The Portal Nabs Cisco as Client, Calls Self 1-Stop Shop

A nonprofit in Irvine that links students to companies that need web developers recently nabbed a big client. The Portal now boasts the Irvine branch of San Jose-based Cisco Systems Inc. as a customer.

The Portal was co-founded last year by K5 Ventures, an early-stage venture fund based in Newport Beach, and the Beall Family Foundation with an initial investment of $600,000, according to co-founder Ray Chan.

Its goal is to cultivate and keep skilled “talent” in Orange County and expose them to “real-world” projects to broaden their view beyond Silicon Valley for tech jobs upon graduation, Chan said.

Students have to apply to be accepted into The Portal, and those who are provide services such as web development and video production. The majority are students from the University of California-Irvine. The Portal matches them to paid jobs working for startups and more established tech companies.

The private Laguna College of Art and Design became a partner with The Portal in May, enabling it to also offer design services and thereby making it a one-stop shop for clients, Chan said. Four student designers from the college work with The Portal, of whom two work on-site.

Base 11 Branches Out

Costa Mesa-based Base 11 has created new programs for entrepreneurship and fellowships.

Base 11 is focused on creating the next generation of leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, to “build a talent pipeline that businesses so desperately need,” said Chief Executive Landon Taylor. 

It connects high-potential, low-resource students with employers, colleges and entrepreneurial opportunities. The two new programs, combined with nonprofit Base 11’s existing work force development program, make up its STEM Accelerator Program.

The entrepreneur endeavor will be housed in its future innovation center at The Cove, the physical space of UCI innovation institute, Applied Innovation. It will run for 16 weeks and offer three unique features, Taylor said. Participants will have access to Brandon Andrews, casting director for the “Shark Tank” TV show, for training on pitching the show’s sharks. They also will have access to funding opportunities at The Cove, including the Cove Fund I, a for-profit fund with more than $5 million. And, in what Taylor calls a “game-changer” for community college students, some UCI engineering school courses will be included in Base 11’s curriculum so that participants will have transferable units if they end up attending UCI, he said. The entrepreneur program will start in the fall. 

The paid summer fellowship enables  community college students to live on campus and work with UCI’s doctoral engineering students on various projects involving electrical engineering and systems engineering. The first cohort started this month.

Part of Base 11’s new digs at The Cove will include a digital fabrication lab called a Fab Lab, which will contain 3-D and laser printers when fully furnished. Taylor said that should happen by September. 

Base 11 is finalizing its financial investment in The Cove to install the Fab Lab, which will be on top of the $1 million it invested in UCI’s engineering school last year, Taylor said.

Bits & Pieces

Shieldz Technology Inc. launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign on June 15 that will run through July 31, with a goal of raising $10,000, according to founder and Chief Executive Dillon Auxier. It’s Shieldz’ second Kickstarter campaign. The first raised $2,000, Auxier said. Shieldz makes accessories for headphones and earbuds. The new campaign is for its second product, Anchorz, an accessory for Apple earbuds with an adjustable anchor that hooks around the back of the ear. … Au Solutions, which has created a tool for trauma care, recently received a $400 microgrant from University of California-Irvine’s Blackstone LaunchPad, a campus-based entrepreneurship program. The startup is based at The Cove. Au Solutions will use the money to build an improved version of its device, which relieves a collapsed lung and mitigates bleeding during chest trauma, for instance, when someone is shot or stabbed in the chest, said Chief Executive Kelsey Fung. … Irvine-based VCNetwork, a database of independent, international venture capitalists, has added 200 venture capitalists to its lineup. VCNetwork, since launching in January, has built its database to more than 500 VCs, 85% of whom are based in the U.S. Entrepreneurs Jenny Q. Ta and Shinta W. Dhanuwardoyo created the online network. … good culture LLC, based in the Eureka Building accelerator in Irvine, now has its high-protein, organic cottage cheese on the shelves of stores including Carson-based Bristol Farms;  Dallas, Texas-based Central Market; Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer and New York City-based Gourmet Garage.