OFFICE SPACE
A new coworking space and business accelerator for women entrepreneurs will open in Irvine this month. Hera Hub has leased 6,000 square feet at 16480 Bake Parkway, near the Spectrum Center mall.
Director Linda Talamo said the space offers more than just coworking, but opportunities for collaboration, networking with Hera Hub members in Irvine, as well as at other locations, and in-house educational sessions on everything from human resources solutions to blogging and social media marketing to intellectual property.
The space will have a mix of dedicated private offices, meeting rooms, a large training room, and open coworking/event space, with up to 100 membership spots available.
Hera Hub operates under a collaborative licensing business model; Talamo acquired the rights to the Orange County area, and is the sole investor.
The organization started in San Diego in 2011. According to Talamo, there are seven Hera Hub locations including spaces in Carlsbad and Phoenix, with six more, including Atlanta and Temecula, in development.
University of California-Irvine’s Applied Innovation incubator, The Cove, has a new tenant from Europe.
Chief Innovation Officer Richard Sudek last week signed a collaborative agreement with Netherlands-based Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus.
Brightlands Maastricht is a government-supported organization that helps scientists who have inventions or ideas to create companies, with a focus on health and life sciences.
“Some of our companies want to expand to U.S., and the cooperation with The Cove really allows for this, they can help these companies,” the Dutch organization, headed by Chief Executive Jan Cobbenhagen, said. “In return, we are willing and able to help American companies that want to come to Europe.”
Sudek said he hoped the Cove could be a “soft landing spot” for companies from the Netherlands looking to expand operations into the U.S.
“The benefit to Orange County is that if they grow, they are likely to open up their office either in Irvine or Orange County in general,” Sudek said, adding that the Cove is in talks with other countries including Canada, Japan and Ireland about similar agreements.
FINANCING
Medical research startup DocBot closed a $2 million seed round of funding, led by New York-based Collaborative Fund, with participation from Santa Monica-based Bold Capital Partners, Silicon Valley-based Khosla Ventures, and La Habra-based Mehta Ventures.
The Irvine-based firm uses artificial intelligence in endoscopic gastrointestinal procedures to help technicians identify polyps. It is also expanding its technology to determine in real time whether or not a polyp is precancerous and has developed a prototype for identifying precancerous cells in the esophagus.
The company will soon be seeking de novo 510(K) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration.
DocBot co-founders Andrew Ninh, Tyler Dao and Dr. Bill Karnes recently added four new employees, and board member San Juan Capistrano-based medical device entrepreneur Peter Crosby.
The company is based at University of California-Irvine’s The Cove, and recently took additional office space in San Francisco.
DocBot has previously raised $300,000 in funding from Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, local investment fund Titan Angels and Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator. It received a $225,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation.
Purist
Medical research firm Purist has been awarded a $223,000 Small Business Innovation Research award from the National Institutes of Health.
Purist makes diagnostic supplies for cancer and other serious illnesses. Its products involve the creation of “high purity” radioactive ingredients using what it says are “underutilized small-scale nuclear reactors,” one of which is at University of California-Irvine.
These radioactive ingredients are used in medicine for therapeutic applications, like cancer treatments, and diagnostic applications, such as medical imaging.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Leila Safavi started the company in 2017, along with Mikael Nilsson, a chemical engineering professor at UCI.
The funding will be used to work toward a commercially viable radioactive ingredient with the purity necessary for medical uses. The company aims to partner with a radiopharmaceutical company that will incorporate the ingredients into various applications.
Safavi said many of the ingredients needed for current radiopharmaceuticals aren’t produced in the U.S. in large enough quantities, and are often imported from Europe, South Africa and Australia.
Neighboring
Startup Neighboring has raised $55,000 in seed funding from two Orange County investors.
The company matches college students and others who want to make extra money with users in their community who need help with household chores.
The company was started in 2017 by founder Joshua Mundell. It released an app earlier this year that allows customers to sign up, create a chore, book a student-helper and pay them all from one central location.
The UCI Wayfinder program company is seeking additional investment to meet its initial funding goal of $400,000. Neighboring is seeking to hire a full-time chief technology officer to join the company.
Currently more than 60% of its users are senior citizens, and Mundell said the company wants to make it easier for customers to use its service via phone, as well as through its web platform.
PRODUCTS
Costa Mesa-based golf club testing, rental, and sales company Cadi will set up their first golf club kiosk at Tijeras Creek Golf Club in Rancho Santa Margarita later this month.
Cadi’s self-serve kiosk allows golfers to rent a demo club of their choice on the course with the swipe of a credit card, and then buy it later if they like the equipment.
Co-founders and OC natives Andrew Kim and Tyler Gottstein started the company in 2017, when Tyler purchased a driver after trying it out in a sporting goods store, and then suffered buyer’s remorse once he got out on the course.
“The key is that the customer can try the product in a real life situation, on the golf course, before they make a decision to purchase,” Gottstein said.
The kiosk carries clubs from major brands like TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist and Cleveland, and Kim said the company is working directly with the companies, which have been “very supportive.”
Cadi has a secondary kiosk where golfers can purchase smaller accessories such as hats, balls and gloves.
Cadi has received $275,000 in seed funding from angel investors and plans to launch kiosks at seven more Orange County locations this year.
EVENTS
Thursday, May 9
• Small Business Development Day (Asian Business Association Orange County), Garden Grove, 8:30 a.m., $10-$20, (949) 222-2291, abaoc.org
• POP Grant Award Showcase (UCI Applied Innovation), Irvine, 4 p.m., free, (949) 824-2683, bit.ly/2UxAfHH
Friday, May 10
• Three Frameworks for Finding and Defining Your Value Proposition (SBDC Orange County Inland Empire, UCI Applied Innovation), Irvine, noon, free, (949) 824-2683, bit.ly/2ZoaZY0
• Data Privacy 2019-2020: The Potential Risk to Your Entire Business Platform (Executive Next Practices Institute), Irvine, 7:30 a.m., $55, (888) 857-9722, bit.ly/2IG82Na
Saturday, May 11
• Dream, Plan Launch—Essentials to Starting Your Business (SBDC Orange County), Irvine, 10 a.m., free, (657) 278-1801, smallbusinessoc.org/events
RECURRING
• 1 Million Cups (UCI Applied Innovation), Irvine, every Wednesday, 7:45 a.m., free, (949) 824-2683, innovation.uci.edu
