Entrepreneurial Fellows Program

M.E.T. Entrepreneurial Fellows Program (EFP)

The M.E.T. Entrepreneurial Fellows Program is a program envisioned by the M.E.T. community and made possible by generous support from the M.E.T. Advisory Board. Each student selected receives a grant of $2000/month ($6000 total funding for the duration of the internship) for 10-12 weeks of internship engagement with an affiliated startup partner between June and August.

Important Dates & Deadlines

February 4, 2025 — Mandatory EFP Info Session from 5:30-6:30 pm in Blum Founders Conference Room (choose either 2/4 or 2/5)
February 5, 2025 — Mandatory EFP Info Session from 12-1 pm in Blum Founders Conference Room (choose either 2/4 or 2/5)
April 2, 2025 — Attend M.E.T. Startup Fair from 3-4:30 pm
April 3 – 25, 2025 — Interviews conducted
May 2, 2025 — Student acceptance deadline & EFP applications due; access EFP Application here.
May 16, 2025 — Student EFP decision notification
June 9, 2025 — Students begin internship

Startup Requirements

Currently affiliated with a UC Berkeley or M.E.T. -approved startup accelerator or fund.
Be Pre-Seed, Seed, or Series A funded with 3-30 employees.
Cannot be a current undergraduate student-founded startup from any college or university.
Maximum of (2) M.E.T. student interns at each affiliated startup.

Student Expectations

An enrolled M.E.T. student not already committed to a summer 2025 internship and able to complete a full-time internship (10-12 weeks) between June – August, 2025.

M.E.T. Program Commitment

M.E.T. students selected for a startup internship receive a monthly grant via the Entrepreneurship Fellows Program Fund.

How to Participate

For Students:

1. Attend one of our two info sessions:

Tuesday, February 4 from 5:30-6:30pm; Founders Board Room M.E.T Space or
Wednesday, February 5 from 12-1 pm; Founders Board Room M.E.T Space.

2. Attend the Start-Up Fair Wednesday, April 2 from 3-4:30 pm. It is mandatory for students and startups to attend in order to participate. The event will take place in Spieker Forum, which is on the 6th floor of Chou Hall.

3. Submit your Entrepreneurial Fellows Program application after accepting a role with a startup.

For Startups:

1. Requirements include:

(1) Currently affiliated with a UC Berkeley or M.E.T. approved startup accelerator or fund, and
(2) Pre-Seed, Seed, or Series A funded with 3-30 employees. The startup cannot be a current undergraduate student-founded startup from any college or university.

3. If you are not currently one of our approved partners, please reach out to our program at met@berkeley.edu for further information.

M.E.T. Approved Partners

Berkeley SkyDeck is UC Berkeley’s premier startup accelerator and incubator program. They support startups founded by UC Berkeley students, alumni, and faculty who are seeking to bring their scientific and technical discoveries to market and commercialize groundbreaking UC Berkeley research.

EvoNexus is a technology startup incubator with locations in San Diego, Orange County, and Silicon Valley. The EvoNexus Silicon Valley FinTech Incubator was launched in October 2019 with founding sponsors and banking giants, Franklin Templeton and Royal Bank of Canada in San Mateo.

IndieBio is the first accelerator to use radical ideas in biology as a technology to disrupt markets outside healthcare. The portfolio of companies now has a cumulative enterprise value of nearly $4 billion — despite the average company being only 3 years old.

The House Fund offers pre-seed and early stage venture capital fund investing in Berkeley’s top alumni, faculty, and student startups.

SAP.iO Foundries make up SAP’s global network of equity-free startup accelerators. They help promising startups integrate with SAP solutions and accelerate their entry into a curated, inclusive ecosystem whose offerings can be easily accessed and deployed by SAP customers.

TechStars is a mentorship-driven accelerator, investing $120K and providing hands-on mentorship and access to the startups in the TechStars network.

Y Combinator provides a small amount of seed funding for startups and works with them to flesh out ideas and help founders partner with investors and acquirers.

Students are welcome to find a startup venture outside of the Meet & Greet participants, but it’s their individual responsibility to make sure the organization meets EFP requirements: (1) currently affiliated with a UC Berkeley or M.E.T. approved startup accelerator or fund, and (2) Pre-Seed, Seed, or Series A funded with 3-30 employees. The startup cannot be a current undergraduate student-founded startup from any college or university.

Questions

Questions?

Email: met@berkeley.edu

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

Resources

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