Activate at SF Climate Week 2024
We had a wonderful time at San Francisco Climate Week, where we engaged with the hard tech community right in Activate Berkeley’s own backyard. It was great to see this event reach peak impact, with thousands of people filling venues to convene around the most important topics with scientists, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and others. Here’s a glimpse of the sessions we hosted.
Subscribe to the New Activate Podcast, Science on a Mission!
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of a new podcast series, Science on a Mission, dedicated to illuminating the journey of deep tech innovations and innovators from lab to marketplace. This podcast series aims to demystify the path to commercialization for deep tech innovation, provide the deep tech community with the wisdom to navigate the complexities of commercializing breakthrough technologies, and explore the terrain around science entrepreneurship, hard-tech commercialization, and science leadership.
Why Innovators Need Community
By Jill Fuss, Activate Berkeley Managing Director
Without a community to back them up, founders are much less likely to succeed. This can negatively impact everything from their mental health to technical development. I’ve experienced the community aspect of Activate from two perspectives: first, as a fellow in Cohort 2018 in the Activate Berkeley Community and then as its managing director.
Activate's Rising Stars: Fellow Companies' Follow-On Funding Soars to $2B Milestone with Boost from DOE Awards
This week saw an announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) that the administration was awarding $6B to transform America's industrial sector, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and slash planet-warming emissions.. It’s a big win for early-stage science entrepreneurship, and as a result of these new awards, Activate marks a significant milestone by announcing that the 147 companies founded by its fellows were on their way to securing over $2B in follow-on funding collectively.
Assembling an All-Star Team of Advisors: Where to Start
“Surround yourself with people who you trust, who are there to support you and shape your success,” says Rok Sitar (Blaze Energy Technologies, Cohort 2023). This is universally sound advice, and chances are you already have a select cadre of mentors or advisors to whom you’ve turned for guidance during your education and career. For up-and-coming entrepreneurs, this advice takes on new significance as you assemble a board of advisors to bolster your success.
Lessons from a Failed Juicer Startup on the Power of Entrepreneurial Community
By Dan Recht, Activate Boston Managing Director
When Juicero shut down on September 1, 2017, the news spread quickly through San Francisco’s Mission District, which was then ground zero for hardware startups in the city. At that time I was CEO of a hydrogen storage startup based in a shared building down the street. Juicero may have been making juicers and not hydrogen tanks like my startup, but the success of both our companies relied on one thing: entrepreneurial community support.
Activate’s CEO Appears on Invested in Climate Podcast
Activate’s CEO, Cyrus Wadia, discussed how Activate focuses on empowering scientists with the resources, mentorship, and community needed to navigate the challenging journey from the lab to the marketplace in a recent Invested in Climate podcast episode.