Berkeley Startups Exceed Pre-Pandemic Levels

BERKELEY STARTUP CLUSTER HIGHLIGHTS

No slowdown for Berkeley’s diverse “Innovation Sector” 

The City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development will share the state of the local economy, notably its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with Berkeley City Council on March 22 via a presentation of the 2021 Citywide Economic Dashboard. The Dashboard confirms that startups continue to thrive in Berkeley: by the end of last year, Berkeley had more startups than ever before (>350), out of 400+ "innovation sector" companies (tech startups, biotech manufacturers, R&D firms, and other STEM businesses). Most (87%) are small, early stage companies but provide prospects for job growth in the period ahead: in 2021, 66 raised $1.4 billion (double the 2020 amount raised), innovators secured $9 million in government R&D grants, startups posted dozens of jobs, West Berkeley's Caribou Bio filed an IPO, and incubators like Bonneville Labs and Cell Valley Labs returned to full capacity. Attend the March 22 Berkeley City Council meeting virtually to learn more about Berkeley's economic recovery or see the 2021 Economic Dashboard in the meeting agenda (item #38, details starting on page 601).

City Council R&D land use definition update

In March 2020, Berkeley City Council tasked the Planning Department with developing a new definition for Research & Development (R&D) that reflects evolving business practices and provides flexibility for R&D establishments to occupy spaces that meet business needs. On March 22, Berkeley City Council will hear the proposal to update the zoning definition of R&D as follows.

Research and Development:

An establishment engaged in the following activities: 1) industrial, biological or scientific research; and 2) product or process design, development, prototyping, or testing. This may include labs, offices, warehousing, and light manufacturing functions as part of the overall Research and Development use. 

As the current land use definition of R&D prohibits the use of office space, the new definition will be more consistent with current business practices and R&D regulations in other cities.

Share your perspective on the proposed land use definition with City Council by emailing council@cityofberkeley.info or attending the March 22 City Council meeting (see item #39, details starting on page 637).

Berkeley Startup Cluster Advisors show support for making Berkeley an innovation "vortex"

Berkeley Startup Cluster (BSC) Advisors convened on March 3 at QB3’s Bakar Labs to hear how local startups fared the pandemic. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin acknowledged that Berkeley’s “innovation sector has enabled us to solve a lot of issues surrounding humanity” and that the City has been working to “create an environment that helps innovation succeed”. 

Advisors also discussed next steps for achieving the BSC mission to make Berkeley a more vibrant, accessible and equitable place for startups to launch and grow. They shared suggestions to support commercial real estate development for innovative growth companies, marketing Berkeley innovators and entrepreneurs, and encouraging diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) through the Berkeley Ventures, Berkeley Values initiative.

See the slides presented at the meeting here or follow the group on Twitter or LinkedIn for information about resources, events, and news for Berkeley startups.  

UPCOMING EVENTS

EDGE in Tech Diversity in Tech Symposium

TODAY, March 11, 9am-1pm

Learn about engaging diverse talent in the high-growth climate tech sector and lead the way toward environmental justice and equitable, sustainable solutions for the next generation at the UC Berkeley EDGE in Tech 6th annual Diversity in Tech Symposium including a career fair. 

Attend this virtual event now.

Startup 101 Workshop on basic legal, financial, and organizational issues

TODAY, March 11 6 - 7pm and Saturday, March 12 1 - 2pm

The Berkeley Law Startup Law Initiative (SLI) will be holding free virtual workshops to cover basic legal, financial, and organizational issues surrounding the formation of startup ventures for all Berkeley startups. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions to corporate lawyers.

Sign up.

Berkeley Blockchain Hackathon @ Node

Friday, March 18 5pm - Sunday, March 20 5pm
Node HQ (2247 6th St Berkeley, CA 94710)

Blockchain venture fund Node will be co-hosting a hackathon with Blockchain at Berkeley (B@B). Winners will compete for over $20k in cash prizes from top VC firms.

Register to participate.

East Bay EDA Speaker Series: Incubators & Accelerators

Wednesday, March 23 10-11am

Learn more about the East Bay’s leading support for early-stage entrepreneurs, as well as the innovative companies breaking ground in the East Bay at the East Bay EDA’s upcoming webinar on Incubators & Accelerators.

Register here to listen on Zoom.

Kaggle community competition: Use machine learning to predict traffic collision injuries and improve disaster response

Open until March 28

For UC Berkeley students interested in Machine Learning or natural disaster response or innovation, it’s not too late to join the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET) Innovation Fellows Program! SCET's Kaggle Competition is live until March 28.

Participate in the competition.

Contracting Opportunities: Educating Local Small Businesses About Opportunities to Business with Berkeley’s Finest Tuesday, March 29 11:30am-1pm Join this Zoom webinar, open to all local businesses, to learn how to do business with Berkeley’s larger institutions such as the City of Berkeley, UC Berkeley, or the Berkeley Lab, the Berkeley Chamber. Register here for the virtual panel discussion.

Berkeley Business Forum: State Disability Insurance Webinar Tuesday, April 4 10am Join the Berkeley Chamber and the CA Employment Development Department to learn more about Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave and implement those in your business. Register for this Zoom webinar.

Berkeley SkyDeck Demo Day

Wednesday, April 6
Zellerbach Hall on UC Berkeley's campus

SkyDeck will be hosting accredited investors interested in hearing from SkyDeck’s current Batch 13 startups for an in-person Demo Day. A few alumni startups seeking funding will also participate. 

Apply for an invitation to attend in-person or via virtual livestream.

SynBio Beta Built With Biology Global Conference

Tuesday April 12 - Thursday April 14
Oakland Marriott City Center

Students and startup founders can attend “Race Against the Clock” at the SynBio Beta Built With Biology Global Conference to hear from and celebrate the next generation of bio innovators. 

Sign up to participate.

RESOURCES & DEADLINES

Free summer interns through the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program

Application deadline: Friday, March 18 The CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program offers select University of California students the opportunity to inform their career decisions and gain work experience through eight-week paid internships. Participants will receive training in leadership and project management and will be supported throughout the internship program by dedicated CITRIS staff, as well as peers in their cohort. Companies are invited to host an intern and CITRIS will cover the stipend for remote interns and provide support throughout the internship period. Apply for an internship or host an intern.

Bay Area NSF-I Corps

Application deadline: Friday, March 25
Course dates: April 11, 13 & 18 from 5-8pm

For early-stage Berkeley startups, the Bay Area NSF-I Corps offers a course to help you identify and refine your value proposition and target customers. There will also be a second training available to food-related teams which includes resources such as 1:1 advising and a 10-week food business startup accelerator.

Apply now.

Nominate Berkeley Innovators for the East Bay Innovation Awards Nominate by Friday, March 25 The 2022 East Bay Innovation Awards returns in person to the historic Fox Theater in Oakland on August 4, 2022! Nominate Berkeley innovators for the 10th annual ceremony. Nominate a company.

The House Accelerator

Apply by Monday, March 28

The House Accelerator is an enhanced program for UC Berkeley alumni, faculty, or student founded startup to receive up to $300K & access to a personalized support platform.

Apply to the House Accelerator.

HS Chau Women in Enterprising Science (WIES) program

Apply by Friday, April 1 to receive priority for consideration. Receive up to $1 million in seed funding to launch new companies in genomics and emerging biotechnologies and help promote gender equity in biotech. The HS Chau Women in Enterprising Science (WIES) Program at the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI), founded by Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna, is open to current UC Berkeley professors and postdoctoral fellows who are working on solutions to real-world problems and are interested in developing their ideas commercially for the benefit of the public. Apply now.

Downtown Berkeley office space

For anyone looking for office space in Downtown Berkeley, Norheim & Yost has a new 2,750 sq. ft. listing at 2223 Shattuck Ave with 2 large open spaces, 1 huge private office, 2 breakout rooms, 2 restrooms, and a ground floor bike storage.  Check out the space.

Berkeley Research Infrastructure Commons (RIC)

The Berkeley Research Infrastructure Commons (RIC) comprises campus research facilities and services that are available for shared use by industry and academia (formerly known as the SSUFIE program). Small business founders can explore the RIC-t program, an extension of UC Berkeley RIC capabilities, which enables early stage (pre-product sales) startup companies affiliated with UC Berkeley to temporarily conduct new product R&D in faculty labs.

Learn more about the RIC and its application process.

Bakar Innovation Fellowships

The Bakar Innovation Fellows program is an opportunity for entrepreneurially-inclined researchers to participate in translating research to commercial applications.  If you are a graduate student, postdoc or project scientist interested in becoming a Bakar Innovation Fellow, confirm that your PI is interested in translating research discoveries to real-world solutions and request they work with you on developing a proposal. 

Learn more.

Berkeley Frontier Fund

The Berkeley Frontier Fund is a new venture capital fund that has been created to invest in UC Berkeley technology startups, built from the group up to return capital to Berkeley.

Learn more about the Berkeley Frontier Fund.

BERKELEY INNOVATORS MAKING NEWS

On International Women's Day (March 8), the Berkeleyside article, “Innovative cancer treatments taking shape in West Berkeley” highlighted Co-founder, CEO, and President Dr. Rachel Haurwitz, whose biotech company is turning CRISPR genome-editing technologies into cell therapies for cancer patients. The City of Berkeley's #DiscoveredinBerkeley campaign spotlights local businesses enriching our community and building a better world. 

Read Berkeleyside's article about Caribou Biosciences on the DiscoveredinBerkeley website and follow @DiscoveredinBerkeley on Instagram to see more about innovative Berkeley businesses.

KoBold Metals Raises $192.5 Million to Use AI to Find Battery Minerals

KoBold Metals has raised $192.5 Million in their latest round of funding. The Berkeley company uses AI to find metals used in batteries, notably for electric vehicles.

Read more in The Wall Street Journal.

Upside Foods is producing cell-cultured chicken

Berkeley-headquartered cultivated meat company Upside Foods is "changing the paradigm" with a plan to sell chicken grown from animal stem cells in the US and then globally. Squeamishness about their technology remains a hurdle, but their partnership with San Francisco three Michelin-star chef Dominique Crenn is one of many steps to help lab-grown meat become mainstream, and be seen as the more humane option.

See what people are saying about Upside Foods' meats in the The New York Times article.

Kiwibot raises $7.5M and closes $20M contract with Sodexo

Kiwibot, a Berkeley SkyDeck alumni company utilizing its semi-autonomous robots and cutting-edge technology for food delivery service, is offering a zero-emission solution for universities across the nation. They've raised $7.5M from investors and closed a $20M contract with brand partner and food service company, Sodexo. This investment should help them reach their goal of delivering more than 1,200 robots across 50 US College Campuses.

Read more here about the Sodexo partnership. For more on Kiwi and other sidewalk delivery robots, see this article in The Economist.

Berkeley SkyDeck expands internationally

Berkeley SkyDeck, one of Berkeley’s premier business accelerators has established the inaugural SkyDeck Europe in Italy in the Milan Innovation District. This accelerator will support 15-20 startups a year for the first 3 years.

Learn more in Tech Startups.

Bakar Bioenginuity Hub: Accelerating Research to Realization

Learn the effort needed to transform a former Berkeley Art Museum into the Bakar Bioenginuity Hub, a new world-class incubator on the UC Berkeley campus, which will rent labs and offices to as many as 80 startup companies bringing life changing technologies to fruition.

Listen to the Bakar Labs origin story on the Lab to Startup podcast.

Keep in Touch

To submit information or questions about Berkeley Startup Cluster contact: oedmailbox@cityofberkeley.info

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