Berkeley
Special advertising supplement
September 30, 2016
Visionary
Awards
At Berkeley Rep
2016
The winners (l-r):
Danielle Applestone
Other Machine Co.
Stephen Isaacs
Aduro Biotech
Emilie Mazzacurati
Four Twenty Seven
Climate Solutions
The new Peet’s Theatre at Berkeley Rep is a fitting site for the presentation of the 2016 Berkeley Visionary
Awards. The Theatre represents Berkeley’s innovative culture – in the arts, science and entrepreneurship.
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INNOVATION
COMES FROM CHALLENGING THE WAY WE DO THINGS TODAY
At Bayer, our focus on life sciences enables us
to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time –
in humans, animals and plants.
For over 100 years in Berkeley, we’ve been building productive
and lasting partnerships to advance new and innovative
treatments and strengthen our community.
JOIN US:
www.career.bayer.us
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
September 30, 2016
Advertising Supplement 3
about the Berkeley Visionary Awards
T
he Berkeley Visionary Awards were created
to honor those individuals with the imagination and persistence to innovate in the
city of Berkeley. With the unique attributes
of the university, the national laboratory and our
creative private sector, entrepreneurs are now taking
advantage of these rich resources to launch innovative companies, create high-quality jobs and generate
technologies that have global impact.
The Berkeley Chamber conceived and launched
the visionary awards to recognize and honor those
entrepreneurs who have overcome barriers, pursued
dramatic change and made our city, our region and
hopefully the world a better place to live.
The Chamber is a partner with the City of Berkeley, UC Berkeley and the Berkeley National Lab and
together we encourage talent trained in Berkeley to
stay in Berkeley, hire in Berkeley and grow their businesses in Berkeley.
This year one of our awardees is transforming
manufacturing through unique and accessible desktop production tools, another is helping major cor-
porations monitor and manage risk as climate change
begins to impact businesses across the globe, and a
third is another UC Berkeley alumni who has brought
his company public and is focusing on a breakthrough
approach in cancer treatment.
We had many exciting companies from which to
choose and we are proud to present these three as our
2016 winners.
Polly Armstrong, CEO/Community Relations
Kirsten MacDonald, CEO/Operations
Celebrating Berkeley’s innovative leaders
Stephen Isaacs
of Aduro
Biotech; Danielle
Applestone of
Other Machine
Co.; Kirsten
MacDonald,
Berkeley Chamber;
Dee WilliamsRidley, Berkeley
City Manager;
Emilie Mazzacurati,
of Four Twenty
Seven Climate
Solutions; and
Polly Armstrong,
Berkeley Chamber.
paolo vescia
From the Berkeley Chamber
From Berkeley’s City Manager
T
T
Welcome to the 2016
Berkeley Visionary Awards
he Berkeley Chamber is proud to present our fourth annual Berkeley Visionary Awards. This year we are showcasing local Berkeley
businesses’ strength in biopharma, climate science and the makers
movement. Our awardees are all businesses that have consciously
chosen to locate and grow in Berkeley, recognizing the wealth of talent available and the visionary zeitgeist of our city.
We at the Chamber have always known that Berkeley is a place for visionaries. We created these awards to honor entrepreneurs who want to change the
world we live in and recognize that Berkeley is a great place to make it happen.
We want to recognize David Teece, professor at UC Berkeley and founder
of the Berkeley Research Group, who was excited about our concept from the
beginning and has generously underwritten the Visionary Awards ever since.
The Visionary Awards event, together with the innovators it honors, owes
a great deal to the champions of public-private partnership whose efforts potentiate what Berkeley has to offer. We are proud to thank our partners at the
City of Berkeley, UC Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as
well as Wareham Development, Sutter Health Alta Bates Medical Center and
the Bayer Corporation.
As the ‘Independent Voice for Business in Berkeley’, the Chamber welcomes
you to the 2016 Berkeley Visionary Awards.
Polly Armstrong, CEO/Community Relations
Kirsten MacDonald, CEO/Operations
Berkeley is the place.
Visionaries start here.
he Visionary Awards give us an occasion to share why there is such
energy in Berkeley these days: The people!
You feel their energy in our business accelerators, new places to work
and the expanding West Berkeley research labs.
You hear their energy in the animated conversations at university incubators and
tech launch pads. People are gathering in cafe, bars, and breweries to meet friends
and to network and share ideas that lead to exciting ventures. You recognize it in the
vitality of our arts scene.
We’ve said it before: Berkeley is brilliant and booming.
Cutting Edge Research
Berkeley is home to UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Lab. Together they employ or
train more than 45,000 people. These researchers and students are making exciting
discoveries and launching businesses across the community. Together the City of
Berkeley, the Berkeley Chamber and a network of university and lab initiatives are
collaborating to help these firms grow and advance here.
Superb Quality of life
Berkeley enjoys big city amenities with all of the best parts of small town life:
Distinctive retail destinations, tree-lined streets, world-class arts, award-winning
food, walkable neighborhoods, easily accessible transit– served by three BART stations – and a great bike infrastructure.
We hope you share the energy these awards inspire and that even more visionaries make Berkeley their home.
Dee Williams-Ridley, City Manager, City of Berkeley
Stories by Carol Piasente
Cover photo by Paolo Vescia
Publication design by Carol Collier
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San Francisco Business TIMES
photos / impact hub berkeley
A culture of
innovation
with a
social edge
T
his year’s Visionary Award winners are carrying on Berkeley’s long tradition of putting
their intellect, their passion and their willingness to work tackling big issues head on.
Whether it’s providing strategies for adapting to climate change, laying the foundation for the next wave
of manufacturing or treating cancer, this generation of
Berkeley entrepreneurs is engaging with market forces to
make the world a better place.
“There’s a through-line between the disruptive social
change Berkeley played a role in during the last century
and the ways in which we are disruptive today,” says Michael Caplan, manager of the City of Berkeley’s Office of
Economic Development (OED).
“Today’s students and researchers, engineers and
entrepreneurs are applying outside-the-box thinking
to solving critical health problems
and environmental challenges,” says
“People in Berkeley
Caplan. “Inspired to make the world
a better place, they’re starting new
want to find
companies to realize their dreams and
their inventions and
meaningful problems commercialize
products.”
Rhonda Shrader, director of the
to solve, whether
Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship Program at UC Berkeley, agrees: “People
they’re students or
in Berkeley want to find meaningful
problems to solve, whether they’re
entrepreneurs.
students or entrepreneurs. It’s in their
It’s in their DNA.”
DNA. As innovators, they scratch the
surface just a little deeper to find out
Rhonda Shrader,
what’s really meaningful and what
Director, Berkeley-Haas
will have a real, positive impact.”
Entrepreneurship Program,UC
Emilie Mazzacurati, founder and
Berkeley
CEO of Four Twenty Seven, a climate research and adaptation firm, finds that “by tradition and culture and
because of who lives here, Berkeley startups tend to be more mission-driven
with a social or environmental purpose.”
Four Twenty Seven was part of the Berkeley-Haas accelerator and Mazzacurati likes that people in Berkeley “find it normal to be an entrepreneur. You don’t feel like a complete alien when you talk to your friends.”
Berkeley’s entrepreneurs are bolstered by a wealth of resources for startups and businesses that are bit further along in their growth trajectory. UC
Berkeley-backed incubators and accelerators work hand in hand with the
OED to help businesses get off the ground and reach the next stage in
terms of strategy, working with clients and bringing products to market.
Adity Tibrewala, a recent Cal grad and community manager of Berkeley’s Impact Hub, says, “People in Berkeley are rebels, in the best sense of the
word.”
The Impact Hub, a coworking space located downtown in the David
Bower Center, just steps from the university campus and Berkeley BART,
was itself an innovative social experiment.
Founded in 2009, following a successful launch of the model in Europe,
Impact Hub Berkeley was “the American test kitchen,” says Tibrewala. “If it
worked here, the concept of a shared workspace for people who had a sim-
Sharing ideas
at Impact Hub
Berkeley, the
first U.S. location
of this global
network of 81
coworking spaces
serving social
enterprise.
ilar mindset toward social entrepreneurship could be expanded elsewhere.”
And clearly, it did work – there are now Impact Hubs in Oakland, San
Francisco and Washington, D.C., in addition to a network of hubs in more
than 81 cities across the globe serving some 15,000 members.
Businesses that got their start at Impact Hub Berkeley include Alba
Light, which makes highly efficient LED lighting; Senda Athletics, maker
of fair trade soccer balls; and TaroWorks™, which created a suite of mobile
data collection and analytical tools designed to put data directly in the
hands of users.
Impact Hub focuses on social enterprises, but impact-oriented businesses can be found in each of Berkeley’s three other major cowork facilities (NextSpace, WeWork and Sandbox Suites).
WeWork occupies all seven floors of 2120 University Avenue and houses
dozens of companies. Among them, VIA Analytics, a SkyDeck alum that
works to improve public transit through innovative technology and data
solutions. TrulyMad.com also operates its social startup at WeWork Berkeley. Trulymad raises money for nonprofits by selling lifestyle brands.
Located just across the street from the Downtown Berkeley BART station, Next Space is another active cowork community that includes socially conscious enterprises. ProjectVision which uses behavioral analytics
and mobile technology to help patients prevent obesity, is one example of
their many tech and cause-related companies.
September 30, 2016
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
Advertising Supplement 5
Visionary Award Winner
Aduro Biotech:
Immunotherapy to fight cancer
A
duro Biotech Inc. was pursuing the development of cancer immunotherapies far before it was in vogue.
“We were in the immunotherapy field when many people were skeptical and investors in this field of research were scarce,” says CEO Stephen Isaacs. “But we always believed in the potential of immunotherapies
to transform the cancer care landscape, and it seems the data is now catching up to our vision.”
Products developed from Aduro’s LADD, STING Pathway Activator and B-select monoclonal antibody platforms
are designed to ignite the immune system to mobilize and attack tumors.
“These last two years have been banner years for Aduro,” says Isaacs. “We completed a successful IPO where we
raised approximately $125 million and have reported multiple clinical trial data.”
Fundraising strategy is very important to every biotech company, says Isaacs. “Even prior to the IPO, we were fortunate to be backed by very supportive private investors and venture capitalists who share our vision to change the
oncology landscape as immunotherapy pioneers.”
“Now that we are a publicly traded company, we continue to receive strong support from leading investors who believe our science and research could really transform how cancer patients suffering
from the deadliest tumors are treated.”
In addition to strong investor support, Aduro has license agreements with Janssen and
a collaboration with Novartis that provide ongoing funding as specific milestones are
reached. As of June, Aduro could bank on $397 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Having a strong cash position enables Aduro to move forward with the development
of its potentially life-saving products to treat a variety of cancers and other autoimmune and infectious diseases.
“We always believed
The partnerships with Janssen and Novartis allow Aduro’s
technology to be developed in collaboration with highly expein the potential of
rienced large pharmaceutical partners. With last year’s acquisition of BioNovion, a privately held Dutch company, Aduro
immunotherapies to
gained a unique monoclonal antibody program as well as leadtransform the cancer care ing management who originally developed the drug Keytruda.
“We now have three innovative approaches to stimulate the
immune
system under one company, a fact we believe is rare and
landscape, and it seems
provides a distinct advantage for a biotechnology company of our
the data is now catching size,” says Isaacs.
The growing company, which now numbers 130 employup to our vision.”
ees, made a conscious decision to stay in Berkeley
when it became apparent they needed a larger
building.
“It takes intelligence, confidence and guts to do what we
do, and I can’t think of a city that better epitomizes these
qualities than Berkeley. In fact, some of the research that
launched my career started from some experiments that
were conducted in a garage in Berkeley,” says Isaacs.
Aduro recently moved into one half of a new
110,000-square-foot building that’s part of Wareham’s
18-acre, 17-building Aquatic Park Center research campus in West Berkeley. The plan is to fully occupy the entire property by January 2018.
“The Bay Area is a strong biotech hub,” says Isaacs.
“Through our relationship with UC Berkeley, we have
a tremendous pool of scientific talent from which to
recruit, and through our Immunotherapeutics and
Vaccines Research Initiative (IVRI) collaboration
with the university, we have a direct line to the innovative research ongoing at the school.”
Stephen Isaacs,
CEO, Aduro
Introduced by John Hearst
Professor emeritus, UC Berkeley
College of Chemistry
Paolo Vescia
6
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berkeley | visionary awards 2016
San Francisco Business TIMES
Researcher Jinghua Guo at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis site doing battery research.
Powerhouse institutions
generate innovation
These are just two recent examples of
dynamic startups that are propelling
Berkeley’s innovation growth.
2nd highest percentage
That growth is likely to accelerate.
of industry-sponsored
UC Berkeley’s Office of Intellectual
Property and Industry Research Alliresearch when compared
ances has generated more than $235
million in licensing revenue, and the
to other research
campus is expanding efforts to integrate tech transfer into many research
institutions.”
and educational activities.
“The advent of numerous startup
UC Berkeley’s Office of
resources in and around UC Berkeley
Intellectual Property & Industry
and the Berkeley Lab, has catapulted
Researcher Leslie Silva studies samples in Trent Northern’s lab at the
Research Alliances
the Berkeley community into the
Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories.
planet’s top-tier of innovation ecosystems,”
said
Mike
Cohen,
director of Innovation Ecosystem
erkeley and the wider Bay Area are direct beneThe Berkeley Lab
Development
at
UC
Berkeley’s
Office of Technology Lificiaries of the intellectual power of two of the
at
a
glance
censing.
“There
are
growing
resources
off campus such as
world’s most respected research institutions: The
The
House
and
Tech
Futures
and
a
growing
community
University of California, Berkeley and the Lawof
cowork
facilities.
Campus-related
infrastructure
now
rence Berkeley National Laboratory.
includes
SkyDeck,
the
CITRIS
Foundry
and
the
QB3
East
Not only do these two institutions attract top research,
Nobel Prizes
Bay
Innovation
Center.”
engineering, academic and management talent from across
The QB3 East Bay Innovation Center (QB3-EBIC) in
the globe, they also drive the creation of businesses based
West
Berkeley is a launching pad for pioneers like Carion novel technologies. These companies are attracting
National Medal of
bou
Biosciences,
whose CRISPR gene-editing technology
investment and interest worldwide to Berkeley and the
Science recipients
is
gaining
worldwide
attention. Growing at a fast clip,
broader East Bay.
Caribou
remains
in
the
heart of Berkeley’s bioscience
More than a third of venture funds on earth are invested
cluster.
While
QB3-EBIC
tenant Zephyrus Biosciences
in the Bay Area, according to the Berkeley-Haas EntrepreContributed to the local
was
acquired
this
year
by
a
Minnesota
biotech, most QB3neurship Program.
economy annually
EBIC
tenants
choose
to
stay
and
grow
in Berkeley and the
“Capital is coming to Berkeley in a very serious way. It’s
East
Shore
research
cluster
where
they
enjoy strong supan indicator of the startup opportunities here,” says Caroport
and
collaboration.
line Winnett, executive director of SkyDeck, UC Berkeley’s
Number of employees
At the Berkeley Lab, the Innovation and Partnerships
startup accelerator.
Office
(IPO) works to transition technologies to the marSkyDeck success stories include Eko Devices, which sells
ketplace.
IPO focuses on integrating the Berkeley Lab
a “smart” stethoscope that enables physicians to compare
FY 2015 budget
with
local,
regional and national commercialization acresults with a huge cloud database. Jill Fuss (2015 Berketivity – helping to drive technology solutions from the lab
ley Visionary), a Berkeley Lab scientist, heads CinderBIO.
CinderBIO produces a new class of ultra-stable enzymes as
Continued on next page
biodegradable alternatives for harsh industrial chemicals.
B
13
13
$700 M
3,304
$811 M
photos / Roy Kaltschmidt / LAWRENCE berkeley national LABORATORY
“UC Berkeley has the
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
September 30, 2016
Continued from previous page
Mike Witherell,
Director, The Lawrence
Berkeley National Lab;
keynote speaker at the
2016 Berkeley Visionary
Awards
to society faster than it has been done
traditionally.
Multinationals, small businesses
and startups have all licensed Berkeley
Lab technologies in fields ranging from
biotechnology and nanotechnology to
energy efficiency and semiconductor
manufacturing. Companies as diverse
as Exogen (2014 Berkeley Visionary),
PolyPlus Batteries (2013 Berkeley Visionary), Lygos and Newomics, among
40 in total, have been founded on
Berkeley Lab technology.
The Berkeley Lab is even innovating innovation. Cyclotron Road is the
lab’s new approach to “spin in” startups.
These nascent ventures have potentially
Advertising Supplement 7
game-changing energy technologies
that fall between further academic research funding and venture investment.
Through Cyclotron Road, Berkeley Lab
provides salaries to these startup founders and access to the lab’s research tools,
expertise and networks. Cyclotron Road
brings in people inventing breakthrough
technology and helps them move their
product to market.
“It is not spinning something out
of the lab, it is spinning people into the
lab,” says Director Mike Witherell about
Cyclotron Road. “It is an extremely competitive program that attracts the best
and brightest from around the nation.”
Developed first in Berkeley, other national laboratories are attempting to replicate this powerful model.
UC Berkeley
at a glance
#1
Public university*
#2
In universities producing
venture capital-backed
entrepreneurs
#3
Global university*
#2
In social entrepreneurship
* 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities
Berkeley and UC startups are vital to California’s economy
About the Berkeley Chamber
Join the Chamber!
The “Independent Voice for Business,” the
Berkeley Chamber supports its business members and the economy of Berkeley by providing education, advocacy and connection.
A key role of the Chamber is to convene
and help build relationships among business
leaders, the city and the community.
While chambers of commerce are local
institutions with a long history, the Berkeley
Chamber is an organization, independent
from the national chamber, that is reinventing what it means to be a voice for business in
the 21st century.
The Visionary Awards are one example of
the Berkeley Chamber’s initiatives to connect
its legacy of business leadership with a new
generation of change makers.
The Berkeley Chamber
offers many specific
benefits:
Networking: Multiple
opportunities for networking
with East Bay business and
political leaders.
Education: Seminars on
current topics of interest to
business.
Advertising: Sophisticated
print, online, e-mail and social
media marketing.
Advocacy: Influence on
local and regional legislation
and policies that affect the
business community.
Find out more at
berkeleychamber.com.
A vibrant mix of culture, food, arts,
and ideas where inspiration thrives
DO WNT O WNBE R K E L E Y. CO M
DRIN
K
CON
CER
TS
$52.23 M
Funds from non-federal work
agreements
FOO
D&
173
U.S. and foreign patent
applications
FILM
170
New inventions/software
THE
ATR
E
128
Researchers receiving
royalties
The study counted some 38,800 jobs
in UC-affiliated companies, and found
that the companies indirectly support
108,460 other jobs across a wide range
of industries and incomes.
In analyzing startup formation at
each campus, the study found that research across the university has formed
the basis for the startups.
The report reflects just how essential
UC Berkeley and the entire University
of California system are in fueling the
state’s innovation economy.
ART
&
$1.27 M
Royalties distributed
PLA
Y
$4.07 M
Royalties received
Office of Economic Development.
“We’ve worked with the university and
its network of incubators and accelerators to ensure the new companies
started here have a place to continue to
grow and expand in Berkeley.”
Berkeley and San Diego lead all 10
UC campuses in startup activity. Altogether researchers and entrepreneurs
at UC have generated hundreds of new
companies employing tens of thousands
of Californians and contributing more
than $20 billion to the state’s economy.
WO
RK &
Figures for 2014:
A
s a vital engine of California’s economy, UC Berkeley
has been generating startups at an ever-faster rate in
recent years and stimulating more and
more companies and jobs, according to
a study released by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute.
Counting back to 1968, the campus
has spawned 260 STEM-related startups, 99 of which were still active as of
June 2015, the study showed. About half
of the active startups are in the information technology field.
Startups are important, according
to the study, because in the vast majority of cases they locate in California,
usually close to the founding faculty
member’s campus or to the campus
from which the founding entrepreneur/CEO graduated. They also tend
to grow in the communities where they
are founded.
“The Bay Area Council study validates the Berkeley startup story,” says
Michael Caplan, manger of the city’s
MUS
IC
Berkeley Lab
commercial
ventures
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berkeley | visionary awards 2016
San Francisco Business TIMES
bayer
Bayer’s Making Science Make Sense program is taught by Bayer employees who visit schools to help students learn through hands-on science experience.
Berkeley business invests in STEM
B
erkeley businesses get it – they have a strong
stake in helping to improve STEM (science,
technology, engineering and math) education.
Investing in STEM is an investment in the skill
sets their future employees will need to succeed in the
new economy.
A growing public-private collaboration aimed at
building a local STEM talent pipeline is designed to encourage students to pursue STEM-related careers and
inspire them to see these careers as within their grasp.
Making Science Make Sense
”Kids love science,
because it’s discovering
the world around you.”
Dr. Mae C. Jemison
First African-American woman in
space and chief ambassador for
Bayer’s Making Science Make
Sense initiative
For Bayer, one of the largest biotech employers in
the Bay Area, getting children interested in science has
been a long-term goal. Its national award-winning Making Science Make
Sense program is a company-wide initiative to advance science literacy.
Bayer employees take time out to visit schools and help teachers teach and
students learn science the way scientists do – by doing it.
Berkeley Biotech Partners
Since 1993, Biotech Partners has focused on training students for
technical and higher positions in bioscience, and currently trains students at Berkeley High School and Oakland Technical High School.
The program, established by Bayer and the City of Berkeley in 1992,
includes academics, personal support services and paid internships.
“It’s been such a success that Biotech Partners is now ‘scaling up’ by
broadening the program to include other Bay Area companies and more
schools,” says Joerg Heidrich, head of the Bayer Berkeley site. Biotech
Partners is expanding to new school districts with the support of its
more than 35 corporate, government, education and industry partners.
Corporate partners provide not only financial support, but serve as
an advisory council. Key stakeholders – teachers, industry representatives and staff – ensure the training is aligned with trends in biotechnology and regional workforce development.
Biotech Partners is nationally recognized as a model for urban youth
education and workforce development that includes paid internships,
development of innovative curriculum and teacher training.
More than 200 students have completed their studies in the Biotech
Partners program and more than 100 have secured jobs in biotech. Bayer
has provided internships to 525 Biotech Partners
students and hired more than 60 graduates since the
inception of the program.
In addition, Bayer partners with the Community
Resources for Science program to provide teachers
with training and resources to enhance hands-on
science lesson.
STEM Institute at Cal State East Bay
Bayer brought Wareham Development in to help
start the STEM Institute at Cal State East Bay to improve the teaching of STEM skills, while encouraging students to pursue careers in related fields. A key
aspect of the program is to increase diversity both
in STEM education and in industry. It’s a “long-term investment,” says
Heidrich. “By getting young people engaged in science and technology
early on, they will hopefully want to continue along those lines.”
Rich Robbins, president of Wareham Development, agrees: “We
have serious work to do that cannot wait. Wareham is committed to
STEM education as one way to mitigate the enormous challenges facing the Bay Area and our country – not only for the sake of our young
people but for the future of the oldest and largest innovation cluster
in the world.”
STEM Career Awareness Day
In April, Bayer and Wareham partnered with the STEM Institute to
host the fourth annual Career Awareness Day. More than 300 local high
school students toured 25 participating STEM companies within walking
distance of Wareham’s West Berkeley campus. Students enjoyed lunches
with STEM professionals from another 30 science, tech and manufacturing companies plus hands-on demonstrations to learn about the jobs
awaiting them. Other key participants included the City of Berkeley, Dynavax, Aduro Biotech, the Port of Oakland and the East Bay Economic
Development Alliance.
“STEM Career Awareness Day is one component of a comprehensive approach that includes increasing the number of businesses engaged
in direct work with students and educators, training a diverse teacher
corps, and bringing hands-on science learning labs into challenged communities,” adds Robbins.
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
September 30, 2016
Advertising Supplement 9
Visionary Award Winner
Four Twenty Seven:
Adapting to climate change
W
ith the rare exception, most people no longer deny the reality of climate change, instead they’re
learning to adapt.
“The frequency and severity of extreme weather events is already increasing as global temperatures rise. Businesses, governments and communities are already beginning to experience the impact of the changing environment,” says Jay Koh, managing director and partner at Siguler Guff & Company.
“Experts like Four Twenty Seven, a climate resilience and advisory firm, provide communities, governments and
businesses with an important and practical approach to understanding and addressing the effects of a changing
climate,” notes Koh, whose New York venture capital firm works closely with the Berkeley-based company.
Four Twenty Seven – named for California’s 2020 greenhouse gas emissions target – was founded in 2012 to help
clients translate complex scientific data into actionable strategies.
“Telling business that it will be 2 degrees warmer is useless,” says Emilie Mazzacurati, Four Twenty Seven’s
founder and CEO. “They need to understand how changes in temperature will concretely affect their operations
and the value chain.”
Previously, Mazzacurati was working on policy issues designed to prevent climate
“Telling business that it
change from happening, but when Congress failed to act she switched to adaptation
and resiliency issues.
will be 2 degrees warmer
“We’re a climate risk analytics and market-intelligence firm,” says Mazzacurati. “We
provide customized solutions that blend economic modeling
is useless. They need to
with climate science to help clients quantify the risks of
understand how changes in climate change and monetize costs.”
Risk management is a billion dollar industry in the
temperature will concretely U.S. With extreme weather events estimated to cost
the U.S. economy upwards of $100 billion a year,
affect their operations and the need for Four Twenty Seven’s services are clear
– and the growth potential enormous.
the value chain.”
Providing guidance around climate risk disclosures is a critical step to help multinational
corporations and investors avoid being blindsided by predictable risks.
What sets Four Twenty Seven apart is their focus on quantifying economic
impacts from climate change at a very fine scale.
“We help businesses and public agencies understand how the changes are
going to affect what they track on a daily basis, whether it’s revenue or
public health indicators,” says Mazzacurati.
For global corporations, like 3M, Four Twenty Seven has mapped the
risks due to climate change on the network of industries, countries and
commodities that make up the global supply chain.
“As a science-based company with diverse global operations,
we appreciate their expertise in interpreting the complex results of their analysis, which provides tangible value, and
helps companies identify real projects to tackle the impacts
of climate change on their supply chain,” says Dawn Krueger, sustainability supply chain manager at 3M.
Mazzacurati, who is from France, attended UC
Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and chose
to start her company in Berkeley because of California’s “leadership in everything climate change.”
“We’re surrounded by local and state governments that are leaders on climate issues, and we’re
able to draw on the incredible intellectual resources
at UC Berkeley,” says Mazzacurati. “This is where the
foremost thinkers on climate issues are.”
Four Twenty Seven is currently working on a suite
of products to account for how climate change can
impact financial markets.
“Climate change is a major social and economic issue
that businesses can no longer ignore,” says Mazzacurati.
Emilie Mazzacurati,
Founder and CEO,
Four Twenty Seven
Introduced by Michael McCormick
AICP, senior planner, California Governor’s
Office of Planning and Research; focus on the
nexus of high-level climate change goals and
local implementation.
Paolo Vescia
10
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Art and science inspire
Berkeley’s entrepreneurs
“The Bay Area is a magnet for
mavericks impatient to reinvent
the world.”
Ken Goldberg, UC Berkeley professor
of engineering and artist
Berkeley Repertory Theatre / Patrick Cheatham
W
hile often seen as polar opposites, one driven by left-brain
logic and quantitative analysis, the other emanating from
right-brain qualitative expressiveness, the
similarities between how scientists and artists
think and work are striking.
It’s a lesson learned at a young age by Susan
Medak, Berkeley Repertory Theatre managing director, whose scientist father would talk
about his research being driven by his imagination.
Medak had the connection between the
arts and science reinforced on a visit to Florence some years ago. After spending a morning at the Uffizi, studying the magnificent
art collection created by the Medicis, Medak
dropped in on a museum dedicated to scientific discoveries that was also funded by the
Medici family.
“They understood that the creative impulse that leads to scientific breakthroughs
is the same impulse that leads great artists to
make great art. It all starts with an idea.”
Taking an open-minded approach to problems is also a characteristic of innovative entrepreneurs who have the vision and drive to
make something new.
This year’s celebration of the Berkeley Visionary Awards takes place at the new Peet’s
Theatre at Berkeley Rep, a setting emblematic
of the nexus between the arts, science and technology and forward-thinking entrepreneurship.
“Berkeley Rep, Peet’s and Meyer Sound all
started around the same time – we’re all part
of the Berkeley ethos,” says Medak. “We each
imagined something new and created an audience for something that hadn’t been there
before.”
“Alfred Peet invented coffee – artisanal
and beautifully crafted – as we know it now.
Meyer’s Constellation sound system, which is
installed in the new theater, makes it possible
to change the resonance of a room without
changing the physical architecture. In our
case, we created an audience for more adventuresome, provocative work than was generally available up until then.”
Rhonda Shrader, director of the UC Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship Program, agrees
that the meetup of arts and science is essential
to what makes Berkeley such a rich environment for entrepreneurship.
“I’m a huge theater and dance fan,” says
Shrader. “That’s where I find inspiration, not
from reading business publications. Art is the
ultimate entrepreneurship. The artist is taking
nothing and making it into something.”
“The willingness to share and exchange
ideas is what gives Berkeley the edge over
other places,” says Shrader. “The mix makes it
better for all of us – academics, scientists, artists and adventurous entrepreneurs.”
Saul Zaentz Center
& Berkeley FILM Foundation
Berkeley’s arts scene includes the Saul
Zaentz Center (SZC), a celebrated building
originally designed to house Fantasy Records
and the accompanying Fantasy Studios, as well
as Saul Zaentz Films, creators of Oscar-winning films “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,”
“Amadeus” and “The English Patient.”
In 2007, Wareham Development purchased
and restored the Saul Zaentz Center, which
is still home to the Saul Zaentz Company,
Fantasy Studios and many of the Bay Area’s
award-winning independent filmmakers; as
well as home to Avid Technologies, WLC Architects, Eko Devices and others.
This fall, Fantasy Studios re-opened the
building’s legendary mix theater used for
post- production of over 200 films. The Fantasy Film Center is designed for the film, television and video game industries and features
new equipment from Berkeley innovators
Avid Technologies and Meyer Sound.
An innovative public-private partnership
to benefit the arts, the Berkeley FILM Foundation (BFF), is one of the major funders of
film in the Bay Area and, perhaps, the only
public-private collaboration of its kind in the
country.
Founded in 2009 by the City of Berkeley,
Wareham Development and the Saul Zaentz
Above: Peet’s
Theatre at
Berkeley Rep.
Below: A scene
from ‘My Love
Affair with the
Brain: The Life
and Science
of Dr. Marian
Diamond,’ a
Berkeley Film
Foundationfunded
documentary
about UCB
professor
Marian
Diamond.
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
September 30, 2016
Advertising Supplement 11
Past honorees
of the Berkeley
Visionary
Awards
“Berkeley Rep, Peet’s and Meyer Sound – we’re all part
of the Berkeley ethos. We each imagined something
new and created an audience for something that
hadn’t been there before.”
2015
Susan Medak, Berkeley Repertory Theatre managing director
Founder & CTO/COO
CinderBio
Will Wright,
Legendary game designer
& co-founder Stupid Fun Club
and Thred; creator of SimCity
Vivienne Ming,
Founder & executive chair
Socos Learning
ELIZABETH DANIELS PHOTOGRAPHY
Company, the BFF has awarded
more than $1,000,000 to local
filmmakers, including 30 student
filmmakers. While in production
and beyond, all the BFF-granted
films are feeding the local workforce while employing other Bay
Area industry professionals.
Abby Ginzberg, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and
president of the BFF board suggests a natural link between art,
science and the creative communities in Berkeley and along the East
Shore.
“The art of documentary filmmaking is actually very similar to
scientific endeavor,” says Ginzberg.
“Both entail research with open–
mindedness to find the truth in the
story or the proof in the research. Both endeavors
elicit more questions as part of the journey.”
“The BFF has funded several documentaries
that clearly show the creativity in science,” she
adds, citing, for example: “My Love Affair with
the Brain: The Life and Science of Dr. Marian Diamond,” by Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg,
Jill Fuss,
which follows the remarkable UCB professor,
Marian Diamond.
“In ‘Inequality for All,’ by Jacob Kornbluth, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich shares the
research of his UCB students and reveals the confluence of political science and economics in a way
that has changed the discussion forever,” she adds.
Thank you, sponsors.
The interior
of the new
Berkeley Art
Museum/
Pacific Film
Archive.
2014
Sylvain Costes, Ph.D.,
Co-founder
Exogen Biotechnology
Chris Anderson,
Co-founder
3D Robotics
2013
Patrick Kennedy
Owner
Panoramic Interests
Steven Visco
CEO and CTO
PolyPlus Battery Co.
These Berkeley businesses and institutions supported the 2016 Berkeley Visionary Awards.
PLATINUM SPONSORS
SUPPORTING SPONSORS
12
Advertising Supplement
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
San Francisco Business TIMES
Visionary Award Winner
Other Machine Co.:
Tools for the maker’s desktop
I
t should come as no surprise that Danielle Applestone, CEO of Other Machine Co. (OMC), would grow up to found
a business that designs and makes desktop manufacturing machines.
A self-described country girl, Applestone was expected to help out with chores and no one ever told her she
shouldn’t handle a drill because she was a girl.
“I did what was needed. There were never questions about limitations,” says Applestone. “I wish more people had that
experience.”
It’s the same “do what needs doing” attitude that was the impetus for Applestone founding OMC.
“The company was founded out of necessity,” says Applestone. “We started as a government sponsored project to develop low-cost computer numerical control (CNC) machines for schools. And then the funding dried up.”
Applestone didn’t waver. With the hardware and software she and her engineering team had designed, she launched
Other Machine Co.
“We’re dedicated to giving the next generation of designers and makers access to manufacturing tools,” says Applestone.
OMC’s Othermill is a desktop cutter that can etch circuit boards and carve complex 3D shapes in metal, wood and
other materials.
Like 3D desktop printer firms, OMC is converting an industrial technology into a tool everyone can use.
Unlike a 3D printer, which extrudes materials from a cartridge, the Othermill removes material from a
block of material or circuit board to create a functional object based on a digital design.
The latest model Othermill Pro is quiet, affordable at around $3,000
and
small enough to sit on a kitchen table, making it accessible to home
“We’re dedicated to giving
studios and businesses – and the software makes it easy to use with
minimal training.
the next generation of
“If we’re going to revitalize manufacturing in this country,
we need to close the gap and give people access to professional
designers and
tools,” says Applestone, who has a degree from MIT and a PhD
makers access to
from the University of Texas at Austin.
The Othermill and Othermill Pro cut out the middleman
manufacturing tools.”
and speed up the product design process, explains Applestone.
“Prior to this, people would need years of training to use
the big, complicated machines that were available – if they had access at all,” says Applestone. “Even mechanical engineers had to turn their designs over to someone else
to make. In today’s market, that takes too long. People are used to new products
coming out at such a fast pace.”
The Othermill can be used to make prototypes and manufacture small
products, from circuit boards to machine parts and jewelry.
“We’re putting tools into the hands of entrepreneurs who are creating
a whole new generation of businesses, as well as enabling Fortune 100
companies who want to innovate faster,” says Applestone.
OMC is also finding new customers among schools and universities.
UC Berkeley’s CITRIS Invention Lab is a good example. CITRIS was founded some 15 years ago when UC researchers realized
real opportunities lay not just in developing new innovative technologies, but in applying them.
“The machine and control software are very easy to learn, so
we can train many more students to operate the machine independently themselves,” says Bjoern Hartmann, assistant professor in the program.
Applestone, who started OMC in San Francisco, moved to
Berkeley for the lifestyle, the broad spectrum of talent and
proximity to the East Bay’s growing advanced manufacturing sector.
“It was impossible to find space in San Francisco,” says
Applestone. “By moving to West Berkeley we more than
doubled our square footage – and we have a loading dock.”
“In San Francisco, you can do only one thing: software. Here you can do everything!”
Danielle Applestone,
CEO, Other Machine Co.
Introduced by Saul Griffith
Inventor and MacArthur fellow; founder
or co-founder of seven companies,
including Otherlab, Makani Power and
Instructables
Paolo Vescia
September 30, 2016
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
Advertising Supplement 13
14
Advertising Supplement
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
San Francisco Business TIMES
Helping businesses start up and grow
B
erkeley’s Office of Economic Development and a network of collaborating organizations are as entrepreneurial and innovative as the businesses they stand
ready to assist. They thrive on helping businesses at every stage – new, old, well established or still just a brilliant idea
– get started and grow.
Berkeley’s Office of Economic
Development
cityofberkeley.info/oed
Assistance with commercial real estate,
financing, economic data, green business,
marketing – and making connections with
peers and mentors.
2180 Milvia St.
Berkeley, CA 94704
510-981-7530
[email protected]
Berkeley Startup Cluster
berkeleystartupcluster.com
Provides resources for high-growth, techrelated companies.
Locate in Berkeley
locateinberkeley.info
Listings to help business owners find the
right space at the right price – from corporate
headquarters to retail, restaurants, lab
facilities and manufacturing.
Founder Martin Zemitis of SlingFin Inc. poses with the company’s
Alpine Zone Kahiltna Dome Tents, designed to withstand conditions at the Mt. Everest base camp. SlingFin has been a participant
in the City of Berkeley’s Revolving Loan Fund portfolio since 2015.
Berkeley Loan fund
cityofberkeley.info/loanfund
Access to capital for qualifying businesses.
UC Berkeley Innovators
Innovators.berkeley.edu
Offers a portal into innovation resources
across the UC Berkeley campus serving
entrepreneurs, investors and industry.
UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor for
Research
vcresearch.berkeley.edu/innovation/programs
Provides extensive listings of programs from
industry partnerships to entrepreneurial
support to alumni engagement.
Lawrence Berkeley Lab’s Innovation
& Partnerships Office
ipo.lbl.gov
Moves technologies from the lab to the
marketplace through partnerships in the
private and public sectors.
Tech Futures Group
Cyclotron Road
techfuturesgroup.org
Provides no-cost advising in IP, fundraising,
and financial planning for qualifying
technology businesses.
cyclotronroad.com
Trains qualifying energy innovators to drive
commercial impact.
EVERYONE’S A LITTLE BERKELEY
In our city overlooking the San Francisco Bay, we’re backyard artists and world-class creators. We’re the capital of culinary and the hub of homegrown. We’re
a city of people who are never done asking, and we’re inventors whose whole world is our lab. We invite you to enjoy our locally-sourced inspiration in all
its forms: our scenic parks, our famous stages, our distinguished university, our renowned restaurants. Come mix flavors, change tempos, and break molds.
Go ahead, be bold. Be a little Berkeley.
visitberkeley.com
(800) 847-4823
Visitor Information Center, 2030 Addison Street, #102
September 30, 2016
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
Advertising Supplement 15
Innovation in Housing the Homeless:
CITYSPACES® MicroPAD™
Come and take a tour
October 21 - November 4
1 pm - 5 pm
9th & Mission, SF
[email protected] | 415-701-7000
In its first five years, the Institute of Entrepreneurial Leadership (IEL) has helped over
220 Visionary Leaders start and grow their companies, collectively generating more than
$1.70 billion in revenues with 9% average growth rates and employing 4,048 people.
“We believe our focus on creating strategic growth
plans over business plans gives our participants a competitive edge in the marketplace.” IEL Director and
business strategist, Dina Finta, on the secret to IEL
participants’ success.
These innovative programs have recently evolved
to be even more accessible with a hybrid format of
in-person, virtual lectures and individual mentorship.
Visit jfku.edu/iel
Advanced Certificate in Entrepreneurship (ACE)
A five-month certificate with 13 hours of one-on-one mentoring time making it a truly customizable experience for where
you are in your business cycle. Enroll now for November 2nd.
Business Growth Acceleration Program (BGAP)
A six-month intensive addressing supplier diversity and the
needs of minority business enterprises. New group starts
January 19th, 2017.
16
berkeley | visionary awards 2016
Advertising Supplement
San Francisco Business TIMES
West Berkeley mavericks all.
From international corporations to small startups, tenants at our Aquatic Park Center and Saul Zaentz Center
campuses in West Berkeley are among the most creative innovators in research, tech, documentary and
independent film, and music. We are proud of all they bring to Berkeley and to the world.
Aduro Biotech
Anven Biosciences
Alturas Films
Amir Solanti
Avid Technologies
BAE Urban Economics
Bay Area Film Company
Bayer Healthcare
Berkeley FILM Foundation
Berkeley East Bay Humane Society
Berkeley Sound Artists
Berkeley Media, LLC
Beyond the Arc
BriaCell Therapeutics
Buddhist Film Society
Caribou Biosciences
CA Dept. of Toxic Substances Control
CMC Biologics
Cinder Biologics
Clarity Films
Columbus IT
CPI International
Cyperus Media
Dynavax
Dysonics, Inc.
Eko Devices
Eyefull Tower Films
Fantasy Film Center
Fantasy Studios
Farallon Films
Frame of Mind Films
HJ Science & Technology
International Buddhist Film Festival
Interfaze Educational Productions
IP Folio
Jason Cohen Productions
Jed Riffe Films
K. Ford & Associates
Kovno Communications
KUKU Studios
The Law Office of David A. Lerman
Law Office of John McArthur
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Ligandal, Inc.
Light Sail Energy
Michael Romanowski Mastering
Mint Leaf
Moly Lab, Inc.
Montell Associates
Nanotech Biomachines
New Images Productions
Northstarr Media Group
NuReality
ODMR
One to One Box
Oriel Therapeutics
Paradigm Productions
PictureStartEdit
Pivot
Pixar Child Development Center
Pro Publica
QB3 East Bay Innovation Center
Quest Productions
Question Why Films
R3 Consulting Group
Reel Youth Productions
Regimmune
Riva Cucina
RL & Associates
Rodan & Fields
Sandra Horwich & Assoc.
Saratoga Energy Research
Siemens Healthcare Molecular Therapeutics
Silicon Biodevices
Snitow Kaufman Productions
Social Action Media
Small Change Productions
Smilables
Stephen Kong Consulting
Swan Entertainment
Texas Saratoga Management
Tavistock Restaurant Group
Thin-Thick Productions
WLC Architects
Urban Adamah
Valitor, Inc.
Wells Fargo Bank
Xoma
Young People’s Symphony Orchestra
Zamacona Production
ZD Films
The Saul Zaentz Company
Zamacona Productions
Distinguished buildings for noble and Nobel innovators since 1977.
Emeryville · Berkeley · Richmond · Marin County · Palo Alto · Sun Valley, ID · 415 457 4964 · www.warehamdevelopment.com