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We Are Now Bakar Bio Labs

We have a new name! And logo. As the larger Bakar Labs organization expands into multiple locations and adds the climate tech vertical, our goal is to keep our branding as clear as possible. So we are now Bakar Bio Labs, as you probably noticed. Going forward, the general “Bakar Labs” title will be reserved for the parent organization we fall under. Beneath the Bakar Labs umbrella there are two units: Bakar Bio Labs and Bakar Climate Labs, for which our pilot program is now live (the facility, on the west side of the UC Berkeley campus, will open in 2028). Bakar Bio Labs will operate at two locations: the original, at 2630 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, and a new UCSF building in development in the Dogpatch neighborhood in San Francisco. Read post
Clockwise from top left: Shakked Halperin, Tim Craven, the Profluent team, the Radar team, members of HOPO Therapeutics

Looking Forward to 2025 from Our Top Five Stories of 2024

Happy new year! At Bakar Labs we’re looking forward to a great 2025, starting of course with the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in SF. Other highlights in the near future: the return of our JETRO entrepreneurs from Japan; the rollout of the Bakar Climate Labs pilot program (look for our web story on Futurebio, our first climate tech tenant); if you’re at the BIO International Convention in Boston, look for our team, we’ll be there. You can count on our September Showcase and our November anniversary party to be bangers. Community is our #1 asset. Thank you for being part of it! Read post
The East Bay Innovation award with Bakar Labs skylight in background

Bakar Labs Wins East Bay Innovation Award

The Innovation Award recognizes the real contribution Bakar Labs makes to the regional economy by supporting entrepreneurs building new companies, hiring skilled workers, bringing in investment, expanding their operations, and forging partnerships as they develop cures and solutions for the most urgent challenges that face us in human health. Since the incubator’s launch in November 2021, the 38 companies that we’ve hosted have raised more than $380 million and created more than 300 jobs. Read post
UC Berkeley library and Campanile

In a First, UC Berkeley Showcasing Startups Around J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Two events in particular spotlight UC Berkeley's mindset: The on-campus Bakar Labs incubator and law firm Wilson Sonsini are sponsoring a reception Monday night at the foot of Market Street, and the university's Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center has organized a Tuesday event in a temporarily converted South of Market art gallery to showcase 24 biotech drug, medical device, diagnostics and research tools startups. The events represent a sea change led by Rich Lyons, the former dean of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and now chief innovation and entrepreneurship officer, and Dave Schaffer, the director of the UC system's QB3 program, UC's Bakar Labs incubator and the labs' home, Bakar BioEnginuity Hub. Read post
2024 East Bay Innovation Awards, Thursday March 28 5:00 pm, Oakland Scottish Rite Center

Bakar Labs a Finalist for East Bay Innovation Award in Life Sciences

Often referred to as the “Academy Awards of the East Bay,” the East Bay Innovation Awards is the premier program of its kind that celebrates and honors the extraordinary companies and organizations that contribute to the East Bay’s legacy of innovation. For over a decade, the annual awards ceremony has showcased outstanding companies and organizations from Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Read post
An illustration of scientists at work at adjacent laboratories

BioSpace Features Bakar Labs Executive Mentoring and Internships

“One of the best pieces of advice we can give them is that no one person can do it all,” says Mimi Hancock, who directs the executive mentorship program at Bakar Labs. “You need a great team.” Incubators can support biotech startups in hiring and staffing through networking, tapping into readily available talent pools and helping them fill executive roles and boards of directors. Read post
BrightEdge's Farnaz Bakshi (center) presents Golden Ticket to Brad Niles, CEO of ARIZ (third from left) along with the BrightEdge and Bakar Labs teams

ARIZ and Catena Awarded Golden Tickets to Bakar Labs, Sponsored by ACS BrightEdge Fund

With the Golden Tickets, ARIZ and Catena each win one year of free office and lab space at Bakar Labs and access to BrightEdge’s robust network of resources to develop their cancer therapies. They will be able to access Berkeley campus resources, connect with Bakar Labs' business affiliates, and network with more than 30 fellow tenant companies. The combination of support from Bakar Labs and BrightEdge will, most importantly, allow ARIZ and Catena to bring their technology to patients sooner. Read post
BridgeBio logo

BridgeBio Pharma Announces Founding Affiliation with Bakar Labs, Incubator at UC Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub

“Partnering with UC Berkeley and QB3 to launch Bakar Labs is a natural extension of our mission to discover, create, test, and deliver transformative medicines to as many patients as possible. Through this collaboration, we aim to strengthen the Bay Area biotech ecosystem and potentially unlock new therapies for patients with unmet needs,” said BridgeBio founder and CEO Neil Kumar, Ph.D. Read post
Josh Yang of Glyphic Bio in their lab at Bakar Labs

How Berkeley Is Leaning in to the Biotech Boom

"Nowadays, they meet in person at the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub, the recently completed lab and office space that is emblematic of UC Berkeley’s efforts to support bioscience startups. It’s part of a web of startup activity on campus that’s so vast, the university created a website to help people navigate it." Read post
Large group of people mingling outside BBH

Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub Opens Its Doors

“We are going to be an incredible model for the country on how to translate technologies to benefit society. Our tenant companies are solving important challenges in medicine and the environment, at the same time as creating high-value jobs,” said BBH Director David Schaffer. “In addition, we at BBH and QB3 are launching undergraduate and graduate training programs with Bakar Labs companies to help train the future workforce of California.” Read post
Decorative graphic with wording "Golden Ticket Competition"

Bakar Labs and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Support Entrepreneurs to Develop New Genetic Therapies for CF

Up to 3 selected companies will win "Golden Tickets" for lab space at Bakar Labs, and access to the extensive resources of the CF Foundation, including scientific experts and advice, lab/research tools and techniques, an extensive patient registry, clinical trial design support, and a Therapeutics Development Network of over 90 clinical trial sites in the US. Read post