San Diego’s innovation economy created more than one new company a day last year, adding hundreds of jobs in the process, according to a new study by CONNECT.
CONNECT, the San Diego region’s original technology incubator, reported 448 new innovation companies were created in 2014, up from 412 in 2013 and 316 in 2012.
Nearly a quarter of the companies started in 2014 worked with CONNECT’s Springboard program, which helped the startups raise $102 million in funding.
“We’re so proud that CONNECT’s Springboard graduate companies continue to grow and succeed in the market,” said Greg McKee, the organization’s chief executive officer. “The incredible success of even our most recent Springboard graduates demonstrates the strength of the start-ups in San Diego.”
Other findings from CONNECT’s Springboard Impact Assessment Innovation Report, released Friday, were:
- From 2005-2014, $1.2 billion was raised by CONNECT Springboard company graduates.
- Life sciences companies have received the most funding since 2005, more than $380 million in total.
- Springboard companies reported aggregated revenue of almost $250 million in 2014.
- Since 2005, 18 Springboard companies have been acquired and 261 are still actively in business.
- Since 2005, more than 4,000 new jobs have been created by CONNECT Springboard graduate companies.
Mitch Thrower, founder and chairman of Springboard graduate Events.com, called CONNECT “an essential ingredient of start-up success.
“It warmly welcomes the entrepreneur into the center of the startup ecosystem,” said Thrower. “As a two-time graduate of CONNECT’s Springboard, I’m a fan. My first Springboard company, Active.com, was sold for more than $1 billion, and therefore it was only natural that we would again work with CONENCT to build a much bigger company with Events.com.”
