Success Stories
Startup companies embody the entrepreneurial spirit and culture at UC Berkeley
Berkeley researchers have developed the technologies that catalyzed the formation of over 27% of the 480-plus start-ups that have licensed technology from the UC System. Through the licensing of Berkeley technology, these start-ups transform the University's basic research into innovative products and entirely new industries. As of 2011, over 30 had received ~$40M in SBIR and STTR funding, combined. The formation of these companies improves our quality of life and economic vitality by creating valuable products and new jobs, as well as paying corporate taxes and purchasing supplies from local industries. This tradition of entrepreneurial excellence at Berkeley has spearheaded the Bay Area's dominance in the information technology and biotechnology industries.
click here for a Partial List of UC Berkeley STARTUP COMPANIES
click here for a Partial List of VENTURE CAPITAL and other PRIVATE CAPITAL PROVIDERS
for VC and Angel Funding by University
for information about Osage University Partners and U.C. Berkeley's OTL
Five Universities You Can Do Business With
Professors' innovations benefit society, economy
Selected Success Stories
- Berkeley has a demonstrated track record of contracting with industry - see data from 2010, 2009
- Acacia Biosciences (acquired by Rosetta Inpharmatics, a subsidiary of Merck) - see drug discovery
- Aduro BioTech - targeted immunotherapy - see improving vaccines and Phase I trials
- Affymetrix - Drosophila genome analysis
- Agdia - plant pathogen test kits - see prunus necrotic ringspot virus
- Alien Technology - RFID products and services - see founder
- Ambrx - transforming protein therapeutics - see unnatural amino acids
- Amyris Biotechnologies - harvesting nature through biotechnology - see Gates-funded malaria collaboration
- Analog Devices - see MEMS accelerometer for airbag applications
- Angiodynamics - see oncology tumor ablation devices and techniques. See: Punching Holes in Tumor Cells, Boris Rubinsky and NanoKnifeTM
- Applied Biosystems - see TaqManTM protein assays
- Aquaya Institute - improving health through clean water innovation - see Q-H2O Filter
- Berkeley Biosciences - see immune support formula
- Berkeley Madonna - software: differential equation solver
- BioScale - biomolecular detection
- Bristol-Meyers Squibb - see Scientist's Drive Puts the Brakes on Cancer - harnessing the immune system to fight melanom and Medarex, below
- Cadence Design Systems - electronic design innovation - see pattern classification
- Calimetrics (acquired by LSI Logic) - the next step in optical storage- see DVD storage capacity
- Calisolar - charting a path to lower-cost solar power
- CAVEAT - software for organic molecule design
- CellASIC - (acquired by Millipore) Bringing Microfluidics to Life see microfluidic perfusion system
- CellGuidance Systems - protein-polymer complexes
- CellScope - not just for James Bond anymore
- Cerus Corporation - increasing blood saftey for life - and immune therapy
- ChronoZoom - a Timeline for Big History wins Best Educational Resource award and A Deep Dive into the History of Everything
- Cisco Systems - router innovations developed at U.C. Berkeley and commercialized under license - see network timing and synchronization
- Clontech -see baculovirus rapid titer kit
- CommandCAD (acquired by Cadence Design) - design for manufacturability
- CPI International - the first definitive water test system, see colitagTM
- Discera - shrinking wireless architectures see - founder
- Dojindo laboratories
- Ekso Bionics (formerly Berkeley Bionics) - exoskeletons - see eLEGS one of TIME Magazine's 50 best inventions
- Energy Biosciences Institute named Tech Transfer Deal of Distinction
- Ensighta Security - cybersecurity startup acquired by FireEye
- EPICENTRE Biotechnologies - understanding the genome and transcriptome - see mRNA isolation kit and fast end-point PCR system
- Euclid Media - Pandoodle "Media, rendered personal"
- Excellin - tracking the life, and death, of a cell
- Exelixis - improving the treatment of cancer - see cancer drug and founders
- Fluxion Biosciences - systems for cellular analysis - see grants, incubator and luck..."
- GE Healthcare - see megaBACETM capillary DNA sequencers, DYEnamicTM energy transfer primers and terminators - and Storm system gel, blot and macroarray analysis
- Genocea Biosciences - vaccine discovery & development - see warding off diseases
- GO2Water - water purification systems
- HFTA - efficient and cost effective biomass technology for clean energy
- Hybrid Wisdom Labs - visualizing customer insight
- Illumina - DNA sequencing and analysis
- Inktomi (acquired by Yahoo!) web search - see founders
- Imprint Energy - low cost, flexible, rechargeable battery technology
- IntegenX (formerly Microchip Biotechnologies, Inc.) - nanofluidics platform - see Apollo 100x DNA sequencing prep and a genome center on a chip?
- Invitrogen - see LanthaScreenTM fluorescent reagents
- Juvenon - science of aging - see cellular health
- KineMed - drug discovery & development through kinetics - see serial entrepreneur and co-founder
- Leucadia Technologies - (acquired by IRIS International, then by Danaher Corp./Beckman Coulter Diagnostics) molecular diagnostics in cancer and HIV
- Lumiphore - reagents for biological detection - lanthanide fluorescent compounds
- Luminous Devices - solid state lighting, LEDs
- Materia - catalysts - see MacMillan catalysts
- Medarex - antibody-based cancer therapeutics - see Melanoma Drug Approved! and The Man Behind the Drug
- Mendel Biotechnology - seeding a sustainable future - see co-founder
- Mercator MedSystems - transforming therapeutic delivery - see micro-infusion catheters
- Microchip Biotechnologies - see IntegenX
- Molecular Devices - see calcium assays
- Modulus Video - image and signal processing - acquired by Motorola Mobility, then acquired by Google
- Molecular Dynamics (acquired by Amersham) - high speed, high throughput, high accuracy DNA sequencing - see GE Healthcare (above)
- Molecular Probes - see fluorescent dyes & probes
- Nanosys - see nanowires for batteries and other applications.
- Neomorphic - software for computational genomics analyses (acquired by Affymetrix)
- Olink Bioscience - see Duolink kits and components
- Omniox - oxygen delivery protein technology for clinical indications
- Oncobionic - acquired by Angiodynamics, see Angiodynamics
- OnWafer (acquired by KLA Tencor) -see chip manufacturing in situ process monitoring
- Osage University Partners closes $100M debut fund, affiliates with leading universities
- Pan Vera (InvitroGen) - see dyes for detection of dsDNA
- Q-Chem - computational chemistry software program
- Renovis (acquired by Evotec) - renew, restore, repair
- Rubicon Digital Mapping Associates GeoMapper
- Sigma-Aldrich - organocatalysts
- Silicon Biodevices - point-of-care diagnostics
- Silicon Clocks - acquired by Silicon Laboratories
- Singulex -Single Molecule Detection
- Socially Responsible Licensing Program, Socially Responsible IP Management
- Startup companies founded with IP rights from UC Berkeley (partial list)
- STS Software Tecnico Scientifico - OpenSeeS software for earthquake simulation of structural and geotechnical systems
- Sunesis Pharmaceuticals - small molecule therapeutics for oncology and other medical needs
- Tech-X Corporation - computational science and engineering - see Oopic Pro plasma and charged particle simulation
- Tularik (acquired by Amgen) - medicines that regulate gene expression - see founder
- Two Blades Foundation - durable disease resistance
- Urban Informatics Corporation - tracking traffic
- Urban-Scan - acquired, based on automated 3D reconstruction for urban environments
- Ventria Bioscience - see - Rice that Could Save Lives and ExpressTec
- Venture Capital and other private capital investors in Berkeley startups (partial list)
- Veterinary Genetics Laboratory - lethal white foal allele
- VitaPath Genetics - actionable molecular diagnostics to prevent disease
- Xenometrix - Ames test - see Ames mutagenicity assay
