Helping founders find community and connections
Annual competition and accelerator track for UC San Diego students, faculty, and staff developing sustainable ventures. Offers prize pools of up to $25K for advanced/research-track teams and up to $5K for early-stage teams, with mentorship and support throughout the competition cycle.
Ranked #1 U.S. accelerator by MIT/Rice University's Seed Accelerator Rankings Project. A highly selective seed-stage accelerator in San Francisco and New York, accepting ~15 teams twice per year from ~2,000+ applicants. The 10-week intensive program covers product-market fit, target market definition, first validation, and investor meeting preparation. Has launched 150+ companies with $1.8B total funding raised. Portfolio includes Postmates, Buffer, Periscope Data, DroneDeploy, and 3 unicorns.
Learn more →Empowers entrepreneurs with tools, mentorship, and community to grow for-profit businesses, offering a focused curriculum, workshops, networking, and investment opportunities, culminating in a Demo Day pitch event for investors. No equity or tuition required.
Learn more →Provides free consulting and training to new and existing businesses, offering expertise in areas like accounting, marketing, funding, government contracting, and business operations through a network of service locations and outreach centers.
Learn more →Offers a free 10-week entrepreneurship boot camp for the CSUB and Kern County community, providing guidance from faculty and industry experts on venture creation, technology, marketing, financials, and legal essentials.
Learn more →Offers Cal Poly students and recent alumni a 12-week summer program to develop business models, receive mentorship, seed funding, and entrepreneurial training to launch scalable startups.
Learn more →A non-equity community program for startups ready to scale that do not need investment from Expert Dojo. Includes monthly high-level training videos from experts, monthly AMA sessions with Dojo experts, exclusive perks and discounts, growth tracking, and complimentary tickets to Expert Dojo events. Top performers may transition into the Investment Program and receive referrals to outside VCs and investors.
Learn more →Expert Dojo's core accelerator and venture investment program for pre-seed and seed startups. Invests $50K–$100K (SAFE notes) for 3.5%–7% equity. Provides Monday Accountability Sessions, Monthly Mastermind sessions (4/month), weekly expert training videos, warm introductions to VCs and investors, and Quarterly Demo Days. Over 260+ startups invested since 2018. Ranked among most active pre-seed investors in U.S. after Techstars and Y Combinator. Portfolio companies have raised an average of $3.7M. Focus on minority- and female-founded tech companies.
Learn more →UC San Diego's top-ranked deep biotech accelerator at the Center for Novel Therapeutics. Supports disruptive life sciences and digital health startups across longevity, BioAI, quantum, AI drug discovery, regenerative medicine, genomics, food tech, and more. Weekly sprints, capital closing clinics, AMAs, and investor sessions. Portfolio has generated $2.3B+ in exits and funds raised.
Learn more →\- Guides entrepreneurs through idea generation, validation, development, and business launch in a structured 14-week format. \- Helps founders refine and strengthen their pitch, progressing from initial workshopping to public presentations. \- Empowers founders with expert insights, peer learning, accountability, and actionable growth strategies in a four-week, theme-based format. \- Offers free, weekly interactive workshops for students, members, and the community to learn, collaborate, and create. \- Provides a one-week experience for high school and college students to test startup ideas and validate customer problems. \- Facilitates community collaboration to solve business challenges, launch ventures, and gain practical experience over eight weeks. \- Connects entrepreneurs with peers, tools, and resources to gain new perspectives in a free, supportive environment.
Learn more →Seed-stage funding and support program for genomics-focused startups. Offers access to Illumina sequencing systems and reagents, lab space, and business guidance. Evolved into Illumina Ventures Labs (2023) with a focus on company creation. Illumina for Startups Grants also available for proof-of-concept sequencing experiments. 74 companies invested 2014–2023, with portfolio raising $1.2B+ collectively.
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