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 aArreguin

  • Mayor, City of Berkeley

Lon Addison

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

Joel Armin-Hoiland

  • Founder & CEO, Climate Finance Solutions
  • Co-Founder and Advisor, The Climate Map

Cameron Baradar

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

Gregory Bell

  •  Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Corelight
  • Former Division Director for Scientific Networking, LBNL

Ryan Bethencourt

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

Eric Bjerkholt

  • CFO, Chinook Therapeutics
  • Director, Cerus Corporation
  • Director, Graybug Vision

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
  • Executive Director, UC Berkeley Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center (LSEC)

Kim-Mai Cutler

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

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

Jeremy Fiance

  • Founder and Managing Partner, The House Fund

Jill Fuss

  • Managing Director, Activate Berkeley

Susan Giesecke

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

Deepak Gupta

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

Jeremy Hammer

  • Founder, CatalistX

Rachel Haurwitz

  • Co-Founder, CEO and President, Caribou Biosciences

Amy E. Herr

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

Steven Horowitz

  • 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

David Horsley

  • Founder and CTO, TDK-Chirp Microsystems
  • Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC Davis
  • Adjunct Professor, Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley
  • Co-Director, Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center

Wesley Jackson

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Valitor

Neena Kadaba

  • Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Apple Tree Partners
  • Former Director of Science, Quark Venture
  • Former Director of Strategic Partnerships, QB3

Randy Katz

  • Vice Chancellor for Research, UC Berkeley

Michelle Kiang

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Chirp Microsystems
  • Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Impact Science Ventures

Justin Knapp

  • Grants and Projects Administrator, ALL Power Labs

Camille LeBlanc

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

Marco Lobba

  • Co-founder and CEO, Catena Biosciences

Michelle Lu

  • Chief Scientific Officer, Novel Farms

Richard Lyons

  • Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer, UC Berkeley

Achille Massoma

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

Keith McAleer

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

Carol Mimura

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

Sloane Morgan

  • Developer, A3 Ventures Innovation Lab (GIG Car Share)
  • Customer Experience Officer, Sungevity
  • General Counsel

Tom Nishioka

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

Ryan Pandya

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Perfect Day

Bhavin Parikh

  • CEO and Founder, Magoosh

Kinkead Reiling

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

David Reimer

  • Professional Faculty, Berkeley-Haas School of Business
  • Storytelling advisor, Berkeley Skydeck Accelerator
  • Author, Get Your Startup Story Straight

Alan Saldich

  • Vice President of Marketing, Cloudera

David Schaffer

  • Hubbard Howe Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UC Berkeley
  • Director of the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, QB3
  • Director of the Bakar Bioenginuity Hub and Bakar Labs

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

Gino Segre

  • Managing Director Bakar Labs, UC Berkeley
  • Former Incubator Manager, QB3

Katie Sharp

  • Activate Berkeley Fellowship Manager

Laura Smoliar

  • Founding Partner, Berkeley Catalyst Fund

Bernt Wahl

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

James Wang

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

Judith Wetterer

  • Director of Marketing, Wareham Development

Sean Wihera

  • Director of Business Development, Clarity Movement