Startup Buzz: San Diego’s Powur is Gaining Traction in the Solar Market

Plus: The (Underground) Elephant in the room, former VP Joe Biden in SD, and more startup news

Follow the Money

Epic Sciences just announced a $40 million Series D funding round led by Hermed Capital. The company has developed a liquid biopsy platform and currently has more than 200 ongoing clinical trials. The biopsy technology that tests patients’ blood is different than others in the market because it is predictive about treatment, not simply a detection or diagnosis. The company hopes for the test to let doctors know what treatments could be more effective when making decisions regarding how to treat a particular patient’s cancer.

The Elephant in the Room

Not many in the downtown tech community were surprised last week when the San Diego Reader reported on an ongoing lawsuit involving Underground Elephant CEO Jason Kulpa. The company has received a good deal of attention over the past few years here in San Diego for its cool new office space downtown in East Village. What effect this report and the new level of public scrutiny will have on the company and its employees is yet to be seen.

New Powur for the Solar Market

Powur is hoping to transform the world of lead generation in the solar market. Instead of each solar company going after costly and hard to find leads on their own, Powur is hoping those companies turn to its stable of agents who work to create higher quality leads. Powur likens their disruption in the market to the Uber model. In looking at how they motivate, engage, and educate their sales team, it very much resembles direct sales. No matter what it is, the numbers indicate that it seems to be working. The average cost to acquire a lead in the solar market is $3,000. By using Powur, companies can reduce that cost to $1,400 per lead. The solar market is growing and Powur is taking advantage of that, recording their biggest month of revenue yet in March. Their revenue comes from training fees and costs paid by the advisors that work for them, and from the solar companies who pay a percentage for leads and for closed business. The company is hoping to raise funds through a crowdfunding effort on Wefunder and already have 236 investors representing more than $633,000.

San Diego Startup Corners the Puppy Market

With spending in the American pet market predicted to reach $70 billion in 2017, the market is fertile ground for startup and e-commerce businesses. Local online company Pupbox has taken over the puppy market segment. They offer a regular subscription and provide products and information helpful to new puppy owners on topics such as training and chewing. “The puppy niche specifically is a really big market segment that’s kind of ignored throughout the industry,” says Pupbox co-founder and CEO Ben Zveifler. “We want to become the Gerber or the Honest Company for puppies.” He shared with Mashable that his thinking is similar to the “Disney mentality” where you capture a customer at an early age and grow their value and loyalty over time.

Vice President Joe Biden Talks Cancer in SD

The Fortune Brainstorm Health Conference is underway this week in Carmel Valley at the Grand Del Mar. There are several high profile speakers on the schedule including former Vice President Joe Biden. He will be talking cancer and his work to create a Cancer Moonshot task force for President Obama. And he couldn’t be in a better place for that conversation. The San Diego region is ripe with companies developing novel and ground-breaking technologies and treatments in the cancer arena. Just over the past few months I have shared news about Tocagen, the Center for Novel Therapeutics, and Samumed, and there are numerous others creating a high-tech front in the cancer war right here inside our already robust biotech cluster.