Berkeley Start-ups

Construction Toys for Girls–Building Blocks for Their Futures

Posted July 24th, 2015 @ 7:13pm in #building toys #construction toys #legosets #women in stem #toys #educational toys #stem education #STEAM education

by Tamra Teig  

Remember building with Legos when you were a kid? Or maybe you preferred Tinker Toys or Lincoln Logs. Now remember what they looked like: mostly primary colors, because 90% of building toys are designed for boys. 

Even though construction toys are now the fastest growing segment in the toy industry, existing toy companies make only a token effort to appeal to girls by offering a pink building set. But a few female led toy start-ups are building their companies from the ground up, by first developing an understanding of how girls play and then designing construction toys to suit girls’ needs.

One of these innovators is Build & Imagine, an award-winning toy company with a line of magnetic building sets designed to play into girls’ predilection for storytelling.

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Turning the Tide of HIV

Posted June 22nd, 2015 @ 2:25pm in #AIDS #hiv/aids #epidemics #hiv testing #medical technology #diagnostics #blood test

[Disclaimer: This blog should not be construed as investment advice or solicitation. Scott Adams is a Berkeley alum and active in the Berkeley start-up ecosystem. Assume a pro-Berkeley bias.]

by Tamra Teig   

What would you do if you lost both of your parents to HIV/AIDS? If you’re Christopher Ategeka, you dedicate yourself to finding a way to rid the world of HIV.

Atageka co-founded Privail Diagnostics, a medical diagnostics company that has developed a simple, portable blood test that can detect the HIV virus (not antibodies) for the first time. That means an earlier diagnosis, for better treatment outcomes, longer survival rates, and greatly reduced infection rates.

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Ancient Honey Wine Key to a Rainforest’s Future

Posted June 18th, 2015 @ 1:54am in #redd+ #mead #honey wine #deforestation #forest conservation #carbon credits #organic #wine #honey

by Tamra Teig  

Conservationism, a disappearing rain forest, and an ancient libation were the inspirations for one man to pin his hopes on bees–to save the future of a community a world away.

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A Little Help for a Big Epidemic

Posted June 2nd, 2015 @ 11:19am in #asthma #peak flow meter #asthma episode #asthma epidemic

 by Tamra Teig

Smart Device Offers Pocket-sized Prevention

When a medical condition gets it own World Awareness Day AND May as Awarenes Month, you know it’s a major disease. Any guess which one? Here’s a hint: maybe you’ll breathe easier. 

A team of Bay area medical professionals and engineers have teamed up to create an early warning system that can alert asthma sufferers of a possible attack, before they feel any symptoms.

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Smart Vibrator is FitBit for Pleasure

Posted May 17th, 2015 @ 1:46am

  by Tamra Teig

How many entrepreneurs does it take to build a “smart” vibrator?

Seven, it turns out: two co-founders, James Wang and Liz Klinger, teamed up with two Berkeley engineers and three interns, to design the Smart Bod vibrator. It’s like a wearable fitness device–only instead of counting steps and calories burned, it analyzes a woman’s arousal and orgasms.

                                            Photo courtesy California Magazine, UC Berkeley

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Fumigation May Cure Toenail Fungus

Posted May 12th, 2015 @ 3:19pm in #toe fungus #onychomycosis

   by Tamra Teig

Note: Nothing you see in this blog (now or ever) should be construed as investment advice.

How do you get funding for a medical device start-up that has not been approved by the FDA? If you are founder Jeffrey Roe, you cure yourself first (because that is legal) and document it in pictures. 

Over 38 million Americans suffer from ugly toenail fungus. (Fancy name: Onychomycosis). Consumers spend over $3 billion dollars every year in failed attempts to kill the fungus. The unguents, ointments and laser therapies on the market don’t work, and oral antibiotics pose a risk of liver damage, as well as being fairly ineffective.

What is someone with a penchant for flip-flops to do?

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Smart Pillow Designed to Help Snoring Victims Get Some Zzz’s

Posted May 11th, 2015 @ 11:33am in #snoring #sleep apnea #sleep disorder #sleep aids

   by Tamra Teig

If you’ve ever felt so sleep-deprived that you felt like putting a pillow over your bed-mate’s face to stop the snoring, you’re not alone. It’s estimated that 1.1 billion adults worldwide snore. But if you’re one of those who suffers sleepless nights next to a snorer, there may be help in your near future–an electric pillow.

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Outdated Job Interview Process has Met its Match

Posted April 24th, 2015 @ 3:36pm in #job placement #job recruiting #job interview

by Tamra Teig

What personal videos have done to boost the effectiveness of online dating sites, Honeit plans to do for internal and external recruiting teams, with their new live Person-to-Person (P2P) interviewing platform. 

Founded in June 2014, Honeit overhauls the hiring process. The two-pronged system features an interviewing platform designed for recruiters, and a Pre-Interview Marketplace that enables job seekers to hone their interviewing skills. 

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Brain Implant Possible Treatment for Mental Illness

Posted March 17th, 2015 @ 11:58pm in #deep brain stimulation #depression #anxiety #post-traumatic stress disorder

by Tamra Teig

The use of deep brain stimulation that is currently used to treat physical ailments such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease is now being evaluated as a potential treatment for anxiety, depression, addiction and other mental illnesses. 

Neurological device start-up Cortera Neurotechnologies is a key partner in the five-year, $26 million research effort exploring the use of implanted electro-stimulators. The program represents about one-eighth of the $300 million budget for the BRAIN Initiative President Obama unveiled in April of 2013.

Hopes for the new technology are high…

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Berkeley Start-Up Restyles Menswear for Women

Posted March 15th, 2015 @ 2:28pm in #womens clothing #androgeny #androgynous fashion

by Tamra Teig

Any woman with healthy curves who has worn a tailored shirt off the rack has undoubtedly contended with the dreaded gaping issue with the chest buttons. Androgyny is a clothing brand designed especially for androgynous women, but appeals to any woman who prefers the clean lines and detailed tailoring of traditional menswear. One of the key style elements touted on the company’s website is that the button-ups have been re-engineered to avoid “boob button nightmares." 

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