Mission & Vision

The mission of BPEP is to foster entrepreneurship among UC Berkeley’s postdocs, visiting scholars and graduate students, through education, awareness, and hands-on opportunities. We connect aspiring entrepreneurs with mentors, resources, and partners. Situated in a vibrant business climate and with access to the greatest pool of postdoc talent in the world, BPEP catalyzes productive collaboration on scientifically complex challenges with lasting economic benefits.

The vision of the Berkeley Postdoc Entrepreneurship Program (BPEP) is to create an empowered UC Berkeley postdoctoral and graduate student community by providing them tools to translate their research to products via startups.

"Idea to Funding" Workshop Series

The Berkeley Postdoc Entrepreneurship Program organizes a monthly workshop series titled "Idea to funding". Since most postdocs and graduate students might potentially start their entrepreneurship journey, the workshop series will primarily focus on education and resources needed for the very initial stages of the journey. Check out the calendar and make sure you register for future events.

Upcoming Events

2026 Spring

Our Youtube Channel

Check our past events

Event of the Month

Non-Dilutive funding for commercializing academic research

Thursday, September 24th, 2026

6:00 to 7:30 p.m. PT

Location:  

Bakar Bio Hub, 2625 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Bakar Bio Hub,

2625 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

To register this event click here

Join The Berkeley Postdoc Entrepreneurship Program (BPEP) for a 
workshop featuring Debkishore Mitra, Co-founder & CTO of Lucira Health, and Mohammad Soheilypour, Co-founder & CEO of Nexilico. Our speakers will share practical insights into non-dilutive funding opportunities and their firsthand experiences raising capital and turning academic research into successful startups.

Workshop Agenda:

  • Funding Opportunities Talks: SBIR/STTR and other non-dilutive funding sources.

  • Fireside Chat: Experiences with fundraising, commercialization, and building startups from academic research.

Speaker Bio:
 Debkishore (Deb) Mitra co-founded and served as the Chief Technology Officer for Lucira Health. He led the technical team that developed the first ever at-home molecular test for COVID-19 and COVID-19/Flu. He also led the development of the first breath-based THC test and was an early microfluidics engineer at 10X genomics. He completed his PhD in Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco. He has an extensive background in bioengineering, product development, and the development of medical devices. His interests lie in the commercialization of tools and technologies at the interface of healthcare and bioengineering systems. 

Mohammad is a scientist, engineer, and entrepreneur with extensive experience in SBIR funding. He is currently the CEO and Co-founder of Nexilico, an early-stage startup developing AI-driven platforms for microbiome engineering and drug discovery. With deep technical and commercialization experience, he has led the development of computational platforms to translate complex biological data into actionable therapeutic and diagnostic insights. His work spans early-stage discovery through commercialization, with a focus on building scalable technologies and positioning them for real-world impact.

Mohammad also brings more than a decade of experience in SBIR funding, securing and managing multiple SBIR and STTR awards, with collaborations across academia and industry. He regularly serves as a reviewer and panelist for SBIR programs at the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and has advised multiple startups on SBIR strategy. He is also an industry advisor for PreMiEr, the Engineering Research Center for precision microbiome engineering.

Mohammad holds a PhD and MSc in Computational Biology from University of California, Berkeley, and an MSc and BSc in Mechanical Engineering from University of Tehran.

Past event Playlist

Bench to Market : Idea Evaluation and Commercialization for Product-market Fit (BPEP 2015)