Portfolium Funding

Local company Portfolium has raised $6.6 million in a round led by SJF Ventures that also included University Ventures and USA Funds. Portfolium is a digital platform where students can showcase their work to potential employers. In recent months, the company has been focused on growing its relationships with universities and has to date partnered with approximately 200 colleges and universities, giving them 3.75 million students within those relationships.  

Industry on the List for TCA Pitch Fest

Downtown’s Industry, a LinkedIn style platform for the restaurant business, will be one of the featured companies at the Tech Coast Angels Quick Pitch Competition in early October. Readers might remember Industry launching a partnership with the Washington State Restaurant Association (WRA) this month. It is going well, with restaurant members getting access to the platform through their membership in the WRA. The employees range from the first time job seeker to the experienced chef. The service is also available in several languages, including Spanish, French, and Mandarin. The company is three years old and grew out of the Zahn Center at SDSU. They have more big news coming—this company is definitely on a growth trajectory, so stay tuned.  

CONNECT Releases Annual Innovation Report

CONNECT has released its annual report, which takes a look at the innovation economy in San Diego. Highlights from this year include 405 new innovation startups in San Diego, making San Diego County fourth in the state for new startups being created. The top niches for these new startups are software and life sciences, making up 337 of the 405 new companies. San Diego leads the state in life science startups with the creation of 1,650 new jobs. “For the past 11 years, CONNECT’s Innovation Report has acted as a roadmap for corporate leadership and policymakers to identify the region’s most pressing needs,” said Greg McKee, CEO of CONNECT. “It’s no secret that the innovation economy is critical to the region’s prosperity, but more importantly innovation is the cornerstone to ensuring that San Diego keeps its place on the global stage long into the future.”  

DeskHub Expands in Little Italy in Partnership with CONNECT

Last week, co-working space DeskHub opened an additional 8,000 square feet in Little Italy and announced a new partnership with CONNECT, to offer additional education and networking.

San Diego Realtors Caught Up in Venture Fund Scam

In 2012, Albert Hu went to jail for fraud for creating a bogus investment firm, called Asenqua Ventures. Hu is still in jail, but somehow Asenqua Ventures recently became active again. Profiles for two of Asenqua’s senior managers on LinkedIn started sending out connection requests. However, after some sleuthing by a suspecting recipient of a LinkedIn invitation, it turns out the photos used on these profiles were actually those of local San Diego realtors Dan Becker and Will Fagan. The new activity from the company is a curious turn of events for investigators, who are now trying to determine who is making the moves.

Instacart is Expanding its San Diego Presence, Again

After expanding into San Diego in July, grocery delivery service Instacart is now offering delivery to coastal San Diego from Point Loma and Ocean Beach up to Torrey Pines. The expansion brings their local potential customer base to around 800,000 people.  

Pivots and Opportunities

San Diego Venture Group is now taking applications for their annual Pitch Fest that takes place in December. Deadline is October 21.  

Be There or Be…

San Diego Zoo Hackathon
October 7-9
The San Diego Zoo is hoping to enlist the wisdom of creative technical community to help stop wildlife trafficking.  

Tech Coast Angels Quick Pitch
October 6, 6-9 p.m., Qualcomm
See companies such as Braykion, CaddySnack, CourseKey, Industry, Librede, and ResortPass make their pitch.  

Tags: Blogs, Downtown Buzz