StartR Stage II Accelerator program concentrates on advanced lean startups and customer development principles. The workshop is designed for UCSD students and alumni who have been selected to participate in the Accelerator Rady Stage 2 and want to develop a new venture and take it to market. Attendees will work with mentors and industry leaders in developing their business ideas. This hands-on workshop covers the techniques and methods to launch a startup.

StartR Phase II provides training to help students:

• Apply the lean startup methodology including customer discovery and validation to iterate fast, validate the assumptions of the business model, and move from idea to develop and test a minimum viable product (MVP).
  
  
• Utilize the Business Model Canvas as a tool to validate your business model. Design experiments utilizing various tools and technologies (e.g., social media, 3D printing) to validate important business model assumptions.
  
  
• Validate product-market fit by getting proof that the proposed product/service creates customer value and is gaining market traction.
  
  
• Utilize business model tools, including financial analysis, to determine the worthiness of a potential new business idea.
  
  
• Develop business plan materials including the development of an executive summary, industry and market analysis, a marketing strategy and plan, operation plans, product/service development plan, company structure, pitch deck, and unit economics financial model.
  
  
• Accelerate team skills to be able to pitch to investors and sell to customers.
  
  

Apply for Stage 2: Applications are expected to open in mid-January.

Who can participate?
StartR is open to any UC San Diego student, staff or faculty or UC San Diego alum. 

Learn more:
Join our interest list and we’ll let you know when information sessions are scheduled and applications open.

Questions? Email sullivanentrepreneurship@rady.ucsd.edu

Rady and the Sullivan Center help pilot the incubation of nascent startups by awarding space on the fifth floor of Wells Fargo Hall. Workstations and other modest resources are awarded to early-stage companies that have demonstrated exceptional progress with their venture.

These startups are immersed in the “heart of business” at UC San Diego and will have access to the Sullivan Center Team, mentors, service providers, and are surrounded by more than 1,000 Rady graduate students — many of whom are eager to assist startups in their growth and development.

The Rady Venture Fund, supported through the philanthropy of alumni and local business leaders, provides funding to multiple startups each year.

The Rady Venture Fund simultaneously provides equity investments in UC San Diego startups while training students as investors through the Rady Venture Capital Management courses (496 A&B).

Past companies that have received funding include:

• AnaBios provides products and services for every stage of drug discovery. Through proprietary technology based on the use of human donor organs and tissues, it studies ex vivo human responses to drugs and further investigates the molecular and functional basis of relevant human physiology.
  
  
• Chronus Health is a portable platform that enables doctors to provide real-time treatment based on actual lab results; it was founded by Anand Parikh (MBA '16).
  
  
• Cloudbeds offers a cloud-based hospitality management platform that enables hotels to grow revenue, streamline operations, and deliver memorable guest experiences.
  
  
• GroundMetrics is a geophysical survey company founded by George Eiskamp '03.
  
  
• MANTA Instruments has commercialized the scientific instrument ViewSizer-3000 that uses breakthrough technology to characterize nanoparticles much more effectively than existing products. This instrument is now available from HORIBA Instruments, Inc.
  
  
• Savara is an orphan lung disease company that developed an inhaled antibiotic for MRSA infection in cystic fibrosis.
  
  
• Swapsy is an online marketplace where individuals with foreign currency demands can have a fee-free, peer-to-peer currency exchange. The company was founded by Jimmy Wu (MBA '17) and Ying Sun (MBA '17).
  
  
• Visicell offers cell labeling solutions to allow scientists to trace the precise sites of CAR-T and stem cell treatment products. The company was founded by Mya Thu (MBA '16).