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In major milestone, one billion dollars raised by Bakar Labs startups
At Bakar Labs, scores of companies found a stable launchpad for innovation and growth. Read post
Startups from UC Berkeley incubator cross $1 billion funding mark
SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES – The early results are in — companies birthed or cradled at UC Berkeley’s four-year-old Bakar Labs have hit a cumulative funding mark of $1 billion, operators of the incubator say. The total includes money raised by 55 companies currently housed in the incubator or that have graduated to space of their own. Read post
Bakar Labs × SPINOUT Bootcamp
The Bakar Labs × SPINOUT Bootcamp is a selective, three-day commercialization intensive designed for scientists who want to rigorously evaluate whether—and how—their research could become a venture. This program is built for UC Berkeley–affiliated proto-founders: early-career technical researchers and students who are not yet building a startup, but are seriously considering commercialization as a potential pathway after academia. Participants are guided through practical, investor-informed frameworks to assess commercial viability, technical risk, scale-up pathways, and founder readiness—before committing significant time, reputation, or funding to a spinout. Learn more Transition is transforming copper mining, supercharging rock-munching microbes
The company’s performance-maximizing additives boost ore-eating organisms, for cheaper, greener biomining Read post
Transition Metal Solutions: $6 Million Seed Funding Raised To Reinvent Bio-Based Copper Recovery
PULSE 2.0 – Transition Metal Solutions has closed an oversubscribed $6 million seed round to commercialize a bio-enabled approach aimed at boosting copper recovery from existing mines and waste streams, as copper demand continues to climb faster than new supply can be brought online. Read post
How one startup is using prebiotics to try and ease the copper shortage
TECHCRUNCH – To scale up its technology, Transition Metal Solutions has raised a $6 million seed round, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. The round was led by Transition Ventures with participation from Astor Management AG, Climate Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, Essential Capital, Juniper VC, Kayak Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Possible Ventures, SOSV, and Understorey Ventures. Read post
Transition Metal scales microbe tech for copper recovery
MINING.COM – Transition Biomining, now rebranded as Transition Metal Solutions, has raised an oversubscribed $6 million seed round to scale a chemical approach that activates native microbes to lift copper yields from low-grade sulfide ores without changing mine infrastructure. Read post Startup makes incredible breakthrough that could solve major problem with plastic: ‘A new technology’
Wang told NBC that the company is hoping to deliver a product in two to three years that would be a more expensive, durable plastic used for furniture or plastic tools, as opposed to a solution for inexpensive plastic bottles, leaving room for other innovators to step in. To sway investors during a time when the U.S. administration appears unwilling to support green initiatives, Wang sees profitability as a key to success. “If we really want to push all these things forward, the profit is most important,” Wang concluded in the article. “We hope with a new technology, all the parties involved in this industry, they can make the profit and then people can build the circular economy with a self-motivation.” Read post Rethinking energy-efficient buildings, from the ground up
At our recent symposium, a multi-disciplinary slate of speakers explored the future of a low-carbon construction industry. Read post
Everything that you need, all in one location.
Startups need to focus on making milestones, not managing equipment.
Our mission is to support you in the creation of groundbreaking solutions for our planet. We foster innovation rooted in sustainability, working with visionary thinkers to build a thriving future for all.
At UC Berkeley
Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials sits at the center of UC Berkeley’s innovation ecosystem, with direct access to over 300 faculty in engineering, science, law, policy, and business—all advancing energy and materials research.
Just steps away are 40,000 students in top-ranked programs and a network of advanced core facilities. Startups can easily recruit top talent and collaborate with expert scientific co-founders.
Today’s best startups blaze a trail all their own, but they don’t do it alone.
They build their support network to help them navigate the multiple challenges they face. At Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials, tenants join a community of as many as 75 like-minded teams willing to share the scientific and business insights that help them advance. The incubator spans more than 145,000 square feet of lab and office space.
Built for startups. For more than 20 years, QB3 has been the University of California’s center for innovation and entrepreneurship in life science and now energy & materials. Through pitch summits, seminars, symposia, podcasts, office hours, internships, and workshops QB3 educates, connects, and elevates the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
