Beach Bars Out, Beach Mats In: LA Tech Week 2025 Goes Wellness-First

This year, LA Tech Week didn’t just bring founders and VCs—it brought yoga mats, cold plunges, and “Puppies & Pilates”.

What happened?

• Kicking-off on Monday in Santa Monica, a group workout right next to the beach replaced the usual bagels and nametags. Nearly 100 tech folks in athleisure showed up for a “Sweat Equity” session hosted by Rally.
• Across the week: morning runs, surfing clubs, hikes above Brentwood, sauna + ice-bath combos in Venice, a “Rejuvenation Mansion” in Bel Air for brain-mapping and breathwork.
• Traditional tech conferences still held panel talks and demos, but some of the standout sessions were “pick-up pickleball with investors”, dogs on the lawn while founders networked, and “Founders Running Club x Deel” meetups.

Why the shift?

• LA has always had the “sunshine + beach lifestyle” appeal. This week leaned fully into that, turning the tech event into a hybrid of innovation festival and wellness retreat.
• Despite the fun vibes, there’s a strategic undercurrent: LA’s tech ecosystem is eager to prove itself more than just a lifestyle hub, especially given that many investors appear focused on San Francisco for AI deals. One founder noted the “Yes, I’m moving to SF?” question from investors.

The culture in the startup world is having a mini-reset: high-performers are tired of the all-nighter grind. One participant said:

“People in our community are high achievers wanting to focus on building great businesses … and also being great parents.” Business Insider

What stood out in numbers & events?

• The overall week featured ~1,500 events across LA, up roughly 2× compared to last year.
• The launch “Tech St. Santa Monica” street-festival turned Ocean Avenue & Palisades Park into an innovation showcase—robots, demo booths, beer garden for good measure—marking a serious scale-up for LA’s startup scene.
• Wellness-specific events were visible and varied: “Mindfulness Meditation for Founders”, “Cold Plunge + Sauna”, “Tri Yoga Flow for Tech People” among others.

Why this matters for you (and your reader)?

• For founders & builders: The environment you build your startup in matters. One where you also get to reset, recharge and still network? That’s attractive.
• For investors: It signals that founder burn-out and wellness are now infrastructure risks—they’re factoring into how the ecosystem shows up.
• For region-watchers: LA is saying: “Yeah we’ve got beaches. But we’ve got brains too.” The event tried to blend lifestyle + serious tech.
• For people in the startup life: The old “tech grind until dawn” culture may be giving way—being sharp and rested might become a competitive edge.

Keep an eye on:

• Will this wellness-first style translate into better startup performance (or investor decisions)? Or is it more marketing than meaningful change?
• Will LA’s increased visibility actually pull more deep-tech/AI investment (rather than just lifestyle-tech or creator economy startups)?
• How many of these wellness habits stick post-Tech Week—will founders go back to 3-am Slack marathons, or will healthy habits become part of the default?

Snappy takeaway:

When your tech conference offers you a cold plunge and a pitch deck review, you know the startup world is changing gear. LA Tech Week 2025 didn’t just sell ideas—it sold rested founders who can deliver. 💡