With 17 startups taking part, Berkeley SkyDeck’s Demo Day isn’t the most important cohort we’ve seen by any stretch. The assortment of corporations is, nevertheless, outlined by a variety of focuses, from pioneering diabetes therapies to retrofitting autonomous trucking, curated by the SkyDeck’s small workforce and numerous advisors.
Founded in 2012, the accelerator is concentrated on creating early-stage corporations tied to the University of California system. Applicants should be affiliated with both one of many 10 UC faculties or their nationwide laboratories in Berkeley, Livermore and Los Alamos. Notable alumni embody micromobility unicorn, Lime, and supply robotics agency, Kiwi.
In 2020, SkyDeck — together with a lot of the remainder of the world — went digital.
“While flight restrictions did cause some international founders to pull crazy hours from our home countries to participate in the sessions, virtual sessions allowed additional members of our teams to participate that would otherwise not have been able to do so,” the accelerator’s organizers mentioned in a TechCrunch put up final yr. “We are also hearing chatter that Demo Day will be larger than ever before because virtual events are much more scalable.”
The 17 startups presenting immediately have been whittled down from 1,850 candidates, in accordance with the accelerator. Being a member of the cohort entails six months of launch help from SkyDeck, coupled with up $105,000. “In six months, you’re going to pitch on stage at demo day, to an institutional investor in your industry,” Executive Director Caroline Winnett tells TechCrunch.
Here’s a more in-depth have a look at six highlights from this Demo Day.
Image Credits: EndoCrine Bio, Inc.
Building on applied sciences developed within the stem cell analysis labs of UCSF, EndoCrine is trying to commercialize a greater approach to uncover and develop medication. Specifically, the startup is hoping to enhance diabetes remedy past customary insulin injections.
“EndoCrine’s proprietary human stem cell-derived islet platform revolutionizes the drug discovery and development process, saving years of time and millions of dollars usually spent by pharma companies,” CEO Gopika Nair mentioned in a press release supplied to TechCrunch. “Our innovative solution opens an exciting era of personalized medicine in diabetes.”
The firm says SkyDeck helped it take the earliest steps out of the lab and into startup mode.
Image Credits: NuPort Robotics Inc.
NuPort Robotics is among the many most mature of the 17 startups included right here. In reality, in mid-March, the startup signed a partnership with Canadian Tire and the Ontario authorities, as a part of a $three million funding in an autonomous middle-mile trucking answer.
Rather than constructing autonomous trucking from scratch, NuPort’s answer is designed to retrofit semis with autonomous applied sciences.
“This results in operational cost reduction by eliminating the need to replace their existing fleet and yields a safer, more efficient and sustainable transportation system,” CEO Raghavender Sahdev tells TechCrunch.
Image Credits: The Hurd Co.
The Hurd Co.’s purpose is easy: scale back the environmental affect of clothes corporations by serving to to take away timber from the method. Specifically, the corporate creates cellulosic fiber pulp from agricultural byproducts. This is designed to bypass tree-based agrilose, which is used within the manufacturing of all kinds of materials, together with rayon.
“Apparel brands are scrambling for new, low-impact fabric that will allow them to meet their ambitious sustainability goals,” CEO Taylor Heisley-Cook tells TechCrunch. “We completely eliminate trees from the supply chain with a hyper-efficient process that dramatically reduces brands’ impact on the environment.”
The firm says its course of makes use of half the water and considerably much less vitality than customary processes. The expertise was developed by Hurd’s CTO, Charles Cai.
Image Credits: Humm
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