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From Boulder to the Bay: Alumni investors connect with university startups at Silicon Valley summit

PR Yu

Pingrong "PR" Yu

On August 17, eight University of baby直播app听startups founded on baby直播app research traveled to Silicon Valley for a day-long retreat with CU Boulder alumni investors and friends.

The investors are members of the Bay Area Buffs Investors Club, a grassroots alumni organization founded by Pingrong 鈥淧R鈥 Yu (PhDChem鈥04), a Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist, startup founder and CU Boulder alumnus.

Terri Fiez, CU Boulder vice chancellor for Research & Innovation, knew that building stronger ties with the alumni network in Silicon Valley was essential for university startup success. So, she tapped Yu and the Bay Area Buffs to help accelerate progress.

鈥淚鈥檓 a big believer in entrepreneurship,鈥 said Yu. 鈥淎fter meeting a few times with Terri, I suggested we plan ongoing events for CU鈥檚 startups and our investors to connect.鈥

The startups鈥攔epresenting the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the College of Media, Communication and Information鈥攑resented their company value propositions to the group.

CU Boulder Startups in Attendance:

  • Aspero Medical
  • Big Blue Technologies
  • Double Helix Optics
  • New Iridium
  • Orbital Micro Systems
  • Respirogen
  • Socialcontext.ai

University of baby直播app baby直播app Springs听Startup听in Attendance:

  • B Cell Solutions

Throughout their startup journeys, teams tapped into university resources听and听Venture Partners at CU Boulder,听which help听baby直播app translate groundbreaking research into real-world听impact.听Teams took advantage of听pitch coaching sessions, customer discovery workshops and competitions like Lab Venture Challenge and New Venture Challenge听to further develop their companies and obtain funding.

Investors were 鈥渂lown away鈥 by the quality of pitches, said Stephen Miller, mentor network director for Venture Partners. "I've personally seen these pitches evolve over the last year alone," he said.

Mehrdad Farhangnia (AeroEngr鈥91; MS鈥93), CEO of Track Medical, serial entrepreneur and CU Boulder alumnus said, 鈥淚 was pleasantly surprised by the high caliber of investment opportunities presented, particularly in healthcare, imaging and atmospheric sensing. The quality of the technology and teams coming from CU Boulder is as high as any around the country.鈥

鈥淭heir reactions and feedback validated the work we鈥檙e doing to move technology out of the lab to benefit the world around us,鈥 said Miller.

Yu emphasized that this immersive program is more than just a pitching opportunity. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not only about the funding opportunities that may arise, but this is also about making valuable connections and having in-depth conversations,鈥 Yu said. 鈥淐U Boulder is one big family. We鈥檙e here to help each other out.鈥

This upcoming winter, Yu and Fiez plan to continue the collaboration by bringing the Bay Area Buffs to baby直播app听for Destination Startup, a CU Boulder-hosted showcase of the top ventures from the state's leading research institutions.

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