SmartGateVC Launches Hero House Innovation Hub in Glendale

SmartGateVC, in collaboration with HyeRise Investments, hosted the launch of Hero House

Glendale on the evening of Friday, July 30th.

Hero House Glendale, located at 326 Mira Loma Ave, is a new tech and innovation hub serving founders, investors, and professionals in Southern California. The 7,000 sq. ft. co-working space is initiated by SmartGateVC and hosted by HyeRise Investments.

“Hero House Glendale was initiated to build and nurture a pipeline of strong investment-ready startups and on a bigger scale to consolidate local scientific/engineering potential and smart money around cutting-edge entrepreneurship,” said Armine Galstyan, Managing Director of Hero House.

The event discussed the plans for Hero House Glendale, including some of its programs, namely the Entrepreneur-in-Residence community, the Student Ambassador program, and the Hero House Angel Network. SmartGateVC’s upcoming Fund II, focused on investing in pre-seed and seed-stage companies and continuing the firm’s mission of supporting deep-tech companies, was also announced during the event.

Speakers included Glendale Mayor Paula Devine, SmartGateVC Partner Ashot Arzumanyan, HyeRise Founder Zarik Megerditchian, Hero House Managing Director Armine Galstyan, Strategic Global Advisors CEO & Chairman Cynthia Tusan, Zynga Director of Ad Tech & Data

Solutions Marian Thomas, and several others. Many local tech, educational, and political

leaders were in attendance, including City Councilmember Vrej Agajanian, Founder and CEO of Home Organizers Frank Melkonian, President and CEO of Adept Development Patrick Chraghchian, Director of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies Salpi Ghazarian, Chairman to the Board of the USC Institute Armenian Studies Charles Ghailian, the founders of DISQO, ZeroBroker Technologies, Activeloop, and others.

“Let the launch of Hero House in Glendale be a new chapter in our lives that will be marked by the convergence of knowledge, technologies, science, and capital throughout Southern California and across North American and European continents,” said Ashot Arzumanyan, Co-Founder and Partner at SmartGateVC.

“As a person that lived in Glendale, and started a business in Glendale, it’s good to see that I

can give back to my community, help to develop successful startups right here in the city of

Glendale,” said Zarik Megerdichian, founder of HyeRise Investments.

The event was brought to the community with the support of Home Organizers, FAHM Ventures, and DISQO.

About Hero House

Hero House, initiated by SmartGateVC, was first launched in 2017 to empower founders in Armenia and bring innovators together. With Hero House Glendale, that vision will now extend to individuals in the Southern California area. The space includes two in-house investors (SmartGateVC and HyeRise Investments) and already has many community members with senior experience in marketing, engineering, and business development sharing our coworking space.