The University of California (UC) has established itself as a leading institution for innovation and entrepreneurship in the United States. According to the National Academy of Inventors, UC has been recognized as the top university worldwide for patents every year since 2013. TIME magazine recently included 13 inventions from UC faculty or alumni in its list of the best inventions of 2025. Additionally, data from Pitchbook shows that more companies have been founded by UC alumni than those from Stanford, Harvard, or MIT.
This reputation is supported by a range of resources available to students and faculty across UC campuses, including incubators, accelerators, technology commercialization experts, clubs, and specialized curriculum programs designed to help move ideas from concept to market.
Dominic Milano, who earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from UC Merced, is one example of an entrepreneur who leveraged his education to start a business. Milano founded Milano Technical Group in 2014 after recognizing a gap between technological innovation and current practices in California agriculture. “I didn’t come from a wealthy family. I figured if I stayed in Merced and built a successful company after graduation, then a couple years down the road somebody else who came from a background like mine would see us and think, ‘If they can do it, so can I,’” he said.
Milano’s company focuses on developing automation solutions for agriculture and has introduced technologies such as robotic harvesters and advanced fruit-packing systems. He attributes part of his success to being based in the Central Valley rather than Silicon Valley: close proximity to growers allows his team to better understand industry needs. He also collaborates with CITRIS (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society), which operates across four UC campuses.
Heather Hochrein co-founded EVmatch after earning her master’s degree at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School. Her studies were structured around eco-entrepreneurship and led her team to identify charging access as a major barrier for electric vehicle adoption among renters. They developed EVmatch as a peer-to-peer network allowing property owners with chargers to rent them out.
“In retrospect, starting EVmatch was a risky move because the electric vehicle market was so new when I started the company,” Hochrein said. “But I felt the industry needed more leadership, especially focused on charging equity and access.” Today she leads a team focused on providing software for shared chargers at multifamily housing developments.
JuJu Clark graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in data science and business before becoming CEO and cofounder of TANDM Surf as well as founder of Daramel. Clark described her motivation: “I’m driven by wanting to bring the joy that I feel to others through what I create.” She credits her time at Berkeley—where she participated in campus consulting clubs and entrepreneurial networks—with preparing her both technically and professionally.
Clark continues working full-time on TANDM Surf while expanding into new ventures like Daramel caramel syrup. Her technical skills allow her to manage much of her companies’ data operations internally: “My degrees from UC Berkeley prepared me not only with the technical skills needed to start and operate a business but also with the confidence that I can learn new things as I go.”
These stories highlight how resources at University of California campuses support students’ efforts to turn innovative ideas into real-world businesses.
