Respira Labs, founded by Maria Artunduage in 2018, won the top prize in the 19th annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition for developing a wearable device that uses artificial intelligence and other data to predict and prevent COPD attacks. BioMilitus also won prize money for its work in breeding black soldier fly larvae for use in poultry farming and aquaculture. Read the article >

Maria Artunduaga, a translational physician-scientist, took home the $20,000 first prize in the 19th annual Big Bang! Business Competition at the University of California, Davis (held May 23). Her innovation: a wearable device that uses acoustic sensors, data signal processing and artificial intelligence to predict and prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) attacks.

Japa, winner of the 2018 Big Bang! Business Competition, took the $10,000 prize in the Sacramento Kings Capitalize fourth annual Tech Night. Japa’s innovative parking inventory management system makes the parking experience, specifically for campuses and cities, easier and more efficient. Read the article >

Japa took top prize in our 2018 UC Davis Big Bang! competition for its smart parking startup. “Smart cities are coming,” says CEO and co-founder Mathew Magno. “With Japa, we can take any third-party data, put it into one app and have the whole bird’s eye view of the transportation industry in a futuristic way.” To date, Japa has raised $250,000 in its seed round with a goal of $500,000. Read the article >

Co-founded by Tony Simon, Cognivive is a Davis-based therapeutic company developing “digital therapeutics” — treatments in the form of virtual reality games to reduce cognitive and motor impairments in brain injury patients and children with developmental disorders. Cognivive won second place in the 2018 Big Bang! Business Competition. Read the article >

Raydiant Oximety, winner of the 2017 UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition, has raised $1 million seed round of venture capital and secured $200K+ in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health. The startup produces fetal pulse oximeter devices that measure infant stress during childbirth in an effort to prevent unnecessary c-sections. Read the article >

Blog Post by Denise Bronner, UC Davis Postdoctoral Research Fellow and 2017/18 Business Development Fellow

The annual Ignite Conference brings together students, CEOs and business leaders—and attendees get to see concepts learned during class in action. Over the course of four days in March, I toured four amazing companies, listened to thought-provoking talks from industry leaders and created connections that will last long past Ignite.

Two UC Davis undergraduates won the $10,000 first prize in the 18th annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition on Thursday, May 24, 2018. Their venture, Japa Inc., takes the pain out of finding parking with a mobile app that employs smart data and advanced analytics to provide drivers with real-time parking availability. The award recognizes the top innovation coming out of this year’s competition.

The UC Davis Big Bang! is an annual business competition that calls on students and the public to bring their innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to the bustling college town of Davis, Calif. Participants gain access to valuable resources, seasoned entrepreneurial mentors—and the chance to win big. This year, the prize money is upwards of $90,000 and growing.

Promising startups showcase ventures in UC Davis business competition

Medical device startup Raydiant Oximetry Inc., maker of a fetal pulse oximeter that keeps mothers and babies safe during childbirth, won the $10,000 first prize in the 17th annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition on Thursday, May 25.