Wayfinder Program Opens Doors to All UC-Affiliated Startups

UC Irvine (UCI) Beall Applied Innovation’s startup incubator program, Wayfinder, is now accepting startup teams who have a University of California (UC) affiliation. The program had previously accepted only startup teams with a UC Irvine affiliation, but has now expanded its reach.

“We have entrepreneurs that, after attending a UC school, have returned home to Orange County and are planning to grow their startups here,” said Juan Felipe Vallejo, director of Scalable Venture Incubation at Applied Innovation. “These entrepreneurs can now fully benefit from participating in Wayfinder.”

The UC system contains more than 280,000 students and 227,000 faculty with more than 2 million alumni, according to the University of California, which opens up a large amount of opportunity for startups to take advantage of the resources available within Orange County and Applied Innovation.

Within the program’s short transition, Wayfinder already has two startups from UC Riverside (UCR) and UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) that have joined the program.

When Kevin Osorno, Ph.D., moved his startup, Neoboard, Inc. from UC Riverside to Wayfinder at UCI, he found new opportunities to network within the Orange County community through Applied Innovation’s Innovation Advisors program and expand Neoboard’s development in the Wayfinder program.

Neoboard is an app that automates academic support by customizing study group scheduling and allows college students working within online programs to better connect, communicate and engage with each other, their instructors, and academic support on a virtual platform. The app aims to improve social engagement for virtual classmates and instructors.

“One of the big things I learned early on, as a teacher and former graduate student, online classes, for me, was a very lonely experience and for the other students I have spoken with, too. There’s always a struggle when it comes to getting academic support, no matter who it is,” said Osorno, founder and CEO. “We really want to break down those barriers and make it easier and seamless for anyone – no matter who you are, what background you come from or where you are located. We really want to help students find the support they need.”

Osorno has found encouragement and support through the Wayfinder program and its resources.

“The people at Wayfinder were very receptive to my idea and I was really excited when they brought me on,” said Osorno. “I really found a lot of expert help and advice, and I hope that Neoboard, Inc. is something I can make a reality for a lot of students and colleges across the country.”

Just up the coastline, UC Santa Barbara graduate Liliana Montes, and sibling Ramon Montes, bring a new way to experience a classic California day trip with Coast. Coast is an app designed to socially enhance the day trip experience by incorporating features like discovering custom-built points of interest, a social media component that allows the user to share their experience with friends and ways to find other destinations during a user’s day trip excursions.

“Since the pandemic, people are staying closer to home rather than going on longer trips, it’s like a big awakening many have had since being locked down; people are beginning to be curious about what they can explore in their own backyard,” said Liliana, co-founder and CEO. “An essential part of our app is creating an adventurous community, launching in California, and expanding from there.”

The duo plans to launch their app with a geographic focus on local destinations in California with the state’s many beaches, parks and activities. Since joining Wayfinder, they have found resources like Innovation Advisors helpful in their startup journey.

"Just when we think we hit a roadblock, we are connected to another mentor or advisor at Wayfinder that exceeds our expectations," said Ramon, co-founder and chief operating officer.

Learn more about the Wayfinder program.

Main Graphic: Kate Wokowsky, UCI Beall Applied Innovation

Photos courtesy of: Neoboard, Inc. and Coast

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