UPCOMING EVENTS
TODAY, February 17, 12:30-1:30PM
Freada Kapor Klein is an entrepreneur, activist, and pioneer in the field of organizational culture and diversity. A Founding Partner at Kapor Capital, Freada invests in seed-stage tech startups that create positive social impact by closing gaps of access, opportunity, or outcome for low-income communities and communities of color. Join and listen as Freada discusses the gap-closing thesis of Kapor Capital and impact on communities of color.
Register here for this Berkeley Haas Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership webinar.
Friday, March 12 at 5:00 PM & Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 2:30 PM
The Startup Law Initiative (SLI) at Berkeley Law will be holding free workshops that cover legal, financial, and organizational issues surrounding the formation of startup ventures. Berkeley Law students will lead the workshops, and founders will have the opportunity to ask questions to corporate lawyers based in the Bay Area. SLI aims to help low income and underrepresented founders who may lack access to sophisticated legal services.
Sign up here.
Friday, March 12, 9:00 AM-6:00 PM
The annual Women in Tech Symposium celebrates innovators and explores the experiences of women in tech-related fields. This year’s symposium examines leading-edge technologies and issues around ensuring equitable and inclusive human computer interaction. The symposium will feature the 2021 Women in Tech Initiative Athena Awards, recognizing those who have championed the advancement of women in technology, as well as networking opportunities.
Register here to attend.
Friday, March 12, 10:00-11:30 AM
How many women have made it into the C-Suite and what does the leadership pipeline look like? Join The San Francisco Business Times as they discuss the state of diversity in this region's life sciences industry and talk with women in top roles about their views on how their companies are transforming culture, policies and programs that will result in more gender equity and opportunity.
Register here.
Wednesday & Thursday, April 28 & 29, 3:15-5:15 PM
The Biocom Institute Education Symposium brings together K-12 educators, nonprofits and industry partners who are reimagining Life Science/Biotech learning experiences in their classrooms, schools and districts. Participants engage in a variety of professional learning and networking opportunities to connect with innovative educators and industry experts & scientists, such as the leaders of Berkeley companies, Bayer and Caribou Biosciences.
Read more about this upcoming event on the Biocom website here.
RESOURCES & DEADLINES
Information Session on Zoom Webinar: TODAY, February 17 11 AM - 12PM
Application deadline: Sunday, February 21 at 6 PM
Cleantech to Market (C2M)–the First Cleantech Accelerator–is a partnership between graduate students, startups, and industry professionals to help accelerate the commercialization of leading cleantech solutions. In the process, C2M also develops the next generation of innovative cleantech leaders. Startups can receive 1,000 hours of free technology, market, and business model assessment for each project.
Read more and apply through the Berkeley Haas C2M website.
Application deadline: Friday, February 19
Online classes are Mar. 8, Mar. 10, and Mar. 15
The Bay Area Regional I-Corps Node offers a one-week course based on Steve Blank's Lean LaunchPad (Business Model Canvas + Customer Discovery). The three evening sessions will teach you to identify and refine your Value Propositions and Customer Segments, which are essential to de-risking your idea and achieving product-market fit. Outside of class, you'll do at least 15 interviews with potential customers as part of the customer discovery process. Teams that complete this course with instructor endorsement may qualify for the National I-Corps program which includes a $30k or $50k grant for customer discovery.
Apply now. If you have any questions, contact wdavid@berkeley.edu.
Application deadline: Monday, February 22 at 11:59pm PT
Backed by an impressive list of Silicon Valley investors, UC Berkeley's SkyDeck program is open to startups from around the world and offers rich access to university faculty and an unparalleled network of exceptional advisers and talent. Startups selected into the Cohort Program will receive a $105K investment from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund and the opportunity to pitch to over 750 investors at SkyDeck’s Demo Day. Any startup with at least one founder affiliated with any of the 10 University of California campuses or based outside of the U.S. can apply.
Apply now.
Nominations due Wednesday, February 24
Do you know a woman who is a leader of a public company, a large private company, or non-profit institution? Nominate her to be one of the Bay Area's Most Influential Women. These outstanding women leaders will be recognized in a special edition of the San Francisco Business Times in May and honored at a special event. Nominees will be evaluated on their influence in their industries --and communities. Board affiliations and other leadership roles will be considered.
Read more about this prestigious award and submit your nomination here.
Interest form deadline: Monday, March 15
UC Berkeley's Master of Engineering program is now accepting capstone project proposals for the next academic year. Every year, Berkeley MEng teams partner with industry leaders to pilot new initiatives, improve existing products, and develop data-driven business strategy. Projects are facilitated by the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership within the College of Engineering.
Attend a webinar on how to submit a strong capstone proposal this Thursday, February 18 at 12:15 PM or fill out this interest form by March 15, 2021.
PostX is a new program for Berkeley Postdocs that provides an introduction to UC Berkeley’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) ecosystem at a level of engagement appropriate to each. It is experientially based and focuses on the skills and actions needed to transfer technologies from labs to wider impact. PostX provides support and resources up to $55,000 per team.
Learn more.
Browse UC Berkeley's innovation and entrepreneurship resources
Find innovation and entrepreneurship resources available at UC Berkeley at the Berkeley Gateway to Innovation (BEGIN) portal and on Berkeley IPIRA's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Map (a directory of 80+ interconnected resources for educating entrepreneurs, commercializing research, and advancing startups).
LOCAL BUSINESSES MAKING NEWS
 Photo credit: The Economist online
In this Jan. 30 2021 edition of the Economist magazine, an article describes how many vegan and vegetarian pet-owners are put in a quandary when it comes to feeding their pets. Berkeley-based Wild Earth is mentioned for its existing vegan pet food formulae and role developing cultured meat products. The article concludes with Wild Earth founder Ryan Bethencourt's promise to taste his own wares before trying them on animals.
Read more in The Economist. (may be behind a pay wall if you aren't a subscriber)
Berkeley-based renewable energy manufacturer All Power Labs (APL) was announced as a recipient of a California Energy Commission grant for $3.2 million. The funding will upgrade APL's mobile waste-to-energy technology to be more efficient, ecologically appropriate, and ready to be connected to the utility grid.
To read more, see the California Energy Commission website.
C. Light Technologies, a Berkeley-based neurotech company pioneering the next generation of neurological health assessment tools, announced the closing of their $2.5 million seed round for the development of their 10-second retinal eye-tracking scan for neurological disease. Creative Ventures (including lead investor and BSC Advisor James Wang) led the round with participation from Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, among other VCs and angels. The new round brings the company's total funding to date to more than $3.25 million, which includes over $475K in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health.
For more information, please visit the company's website.
Berkeley Unified School District and the Berkeley Public Schools Fund announced the award of $356,100 in grants from the Bayer Fund and $212,000 from Wareham Development. These grants will be used to help diversify the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) career pipeline, providing expanded opportunities for middle school and high school career-connected STEM learning.
Read more about the Bayer Fund and Wareham Development STEM grants here.
Keep in Touch
To submit information or questions about Berkeley Startup Cluster contact: oedmailbox@cityofberkeley.info
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