UPCOMING EVENTS
TOMORROW: Wednesday, July 13, 4:30–7pm
Wareham's EmeryStation East
Biocom California and Fisher Scientific are hosting a happy hour at Wareham Development's EmeryStation East in the Berkeley-Emeryville Bio corridor for all industry members to network with fellow life science innovators. This event aims to foster community and promote idea sharing to accelerate local biotech industry growth.
Register today.
Wednesday, July 20, 9:30–10:30am
AC Transit invites local small businesses to speak with their small business advocates about how the agency can better serve your needs. Join the Zoom event to discuss the small business participation plan, women and minority owned small business engagement, upcoming opportunities, and how to register on the Berkeley Chamber website for contracting notifications.
Register for the virtual event on Zoom here.
Thursday, August 4, 5–8:30pm
Join the East Bay Economic Development Alliance as they announce this year’s Innovation Award winners and showcase outstanding organizations that embrace innovation in their manufacturing, products, services, design, and information at the 10th annual East Bay Innovation Awards at the historic Fox Theater in Oakland.
Purchase tickets to attend the event, which will feature entertainment, networking, raffle prizes, and more.
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Thursday, August 25, 5–7pm
Join the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce in August for a Business After Hours networking event at All Natural Stone! Since 2000, All Natural Stone has catered to all tastes in residential and commercial design with one of the largest selections of tile in the United States. Check out the showroom and network with local business leaders over small bites and drinks!
RSVP for the event here.
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RESOURCES & DEADLINES
Application deadline: Rolling (application review begins July 8)
The Startup Law Initiative, an initiative of the University of California, offers free incorporation services to entrepreneurs. Founders will work with Berkeley Law students and attorneys from top Silicon Valley law firms to incorporate as a Delaware C-corporation. Applications can be submitted anytime, but applicants should submit as soon as possible to be considered before slots fill up.
Apply now or contact the Startup Law Initiative with any questions.
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Application deadline: Friday, July 29
Course dates: August 15, 17, & 22
For early-stage Berkeley startups, the Bay Area National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps offers a course to help you identify and refine your value proposition and target customers. This immersive training will help you conduct 15 customer interviews to identify your top customer segment, validate your commercial market, and accelerate finding product-market fit.
Apply now.
Deadline: October 10, 2022
On August 15, 2022, the CITRIS Seed Funding Program will issue its 2022 request for proposals (RFP) for proof-of-concept work in these critical research areas:
- Aviation for a Changing Planet
- Sustainability and Climate Resilience
- Digital Health Innovation
- Robotics
- Semiconductors and Systems
Awards will be announced in December.
Read more here and contact the CITRIS Seed Funding Program with questions.
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California Life Sciences (CLS), a membership organization that advocates for the life sciences sector in California and its diverse innovation pipeline, recently released its 2021 Sector Report. This year’s report shows that California’s life sciences sector directly employed 313,230 people, attracted $12.5 billion in venture capital (VC), and received $5.0 billion in funding from the NIH.
Read more on the CLS website.
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BERKELEY INNOVATORS MAKING NEWS
 Demetrix, a West Berkeley biotech firm, is using fermentation and the power of science to create new ingredients for beauty, wellness, and personal care. Demetrix is the first company to produce the rare cannabinoid cannabigerol (CBG)—which can be used in a range of beauty and personal care products—by using industrial biotechnology in such a short timeframe. The company’s fast growth—beginning as a small lab in 2017 to rolling out commercial manufacturing earlier this year—has been facilitated partly by its location in the Berkeley-Emeryville Bio Corridor, which offers both large industrial spaces for lease and proximity to other biotech firms.
Read more in Berkeleyside or on the Discovered in Berkeley website.
Follow @DiscoveredinBerkeley on Instagram to see more about other innovative Berkeley businesses.
Berkeley-based Serinus Labs was recognized as the World’s Top Techpreneur in the category of energy and safety at the Innovation World Cup held during the Hannover Messe, the world’s leading fair in industrial transformation. The expert jury was impressed with Serinus Labs' lithium-ion battery early warning sensors and found the company's level of innovation, go-to-market approach, commercial potential and sustainability to be among the best in the world.
Read more on the Innovation World Cup website.
Lygos, Inc., a biotechnology provider of sustainable specialty ingredients, announced its merger with Flexible Solutions International, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of biodegradable products. Together, the companies will integrate and scale production to meet increasing demand for sustainable products for agricultural, industrial, and consumer applications. The merger follows a $160 million investment in Berkeley-based Lygos to accelerate integration and scale production.
Read more in Lygos’s press release.
Lucira Health, an Emeryville company with a team based at Bonneville Labs – Berkeley, announced that both its COVID-19 & Flu and COVID-19 molecular tests have received the CE Mark for professional use, clearing both tests for sale and distribution throughout the European Union. These palm-sized tests produce results in 30 minutes and millions of tests have already been distributed across the US, Canada, Singapore, Israel, and Taiwan.
Read more in Lucira's press release.
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After months of deliberations, Activate announced its 39 new fellows who are on a mission to build a cleaner, safer society. 11 of these fellows will be part of the Activate Berkeley community, collaborating with scientists at the Berkeley Lab’s Cyclotron Road Division and with UC Berkeley’s research labs. Over the next two years, Activate will support these fellows with a full-time living stipend, mentorship, entrepreneurial education, access to funders and industry experts, and funding to utilize the facilities they need to turn their research into a product.
Read more in Activate’s press release.
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Richard Chan is Managing Partner at the Berkeley Frontier Fund, a venture capital firm that invests in the best UC Berkeley startups and then donates 30 percent of profits back to Cal through the Berkeley Foundation. In a recent interview with VatorNews, Chan describes how the Berkeley Frontier Fund offers a new breed of VC plus philanthropy, with a focus on “frontier technology,” including startups in biotech, AI, robotics, and material science.
Read the full interview on VatorNews.
UC Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub, a life science-focused innovation center that is working to connect campus and society, officially opened at Woo Hon Fai Hall on May 3. The new facility features 40,000 square feet of lab and office space—which has the capacity to accommodate 50 startup companies—and a five-tiered structured ramp and freight elevator that improves accessibility for all individuals.
Read more in The Daily Californian.
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Keep in Touch
To submit information or questions about Berkeley Startup Cluster contact: oedmailbox@cityofberkeley.info
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