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California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID)

Alumni California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID)StartR Startups

Demo Day Shines the Spotlight on StartR Entrepreneurs

Seven teams. Seven ideas. Unlimited ingenuity.

For almost two hours, students of the Rady School of Management, Rady alumni, a UC San Diego faculty member and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran pitched their startup ideas to a rapt virtual audience of students, faculty and investors.

The presentations were part of Demo Day, an event held twice a year to showcase the startup ideas of entrepreneurs in the StartR accelerator, a program of Rady’s California Center for Innovation and Development (CIID).

The winner was Vogel, a company founded by Rady alum Govind Krishnamurthi (MBA ’07) and his business partner Samir Rayani. The company won the Audience Choice Award of $250 as well as the unanimous vote of the three-judge panel.

The centerpiece of Vogel’s platform is a data privacy app that was launched a year ago.

“Essentially, we are putting privacy control in the palm of your hands,” Krishnamurthi said to his audience. “With one click of a button, you can control what Facebook knows about you, what Alexa is probably listening to you and your wife or spouse in your bedroom, what LinkedIn knows about you when you are changing jobs.”

Since its inception in 2007, StartR has served as a launchpad for entrepreneurs by giving them access to a broad base of mentors, networking opportunities, and guidance to refine and build on their ideas.

The program is offered in six tracks — Rady students and alumni, Inclusion, Impact, Veteran, Teen and Blue. To date, StartR has supported 266 startup teams and helped them raise $212 million in funding for businesses that bridge science, data and innovation. The accelerator’s success is a reflection of the Rady emphasis on quantitative and analytical skills, rigorous discovery, innovation, and cutting edge faculty research.

One success story is Rady grad Suman Kanuganti (MBA ’14), and a StartR alum ’14. He called in during Demo Day to share his thoughts about the accelerator’s impact on his own entrepreneurial journey. Kanuganti is founder and CEO of two companies in the artificial intelligence space, Aira.io and Personal.ai.

“As founders, we have ideas. We have a lot of conviction about how our background or skills can potentially fulfill that conviction to become reality,” Kanugunti said. “But there’s a lot more to executing your vision. I found being in a group of likeminded people, surrounding yourself with other founders will all of a sudden unlock conversations that you never probably had before.”

Dean Lisa Ordóñez welcomed the Demo Day gathering. Professor Kimberly Davis King, who has over 17 years of experience in the venture capital industry and is currently a partner at Launch Factory, lecturer at the Rady School and an adjunct professor at San Diego State University, moderated. Tim Schwartz, director of Rady’s CIID, introduced the center’s team. The three judges in the panel for StartR Day were Caitlin Wege, president of Tech Coast Angels; Jason Knapp, entrepreneur and CEO of CraftedPour.com; and Olin Hyde, StartR alum, and CEO and founder of Leadcrunch.

Applications for the next cohort of the StartR Accelerator are open through February 24th, 2022. Apply for StartR Rady, Impact or Inclusion. The next Demo Day will be held June 1. We hope you will attend the event and support our next cohort of StartR entrepreneurs!

StartR programs spotlighted at this year’s Demo Day:

Maisha Cobb (MBA ’21): MPact International, a scalable platform to measure and understand diversity of perspectives, openness to change, and psychological safety in organizations.

Lauren Hackney (FlexEvening MBA ’23): Rooted Reusables helps companies meet zero waste goals by providing reusable food ware products and services to eliminate the dependence on single-use plastics and other single-use alternatives.

Govind Krishanamurthi (MBA ’07) and business partner Samir Rayani : Vogel, a privacy platform with an app that aims to ensure data protection and greater consumer privacy.

Mark Thever (MBA ’13): Lift Seltzer is developing micro-dosed, cannabis-infused seltzers with 2mg THC and 6mg CBD for celebrating, socializing, or hanging out.

Cedric Paige (MSBA ’22): Rola, a social media aggregate and digital networking platform that removes the tediousness and inconvenience from the networking process.

Former U.S. Marine Corps Communication Strategy and Operations Officer Zack Doherty: TrueVote, a social platform for empowering Americans to be politically informed and engaged.

UC San Diego faculty member Dr. José Ricardo Suárez: Kryos is developing portable cooling garments for personal and industrial use.

February 23, 2022 0 comment

Alumni California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID)MBA MSBA Rady School StartR Startup

Meet the Teams of StartR Demo Day February 2022

written by Rady School

Since its founding in 2012, the StartR non-profit accelerator program has provided resources, mentoring and access to funding opportunities to more than 230 teams. The program is offered in six tracks—Rady, Inclusion, Impact, Veteran, Teen and Blue, each providing unique opportunities to learn from experts and receive guidance for building a sustainable business. In total, companies that have participated in StartR have gone on to raise more than 158 million dollars.

Traditionally, twice a year, StartR teams have the opportunity to pitch their startups in front of the San Diego business community at a live event called StartR Demo Day. While the event will not occur in-person due to social distancing guidelines, the show will go on February 16th in a virtual format. Get familiar with the StartR teams below, and RSVP to attend Demo Day here.

MPact International

A scalable platform designed to measure and understand diversity of perspectives, openness to change, and psychological safety in organizations. Because when employees feel valued and safe, customer value grows too.

Rady School alum: Maisha Cobb (MBA ’21)

Rooted Reusables

Rooted Reusables helps companies meet zero waste goals by providing reusable food ware products and services. We are rooted in our mission is to eliminate the dependence on single-use plastics and other single-use alternatives.

Rady School student: Lauren Hackney (FlexEvening MBA ’23)

Vogel Privacy

Take care of your privacy, simply!

Rady School alum: Govind Krishnamurthi (MBA ’07)

Lift Seltzer

Microdosed, cannabis-infused seltzers with 2mg THC and 6mg CBD for a light, uplifting, social buzz; whether for celebrating, socializing, or hanging out, Lift Seltzer is here to provide a refreshingly new type of experience.

Rady School alum: Mark Thever (MBA ’13)

Rola

Rola is a social media aggregate and digital networking platform that removes the tediousness and inconvenience from the networking process.

Rady School student: Cedric Paige (MSBA ’22)

TrueVote

TrueVote is a social platform for empowering Americans to be politically informed and engaged, in order to increase trustworthiness, accountability, and ultimately effectiveness throughout our political ecosystem.

Zack Doherty

Kryos

We are developing the most powerful portable cooling garments for personal and industrial use.

José Ricardo Suárez

Learn more about the Rady School’s California Institute for Innovation and Development and StartR Accelerator Program here.

February 9, 2022 0 comment

California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID)COVID-19 Rady School StartR Students

Meet the Teams of StartR Demo Day Spring 2020

written by Rady School

Since its founding in 2013, the StartR non-profit accelerator program has provided resources, mentoring and access to funding opportunities to more than 190 teams. The program is offered in five tracks—Rady, Inclusion, Impact, Veteran and Teen, each providing unique opportunities to learn from experts and receive guidance for building a sustainable business. In total, companies that have participated in StartR have gone on to raise 118 million dollars.

Traditionally, twice a year, StartR teams have the opportunity to pitch their startups in front of the San Diego business community at a live event called StartR Demo Day. While the event will not occur in-person due to social distancing guidelines, the show will go on May 13^th in a virtual format, as ten teams present to potential investors and contacts, and two of the teams will be awarded a $500 prize by a panel of judges.

Get familiar with the StartR teams below, and RSVP to attend Demo Day here.

The Bioenergy Project enables universities, restaurants, and individuals to convert the nutrients in food waste into usable products such as biogas energy and food. A prototype has been running since June 2018 and has mitigated over 23,000 pounds of campus food waste. The Bioenergy Project was the recipient of the 2019 Lemelson MIT Student Prize. (StartR Impact)

Brilliant Biome offers a personalized microbiome approach to drug addiction and recovery. (StartR Rady)

Dietary Microbe Detection (DMD) of DMD Flower explores and provides innovative, rapid and accurate detection of microbes to ensure food safety and quality. (StartR Rady)

The Helper Monkie is an assistive auditory device designed to help children diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) to succeed in traditional classroom environments. (StartR Impact and StartR Inclusion)

H3 Heroes Helping Heroes is a social enterprise that supports veterans, first responders and their families with programming and resources to improve mental health and wellness. (StartR Impact)

Latina Grad Guide seeks to “close the academic achievement gap of Latinas in the U.S.” via workshops, conferences, digital campaigns and an app to assist with graduate school applications. (StartR Impact and StartR Inclusion)

Padfoot creates pet innovative products “that don’t exist, but should.” (StartR Rady)

Sav-E shows shoppers the environmental impact of products through an app, website and browser extension. “We believe that awareness is the key to change, and our goal is to give people that awareness. Doing so will prompt people to think critically about what, how, and why they buy what they buy, allowing them to make shopping decisions that help their wallet and help the planet.” (StartR Impact)

Tebra is working to produce a new type of key lockbox for surfers and outdoor enthusiats. (StartR Rady)

Viberent.co is developing a color-changing fabric to help reduce the excess inventory and waste by fashion retailers. (StartR Inclusion)

May 11, 2020 0 comment

California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID)

Rady School Hosts Visiting Professional Fellow Arina Bogomolova

written by Rady School

“My position in life is to take challenges as chances and try to use every opportunity that I have,” says Arina Bogomolova, a PhD in economics candidate from Lomonosov Moscow State University and data analyst with Usalitics Research. “My favorite phrase is ‘Why Not?’,” she says. In Moscow, Arina studies the commercialization of university research. Arina’s open mind and research background is what brought her to Rady School, where she has spent the past four weeks supporting the California Institute of Innovation and Development (CIID) as a participant of the Professional Fellow Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. As a Professional Fellow, Arina is here to share her expertise and gain an understanding of how research and development functions inside of American universities. We caught up with Arina to ask about her research, the similarities and differences she sees between universities and what she likes most about San Diego.

Describe the work you’re doing here as a Professional Fellow.

I’m here to explore the system and think about the ways to make scientists in Russia more active in the commercialization of their research. There are professors who sit in their room and research and tell nobody. They might publish, because they get bonuses for that, but they are not active.
At my job [in Moscow], I’m participating in writing strategies of development for Russian universities. I can only recommend on how to make science more competitive. Universities have some opportunities to support science, so it’s ultimately up to them.

What are some differences you’ve observed between U.S and Russian university systems?

As students [in Russia], we have more limited choices in courses. Here, you can rate your professors and lecturers, and they compete with one another for money and grants. In Russia, professors and lecturers have a guaranteed salary, but it is less than here.

Have you noticed similarities?

During a workshop for StartR students, I was surprised to hear the lecturer teaching Alex Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas. It is the same thing I teach at my university.

What else have you observed?

Professors here interact with students a lot. We don’t have such a thing. Lecturers, they give information. They read their lectures. Here, I observed a class that was playing some games. It was unusual because I’m used to it being more serious. I would like to add some life in our classes too.

What have you enjoyed most about San Diego?

First one is weather. It’s already snowing in Moscow. My first host here was a really interesting woman Christine, who had traveled all around the world. She told us a lot of stories. I was there for two days with another girl from Ukraine. The first day, Christine took us to the beach. You can really feel how powerful the ocean is. It’s really calm there.

I also experienced my first real Halloween here. When I was walking around campus I saw people carving pumpkins and I asked, “What are you doing?” They explained and asked me if I wanted to make one and I said, “Why not?” So, this was my first Halloween pumpkin. At my host family’s house, I handed out candies. In Russia, there are no trick-or-treaters.

What do you plan to do after completing your PhD?

First of all, I’ll finish my Phd thesis and get a driver’s license. But I have no long-term plans. Russians more believe in fate than Americans. That’s a difference. Americans say you should take your life in your hands and achieve the American dream making sacrifices (like in the La La Land movie). In Russia, you should work hard, you should do your best, but everyone has a fate, so you shouldn’t be too nervous about the future because everything will work out how it’s meant to.

November 14, 2019 0 comment