UC Davis announced a strategic collaboration agreement with Bayer Crop Science to foster innovation and economic development in the Sacramento region by providing dedicated facility support for university-affiliated startups — particularly those in the areas of agriculture and food-related technologies. As part of the agreement, Bayer joins the university’s Distributed Research Incubation and Venture Engine (DRIVE ^TM) network of startup incubators. The DRIVE network is part of a platform of resources offered by UC Davis Venture Catalyst to support the successful translation of research and new technologies emerging from the university into new commercial ventures. Located within Bayer’s West Sacramento Innovation Hub for Crop Science, the 3,000 square-foot CoLaborator is designed to house and foster innovative new ventures to transform modern agriculture.... Read More

UC Davis Venture Catalyst will be hosting back-to-back workshop sessions on research and development strategy and funding for university-affiliated startups on Tuesday, May 1, 2018.

Session 1: R&D Outsourcing (3:30 - 5:30 PM)

The first workshop will focus on strategic outsourcing for research and development services and use of the new marketplace enabled by Venture Catalyst’s recently-announced partnership with Science Exchange.

Session 2: SBIR/STTR Overview (5:30 - 8:15 PM)

The second workshop will provide an overview of the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant program, which makes funding available on a competitive basis for research and development projects that have the potential for commercialization and meet specific agency needs.

Participants may choose to attend both sessions or only one. Learn More and Register

UC Davis-affiliated startups now have access to small business development services provided and facilitated by the Tech Futures Group, which is the newest partner within the Venture Catalyst VentureNet ^TM Program. Through its staff, Entrepreneurs in Residence, and network of specialist advisors, the Tech Futures Group provides free services as a program of the Northern California Small Business Development Center Network focused on supporting technology companies with go-to-market strategies, financial projections, commercialization and fundraising strategies, and SBIR/STTR grant applications. The Tech Futures Group utilizes a competitive selection process that requires technology startups to complete an application. To learn more about the application process for participants in the Venture Catalyst Smart Toolkit for Accelerated Research Translation (START ^TM) Program, please contact Venture Catalyst. 

To learn more about Tech Futures Group, click here

To learn more about the Venture Catalyst VentureNet program, click here

UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health (IIFH), together with the Energy Institute at Colorado State University (CSU), the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), and the Mixing Bowl will be hosting the 2018 Innovator Summit on April 23, 2018.

The event will focus on transformation of the food system along three distinct tracks: Energy, Biotechnology, and Digital. Keynote presentations, parallel breakout sessions, and innovator showcases will provide opportunity to further develop joint interests and collaborative opportunities.

Expected guests include representatives from the Weizmann Institute, BASF, Cornell University, Ardent Mills, Dupont, Bayer, Horizontal Ventures, Coca Cola, Mixing Bowl, Culinary Institute of America, The Food Business School, AgStart, FFAR, Ginkgo Bioworks, Rockefeller Foundation, and Intrexon, among others.... Learn More and Register

Two leaders from the UC Davis Venture Catalyst VentureNet ^TM and DRIVE ^TM program partners were among the six highlighted by the Comstock's magazine. Louise Walker, president and CEO of First Northern Bank since 2011, helped grow the bank to 10 branches and $1.2 billion in assets. Molly Weber, the COO and co-founder of The Urban Hive, focuses on fostering community among the 3,000-4,000 members, clients, and visitors who visit the Hive each month.... Read More

UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced that they have chosen the UC Davis Health Campus in the Oak Park area as the location for the first phase of an innovation hub called Aggie Square. The pair also announced the release of findings by the Aggie Square Working Group established in December to explore potential sites for housing the hub in Sacramento, transportation options between Sacramento and Davis, and potential city and state funding sources to support the overall effort. Aggie Square will serve as a collaborative technology and innovation campus that leverages the university’s strengths to become the catalyst for economic change, creating jobs for its graduates and helping to spur the economic vitality of the broader Sacramento region. It will serve as a model public-private partnership, increasing technology transfer and creating opportunities for residents in the community and region.... Read More

Dr Pablo Ross, an associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at UC Davis, announced at the American Association of the Advancement of Science that he and his colleagues have successfully grown nonhuman animal embryos in sheep that contain human cells. These human-animal hybrids have the potential to revolutionize organ transplantation.... Read More

Primo Nery Lara, Jr. has been named director of the National Cancer Institute-designated UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, leading a team of more than 300 scientists with an estimated $90 million in annual research funding and a clinical enterprise that serves more than 10,000 adult and pediatric patients throughout the region every year. Lara’s move into the director’s role comes with unprecedented commitment and support from the university and health system, with enhanced resources to meet the National Cancer Institute’s more rigorous requirements and the growing clinical needs for advanced cancer care in the region.... Read More

Katia Vega, an associate professor of design at UC Davis, has taken her “beauty technology” a step further to create biomedical tattoos — a project for which she and her colleagues earned an Interactive Innovation Award at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference earlier this month. The tattoos, in which biosensors substitute for ink, turn skin into a display that changes colors to indicate what’s going on in the body, for example, glucose levels.... Read More

About Venture Catalyst 

 

UC Davis Venture Catalyst facilitates the translation of University research and technology by enabling the development of new ventures. Venture Catalyst engages with the Davis and Sacramento business, governmental and economic development community to highlight the development of technologies and ventures coming out of UC Davis that will drive tomorrow’s regional job creation. Working closely with these partners, Venture Catalyst is invigorating the technology-based entrepreneurial ecosystem of the entire region. 

The Venture Catalyst START™ Suite of programs and services provides the ABCs to equip UC Davis entrepreneurs with the tools they need to form and grow robust startups. The program gives founders the START they need to create a well-structured company and ensure the company is prepared for success. 

 

Contact Venture Catalyst 

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