Follow the Money

Samumed, a local biotech company described by some as “creating a fountain of youth,” is charting a different funding path that is getting noticed in the wake of the failure of Theranos. With a current valuation of $12 billion, the company has not gone the traditional route of venture capital funding, instead taking investments from family members and other individuals. Samumed focuses on using regenerative medicine to approach hair loss, disc diseases, cancer, and arthritis. They are also looking to make some headway on Alzheimer’s and osteoarthritis.

Hired.com Report Makes Case for Smaller Tech Hubs Like San Diego

Hired.com is out with its Global State of Tech Salaries report. The report overall reflects the growth of innovation hubs outside of Silicon Valley. In particular it shows that software engineer salaries in smaller hubs such as San Diego, Austin, and Denver are more competitive, when adjusted for cost of living, than those in San Francisco.

UCSD Student Awarded for CleanTech Startup

UCSD sophomore Yohann Samarasinghe has partnered with his friend Pavel Galchenko to create RVS Rubber Solutions based at Case Western University in Ohio.  The company has figured out a new way to separate and recycle the components of discarded tires. The duo won a $50,000 CleanTech University prize last week as part of the Midwest regional competition of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Cleantech competition. They will go on to compete nationally in June.

Cyber Experts Head North for RSA

Good luck getting help from a cybersecurity company this week. A large chunk of that industry is in San Francisco this week for the RSA Conference. This morning’s flight to SFO from SAN was a virtual networking pre-party with representatives from CrowdStrike, FireEye, and others. San Diego has a solid concentration of cybersecurity companies located here. If you want to learn more about the cybersecurity industry in San Diego check out this primer put together last year by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation.

Pivots and Opportunities

New Co-Working Opportunities Abound

Moniker Commons in Liberty Station opened last Friday and still has some space available. I dropped by on opening day to see the finished space. One of my favorite parts was these small meeting areas with benches made from cinder blocks.

Next week is the grand opening of WeWork San Diego downtown and they are also still accepting members. Their grand opening party is Thursday, February 23.

Be There or Be…

• Bootstrappers Breakfast
  February 17, 7:30 a.m., Broken Yolk, 1851 Garnet Avenue
  
• Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs
  February 23, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Hera Hub, 4010 Sorrento Valley Blvd., Suite 400
  Hosted by San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange
• Women in Tech: Bold Women Innovate
  March 1, Intuit San Diego Café, 97535 Torrey Santa Fe Road
  Panelists include: Kristi Jaska of ViaSat, Tristan Barnum of Tellient, Chrysa Mineo of Receptos, and Rocio Montes of Intuit, with moderator Kayla Trautwein of EvoNexus.

Tags: Blogs, Startup Buzz