Applications Open Mon, Jan 25th – Mon, Feb 28th
Interviews March 23rd – April 14th
Orientation Mon, May 3rd, 2021
Start & End Dates May 3rd, 2021 – Oct 29th, 2021
Demo Day Tues, Sept 28, 2021
Applications Open Mon, Jan 25th – Mon, Feb 28th
Interviews March 23rd – April 14th
Orientation Mon, May 3rd, 2021
Start & End Dates May 3rd, 2021 – Oct 29th, 2021
Demo Day Tues, Sept 28, 2021
Berkeley SkyDeck segments its program into the Cohort Program (Accelerator) and
the HotDesk Program (Incubator). We host over 120 startups per year. We accept startups in all industries.
ACCELERATOR
Roughly twenty Cohort startups are selected every six months to receive a $105,000 investment from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund.
Cohort startups are selected if they’re almost ready to raise their first significant round of institutional funding from top Silicon Valley VCs; most successful applicants have already raised angel funding, or previous venture capital investments from VCs outside of the United States.
Companies who have graduated from the SkyDeck program have a much higher probability of receiving institutional funding than the industry average.
Cohort startups are paired with Key Advisors, go through the six-month BAM Program, attend weekly required events, and receive guided access to the SkyDeck community. Startups present at SkyDeck’s 600+ attendee Demo Day.
SkyDeck works hand-in-hand to help Cohort companies with:
ACCELERATOR
Global Innovation Partners of SkyDeck (GIP) can send several startups to be accelerated for a three month period. SkyDeck welcomes GIP startups from various industries and across different funding stages. Most GIP teams are interested in international expansion beyond their home country.
SkyDeck provides GIP teams with access to informative workshops, networking events, advising office hours with industry experts, and a showcase event with 100+ attendees, among which include investors, advisors, and mentors. By the time GIP teams finish the program they report feeling significantly more confident with launching internationally and a network to do so.
GIP teams are granted dedicated workspace on SkyDeck’s third floor and have access to all of SkyDeck’s facilities. SkyDeck’s Global Innovation Partner manager works with the companies to facilitate custom programming tailored towards their goals.
SkyDeck’s current Global Innovation Partners include GungHo Space in China, National Applied Research Laboratories in Taiwan, and Milano Innovation District in Italy.
INCUBATOR
HotDesk startups are typically companies that are too early stage for the cohort program, or are founded by students or faculty.
They are invited to work in the open work areas and to attend some workshops and events at SkyDeck, depending on availability.
HotDesk startups have access to a portion of our advisors as well as the in-kind resources offered by our resource partners. Graduates of the Cohort program are invited to HotDesk for six-months post-graduation.
The Berkeley SkyDeck Fund may elect to participate in qualifying seed rounds raised by HotDesk teams.
Hotdesk applicants are required to have at least one founder connection to one of the ten University of California campuses, such as Alumni, Professor, Student, Grad Student, or Researcher.
BAM is SkyDeck’s proprietary, six-month program to accelerate startups for strength and success in Silicon Valley. The goal is to fully prepare startups to raise their first round of investment from Silicon Valley VCs. It is a practical, experience-based program designed by serial entrepreneurs, VCs, and thought leaders informed by the discipline of entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley.
The BAM program includes expert-led workshops in six critical practice areas, mutual matching to key Advisors, 1:1 office hours with experts, customer introductions through the UC Berkeley community, and curated introductions to hundreds of Seed / A round Silicon Valley investors looking to lead $2-10mm rounds in high-growth startups.
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