The University of California (UC) is being recognized for its role in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship among its students and alumni. The National Academy of Inventors has ranked UC as the top university worldwide for patents every year since 2013. In addition, TIME magazine recently included 13 ideas from UC faculty or alumni on its list of the best inventions of 2025. According to recent data from Pitchbook, more companies have been started by University of California alumni than those from Stanford, Harvard, or MIT.
This recognition highlights UC’s efforts to ensure that research at the university benefits society by moving discoveries into the marketplace and supporting economic growth. Students and faculty have access to resources such as incubators, accelerators, technology commercialization experts, clubs, and academic programs designed to help bring ideas to market.
Three UC alumni who have started their own companies shared how their education contributed to their entrepreneurial journeys.
Dominic Milano, founder and CEO of Milano Technical Group and a graduate of UC Merced with a degree in engineering, explained his motivation: “I didn’t come from a wealthy family. I figured if I stayed in Merced and built a successful company after graduation, then a couple years down the road somebody else who came from a background like mine would see us and think, ‘If they can do it, so can I.’”
After working at Morning Star Company in Merced and gaining experience across various agricultural regions in the United States, Milano noticed a lack of companies focused solely on agricultural innovation in California’s Central Valley. He stated: “That’s how I came to realize the massive gap between where California agriculture needs to be, in regards to technology innovation, and where it is. We have a lot of tradition in California agriculture, and the reluctancy to adopt new solutions is very, very clear.”
Milano founded Milano Technical Group in 2014 to develop automation solutions for agriculture. The company has introduced technologies such as robotic harvesters and automated packing systems. Its location in the Central Valley has allowed close collaboration with growers. Milano also works with CITRIS—a technological research institute across four UC campuses—to create opportunities for local graduates. He said: “The best possible thing that could happen for the Central Valley is for people who are educated at UC Merced to stay here and build up the talent base and capital base… So that’s what we are trying to do.”
Heather Hochrein is cofounder and CEO of EVmatch. She earned her master’s degree from UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. Hochrein reflected: “In retrospect, starting EVmatch was a risky move because the electric vehicle market was so new when I started the company. But I felt the industry needed more leadership, especially focused on charging equity and access, and I didn’t see that happening anywhere else. Starting a company was the best way I saw to change that.”
Hochrein structured her studies around eco-entrepreneurship at UCSB before cofounding EVmatch with classmates in 2017 using grants from UCSB and investments from Bren School alumni. The company now focuses on providing software for managing shared chargers at multifamily housing developments so renters can access electric vehicle charging more easily.
She added: “It’s important that the environmental sector consider jobs and job creation because frankly, economic development has been left out of the environmental conversation for decades… And what better way to fix that than to actually create your own company, where you also get to lead the culture and decide how you want to manage it?”
JuJu Clark graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in data science and business in 2023. She is CEO/cofounder of TANDM Surf as well as founder/CEO of Daramel. Clark said: “I’m driven by wanting to bring the joy that I feel to others through what I create… Even though businesses do have to make money, the most rewarding thing to me is creating something new that didn’t exist in the world.”
Clark appeared on Shark Tank while still an undergraduate at Berkeley—an experience she credits with shaping her entrepreneurial skills alongside her academic work at Haas School of Business. Her latest venture involves selling caramel syrup made from dates through Daramel.
She emphasized how her education prepared her: “It’s wise to do as much as you can in-house when starting up… My degrees from UC Berkeley prepared me not only with the technical skills needed to start and operate a business but also with the confidence that I can learn new things as I go.”
UC continues supporting students interested in entrepreneurship through campus resources aimed at helping them launch businesses.
