Who we are
About LAUNCH
LAUNCH is the University of California’s leading accelerator, designed to transform early-stage startups into fundable companies. From 100+ applications a year, our judges select ~20 of the most promising startups in the UC system. Teams are paired with serial-entrepreneurs and mentors with deep operational experience and are led through a rigorous Lean Startup-focused curriculum. The three-month-long accelerator helps UC startups quickly discover and develop scalable business models.
During LAUNCH, startups will refine their value propositions, protect IP, connect with industry experts, get minimum viable products into customers’ hands, prove their scalable business model, pitch to investors, and become fundable. The program ends in a Demo Day in which teams pitch to judges for cash prizes in front of a live audience.
In 2020, we started to launch 2 cohorts per year instead of one. View our portfolio here.
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Our History
UC LAUNCH guides startups from prototype to pitch. We’ve done so every year since 1999, when the Haas B-Plan Competition was founded.
In 2015, we pivoted to the 3-month long LAUNCH Accelerator, by and for all UC founders. We don’t take equity or charge for pairing teams with top-notch mentors, guiding them through the Lean Launchpad curriculum, and connecting them with the resources they need to succeed.
That’s our model, and it works. Over the past five years, our alumni have raised over $125 million, topped the Forbes 30 under 30, and 9 startups have gone on to Y Combinator.
