Tien Lee, Andreas Niethammer

Founded 2017, Aardvark develops small-molecule gut-hormone (TAS2R bitter-taste-receptor) agonists for obesity and metabolic disease, led by ARD-101 and ARD-201. It IPO'd on NASDAQ (AARD) in February 2025, ra...

Uli Hacksell (early CEO), founders via Receptor Technologies

Founded 1993, Acadia (NASDAQ: ACAD) is a San Diego CNS pharma known for NUPLAZID (Parkinson's disease psychosis) and DAYBUE, the first approved treatment for Rett syndrome. A commercial-stage neuroscience an...

Randy Werneth

Founded 2011, Acutus develops AI-driven, real-time 3D cardiac imaging and mapping (AcQMap) plus ablation tools for cardiac arrhythmias. Went public (Nasdaq: AFIB) in 2020 and has since restructured toward a ...

Charles Myers

San Diego–HQ; NASDAQ: AIRG. Designs embedded antennas and integrated wireless systems (5G, Wi-Fi, GPS, asset-tracking) for automotive, IoT, enterprise and consumer devices. A specialist antenna/hardware play...

founders via Scripps (Peter Schultz lineage)

A protein-engineering company using expanded genetic code to build precisely designed antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Rooted in Scripps chemistry, Ambrx was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2024 for ~$2.0–2...

Joseph Payne, Pad Chivukula

Founded 2013, Arcturus (NASDAQ: ARCT) develops self-amplifying mRNA vaccines and therapeutics on its LUNAR lipid-nanoparticle delivery platform. It won approval for a self-amplifying mRNA COVID vaccine (KOST...

Gregory Garrabrants (CEO)

Digital-first bank and fintech holding company (NYSE: AX) with ~$29B in assets; one of the largest banks founded and headquartered in California. Its bank HQ and primary operations sit at 4350 La Jolla Villa...

Desmond Wheatley

San Diego (Sorrento Valley) cleantech maker of the EV ARC, a solar-powered, off-grid, transportable EV charging station (no trenching/grid connection). Publicly traded (Nasdaq: BEEM; formerly Envision Solar)...

Mark Erlander (CEO)

San Diego clinical-stage oncology company (NASDAQ: CRDF) developing onvansertib, a first-in-class oral PLK1 inhibitor, in combination regimens for metastatic colorectal and other RAS-mutated cancers. A publi...

Ayub Khattak, Clint Sever

Founded 2010, Cue built a portable molecular diagnostics platform delivering lab-quality PCR-grade results (COVID, flu, RSV) at home/point-of-care. IPO'd 2021 at a multi-billion valuation but wound down oper...

John Burd, Scott Glenn

Founded 1999, Dexcom is the global leader in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), with its wearable sensor/transmitter patches streaming real-time glucose data to phones and receivers. Its G7 platform is a m...

Jonathan Lim, Kevin Koch

Founded 2018 by serial founder Jonathan Lim, Erasca (NASDAQ: ERAS) is a clinical-stage precision-oncology company built to 'erase cancer' by shutting down the RAS/MAPK pathway. It IPO'd in 2021 (~$300M raise...

ESET's North America headquarters, opened as a new 24,000-sq-ft downtown SD office in Oct 2024, supporting 200+ regional staff. ESET is a global antivirus/endpoint-security vendor protecting 100M+ devices. N...

John Mendlein, scientific founders (incl. Sheng Ding)

Founded 2007, Fate (NASDAQ: FATE) is a leader in off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived cell therapies (CAR-T and NK) for cancer and autoimmune disease. Its induced-pluripotent-stem-cell product engine remains one of S...

(formerly American Technology / LRAD Corp; led by Richard Danforth)

San Diego–HQ; NASDAQ: GNSS. Makers of Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) for long-range hailing/warning, plus a geo-targeted mass-notification and emergency-management software platform (Genasys Protect / EV...

founded 1955; owned by the Blue family (Neal & Linden Blue)

Founded 1955 as a General Dynamics division; acquired by the Blue family in 1986. Privately held deeptech powerhouse best known for the MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper and Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft (9M+ flight...

Gregory Frost (early CEO), founders via Global Genomics

Founded 1998 (IPO 2004), Halozyme (NASDAQ: HALO) licenses its ENHANZE hyaluronidase drug-delivery platform that converts IV biologics to subcutaneous injections for partners like Roche, J&J and argenx. A pro...

David Walt, John Stuelpnagel, Anthony Czarnik, Larry Bock, Mark Chee

Founded 1998, Illumina is the global leader in DNA sequencing and array technologies and San Diego's biotech crown jewel. Its NovaSeq X platform drives the drop toward sub-$200 whole genomes; FY2025 revenue ...

(Novatel Wireless successor; led by Dan Mondor / Juho Sarvikas)

San Diego–HQ 5G company; NASDAQ: INSG (traces to Novatel Wireless, founded 1996; became Inseego 2016). Leader in 5G fixed-wireless-access routers/gateways and the MiFi mobile-hotspot brand for carriers and e...

Stanley Crooke

Founded 1989 as Isis Pharmaceuticals, Ionis (NASDAQ: IONS) pioneered antisense oligonucleotide (RNA-targeted) medicines and remains the anchor of North County's RNA cluster. Its pipeline underpins approved d...

Eric DeMarco (CEO)

San Diego–HQ defense-tech firm; NASDAQ: KTOS, ~4,300 employees. Builds jet-powered tactical drones (Valkyrie XQ-58), high-performance aerial targets, hypersonic vehicles, solid rocket motors and C5ISR/satell...

David Inns, Arlene Harris

GreatCall (San Diego) built simplified mobile phones and wearable medical-alert / fall-detection devices (Lively Mobile, Jitterbug) with 24/7 urgent-response and health-monitoring services for older adults. ...

Carl Hull (chairman/CEO)

Formed 2014 and IPO'd 2020 (NASDAQ: MRVI), Maravai is a life-science tools leader whose TriLink CleanCap technology supplied mRNA capping reagents for COVID vaccines. It provides nucleic-acid production and ...

Kishore Seendripu, Curtis Ling, Madhukar Reddy (all ex-Silicon Wave/Broadcom RF)

Founded 2003 in Carlsbad; NASDAQ: MXL. RF, high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for broadband, connectivity, wireless-infrastructure and data-center interconnect. Founding team traces to S...

Charles Baum

A precision-oncology company whose KRAS G12C inhibitor KRAZATI (adagrasib) won FDA approval for lung cancer. Bristol Myers Squibb acquired Mirati in early 2024 for ~$4.8–5.8B, one of San Diego's largest onco...

Kevin Gorman, Wylie Vale

Founded 1992 out of UCSD neuroscience, Neurocrine is San Diego's flagship commercial-stage pharma (NASDAQ: NBIX), maker of INGREZZA (tardive dyskinesia) and Crenessity. In 2025 it acquired Soleno Therapeutic...

Alexis Shelokov, Keith Valentine

Founded 1997, NuVasive pioneered minimally invasive spine surgery devices and surgical automation/neuromonitoring platforms. It merged with Globus Medical in 2023 (~$3.1B) but retains a major San Diego footp...

Gregory Poilasne

Founded 2010; vehicle-to-grid (V2G) pioneer whose GIVe platform dynamically manages power between EV/school-bus batteries and the grid. Went public via SPAC in 2021 (Nasdaq: NVVE), deployed on five continent...

Eric Ostertag

Founded 2014, Poseida built non-viral gene-engineering platforms (piggyBac transposon, Cas-CLOVER) for allogeneic 'off-the-shelf' CAR-T and gene therapies. Roche acquired Poseida in 2025 (~$1.5B plus milesto...

Ronald Reedy, Mark Burgener

Founded 1988 in San Diego; pioneer of UltraCMOS RF-SOI technology for high-performance RF integrated circuits (switches, tuners, front-end modules) in mobile, aerospace/defense and infrastructure. Shipped 4B...

Irwin Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi, Franklin Antonio, Klein Gilhousen, Harvey White, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen (7 co-founders)

Founded July 1985 in Irwin Jacobs' living room by seven Linkabit veterans. Invented and commercialized CDMA, the foundation of 3G/4G/5G cellular; today a ~$150B+ chip and licensing giant (Snapdragon SoCs, RF...

Peter Farrell

Founded 1989, ResMed makes cloud-connected medical devices and digital health software for sleep apnea, COPD and other chronic respiratory conditions (CPAP machines, masks, and the AirView/myAir remote-monit...

Kim Blickenstaff

Founded 2006, Tandem builds touchscreen insulin pumps (t:slim X2, Mobi) with automated insulin-delivery algorithms (Control-IQ) that integrate with CGMs like Dexcom. A leading diabetes device maker and a cor...

Mark Dankberg, Mark Miller, Steve Hart

Founded 1986 in Carlsbad; NASDAQ: VSAT. Global satellite-communications leader providing high-throughput satellite broadband, in-flight Wi-Fi (American, JetBlue, United) and secure government/military networ...

Kent Hawryluk, Mark Davis, Troy Wilson, Frank McCormick

Founded 2012, Avidity pioneered Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs) to deliver RNA therapeutics into muscle for rare neuromuscular diseases (myotonic dystrophy, DMD, FSHD). In a landmark 2025 exit, No...

Christian Homsy + Penn scientific founders (Carl June, Drew Weissman)

Founded 2021 and SD-headquartered, Capstan pioneers in vivo CAR-T — using targeted lipid nanoparticles to reprogram immune cells inside the body (tech from Penn's Carl June and Nobel laureate Drew Weissman)....

Jeffrey Stein

Founded 2012, Cidara developed anti-infectives and its Cloudbreak drug-Fc conjugate platform, headlined by a long-acting flu antiviral (CD388). Merck agreed to acquire Cidara in late 2025 for ~$9.2B, a block...

Zeb Evans & Alex Yurkowski

Founded 2017, ClickUp relocated its HQ to San Diego in 2020 and became one of the city's fastest-rising unicorns. Its October 2021 $400M Series C (a16z, Tiger Global) valued the productivity/work-management ...

Adam Markowitz, Daniel Marashlian & Troy Markowitz

Founded 2020 by UC San Diego alum (and ex-NASA engineer) Adam Markowitz, Drata is a security-compliance automation platform (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, etc.). It hit unicorn status in 2021, then raised a...

Doug Winter, Ed Calnan, Nasser Barghouti & Fred Xie

Founded 2010 (famously bootstrapped from a San Diego basement), Seismic is the category-leading AI-powered sales-enablement and content-orchestration platform. It raised a $92M Series F led by Permira in 202...

Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng, Andrew Reiter

Founded 2015; builds Hivemind, an AI 'pilot' enabling drones/aircraft to fly autonomously in GPS- and comms-denied combat (deployed since 2018) plus the V-BAT VTOL drone. Raised $240M at a $5.3B valuation (M...

Mike Anderson & Ali Behnam

Founded 2008, Tealium is a leading independent Customer Data Platform (CDP) and tag-management vendor. It raised a $96M Series G in 2021 (Georgian, Silver Lake Waterman) at a ~$1.2B valuation and reported ~$...

Benjamin Cravatt, Keriann Backus, Tom Maimone (Scripps founders)

Founded 2013 out of Scripps chemical-proteomics, Vividion uses chemoproteomics to drug 'undruggable' targets. Bayer acquired it in 2021 for up to ~$2B while keeping it as an independent SD R&D unit; it conti...

Joe Kudla

Founded 2015 in Carlsbad; premium performance/athleisure apparel brand that scaled via a D2C-plus-selective-retail model and physical stores. Profitable since 2017; an $825M secondary tender led by General A...

Jared Tangney, Joshua Windmiller

Founded 2012, Biolinq makes a minimally invasive, intradermal microneedle biosensor patch for continuous metabolic/glucose monitoring, featuring an on-body color-changing display (no phone needed). Raised $5...

Adam Harris & Richard Castle

Founded 2012 by San Diego native Adam Harris, Cloudbeds is a global hospitality-management SaaS platform (PMS, channel manager, revenue/AI marketing tools) used by properties in 150+ countries. Backed by Sof...

Molly He, Michael Previte, Matthew Kellinger

Founded 2017 by ex-Illumina scientists, Element makes the AVITI benchtop DNA sequencer (avidite chemistry) and multiomic AVITI24, directly challenging Illumina on cost and accuracy. It has raised $600M+ and ...

Christophe Schilling & Bernhard Palsson

Founded 1998 in San Diego; biomanufacturing company that engineers fermentation processes to convert renewable plant feedstocks into sustainable chemicals and materials (bio-BDO, plant-based nylon). Has rais...

Adam Pettit, Weldon Dodd, Mark Daughters & Brandon Pipkin

Founded 2018, Kandji is an Apple device-management and endpoint-security platform (customers include Canva, Notion, Allbirds). Its July 2024 $100M round (General Catalyst) lifted its valuation to $850M on ~$...

Albert Liu (ex-Qualcomm/Samsung/Wireless researcher)

Founded 2015, San Diego–HQ edge-AI semiconductor company. Designs reconfigurable NPUs that run LLMs and neural nets on-device instead of the cloud; chips fabbed at TSMC and used in Foxconn EVs and Hanwha cam...

Paul Tran & Steve King

Founded 2016 in San Diego; men's grooming/lifestyle D2C brand that created the male below-the-waist grooming category, with ~$290M+ revenue and 5M+ customers. A 2022 SPAC deal (later canceled) implied a ~$1B...

Suman Kanuganti, Yuja Chang, Larry Bock

Founded 2015, Aira pairs smartphone/wearable cameras with AI and live human agents to deliver real-time visual interpretation for people who are blind or have low vision (used across airports, campuses, reta...

Bruce McFarland

Solana Beach (San Diego metro) surf-technology company and creator of the patented PerfectSwell wave system for surf pools/parks, plus SurfStream. Powers commercial surf parks worldwide, with multiple grand ...

Robert Donahue / Nitin Jain (founders)

Founded 1999; supplier of silicon mmWave beamforming ICs for active phased-array antennas in 5G, SATCOM and defense/radar. Acquired by Qorvo in early 2024. HQ-flag: dual-hub — sources list both San Diego and...

Jeanne Loring, Andres Bratt-Leal

Founded 2018 out of Scripps Research (Jeanne Loring's regenerative-medicine lab), Aspen develops autologous iPSC-derived dopamine-neuron replacement for Parkinson's (ANPD001), now in clinical trials. It rais...

Rajaram Krishnan, David Charlot

San Diego diagnostics company whose Verita ExoVerita platform uses AC electrokinetics to isolate exosomes directly from blood for ultra-early cancer detection (pancreatic, ovarian). Raised $100M+ to advance ...

Lou Cooperhouse

Founded 2018; cell-cultivated seafood company growing premium seafood directly from fish cells, with a lead product of cultivated bluefin tuna toro for sushi/fine dining pending regulatory approval. Operates...

Eugene Izhikevich, Allen Gruber

Founded 2009 by computational neuroscientist Eugene Izhikevich; incubated with Qualcomm backing (Qualcomm Ventures + SoftBank Vision Fund investors). Its BrainOS autonomy platform powers the world's largest ...

Scot Chisholm & Pat Walsh

Founded 2006/launched as SaaS 2011, Classy is a nonprofit online-fundraising and peer-to-peer giving platform. Acquired by GoFundMe in Jan 2022 to form the world's largest giving platform; now operates as Go...

Sean Saint, Mark Estes

Founded 2012, Companion Medical made the InPen — the first FDA-cleared smart insulin pen with a companion app for dose tracking, reminders and CGM-integrated dosing guidance. Acquired by Medtronic in 2020, s...

(Arthrosi asset spinout leadership)

Emerged from stealth in September 2025 with a large ~$205M Series A — one of San Diego's biggest 2025 rounds — to develop a next-generation oral URAT1 inhibitor for chronic gout / hyperuricemia. Backed by to...

founded 1951 by Walter Zable

Founded 1951 in San Diego. Defense-electronics and transportation-tech company (secure tactical comms, training/simulation, and fare-collection systems for transit agencies worldwide). Taken private in May 2...

San Diego-headquartered device re-commerce pioneer operating a nationwide network of automated kiosks that pay instantly for used phones/electronics and responsibly recycle/resell them — a circular-economy c...

(SD-based leadership)

San Diego next-gen proteomics company building a single-molecule protein-sequencing platform that borrows NGS-style scale to read proteins, targeting the large proteomics market. Venture-backed (through Seri...

Dan Magy, Ian Muceus

Founded 2022 in San Diego. Builds expeditionary, 3D-printed modular UAS ('xCells' — containerized additive-manufacturing units that print drones at the tactical edge for the DoD). Raised a $12.5M seed (Mar 2...

Cary Gunn

Founded 2007, Genalyte's Maverick silicon-photonics platform performs rapid, multiplexed blood diagnostics from a finger-stick with results in under ~15-30 minutes at point-of-care. A San Diego diagnostics-d...

Alex Goode

Founded 2013, GoSite is an all-in-one digital-presence and payments SaaS for small and mid-sized businesses (websites, booking, messaging, invoicing), serving 90,000+ SMBs. Raised a $40M Series B in 2020 led...

Fred Manby, Tom Miller (rebrand from Entos)

San Diego's leading TechBio: an AI-driven drug-discovery company (rebranded from Entos in 2023) whose NeuralPLexer generative models plus automated wet labs took AI-designed HER2 inhibitor IAM1363 from disco...

Matt Ellis & Lance Onken

Founded 2013 by ex-CBRE sustainability lead Matt Ellis, Measurabl is the most widely adopted ESG / decarbonization data platform for commercial real estate (1,000+ clients across 90+ countries). Raised a $93...

Mike Kijewski, Eric Pancoast

Founded 2016 (Y Combinator), MedCrypt provides proactive cybersecurity software (cryptography, behavior monitoring, vulnerability management) purpose-built for medical devices, used by seven of the top 10 de...

Dave Gilbert

Founded 1999 by Dave Gilbert, National Funding is one of the country's larger private small-business online lenders / working-capital fintechs, having originated $6B+ in funding. In 2024 it was consolidated ...

Bill & Leigh Keith

San Diego family-founded maker of refrigerated nut-butter protein bars (Perfect Bar), scaled with VMG Partners to $100M+ revenue and 100+ employees. Mondelez took a majority stake in 2019; HQ remains in San ...

Suman Kanuganti, Sharon Zhang & Kristie Kaiser

Founded ~2020 by UC San Diego Rady alum Suman Kanuganti (also founder of Aira), Personal AI builds personal/enterprise generative-AI 'memory' models and digital-twin assistants. ~$22M raised including a Dec ...

Brad Taylor & Tim McElwee

Founded 2010 in Carlsbad, Proficio is an award-winning Managed Detection and Response (MDR) / MSSP provider running 24/7 SOCs in San Diego, Barcelona and Singapore. Raised $20M+ led by Kayne Anderson Capital...

(SD-based leadership)

A San Diego small-molecule biotech targeting protein-misfolding / amyloid diseases (including cardiac amyloidosis). Raised a ~$130M round in 2025 to advance its lead stabilizer programs toward the clinic.

Duncan Earl (founder/CEO)

Founded 2012 in Vista (SD metro). Designs and integrates quantum-networking hardware and software — entangled-photon sources and the plumbing for a future quantum internet; won a $21M Air Force Research Labo...

(SD-based leadership)

Emerged in April 2025 with a ~$110M Series A to develop next-generation oral small-molecule immunology drugs for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases — one of the SD ecosystem's notable 2025 early-stage laun...

Brandon Leibel, Steven Ford & Bruno Aschidamini

San Diego D2C brand selling Turkish-cotton beach towels and beach-lifestyle goods, launched off a Shark Tank appearance, with a marine-conservation mission (donates a share of profits to ocean causes). ~100+...

Dan Kaufman, Kleanthis Xanthopoulos

Founded 2020 on UCSD's Dan Kaufman iPSC science, Shoreline engineers off-the-shelf iPSC-derived NK-cell and macrophage immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune disease. Raised $140M+ and signed platform dea...

Drew Spaventa, Eli Glezer, David Barker

Founded 2016 (also Illumina-alumni-linked), Singular Genomics built the G4 benchtop sequencer and the G4X spatial platform for single-cell and spatial genomics. It IPO'd in 2021 and was taken private by foun...

Colin Lawlor, ResMed/Dr. Oz backed

Founded 2016 (spun with ResMed involvement), SleepScore Labs built non-contact, sensor/wearable-based sleep tracking and an evidence-based sleep-improvement platform; acquired Dutch Sleep.AI (snoring/bruxism...

Tom Rinks

Founded 2010; beach-lifestyle sun-care brand (sunscreen, hair care) with an Encinitas HQ a block from the sand and an authentic surf-culture identity. Backed by VMG Partners; reached ~$70M annual sales befor...

Cris Eberle

San Diego thermochemical energy storage (TCES) startup that stores energy chemically and as heat up to ~1,500C, targeting industrial heat and grid storage with energy density near lithium-ion but lower cost....

(SD-based leadership)

San Diego biotech building 'Tentacle' conditionally-active, multi-specific biologics with a high therapeutic index for oncology and autoimmune disease. Launched with a ~$100M+ backing (Versant, RA Capital) t...

(Viasat spinout; led by Tom Green)

Founded 2000 in San Diego (spun out of Viasat). Builds advanced FEC algorithms, waveforms and mobile ad-hoc mesh-networking (MANET) radios — the TSM tactical-scalable-MANET line used widely by US special ope...

Haodong Liu

Founded 2020 as a UC San Diego spinout (from Ping Liu's lab); develops ultra-fast-charging lithium batteries using a novel lithium-vanadium-oxide anode — ~3-minute charge, up to 20,000 cycles — for buses, po...

Andrew McCulloch, Chris Villongco, David Krummen, Gordon Ho

Founded 2017 out of UC San Diego research, Vektor's FDA-cleared vMap is an AI-based arrhythmia-analysis tool that identifies arrhythmia sources from non-invasive ECG data to guide cardiac ablation. Raised a ...

Mark Gresser (CEO)

Founded 2006 in San Diego; high-throughput battery-materials developer making nickel- and cobalt-free cathodes and custom cells for EVs and clean energy. Raised ~$189M total (incl. $90M+ Series D in 2022 led...

Jordan Glazier

Founded 2017, Wildfire Systems is a white-label fintech platform powering cashback, rewards, loyalty and AI shopping companions embedded by banks and tech firms (RBC, Visa, Citi, Acorns). Raised a $16M Serie...

Paul Jacobs, Derek Aberle, Matt Grob (all ex-Qualcomm)

Founded 2018 by former Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs (son of co-founder Irwin), ex-president Derek Aberle and ex-CTO Matt Grob — the archetypal 'Qualcomm mafia' spinout. Develops advanced spectrum/private-5G and ...

(spun from PhotoMedex/DermaTrac lineage)

A connected, at-home narrowband-UVB light-therapy device plus companion app for chronic skin conditions (psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo), with remote clinician oversight extending dermatology care into the home...

(formed by ex-cardiac-device operators)

Founded July 2022, Atraverse Medical makes the HOTWIRE transseptal access system for structural-heart and electrophysiology procedures, enabling zero-exchange workflows and universal sheath compatibility. Re...

Edward Wang

Founded by UC San Diego faculty member Edward Wang, Billion Labs develops software that turns an ordinary smartphone into a hardware-free, cuffless blood-pressure monitor. At prototype/seed stage as of late ...

(San Diego founding team)

Digital-health startup developing a wearable Remote Medication Monitor (RMM) that continuously tracks medication levels in the body and reports adherence/pharmacokinetics to clinicians in real time, with ale...

Kate Dilligan

Founder-led (by a cancer survivor), Cooler Heads makes Amma — the first FDA-cleared portable, lightweight scalp-cooling system that helps chemotherapy patients keep their hair, designed for lower cost and ho...

Costas Soler & Graeme Rae

Founded 2021 in Encinitas; builds instrumented 'smart buoy' platforms that capture real-time ocean data (pH, salinity, underwater noise, atmospheric carbon). Contracts with the DoD, Port of San Diego, NOAA a...

(San Diego founding team)

Early-stage medtech developing an automation/robotics platform for precision-sensitive tasks in spine surgery, aiming to improve accuracy and consistency of surgical steps. Part of San Diego's deep spine/sur...

San Diego-headquartered, woman-owned cybersecurity and DevSecOps firm serving the U.S. Navy / Department of Defense and commercial customers with information-system security accreditation and advanced tech s...

Steve Bassi

San Diego-based crowdsourced threat-intelligence marketplace where security experts and detection engines compete to identify malware and emerging threats (crypto-incentivized model). Represents SD's applied...

Chris Crawford

Carlsbad maker of portable, pressurized shower systems used by surfers, campers, fishermen, mountain bikers and adventurers — an action-sports/outdoor consumer-hardware brand born from San Diego's surf/outdo...

San Diego cybersecurity and compliance advisory firm (PCI DSS, HIPAA, cyber engineering, assessments, technical/penetration testing) for regulated industries. Part of SD's cybersecurity-services depth.

Port of San Diego Blue Economy Incubator shellfish startup testing a FLUPSY (Floating Upweller System) nursery barge to grow oyster (and abalone/seaweed) seed and help address a coast-wide shellfish seed sho...

San Diego-region battery-tech startup using acoustic-wave-induced electrolytic motion to overcome fast-charging limits and improve safety in lithium batteries, extending battery life for e-mobility and energ...

San Diego action-sports platform built to provide an end-to-end live-streaming, athlete-profile and event-management solution for surf competitions — 11,000+ athlete profiles and 325+ events produced worldwi...

Leslie Booher & Torre Polizzi

Marine-ecologist-led aquaculture startup cultivating native Southern California seaweed species in San Diego Bay, assessing carbon sequestration and water-quality benefits. A Port of San Diego Blue Economy I...

Jonathan Knight

San Diego cleantech company building portable/deployable wind turbines for on-demand clean power — designed for rapid transport and deployment to provide flexible renewable energy in remote and off-grid envi...

Tim Nash & Aaron Hallerman

Downtown San Diego D2C brand of affordable-luxury watches, eyewear and accessories, built as a digitally-native e-commerce label targeting an aspirational lifestyle segment.

San Diego startup building a next-gen traffic-signal network — integrating algorithm research with low-cost sensing/learning to raise road-network capacity 50%+ at ~20x lower cost, cutting congestion and tra...

Bo Ryu & Tamal Bose (co-founders)"

** Poway-based tactical-AI/autonomy firm whose software flew the U.S. Air Force's first AI-vs-human dogfight and supported DoD's Project Overmatch (surface warfare, maritime tracking, UAS, battle management)...

Sunny Kaila / Steve Cheng (leadership)"

** San Diego defense engineering firm supplying communications, networking and edge-computing/C4ISR solutions to U.S. Navy, Air Force and other defense agencies — including tactical gateways and airborne net...

Neal Blue / Linden Blue (parent owners)"

** Privately held (Blue family) unit of General Atomics; the original maker of the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance drones, plus MQ-1C Gray Eagle, MQ-20 Avenger and MQ-9B SkyGuard...

** San Diego provider of precision LiDAR mapping, GPS/inertial navigation and positioning for aerial, land and maritime platforms — including drone-based survey and PNT (position/navigation/timing) in GPS-ch...

Larsen Jensen (founder)"

** One of the few VC firms investing primarily in defense/dual-use tech, with a San Diego office and ~$300M AUM across AI, deep tech, cyber and enterprise infrastructure. A key local capital source (alongsid...

** Founded 2004; a space "non-traditional defense contractor" building radiation-tolerant, cyber-secure space avionics — flight computers, software-defined radios, crypto/encryption and data-storage — for sa...

Aleksey Matyushev & Anatoly Starikov (co-founders)"

** Founded 2016, moved HQ to San Diego from the Bay Area in 2022; develops hyper-efficient blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft — the KONA regional cargo plane (3.8-ton payload) and future passenger/defense vari...

U.S. Navy"

** The largest Navy complex on the West Coast and homeport of the Pacific Surface Fleet; San Diego drives ~$30B in annual regional defense spending. Home to the Navy's growing unmanned-surface-vessel squadro...

U.S. Navy"

** Formerly SPAWAR (renamed 2019); the Navy's premier information-warfare RDT&E command, relocated to San Diego's Old Town in 1997 with ~5,000+ personnel. Anchors the region's C4ISR, cyber and space-warfare ...

** San Diego drone-autonomy startup; the first to focus on launching/landing UAS autonomously from moving platforms (vehicles and boats) in GPS-denied conditions for defense and industrial use. Acquired by A...

Mike Flanigan (co-founder/CEO)"

** Founded ~2020; builds lightweight, solar-powered autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) that stay at sea for months for ISR, maritime domain awareness and commercial survey. Backed by L3Harris (2022) and Shiel...

** San Diego company developing autonomous, wind/solar-powered undersea and surface vehicles for long-duration ocean sensing and naval/ocean-warfare ISR missions. Early-stage maritime-autonomy player leverag...

Eugene Izhikevich & Allen Gruber (co-founders)" - **venue:** Sorrento Valley, San Diego - **la:** 32.9010 - **ln:** -117.2000 - **desc:** Founded 2009 by neuroscientist Eugene Izhikevich; BrainOS is an AI autonomy platform powering the world's largest fleet of commercial autonomous mobile robots (40,000+ deployed). SoftBank/Qualcomm-backed (~$221M raised) at 9401 Waples St in Sorrento Valley — SD's marquee commercial autonomy/robotics company with clear dual-use relevance. - **link:** https://www.braincorp.com - **vertical:** ["Deeptech"] - **stage:** unicorn ### 10 -

Founded 2009 by neuroscientist Eugene Izhikevich; BrainOS is an AI autonomy platform powering the world's largest fleet of commercial autonomous mobile robots (40,000+ deployed). SoftBank/Qualcomm-backed (~$...

Walter Zable (founder, legacy)" - **venue:** San Diego (Kearny Mesa) - **la:** 32.8236 - **ln:** -117.1517 - **desc:** Long-standing San Diego defense and transportation technology firm at 9333 Balboa Ave, Kearny Mesa; Cubic Mission & Performance Solutions delivers networked C4ISR — command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance — plus live/virtual training systems for defense customers. Taken private by Veritas Capital/Evergreen Coast in 2021 (~$2.8B); remains a major SD defense employer. - **link:** https://www.cubic.com - **vertical:** ["Defense"] - **stage:** unicorn ### 6 -

Long-standing San Diego defense and transportation technology firm at 9333 Balboa Ave, Kearny Mesa; Cubic Mission & Performance Solutions delivers networked C4ISR — command, control, communications, computer...

Bo Ryu & Tamal Bose (co-founders)" - **venue:** Poway, San Diego - **la:** 32.9628 - **ln:** -117.0359 - **desc:** Poway-based tactical-AI/autonomy firm whose software flew the U.S. Air Force's first AI-vs-human dogfight and supported DoD's Project Overmatch (surface warfare, maritime tracking, UAS, battle management). Acquired by Applied Intuition (Feb 2026, announced Feb 2025) to form Applied Intuition Defense; now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary with the full team retained. - **link:** https://www.episci.com - **vertical:** ["Defense","Deeptech"] - **stage:** funded ### 11 -

Poway-based tactical-AI/autonomy firm whose software flew the U.S. Air Force's first AI-vs-human dogfight and supported DoD's Project Overmatch (surface warfare, maritime tracking, UAS, battle management). A...

Dan Magy (co-founder/CEO)" - **venue:** Miramar, San Diego - **la:** 32.8700 - **ln:** -117.1420 - **desc:** Founded 2022; builds xCell, a containerized "factory-in-a-box" that 3D-prints modular drone airframes and mission payloads at the point of need in under ~24 hours. Raised a $47M Series A in July 2025 led by NEA (with Lockheed Martin Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, Decisive Point; ~$77M total), later a larger 2026 round, and holds a U.S. Air Force UAS deal worth up to $100M. Operates ~60,000 sq ft in Miramar. - **link:** https://www.launchfirestorm.com - **vertical:** ["Defense","Deeptech"] - **stage:** funded ### 7 -

Founded 2022; builds xCell, a containerized "factory-in-a-box" that 3D-prints modular drone airframes and mission payloads at the point of need in under ~24 hours. Raised a $47M Series A in July 2025 led by ...

Sunny Kaila / Steve Cheng (leadership)" - **venue:** San Diego - **la:** 32.7157 - **ln:** -117.1611 - **desc:** San Diego defense engineering firm supplying communications, networking and edge-computing/C4ISR solutions to U.S. Navy, Air Force and other defense agencies — including tactical gateways and airborne networking. A steady SD prime/sub in the connected-battlespace and JADC2 space. - **link:** https://www.fuseintegration.com - **vertical:** ["Defense"] - **stage:** funded ### 15 -

San Diego defense engineering firm supplying communications, networking and edge-computing/C4ISR solutions to U.S. Navy, Air Force and other defense agencies — including tactical gateways and airborne networ...

Neal Blue / Linden Blue (parent owners)" - **venue:** Poway - **la:** 32.9628 - **ln:** -117.0359 - **desc:** Privately held (Blue family) unit of General Atomics; the original maker of the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance drones, plus MQ-1C Gray Eagle, MQ-20 Avenger and MQ-9B SkyGuardian/SeaGuardian. Based at 14200 Kirkham Way, Poway. The Predator line has flown 30+ years and anchors San Diego's status as a UAS manufacturing hub; General Atomics also runs a growing space-systems (GA-EMS) satellite business. - **link:** https://www.ga-asi.com - **vertical:** ["Defense"] - **stage:** unicorn ### 3 -

Privately held (Blue family) unit of General Atomics; the original maker of the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance drones, plus MQ-1C Gray Eagle, MQ-20 Avenger and MQ-9B SkyGuardian...

including drone-based survey and PNT (position/navigation/timing) in GPS-challenged environments. Dual-use deeptech serving defense and commercial geospatial customers. - **link:** https://geodetics.com - **vertical:** ["Deeptech","Defense"] - **stage:** early --- ## ECOSYSTEM ANCHORS & INFRASTRUCTURE (San Diego) ### 16 -

San Diego provider of precision LiDAR mapping, GPS/inertial navigation and positioning for aerial, land and maritime platforms — including drone-based survey and PNT (position/navigation/timing) in GPS-chall...

Larsen Jensen (founder)" - **venue:** San Diego (+ Menlo Park) - **la:** 32.7157 - **ln:** -117.1611 - **desc:** One of the few VC firms investing primarily in defense/dual-use tech, with a San Diego office and ~$300M AUM across AI, deep tech, cyber and enterprise infrastructure. A key local capital source (alongside NavalX and DoD innovation programs like DIU/APFIT) fueling SD's defense-tech founders. - **link:** https://www.harpoon.vc - **vertical:** ["Defense"] - **stage:** funded --- ## HQ-FLAGS — companies active/visible in San Diego but NOT SD-headquartered (EXCLUDED from records) - **Saronic Technologies** — HQ **Austin, TX**. Opened an 83,000-sq-ft San Diego (Midway District) facility in Oct 2025 for autonomous surface vessels; unicorn, but not SD-HQ. Excluded. - **HavocAI** — HQ **Providence, RI** (with Austin & a San Diego office; maritime production in Rhode Island). Raised ~$100M for autonomous boats (Rampage/Sea Hound). Not SD-HQ. Excluded. - **Epirus** — HQ **Torrance/Los Angeles, CA**. High-power-microwave counter-UAS (Leonidas). Not SD. Excluded. - **Ondas Holdings** — HQ **West Palm Beach, FL**. Counter-drone/autonomous systems. Not SD. Excluded. - **Ocean Aero** — Founded/incubated in San Diego but **relocated HQ & manufacturing to Gulfport, MS** (2021–2023). Triton AUSV. SD roots only. Excluded. - **Impulse Space** — HQ **Redondo Beach, CA** (LA area). In-space transportation; some SD-linked activity. Not SD-HQ. Excluded. - **Anduril Industries** — HQ **Costa Mesa, CA** (Orange County). Frequently cited alongside SD but not SD-HQ. Excluded. --- ## SOURCES (key) - Shield AI: https://shield.ai ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_AI ; https://fortune.com/2026/03/26/shield-ai-revenue-series-g-funding-12-billion-valuation/ - GA-ASI: https://www.ga-asi.com/remotely-piloted-aircraft/mq-9a ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-9_Reaper - Kratos: https://www.kratosdefense.com/newsroom/kratos-receives-7-million-order-for-counter-uas-systems ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kratos_Defense_%26_Security_Solutions - Viasat: https://www.sdbj.com/technology/communication-tech/viasats-fy2025-rakes-in-4-5b/ ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viasat_(American_company) - Cubic: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cubic-corporation-breaks-ground-on-new-san-diego-headquarters-300886156.html - Firestorm Labs: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/firestorm-labs-announces-47-million-series-a-funding-302506303.html ; https://businessofsandiego.substack.com/p/sd-defense-tech-startups-land-government - Seasats: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seasats-raises-20-million-series-a-302688401.html ; https://www.sdbj.com/defense/seasats-grows-with-20m-series-a-funding/ - SubSeaSail: https://subseasail.com/ - Brain Corp: https://www.braincorp.com/about - EpiSci: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/applied-intuition-acquires-episci-302369178.html ; https://www.sdbj.com/defense/software-co-finds-norcal-match/ - Natilus: https://natilus.co/natilus-raises-28-million-series-a-to-commercialize-family-of-hyper-efficient-blended-wing-aircraft/ ; https://www.axios.com/local/san-diego/2026/04/09/natilus-aerospace-startup-building-futuristic-fuel-efficient-planes - Innoflight: https://innoflight.com/about-us/ - Planck Aerosystems: https://www.avinc.com/resources/press-releases/view/aerovironment-acquires-planck-aerosystems - Fuse Integration / Geodetics: https://builtin.com/companies/location/na/usa/ca/san-diego/type/aerospace-startups - NIWC Pacific: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Information_Warfare_Center_Pacific - Ecosystem/flags: https://businessofsandiego.substack.com/p/sd-defense-tech-startups-land-government ; https://www.defenseone.com/business/2026/02/crowded-field-robot-boat-makers-vying-navys-attention/411390/ ; https://mississippi.org/news/ocean-aero-locating-manufacturing-operations-and-headquarters-in-gulfport/

One of the few VC firms investing primarily in defense/dual-use tech, with a San Diego office and ~$300M AUM across AI, deep tech, cyber and enterprise infrastructure. A key local capital source (alongside N...

flight computers, software-defined radios, crypto/encryption and data-storage — for satellite buses and payloads. San Diego–based, now backed by PE firm TJC; a core SD space-electronics supplier for national-security smallsats. - **link:** https://innoflight.com - **vertical:** ["Spacetech","Defense"] - **stage:** funded ### 13 -

Founded 2004; a space "non-traditional defense contractor" building radiation-tolerant, cyber-secure space avionics — flight computers, software-defined radios, crypto/encryption and data-storage — for satel...

Eric DeMarco (CEO)" - **venue:** San Diego (Kearny Mesa) - **la:** 32.8236 - **ln:** -117.1517 - **desc:** Publicly traded (NASDAQ: KTOS) San Diego defense company focused on unmanned aerial systems (Valkyrie/XQ-58 tactical drones), hypersonics, satellite/space, target drones, C5ISR and counter-UAS. Received a ~$7M production award for a counter-UAS system to detect, track and classify low-profile drones, cruise missiles and other aerial threats. A key SD anchor in affordable/attritable autonomous aircraft. - **link:** https://www.kratosdefense.com - **vertical:** ["Defense","Spacetech"] - **stage:** public ### 4 -

Publicly traded (NASDAQ: KTOS) San Diego defense company focused on unmanned aerial systems (Valkyrie/XQ-58 tactical drones), hypersonics, satellite/space, target drones, C5ISR and counter-UAS. Received a ~$...

Aleksey Matyushev & Anatoly Starikov (co-founders)" - **venue:** Otay Mesa, San Diego - **la:** 32.5530 - **ln:** -116.9370 - **desc:** Founded 2016, moved HQ to San Diego from the Bay Area in 2022; develops hyper-efficient blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft — the KONA regional cargo plane (3.8-ton payload) and future passenger/defense variants — built in Otay Mesa. Raised a $28M Series A (announced early 2026) led by Draper Associates with an order book exceeding 570 aircraft; strong dual-use (cargo/logistics) potential. - **link:** https://natilus.co - **vertical:** ["Deeptech","Defense"] - **stage:** funded ### 12 -

Founded 2016, moved HQ to San Diego from the Bay Area in 2022; develops hyper-efficient blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft — the KONA regional cargo plane (3.8-ton payload) and future passenger/defense variant...

U.S. Navy" - **venue:** Naval Base San Diego, Barrio Logan - **la:** 32.6790 - **ln:** -117.1210 - **desc:** The largest Navy complex on the West Coast and homeport of the Pacific Surface Fleet; San Diego drives ~$30B in annual regional defense spending. Home to the Navy's growing unmanned-surface-vessel squadrons (e.g., USVRON 7, stood up 2025) developing autonomous "ghost ship" fleets — the demand engine for SD's maritime-autonomy startups. - **link:** https://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnrsw/installations/navbase_san_diego.html - **vertical:** ["Defense"] - **stage:** public ### 18 -

The largest Navy complex on the West Coast and homeport of the Pacific Surface Fleet; San Diego drives ~$30B in annual regional defense spending. Home to the Navy's growing unmanned-surface-vessel squadrons ...

U.S. Navy" - **venue:** Old Town Campus, San Diego - **la:** 32.7550 - **ln:** -117.1970 - **desc:** Formerly SPAWAR (renamed 2019); the Navy's premier information-warfare RDT&E command, relocated to San Diego's Old Town in 1997 with ~5,000+ personnel. Anchors the region's C4ISR, cyber and space-warfare research and is undergoing a 1.7M-sq-ft campus revitalization — the gravitational center that pulls defense-tech startups to San Diego. - **link:** https://www.niwcpacific.navy.mil - **vertical:** ["Defense"] - **stage:** public ### 17 -

Formerly SPAWAR (renamed 2019); the Navy's premier information-warfare RDT&E command, relocated to San Diego's Old Town in 1997 with ~5,000+ personnel. Anchors the region's C4ISR, cyber and space-warfare res...

San Diego drone-autonomy startup; the first to focus on launching/landing UAS autonomously from moving platforms (vehicles and boats) in GPS-denied conditions for defense and industrial use. Acquired by Aero...

Mike Flanigan (co-founder/CEO)" - **venue:** San Diego - **la:** 32.7157 - **ln:** -117.1611 - **desc:** Founded ~2020; builds lightweight, solar-powered autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) that stay at sea for months for ISR, maritime domain awareness and commercial survey. Backed by L3Harris (2022) and Shield Capital; closed a $20M Series A led by Konvoy Ventures (Feb 2026), raised $40M+ total and won $100M+ in U.S. government contracts including a $24M DoD APFIT award and a Navy SBIR Phase 3. Cites SD's "major Navy presence" as its edge. - **link:** https://www.seasats.com - **vertical:** ["Defense","Deeptech"] - **stage:** funded ### 8 -

Founded ~2020; builds lightweight, solar-powered autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) that stay at sea for months for ISR, maritime domain awareness and commercial survey. Backed by L3Harris (2022) and Shield C...

Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng & Andrew Reiter" - **venue:** Downtown San Diego - **la:** 32.7157 - **ln:** -117.1611 - **desc:** Founded 2015 by former Navy SEAL Brandon Tseng, his brother Ryan, and Andrew Reiter; builds Hivemind, an AI autonomy stack that pilots aircraft and drones in GPS- and comms-denied environments, plus the V-BAT VTOL UAS and the new X-BAT autonomous fighter concept. Hivemind has flown 26+ vehicle classes including F-16s. In March 2026 it raised ~$1.5B Series G (plus $500M preferred) at a $12.7B valuation and projected $540M+ revenue — San Diego's flagship defense-tech company. - **link:** https://shield.ai - **vertical:** ["Defense","Deeptech"] - **stage:** unicorn ### 2 -

Founded 2015 by former Navy SEAL Brandon Tseng, his brother Ryan, and Andrew Reiter; builds Hivemind, an AI autonomy stack that pilots aircraft and drones in GPS- and comms-denied environments, plus the V-BA...

San Diego company developing autonomous, wind/solar-powered undersea and surface vehicles for long-duration ocean sensing and naval/ocean-warfare ISR missions. Early-stage maritime-autonomy player leveraging...

Mark Dankberg (co-founder/Chairman)" - **venue:** Carlsbad - **la:** 33.1581 - **ln:** -117.3506 - **desc:** Founded 1986, publicly traded (NASDAQ: VSAT) satellite-communications company in Carlsbad; provides high-speed satellite broadband plus secure military networking, cybersecurity and ground equipment. Reported record ~$4.5B revenue in FY2025, with a fast-growing Defense & Advanced Technologies segment. Serves government/commercial aircraft including Air Force One and rolled out a UAV-specific network for government clients. - **link:** https://www.viasat.com - **vertical:** ["Spacetech","Defense"] - **stage:** public ### 5 -

Founded 1986, publicly traded (NASDAQ: VSAT) satellite-communications company in Carlsbad; provides high-speed satellite broadband plus secure military networking, cybersecurity and ground equipment. Reporte...