Five UC Irvine startups will participate in Born in California, the inaugural, invitation-only University of California systemwide demo days for investors this November 17 and 18.
The Born in California event, held at UCI Beall Applied Innovation and presented by U.S. Bank, will feature startups from all 10 UC campuses who are the most investment-worthy in the life science, digital health, consumer, technology and sustainability sectors.
“California produces more startups every year than any other state. That’s why it’s important and valuable for a company to be born in California where we have the founders and the funders who are literally building the future,” said Matt Hanson, Ph.D., director of New Ventures at Applied Innovation. “Many of those companies — in fact, many Fortune 500 companies and unicorns — were founded by University of California alumni. The Born in California demo days is an important and valuable event for bringing our founders and funders together to launch and grow companies that can put a dent in the universe.”
This year’s event will see UCI faculty startups Makani Sciences, Siege Pharmaceuticals, Alyra Therapeutics and Wayfinder startups Current Surgical and AG Tools present during the two demo days.
Read more details about each UCI startup below:
AG Tools: Co-founded by Martha Montoya, AG Tools is a worldwide SaaS platform that gathers real-time data on hundreds of crops and commodities and helps farmers and buyers decide how to manage their forecasting and orders. The startup helps reduce food waste and carbon footprints.
Alyra Therapeutics: The UCI startup is developing an innovative drug discovery platform that integrates the first protein-to-protein interaction inhibitors for cancer and rare disease treatments. They are based in San Diego.
Current Surgical: Co-founded by CEO Al Mashal, Ph.D., and Chief Technology Officer Chris Wagner, Ph.D., Current Surgical is developing a smart surgical needle for micro-invasive therapies and are taking first aim at oncology. The micro-needle helps guide a surgeon directly to a tumor where sensors use heat to destroy the tumor and leave healthy tissue untouched.
Makani Science: Co-founded by UCI faculty Michelle Khine, Ph.D., and UCI researcher Michael Chu, Ph.D., Makani Science uses a noninvasive wireless sensor to monitor breathing rate and volume during medical or dental procedures that need sedation.
Siege Pharmaceuticals: Co-founded by UCI faculty Aimee Edinger, Ph.D., Siege Pharmaceuticals is developing drugs that deprive cancer cells of the nutrients needed for the cells to survive. It also controls the cells’ metabolism, essentially “starving cancer cells to death.”
Learn more about this event and stay tuned to Applied Innovation’s social media and news blog for latest updates on the event.
*Main Graphic: Ryan Mahar
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