Follow the Money
A quick roundup of local companies that received some VC backing
- $8.8 million: Series A funding local cybersecurity firm Attack IQ raised last fall
- $20 million: Raised by Jecure Therapeutics for its treatment of fatty liver disease
- $50 million: Amount secured by Vividion Therapeutics for its official launch
On the Border
A quick look at the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry, the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere
- 70,000 vehicles cross north into the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry everyday. This is expected to increase by 87 percent by 2030.
- 34 northbound vehicle inspection lanes will be open when construction at the border crossing is completed in 2019.
- $741 million: The total cost of the border crossing’s eight-year makeover, which includes new vehicle lanes, inspection booths, the PedWest pedestrian crossing, and a new transit center.
Sources: General Services Administration; SANDAG
Meet EMMA
A homegrown robot that’s taking over the cleaning business
A San Diego company has made a huge leap in the robot game. Brain Corp, which is funded by Qualcomm Ventures, developed EMMA, a robot brain that converts manual commercial floor cleaners into self-driving ones. EMMA uses artificial intelligence to avoid obstacles (and people) in stores, and lets companies automate cleaning tasks—think of it like an oversized Roomba. It won the Innovation of the Year Award at the ISSA Interclean trade show last fall, and companies like Jimbo’s and Pristine Environments are already using the technology.
