In 2015, the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UC Santa Barbara took an important step in extending the impact of the campus’s hard-earned reputation as a leading R1 research institution when it established the Technology Incubator in Eilings Hall to support start-up companies stemming from technologies developed on campus. Since then, forty startup businesses have been spun out of the incubator at CNSI, including both UCSB spin-outs and community-led technology ventures seeking to connect to the campus’s research ecosystem.
On June 6, in the Marine Science Institute Auditorium, Incubator alumni, current graduate students, campus leaders, investors, mentors, and others will celebrate the tenth anniversary of what Tal Margalith, Executive Director of Scientific Initiatives and Innovation for CNSI, describes as “a humming innovation ecosystem. We went from zero startups to forty in ten years. That’s exciting growth.”
The event will get started at nine a.m. with a symposium featuring short talks by about a dozen founders and representatives from some of those forty startups — both alumni and current Incubator members — followed by lunch and an opportunity for networking. Also featured will be local investors speaking about the growth of the innovation ecosystem in the Santa Barbara area, and the critical nature of resources like CNSI and the Technology Incubator. For the event, Margalish says, “We’re inviting graduate students and faculty to come and listen to the talks from the companies to help them connect with people who are walking the path of commercializing academic discoveries.
“The event is important to create more visibility not only for this program, but for the UCSB innovation engine as a whole. It will also showcase how much one component can drive the local economy in terms of workforce development and job creation,” Margalith adds. “It’s not only about launching technologies out of UCSB, but equally about bringing the value back to campus by getting students hired and engaged, and having our founders come back and participate in the ecosystem to drive the next generation.”
Margalith, who cut his startup teeth while working for UCSB-spinoff Soraa in its early years — he led the LED chip development group at the company — knows the entrepreneurial landscape.
“Effectively, what the CNSI incubator does is to de-risk the whole process of commercialization,” Margalith explains. “Instead of having to raise a lot of money to get a big space and build out a facility before you’ve developed the prototype or proven the market, you can start small and focus your funding on research and development in an environment already stocked with world-class facilities. That way, your government dollars or your seed investments can go further. We extend the runway for companies in a way that allows them to take more time to develop a proper foundation before they spin out.”
The Technology Incubator is designed to promote CNSI’s mission of bringing scientific and technological innovation into the economy and to enable greater ties between the CNSI academic community and industry. It is part of the broader UCSB Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem, which includes the Technology and Industrial Alliances office, the Technology Management Department, the Eco-Entrepreneurship program at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, and the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships (CSEP).
Signage, including the names of startup member companies, outside the UCSB Technology Incubator in Elings Hall.