on forming new tech startups and supporting entrepreneurs has been proliferating. The list includes grassroots networking groups like San Diego Tech Founders, SD Tech Launch, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Startup Circle, San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange (SDEE), the San Diego Biotechnology Network (SDBN), entrepreneurial boot camps like the Founder Institute, occasional social events like SD Tech Scene, dedicated space for entrepreneurs at the Co-Merge Workplace, and a variety of hackathons and meetups.
—SDVG’s Titus highlighted a pickup in local VC activity (if not actual venture investments) that includes the formation of Correlation Ventures, Moore Venture Partners, BioMed Ventures (although I could find no information about BioMed Ventures online), and a venture fund affiliated with the West Wireless Health Institute. Titus also noted that a few partners with out-of-town venture firms, such as Sigma Ventures and Anthem Venture Partners, are spending more time scouting for deals in San Diego, while other firms, such as Thomas McNerney, have opened second offices here.
—A number of new venture incubators have opened, including the Janssen Labs at San Diego, EvoNexus, the Ansir Innovation Center, and the Zahn Center at San Diego State University. Plans to establish incubators are reportedly under way at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Institute and elsewhere.
Qualcomm, which formed a partnership with CommNexus to form the QualcommLabs@EvoNexus, revealed this week that it may provide as much as $250,000 in early stage funding to startups admitted into the EvoNexus program. When asked for more details about the funding, a Qualcomm spokesman replied, “Under this program, we are offering the opportunity for one or more companies admitted to EvoNexus to receive funding of up to $250k. In terms of structure, we expect to tailor the funding agreement (type, timing) by company.”
As the Venture Group’s Titus put it during today’s summit, “We are, in fact, making a lot of progress in San Diego.”
