Welcome to the Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center
UC Berkeley's Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center (LSEC) is a first-of-its-kind "center of centers," which fosters life sciences entrepreneurship at Berkeley by coordinating and building upon existing campus resources, including startup-supporting programming, including:
- I-Corps @ LSEC,
- Berkeley Bio Startup Showcase @ JPM,
- Bio Startup Speed Teaming,
- LSEC-Nucleate Venture Fellows Program, and
- LSEC Venture Grant Program.
LSEC also supports UC Berkeley courses Lean Transfer (MBA295T-2) and Berkeley Changemaker: Human Health (UGBA13).
Funded by gifts from Berkeley alumni Mark and Stephanie Robinson, as well as from alumnus and adjunct Professor David Kirn and his wife Kristin Ahlquist, Berkeley LSEC is a first stop for anyone in Berkeley’s community of life science innovators, from students to postdocs to faculty, curious about the path of moving from concept to company.
Read Berkeley LSEC's Launch Announcement.
Berkeley LSEC supports life sciences entrepreneurship in three ways:
Identification
Berkeley LSEC has partnered with Nucleate Bay Area to run the LSEC-Nucleate Venture Fellowship program. This program provides hands-on training in landscaping new technologies and an introduction to due diligence and innovation sourcing. The Venture Fellows are carefully examining the innovation landscape in a technical area of their choice at UC Berkeley, identifying new technologies and innovations that are potentially commercializable. The next Fellows program will run March-August 2024. More information here.
Navigation
Berkeley LSEC is a complement to and partner with the university’s remarkable , not a competitor. Berkeley LSEC helps would-be startup founders navigate the best path to success using these resources, including pulling them together in the groundbreaking Venture Grant Program. Please sign up here to be notified of campus resources and events or schedule a meeting(link is external) with LSEC’s director for individualized advice.
Education
Core to LSEC’s mission is helping founders move from concept to company. The one-week I-Corps course is a mindset-changing program for students and faculty curious to explore starting a company around an innovation from their lab. More info and at bayicorps.com
How to Connect with Berkeley LSEC
We are excited to show off our latest startups and Berkeley resources. Please follow Berkeley LSEC on LinkedIn(link is external) and Darren Cooke(link is external) (@darrendcooke) for news and events. If you are an investor interested in learning more about Berkeley-founded companies, or have any other questions, please let us know at lifesciences@berkeley.edu.(link sends e-mail). Finally, feel free to sign up for office hours here.
