We’re thrilled to announce that Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of Robinhood and founder and CEO of Aetherflux, will be joining us for a rare, intimate fireside chat as part of TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC evening series on June 18 on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park.
As with all of our StrictlyVC evenings, the event will feature just a handful of select conversations — and Bhatt’s will be one you won’t want to miss.
If you’ve followed the transformation of retail investing over the last decade, you’ve seen Bhatt’s fingerprints all over it. As the co-founder of Robinhood, he helped redefine how millions interact with the stock market — prioritizing clean design, user-centric product thinking, and, of course, commission-free trading.
Since stepping back from his executive role at Robinhood, Bhatt has been quietly working on something radically new: Aetherflux, a space-based solar energy startup aiming to beam power from orbit to Earth using infrared lasers. The vision? Clean, consistent energy, delivered to the most remote corners of the planet. Bhatt is betting on it in more ways than one, including by pouring, to date, $10 million of his own funds into the startup, which has now raised $60 millio altogether.
At this exclusive gathering, Bhatt will pull back the curtain on some of lessons learned from building Robinhood; why he believes the future of energy lies beyond Earth’s atmosphere; what it took to transition from fintech to space tech, why now, and what he has encountered while fundraising in 2025. (Yes, he’s a proven entrepreneur, but he’s not immune to the market’s ebbs and flows.)
Space is limited by design at StrictlyVC events to bring our readers closer to those dominating the headlines (and so you can ask questions). If you’re building, investing, or just obsessed with what’s next, you’ll want to join us for this one. It happens at the Quad on June 18, courtesy of our co-hosts in the event, Mayfield. Doors open at 5 p.m. for networking and drinks, followed by the program and more networking and drinks.
Register your seat here to join the conversations with the leaders and VCs shaping the startup world.