a new approach

A novel, high-impact approach to catalyzing innovation.

Our programs have three core components:

PROOF OF CONCEPT FUNDING

AIC VENTURES FINANCING

Working through Berkeley campus partners Bakar Fellows, CITRIS/Banatao Institute, and the College of Computing and Data Science in the Interest of Society, we provide grants of $200,000 - $300,000 for prototyping, product development, and early customer exploration, typically from TRL 3-4 to TRL 6-8.

ATEC: ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER‍ ‍(Launching Soon)

The newly-created Advanced Technology Entrepreneurship Center (ATEC) will provide intensive, bespoke venture building support including CEO recruitment/team building, IP protection and acquisition, customer, product, and market research, fundraising and scaling strategies, and more. Unlike a traditional venture studio, ATEC does not require giving up equity, though optional pre-seed financing is available on founder-friendly terms. AIC supports and funds ATEC, which is part of the UC Berkeley Innovation & Entrepreneurship Office.

AIC Ventures offers pre-seed and seed stage financing to select academic innovators, typically to bridge to larger institutional rounds. Importantly, AIC Ventures is a mission-driven, philanthropic venture, with all returns recycled to support entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley.