UC Berkeley gets new start-up hub

A start-up incubator focused on life science, engineering, and data science is coming to the University of California, Berkeley, this fall. The non-profit Bakar BioEnginuity Hub will stand out in the entrepreneurial Bay area, organizers say, for its size, affiliation with the university, and focus on innovations that benefit society.

The hub will be located in Berkeley’s former art museum. When renovations are complete, Bakar Labs will have 3,700 m² of space for as many as 80 start-ups. Other programs will include fellowships and programming for Berkeley students and researchers, paid access to advanced facilities on campus, and connections to potential investors. Founders can get help from experts at the university’s business and law schools.

The incubator will also offer start-up founders the usual ability to connect with other entrepreneurs. “What’s different is scale,” Bakar Labs’ general manager Gino Segrè says. “Berkeley has an incredible number of scientific resources across campus that are available to start-ups.”

While founders do not have to be part of the university to apply for space in the lab, they do have to have a world-changing mission, Segrè says. The hub is looking for technologies that can fight climate change or improve human health, not another consumer product.

Berkeley has a tradition of launching successful start-ups, such as CRISPR-focused Caribou Biosciences and Zymergen, a biomanufacturing firm that recently raised $500 million in an initial public offering of stock.

Zymergen cofounder Zach Serber is a member of an advisory group for the Bakar hub. He says the focus on social good is what today’s market demands. “Incubators will start seeing an increasing number of innovators that want to build businesses with a conscience,” Serber says, noting that Zymergen is registered as a public benefit corporation. “I believe this is something we can—and should—help other developing businesses embrace.”