Nine new startup business teams were created during the 2021 Techstars Startup Weekend Monterey Bay held February 5-7, 2021. This was the ninth year that the Institute for Innovation & Economic Development at Cal State University Monterey Bay hosted this event. This was the first year that the event was hosted completely online and with Spanish language interpretation.  Seventy-one (71) participants (both students and community members) signed up for this event, 30 new business ideas were presented, and thirteen of those ideas were selected on Friday, February 5, to work on over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, fifteen mentors helped these teams develop their business ideas into new startup businesses. On Sunday, nine teams pitched to a panel of four judges which evaluated them on their business model, customer validation, execution, and design. The judges chose the following winning teams:  

The first place winner and the recipient of the Crowd Favorite Award, ZenSpace, is an at-home immersive meditation pod that helps its users overcome anxiety and stress. 

Runners-up:

1. Second Place: Seeds4STEM – provides resources to parents and educators to build STEM clubs for 3-8th graders.

2. Third Place – Lilliput – a smart toy (Plushy Cat) to revolutionize literacy for bilingual early language learners

The other startup teams:

1. Circle- An app to navigate well-being opportunities

2. Every Farm – A community-based platform for small farms to expand their business

3. FeedFo – Location-based social network with live chat feed

4. GloProz – An e-commerce platform for talent acquisition and project management

5. Igri – Empower local farmers with agri-technology to improve the quality of their harvest

6. Micro Movers- Uber for moving your stuff.