Startup Stories

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Get the book: Startup Campus

How UC Berkeley Became an Unexpected Leader in Entrepreneurship and Startups, published August 2025.

Countless companies trace their roots to the people, ideas, and resources found at UC Berkeley. This gallery highlights companies that leveraged campus programs, networks, and support during their earliest days, and went on to drive economic growth, create jobs, and foster innovation, re-shaping and creating industries. 

Within this collection are stories published in a 2025 book chronicling UC Berkeley’s emergence as an entrepreneurship and startup leader, called Startup Campus. We invite other founders to share how UC Berkeley played a pivotal role in their company's success, adding to this living record of innovation and impact.

Bio-Rad Laboratories

Bio-Rad Labs: First Berkeley Startup

Company founded: 1952

Founders: Alice Schwartz (UC Berkeley Bachelors Degree, biochemistry), David Schwartz (UC Berkeley Bachelors Degree, chemistry)

Bio-Rad Laboratories is among UC Berkeley’s first...Read more about Bio-Rad Laboratories

We Care Solar

We Care Solar: The Power To Save Lives

Company founded: 2010

Founders: Laura Stachel (UC Berkeley Master of Public Health, 2006, Doctor of Public Health, 2020), Hal Aronson, Gigi Goldman

Thousands of maternal health-care providers struggle to...Read more about We Care Solar

4D Molecular Therapeutics

4D Molecular Therapeutics: Delivering Gene Therapy Cures

Company founded: 2013

Founders: UC Berkeley Professor David Schaffer, David Kirn (UC Berkeley, Bachelor of Arts, 1985, Physiology & Physical Anthropology), Melissa Kotterman (UC Berkeley, Ph.D...Read more about 4D Molecular Therapeutics

Aduro Biotech

Aduro Biotech: The Fourth Company for a Berkeley Serial Entrepreneur

Company founded: 2007

Founder: Stephen Isaacs (UC Berkeley Bachelor of Arts, 1973, biochemistry, PhD, organic chemistry)

Stephen Isaacs graduated from UC Berkeley in 1973, with a...Read more about Aduro Biotech

Amyris Biotechnologies

Amyris Biotechnologies: Pioneering the Synthetic Biology Industry

Company founded: 2003

Founders: UC Berkeley Professor Jay Keasling, Jack Newman (UC Berkeley, Bachelor of Arts, 1992, molecular and cellular biology, UC Berkeley postdoc), Neil Renninger (...Read more about Amyris Biotechnologies

Berkeley Lights

Berkeley Lights: Technology Can Take Years to Find a Breakthrough Use

Company founded: 2011

Founders: UC Berkeley Professor Ming Wu (UC Berkeley Ph.D., 1988, MS, 1986, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering), Igor Khandros, William Davidow

...Read more about Berkeley Lights

Cadence Design Systems

Cadence Design Systems: Making Modern Digital Technology Possible

Company founded: 1983

Founders: UC Berkeley Professor Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, UC Berkeley Professor Richard Newton (UC Berkeley PhD, 1978, electrical engineering), James Solomon (...Read more about Cadence Design Systems

Caribou Biosciences

Caribou Biosciences: Spinning Out a Nobel Prize–Winning Discovery

Company founded: 2011

Founders: UC Berkeley Professor Jennifer Doudna, Rachel Haurwitz (UC Berkeley PhD, 2008, molecular and cell biology), Martin Jinek (UC Berkeley postdoc), UC Berkeley...Read more about Caribou Biosciences

Chirp Microsystems

Chirp Microsystems: A University, Industry, Government, Spouse Collaboration

Company founded: 2013

Founders: David Horsley (UC Berkeley BS, 1992, MS, 1994, PhD, 1998, mechanical engineering), Michelle Kiang (UC Berkeley MS, PhD, electrical engineering),...Read more about Chirp Microsystems

Iota Biosciences

Iota Biosciences: Neural Dust for Bioelectronic Implantable Medical Devices

Company founded: 2017

Founders: UC Berkeley Professor Michel Maharbiz (UC Berkeley PhD, 2003, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), UC Berkeley Professor Jose Carmena...Read more about Iota Biosciences

Mosaic Materials

Mosaic Materials: Novel Materials for Carbon Capture

While completing his PhD at UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry, Tom McDonald had planned to become a professor.1 He even had a postdoc position lined up at Imperial College London and had told his landlord that he was moving to the...Read more about Mosaic Materials

SuitX

SuitX: From Sitting in a Wheelchair to Walking in an Exoskeleton

Robotic-assisted exoskeletons for humans have been commonly depicted as technology for battle and wars. However, that’s not what has inspired Homayoon Kazerooni, UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering, as well as his...Read more about SuitX

Zephyrus Biosciences

Zephyrus Biosciences: Leading the Commercializing Process Yourself

As a UC Berkeley bioengineering professor, Amy E. Herr sees creating startups as an essential part of being a scientist in the twenty-first century. “We don’t confine ourselves to the lab,” she says. “Our goal is to ultimately...Read more about Zephyrus Biosciences

Turing Space

Turing Space: Ideated, Incubated, and Launched Out of UC Berkeley

Company founded: 2020

Founders: Yao-Chieh HU (Jeff) (UC Berkeley Master of Engineering 2020, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research - FinTech), Henry Hang

As of 2025,...Read more about Turing Space