If you’re a founder constantly thinking about your next funding round… you might be looking in the wrong place.

This week on Vegas Startup Scene, host Jason LeDuc breaks down the biggest opportunities in the Southern Nevada tech ecosystem — and why non-dilutive capital, AI infrastructure, and founder education are becoming the smartest plays in 2026.

Here’s what serious founders and tech investors need to know:

🚀 InnovateNV’s SBIR/STTR Accelerator (Starting March24)
If federal funding is even remotely on your roadmap, this is a must-watch segment. Backed by UNLV’s Office of Economic Development, StartupNV, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, InnovateNV is helping Nevadastartups navigate the federal funding maze — not just talk about it.

• 5-week SBIR/STTR proposal accelerator• NSF project pitch support• Phase 0 microgrants up to $5,000• Agency fit, budgeting, and submission strategy

Deep tech founders: this is real, structuredsupport for winning government grants without giving up equity.

💰 Finance Fundamentals for Small Business (FounderEducation Matters)
Before you scale, raise capital, or even apply for grants — your financial house needs to be in order. Alicia Stacey is hosting a session on entity structure, Nevada tax considerations, payroll, bookkeeping systems, and financial statement literacy.

If you’re cleaning up your books before tax season or preparing for investor diligence, this matters.

🤖 Las Vegas AI Builders Meetup (Technical FoundersTake Note)
Startup Vegas is teaming up with TensorWave to launch a new AI builder community — built specifically for technical founders training models, benchmarking GPUs, fine-tuning inference, and shipping AI agents into production.

If you’re building in AI infrastructure, this is where you find your people.

👥 Agile Leadership & The Scrum Master Role
We also dive into a conversation with Hoz Roushdi about what a Scrum Master actually does — and why agile leadership has been misunderstood in the corporate world.
Leading without authority.
Turning chaos into clarity.
Holding teams accountable to the commitments they make to each other.

For startup founders scaling engineering teams, this is leadership gold.

💬 Question for you:

If you had to choose one growth lever for 2026 — would you prioritize:
1) Non-dilutive grants (SBIR/STTR)?
2) Equity Investment?
3) AI product development?
4) Strengthening internal operations and agile leadership?

Drop your answer in the comments and tell me why!

And if you’re serious about building in Vegas — subscribe. We cover what’s actually happening on the ground every week.

Links to every event mentioned are below.
Send us your events, pitch nights, wins, and ecosystem news for next week’s rundown.

Get out there. Do great things today!

Onward and upward. 🚀

LINKS:

StartupNVWebsite: https://startupnv.disco.co/

InnovateNVlink: https://startupnv.org/innovatenv/

StartupVegas Website: https://startup.vegas/

gener8torWebsite: https://www.gener8tor.com/

Governor’sOffice of Economic Development Website: https://goed.nv.gov/

VegasCrypto Group: https://www.meetup.com/vegas-crypto-group/

SAFeScrum Master Class: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/safe-scrum-master-class

Fusion42Website: https://fusion-42.com/

Fusion42 Events: https://lu.ma/Fusion-42

Conversation with Hoz Roushdi at Tech AlleyDowntown: https://youtube.com/live/1ScNZuDGQ-4

Want to get your news or event in the rundown?Contact me here:

Email: info@leducleadership.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leducleadership

Why This Episode Matters

Vegas Startup Scene February 23rd 2026 – SBIR Grants, AI Innovation & Non-Dilutive Funding

The Leader's Mindset