Get Personalized Support from Experienced Business Leaders

Our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs) serve as mentors that want to give back to the community and help build a strong and resilient local economy.  

The EIRs at UCR EPIC are senior business leaders and experts in business formation and development who have been successful entrepreneurs or seasoned executives from large corporations with experience in an entrepreneurial setting. Most EIRs have either founded a company or joined a startup early on.  Our EIRs offer entrepreneurs valuable industry connections and mentorship expertise in the areas of agriculture, biotech, clean energy, water, medicine, transportation, entertainment, IT, and sustainability among others. 

EIRs work with UCR and community entrepreneurs through the EPIC SBDC to provide mentorship and guidance to develop and grow their business as well as prepare to seek investment. EIRs also mentor participants in the I-Corps entrepreneurship workshop taught quarterly on campus.   

We always welcome new EIRs and mentors into our programs.  To learn more about becoming an EIR or a mentor, contact Martin Kleckner.

CEO-in-Residence

OTP implemented a new “CEO-in-Residence” program with the goal to review the portfolio of UCR technology, selecting those with the greatest commercial potential and accelerate their path to market.

Mr. Brynley Lee, the initial CEO-in-Residence, identified Professor Masaru Rao’s research as the leading candidate for 2 reasons: 1) the potential of its innovative SoloPore™ cellular engineering technology to transform the growing field of cell therapy, 2) the strong engagement of the entrepreneurial scientific founder from UCR’s Biomedical Microdevices Laboratory. Following customer research with potential users of the technology and discussions with venture capital providers, including UCR’s Highlander Venture Fund, Brynley joined Basilard BioTech as its founding CEO, incorporated the company, and negotiated a license from UCR to secure Dr. Rao’s technology for Basilard’s development.