Applications Open January 31, 2022 – March 6, 2022
Interviews March 21, 2022 – April 14, 2022
Orientation May 2, 2022
Start & End Dates May 2, 2022 – Sept 30, 2022
Cohort Demo Day Sept 27, 2022
Last Day of Cohort Sept 30, 2022
Applications Open January 31, 2022 – March 6, 2022
Interviews March 21, 2022 – April 14, 2022
Orientation May 2, 2022
Start & End Dates May 2, 2022 – Sept 30, 2022
Cohort Demo Day Sept 27, 2022
Last Day of Cohort Sept 30, 2022
Roughly twenty Cohort startups are selected every six months to receive a $200,000 investment from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund. Founders with an affiliation to any of the 10 UC Campuses (UC Berkeley, UCLA, Davis, etc) are eligible, as well as international founders from outside the US.
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:
SkyDeck’s Innovation Partner Program (IPP) provides partners with an opportunity to send startups to be accelerated for a three-month period at SkyDeck. SkyDeck welcomes IPP startups from various industries and across different funding stages.
Global Innovation Partners (GIP) are international government organizations and academic institutions that are looking to develop a virtual bridge between Silicon Valley resources, the University of California at Berkeley, and their own region to help develop their innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem by offering global programing to local startups.
University Innovation Partners (UIP) are higher-education academic institutions from North America that seek to expand their innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem and supplement their curriculum. The program connects institutions with Silicon Valley resources including lifetime access to a vast network of advisors, mentors, investors, and corporate partners, through a robust program of workshops and networking events.
Corporate Innovation Partners (CIP) are corporations from around the world that are interested in making strategic investments into accelerating internal projects, portfolio startups, or sourcing and accelerating new startups that address specific technology needs and develop new opportunities. This program allows corporations to implement a targeted approach to solving innovation challenges and identifying new technological opportunities.
SkyDeck provides IPP startups with access to relevant workshops, networking events, office hours with industry experts, and a showcase event with 100+ attendees, among which include startup investors, advisors, and mentors. By the time
IPP startups finish the program they are significantly more prepared to launch their startup in the US or internationally, and have a network to do so.SkyDeck staff work with the startups to facilitate custom programming tailored towards their goals.
THE SKYDECK INCUBATOR
SkyDeck’s Pad-13 Incubator Program is still a competitive program to get into. Many of these startups have an early prototype or product and may have launched, but are working on building greater traction. Oftentimes, the startups are pre-revenue when they join or have early revenue.
Startups applying to Pad-13 should have at least one founder that is affiliated with UC Berkeley or one of the University of California campuses (Alumni, Staff, Faculty, Student, Researcher, etc).
Pad-13 startups can access 50+ workshops, work with a dedicated key advisor/mentor, and attend some of the networking events. They also benefit from the $750K in resources and benefits on offer to SkyDeck startups.
While Pad-13 startups do not receive investment from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, the Fund may elect to participate in qualifying seed rounds raised by Pad-13 startups.
Berkeley SkyDeck encourages UC Berkeley students to explore startup opportunities and join our community. The are many ways for students to engage at SkyDeck.
Apply to SkyDeck’s Pad-13 program. The Pad-13 program is open to all student founded startups. You can apply if you are simply working on an idea and your startup doesn’t even have a name yet! Apply during the open application periods, or send an email to SkyDeck any time of year and we will let you know if there is room in our student program. To find out more about campus resources, visit our website for entrepreneurs, Berkeley Begin. Go Bears!
If you are a faculty founder and would like to join the SkyDeck program, please email the SkyDeck Executive Director.
Many faculty founded startups have participated in the SkyDeck program, in both the funded Cohort program and the Pad-13 program. Some of our faculty founded startups:
Zephyrus Biosciences – Professor Amy Herr, Bioengineering
Ambidextrous Labs – Professor Ken Goldberg, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Inkspace Imaging – Professor Ana Arias and Professor Michael Lustig, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Iota Biosciences – Professor Michel Maharbiz and Professor Jose Carmena, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
SkyDeck’s Faculty Advisors is group of faculty who are leading researchers in their fields and who are also startup founders and startup advisors. These faculty help guide SkyDeck in their areas of expertise, and can provide unique guidance to startup founders in scientific and technical fields.
SkyDeck hosts many events and programs that are relevant to faculty including:
“Berkeley SkyDeck gave us the network and support we needed to succeed in the early stage of our company. They helped us hire top talent, identify go to market strategies, and raise our seed round.”
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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