Bakar BioEnginuity Hub Has New Incubator

Berkeley will have a huge new Incubator of its own, Bakar Labs, which will host as many as 80 young companies a year and provide access to university facilities and networks. The University of California has embraced the startup ecosystem in the state, which also includes running a few of its Incubator and accelerators.

The New incubator is part of the greater Bakar BioEnginuity Hub which is a constant cross-disciplinary initiative within the university. It will be run by QB3, a pan-UC organization that organizes entrepreneurship efforts, and replaces a much smaller biotech-focused program at Berkeley.

It provides a set curriculum of achieving product fit, building the team and so on that you might find at an accelerator, Bakar Labs will be more of a benevolent host with all the best toys. Berkeley is a world-class research institution with a great group of faculty and extensive resources and those in the incubator will have access to them.

Startups need not be affiliated with Berkeley in any way; the hub is wishing to attract founders from all over the place with its promise of reasonable office and lab space and the aforementioned extensive resources. The term incubator looks appropriate for both the topic and the method which brings in the organisms, provides plenty of nutrients and watches them grow.

The relatively hands-off approach applies to funding as well. Companies will pay for their places at the Labs, but there’s no contract to sign over equity or first rights to Berkeley or its associated organs. A QB3 representative clarified that investments may still occur, through an affiliated VC fund.

1. Christ, UC Chancellor Carol said that the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub holds enormous promise as a space for mobilizing the vibrant changemaking students and faculty, our powerful research enterprise, and a community of innovators who will maximize societal benefit over profit.