Earlier this semester, the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology announced a collider in partnership with Kabam. This four-week collider project challenged Berkeley students to engage in comprehensive market research in order to predict the next emerging market hot spot for iOS revenue. Students delved into different countries to uncover growing markets, with special consideration of smartphone penetration, disposable income, cultural background, Wi-Fi accessibility, and more.
This year, Team Katalyst, comprised of three freshmen (Niles Chang, Lawrence Yan, and Gokul Swamy), won the $15,000 prize for their final presentation. Team Katalyst identified Taiwan, Mexico, and the Philippines as the most lucrative target countries, using unique metrics to measure success in these markets.
This challenge is one of several Innovation Collider projects hosted by the Sutardja Center for Technology & Entrepreneurship. Collider projects encourage students, researchers, investors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders to “collide” and create groundbreaking innovations. “Partnering with Cal allows us to continue creating significant educational and innovational programs that benefit students and the community at large,” said Kabam CEO and Cal Alumni Kevin Chou.