Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiatives Enabled by AB 2664 Funding Show Impact

A one-time $2.2 million investment from the State of California under Assembly Bill 2664 is propelling new and expanded innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives at the University of California, Davis, through enhancements to its related infrastructure, resources and business training programs.

The programs represent a coordinated and collaborative effort among several campus entities including the Office of Research, Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Student Startup Center, Biomedical Engineering, Office of the Provost, Office of Graduate Studies and Internship and Career Center.

Almost two years into the initiatives, new and expanded programs have directly enabled 19 startups, accelerated 47 companies, led to 37 products, delivered 1,900 hours of mentoring and trained over 950 aspiring entrepreneurs.

Notable new and expanded programs

Proof-of-concept grants developed and managed by Venture Catalyst in the Office of Research: Launched the second cycle of the both the Data, Informatics and Application Launch (DIAL™) Grants, which provide targeted funding for software and data informatics projects with commercial potential, and the STAIR-Plus™ Grant program that provides additional support to Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) Grant recipients who have successfully achieved project milestones and are poised for commercial impact pending specific additional targeted results. Since the launch of the DIAL and STAIR-Plus programs, 12 grants and a total of $218,586 have been awarded to campus innovators to advance their projects toward commercialization.

Distributed Research Incubation and Venture Engine (DRIVE™) Network: Expanded research and development capabilities for entrepreneurs and startups within the Venture Catalyst DRIVE Network of incubators and the campus Translating Engineering Advances to Medicine (TEAM) Lab prototyping facility, including the deployment of 39 pieces of equipment and instrumentation. The newly available equipment has helped to catalyze Inventopia’s move to a new facility last year, a new partnership with The Urban Hive, and an expanded partnership with HM.CLAUSE at the UC Davis-HM.CLAUSE Life Science Innovation Center.

Discounted Access to Research Translation Services (DARTS™) Program: Provided startups participating in Venture Catalyst’s Smart Toolkit for Accelerated Research Translation (START™) program access to state-of-the-art services and equipment at partner UC Davis core research facilities at competitive rates designed to address the capital constraints of startups. A complementary program was also launched for participants in the DRIVE network with access to credits to be used at DARTS core facilities.

Cross campus collaborative engagement

Venture Catalyst has been working in close collaboration with university partners in a wide range of coordinated efforts throughout campus. These activities include input on program design and candidate selection in the Advanced Student Career Enablement and Development (ADVANCE) business training and internship programs with implementations through the Leaders for the Future and the Entrepreneurship Quest: Undergraduate Internship Program (EQUIP) in collaboration with Graduate Studies, the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Internship and Career Center.

In addition, Venture Catalyst has engaged with judging of the Little Bang! poster competitions organized by the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, participated in the planning committee for the Aggie Innovation and Startup Symposium in a cross-campus collaboration led by the Office of the Provost, and supported the Creator Challenge Series and Prototyping Labs and Startup Mentorship Accelerator (PLASMA) program participants with early-stage startup resources to help form and grow successful companies and technologies.