Startup Buzz: The EDC Rebrands San Diego as Life. Changing.

Plus: Forge Therapeutics raises $15 million Series A

Follow the Money

Forge Therapeutics, with roots at UCSD, has raised $15 million in Series A funding in a round led by MagnaSci Ventures. Forge develops antibodies through a novel chemistry platform developed at the UCSD lab by Professor Seth Cohen and Dr. David Puerta. Their work in the field of metal-binding chemistry—developing metalloprotein-inhibitor-based pharmaceutical therapies—has most recently yielded positive results in the company’s effort to battle “superbugs” that resist multiple drugs.

North County Technology Hub

A new study by Innovate78 takes a deep look at the strength and depth of the tech sector in north county. The study found that 1 in 5 tech firms in San Diego county are located along the 78 Corridor. The business along the 78 represent 70 different industries and 200 unique occupations. The technology cluster has a $6.1 billion total annual impact and has a competitive advantage in precision manufacturing with biomedical devices, telecommunications equipment, and defense-related products driving that advantage. Innovate78 is a collaborative group of five north county cities located along the 78 freeway–Carlsbad, Escondido, Oceanside, San Marcos, and Vista–working together to boost economic prosperity along the 78 Corridor.

San Diego: Life. Changing.

The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has launched a new effort at rebranding San Diego through the eyes of would-be employees. There has long been a desire in San Diego for a bigger picture brand, one that goes beyond the quality of life and tourism factors that already define the city and region.

After some research they learned that while San Diego has a lot to brag about in terms of being patent intense and hosting a large number of R&D firms (3^rd highest among its peer metropolitan areas), people don’t actually know these things about San Diego. The EDC also went on a quest to determine what really makes San Diego different than say Austin, Denver, or the Bay Area.

“Time and time again, companies said to us, ‘We’re different because we care about changing the world.’ And it wasn’t just Illumina and other life science companies saying this. It was GoPro, Underground Elephant, and others,” said Mark Cafferty, President and CEO of the EDC.

Last week at its annual dinner, the EDC unveiled the first look at their new branding campaign for San Diego, titled “San Diego: Life. Changing.” It shares the visual story of the work going on at companies here in San Diego. They also launched ImagineSanDiego.org if you want to learn more about the idea or get involved in the Brand Alliance helping to drive this campaign. You can share your own story on the site. The EDC is working on a toolkit usable by local companies to also help spread the message.

Downtown Business

Check out this month’s issue of San Diego Magazine and not just because it is the Beer issue. There is also a great spread on “The New Downtown.” In it, we get to share why so many businesses, especially startups, are calling downtown home. MindTouch, Vine, EvoNexus, Jungo, and WeWork all help paint the picture of working downtown.

Immigration Now an Online Marketplace

Shopimmigration.com has taken the painful process of navigating the legal immigration process and tried to simplify it online. You can shop for experts such as lawyers or get advice from experts. It’s not surprising some of their initial customers have come from tech companies such as Google and Illumina.