On April 25, 2018, CITRIS hosted Y Combinator President Sam Altman to discuss how to build a successful bio startup. Joining him on the panel were successful life science entrepreneurs including UC Berkeley faculty and alumni. Panelists included Sam Altman, President at Y Combinator, Dr. Kelly Gardner, Co-Founder & CEO at Zephyrus Biosciences, Prof. Dave Schaffer, Co-Founder at 4D Molecular Therapeutics, Dr. Akwasi Apori, Co-Founder at Correlia Biosystems, and Alex Mok, Co-Founder & CEO at Mantra Bio.
About Y Combinator: Y Combinator provides seed funding for startups. Seed funding is the earliest stage of venture funding. It pays your expenses while you’re getting started. At Y Combinator, the goal is to get you through the first phase. This usually means: get you to the point where you’ve built something impressive enough to raise money on a larger scale. Then we can introduce you to later stage investors—or occasionally even acquirers. Apply to YC’s Bio program at YCombinator.com/apply and send any questions to ycbio@ycombinator.com
About CITRIS: CITRIS and the Banatao Institute was created by the California state legislature to shorten the pipeline between world-class laboratory research and the development of applications, platforms, companies, and even new industries. It leverages the research strengths of the University of California campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz, and the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley.