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September 16, 2020
21 Moonshot Startups Pitch at SkyDeck’s Spring 2020 Virtual Demo Day

On September 15, SkyDeck’s first-ever remote cohort of 21 moonshot startups successfully pitched their ideas to over 1000 accredited investors. This cohort of global startups runs the full gamut of industries, from robotics, to health, to bioscience, to artificial intelligence. Under normal circumstances, SkyDeck’s Demo Day and accelerator program would have taken place on UC Berkeley’s campus, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, founders participated entirely remotely from their home locations. Caroline Winnett, Executive Director of Berkeley SkyDeck, said, “This year has been one like no other with many challenges, and I could not be more proud of our startups for their grit, determination, and perseverance to succeed.” To learn more about the spring 2020 cohort startups, visit skydeck.berkeley.edu/spring2020.

Alibaba’s JUMPSTARTER Returns as one of the World’s Largest Global Pitch Competitions

SkyDeck is proud to partner with the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund for the second year to invite startups to pitch at JUMPSTARTER. Launched in 2017 as a not-for-profit initiative by the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, JUMPSTARTER is the world’s largest online startup contest in 2020, celebrating young entrepreneurs from around the world by allowing them to gain awareness and investment on a global stage. This year, 10 finalists will be chosen to attend the Grand Finale in Hong Kong, all expenses paid, to pitch for up to $1 million in investment. Learn more about JUMPSTARTER 2021 and apply to pitch here! Startups that submit by the First Wild Card deadline (September 25th) will get a closer look. **

**Note: Be sure to indicate “Berkeley SkyDeck” when submitting the form and answering the question, “How did you hear about JUMPSTARTER?”

Derrick Koenig, Vadim Nazarov, and Sarah Placella Join the SkyDeck Alumni Council

Derrick Koenig, Vadim Nazarov, and Sarah Placella, Spring 2020 cohort founders, have volunteered to join the Berkeley SkyDeck alumni council as cohort representatives. The alumni council serves to organize and engage the unique cohort founders that move through the accelerator program. Koenig said, “Volunteering to represent the Spring 2020 cohort was an absolute no-brainer for me. One of the biggest benefits that SkyDeck provides for start-up founders is high-value networking opportunities that are very difficult to establish otherwise. Not only do I see the alumni council as an opportunity to continue leveraging this benefit, but I look forward to contributing to the future direction of SkyDeck for future cohorts.

SkyDeck’s Executive Director to Speak at Upcoming US Taiwan Startup Forum & Women’s Venture Summit

Berkeley SkyDeck Executive Director Caroline Winnett served as the keynote speaker at the US Taiwan Startup Forum on September 11th, delivering her presentation, “Startup Launch in the Time of COVID-19.” The US Taiwan Startup Forum is a free two-day event, with the second day occurring on September 25. At the event, 15 US and Taiwan based startups across five different categories pitch ideas to venture capital experts. Find out more at utstartup.org!

Caroline will also be speaking at the Women’s Venture Summit 2020, a two-day virtual event from September 18 to 19 bringing together female founders and funders from across the globe.


SkyTeam News
 

Cura Therapeutics

Cura Therapeutics (Fall ‘19 Cohort) closed their pre-seed round of $1.55M, allowing them to complete preclinical studies in the next 12 months to advance their immunotherapy platform to pre-IND studies next year. Special thanks to the SkyDeck Fund, MIT Alumni Angels of Northern California, Ringold Ventures, & lead investor Pacific 8 Ventures.

 

4D Sight

What do dozens of esports leagues have in common with some traditional sports teams in the USA? They now all use 4D Sight (Spring ‘20) to add non-invasive in-game advertisements to their broadcasts. Learn how 4D Slight’s AI tech “blew up” during lockdown and now caters to 150+ esports teams!

Clinic Price Check

Clinic Price Check (Spring ‘20 HotDesk) was selected into the U.C. Berkeley Startup Law Initiative, the FORM & FUND Fellowship, and most recently, TechCrunch Disrupt 2020.

 

Wing AI

Wing AI (Spring ‘20 Cohort) is now offering process automation to small businesses with a no-code solution. With a simple self-service flow chart tool, team members can use plain English to describe what they want to automate. SkyDeck affiliates can get an exclusive discount. For more info, click here.

LOVO

Over 1,000,000 voiceovers have been created on LOVO (Fall ‘19 Cohort) since launching in January! We've seen significant growth, especially in the corporate L&D and e-learning market, and have been acquiring enterprise customers as our technology and product improves.


Upcoming Events
 

September 15-23: UCSF Digital Health Awards

Join us as we address the healthcare trends, challenges & tech solutions that will shape the way we deliver care and combat diseases forevermore. Awards episodes include 20+ kickoff presentations, 30+ speakers, 40+ virtual breakout rooms, 100+ featured companies, culminating into one finale event.


Wednesday, September 23: Big Ideas Grand Prize Pitch Day

After months spent developing their "Big Ideas", the top teams from this year's contest will compete for the $10K Big Ideas Grand Prize at their Pitch Day!


Tuesday, September 29: UC Berkeley Virtual Cloud Community Meetup #18

The UC Berkeley Cloud Community of Practice is holding their 18th meetup virtually on September 29th, from 5 to 6:30PM PDT via Zoom. Shirley Pan from Fibulas (Spring ‘20 Cohort) will be speaking. Details on the meetup page!

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