In November, startups from all 10 University of California (UC) schools had the opportunity to connect with investors in person during the inaugural Born in California Demo Days event, presented by U.S. Bank. The first-of-its-kind, systemwide event brought together approximately 200 investors from over 100 investor groups and 44 startups in the life science, digital health, technology, consumer and sustainability spaces — including seven from UC Irvine (UCI) — at the Cove @ UCI, UCI Beall Applied Innovation’s headquarters and premier events space.
“Seven years ago, UCI Beall Applied Innovation was established to foster the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem on campus and across Orange County through a range of activities including academic and co-curricular education, training programs, and networking opportunities,” said Hal Stern, UCI provost and executive vice chancellor. “As the front door to the campus, BAI helps bring UCI’s research to the community through startups and industry partnerships.”
The two-day, invitation-only event kicked off with several distinguished speakers including University of California President Michael V. Drake and UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman, who encouraged startups to make their strongest case to investors. Additionally, UCI Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of Applied Innovation Errol Arkilic, shared three main elements of building a culture of collaboration at Applied Innovation, which include leading with curiosity, following up with experimentation and building through collaboration.
“Today’s event is a collaboration event … we ask you to work together to bring discoveries that matter to the marketplace to accelerate that knowledge to build products and services that … do well and do good at the same time,” said Arkilic. “It’s my hope that you’ll take this opportunity to not only explore the potential product-market fit, but also to build your networks so those networks can help you throughout your time and career.”
The event also featured special guest speakers, including Silicon Valley author and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki, who sent messages via Cameo recording, which was projected onto the Cove’s 132-foot-long Hiperwall located in the Beach, Applied Innovation’s main event space. Prior to the event, investors made $11.1 million in soft commitments, or non-binding agreements, demonstrating their confidence in the event and in the UC system as a source of quality opportunities.
Born in California’s premier sponsor, U.S. Bank, featured inspirational and encouraging messages from leadership.
“There’s a lot of opportunities in our world, so we’re thrilled with what you’re doing. I have one encouragement for you … [that is] have fun,” said Joe Hensley, Orange County market president for U.S. Bank. “You’re presenting stuff you believe in, you love and that you’re passionate about and somebody wants to give you money to help you advance that.”
Over the course of two days, startups pitched for 10 minutes in both the Beach and Venture Cove event spaces with a short Q&A that followed.
The first day showcased 22 startups, including Wayfinder startup AG Tools, an agtech software company, which features analytics and reports for the agricultural supply chain. AG Tools, which has experienced tremendous growth, is aiming to expand their startup over the next year and a half.
UC Santa Cruz startup OrganOmics, which uses microfluidics technology to test the efficiency of early stage drug candidates on diverse human tissues, is raising their seed round of funding for clinical trials and partnerships.
“Nine out of 10 of these drugs are failing through clinical trials,” said Spencer Seiler, founder of OrganOmics. “The vast majority of diseases are still untreated, it’s taking far too long, and it’s far too expensive to carry this process out. One of the core issues and why this is a broken pipeline is the failure of animal models.”
UCI startup Waveflow, a hand-held opto-electronic EEG device for the brain and other organs, presented to a crowded Venture Cove. The team is aiming to use the device to expand and enhance healthcare accessibility and are looking for an FDA 510(k) approval by 2022.
Wayfinder startup Current Surgical, which developed a next-generation, smart surgical needle designed for micro-invasive therapies, pitched to groups of investors in the Beach.
“There are over a million patients in the U.S. who suffer from diseases across solid tumors to cardiac arrhythmias to neurological diseases who aren’t able to get the curative surgical treatments they need,” said Al Mashal, co-founder and CEO of Current Surgical.
The device’s ultrasound sensors allow doctors to visualize and treat the area more precisely. Current Surgical is aiming to raise their seed round for clinical trials and work their way toward FDA approval.
The second day featured 22 startups, including UC Merced startup, Sweep, which uses proven, open-source technologies and proprietary deep metrics analytics to automate data workflows for real-time insights.
Another UCI startup, co-founded by UCI faculty Daniele Piomelli, Exxel Pharma, presented to investors and discussed their small molecule therapeutics for diseases with unmet clinical needs, specifically chronic cough, hyperactive bladder, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. They are looking for capital to conduct clinical studies that will advance their product toward FDA approval in 2027.
Siege Pharmaceuticals, co-founded by UCI faculty Aimee Edinger, aims to develop new, safe and effective drugs for metabolic symptoms and to restore metabolism to patients with obesity.
“We’ve used natural master regulators of metabolism as the template for orally bioavailable drugs that target the root cause of obesity hitting redundant pathways that control metabolic set points and we’ve been able to do this while avoiding the toxicities and side effects of obesity therapeutics of the past,” said Edinger.
The startup is seeking funding to optimize their investigational new drug-ready obesity treatment.
Makani Science, co-founded by UCI faculty Michelle Khine and CEO Michael Chu, developed a wireless wearable that monitors and measures both rate and depth of breathing in real time, discussed their goals of commercializing their product by July 2023.
Makani Science is selling a disposable version of their device for a small, specific market and aims to raise their series A round by August 2022.
Micronoma, a UC San Diego startup that uses a person’s microbiome to detect early-stage cancer, was founded in 2019 with the goal of advancing early cancer diagnostics and personalized treatment. The startup is looking for funding to expand their automation and sequencing capabilities and work toward FDA approval.
Alyra Therapeutics, co-founded by UCI faculty Anand Ganesan and headquartered in San Diego, is a next-generation precision oncology startup that uses protein-to-protein interacting drugs that target rare diseases and cancer.
POPL, a UC Berkeley and UCLA startup that uses near field communication products and QR codes to instantly share contact information as well as software that unlocks more networking features, presented toward the conclusion of the event. The team also showcased their product, which is sold at big brand stores like Staples and online storefront giants like Amazon, at the event.
“When you hand someone a business card, you’re giving them work to later do something with and that’s a fundamental disconnect in how we connect today, especially now that we’re in this digital world,” said Jason Alvarez-Cohen, co-founder and CEO.
POPL will begin raising their series A middle of 2022.
See a full list of the startups that presented at the Born in California event.
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All Photos: Julie Kennedy