Venture Accelerator at UCLA Anderson Announces Its 2023 Cohort

accelerate cohort 23

The Venture Accelerator at UCLA Anderson Announces Its 2023 Cohort

Los Angeles (February 28, 2023) — The Venture Accelerator at UCLA Anderson is proud to announce its 2023 Accelerate cohort, which includes startup companies from four key industries: clean (sustainable) technology, health care, consumer packaged goods and SaaS platforms.

As a professional school of the largest public university in Southern California, UCLA Anderson is committed to ensuring excellence and diversity in all educational programming and advancing civic engagement by supporting companies and founders across the Los Angeles region. This cohort is a blend of 40% current UCLA Anderson students, 35% Anderson alumni and 25% founders from UCLA’s campus and the larger Los Angeles community. More than 60% of the founders identify as underrepresented, a number we are proud to support, as our main mission is to uplift and provide resources to those historically excluded from the startup ecosystem.

“We love being part of the collaborative startup ecosystem across UCLA and Los Angeles,” said Trish Halamandaris (’92), director of the Venture Accelerator. “UCLA is the No. 1 public university in the U.S. and is home to world-class hospitals, highly skilled engineers and a bustling creator economy. We look forward to supporting this cohort’s new ideas. It is a natural fit for UCLA Anderson to provide the extensive resources founders need to commercialize their intellectual property.”

The six-month, immersive Accelerate program was created to help the next generation of startup founders launch and scale their companies, partly by leveraging the array of resources available on the UCLA campus. Program highlights include an in-depth mentoring program, proof of concept grants and 10,000 square feet of on-campus workspace, which is open to the new founders 24/7. For a selected few founders, the program culminates in a large demo day program, the Venture Accelerator Fall Showcase, which provides additional expert coaching and the opportunity to pitch to a curated audience of potential investors, venture capitalists and mentors.

Since the program’s inception in 2018, the Venture Accelerator has supported more than 230 companies, which have collectively raised more than $176 million in venture funding. Companies that have participated in the programs are operating at an 85% success rate, which many attribute to the Accelerator’s extensive mentoring and support.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with this exceptional cohort of companies in 2023,” Halamandaris said.

Meet the 2023 Accelerate Cohort:

Atop is a marketplace that automates the process by which space users (such as rooftop solar developers) and space owners (such as commercial building owners) complete deals. Founders: Andres Aleson (FEMBA ’23), Debbie Meron (FEMBA ’23), Kevin Cohen (FEMBA ’23) and Kyle Brauer (FEMBA ’23)

Authillo is a passwordless login provider that prevents fake accounts on any online platform. Founders: James Grom and Ian Kirk

BridgeDoc is a subscription-based construction management software for public agency construction. The founders took second place in UCLA Anderson’s 2022 Knapp Venture Competition. Founders: Andrey Kudievskiy (EMBA ’23), Cameron Lyon (EMBA ’23), George Lang (EMBA ’23), Kelly Wheeler (EMBA ’23) and Josh Noble (EMBA ’23)

Enzymetry is a SaaS company that implements AI to make transactions and collaborations simpler for the clinical research community. Founders: Gevorg Stepanyan (FEMBA ’22), Hetmann Hsieh (FEMBA ’22) and Srinivas Prativadi

EV4All democratizes access to EV Charging. Founders: Israr Syed (EMBA ’22), Michelle Zhang (EMBA ’22) Shane Lohman (EMBA ’22), Sean Motamedi (EMBA ’22), and Zain Syed (MBA ’25)

Métisse Natura LLC is an eco-friendly, organic haircare company for natural hair texture. Founder: Raquel Bolleau

Mind Flex is a platform that mines data from users’ existing smart devices to track indicators of their mental health, embedding it into a holistic system that incentivizes healthier decision-making. Founders: Lionel Levine (M.S. ’20, Ph.D. ’23) and Dr. Alex Young

Rockers Academy is a digital platform that offers interactive musical games and activities that teach math, reading and writing, promoting cognitive development through neuroplasticity. Founder: Dory Lobel (EMBA ’23)

Sol-gel Solutions creates insulating and transparent coatings for window insulation applications. Founder: Patricia McNeil (Ph.D. ’22)

Thermal Smart provides sustainable aerogel solutions to tackle the rising ESG (environmental, social and governance) challenges for businesses and consumers. Founders: Yake Wang (M. Arch. ’16) and Ruoqi Liao

UAV-IQ is a integrated pest management (IPM) service that uses drones to efficiently release beneficial insects to control pest populations as an alternative to pesticides. Founder: Andreas Neuman (MBA ’14)

Vonova Neurotech is developing a minimally invasive device to improve access to epilepsy surgery by localizing seizures without archaic drilling through the skull. Founder: Wesley Jones (MBA ’21)

VSOptima is a SaaS platform for digital twin process optimization, accelerating the decision-making process. Founder: Pavel Azaletskiy (MBA ’22)

Wine Not is a nonalcoholic sparkling brut rosé that caters to customers with a sophisticated palate and bold lifestyle. Founder: Ashley Johnson (MBA ’22)

YoBe creates vegan protein yogurt alternatives, solving the issue of finding great tasting, healthy, high-protein vegan snacks. Founder: Hawkins Golden (FEMBA ’23)

About the Venture Accelerator at UCLA Anderson

The Venture Accelerator at UCLA Anderson is uniquely designed for UCLA startups to thrive. Boasting the breadth of expertise offered by the nation’s top public university and connections to the business and Anderson alumni communities, the Accelerator is where companies-in-residence succeed as a result of continuous co-working and networking. Centered in Los Angeles, our location allows our companies access to the fastest growing venture capital market. With immersive and experiential programming and advisors provided by UCLA Anderson’s Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, these startups enjoy a steady stream of insights and support to promote performance beyond projections.
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About UCLA Anderson School of Management

UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools in the world, with faculty members globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Located in Los Angeles, gateway to the growing economies of Latin America and Asia and a city that personifies innovation in a diverse range of endeavors, UCLA Anderson’s MBA, Fully Employed MBA, Executive MBA, UCLA-NUS Executive MBA, Master of Financial Engineering, Master of Science in Business Analytics, doctoral and executive education programs embody the school’s Think in the Next ethos. Annually, some 1,800 students are trained to be global leaders seeking the business models and community solutions of tomorrow.

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