San Diego-based defense technology startup Shield AI has announced an expansion of its Series F funding round, securing a total of $500 million. The additional funds include $100 million in equity, raised at the Series F price, and $200 million in debt from Hercules Capital, complementing the initial $200 million in equity closed in November.
The use of AI pilots, a core focus for Shield AI, is gaining traction as a strategic conventional deterrent alongside traditional assets such as aircraft carriers and guided missile submarines.
AI pilots solve the electronic warfare (GPS- and communications-jamming) problem that’s devastating 10,000 drones per month in the Russia-Ukraine War, and they enable the operating concept of intelligent, affordable mass, where swarms of affordable aircraft can accomplish missions normally reserved for expensive, human-piloted craft.
In a recent news release, the company emphasized the transformative impact of AI pilots on national security, particularly in addressing the challenges posed by electronic warfare and enabling intelligent, affordable mass operations.
Shield says its flagship product, Hivemind, an AI pilot facilitating autonomous operations in high-threat environments, has logged more autonomous flight hours executing fighter jet maneuvers than any competitor.
According to the release, the defense and investment communities are seeing the profound impact AI pilots will have on national security and global stability.
In addition to its San Diego office, the 9-year-old company operates from offices in Dallas, Washington, D.C., and overseas.
* * *
San Diego is among the counties in the nation with the largest populations where home purchases became unaffordable in the fourth quarter, according to a recent affordability report from Irvine-based real estate sales data cruncher Attom.
The other counties listed in the release include Los Angeles and Orange counties as well as Maricopa County (Phoenix) and Kings County (Brooklyn), NY.
The study behind the report found that the median-priced single-family homes and condominiums remain less affordable in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to historical averages in 99 percent of counties around the nation with enough data to analyze.
The latest trend continues a pattern dating back to 2021 of home ownership requiring historically sizable portions of wages around the country.
The report also shows that major expenses on median-priced homes consume 33.7% of the average national wage in the fourth quarter — a level considered unaffordable by common lending standards.
San Diego-based home mortgage lender Guild Mortgage recently announced the completion and listing for sale of the first two homes under its Making Paradise Home Initiative.
The manufactured homes are now available in Paradise, CA, which was devastated by the state’s deadliest wildfire.
With the help of Clayton Homes, Golden West Homes of Chico, and Redline Installation, Guild says it initiated the Making Paradise Home Initiative in January 2023 to build four manufactured homes, aiming to educate residents about the benefits of manufactured housing while contributing to the community’s reconstruction.
Since the launch of the initiative, two of the homes are now listed for sale.
The homes, with 1,620 square feet of space, three bedrooms, and two full bathrooms, display modern design elements, high-end quality, and energy efficiency.
Featuring unique financing options with as little as a 3% down payment, these homes are part of the Guild’s effort to bridge the homeownership gap.
The so-called CrossMod home is a new classification of a HUD-code manufactured home.
The homes are built to higher standards and come with the style and array of amenities found in a traditional site-built home, according to a Guild news release.
* * *
San Diego’s Douglas Wilson Cos., which specializes in business workouts to pay off creditors, said that it will function as the assignee in the matter of the recent shutdown of Seattle-based online retailer Zulily.
According to a news release, DWC says it will manage the wind-down of the business and liquidate Zulily’s assets for the benefit of its creditors.
DWC says it will perform these services through a special purpose entity called Zulily ABC LLC, which will serve as the assignee.
After first announcing it was laying off workers several weeks ago, Seattle-based national online retailer Zulily has said they will shutter operations.
* * *
For the fifth time in a row, San Diego energy supplier Sempra has made The Wall Street Journal and Drucker Institute’s annual 250 Best Managed Companies list.
Sempra ranked first amongst its peer group for employee engagement, a reflection of the company’s high-performance culture that drives innovation and operational excellence, according to the two organizations.
The Drucker Institute, located in Claremont, is dedicated to following the principles of Peter Drucker, one of the top-acknowledged business management experts in the 20th century.
* * *
BNN, an online news outlet, is reporting that San Diego’s troubled Illumina is aggressively cutting costs, which includes the early termination of its lease on a major University City office complex. The company took a $54 million charge for ending the lease, the BNN story said.
Other cost-cutting steps for the maker of human genome sequencing equipment have included layoffs.
The campus complex in University City is the jewel in the crown of Illumina’s local corporate footprint and offers employee amenities like a gym and an on-site restaurant in its three-building complex.
Following the failed $7 billion acquisition of cancer test developer Grail and the departure of CEO Francis deSouza, Illumina is also considering downsizing office space in its Northern California location in Foster City.
The goal is to save $100 million a year, the online publication said.
According to the BNN, Illumina’s cost-cutting aligns with a broader trend in the biotech world, as highlighted by a 2023 survey from the San Diego Association of Governments, which showed an increase in companies planning to reduce office space in 2024.
As a result, subleasing is surging in San Diego markets, contributing to an 11% vacancy rate surpassing 2020 pre-pandemic levels
* * *
Finally…OC-based Juice It Up!, which claims to be “one of the nation’s leading handcrafted smoothie and superfruit bowl chains,” has opened the first of six stores in San Marcos, kicking off the company’s entry into the San Diego region.
The restaurant is part of the deal signed by experienced franchise group HGW Capital LLC, which has purchased the exclusive rights to a territory that includes San Diego, Vista, Escondido, Chula Vista and National City.
The company says it plans to have 200 units opened by 2027.
Tom York is a Carlsbad-based independent journalist who specializes in writing about business and the economy. If you have news tips you’d like to share, send them to tom.york@gmail.com.
