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Initiating Innovation
Initiating Innovation

The catalyst for change lies at the intersection of inspired people and their passions. That's where new ideas emerge. With proper funding and cultivation those ideas can take many shapes and develop in any number of directions. That's why MDV partners devote time to fostering relations with universities and entrepreneurial researchers. Together they ensure that great ideas can take root.

MDV Innovators Award 2007

MDV launched the MDV Innovators Award in November 2007 to recognize extraordinary faculty for their innovative approaches to important challenges and for their entrepreneurial spirits. The Award supports funding to pilot a project that has the potential to disrupt current thinking in the field or provoke new avenues of research in the area of energy and materials. Currently this award is open to faculty at UC Berkeley and Stanford University.

2007-2008 Awards
Advisory Board
FAQs
Award News

 

Stanform Racing Team

Stanform Racing Team Junior
See Stanley go! Learn more about Junior

Stanley, the Stanford Racing Team's entry in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, tore through the Mojave Desert and was the first robot car to navigate a 132-mile course with no human intervention. Stanley completed the course in under seven hours, won the Challenge and made history. MDV was an early, active team member.

MDV returned to participate as part of the Stanford team in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge with a new robot car, Junior. The urban competition, which required robot cars to obey traffic rules, netted Stanford a second place prize.

Stanley At The Smithstonian
Stanley Fact Sheet
Stanley: Year At A Glance
Announcing Junior: Stanford’s Latest DARPA Entry
Junior On The BBC
Junior Fact Sheet
www.stanfordracing.org

 

Commercializing Science and Technology

XSeed

X/Seed Capital is an independent, seed-focused, venture fund providing de-novo start-up capital for entrepreneurs pursuing breakthrough innovation. For more information, please contact info@xseedcap.com.

 

Who Should I Contact?
See our Submitting A Plan section for details on sending us your business plan. Then review our Team section to determine the most appropriate partner to receive your information.

Podcasts

Michael Goldberg, MDV Partner and Founder of Axion Inc., shares lessons a learned through his 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and investor in the life sciences industry. As part of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series:
http://edcorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1558

A podcast about innovation and entrepreneurship with Geoffrey Moore, a venture partner with MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures. By Matt and Julio, students at Stanford's Business and Design schools:
http://iinnovate.blogspot.com/2007/01/ geoffrey-moore-bestselling-author-of.html

James Fallows is a National Correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. He has worked for the magazine for more than 25 years, based in Washington DC, Seattle, Berkeley, Austin, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, and, since last summer, in Shanghai. On this podcast, you'll hear him make a case for how and why the U.S. is equipped to remain a leader in innovation:
James Fallows podcast

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News

San Francisco Business Times, August 15, 2008
Colorado cleantechs seeking Bay Area capital

Wired, August 12, 2008
Mining Company Gets Cash to Pull Lithium from Waste Water

Green Tech Media, August 11, 2008
World's Next Source of Lithium: Geothermal Plants

CNET, August 10, 2008
Simbol Mining raises $6.7 million for "zero-waste" lithium extraction

See more MDV/Portfolio Company Coverage.

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Speaking engagements

August 20, 2008
Jon Feiber
AeA/Stanford Executive Institute
Panel: VC Panel
Location: Stanford, CA

See more MDV Speaking Engagements.

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