Introducing Cohort 2020
Twenty-eight fellows. It is the largest cohort we have supported to date—double last year’s.
Twenty-eight biologists, chemists, physicists, and engineers, coming from top universities and corporate labs around the country, who are forging an entrepreneurial path, pushing themselves and their research forward.
Twenty-eight explorers, propelled to turn their research, across a range of disciplines, into products that meet both market and societal needs.
People like Josué López, an electrical engineer, photonics expert, and champion of inclusion and diversity in STEM. He and co-fellow Thomas Mahony are spinning Kyber Photonics out of MIT Lincoln Laboratory to commercialize a new approach to LiDAR, enabling the future of autonomous navigation at scale.
People like Amanda Stiles, a plant biochemist with a mission to transform our food production towards plant-based protein, taking a sizable bite out of greenhouse gas emissions. She and Trophic co-founder Beth Zotter are developing innovations to make seaweed a scalable and sustainable source of plant-based protein.
People like all of the passionate, engaged, and committed scientists and engineers in Cohort 2020 who are launching into two intensive years to learn the fundamentals of building a startup while also advancing their research into first prototypes and making vital connections to funders and other key partners.
Despite the constraints of operating in a virtual world, the new fellows have already starting reaching out and learning from current and alumni fellows whose startups have raised more than $150 million in follow-on funding, hired more than 135 employees, and introduced new products across industries.
Finally, without the support of our forward-thinking sponsors, we could not offer so many of these individuals this onramp to the next stage of their careers. We are enormously grateful to all our partners. We could not do this without:
The US Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, for its initial support of Berkeley Lab’s pilot back in 2015—without which there would not be a success story to build on—and for its continued support of fellows at Cyclotron Road.
Schmidt Futures, for catalyzing and supporting Activate’s vision to support an expanded network of world-changing entrepreneurial scientists and engineers.
Our newest anchor fellowship sponsors: DARPA, Breakthrough Energy, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, all of which are supporting innovators across our locations.
The California Energy Commission, Incite.org, and our other climate supporters, including the High Tide Foundation, Three Cairns Group, Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust, and WOKA Foundation for their vital support.