Startup Buzz: SDSU Graduates Making Craft Brewing More Eco-Friendly

Plus: Edico Genome and Scientist.com both raise $20+ million rounds

Follow the Money

Edico Genome announced a $22 million Series B round last week led by Dell Technologies Capital and including their existing investors. The company, which has created a go-to solution for clinicians and researchers with its end-to-end platform for genome sequencing, is looking to use the funding to “expand market adoption and product development.” The platform, Dragen, has significantly reduced the amount of time required to complete sequencing with higher accuracy and lower costs.

Scientist.com also has funding news, bringing in $24 million led by Leerink Transformation Partners and 5AM Ventures. The company operates a marketplace where larger pharmaceutical firms can connect with smaller companies offering outsourced research.

SDSU Graduates Take Their Startup with Them

Four mechanical engineering students from SDSU are taking a degree and a startup with them when they graduate this May. The co-founders of Recyclinator started their business at SDSU’s Zahn Innovation Platform Launchpad. The company has developed a device that captures carbon dioxide emitted during the craft beer brewing process, then cleans, stores, and recycles it for reuse. The team has been advised by Jeff Silver, CEO of Rough Draft Brewing, which spends approximately $70 each day on carbon dioxide while at the same time almost $130 worth of it escapes into the atmosphere as part of the fermentation process. What’s next for Recyclinator after graduation? The company is looking to raise $20,000 to take the company to the next phase, outside of SDSU’s incubator. It already brought in $7,000 by winning the University of San Diego’s Social Innovation Challenge. The seed funding will be for a full-scale prototype, product testing, and to cover costs that are currently covered by SDSU’s Launchpad.

WIT Starts ‘em Young

This Thursday, a local non-profit with a mission to foster social entrepreneurship and leadership in teens will host one of four national showcases here in San Diego. Whatever It Takes (WIT) will showcase teens from 15 San Diego high schools who will present their businesses, their impact, and discuss how they scaled. The organization prides itself on offering students “real world social entrepreneurship practice” in its nine-month program. Some of their past entrepreneurial efforts have included The Brave: Untold Stories, an effort to tell the stories of military servicemen and women, and Hexi-Gon, an unlimited portable charger using magnet technology to be deployed in third world countries. WIT hosts three other national showcases in Austin, New York, and St. Louis.

Stealing Talent from the Bay

Local biotech company Human Longevity has made a big talent grab from the Bay Area. The company has hired Nino Fanlo, former president and CFO of Social Finance, an online lender based in San Francisco. Human Longevity, founded by local innovator Craig Venter, is focused on generating health intelligence that keeps you living longer. Last week we told you about one of Human Longevity’s companies, Health Nucleus, that offers a $25,000 test to help you avoid dying.

PR Expert Makes the Case for San Diego’s Startup Ecosystem

Local PR maven Beck Bamberger has a great rundown in Huffington Post about what makes San Diego’s ecosystem fertile ground for startups. Don’t just take her word for it — she has collected a broad range of opinions and thoughts from founders and others about what makes San Diego a smart choice.