Mar 3An Ode to the Past Two Years of the PandemicReflections on Running a Tech Accelerator Program in a Time of COVID By Sibyl Chen Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses from around the world including Berkeley SkyDeck, to dramatically alter the way they do business. Now as we emerge from an extraordinary period of time…Technology6 min read
Feb 23Robin Riedel to Lead Berkeley SkyDeck’s Aero-Astro TrackBy Sibyl Chen Both the aerospace and space industry have seen serious innovation over the past few decades. So much so that in 2019 UC Berkeley announced plans to build a satellite campus near Moffett Field to nurture education and accelerate R&D in collaboration with NASA. While the development is…Innovation7 min read
Jan 26Every Startup Founder’s Greatest Challenge: Perfecting the PitchDavid Riemer talks about his upcoming book Get Your Startup Story Straight Each cohort, Berkeley SkyDeck hosts some 50–70 workshops and for the past many years, one of our top five workshops as rated by founders has been our “Product Story” workshop with David Riemer. Then about a month before…Startup9 min read
Jan 12A Life Working to Expand Humanity’s Move into the Next FrontierAbhishek Tripathi, UC Berkeley’s Director of Mission Control, on his career working in aerospace & thoughts on what’s to come in aerospace innovation Back in March of this year, I was connected to Abhi Tripathi. Part of my role as Senior Director at Berkeley SkyDeck is to meet potential advisors…Space8 min read
Oct 20, 2021Inspiring Innovation: LG’s Mission for the FutureInside LG’s Mission to Uncover Innovation As a brand, LG’s name is synonymous with appliances, mobile phones, TVs and laptops. Behind this Korean conglomerate, LG’s tentacles extend far into many more verticals people may not even be aware of. More recently, LG has started focusing more time and resources on…Innovation6 min read
Sep 22, 2021Corporate Innovation During a Global PandemicA chat with the President of the Daikin Open Innovation Lab Silicon Valley SkyDeck launched a pitch challenge with Daikin on September 8th. Lots of startups started reaching out to find out whether they’d be the right fit so I decided to sit with the President of Daikin’s Open Innovation…Innovation6 min read
Sep 15, 2021The Story Behind the World’s First Smart Breast-Pumping BraDr. Andrea Braden’s journey to becoming a startup founder Two weeks ago, Dr. Andrea Braden, CEO of Lybbie, became the winner of SkyDeck’s Pad-13 Pitch Competition, winning the Audience Award and the Judges’ Top Startup Award. Lybbie is one of two startups to have joined SkyDeck’s inaugural University Innovation Partner…Innovation9 min read
Aug 10, 2021Networking, Risk-taking, and Capitalizing on Resources:SkyDeck Startup SuperAnnotate Reflects on Journey to $14.5M Series A Round Last week I caught up with the co-founders of SuperAnnotate, Tigran and Vahan Petrosyan. In the spring of 2019, SuperAnnotate joined SkyDeck’s accelerator cohort program. I had just joined SkyDeck as Head of Program and vividly remember being excited about their company and vision, early in their startup’s journey. I…Startup8 min read
Jun 3, 2021Disruptive Canadian startups to pitch at Canadian Tech Accelerator’s First Demo DayEarlier this week I caught up with Thierry Lu, the Program Manager at the Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA) and Trade Commissioner for Global Affairs Canada. The Canadian Tech Accelerator is a federally funded program created to prepare and catapult high-potential Canadian startups into Silicon Valley. It was enlightening to have…Technology5 min read
May 5, 2021A Silicon Valley startup’s journey to acquisitionby Sibyl Chen Last week I caught up with cofounders of DocuVision, Rama Veeraragoo and Mahmoud Hafez. In spring of 2019, DocuVision joined SkyDeck’s accelerator cohort program. I had just joined SkyDeck as head of program right before the selection process began and vividly remember their interview. I was impressed…Tech7 min read
