Entrepreneurs & Innovators
Driving impact through innovation
The Innovation & Business Engagement Hub provides a suite of programs and resources to help you develop exciting innovations, pursue your entrepreneurial endeavors and forge career pathways in innovative companies and industries, and form and grow new ventures that can set innovations nurtured at the university on the path to creating societal benefit and impact. Through our efforts and our network of campus and community partners, we can help you understand what it takes to advance an early-stage innovation and build a new venture that can successfully traverse the valley of death.
Guidance
If you are considering launching a new venture to spin out a university innovation, our team can help you think through the complexities and key considerations, understand how to assess feasibility, access intellectual property, navigate university requirements, build out plans and materials, and identify resources needed to establish and sustain your efforts.
Funding
We offer proof-of-concept and supplemental gap funding programs and support campus business competitions to advance university innovations. We can also work with you to develop a funding strategy, prepare your pitch, and connect with sources of non-dilutive and institutional capital to grow your new venture.
Capacity Building
Our training programs and fellowships can help you build an entrepreneurial mindset, surface innovation opportunities tied to translational and use-inspired research projects, identify pathways for adopting and implementing early-stage innovations and gain essential knowledge and skills to engage in a new venture or innovative company.
Network
We have built relationships and points of connection with campus and community partners and the broader innovation ecosystems throughout the Bay Area and Central Coast and beyond. Reach out to us to explore opportunities to access mentors and advisors, business and technical service providers, and incubators and accelerators and integrate your new venture into the regional economy.
Programs
Innovation Catalyst Grant Proof-of-Concept Program
Lean Launchpad Workshop Series
Chancellor’s Innovation Impact Awards
Climate Action Solutions Incubator Program
Campus Innovation Ecosystem
Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurial Development (CIED)
CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at UC Santa Cruz
Digital Scholarship Innovation Studio
Sign up for the CruzX innovation and entrepreneurship portal to learn about events, funding opportunities, and more.
Contact us to learn more about advancing your innovation or launching a new venture