Three UCI startup companies offer goods that make excellent gifts for the holiday season.
Support entrepreneurs and small businesses this holiday season with unique gifts created by startup companies from UCI Applied Innovation’s Wayfinder program.
The Wayfinder program helps University of California, Irvine-affiliated entrepreneurs take their startups from concept to reality by providing workspace, strategic guidance and other valuable support resources. Many of those startups are already stacking up accolades and offering products for sale.
Mind Brain Parenting, founded by UCI Ph.D. student and mother of three Jenny Woo, offers a family-friendly card game called 52 Essential Conversations that breaks down communication barriers. The game allows parents and their children to connect on a deeper level by discussing meaningful topics and to develop essential life skills.
A 2018 Parents’ Choice Award winner, 52 Essential Conversations makes family time fun while teaching relationship skills, responsible decision-making, diversity, equity and inclusion, and more.
Another startup offering their wares is Waterborne Skateboards. With the Surf Adapter – a reimagined skateboard truck – riders can more closely mimic the fluid movements of surfing and make tighter turns.
Founder and CEO Patrick Dumas, winner of the inaugural Maschoff Brennan Innovator Scholarship, first wanted to bring this product to market because similar skateboard trucks were cost-prohibitive. Now, Waterborne Skateboards has a warehouse and is shipping the Surf Adapter to customers worldwide.
And Closed Loop Plastics, co-founded by Will Amos and Aldrin Lupisan, pairs sustainability with creativity by taking 100 percent post-consumer plastic waste, like red party cups, and converting it into ready-to-use 3D-printable material.
Through their local sourcing methods and environment-first spirit, Closed Loop Plastics is turning the problem of pollution into a solution by offering recycled high-impact polystyrene filament for 3D printing to bring ideas to life.
“Creating an environment that aids startups in achieving success is only part of what we do here,” said Juan Felipe Vallejo, director of scalable venture incubation at Applied Innovation. “When their products and services get commercialized, we want to provide the support and resources necessary to help them make the most impact in the ecosystem.”
To purchase an item from these startups, please visit 52 Essential Conversations, Surf Adapter or Closed Loop Plastics.
Learn more about the Wayfinder program.
Startups can also be supported through donations to the Student Startup Fund, a UCI Applied Innovation program that provides micro-grants to UCI degree-seeking students and alumni within 12 months of graduation. With these small grants, early-stage startup activities – like prototyping, market research and product refinement – can be completed and students can continue to develop their dreams.