The annual San Diego Angel Conference has announced six finalists vying for $200,000 in angel seed capital.
The conference, which is held in partnership with the University of San Diego, seeks to connect investors with early-stage startups. It follows an eight-month cycle and concludes May 9.
Accredited investors can buy early-bird tickets until March 31 here.
The finalists who emerged from a list of 100 include, according to a news release:
- Achieve Clinics — Empowering newly diagnosed cancer patients to access future advanced treatments like cell therapy.
- Ecodrive — B2B platform that makes sustainability accessible, transparent and ROI effective.
- Kids Care Finder — Comprehensive platform connecting parents with child-related services kids need from birth to grown in one place.
- Landng Inc. — SaaS MarTech startup that drives sales of travel products by connecting brands, influencers, travelers.
- TadHealth — Suite of enterprise tools to deliver and manage school-based mental health care.
- Yatiri Bio Inc. — Revolutionizing drug discovery with models predictive of patient outcomes.
According to a spokeswoman, the conference has become the largest seed-funding event in the country.
The conference features 90 investors who toss in at least $7,000 in capital each.
The investors collaborate to select winners and runners-up annually from the pooled funds.
The conference, guided by founder Mysty Rusk, has raised $191 million over the past six years.
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Meanwhile, the University of San Diego’s Free Enterprise Institute has launched a new family business initiative, which will be aimed at providing support and needed resources to family-owned businesses.
This initiative, located within USD’s business school, will provide collaboration, mentoring, training, and succession planning assistance to family businesses.
The program focuses on fostering innovation within family enterprises, according to a news release.
The inaugural event on April 9 will focus on family philanthropy and foundations for businesses interested in community impact through philanthropy.
Services provided by the initiative include counseling on product expansion, technology integration, funding acquisition, and financial planning, with a particular emphasis on succession planning.
Co-chairs are USD alumni Chris Yount and Jeremy Lurey of the Family Business Consulting Group.
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The Don Norman Design Award, a nonprofit organization promoting humanity-centered design, has launched its inaugural awards program named after Don Norman.
The awards recognize early career practitioners and educational programs demonstrating measurable benefits to communities.
The program is accepting project applications until April 15 and educational group applications until May 31.
Winners will be announced in November.
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San Diego unmanned aerial system startup Firestorm Labs has received $12.5 million in funding from Lockheed Martin Ventures and several other defense investors.
CEO Dan Magy said Firestorm is shaping the evolving UAS-dominated battlefield and defense manufacturing landscape.
He said Firestorm aims to revolutionize warfare with its 3D-made interchangeable airframe components.
The company, having previously received U.S. Department of Defense contracts, will scale production to meet increasing demand with the new capital it has received, according to a news release.
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UC San Diego and Algenesis, a material science startup spun off by the university, have published the results of a scientific study looking into the challenges of widespread microplastic pollution.
The study, titled “Rapid biodegradation of microplastics generated from bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane,” was published in Nature’s Scientific Reports.
According to a news release, the study resulted from a collaborative effort by researchers from Algenesis and UC San Diego.
The paper highlights the development of a revolutionary bio-based and biodegradable thermoplastic polyurethane, which promises to reduce the environmental impacts of plastics.
Meanwhile, Algenesis has developed a new product from polyurethane, which will be available this year for use in coatings and injectable plastics.
The news release said the product will provide a path to a long-term solution to the issue of microplastic accumulation in oceans, ecosystems, and human bodies.
According to the company website “Algenesis is on a mission to help the planet recover from the pollution caused by products made from fossil fuels.”
“Our scientists redesigned plastic materials to harmonize with nature. Our patented Soleic technology is the world’s first high-performance, renewable, and fully biodegradable plastic material made from plants.”
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San Diego craft-beer maker Bay City Brewing Co. says it has inked a distribution agreement with one of the pioneers of craft beer, Karl Strauss Brewing Co.
Bay City beer will begin appearing on retail store shelves and in restaurants in Southern California in April, according to a news release.
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San Diego pharma and biotech software-as-a-serivce ScienceMedia has announced its first advisory board, and interestingly, all six of the advisors are women.
According to a company news release, the six are “esteemed industry pioneers.”
With input from the board, ScienceMedia said it seeks to redefine clinical trials and science education, leveraging a wealth of business management expertise.
The powerhouse team includes:
- Jocelyn M. Ashford, head of U.S. corporate affairs at AstraZeneca
- Dawn Fury, senior VP of enterprise delivery operations at Signant Health
- Elle Hamilton, chief executive officer at Revios Strategies
- Melissa Holbrook, a principal clinical consultant and research site advisor
- Carrie Melvin, senior VP global clinical operations & medical writing at Stemline Therapeutics
- Janet White, portfolio & platform lead, global health programs, at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
ScienceMedia CEO Mark Surles highlighted the board’s future role in guiding the company’s product development portfolio.
Their collective expertise spans clinical trial operations across various sectors, product innovation, rare diseases and patient advocacy, he said.
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The typical U.S. household earns $29,448 less than it needs to afford a median-priced home, according to a new report from Web-based real estate broker Redfin.
In San Diego, the situation facing buyers is getting even worse.
The typical household here earns $108,000 — 55% less than the $238,373 needed to buy the $885,000 median-priced home.
The other metros where the typical household earns over 50% less than needed to afford a home were Anaheim (58% less), San Francisco (58%), San Jose (55%), New York (52%) and Miami (51%).
San Diego homebuyers in February needed to earn 17% more than a year earlier to afford the typical home — one of the biggest jumps nationwide.
According to the report, February 2021 was the last month on record when a typical household in the U.S. earned more than it needed to afford the median-priced home.
Back then, the median household income was $69,021—6% higher than the $65,292 needed to afford the typical home.
According to the Redfin release, “Affordability is strained today because housing costs are rising much faster than incomes. The median household income has increased 6% over the last year, half as much as the income needed to afford the median-priced home.”
The median monthly housing payment for homebuyers was $2,838 in February, down from a record high of $3,012 in October but up 12% year over year. Redfin said.
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And speaking of affordable homes…
Builder KB Home this week announced the opening of Prospect Gardens, its new home development in Santee.
The homes feature one- and two-story floor plans with up to five bedrooms and three baths, according to a news release.
Prices start at $1.2 million.
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.