Berkeley SkyDeck — The Power of the Tribe
The other day I met with Ankit, a founder who graduated from SkyDeck a few months ago and was visiting Bay Area from Singapore, scoping out the area for relocation to the US. We met at SkyDeck, and I had a meeting scheduled with an investor immediately after. It was the first time we were meeting in person as the program has been entirely remote during COVID.
After my wonderful conversation with Ankit, the investor arrived. I introduced them and they started chatting. Turns out the investor had launched and sold a company in the same very specific area of the communications industry that Ankit’s startup is in. Upon further discussion, they discovered that they both grew up mere blocks from each other in Mumbai and knew each others’ houses.
This is the kind of accidental, fortuitous meeting that leads to relationships and network building in the most powerful way. This happens at SkyDeck all the time. It’s more than a network. It’s a tribe. A community is loose connection of people. A tribe has a clear identity and a sense of shared meaning.
During COVID this sense of tribe at SkyDeck has been critical to our ability to maintain our high level of programming during this remote time. A few recent highlights from the past year of remote startup acceleration:
Series A — SuperAnnotate
This talented founding team of two brothers came to SkyDeck in the spring of 2019 with breakthrough research in computer vision. At that time the team was just Tigran and Vahan and their fresh ideas. Just two years later, SuperAnnotate has raised a $14.5M Series A round. Their revenue has recently tripled quarter over quarter. Their story is incredibly inspiring. They are just one of several SkyDeck alumni who have recently raised funding, including ObviouslyAI, Snipfeed, and HaydenAI.
Intern Fairs
SkyDeck’s Intern Fairs have become a major event on the Berkeley campus. Each year we host several massive Intern Fairs where our startups recruit talented Berkeley students. Last year a record 1700 students registered for the fairs, and 450 students were matched with SkyDeck startups. We are blown away by the enthusiasm of Berkeley students to work with our startups.
Incubator Track now Pad-13
Our Incubator Track has grown explosively in recent years to now we host about 100 companies during each six month session at SkyDeck. Mentorship is the main request by these startups, so we have expanded the Incubator track programming to include matching with a Key Advisor. With over 350 Advisors and Mentors at SkyDeck, there are many options for these early stage startups. To reflect this new resource boost, we have rebranded the Incubator Program to Pad-13. Why Pad-13? SkyDeck is located on the Penthouse (13th) Floor of the SkyDeck Building — the launchpad for startups. Lift off!
In reflecting on the past year at SkyDeck, I was looking for the right word to describe the powerful sense of community here. It came to me when I met with another alumni founder, who had just relocated his startup from Australia to the Bay Area. Jordan brought me a lovely gift of Australian clapsticks. These are a traditional musical instrument that are tapped together to create a beat. They had a beautiful painted decoration on one end. Jordan said the sticks are traditionally given to all members of a tribe, and that I was now a member of his startup’s tribe.
Tribe. That’s the word for the community at SkyDeck. Applications are open now until September 5. We are looking for new members of the moonshot tribe. Join us!
