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VAI Mentor ProgramThe Mentor Program engages experienced executives, investors, service providers and others interested in mentoring emerging university start-up ventures. Mentors complement the existing venture expertise and the core VAI team with both broad business wisdom and specific functional expertise to help ventures navigate the challenges and opportunities of the growth phase.
The Mentor Program is open to individuals with significant private business or public sector experience (e.g. c-level executives), in-depth functional expertise (e.g. product development) or domain knowledge (e.g. intellectual property law). Mentors typically spend several hours a month on one or more ventures providing strategic advice and feedback and facilitating introductions to help guide the team in a productive direction. A mentoring role may often lead to other opportunities such as a position on the advisory board should the venture take off successfully. Mentors are also encouraged to participate in student mentoring activities with the UCSB Technology Management Program (TMP).
The program offers a number of great benefits and opportunities including:
• A fulfilling experience and an opportunity to both give back and impact the future
• Close interaction with highly talented inventors, often world leaders in their fields
• Ongoing, early insight into a range of cutting-edge new venture opportunities
• Flexible levels of commitment including remote (virtual) engagement
• Access to VAI resources including an extensive and growing network of contacts
Contact:
Dennis Leidall |
VAI Investor Network Program
By maintaining close relationships with a broad range of early stage funding sources including venture capitalists and angel investors, VAI provides a comprehensive approach to enhancing “access to capital” for start-up ventures and enables campus-wide visibility into new venture investment opportunities.
The VAI Investor Network program enables campus-wide visibility into new venture investment opportunities, and serves as a dedicated point of contact between the investment community and campus startup ventures. Network members are thus provided the benefit of greatly increased bandwidth and access to better prepared investment opportunities, resulting in increased quality and quantity of deal-flow.
Investor Network members are provided access to a number of great opportunities:
Investor Open Days – The VAI team will facilitate organized one-day events for network investors, with multiple campus ventures. These investor open days will be structured as a series of investment pitch presentations by faculty and campus entrepreneurs.
Venture Database – A compilation of VAI affiliated investment opportunity overviews.
Personalized Deal Engagement – Notification of relevant deals based on established investment preferences and interests.
Advisory Board Opportunities – As opportunities arise, network members can provide direction to planned and ongoing campus initiatives, centers and programs in order to guide the start-up development component of the technology transfer strategy.
Contact:
Rafi Simon |
VAI Gift Opportunities
Friends of the university can support the growth and success of VAI in several ways:
• VAI Student Internships – The VAI student internship provides great exposure to the entrepreneurial world within the context of the commercialization of scientific research. Students are given broad-ranging responsibility and are encouraged to contribute their own ideas and solutions to projects. Several VAI interns have already played a significant role in the launch of the new organization.
• VAI Junior Entrepreneur-in-Residence Fellowships – The new Junior EIR program is designed to attract talented young professionals to spend 3 – 12 months working closely with VAI on potential venture opportunities. Fellows ideally take on roles in the resulting start-ups and hence grow the regional talent pool
• Directed & Unrestricted Gifts – Directed gifts address specific needs such as marketing, events and equipment. Unrestricted gifts are used on a discretional basis and provide helpful flexibility for the new organization.
• The VAI Endowment – VAI is raising an endowment to build on the initial momentum developed and ensure the continuity of this key university organization. The endowment would contribute to the ongoing costs of running the group and may include a seed funding component. Precedents set by other campuses like UCSD ($10m endowment for the von Liebig Center) and USC ($22m endowment for the Stevens Institute) highlight the importance of laying a firm foundation for the future of a new university venture acceleration initiative.
• In-kind Support – As VAI is itself a start-up organization, in-kind gifts such as equipment (computers etc), furniture, publicity and consulting are very welcome. We work with you to align gifts with your goals, e.g. including opportunities to directly mentor and engage student and fellowship recipients. It is also possible to combine a VAI gift with support for other campus programs.
Contact:
Don Oparah
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VAI Affiliates Program
The VAI Affiliates program offers opportunities for corporations, service firms and other external groups to partner with VAI in accelerating new venture development on campus and generating a corresponding positive impact on the regional business environment. Working collaboratively with and drawing on the experience of the business community is a key part of VAI’s strategy and essential to the program’s success.
Opportunities for members of the VAI Affiliates program can include:
• Opportunity to take a founding role in the launch of a new campus organization
• Access to potential new business opportunities
• Increased visibility with the entrepreneurial core of the university
• Overview of the latest technology innovations and venture opportunities
• Networking opportunities with affiliates and members of VAI’s growing network
• Opportunities to mentor and interact with campus entrepreneurs
• Local, national & international exposure via supporter recognition on our website
• Supporter recognition at all VAI events (including venture capital open days)
• Invitations to VAI and other relevant campus events
• Opportunities for joint support of other relevant campus affiliate programs VAI works collaboratively with potential affiliates to design a relationship that is mutually beneficial.
Contact:
Dennis Leidall
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VAI Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Fellows Program
A key part of VAI’s overall strategy, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence Fellows Program engages experienced, motivated executives to help drive emerging university start-up ventures forward. The EIRs complement the existing expertise in the ventures and the core VAI team by playing a leading role in areas such as market validation, securing early customers, developing strategic partnerships and obtaining seed investment.
The Junior EIR fellows program is open to individuals early in their career (e.g. recent MBA graduates or similar) with an interest in working in the start-up arena. The Senior EIR fellows program is designed for more seasoned executives with a track record in search of new challenges. Fellows typically spend anywhere from 3 to 12 months working intensely on a venture with a view to taking on an executive role should it take off successfully.
The program offers a number of great benefits and opportunities including:
• Ongoing, early access to a range of cutting-edge new venture opportunities
• Close partnership with inventors to increase the chance of success
• Access to VAI resources including an extensive and growing network of contacts
• Potential to work with multiple (non-competing) ventures
• Flexible involvement (part or full-time) including remote (virtual) engagement
• Possible financial support
Contact:
Dennis Leidall
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