years to complete. While his company is behind competitor Abbott Labs in the race to market, Shultz says he feels Reva is in the right position in an untested market.
—San Diego venture investor Larry Bock, principal organizer and a primary sponsor of the San Diego Science Festival, told me that getting to know every science community in San Diego has been one of the best sources of venture deals he’s ever experienced. Bock also said now is an ideal time to invest in startups, despite the collapse of financial markets worldwide.
—San Diego-based data backup and recovery company BakBone Software said it paid $350,000 to acquire the assets of Santa Clara, CA-based Asempra Technologies earlier this week. What BakBone did not say was that Asempra had received more than $41 million in venture funding to develop its technology.
—As a privately held antivirus software developer, San Diego’s Eset doesn’t have to report its annual sales revenue. But Eset CEO Anton Zajac told me the company’s Q1 sales amounted to $60 million, and he expects the company could do $180 million or more in 2009, up from $112 million last year. Zajac said during the conficker worm attacks, Eset’s sales tripled. Zajac, a former theoretical physicist, once told me he had developed a computerized model to help predict the company’s growth.
—San Diego’s Qualcomm said its corporate venture fund has set aside $550,000 to provide early stage funding to the most-promising plans submitted by entrepreneurs around the world. Qualcomm Ventures will select a semi-finalist from China, India, Europe, and North America. The four semi-finalists will each receive $100,000 in funding and an invitation to Qualcomm Ventures’ CEO Summit in San Diego in November to compete for a Grand Prize. There are no entry fees, but Qualcomm’s rules require participants to pay for their own travel and accommodations.
