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Top Berkeley Startups to Watch (and Work for) in 2023

July 15, 2023
      |      Kieran Ryan
picture of Sather Tower in Berkeley

My Background

Hi, I'm Kieran! I worked in startups for five years at On Deck and Wefunder. Some of my favorite things that I've worked on during my career include:

  • Wefunder Workaway: 12 founders working on a new idea, 7 days, 1 mansion in Hawaii. One of the teams we picked raised a Series A from Andreessen Horowitz, and two people who met during the trip got married...
  • On Deck: As employee #15, I contributed to the startup's growth from no revenue to a $20 million run rate in less than a year. I led the team that built the admission infrastructure to support and scale ~20 fellowships for founders, capital allocators, operators, and creators.
  • XX: Worked on a pre-YC accelerator program that invested $125K on an MFN SAFE into 8-10 teams per cohort.
  • ODX: Worked on a $100 million accelerator program that invested $125K for 7% into 100s of startups. We partnered with leaders like Flexport to build vertical industry tracks around supply chain & logistics, etc.
  • Ryan Marketing: Created an influencer marketing startup (2 million+ Instagram followers) during college with my twin brother and realized early that monetization for creators was broken. I learned a lot, and it paid enough to cover my schooling, rent, and meals.

The Methodology

I considered several data points to arrive at the startups selected on this list, including company traction, funding raised, valuation, and investors. From my initial list, I then referenced each startup with my personal network to narrow down the list to the one you see below. I take my credibility seriously, so I do not take any money from startups who want to be included on this list to remain impartial. If you want to understand my analysis of startups and prefer long-form content, read my research on the top startups of 2023 afterward.

Covariant Logo

Covariant

AI robotic solutions to automate pick-and-place processes at warehouses and fulfillment centers.

Headquarters

Berkeley, California

Industry

Robotics

Founded

2017

Funding

$222 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • Covariant customers include fulfillment companies like Otto Group, McKesson, Bpost, Radial, Active Ants, GXO, Würth, Brødrene Dahl, Obeta, and Capacity.
  • In 2022, Covariant reported 6x growth and landed its first grocery and home improvement customers.
MindsDB Logo

MindsDB

A cloud for serving artificial intelligence logic.

Headquarters

Berkeley, California

Industry

Dev Tools, Artificial Intelligence

Founded

2017

Funding

$49.4 million

Valuation

$160 million

Traction

  • As of July 2023, MindsDB has 85,000+ docker deployments and 100+ data integrations.
  • As of July 2023, MindsDB’s Github has 17.3K stars and 2.2K forks.
  • As of July 2023, MindsDB has 3,651 developers in its Slack community.
  • As of June 2023, MindsDB has 100 customers.
Twelve Logo

Twelve

The carbon transformation company.

Headquarters

Berkeley, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2016

Funding

$199.4 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • Twelve customers include Mercedes-Benz, Procter & Gamble, Shopify, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Air Force.
  • As of June 2023, Twelve can convert 16 different chemicals from captured CO2.
MicroByre Logo

MicroByre

We domesticate and genetically engineer otherwise reluctant, recalcitrant, and rebellious bacteria.

Headquarters

Berkeley, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2018

Funding

$16.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of June 2023, MicroByre claims its computational platform can genetically engineer novel microbes 10x cheaper than the industry average.
Spark Thermionics Logo

Spark Thermionics

A power plant on a chip.

Headquarters

Berkeley, California

Industry

Hardware, Energy

Founded

2016

Funding

Undisclosed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • In 2019, Spark Thermionics received a $1.3 million grant from the California Energy Commission. 
JITX Logo

JITX

JITX lets electrical engineers write code to design circuit boards.

Headquarters

Berkeley, California

Industry

Hardware

Founded

2016

Funding

$12 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of May 2023, JITX claims customers can get circuit board designs out 2.5x-6x faster using their software.
  • As of May 2023, JITX claims customers can learn the new programming language to design circuit boards using its product in 1-3 hours.
Boomy Logo

Boomy

Make generative music with artificial intelligence.

Headquarters

Berkeley, California

Industry

Music, Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Founded

2018

Funding

$4.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Boomy artists have created 16,137,255 original songs, up from 2 million in May 2021.
  • As of July 2023, Boomy has 4,433 members in its Discord community.

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