Wavemaker Lab
The lab trains potential entrepreneurs and supports early-stage ventures with high-impact potential by bringing together San Diego’s strengths in technology and entrepreneurship.
The lab is located at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. It leverages a robust network of successful entrepreneurs, early-stage investors and its globally recognized expertise in energy and environmental policy, China, emerging markets, national security, and governance and sustainability.
Mission
First, the lab’s mission is to accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies developed by Wavemaker Lab ventures and UC San Diego students, who, through their entrepreneurial experience, are empowered to drive technological advancements and contribute to the university's innovation ecosystem.
Second, we aim to nurture a community of creative thinkers, informed risk-takers and ambitious builders who will contribute to a growth in innovation and dynamism in the greater San Diego region.
Activities
The venture program, a seven-month program designed for startups based primarily in the San Diego region, was launched in Fall 2023. The program offers:
- Mentorship from the Wavemaker Council
- Access to scientific and industry experts
- Legal and financial advice
- Access to networks of early-stage investors and mentors
- Access to UC San Diego student expertise
Applications for the program's second cohort is now open. Apply by Sept. 15.
Wavemaker Lab’s Program Director, Liz Lyons, offers for-credit courses on entrepreneurship for UC San Diego students. She teaches “Start-Ups: From Founding to Launch,” an introductory course on entrepreneurship open to GPS and other interested UC San Diego students, and a follow-up project-based course with Wavemaker Council member James Lambright that gives students the opportunity to work with venture program entrepreneurs to solve a problem their start-ups are facing.
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InstagramMeet Liz Lyons
Inspired by her experience at the Creative Destruction Lab at the University of Toronto and by teaching an early-stage startups course at the school, Lyons said she is excited about working with CCGT to bring together GPS’s intellectual horsepower and the vibrancy of the San Diego startup environment.
She is confident that over the next decade, the lab will have a reputation for developing some of California’s most transformational companies and entrepreneurs and that GPS will be known as a national leader in policy-oriented entrepreneurship training.
