UCLA's Innovation Fellows Application for 2021 Cohort

2023 Innovation Fellows Application

Virtual office hours are available to answer your questions about the Innovation Fellows program. Sign up for a 15 minute slot at this link.

You may also schedule a venture consulting meeting with Joanna Reynolds to discuss your project in more depth prior to applying. Schedule venture consulting meeting here.

Application Deadline: February 13th, 2023, 11:59 pm
Notification of Acceptance: February 15th-22nd, 2023
Program begins: February 28th, 2023
Pitch Showcase: June 7th, 2023

UCLA's Innovation Fellows is a campus-wide program aimed at advancing entrepreneurial excellence and startup culture among faculty and postdocs. The 2023 program is intended to be hybrid with in-person and Zoom events.

Open to all UCLA faculty and postdocs, 8-10 teams will be invited to participate during Winter and Spring Quarters 2023. The program is designed to advance innovative projects into new startups or non-profits through a series of workshops and 1:1 venture consulting meetings. Postdocs and project scientists may apply for the program with a letter of support from their faculty supervisor.

The program culminates in a public Pitch Showcase to the UCLA community, local entrepreneurs and investors.

Responsibilities
1. Attend all program events:

February 28th: Orientation & Customer Development Workshop
TBD in March: Legal Formation Workshop
March 15th: Fundraising Workshop
April 5th: Pitch Coaching Workshop
One-to-one Venture Consulting Meetings with Startup UCLA staff (four 30-minute sessions on Zoom)
May 25th: Final Pitch Coaching Session
June 7th: Pitch Showcase (in-person)

2. Commit roughly 3 hours minimum per week to developing your project/startup
3. Stay involved with UCLA's Innovation Fellows and its alumni network after the program

Qualifications
1. All UCLA Faculty (both senate and non-senate faculty, academic administrators, and lecturers) may apply. Visiting faculty are not eligible. A list of senate and non-senate titles can be found here: https://www.senate.ucla.edu/about/academic-senate-membership
2. Postdocs and project scientists may apply with a letter of support from their faculty supervisor
3. Faculty/postdocs/project scientists must have a project/startup to work on during the program
4. Project/startup must have demonstrated proof-of-concept at time of application
5. Be coachable -- open to receiving feedback and willingness to iterate on project/startup

Perks & Benefits
1. $2,000 per team for research support funds (may be used for design work for web/print media, brand development, consultations/travel, etc.)
2. Teams will be able to hire a student intern (paid by IF) to support their efforts during the program. (Student interns can be hired for developing websites, product research, data analysis, design of pitch decks and marketing assets, etc.)
3. Collaborate with program leaders, Startup UCLA staff, and colleagues across the University
5. Raise your project's visibility in the UCLA community and beyond
6. $5,000 in Amazon Web Services credits (if needed for your startup)

UCLA's Innovation Fellows is a collaboration between Startup UCLA, the UCLA Technology Development Group, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research & Creative Activities.

If you have any questions about the application or any of the above, please email startup@college.ucla.edu.

TEAM

Primary Contact (Faculty Founder, Postdoc or Project Scientist)*

First NameLast Name

WomanManNon-binaryOther

She/HerHe/HimThey/ThemOther

Email*

Phone*

Academic Appointment (indicate current series)

List any additional team members, their role in the project/startup, and their UCLA affiliation.*

Briefly describe what skills and expertise each person brings to the project/startup, and note if any team members have technical expertise.*

0/150

In-personRemote

Are you interested in hiring a student intern for your team during 2023 Winter and Spring Quarters? (paid by Innovation Fellows) If yes, what type of experience and skillset would be most valuable to your project at this time? How many hours/wk would the student work on your project? (Student interns could be hired for developing websites, product research, data analysis, design of pitch decks and marketing assets, etc.)*

What skills, if any, is your team lacking? How does this affect your ability to execute? Do you plan to remedy this before program begins on January 12, 2023, and if so how?*

0/150

Project/Startup

Project/Startup name*

Describe your project/startup. What is your product or service? What is your target market?*

0/150

Who is your competition and what is your competitive advantage?*

0/150

Detail the timeline of your project/startup development. When did you begin working on it, when did you complete the first prototype (and/or beta, launch, etc.), what stage is at it now, and what are your next steps?*

0/150

If your project/startup is a website, app, etc., link here to a version we can use/test.

0/250

Required pitch deck, bio, and resume

Upload a single PDF file containing a current pitch deck for your project/startup, a (one-page) faculty bio, and, a resume for each team member. Postdocs must include a letter of support from faculty supervisor.*

Upload a File

A pitch deck is a series of slides that explain your idea/startup. Pitch decks can take on many forms given the audience, purpose, situation, etc. In this case, it must stand on its own as you won't be around to provide further explanation as we read through each application. (The Airbnb and Intercom decks here are good examples.) You must include a pitch deck. Applicants that fail to include a pitch deck will not be considered.

Program Objectives

Why do you want to participate in UCLA's Innovation Fellows program? What do you hope to accomplish by the end of the program?*

0/150

Intellectual Property

Not yet disclosed to University (if this box is checked, please use link for IP disclosure: https://tdg.ucla.edu/ucla-community/invention-disclosure)Disclosed to UCLA

If intellectual property disclosed to UCLA, indicate case number(s)

I acknowledge that the subject matter disclosed in my application was developed as part of my employment at UCLA and is governed by UC policies concerning copyright, patents, and other intellectual property.

For more information on UC policies, please click links below:

UC Copyright

UC Patent

Acknowledgement