Roadrunner Venture Studios draws national tech leaders to Albuquerque for annual forum

The third annual Roadrunner Technology Forum will serve as a “lighthouse” for New Mexico, showing off its national labs, entrepreneurial spirit and scientific depth.

Adam Hammer, Roadrunner Venture Studios CEO and co-founder, said Wednesday’s event is focused on showcasing the state’s tech ecosystem and bringing together over 500 investors, founders and industry leaders from across the country.

“We launched at the end of 2023 with a smaller convening, and we’ve now turned this into a much larger enterprise where we say, ‘Roadrunner Tech Forum is where frontier innovation meets the frontier state,’” Hammer said.

Hosted at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in the Albuquerque Journal Theatre, Hammer said the event features broad panels and intimate fireside chats on topics relevant to New Mexico industries. Notable speakers include former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, along with locals like Mayor Tim Keller and state Economic Development Secretary Rob Black.

Founded in 2022, Roadrunner was recently selected for the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s $25 million quantum innovation and commercialization award.

The Albuquerque-based venture studio will lead a coalition of quantum researchers, funders and innovators from Elevate Quantum, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of New Mexico and others, in building a campus Downtown aimed at drawing in quantum-oriented startups from across the state.

While only on its third iteration, Hammer said Roadrunner has “taken it up a notch” each year, expanding on the event’s size, caliber of speakers and notoriety. In a way, he hopes the forum acts as a magnet for founders and leaders looking to build in New Mexico.

“Roadrunner is meeting the moment,” Hammer said. “If America wants to lead in energy, computing and new types of advanced manufacturing, it will happen in places like New Mexico. That’s our core belief, that’s why we’re building in New Mexico, and that message resonates with a national audience.”