(Oct. 31, 2014) — The Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State is joining Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence (Cisco EIR) to create CiscoEIR@Fresno, a joint-incubation program supporting early-stage entrepreneurs in the Central Valley.
Based in Fresno, the program is open to startups located within an eight-county area in the San Joaquin Valley (Bakersfield to Stockton). Selected companies will receive mentoring, financial support and other resources to accelerate their product and business development.
Applications for CiscoEIR@Fresno are open now. The first cohort of startups will begin their incubation in the first half of 2015.
CiscoEIR@Fresno will connect technology-focused startups with Cisco and its global partner ecosystem, as well as the diverse entrepreneurial community in the San Joaquin Valley. Participating startups can accelerate their product and business development by leveraging funding, infrastructure support and expertise that are made available through this program.
“Launching CiscoEIR@Fresno in collaboration with the Lyles Center and Fresno State enables Cisco to develop relationships with early-stage startups in the San Joaquin Valley,” said Tom Yoritaka, managing director of the Entrepreneurs in Residence program at Cisco. “Entrepreneurs in the region are transforming agriculture, water and resource management and other local industries by applying the Internet of Everything, Big Data and Cloud solutions, in which Cisco is playing an industry-leading role. CiscoEIR@Fresno allows Cisco to be a catalyst to these innovations.”
The Lyles Center promotes innovation and entrepreneurship in the Central Valley and beyond, helping early-stage entrepreneurs commercialize their ideas from pre-launch to general availability by offering access to campus resources and faculty expertise.
Other partners in this project include the Water, Energy and Technology Center at Fresno State and Bitwise Industries. Participants in the CiscoEIR@Fresno program will receive access to advisors, mentors and events of the Lyles Center, the WET Center and Bitwise Industries. Program participants will also receive a residency at Bitwise Industries in downtown Fresno.
“The partnership with Cisco, the WET Center and Bitwise Industries supports our continued expansion of critical resources made available to local startups and will further advance innovation in and around the Valley,” said Dr. Timothy Stearns, Lyles Center director. “This program will create very exciting new opportunities for our region and we look forward to being a part of them.”
For additional information contact Stearns at 559.294.2045 or timothys@csufresno.edu.
Related links
Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence: http://eir.cisco.com
WET Center: http://wetcenter.org
Bitwise Industries: http://bitwiseindustries.com