⚡ Our GM Sibyl Chen will be speaking at TechCon SoCal 2026 as part of the panel “Founder Formation: Accelerators, Angels, and Day-Zero Capital”
🙌 She’ll be joining Misti Cain (Techstars), Prerna Sharma (Antler), Alex Mojtahedi (Peachscore), and Lucas Pols (1752 Ventures) for a conversation on what founders need in the earliest stages of company building — from accelerator support and investor readiness to navigating the path toward institutional funding.
🌴 If you’ll be in San Diego May 21–23, we hope to see you there!
/techcon-socal-2026/
#TechConSoCal #TechConGlobal #Startups #Entrepreneurship
🚀 Berkeley SkyDeck’s latest newsletter is out and innovation is booming! From student pitches to landmark deep-tech partnerships, here’s what’s happening in the ecosystem:
🎤 The Berkeley SkyDeck Fund’s Brian Bordley hit the stage at Synopsys Converge to discuss the future of silicon and scaling semiconductor ventures.
🏆 Congrats to the standout student startups that not only won the Collider Cup XVIII, but officially secured their spots in our Pad-13 incubator program.
💼 Career Opportunities:
• Berkeley students - join us tomorrow, May 15, for our virtual internship recruiting event.
• Global talent - the new SkyDeck job board is live!
🌐 Startup & Advisor Highlights:
• Alkemio raised $2M to scale modular refining technology for rare earth supply chains.
• Nexilico published groundbreaking research in the “Journal of Applied Microbiology” on deep learning for microbiome engineering.
• Advisor Xingjian Zhang architected a landmark partnership between Apex.AI and BlackBerry QNX, while Vivienne Ming released her new book, “Robot-Proof.”
🔗 Check out the full newsletter for all the details (link also in bio): /mruhwhsx
#UCBerkeley #SkyDeck #Startups #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #DeepTech #Hiring
🔥 Yesterday, SkyDeck hosted a sold-out fireside chat and book signing with @ericriesactual (author of “The Lean Startup” and “Incorruptible”) and the conversation left our founders with a lot to think about.
🚀 Eric has spent 20 years working with founders, CEOs, and investors, and his core message landed hard: trust is the most important asset a company can build. The best talent, your earliest customers, your investors - they all show up because of trust. Lose it, and success won't save you.
💡 That's also the thesis behind his new book, “Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad…and How Great Companies Stay Great.” Corporate corruption isn't a moral failure - it's a structural one. And it can be designed against.
🎤 A huge thank you to Eric for spending the afternoon with our founders and advisors! His advice to stay grounded in reality (from avoiding "evil corp" takeovers to being wary of AI-driven confirmation bias) will stick with us for a long time.
👇 “Incorruptible” releases May 26 - build something that lasts and pre-order your copy today (link also in bio): https://www.incorruptible.co/
Photos: @lea_brun0
#BerkeleySkyDeck #EricRies #Incorruptible #LeanStartup #StartupGrowth #FounderTips
🚀 SkyDeck was buzzing today for Batch 22's Resource Fair, and our founders showed up ready! They're building the companies you'll be talking about in five years - and today, they have the resources to move fast.
🔧 Booth by booth, our founders had direct access to partners, tools, and expertise spanning finance, cloud infrastructure, legal, hardware, and beyond.
🙌 A massive thank you to the partners who made it happen: Alcorn Partners, Andromeda, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Carta, Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP, Colliers, Escalon Services, Esplin & Associates, PC, Faegre Drinker, FinStrat Management, Flagstar Bank, Google Cloud, HubSpot, Mercury, Microsoft, Nebius, Pillsbury Law Firm, Rho, Rippling, Siemens, and WilmerHale.
🤝 Not at the table yet? You should be.
#SkyDeck #BerkeleySkyDeck #Startups #Entrepreneurship #StartupResources #Innovation
📣 SkyDeck is excited to announce the launch of our new jobs board, designed to connect talented professionals with our growing network of innovative, scaling startups.
From AI and BioTech to ClimateTech and Robotics, our portfolio companies are looking for the boldest minds to help them scale. Whether you’re a seasoned engineer, a creative marketer, or a growth specialist, your seat at the table is waiting.
👉 Explore open roles and join the ecosystem here: https://jobs.skydeck.berkeley.edu/
🚀 Cal students - still hunting for the perfect summer internship? Skip generic job boards and join SkyDeck for our summer intern recruitment info session!
We’ve invited a lineup of high-growth startups to the virtual stage to recruit UC Berkeley talent. Each startup founder will pitch their company and the specific roles they’re onboarding interns for. Students get a front-row seat to the most exciting opportunities, ranging from technical to non-technical roles in the ecosystem right now.
The Details:
📅 When: Friday, May 15
🕙 Time: 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PT
📍Where: Virtual
RSVP here (link also in bio)! /542xs7vh
#UCBerkeley #Startups #SummerInternships #BerkeleyEngineering #CalAlumni
🚀 Berkeley SkyDeck's Batch 22 has officially kicked off! We’re excited to bring together this next group of world-changing founders.
🌍 With a 0.4% acceptance rate, this cohort represents the pinnacle of global entrepreneurial talent. These founders are joining an elite ecosystem whose alumni have collectively raised over $3B in funding.
✨ Please join us in welcoming the next generation of world-changing innovators to the SkyDeck family!
#BerkeleySkyDeck #SkyDeck #UCBerkeley #DeepTech #VentureCapital #StartupAccelerator #Entrepreneurs #FutureOfTech
🎓 That's a wrap on this semester’s Berkeley SkyDeck’s x SCET DeCal - our student-run startup course!
🚀 This unique experience for UC Berkeley students is a hands-on intro to entrepreneurship, open to anyone regardless of major or background.
Over 14 weeks, students came together with one shared goal: learning how to turn a bold idea into a real company.
The result?
✅ 43 students building from scratch
✅ 11 teams pitching at DeCal’s Demo Day
✅ 9 founder and investor guest speakers who shared real-world insight ranging from customer discovery and market research to pitching and fundraising.
A huge congratulations to our DeCal Demo Day winners:
🥇 1st Place (tie): InsightLab & Syft.ai
🥈 Runner-Up: AuraFlow
To every student who asked hard questions, built something from scratch, and pitched — your startup journey has officially begun. What comes next is yours to define.
🙌Thank you to our incredible guest speakers and the Berkeley SkyDeck & SCET community for making this possible.
#BerkeleySkydeck #SCET #Entrepreneurship #Startups #DemoDay #UCBerkeley #DeCal
📸 Photos: Vicky Liu
🎉 Congratulations to SkyDeck mentor and former healthcare and pharmaceutical leader, Regina Sih-Meynier, Pharm.D., on the publication of her debut memoir: A Thousand Whispers from Within: Manifesting a Life of Purpose and Prosperity.
Drawing on her 20-year career, Regina shares her own stories to offer a grounded approach for professionals stepping out of corporate roles and into entrepreneurship or more aligned work. The result: a practical framework that beautifully integrates intuitive decision-making with financial security and the energy of money to create new opportunities.
At a time when tech layoffs and AI-driven shifts are rapidly reshaping careers, navigating a major transition can feel daunting. Now, professionals have a guide to help them pivot with confidence.
🙌 From manifesting career prosperity to sharing invaluable startup advice. We're proud to have Regina in the SkyDeck community and thrilled to spotlight her in our SkyDeck Advisor & Mentor feature. We're proud to highlight the people who power our ecosystem.
Learn more and get your copy here: /book
🚀 The Berkeley SkyDeck x UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. Startup Bootcamp just wrapped! We’re still riding the momentum from an incredible week.
Over the course of the week at UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd., we worked alongside a remarkable cohort of founders tackling some of the world’s biggest problems — across AI, healthcare, robotics, climate, semiconductors, and space. The range of ideas was matched only by the quality of the people behind them.
Our team led sessions on product strategy and deep-tech commercialization. The conversations were rigorous, candid, and energizing. These founders didn’t just listen — they pushed back, challenged assumptions, and leaned into the hardest questions.
🙌 A heartfelt thank you to Hideki Nagasaka, Yuko Hagiwara, Kosuke Ueda, and the full UTokyoIPC team for making this collaboration possible. And to our own team — Kelly Lindberg, Ben Fong, John Busch, Will Burke, and Wesley Jackson — for bringing Berkeley’s entrepreneurial spirit to Tokyo.
This is just the beginning — we can’t wait to see where you take these ideas next!
#BerkeleySkyDeck #UTokyo #DeepTech #Startups #Japan
📚Congratulations to SkyDeck Advisor and Berkeley Haas lecturer, Jon Metzler, on the publication of his new book in Japan, co-authored with faculty from Keio University: “University-Led Regional Revitalization.”
Jon contributed deep-dive chapters exploring industry clustering and UC Berkeley's own innovation and entrepreneurship-led evolution. The result: a comprehensive exploration into how universities can step up to act as powerful engines for regional economic transformation.
While many look solely to governments and corporations for regional revitalization, Jon's work highlights the unmatched power of academic institutions to drive real economic growth.
🙌 From global research to regional impact and invaluable startup advice. We're proud to have Jon in the SkyDeck community and thrilled to spotlight him as our next SkyDeck Advisor & Mentor feature. We're proud to highlight the people who power our ecosystem.
Learn more here: /p/new-book-out-in-japan-on-university"
🌟From Hollywood to Silicon Valley – our GM Sibyl Chen is featured in @_shecancode_ ’s Spotlight Series, sharing insights on building meaningful careers and supporting founders at the earliest stages of their journeys.
In the conversation, Sibyl reflects on her journey from working in Hollywood to becoming a startup founder and now helping scale Berkeley SkyDeck into a global accelerator — and why connecting the right people at the right moment can unlock real momentum for early-stage companies.
🎤Read the full interview here! https://shecancode.io/spotlight-series-sibyl-chen-general-manager-berkeley-skydeck/
#WomenInTech #Startups #Leadership #Entrepreneurship
