Our Students
The Sutardja Center international students come from all over the world to experience UC Berkeley's entrepreneurial culture. At SCET, we believe in empowering innovators to positively change the world, and our students are at the front of this transformative effort by driving the creative forces behind UC Berkeley's unique ecosystem.
Students in the Startup Semester and the Le Bridge Fellows program have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a rich innovation environment, develop their own startup ideas, and connect with industry experts and mentors.
Startup Semester Program
Students: Bhira, Mill, Ploychat, Prim, Sudev, Thanathep, Wachirawit
Bhira Songsaeng
Bhira Songsaeng is currently pursuing an B.A.Sc. in Entrepreneurship and Integrated Innovation at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.
Bhira is passionate about smart and sustainable ecosystems, and he has concentrated his talents on digital transformation and environmental solutions that have a positive influence on the planet.
He is currently working on a sustainability startup that aims to up-cycle used coffee grounds to generate self-care products.
Sudev Bhatia
Sudev Bhatia is a student from Chulalongkorn University, with a specialization in Digital Economy, Smart Cities, and Sustainable Development.
Passionate about innovation and startup solutions that have a positive impact on society, Sudev has been mastering his skills and developing a growth mindset to become a technology innovator and leader.
Sudev co-founded BioCafe, a biotech startup that up-cycles coffee grounds to create self-care products. He is also participating in the 'Map the System' contest by the University of Oxford.
Mill Thirapatarapong
Voraporn Thirapatarapong is a student at Chulalongkorn School of Integrated Innovation and a Startup Semester student at UC Berkeley.
With a strong background in entrepreneurship and an interest in digital marketing, design, and sustainability, Mill is determined to become a skilled professional able to create social impact.
She co-founded PUMP, a project that uses influencer's marketing to help small businesses reduce their marketing costs.
Thanathep Preedawiphat
Thanathep Preedawiphat (Hai) is studying Arts and Science t the School of Integrated Innovation at Chulalongkorn University.
As a part of the Startup Semester program, Hai is challenged by new cultures and ways of thinking, which makes him more creative and open-minded. He is interested in applying his knowledge back at home in Thailand.
Passionate for interdisciplinary studies, Hai is currently exploring different career paths via startup internships and social projects, while working with his team on product development for his startup idea.
Prim Hutchesson
Prim Hutchesson is a student from the School of Integrated Innovation (Scii) at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and a Startup Semester student at Berkeley.
With an interested in business, entrepreneurship, and marketing, Prim has experience in smart cities and sustainable development. Her goal is to support the startup community in Thailand.
As co-founder of PUMP, Prim aims to increase sales for small businesses. Prim also owns an online bakery shop.
Wachirawit Siridachanon
Wachirawit Siridachanon is student at the School of Integrated Innovation at Chulalongkorn University.
A Co-founder of a health and well-being startup, Wachirawit is interested on technological development, and is looking to improve his business skills while being a part of the startup semester program at UC Berkeley.
Wachirawit is currently working on SOPet, a tele-consultation platform that connects pet owners to veterinarians and enables real-time consultation and pet check ups.
Le Bridge Startup Fellows Program
Students: Florine Humbert, Ludivine Ratel, Paul Pflimlin
Florine Humbert
Florine Humbert is a Business and Entrepreneurship Master student from Neoma Business School in France.
Highly sensitive to health topics and with a focus on women's health, Florine wants to create a solution that will help women to improve their contraceptive journey.
Florine is currently working on a project that provides hormonal monitoring for women in order to find the best contraceptive for them, and her project is focused on accompanying women through out their reproductive journey.
Ludivine Ratel
Ludivine Ratel is a Business student from NEOMA Business School, majoring in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Passionate about sustainability, Ludivine has been working on a wide range of projects about corporate social responsibility, biomimicry and the circular economy.
At UC Berkeley, Ludivine aims to gain experience in sustainable and equitable design. She is currently working on creating a plant-based straw that is water resistant, compostable and also able to biodegrade easily after use.
Paul Pflimlin
Paul Pflimlin is a Master of Business Administration student from EMLyon Business School in France.
Paul is passionate about the potential of blockchain and decentralized systems. He has been specializing in this field through several courses and Moocs offered by SCET.
Paul is focused on the challenges of mobility and in particular the over-abundance of cars in the Bay Area. He is currently leading an entrepreneurial project based on a peer-to-peer car rental system that uses blockchain as part of it's operating system.
Startup Semester Program
Students: Carla, David, Gonzalo, Jaume, Javier, Jesus, José, Raquel
Carla Lima
Carla Lima is a Venezuelan entrepreneur and Co-founder of Kaltu Payments, a B2B payment gateway for wholesalers.
Living in 6 different cities in the last 6 years, Carla has been pursuing the goal of creating a company where she can help small and medium businesses grow and scale.
As an exchange student at UC Berkeley, Carla has been making the most of all of her classes and has been accepted into two of the leading incubator programs on UC Berkeley's campus: the STEP Program and Free Ventures.
Jaume Merino
Jaume Merino is a Food Engineer with a Master in Startup Administration at Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain.
Jaume has grown professionally through numerous projects around food, sustainability, and innovation consulting. Since 2019, he's been a facilitator with Sistèmika association.
Jaume Co-founded Agrari, a food marketplace that connects farmers with local buyers through an online platform by reducing the need for intermediaries in the food industry and the supply chain.
José T. Sánchez
José Tomás Sánchez is an Aerospace Engineer and Master in Startup Administration at Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.
Experience in business consulting, and passionate about innovation, startups, and blockchain technology, José is currently working on his second startup project.
He Co-founded Crycket, an event ticketing company that introduces NFTs to the industry, avoiding fraud and engaging customers with collectables, memorabilia and new a new user experience.
David Cayuela
David Cayuela is an Electrical Engineer and a Master's in Startup Administration the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
David started his entrepreneurial career at 17 by winning national and international awards, and he also won scholarships to study Business at IESE and Babson College.
At UC Berkeley, David has fulfilled his childhood dream of experiencing the Silicon Valley ecosystem. He is currently developing his startup, IFLUR, a flooring technology that generates clean energy from people's footsteps.
Javier Silva
Javier Silva is an Electronic Engineer and a Master in Biomedical Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.
Interested in healthcare, Javier is passionate about solving problems through technological advancements, and UC Berkeley has given him the perfect platform to develops his skills.
Javier is the Co-founder of Sensoria Biocare, a MedTech startup that has developed an innovative method to monitor hearing health, allowing users with hearing conditions to better experience audio.
Raquel Calles
Raquel Calles is an Industrial Engineer and is currently enrolled in the Master in Business Administration from the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain.
Raquel is passionate about entrepreneurship and financial inclusion, especially for women, and has a strong background in operations and process automation.
She Co-founded KALTU, a fintech startup aimed at automating and providing marketplace (B2B) payments, and supporting businesses sustainable growth without capital constraints.
Gonzalo García
Gonzalo García is the CEO & Co-founder of Therminer, a company developing decarbonizing solutions.
Gonzalo is an MS in Civil Engineering, and he is currently taking part in the Master in Startup Administration at Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain.
A challenge enthusiast, Gonzalo is an innate problem solver. After living in 4 different countries in the past 5 years, he enjoys collaborative work and sees team diversity as one of the requirements to achieve successful outcomes.
Jesús Deusa
Jesús Deusa is an Agri-food and Environmental Engineer and Master in Startup Administration from the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
Jesús is also a Double Master in Agronomic Engineering and Food Engineering, and is passionate about the agri-food sector and entrepreneurship.
As the Co-founder of Agrari, a startup that provides agricultural products from farmers directly to consumers, Jesús works on solving food industry challenges in a creative and sustainable way.
Le Bridge Startup Fellows Program
Students: Diane, Eugène, Mélissa, Nicolas, Sacha, Théo
Diane Bruneau
Diane Bruneau is a Master of Business Administration student from EMLyon Business School in France.
Diane previously worked on a sustainable fashion project, but thanks to SCET's Challenge Lab she found a new passion for the future of food and alternative meat.
Currently working on an up-cycled and plant-based protein smoothie project, Diane's experience at SCET has allowed her to cultivate her interest in Women's studies by taking a Gender & Environment class at UC Berkeley.
Nicolas Verriere
Nicolas Verriere is Master in Business from Neoma Business School in France and a Le Bridge Fellow student at UC Berkeley.
As a Web3 entrepreneur, Nicolas contributes actively to NilDAO (an NFT marketplace), and to DAOz (a French freelance collective in the NFT space).
He currently works with several artists and companies, and loves being in the early stages of a venture. Passionate about art and culture, Nicolas has shot 2 short films, including one in Los Angeles and one in France that got several awards.
Eugène Saint-Gregoire
Eugène Saint-Gregoire is an EMLyon student and a Paris Bar School student, and a Le Bridge Fellow at UC Berkeley.
Eugène has experience in finance (Financial Audit, Investment Banks, M&A Law firms) in France and several association experiences with Quid Juris as a legal advisor.
Eugène's first technology project Caridabba, is a free marketplace for cat adoption. His free time is spent consulting for African-related businesses and developing projects in legal technology and in health technology.
Sacha Kassab
Sacha Kassab is a Master in Management student at EmLyon Business School and a Le Bridge Fellow student at UC Berkeley.
As part of the Le Bridge Program, Sacha has gained a better understanding of the entrepreneurial process through multiple hands-on class projects.
Passionate about the sneaker industry, Sacha is currently working on a innovative project that aims to authenticate sneaker ownership with Blockchain technology.
Mélissa Desde
Mélissa Desde is a French student from EMLyon Business School and a Le Bridge Fellows student at UC Berkeley.
Mélissa is passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation. She has been working on wide range of Blockchain projects for the past three years.
Passionate about education, Mélissa is currently Co-founding ‘Start in Blockchain’ a media project that aims to democratize Blockchain and all its related notions (Web3, NFTs, Metaverse) to make it accessible to everyone.
Théo Hoenen
Théo Hoenen is an Engineer student from the University of Technology of Troyes in France, and a Le Bridge Fellow student.
Passionate about the aerial industry but yet concerned about climate change, Theo created Big Bird, a startup that creates clean Hydrogen airships.
With his startup, Theo is currently working on small balloons for aerial data collection, the monitoring of power lines for preventive maintenance, and the scanning of fields in order to optimize agricultural output.
Startup Semester Program
Students: Fernando Gutiérrez, Siyun Min, Tengwen Zhang
Fernando Gutiérrez
Fernando Gutiérrez Luna is a Startup Semester student majoring in Finance in Universidad Iberoamericana in México City.
Fernando founded his first social venture when he was 18 by donating more than 1,000 trees and by developing capacitation programs at a large NGO's in México.
His is motivated on applying technology to address social and environmental challenges. During his time at Berkeley he has developed a passion for Data Science and this summer he will be joining McKinsey as a Summer Business Analyst.
Siyun Min
Siyun Min is a student from Soongsil University in South Korea and a Startup Semester student at UC Berkeley.
With a strong background in computer science, and finance, Siyun is determined to become a strategic entrepreneur able to innovate in the financial world.
Passionate about multidisciplinary studies, Siyun is currently pursuing a career path in project management. He is also interested in the fintech industry and is currently working on various startup projects in class and on his free time.
Tengwen Zhang
Tengwen Zhang is a student from Hong Kong Baptist University, majoring in Finance and Economics.
Passionate about Business, Tengwen wants to learn how to combine business with emerging technologies, and broaden her skills in areas like Data Science.
The Startup Semester program allowed Tengwen to discover new notions on entrepreneurship, and innovation. She has been inspired by the courses and group projects, which led her to find a new direction for future personal development.
SCET - SKEMA Students
Students: Florent, Juliette, Léa, Manik, Pauline
Florent Passalacqua
Florent Passalacqua is an SCET student and a Master in Management student at Berkeley from SKEMA Business School.
Passioned about Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Investment, Florent founded SKEMA Ventures Club to foster entrepreneurship within the student community.
He currently works on an Esport NFT marketplace project to re-unite gamers with their favorite Esport Teams through memorabilia collection, interactive experience and community events.
Manik Koshal
Manik Koshal is currently pursuing a Masters in Management at SKEMA Business School in France.
Passionate about helping small businesses scale using technology, Manik has worked on multidisciplinary projects at several of his classes during his year at UC Berkeley.
He is currently working an a project that focuses on connecting small artists to their fan base using different sets of data and a variety of NFTs.
Juliette Tourre
Juliette Tourre is a SKEMA Business School student and a Startup Management and Tech Entrepreneurship student.
Juliette is passionate about building businesses from scratch by understanding their potential users. She has worked as an entrepreneur in several tech companies in the past.
She is currently working on Feat, a health monitoring device that tests micro nutrients in athletes and its paired with an app that delivers insights on how to optimize their diet and sport performance.
Pauline Boussarsar
Pauline Boussarsar is a UC Berkeley student and a Double Master Degree from Skema Business School.
Pauline has been exploring all the possibilities that Silicon Valley have to offer. She is getting involved in the Metaverse to work on the future of social interactions.
She is highly focused on innovation, and a visionary in the way she thinks and collaborates, never short of inspiration to change what surrounds her.
Léa Segrétain
Léa Segrétain is a student from SKEMA Business School in France, and a Startup Management student at UC Berkeley.
Aside from completing a double degree in Business Administration, Léa is passionate about entrepreneurship and has benefited from the unique startup ecosystem at Berkeley.
Interested in blockchain technology and NFTs, Léa is currently working on a stealth mode project. She is eager to build the future of web3 and make it accessible to a vast majority of people.