Andrea Wang, CEO of AHEAD Medicine (SkyDeck Fall 2019 GIP startup), pitching in the Fall 2019 GIP Showcase event. (Photo credit: Charles MacDonald) 

SkyDeck will be hosting the SkyDeck Innovation Partner Showcase on January 26th featuring its latest batch of Global Innovation Partner Program startups. The GIP Program enters its second year with the goal of creating a unique pathway for international startups to access the talent and investors from the Bay Area as well as the wealth of entrepreneurs from UC Berkeley. Coming from fields ranging from cleantech to fintech, the 11 startups will be pitching to investors and SkyDeck advisers and mentors. 

Register for this event via this Eventbrite page!

SkyDeck will also be showcasing 28 teams that are currently part of SkyDeck’s HotDesk Program on Friday, January 29th from 1-3 p.m. RSVP here and join us for an afternoon of pitches featuring the best of what UC entrepreneurs have to offer, from life science, digital health to consumer software, edtech and beyond. 

Last year, MyNurse.AI won the pitch competition. MyNurse.AI CEO Waleed Mohsen was also the 2020 recipient of UCSF’s Rosenman Innovator award.

Since launching a year ago, the SkyDeck Decal continues to grow in reputation and popularity on campus. Cal students Ananya Jain and Aayush Dave will be teaching the SkyDeck DeCal, and they invite any Cal students interested in the startup world to consider signing up. Jain, a senior at Cal, said, “After two semesters of co-teaching the SkyDeck Decal, I’ve witnessed students really grow their entrepreneurial knowledge and applied skills. It’s one of the most rewarding experiences from my time at Cal seeing so many students sharpen their business thinking.”

This class offers an abridged version of SkyDeck's core program and covers the fundamentals of turning a business idea into a reality. Through our speaker series, students will have the chance to learn first-hand from entrepreneurs, VCs and founders. By the end of the semester, students will have a much deeper understanding of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, problem solver and critical thinker. Interested? Fill out our interest form and we will get back to you with more details soon!

Yes, it’s that time of year again! SkyDeck is opening up its applications for the Spring 2021 batch next week! Backed by an impressive list of Silicon Valley investors, Berkeley SkyDeck is open to startups from around the world. As a UC Berkeley program, SkyDeck offers rich access to university faculty and countless resources as well as a home base for startups to launch in the Valley. In addition, SkyDeck provides access to an unparalleled network of exceptional advisers and talent. 

Startups selected into the Cohort Program will receive a $105K investment from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund and the opportunity to pitch to over 750 investors at SkyDeck’s Demo Day.

Any startup with at least one founder affiliated with any of the 10 University of California campuses or based outside of the U.S. can apply. The deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. PT on February 22nd, 2021. Apply starting January 25th! https://bit.ly/33HGX28

January 26th: “Equity Essentials” hosted by Carta 

If you’re curious to learn more about equity compensation and how to unlock its value, join Carta on Tuesday, January 26th, for the launch of its Equity Essentials initiative. Carta is on a mission to provide free, fundamental equity education to current and future employee-owners to arm you with the information to maximize its value. Register for the virtual presentation here. 

January 26th: UC Berkeley Virtual Cloud Community Meetup #21

The UC Berkeley Cloud Community of Practice is holding its 21st meetup virtually on January 26th from 4-5:30 p.m. PT via Zoom. Details coming soon on the meetup page!