The evening honored companies and organizations doing work in one of eight (8) categories: Arts & Culture, Built Environment, Catalyst, Community Impact, Education, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, and Technology. Awardees were identified and selected with the input of business, community, economic development, and municipal leaders from East Bay cities and counties. A departure from the call-for-nominations process used to select awardees in prior years, this approach resulted in the largest and most diverse field of companies and organizations receiving these awards since the event’s inception in 2013. The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) was selected as the 2026 Legacy Awardee.
The ceremony began with an energetic introduction by multi-talented voice actor and event host Joy Ofodu, who set the stage for the evening by talking about the new event format and venue. Guests were then welcomed by Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, who spoke about the importance of embracing innovation to advance community priorities and the opportunity to continue building on the positive momentum the City of Oakland has been experiencing in recent months. Emmy Award-winning Journalist Gia Vang of NBC Bay Area anchored the event throughout the program, stewarding a busy stage as awardees from across the East Bay were recognized.
“The East Bay is fortunate to have such an abundance of amazing and brilliant innovators behind the companies and organizations that make up the fabric of our communities and regional economy. This year’s group of awardees is also notable for its diversity and geographic reach, touching literally every corner of our region”, said Stephen Baiter, Executive Director.
The 2026 East Bay Innovation awardees are:
Central Alameda County: Veev, By Lennar (Hayward) – Built Environment; Zoox (Hayward) – Manufacturing; B3 Investors (San Leandro) – Built Environment; Fuse Energy (San Leandro) – Technology
Central Contra Costa County: John Muir Health – Concord Campus (Concord) – Life Sciences; Shiva Murugan Temple (Concord) – Arts & Culture; Choice in Aging (Pleasant Hill) – Community Impact; Collab Fertility (Walnut Creek) – Life Sciences; SewerAI (Walnut Creek) – Engineering & Design
East Contra Costa County: Amports (Antioch) – Built Environment; Wonoda (Antioch) – Manufacturing; Henkel (Bay Point) – Manufacturing; Red Box Business Solutions (Brentwood) – Catalyst; Medical Center for Birds (Oakley) – Life Sciences; Bishop-Wisecarver (Pittsburg) – Manufacturing; Blue Planet Systems (Pittsburg) – Built Environment
North Alameda County: Anthro Energy (Alameda) – Technology; Rhythmix Cultural Works (Alameda) – Community Impact; Berkeley Startup Cluster (Berkeley) – Catalyst; Copper (Berkeley) – Technology; Brillouin Energy (Emeryville) – Technology; East Bay Community Foundation (Oakland) – Community Impact; Molten Industries (Oakland) – Manufacturing; Rising Sun Center for Opportunity (Oakland) – Education
South Alameda County: 9th St. Partners (Fremont) – Built Environment; Fremont Bank (Fremont) – Community Impact; Ohlone College (Fremont) – Education; ATUM (Newark) – Life Sciences, Azimuth (Union City)– Catalyst
Tri-Valley: AmberSemi (Dublin) – Technology; Snowflake (Dublin) – Technology; Inertia (Livermore) – Technology; Livermore Institute for Fusion, Technology (Livermore) – Catalyst; Enjoyment Endeavor (San Ramon) –Arts & Culture, Sunset Development (San Ramon) – Built Environment
West Contra Costa County: NIAD Art Center (Richmond) – Arts & Culture; Viridi (Richmond) – Catalyst; City of San Pablo (San Pablo) – Built Environment; Bio-Rad (Hercules) – Life Sciences; Kitchen@812 (Pinole) – Catalyst
The event photos are linked here (Credit: Malcolm Wallace for East Bay EDA). You can download the press release here.
