Berkeley SkyDeck, a renowned global entrepreneurship hub and tech accelerator, is gearing up for its most extensive Demo Day to date, featuring 24 innovative startups.
The event is scheduled for September 20 at Zellerbach Hall, situated on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
The lineup of Batch 16 companies set to participate in Demo Day spans a diverse array of industries, including climate tech, robotics, deep tech, AI, chips, hardware, gaming, and fintech. This year’s Demo Day marks a new milestone for Berkeley SkyDeck, highlighting its ongoing growth and influence within the startup ecosystem. It provides investors from major Silicon Valley firms with the opportunity to hear from each of the participating startups.
Batch 16 represents the largest cohort to date, featuring 24 companies chosen from a pool of 1,800 applications, resulting in an acceptance rate of just 1.3%. Notably, this cohort includes the first-ever life science startups founded by UC Berkeley faculty members through the Life Science Entrepreneurship Venture Grant.
Among the faculty-led companies participating in the newly introduced UC Berkeley Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center (LSEC) Bio Track are AsparaGlue and MZR Neurotech. Additionally, Batch 16 includes startups on the cutting edge of their respective industries, including generative AI for gaming and SaaS, low-cost performance semiconductors and microchips, and travel booking services.
Chon Tang, founding partner of Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, expressed, “The technologies that power the future won’t come out of Silicon Valley alone. We believe Batch 16 represents some of the most innovative ideas from around the world, and we are excited to see the response from the broader investment community.”
Berkeley SkyDeck offers selected cohort companies benefits such as $200,000 in funding, free and discounted resources valued at $750,000, and access to an extensive network of UC Berkeley alumni, faculty, and advisors.
The impact of Berkeley SkyDeck’s support is evident from the success of previous cohorts. Several startups from Batch 15, including Clearpol, Socialtrait, and Okomera, secured substantial seed funding rounds ranging from $3 million to $5 million from leading venture capital firms shortly after their Demo Day presentations.
Caroline Winnett, executive director at Berkeley SkyDeck, noted, “When selecting companies for a Berkeley SkyDeck Cohort, we look for companies that have moonshot visions to completely change the world. This group of companies is poised to help us rethink wearable technology, the flow of payments, treatment for cancer, and autonomous robots, among other industries.”
With applications for Batch 17 recently closed, Berkeley SkyDeck has witnessed significant interest, with the number of applications nearly doubling compared to Batch 16. Batch 17 will also introduce a specialized Climate Tech Track, led by Shuo Yang, a partner at the prominent climate tech venture capital firm Lowercarbon Capital.
As Berkeley SkyDeck enters its fourth year and continues to invest from its $60 million Fund II, it has made a significant impact by supporting 160 companies from 30 countries across various industries.
What distinguishes the SkyDeck Fund is its unique profit-sharing model, with half of its profits reinvested into UC Berkeley, furthering the university’s commitment to delivering excellence in education.
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