AEye, Inc. and Vagaro, Changing the Game from Dublin

PLEASANTON, Calif. — April 04, 2022, The Tri-Valley is still buzzing after Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group's annual #GameChangers Awards ceremony. A sold-out crowd celebrated 11 game-changing innovators including Dublin companies AEye, Inc. and Vagaro who were honored for their local groundbreaking work, providing global solutions. The Dublin-based AEye, Inc. team developed a LiDAR sensory solution for the autonomous vehicle market. “We came to this area because it offers so much talent. Engineering of every different type, due to the proximity to the labs here and just because of the general population in the Tri-Valley. We couldn’t have done it without all of the people here and all of the talent amassed in this area” said Ransom Wuller, AEye Inc. Founder and Treasurer. Wuller and Founder and CTO Luis Dussan took the company public last year. AEye, Inc. is now listed on the Nasdaq under LIDR and has almost 100 employees building technology for autonomous driving. In 2013, Dussan, a 20+ year veteran of the aerospace and defense industry came to the Tri-Valley. “I owe a lot to this community because they believed in me when they didn’t need to. I hope that founders will see that you can raise a family here and create a company that goes public.”Vagaro was launched in Dublin in 2009 and is now the leading business management software for the beauty, fitness, and wellness sectors. A recent round of funding earned the company its unicorn status with a valuation of more than $1 billion. In 2021 alone, over 104 Million appointments were booked for 174,000 salon, spa, and fitness providers on Vagaro’s platform - from the US to the UK and beyond.Founders, entrepreneurs, mentors, start-ups, funders, and civic leaders gathered at Goal Line Productions in Pleasanton to celebrate the Tri-Valley’s thriving regional ecosystem of collaboration and entrepreneurship, as well as the remarkable game-changing personalities who are driving the work.In 2020 alone, the Tri-Valley received approximately $470M in venture capital funding for local companies, according to the East Bay Economic Development Alliance’s East Bay Forward report. “This community of entrepreneurs and thought-leaders has transformed how and where we work. The personal stories these founders share about why they get up every morning to solve complex problems clearly illuminates why every one of these honorees is a world-class game-changer,” says CEO of ITV, Lynn Wallace Naylor. The 2022 Tri-Valley #GameChangers Award recipients include ACTON, AEye, Inc., BoxMedia, Crosschq, IrisVision, Monarch Tractor, Raydiant Oximetry, Striking Distance Studios, Tekion, Vagaro, and the Advanced Manufacturing Lab at Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

########
About Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group:
Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group (ITV) is a collective of leaders and influencers committed to connecting the businesses, educational institutions, research labs, and civic leaders in the Tri-Valley region. ITV showcases the region as a technology and innovation powerhouse, outpacing the Bay Area mega-region in both job creation and economic growth. According to the Tri-Valley Rising report published by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the Tri-Valley is home to 450 technology companies and the regional innovation economy drives a $42 billion GDP. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

To learn more about Innovation Tri-Valley (ITV) and the 2040 Vision Plan, click here.
Media contact information:
Katie Marcel
Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group KMarcel@innovationtrivalley.org