UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday, September 14 9-10am
Activate empowers entrepreneurial scientists and engineers to transform their research into world-changing products and businesses. Fellows get a yearly living stipend, health insurance, and a travel allowance. Each project also receives $100,000 of research support at host laboratories, including the Berkeley Lab. This webinar will provide you with an overview of the fellowship, eligibility, and application process as well as a chance to ask questions.
Register for the webinar.
September 17, 2021: application deadline
October 4, 6, & 11, 6-9pm: course sessions
For anyone with a technology-based startup idea that originated at a university or academic lab, Bay Area NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) offers a one-week course based on Steve Blank's Lean LaunchPad. Three evening sessions will teach you to identify and refine your value propositions and customer segments, essential to de-risking your idea and achieving product-market fit. Teams that complete the national program have a much higher funding rate and might qualify for the National NSF I-Corps program which includes a $50,000 customer discovery grant.
Apply here.
Wednesday, September 22: workshop registration deadline
Wednesday, October 6 1-2:30pm: first of 8 weekly sessions
The SBIR/STTR programs, also known as America’s Seed Fund, is the largest source of early stage funding for US companies including awards from 11 federal agencies. This workshop will take you through the steps to file a SBIR/STTR grant application for the Jan. 2022 NIH deadline and Spring 2022 NSF window. You will learn how to craft an appropriate research plan, obtain persuasive letters of support, develop an efficient budget, and anticipate reviewers’ comments. Results from past attendees indicate that taking this course triples your chances of success.
Register for this workshop by September 22.
Thursday, September 23, 5:00pm
Hybrid Event: B100 Blum Hall at UC Berkeley) and via Zoom
Get inspired by the most innovative social ventures being developed by student teams across the University of California system at the UC Big Ideas Grand Prize Pitch Day and Awards Celebration. All of the 2021 Big Ideas award-winning teams (list of projects) will be on hand to pitch their innovative ideas.
Register here to participate either in-person or virtually.
Thursday, September 30 11:30am-2:30pm
Register for the second Inclusive Economy Showcase virtual event hosted by the East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) to hear from entrepreneurs of color and community-based companies who are building and shaping an inclusive economy in the East Bay.
Register for this event here.
Wednesdays, 12-1pm
Free and open to the public, the CITRIS Research Exchange offers fresh perspectives on information technology and society from distinguished academic, industry, and civic leaders in a seminar format over zoom.
Check out the Fall 2021 schedule here.
RESOURCES & DEADLINES
Application deadline: this Sunday, September 5
Applications for Berkeley SkyDeck Batch 13 are now open! This is a great opportunity for startup founders looking to secure funding and mentorship. SkyDeck companies have gone on to raise tens of millions of dollars following access to an incredible amount of advising and UC Berkeley resources. This will also be the first time since the start of the pandemic that SkyDeck will be welcoming startups back in person, in a hybrid format.
Apply before Sunday's deadline to join the new cohort.
Application deadline: this Sunday, September 5
Are you the founder of an early-stage, clean energy startup looking to bring your ideas and prototypes to life? Apply to CalSEED for the opportunity to receive up to $600,000 in grant funding! Accepted companies will get a fixed grant of $150,000 (Concept Award) and the ability to compete for a fixed grant of $450,000 (Prototype Award). They will also have access to corporate partners, investors, and industry experts, participate in workshops and networking events and get brand promotion through different marketing channels.
Apply before Sunday's deadline.
Application deadline: Sunday, September 12
LAUNCH is an innovative University of California accelerator that has raised over $200 million to help over 150 companies get their start. By working with promising startups over the course of a 3-month session, LAUNCH takes fledgling startups and workshops them into viable business models. LAUNCH will start accepting applications for their Fall 2021 Session this summer. To be eligible, your startup must have at least one UC student, faculty, or alum.
Click here for details.
Application deadline: Monday, September 20
A fantastic opportunity for Berkeley biotech companies! The MilliporeSigma Advance Biotech Grant Program was created to help push the next generations of drugs to market. Apply for the chance to win up to $255,000 to help you accelerate to clinic faster.
Apply Here.
The new Functional Genomics Laboratory (FGL) is the 6th Industry Sponsored Institute (ISI) on the UC Berkeley Campus. FGL provides molecular biology services for next-generation sequencing projects, and a new model for the creation of startup companies.
Learn more about the FGL, operated by QB3 at UC Berkeley.
BERKELEY INNOVATORS MAKING NEWS
The company co-founded by Nobel Laureate and UC Berkeley professor Jennifer Doudna, PhD is now listed on NASDAQ and will use the proceeds from their IPO to fund clinical studies and development of its transformative gene-edited cell therapies for devastating human diseases. With a market cap of $1.56 billion, Caribou Biosciences is a prime example of a company developing groundbreaking innovation in Berkeley.
Read more about Caribou Sciences’ plans for the future in GEN.
Soon to be Berkeley-based, four-year old startup Form Energy has built an inexpensive battery that can discharge power for days using iron. Their batteries will solve one of the main problems regarding renewable energy: cheaply storing large amounts of energy on power grids. Form Energy’s technology could enable 100% renewable energy through long duration energy storage.
Read more about Form Energy in The Wall Street Journal.
Kapalya Inc., a tech company developing anti-ransomware software was awarded a NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $256,000 to conduct research and development (R&D) work on an AI-based Advanced Counter Ransomware solution.
Read more on Yahoo! Finance.
Launched in 2020 by UC Berkeley business and chemistry alumni Geo Guillen and Marco Lobba and Berkeley chemistry professor Matthew Francis, Catena Biosciences was recently among the Big Ideas Contest winners. They’ve seen a rapid rise over the last year, and are valued at $10 million for their innovative work on protein conjugation. The applications of their technology span from cancer vaccine development to enzymatic cleaners to the breakdown of plastics.
Read more in UC Berkeley News.
Sundial Foods is a Berkeley-based food tech company making clean label vegan meat. They’re using innovative protein structuring tech to do this without using heavy processing and synthetic ingredients. They’ve been able to make healthier, vegan crispy chicken using just 8 ingredients!
Learn more in a Green Queen article on 6 Indiebio startups solving the world’s problems.
Berkeley-based startup Kintsugi raised $8M from investors for their technology that helps clinicians detect depression and anxiety in patients quicker than from just their voices.
Read more about Kintsugi in Fierce Healthcare.
New technology developed by the Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley could reduce waste through enzyme-activated compostable plastic. One of the inventors of this technology founded Intropic Materials to further develop it.
Learn more about this revolutionary new technology in UC Berkeley News.
The LSEC will serve life science entrepreneurs in three ways: navigating UC Berkeley resources, entrepreneurship education, and life science startup promotion. The LSEC will partner with campus organizations including the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub; the Robinson Life Sciences, Business and Entrepreneurship dual degree program; the Innovative Genomics Institute; and Berkeley SkyDeck. It will offer a life science-specific version of the NSF’s I-Corps program, taught by BSC Advisor & LSEC Executive Director Darren Cooke.
Learn more about the LSEC in The Daily Californian.
The Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit (ABPDU) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Celebratory is celebrating 10 years of developing advanced biotechnologies, helping curb greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to the booming bioeconomy.
Read more about ABPDU technologies at the Berkeley Lab News Center.
UC Berkeley successfully sold “The Fourth Pillar,” the first non fungible token, or NFT, based on Nobel Prize-winning research for $54,360 at an auction. The proceeds of this auction will go to supporting further research at the university.
Learn more in The Daily Californian.
Keep in Touch
To submit information or questions about Berkeley Startup Cluster contact: oedmailbox@cityofberkeley.info
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