Originally Published on December 18, 2019 by Mark Anderson on BizJournals.com
A venture accelerator started by the University of California Berkeley will send seven of its cohort startup companies annually to Sacramento in a new partnership with the city.
The Berkeley SkyDeck fund invests $100,000 into each startup that goes through its accelerator program, which is supported by major Silicon Valley venture capital firms, said Caroline Winnett, executive director of SkyDeck.
Sacramento’s Urban Technology Lab will work with the companies assigned to Sacramento to connect them with appropriate customers and help them navigate regulatory approvals, said Louis Stewart, Sacramento’s chief innovation officer.
“We will be knocking on the doors of UC Davis, Sac State, Los Rios and the University of the Pacific to find business use cases for these companies,” Stewart said.
Sacramento will offer the companies access to employees, available office space and support, Stewart said.
Sacramento is the first city to partner with SkyDeck, said Michael Jasso, Sacramento’s assistant city manager for economic development and innovation.
“The core of innovation is partnership,” said Winnett.
SkyDeck has 140 companies in its general program at any given time and about 50 companies in its accelerator, she said, adding that Sacramento will be getting funded companies from the accelerator program.
Since it started in 2012, more than $1 billion has been raised by SkyDeck teams, according to its website, which also notes that 11 startups have led to acquisitions.
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