Inventopia, a Davis startup incubator launched by 2008 Big Bang! winner Tim Keller, recently landed a $100K loan from the City of Davis to add specialized space needed by local entrepreneurs and new ventures. Its newest tenant, Peakb, develops naturally derived blue food coloring and was founded by UC Davis Professor Justin Siegel. Read the article>

Kellan Hays, 2014 Big Bang! winner and UC Davis alumna, has been named one of Inc. Magazine’s top 100 female founders. Hays co-founded Good Nature Agro, a social enterprise that helps farmers transition to higher-value crops and connects them with buyers to move the farmers from poverty to the middle-class. Read the profile >

Benjamin Wang, 2014 Big Bang! Business Competition winner and founder/chief medical officer of NeVap Inc., shares how winning the competition helped launch his entrepreneurial journey, notes his successes since then—and explains how the Big Bang! helps innovators go from concept to company. Watch video >

NeVap Inc., founded by 2014 Big Bang! winner Benjamin Wang, created a novel respiratory device that is helping curb the rate of infection of bacterial pneumonia in COVID-19 patients. Researchers are trialing the device to see how it can help patients at risk for postoperative pneumonia. Read the article >

Cognivive has designed the first prescription interactive rehabilitation device under new FDA regulation. CogniviveVR helps patients recover control over their arms and hands by delivering personalized treatments in the form of highly motivational games at home. Cognivive, co-founded by Tony Simon, won the second prize in the 2018 Big Bang! Business Competition. Read the article >

Pair Anything, founded by Christy Serrato, was featured recently on Good Day Sacramento. Pair Anything won the $10K Food + Ag Sector Award in our 2019 Big Bang! Business Competition for creating a platform to help wineries connect with customers beyond the tasting room by guiding them on wine and food pairings. Watch the video >

NeVap, founded by Benjamin Wang, helped create Adopt A Hero, an organization dedicated to provide supplies to medical personnel in Mexico. Ben has donated breathing tubes to aid Mexican healthcare workers in areas where COVID-19 is surging. NeVap won the 2014 Big Bang! Business Competition. Read the article >

StarBio, a group of UC Davis students, won the $20,000 First Place Award and the $10,000 Health Sector Award for their innovation of a diagnostic method to identify ischemic stroke patients. Read the article >