Every year, UC Davis Venture Catalyst conducts a business climate survey of UC Davis-associated startups and Smart Toolkit for Accelerated Research Translation (START^TM) program participants. Because of the pandemic, this year's survey included several questions around how COVID-19 has affected business operations. Out of the over 50 companies that responded to this year's survey, nearly 60% indicated that their company is fully operational and COVID-19 had no or little effect on company's operational status. Some of the top ways UC Davis startups and START program participants have mitigated the effects of COVID-19 include applying to the Paycheck Protection Program, ramping up fundraising efforts, applying for a US Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan, and shifting focus to COVID-related research.

Inevitably, when innovators seek to develop a brilliant idea into a business concept, they will build a business plan, conduct research, and talk to experts about technicalities around the business concept and technology. Discussion around business formation may touch on taxes and accounting, but these activities are regularly set aside to focus on technology commercialization milestones. Financial management is often suddenly prioritized too late when a startup is actively seeking investment capital or has received funding through small business grant. This talk, led by business accounting professional Andrew Newman, will explore what a startup needs to be concerned about from an accounting and tax perspective. The discussion will cover integrating financial management and accounting into day-to-day activities, reporting obligations and filing requirements for taxes, and weighing the importance of utilizing accounting professionals.

Tuesday, September 22, 2020, 10:30 – 11:45 am

Machine Intelligence Learning Optimizer (MILO), developed by the Vice Chair of Informatics and Computational Pathology at UC Davis Hooman Rashidi, is a turnkey software tool that provides a fully automated machine learning and artificial intelligence solution to many different research and business needs. The platform uses machine learning to build and compare hundreds of thousands of models within various optimized ML pipelines. The users then pick and deploy the most suitable model based on their needs and the field’s best practices. In January, MILO was showcased at the UC Davis Venture Catalyst Biotech Innovation Gallery (BIG) Event alongside the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. MILO was recently licensed to mdlogix, a behavioral health software company who owns the BHWorks software platform.... Read More

LiquidGoldConcept, a UC Davis-associated startup focused on simulation-based training in clinical lactation, won the $25,000 Grand Prize Pitch award from the Big Ideas Scaling Up Contest. The company was founded by Anna Sadovnikova, a fifth year MD/PhD student at the UC Davis School of Medicine. The award was for a high-fidelity breastfeeding simulator that is currently developing a virtual simulation platform, the Lactation QBank, to train healthcare providers to use telehealth for lactation support during COVID-19.... Read More

Anna Sadovnikova was also named the 2020 Daniel T. O’Connor, M.D., Memorial Research Grant recipient. The award helps provide a one-year research stipend and supports high-quality translational work that emphasizes a multi-disciplinary, collaborative, “bench to bedside” approach to developing new treatments and therapies.... Read More

The UC Davis Cannabis and Hemp Research Center (CHRC) awarded the Research Investments in Cannabis and Hemp (RICH) grants to five researchers at UC Davis following an internal funding competition led by the Office of Research. The recipients of the grants are exploring various applications and insights related to breeding, human health, toxicology, and economic development…. Read More

Lee Miller, a UC Davis professor in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior and the Center for Mind and Brain, received a $1.5 million grant from the United States Department of Defense (DoD). Miller and his research team, including co-investigator Dr. Hilary Brodie in the Department of Otolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery, which have already developed a diagnostic tool that utilizes an individual’s brain waves to uncover hidden hearing loss, will use the DoD grant to continue developing powerful tools to diagnose hidden hearing loss and other listening problems..... Read More

UC Davis professors Daniel Cox (physics) and Michael Toney (chemistry) are the inventors of a patented technique for growing nanoscale protein polymer fibrils. The fibrils act like scaffolds, and can be manipulated to create new materials with specific functions. Cox and Toney developed the technology for applications such as nanowires and biomaterials. Now their goal is to capture the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. The technology could also be used to coat personal protective equipment, such as fabric masks, and boost their effectiveness against the virus.... Read More

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $1.2 million grant to the UC Davis Mouse Biology Program. The funding will be used to create humanized laboratory mice that are susceptible to the COVID-19 virus and to distribute them to researchers for further study.... Read More

Researchers at UC Davis and Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) developed a new set of synthetic biology tools that could unlock advanced plant engineering. The work was led by led by Patrick Shih, an assistant professor of plant biology at the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences.... Read More

Researchers at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) recently identified Mysis shrimp as a major cause of clarity decline in Lake Tahoe. While the researchers now know how to reduce the Mysis numbers to the point where the beneficial zooplankton could return, this process is costly. To address this, TERC is working with UC Davis Graduate School of Management students to turn the gathered shrimp into a marketable and profitable product. One of the ideas is to use these shrimp to make premium dog treats, a $7 billion business in the US.... Read More

New analysis from the economic research firm Economic & Planning Systems predicts Aggie Square at the UC Davis Sacramento campus will add nearly $5 billion to the Sacramento region’s economy each year and support 25,000 ongoing jobs.... Read More

Tom Osha, the senior VP of innovation and economic development at Wexford Science & Technology, explained that the company chose to work with UC Davis because of its "top-flight status".... Read More

The Sacramento Kings announced Humanly as the $10,000 grand prize recipient of the 2020 Capitalize contest, powered by Accenture and Sacramento Urban Technology Lab. Humanly is an AI talent recruiting platform that streamlines candidate screening and scheduling for companies with high applicant volume to save time and reduce bias.... Read More

Davis-based Marrone Bio Innovations announced the appointment of Kevin Helash as its new chief executive officer. Helash will replace founding CEO Pam Marrone.... Read More

Folsom-Based Biotech Company Quickly Ramps Up Covid-19 Testing Effort in Sac County (Sacramento Business Journal)

Sacramento County is working with StemExpress, a Sacramento-based biotech company, to increase region's COVID-19 testing efforts. The partnership will relaunch five community testing sites where UC Davis will collect the specimens and StemExpress will host the registration and processing, with a goal of providing test results within 72 hours.... Read More

The Better Meat Co. Closes $8.1m Seed Round as Hybrid Trend Combining Animal- and Plant-Based Proteins Gathers Pace (Food Navigator)

The Better Meat Co., a Sacramento-based plant protein company, closed an $8.1m seed round, co-led by Greenlight Capital and Green Circle Foodtech Ventures, bringing the total funding raised by the company close to $10 million.... Read More

Local Startup Developing Wearable Posture Device Raises $450,000 (Sacramento Business Journal)

Smart Spinal Solutions Inc., a startup based in Rancho Cordova, raised $450,000 for the development of its smart wearable posture-correcting device.... Read More

FourthWave Picks 13 Companies for Its Women-Led Business Accelerator (Sacramento Business Journal)

FourthWave, an accelerator for women-led tech businesses, picked 13 companies for its 16-week virtual program, with ten of the 13 companies based in the Sacramento region.... Read More

Seed and Initial Financing Deals Dive in Q2 (State Science & Technology Institute)

According to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor Q2 2020 reports, by extrapolating the first half data through the rest of 2020, the initial investments are on track to experience a 26% decline compared to 2019. Similarly, seed investments are expected to post a 36% decline over 2020.On the other end, later stage VC investments are expected to post a slight increase over the same timeframe.... Read More

Innovation in the U.S. Government (National Bureau of Economic Research)

A new paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research’s (NBER) analyzes innovative efforts of the US government over a 40-year period. Among other findings, the paper shows that intramural innovations, measured by government-assigned patents, are slightly more original and general, but less cited, than patents awarded to private-sector companies..... Read More

UC Davis Venture Catalyst supports the development of new ventures fueled by university research and technology. Venture Catalyst offers several innovative programs that bridge the gap between early-stage research and commercialization and provide entrepreneurs the resources, support, and connections needed to successfully form and grow technology-based startups. With a focus on accelerating technology-led economic development in the Davis-Sacramento region, Venture Catalyst also works closely with partners in the regional innovation and economic development ecosystems. 

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