SkyDeck's Batch 12 includes a broad range of international startups participating remotely from around the world
BERKELEY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2021 / UC Berkeley SkyDeck, the startup accelerator of the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley), today announces it has selected 17 companies from around the globe for its Batch 12 startup cohort. The new group of startups specializes in a wide range of industries including AI, life sciences, semiconductor chips, HR, robotics, and enterprise software. The acceptance rate for the new cohort was 1.3%.
"We are excited to welcome these 17 unique business ideas and technology innovations to SkyDeck," said Caroline Winnett, Executive Director, Berkeley SkyDeck. "If there is anything this past year has taught us, startup leaders and founders are more flexible and determined than ever before to bring their businesses to life and greatly impact lives around the world. We're thrilled to work with this diverse and talented group of startup teams and look forward to watching them grow and succeed during their time in the program."
International startups participating come from Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and Taiwan. This is the third (and potentially the last) remote program for SkyDeck. The first remote cohort started just at the time of the shutdown last March and the staff quickly adjusted to an all-virtual program. Although working remotely, startup founders from the past two cohort groups have experienced great success and have praised SkyDeck's support and advisory services during these unprecedented circumstances.
"Nothing beats learning and interacting in person, but SkyDeck and all of the advisors went above and beyond to make sure we had the best experience and every opportunity was made available to us," said Hossain Fahad, Founder and CEO, Serinus Labs, who participated in the program which just concluded. "We are grateful for our time in the program and feel we accomplished so much, if not more, than we could have hoped for. Our company is now on track to solve the biggest challenges in EV battery safety, something that would have been impossible without SkyDeck."
UC Berkeley is a hotbed of entrepreneurship, identified by Pitchbook as the No. 1 public undergraduate program for producing startup founders that get venture funding. In 2019 SkyDeck was named in Forbes as one of the top five U.S. university accelerators.
The Accelerator Cohort of startups receive a $105,000 investment from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund and access to 350 top advisors and mentors as they prepare to pitch more than 600 investors on Demo Day. In addition to the Accelerator program, SkyDeck also hosts the HotDesk incubator program with approximately 100 additional early stage startups. The participants in the incubator also have access to events, mentors, and pitch opportunities to help them grow their innovative ideas and businesses.
The Batch 12 cohort started May 4, 2021. The Batch 12 Demo Day will take place Sept. 28, 2021. For more information about SkyDeck, visit skydeck.berkeley.edu.
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ABOUT BERKELEY SKYDECK
Berkeley SkyDeck is UC Berkeley's global startup accelerator. Named in Forbes as one of the top five U.S. university accelerators, SkyDeck combines hands-on mentorship with the vast resources of its research university. SkyDeck is the only accelerator that provides funding for its startups via a public-private partnership, providing returns directly back to UC Berkeley from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, a dedicated investment fund supported by top institutional VCs like Sequoia and Mayfield. To date, SkyDeck startups have raised more than $1.47 billion in aggregate. Participating startups have access to SkyDeck's 350 advisors, 50 industry partners, and a network of more than 510,000 UC Berkeley alumni. For more information, see skydeck.berkeley.edu.
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SOURCE: Berkeley SkyDeck
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