Seed money from Siemens

The German tech giant is helping eight small companies in Berkeley, Ca., launch their products in the hopes of reaping some of the rewards. Siemens gets a lab without building one, the companies get about $500,000 —: without being prevented from getting more funds from venture capitalists — and also the leg up of having Siemens as a very big reference and potential customer.

If you want to try to get some money from the big German mama, well, we guess you can try their Berkeley office, at (510) 665-1330.