UC South Coast Research & Extension Center

What UC South Coast Research & Extension Center does

UC South Coast Research & Extension Center (SCREC) is a 193-acre public research facility located at 7601 Irvine Blvd in Irvine, California, operated by the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR). The center serves as a regional living laboratory where UC scientists conduct agricultural and natural resources management research, with particular focus on fruit and vegetable cultivation including avocados, apples, citrus, stone fruits, strawberries, cherimoyas, persimmons, blueberries, and dragon fruit, as well as agronomic crops, turf grass, landscape management, and ornamental plant nursery production. Supporting research disciplines include entomology, plant pathology, biological control, and integrated pest management.

The center's product portfolio encompasses the living laboratory itself, multiple U.S. patents held by the University for strawberry and avocado varieties developed by UC researchers on-site, and the Hub for Urban Living—a multidisciplinary physical and virtual collaboration space connecting universities, non-profits, government agencies, and industry around urban sustainability challenges. The center also serves as headquarters for the Orange County Farm Bureau and houses UC Cooperative Extension Orange County programs including Master Food Preservers, Master Gardeners, 4-H Youth Development, EFNEP, and programs addressing Human Wildlife Interactions, Urban Forestry, Water Resources, and Nutrition/Family & Consumer Services.

The business model is non-commercial: as a public state institution, the center is funded through UC system appropriations, public grants, and institutional channels rather than product pricing. Distribution occurs through UC Cooperative Extension county offices and direct program delivery. Marketing and outreach are conducted via UC ANR media channels, The RECap newsletter, and annual events such as the Open House. The entity currently has approximately 5 employees and is pursuing an Engagement Center construction project to expand its community-facing facilities.

Name

UC South Coast Research & Extension Center

Legal name

Regents of the University of California

Website

https://screc.ucanr.edu

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UC South Coast Research & Extension Center is a 193-acre UC ANR research facility in Irvine, California, conducting agricultural and natural resources research on fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants while delivering extension programs to California producers and communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Biosecurity, Pest & Disease Control for CEA (IPM, Screening, Sanitation) (AFAAAHAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Flagship Public Research Universities (R1/R2) (EDAHAAAA)

Keywords

• Agricultural research services
• Crop variety development
• Integrated pest management
• Cooperative extension programs
• Plant pathology research

Headquarters

HQ city

Irvine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

SCREC is a 193-acre public agricultural research and extension facility that provides land, facilities, and expertise for UC scientists to conduct research on fruits, vegetables, agronomic crops, turf grass, landscape management, and ornamental nursery production, complemented by work in entomology, plant pathology, biological control, and integrated pest management. It hosts UC Cooperative Extension programs including Master Gardeners, 4-H Youth Development, and EFNEP, and houses the Hub for Urban Living multidisciplinary collaboration space. The University holds U.S. patents for strawberry and avocado varieties developed through research at the Center.

Product overview

UC South Coast Research & Extension Center is a 193-acre research facility (not a unified software product) that operates as a regional living laboratory for UC scientists. The portfolio includes a living laboratory for agricultural research on fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants; the Hub for Urban Living multidisciplinary collaboration space; UC Cooperative Extension programs serving Orange County; and patented agricultural varieties developed through UC research. The center also houses the Orange County Farm Bureau. This is a research and extension institution, not a software technology company, so it does not have a modular product platform architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hub for Urban Living: A physical and virtual multidisciplinary space that connects universities, non-profits, government agencies, and industry to discover sustainable solutions for urban challenges

Products and services

• SCREC Living Laboratory A 193-acre regional living laboratory in Irvine, California, providing land and facilities for UC scientists to conduct agricultural and natural resources management research on fruits, vegetables, agronomic crops, turf grass, landscape management, and ornamental nursery production, with supporting work in entomology, plant pathology, biological control, and integrated pest management.
• Hub for Urban Living A physical and virtual multidisciplinary space hosted at SCREC that connects universities, non-profits, government agencies, and industry to discover sustainable solutions to urban world challenges, supported by an interactive Prezi presentation and an ArcGIS StoryMap.
• UC Cooperative Extension Programs (Orange County) Extension programs delivered through UC Cooperative Extension Orange County and hosted at SCREC, including Master Food Preservers, Master Gardeners, 4-H Youth Development, EFNEP, and research and extension programs addressing Human Wildlife Interactions, Urban Forestry, Water Resources, and Nutrition/Family & Consumer Services.
• Patented Strawberry and Avocado Varieties U.S. patents held by the University of California for strawberry and avocado varieties developed by UC researchers utilizing SCREC facilities, made available to commercial agriculture.
• South Coast Stewards Volunteer Program Volunteer program hosted at SCREC that engages community members in stewardship activities supporting the Center's research and extension mission.

Quantifiable outcome

• Development of patented strawberry and avocado varieties for commercial agriculture

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Orange County Farm BureaucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Orange County Farm Bureau is headquartered at the South Coast Research and Extension Center, creating a direct partnership for agricultural outreach and education.
• UC Cooperative Extension Orange CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUC Cooperative Extension programs including Master Food Preservers, Master Gardeners, 4-H Youth Development, and EFNEP are based at the center, delivering research-based information to local communities.
• Hub for Urban Living Partners (Universities, Non-profits, Government Agencies, Industry)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Hub for Urban Living is a physical and virtual multidisciplinary space that connects universities, non-profits, government agencies, and industry to discover sustainable solutions for urban challenges.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo — College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences: Cal Poly's CAFES operates on-campus agricultural research acreage and an undergraduate Learn-by-Doing model that overlaps with SCREC's research-and-extension remit. It is an emerging public peer with partial overlap on crop trials, IPM, and ag extension work.
• Driscoll's (research & breeding operations): Driscoll's operates commercial berry breeding programs (partially sourced from UC-developed varieties) that interact with SCREC's patented strawberry breeding efforts. It is an emerging-adjacent commercial player whose pipeline depends on and competes with publicly-developed cultivars from UC researchers.

Others

• University of California Cooperative Extension (statewide): UC Cooperative Extension's statewide network (including the Orange County office based at SCREC) is the primary delivery mechanism for SCREC's research outputs. It is the central enabling partner and adjacent ecosystem participant in the research-to-extension value chain.
• California Strawberry Commission: The California Strawberry Commission is an industry-supported research and promotion organization that funds strawberry breeding and production research, including work conducted at SCREC. It is an adjacent ecosystem participant that benefits from and contributes to SCREC's patented strawberry breeding pipeline.

Broad incumbents

• UC Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources: UC Davis is the University of California's flagship agricultural research institution and the administrative home of much of UC ANR's plant-breeding and extension work, including strawberry variety development. It is a broad incumbent that supplies many of the researchers and graduate students who conduct field work at SCREC and shares the public-agriculture research and patent-development remit.
• USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) stations in California: USDA ARS operates multiple California research locations (e.g., the Davis and Parlier stations) that conduct parallel public-sector agricultural R&D on fruit, vegetable, and IPM topics. It is a broad incumbent in the same scientific mission space as SCREC but at the federal rather than state/university level.

Direct peers

• UC Riverside College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences: UCR's CNAS, located near SCREC in inland Southern California, conducts overlapping research on avocados, citrus, and subtropical horticulture, and operates the Citrus Experiment Station. It is a directly comparable peer because both institutions share UC system affiliation, focus on Mediterranean/subtropical crops, and contribute to California's plant-breeding and IPM research base.
• Desert Research and Extension Center (UC ANR): Another UC ANR Research and Extension Center serving as a living laboratory for UC agricultural research, this one focused on desert agriculture, agronomic crops, and vegetable production in Imperial Valley. It is structurally identical to SCREC under the UC ANR umbrella and is a direct peer for institutional comparison.
• Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (UC ANR): Kearney REC is another UC ANR Research and Extension Center that serves as a regional living laboratory for UC scientists conducting agricultural and natural resources research on fruit, vegetable, nut, and vine crops. It is the most directly comparable peer to SCREC within the same UC ANR system, with nearly identical mission, funding structure, and patent-development role in crops such as grapes, stone fruit, and tree nuts.

Regional players

• Cornell AgriTech (Cornell University): Cornell AgriTech is a New York-based land-grant university agricultural research facility focusing on fruit, vegetable, and grape research with industry-supported breeding programs. It is a regional peer (different geography) that operates an analogous state-of-the-art ag research and extension model relevant to SCREC's patenting and IPM work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=EgwvGd3Wzyw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ucsouthcoastrec

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UC South Coast Research & Extension Center