Start-up Resource Navigation Guide
Table of Contents
ACADEMICS
FUNDING
COMPETITIONS
START-UP INCUBATION
START-UP SERVICES
GROUPS/EVENTS
COMPETITIONS
SUSTAINABILITY
OFF-CAMPUS RESOURCES
UCI ARTICLES
ACADEMICS
❖ Merage School Minor
➢ An academic program that provides extensive academic and practical training for
undergraduate students
❖ Merage School Graduate Certificate
➢ An MBA program that offers specialized … (can not read)… transformation and
real estate.
❖ Social Science Undergraduate Certificate
➢ Certificates in entrepreneurship, leadership, and research for undergraduate
students within the School of Social Sciences.
❖ Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program
➢ A program that encourages and facilities undergraduate research and creative
activities in all schools and academic disciplines.
❖ Innovation & Product Development Certificate
➢ An online program offered by the UCI Division of Continuing Education that
focuses on planning and implementing a design in an entrepreneurial space.
❖ Biomedical Engineering Capstone
➢ A senior capstone design class offered by the Samueli School of Engineering for
biomedical engineering students to collaborate with local companies.
FUNDING
❖ Cove Fund
➢ The fund invests in early-stage technology and life science companies that
demonstrate the potential to address large markets with highly differentiated
products and services, and that can achieve significant value-creating inflection
points with their seed funding.
❖ Microgrants
➢ Small grants available for urgent opportunities where critical funding is otherwise
unavailable.
❖ SBIR/STTR
➢ Programs that provide non-dilutive funding to domestic small businesses to
engage in research and development that has the potential for commercialization
aligned with the priorities of federal agencies.
❖ Tech Coast Angels
➢ The largest angel investor group in the U.S. that has been fueling the growth of
innovative companies and entrepreneurs in Southern California since 1997.
COMPETITIONS
❖ New Venture Competition
➢ One of the nation’s premier new venture competitions held at the Beall Center for
Innovation and Entrepreneurship in partnership with UCI Beall Applied
Innovation.
❖ Beall Design Competition
➢ A competition offered to encourage the creation of new technologies or solutions
to current design problems that have the potential for commercialization.
❖ Butterworth Design Competition
➢ A product development competition designed to encourage the creation of new
technologies with the potential for commercialization
❖ Founders Frenzy
➢ A tournament-style competition where teams of entrepreneurs compete
head-to-head for prizes in a series of challenges to test their entrepreneurship
abilities.
❖ Blum Center for Poverty Alleviation Competition
➢ An annual competition to generate innovative ideas, products, or services with the
potential to alleviate an aspect of poverty.
❖ Tech Surge
➢ A parallel track for teams participating in the Beall New Venture Competition that
is focused on the translation of UCI-generated innovations.
❖ Med AppJam
➢ A competition where students from the UCI School of Medicine and UCI Donald
Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences compete and design
applications with healthcare utility.
❖ Startup Weekend
➢ A global community of empowered entrepreneurs who are interested in launching
successful ventures.
● ANSI Competition (Standards):
○ https://www.ansi.org/news_publications/news_story?menuid=7&articleid=713eb7
99-ab8b-403b-9d36-2b53dc98109c&utm_campaign=OO_EML_20September-21
2020-whatsnew_BG&utm_medium=email&utm_source=whatsnew
● VentureWell Competitions and Resources
○ ASPIRE
○ BMEidea
○ Cleantech University Prize
○ DEBUT
○ E-Teams Grants
○ Inventing Green Toolkits
○ NSF I-Corps
● Other Competitions and Resources
○ ACC InVenture Prize
○ Baylor New Venture Competition
○ Collegiate Inventors Competition
○ James Dyson Award **Resource: James Dyson Application Workshop Video
○ MIT Clean Energy Prize
○ MIT Water Innovation Prize
○ Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize
○ Rice Business Plan Competition
○ Westly Prize
○ Pitch. Launch. Grow.
○ UCI Innovation Challenge
START-UP INCUBATION
❖ Wayfinder
➢ A UCI Beall Applied Innovation incubation program for start-ups affiliated with
UCI Knowledge. It is designed to accelerate business development from the
formation to the funding stages.
❖ Beckman Laser Institute
➢ A biomedical optics center that develops technologies, participates in research,
and provides access to clinical procedure.
❖ CALIT2
➢ The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology is a
two-campus multidisciplinary research institute for innovative projects.
❖ I-Corps
➢ A National Science Foundation initiative to increase economic research.
❖ TechPortal Orange
➢ A business technology incubator that serves as a gateway to commercial viability
for UCI-based startup companies.
❖ BioENGINE
➢ A program that engages faculty physicians, postdoctoral fellows, and students to
develop digital health solutions.
START-UP SERVICES
❖ ANTrepreneur Center Coaching
➢ A center that provides free mentorship with interactive learning opportunities to
UCI-associated start-up teams.
❖ Experts in Residence Mentoring
➢ A program that connects start-ups with local business leaders who volunteer their
time to support the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem.
❖ FABWorks Prototyping
➢ A hub that offers opportunities for those interested in hands-on, advanced
manufacturing experiences.
❖ RapidTech Prototyping
➢ A state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in support of research, education, and
industry outreach.
❖ UCI Beall Applied Innovation
➢ An organization located at The Cove that brings campus-based inventions and
entrepreneurship together with Orange County’s vibrant business community to
support job creation and economic growth.
GROUPS/EVENTS
❖ ANTrepreneur Center Daily Events
➢ The ANTrepreneur Center hosts a variety of entrepreneurial events to help
students engage with the start-up ecosystem.
❖ Merage Entrepreneur Association
➢ A student advisory board to the ANTrepreneur Center that hosts informational
sessions, workshops, and a rotational internship program.
❖ Undergraduate Entrepreneur Association
➢ A student organization that aims to enhance the undergraduate experience beyond
the classroom through partnerships with other on-campus business organizations.
❖ UCI Hackathon
➢ A 36-hour event where students come together to use their creativity and
computer science knowledge to develop products or services.
❖ TEDxUCIrvine
➢ An event curated between UCI and TEDx talks to share new ideas and foster an
innovative way of thinking.
❖ 1 Million Cups
➢ A weekly event that creates a constructive environment where start-ups can pitch
to investors, mentors, and business people alike.
❖ Cove Lunch & Learn
➢ An event that brings experts in residence (EiRs) to present informal talks and
Q&A with start-up teams and business-related topics
❖ SoCalCal.com
➢ UCI’s start-up calendar for the innovation community entrepreneurs, developers,
designers, doers, makers, and innovators.
❖ OC Tech
➢ A community meet-up group founded in 2014 that has over 7,000 members.
Networking events usually feature guest speakers and connect UCI students with
the Orange County community.
SUSTAINABILITY:
On Campus Resources:
❖ UCI Sustainability Resource Center (SRC)
➢ UCI’s main hub for all things sustainable, ranging from providing student
internships to offering resources for global engagement pathways. The SRC is the
first step for students to get direct access to professional guidance, support, and
resources for sustainability ventures/inquiries.
❖ UCI’s Free Sustainability Staff Fundamentals Training
➢ A training program for UCI staff (including student interns) where they can learn
about sustainability and complete this quiz to receive a UCI Sustainability
Ambassador Certificate.
❖ UCI Sustainability Course Catalog
➢ A catalog of UCI courses focused on the topic of sustainability. Sustainability is
integrated into almost every subject at UCI in two ways: sustainability-focused or
sustainability-inclusive.
❖ UCI Water
➢ UCI hub for water-related initiatives, research, etc. Great resource for students
who need to incorporate sustainability specifically in regards to water. UCI Water
also hosts guest speaker workshops, events, internship programs, and professional
guidance.
❖ Environmental Justice Collective (EJC)
➢ A group committed to spreading awareness of environmental justice issues and
mobilizing student advocates to continue the mission of achieving health, justice,
and equality for all communities by partnering with organizations in Orange
County. Fill out the form to attend meetings to learn more about EJC discussions,
information sessions, guest speakers, and social events.
❖ The Green Initiative Fund
➢ A fund where about $120,000 per academic year is available in grants for
undergraduate students, organizations, or collaborations between organizations to
apply for in the form of sustainable project proposals.
❖ Environmental Justice Initiative
➢ An initiative where justice-affiliated faculty will work to train diverse populations
of pos-tbaccalaureate and doctoral fellows in climate and geoscience skills and
introduce students to community-based research practices and the crucial role
environmental justice plays in building resilience to climate change. The fellows
will co-design research projects with local organizations with the aim of sharing
their technical expertise with underserved communities in Southern California
that are most directly affected by climate change.
❖ UCI FRESH Basic Needs Hub
➢ A campus hub that provides educational resources and direct services to promote
basic needs security amongst UCI students. It serves current undergraduate and
graduate students and services are designed for the specific needs of the students
it supports. Students can book one-on-one meetings.
❖ ASUCI Sustainability Project Commission
➢ A group that hosts sustainability events for students to learn about how to become
more involved in initiatives on campus and organizations throughout California .
❖ ASUCI Garden Commission
➢ A group that leads UCI’s garden initiatives. Offers a great opportunity for
students in the food industry interested in how to source produce sustainably.
❖ Zero Waste Ambassadors
➢ A group that provides assistance and guidance for those who want to learn more
about zero-waste strategies; good for students looking to incorporate more
eco-friendly practices into their lives.
❖ EarthReps
➢ A student training and community building internship for undergraduate,
on-campus residents. EarthReps offers education, skills, and hands-on experiences
broadly related to sustainability.
❖ Merage Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
➢ The Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship curriculum has been carefully
crafted to first build a foundation through focused coursework, then in the winter
quarter, it provides opportunities for application of those foundational principles
and tools. In the spring quarter, students focus on the execution of the ideas and
plans developed throughout the program.
➢ There are additional opportunities for experiential learning in an entrepreneurial
company as well as curricular and co-curricular activities including workshops,
speaker series, mentoring and company site visits. Further study on topics such as
New Product Development, Business Growth Strategies, Marketing on the
Internet and Experiential Consulting: New Ventures. Example: Sustainable
Venture
On Campus Organizations / Ways to Get Involved:
❖ Campus as a Living Lab (CLL)
➢ A hybrid seminar and internship opportunity that introduces sustainability
concepts and how they can be applied to our most pressing environmental, social,
and economic challenges. Each student has a specific placement site on campus
(garden, nature, dining, ANTrepreneurship Center, etc.).
❖ Energize Colleges
➢ A program that offers opportunities for UCI faculty, staff, students, and
community members to get involved in building internship programs in the areas
of campus energy management, energy justice, and clean energy enterprise.
❖ Environmental Clubs @ UCI
➢ American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES)
■ A group that works to bring together undergraduate students dedicated to
the environment, including (but not limited to) those with interest in civil
and chemical engineering, urban planning, environmental policy, and the
physical sciences.
➢ Anteaters’ Habitat for Humanity
■ An organization that partners with local businesses, community
organizations, faith communities, cities, and volunteers to build simple
decent homes which are sold to qualified families for closing costs, 1%
down payment, and a long-term mortgage.
➢ Climatepedia
■ An organization that explores how our changing climate is impacting
people and their communities.
➢ Earth System Science Club
■ An undergraduate student-run organization committed to bringing together
individuals interested in the field of earth system science as a community
➢ Engineers for a Sustainable World at UCI (ESW)
■ A student chapter focused on designing sustainable engineering projects.
➢ Environmental Law Society (ELS) at UCI Law
■ A group that explores the wide variety of opportunities for environmental
lawyers and policymakers to enact change. ELS also aims to bring
together community leaders interested in all types and scales of
environmental issues. Their events educate about and address the issues
surrounding environmental justice, the climate crisis, biodiversity, and
habitat loss.
➢ In the Green
■ A student organization at UCI with a focus on sustainability from a
business standpoint. It strives to empower students to achieve real and
responsible business solutions that are environmentally, socially, and
economically sustainable.
➢ Orange County Chapter of the Association of Environmental Professionals at UCI
(OCEAP)
■ A group that aims to facilitate greater relationships between professionals
and students interested in environmental-related jobs and to foster the
mutual professional growth of members through those relationships.
➢ Student Animal Legal Defense Fund at UCI Law (SALDF)
■ A group dedicated to providing a forum for education, advocacy, and
scholarship aimed at protecting the welfare and advancing the interests of
animals through the legal system and raising the profile of the field of
animal law.
➢ Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society at UCI (zotCAMS)
■ A group that fosters undergraduate and graduate involvement in
atmospheric and climate science. The organization aims to promote
undergraduate retention in atmospheric and climate science by supporting
atmospheric and climate science career paths.
➢ Sunrise Movement at UCI
■ A national organization of young people to stop climate change and create
millions of good-paying jobs in the process.
➢ Green Medicine Initiative at UCI
■ A student-run organization that combines medicine, sustainability, and
global health to promote greener healthcare practices in the U.S.
Events / Competitions:
❖ Stella Zhang New Venture Competition
➢ A competition where student teams compete to launch a startup and $100,000 in
cash prizes plus additional professional services. Competitors are connected with
potential teammates and mentors and receive the tools they need to transform
their ideas into read businesses.
❖ Startups for Semiconductor Sustainability
➢ A mentorship program and pitch event for innovators with sustainable
technologies that can help drive impact in the semiconductor industry in the areas
of emissions, energy, and circularity (water and waste).
❖ Architecture at Zero Competition
➢ A design competition for decarbonization, equity, and resilience that is open to
students and professionals worldwide. It serves to engage the fields of
architecture, design, engineering and planning in the pursuit of sustainable design.
❖ Orange County Sustainability Decathlon
➢ A competition that challenges university teams to design and build model
solar-powered homes that address climate change and California’s housing needs.
Teams will showcase innovative, market-ready model homes to display in a
sustainable village which will be open to the public. UCI is one of the 2023
partners for this event.
❖ UC Startup Innovation Challenge
➢ An annual, systemwide entrepreneurial competition that highlights the impressive
innovations of the UC community. This challenge draws students, faculty, and
staff participants from all ten campuses, five medical centers, three affiliated
national labs, and the broader alumni entrepreneur network. Participants will gain
exposure to global funder and investor networks, increase visibility for corporate
collaborations, and be reviewed by world-class venture capital judges.
❖ Free Eventbrite Online Sustainability Events
➢ An online site accumulating global events and workshops from international
businesses regarding sustainability and start-ups.
❖ Women in Cleantech & Sustainability Pitch Competition
➢ An annual start-up pitch competition focused on spotlighting companies led by
women, either as CEOs or in the C-suite.
❖ MBA Nespresso Sustainability Challenge
➢ A sustainability case study challenge for MBA students at business schools
around the world. UCI students won this competition in 2017.
❖ Making Shift Happen – Event
➢ A three-day intensive workshop for UCI students (student discount) based on the
book Making Shift Happen: Designing for Successful Environmental Behavior
Change. Attendees will learn to tackle urgent environmental problems and
achieve positive, durable change by designing solutions based directly on how
people think, make decisions, and act. February 22-24, 2023.
❖ Accelerate at Verge
➢ A fast-pitch competition featuring entrepreneurs with innovative technologies,
products, and services in the areas of carbon, energy, food, transportation, or
buildings.
❖ ClimateLaunchpad
➢ A competition for innovative ideas with environmental impact that helps
entrepreneurs fast track their ideas into businesses and bypass all possible pitfalls
along the way.
❖ Planting with (Re)Purpose
➢ A two-day planting event where students reuse jars to make their own DIY potted
plant. Hosted by Sustainability Project and Garden Commissions, attendees will
learn about at-home gardening and sustainable food practices, including starting a
garden, gardening tips, food waste, buying locally-grown produce, and
plant-based consumption.
❖ Sustainability Social
➢ An event highlighting the campus clubs and organizations that promote
sustainability and that can help students achieve their own sustainable goals.
Through this event, attendees will have the opportunity to meet new friends, make
new connections, and learn more about environmental goals.
OFF-CAMPUS RESOURCES
❖ Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)
➢ A non-profit organization that creates an inclusive green economy for people of
Los Angeles by working with start-ups to accelerate the commercialization of
clean technologies, partnerships with policymakers, etc.
❖ Sustainable Ocean Alliance Accelerator
➢ The world’s first program dedicated to propelling entrepreneurs with ocean
solutions for a sustainable blue economy.
❖ E8 Cleantech Angels Funding
➢ A member organization of accredited angel investors and organizations using the
power of enterprise to scale both environmental impact and investment returns.
E8 helps all types of investors maximize the opportunity of the clean tech
revolution ahead of us. E8 offers seasoned and new investors the early stage deals,
learning and networks you need to build an innovative portfolio that matches your
particular interests and goals. Apply via the Dealum app.
❖ CALPIRG Students
➢ UCI’s premier student public interest activism group. The chapter works to
protect the environment, provide hunger relief, and promote civic engagement by
engaging professional staff on campus to educate the public, run grassroots
campaigns, and lobby our elected officials in Sacramento and in Washington,
D.C. to get real results. The chapter provides the training, professional support,
and resources students need to tackle climate change, protect public health,
revitalize our democracy, feed the hungry and more.
❖ Octane’s LaunchPad SBDC
➢ A pro bono small business development center (SBDC) supported by the U.S.
Small Business Administration (SBA). The center works with technology and life
science entrepreneurs seeking Late Seed, Series A, and Series B funding. With
over 600 successful LaunchPad Alumni and an 82% funding rate, LaunchPad
SBDC ranks in the top 5 of over 900 SBDC’s nationwide.
❖ Techstars Rising Stars
➢ A pre-seed, pre-accelerator fund specifically structured to provide
underrepresented founders in the U.S. with access to investment at the very
beginning of their startup journey. Rising Stars invests $100k in promising but
overlooked startups that would otherwise be ignored by traditional venture
capital. Along with a financial boost, Techstars connects founders with their
worldwide network for unparalleled mentorship, real-world start-up know-how,
and access to opportunities for growth.
❖ LA Bio Space
➢ A five-week, intensive training program that prepares emerging bioscience
entrepreneurs to launch their own bioscience ventures. The boot camp is a
collaborative project of Cal State LA, the Biocom Institute, and the Los Angeles
Cleantech Incubator. With investment from the U.S. Economic Development
Administration, the training is offered at no charge to eligible participants.
❖ Look into:
➢ US Global Hub Funders
➢ Belmont Forum
➢ Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
➢ Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
➢ NASA
➢ NOMIS Foundation
➢ U.S. Global Change Research Program
➢ U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
➢ U.S. National Science Foundation
UCI ARTICLES
❖ Nespresso Sustainability Challenge Takes Students Beyond the Classroom
❖ Merage School MIE Program Inspires Entrepreneurs to Create Sustainable Businesses
❖ Corporate Social Responsibility Yields Surprising Returns
❖ From Idea To Business
❖ Want Employees to Embrace Corporate Environmental Policies? Invest in Them First.
❖ Add UCI ANTrepreneur Center articles
