UC Berkeley SkyDeck selects 17 companies for Batch 12 startup cohort

UC Berkeley SkyDeck, the startup accelerator of the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley), has announced it has selected 17 companies from around the globe for its Batch 12 startup cohort.

The new group of startups specializes in a wide range of industries including AI, life sciences, semiconductor chips, HR, robotics, and enterprise software. The acceptance rate for the new cohort was 1.3%.

Caroline Winnett, Executive Director, Berkeley SkyDeck: "We are excited to welcome these 17 unique business ideas and technology innovations to SkyDeck. If there is anything this past year has taught us, startup leaders and founders are more flexible and determined than ever before to bring their businesses to life and greatly impact lives around the world. We're thrilled to work with this diverse and talented group of startup teams and look forward to watching them grow and succeed during their time in the program."

International startups participating come from Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and Taiwan. This is the third (and potentially the last) remote program for SkyDeck.

The first remote cohort started just at the time of the shutdown last March and the staff quickly adjusted to an all-virtual program. Although working remotely, startup founders from the past two cohort groups have experienced great success and have praised SkyDeck's support and advisory services during these unprecedented circumstances.

Hossain Fahad, Founder and CEO, Serinus Labs: "Nothing beats learning and interacting in person, but SkyDeck and all of the advisors went above and beyond to make sure we had the best experience and every opportunity was made available to us. We are grateful for our time in the program and feel we accomplished so much, if not more, than we could have hoped for. Our company is now on track to solve the biggest challenges in EV battery safety, something that would have been impossible without SkyDeck."

UC Berkeley is a hotbed of entrepreneurship, identified by Pitchbook as the No. 1 public undergraduate program for producing startup founders that get venture funding. In 2019 SkyDeck was named in Forbes as one of the top five U.S. university accelerators.

The Accelerator Cohort of startups receive a $105,000 investment from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund and access to 350 top advisors and mentors as they prepare to pitch more than 600 investors on Demo Day.

In addition to the Accelerator program, SkyDeck also hosts the HotDesk incubator program with approximately 100 additional early stage startups. The participants in the incubator also have access to events, mentors, and pitch opportunities to help them grow their innovative ideas and businesses.

skydeck.berkeley.edu