Advisory Group

The Berkeley Startup Cluster is guided by a Steering Committee and more than 50 Advisors with a shared desire to leverage Berkeley’s innovation sector to improve economic vitality, fiscal health and quality of life in the City of Berkeley.

Jesse Arreguin

  • Mayor, City of Berkeley

Joel Armin-Hoiland

  • Director of Development, Inyenyeri

Cameron Baradar

  • Partner, The House Fund
  • Founder, The House startup institute

Ryan Bethencourt

  • Co-Founder and CEO, Wild Earth
  • Co-Founder and Venture Partner, IndieBio

Etosha Cave

  • Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Opus 12

Kristi Childers

  • Commercial Real Estate Advisor, JLL

Rahul Chopra

  • Partner, Ventus Partners
  • Sr. Advisor - Energy Technologies Area, Berkeley Lab
  • Entrepreneur and Strategic Advisor

Jennifer Cogley

  • Deputy Director for Community Relations, Bayer

Darren Cooke

  • Founding Attorney, Torvents IP
  • Investor & Board Member, Life Science Angels
  • Advisory Chair,  Berkeley SkyDeck Bio Track

Kal Deutsch

  • Founding Investor-Advisor and Partner, Batchery startup accelerator
  • Investor, Berkeley Angel Network
  • International startup lecturer and coach

Steven Donaldson

  • Co-Founder and Principal, Radiant Brands

Tiff Dressen

  • Strategic Initiatives lead, UC Berkeley Office of Research

Christopher Flores, Ph.D.

  • Director of Product Management, Sensys Networks

Jeremy Fiance

  • Founder and Managing Partner, The House Fund

Deepak Gupta

  • Managing Partner, Blue Bear Ventures
  • Startup Advisor, Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program at UC Berkeley

Jeremy Hammer

  • Founder, CatalistX

Amy E. Herr, Ph.D.

  • Co-Founder, Zephyrus Biosciences
  • Lester John and Lynne Dewar Lloyd Distinguished Professor, UC Berkeley Bioengineering
  • Investigator, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Steven Horowitz, Ph.D.

  • Founder and Principal, Ovidian Group global intellectual property business advisory firm
  • Mentor, UC Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship Program
  • Judge & Mentor, UC Berkeley Big Ideas Competition
  • Judge & Mentor, UC Berkeley LAUNCH Accelerator

Neena Kadaba

  • Director of Science, Quark Venture
  • former Director of Strategic Partnerships, QB3

Achille Massoma

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Kinshapes
  • Founder, MeNiwe African business incubator

Randy Katz, Ph.D.

  • Vice Chancellor for Research, UC Berkeley

Michelle Kiang

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Chirp Microsystems

Camille LeBlanc

  • Founder and Board Chair, Blancspot Media
  • CEO and Founder, Juice Networks LLC
  • Chief Strategy Officer, Four Twenty Seven Inc.

Ilan Gur

  • Founding Director, Berkeley Lab's Cyclotron Road accelerator

Lon Addison

  • Strategic Consultant, Digital Catalyst
  • Advisor, Geopogo
  • Adjunt Faculty, University College Dublin School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy

Prayag Narula

  • Founder, President and Executive Chairman, LeadGenius

Tom Nishioka

  • Vice President, Thor Equities commercial real estate investor and developer

Ryan Pandya

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Perfect Day

Kinkead Reiling, Ph.D.

  • Founder and CEO, Bonneville Labs coworking space
  • Co-Founder, Amyris

Alan Saldich

  • Vice President of Marketing, Cloudera

Rhonda Schrader

  • Executive Director, Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship Program
  • Executive Director, National Science Foundation I-Corps program (Bay Area Node)
  • Boardmember, UC Berkeley LAUNCH Accelerator
  • Advisor, NASA spinoff BrainAid

Laura Smoliar

  • Founding Partner, Berkeley Catalyst Fund

Bernt Wahl

  • CEO, Factle Maps
  • Executive Director, Brain Machine Consortium
  • Academic Advisor, Kairos Society

Judith Wetterer

  • Director of Marketing, Wareham Development

Sean Wihera

  • Director of Business Development, Clarity Movement

Dan Wexler

  • CEO, Founder & Director, Zorroa

Arun Rao

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Starbutter AI

Bhavin Parikh

  • CEO and Founder, Magoosh

Rachel Haurwitz, Ph.D.

  • Co-Founder, CEO and President, Caribou Biosciences

Kim-Mai Cutler

  • Partner, Initialized Capital early-stage venture fund
  • Former technology and financial journalist, TechCrunch

Keith McAleer

  • Communications Director, UC Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology and Department of Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Chloe Alpert

  • Founder and CEO, Medinas Health
  • serial entrepreneur

Carol Mimura

  •  Assistant Vice Chancellor, UC Berkeley’s Office of IP & Industry Research Alliances

Susan Giesecke

  • Director of Global Engagement, Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

Jesse Avshalomov

  • Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Medinas Health

James Wang

  • Co-Founder of Lioness & General Partner, Creative Ventures

Justin Knapp

  • Grants and Projects Administrator, ALL Power Labs