Entrepreneurship Tackling Environmental and Societal Challenges
In my current roles as Director of the Blackstone Launchpad powered by Techstars, as well as QB3 Entrepreneur in Residence and Hacking for Oceans Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, I nurture next-generation ventures and founders tackling environmental and societal issues.
Through the Blackstone Launchpad powered by Techstars, my colleagues and I help founders launch early-stage startups by providing them with funding, mentorship, access to networks and more. We support climate tech, biotech, AI, and other technology ventures originated in academic settings and often created by underrepresented founders. Our alumni have presented their startups at venues such as the UN and CES, and have raised capital from investors such as Y Combinator and Kleiner Perkins.
As UCSC-CIED startup advisor and Rachel Carson Lecturer, I foster inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurship through curricular and co-curricular opportunities. For instance, I have adapted existing innovation methodologies to make them more inclusive and equitable, and taught sustainability innovation and entrepreneurship courses. Jointly with a stellar team of ocean science, technology, and entrepreneurship experts, I currently teach "Hacking for Oceans", the first ever lean startup course focused on coastal and ocean-related issues. We have partnered with NOAA, WWF, the Nature Conservancy and other organizations to source problems and field experts. Hacking for Oceans is currently offered to all UC students as a UC system-wide online course, and has also accepted students from academic institutions within the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.
I also serve as Entrepreneur in Residence with QB3, the University of California’s hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in the life sciences for planet and human health. With five incubators, two seed-stage venture capital firms, the Rosenman Institute and three centers at UC Berkeley, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz, QB3 helps UC faculty & students to launch biotech companies and innovations for planet and human health, generating jobs and more than $750 million each year.
Back in 2019, I joined the UC Office of the President's Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative, which is aimed at enabling the UC system to continue creating bold solutions to today’s biggest challenges through inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship. In light of such a long-term commitment, I participate in UC system meetings and groups to discuss priorities such as diversity and inclusion, infrastructure, and more.
To conclude, I've trained as well as funded academic entrepreneurs through the National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, which is aimed at bringing more scientific research-based innovations to market. Innovation Corps is experiential and project-based, allowing teams of professors and students to develop early-stage ideas and to launch new ventures and innovations. Thanks to the generous funding made available by the NSF, my colleagues and I have selected and funded promising I-Corps site ventures, and many of them end up applying for additional NSF funding later on, such as SBIR/STTR funding. An outstanding example of NSF-funded startups that I often refer to when working with I-Corps teams is Cruz Foam, a climate tech startup that also raised capital from Leo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, and other top investors. The startup made it into Time magazine's Best Inventions of 2023 and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024.
