May 10, 2017 Comments (0) Views: 2513 Blog, Startup Buzz

Startup Buzz: Craig Venter’s $25,000 Cure for Aging

Plus: Hopsy now delivers craft beer in San Diego

$25,000 Cure for Aging?

Health Nucleus, part of Craig Venter’s Human Longevity, is now offering a high-level check-up that boasts helping you avoid death and comes at a cost of $25,000. “We want to find things early when they are treatable and preventable,” Venter told KPIX 5 News. “What we’re looking for is what’s unique to each person and how that would predict their future.” The test includes genome sequencing, microbiota sequencing (think germs), a blood test, and MRI body imaging. Venter said many patients believe they are healthy until they take this test.

Craft Beer Soaked

Hopsy, the online marketplace and growler delivery service is now up and running in “craft beer-soaked” San Diego. The San Francisco-based startup has opened a 4,500 square-foot facility in San Diego for distribution and retail sales. The delivery service began offering San Diego deliveries this month and started with breweries such as Coronado Brewing and Belching Beaver. The company started with $450,000 in seed funding, received another $1 million last summer, and is in the process of raising a Series A now. They plan to expand to New York after the next round of money comes in.

Another San Diego Strike Against Cancer

Xconomy tells the story of 77-year-old founder and CEO of DrugCendR, Erkki Ruoslahti. Ruoslahti, formerly with Sanford Burnham, returned to San Diego to run the company that is working to create new ways to increase the uptake of cancer drugs in solid tumors. Three founders have put in $1 million to get through pre-clinical studies. The next step is FDA approval. The company’s most likely product is a “tumor-penetrating peptide known as integrine-bindgin arginine-glycine-aspartic acid, or iRGD.” iRGD creates a pathway for anti-cancer drugs using paths only found in blood vessels connected to solid tumors.

Local Ag Tech Gets Recognition

Vision Robotics made the list of Ag Tech startups to keep an eye on from Nanalyze.com. The company has been working on an orange harvesting machine and has already developed a lettuce thinner, grapevine pruner, and a weeder.

San Diego Innovation Gets the Royal Treatment

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, made a visit to San Diego last week. While he was here he was treated to some of the best innovation and technology that San Diego can offer. He attended briefings on cybersecurity and data analytics, met with leaders of CONNECT, and visited the Qualcomm Institute.