage artificial intelligence companies. The announcement coincides with an exclusive one-day summit scheduled for September 2, 2025, at the Silicon Valley Experience Center, designed to bring together key players in the AI ecosystem.

The "Smart AI 100" initiative aims to spotlight seed and Series A AI startups that often receive less attention than established "unicorns" in mainstream media. Grace Gong stated in her announcement, "The media always covers the unicorns everyone already knows about. After building Smart Venture Media for 5 years, I realized the most interesting stuff happens early. When you're still figuring it out. When you're building something that doesn't exist yet and everyone thinks you're crazy."

The accompanying summit, running from 1:00 PM to 7:30 PM, is set to feature an impressive lineup of approximately 40 speakers. Confirmed participants include high-level executives such as the President of Cisco, the CRO of Nebius, and the VP of Microsoft, alongside leaders from prominent technology firms like Snowflake, OpenAI, and Vercel. Top-tier venture capital firms, including Coatue Management, Index Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners, will also be represented.

The event is designed to foster meaningful dialogue and collaboration, moving beyond traditional networking. Gong emphasized, "This isn't about networking or whatever. It's about the conversations that happen when you put the right people in a room and let them talk about what they're actually building." Early-stage founders from companies such as Pylon, Unify, and Horizon3.ai are expected to attend, connecting with investors and industry leaders.

Smart Venture Media has garnered support from a diverse group of partners for this endeavor, including Nebius, Snowflake, Vercel, HubSpot, Auth0, Morpheus Talent Solutions, SVB, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Sequoia, Fondo, Wayo, Mostest, and CB Insights. These partnerships underscore the industry's recognition of the need to identify and nurture nascent AI talent and innovation. Attendees can use the code VENTUREWITHGRACE for a 50% discount on admission.