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Bakar Labs × SPINOUT Bootcamp
The Bakar Labs × SPINOUT Bootcamp is a selective, three-day commercialization intensive designed for scientists who want to rigorously evaluate whether—and how—their research could become a venture. This program is built for UC Berkeley–affiliated proto-founders: early-career technical researchers and students who are not yet building a startup, but are seriously considering commercialization as a potential pathway after academia. Participants are guided through practical, investor-informed frameworks to assess commercial viability, technical risk, scale-up pathways, and founder readiness—before committing significant time, reputation, or funding to a spinout. Learn more Transition is transforming copper mining, supercharging rock-munching microbes
The company’s performance-maximizing additives boost ore-eating organisms, for cheaper, greener biomining Read post
Transition Metal Solutions: $6 Million Seed Funding Raised To Reinvent Bio-Based Copper Recovery
PULSE 2.0 – Transition Metal Solutions has closed an oversubscribed $6 million seed round to commercialize a bio-enabled approach aimed at boosting copper recovery from existing mines and waste streams, as copper demand continues to climb faster than new supply can be brought online. Read post
How one startup is using prebiotics to try and ease the copper shortage
TECHCRUNCH – To scale up its technology, Transition Metal Solutions has raised a $6 million seed round, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. The round was led by Transition Ventures with participation from Astor Management AG, Climate Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, Essential Capital, Juniper VC, Kayak Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Possible Ventures, SOSV, and Understorey Ventures. Read post
Transition Metal scales microbe tech for copper recovery
MINING.COM – Transition Biomining, now rebranded as Transition Metal Solutions, has raised an oversubscribed $6 million seed round to scale a chemical approach that activates native microbes to lift copper yields from low-grade sulfide ores without changing mine infrastructure. Read post Startup makes incredible breakthrough that could solve major problem with plastic: ‘A new technology’
Wang told NBC that the company is hoping to deliver a product in two to three years that would be a more expensive, durable plastic used for furniture or plastic tools, as opposed to a solution for inexpensive plastic bottles, leaving room for other innovators to step in. To sway investors during a time when the U.S. administration appears unwilling to support green initiatives, Wang sees profitability as a key to success. “If we really want to push all these things forward, the profit is most important,” Wang concluded in the article. “We hope with a new technology, all the parties involved in this industry, they can make the profit and then people can build the circular economy with a self-motivation.” Read post Rethinking energy-efficient buildings, from the ground up
At our recent symposium, a multi-disciplinary slate of speakers explored the future of a low-carbon construction industry. Read post
Construction begins on Bakar Labs incubator for energy-efficient startups
UC Berkeley has begun construction on the Bakar Labs for Energy and Materials facility, which will be designed as a business incubator for startups working on innovating the energy and materials science industries. The incubator is a partnership between Bakar Labs, Turner Construction Company and campus. Architecture firm Gensler, as well as engineering and design services company A Squared Solutions, also collaborated with Turner on the facility. The planned five-story, 145,000-square-foot building will provide lab and office space for up to 75 early-stage companies with specialized equipment and support. It is intended to maximize UC Berkeley’s mission of providing long-term societal benefit. Read post Turner Breaks Ground on Bakar Labs for Energy + Materials at UC Berkeley
“Turner is honored to partner with everyone on the Bakar Labs for Energy + Materials project,” said Manu Garg, Project Executive, Turner Construction Company. “This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to excellence and innovation in delivering complex research facilities. We look forward to contributing our expertise to a project that exemplifies the power of collaboration in advancing research and innovation.” Read post
Everything that you need, all in one location.
Startups need to focus on making milestones, not managing equipment.
Our mission is to support you in the creation of groundbreaking solutions for our planet. We foster innovation rooted in sustainability, working with visionary thinkers to build a thriving future for all.
At UC Berkeley
Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials sits at the center of UC Berkeley’s innovation ecosystem, with direct access to over 300 faculty in engineering, science, law, policy, and business—all advancing energy and materials research.
Just steps away are 40,000 students in top-ranked programs and a network of advanced core facilities. Startups can easily recruit top talent and collaborate with expert scientific co-founders.
Today’s best startups blaze a trail all their own, but they don’t do it alone.
They build their support network to help them navigate the multiple challenges they face. At Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials, tenants join a community of as many as 75 like-minded teams willing to share the scientific and business insights that help them advance. The incubator spans more than 145,000 square feet of lab and office space.
Built for startups. For more than 20 years, QB3 has been the University of California’s center for innovation and entrepreneurship in life science and now energy & materials. Through pitch summits, seminars, symposia, podcasts, office hours, internships, and workshops QB3 educates, connects, and elevates the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
