The funding is facilitated by the California GO-Biz program
SAN DIEGO (December 11, 2019) – Connect with San Diego Venture Group (“Connect”) announces today that it has awarded an additional $16,500 in subgrants to be shared across three San Diego companies. Connect has awarded a total of $81,500 in CASCADE grants to local entrepreneurs in 2019. The funding is provided through a grant from the California Advanced Supply Chain Analysis and Diversification Effort (CASCADE), an initiative of the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz).
“Connect supports entrepreneurs with access to capital in many forms, including introductions to venture capital, sourcing angel investment, and non-dilutive capital through programs like California GO-Biz,” said Dr. Silvia Mah, president of Connect. “We take pride in being San Diego’s designated iHub and leveraging opportunities from the state level for the benefit of our local startups.”
Under the GO-Biz initiative, there are 15 state-designated Innovation Hubs (iHubs) focused on improving the state’s national and global competitiveness by stimulating partnerships, economic development, and job creation around specific research clusters throughout California. Connect is the official iHub for the San Diego region.
To be eligible for any CASCADE subgrant from Connect, companies must be located in San Diego county, for profit, and have no more than 500 employees. Additionally, the businesses must anticipate some of their innovation-driven growth to be dependent on U.S. defense, national security, or military spending.
Listed below, alphabetized by company name, are the recipients of the second round of 2019 CASCADE subgrants from Connect, $5,500 in non-dilutive funding each:
ART Compass, founded by Dr. Carol Curchoe. ART Compass is a mobile application for the assisted reproductive technology (ART) industry that puts physicians, administrators, and lab staff on the “same page” as their patients. ART Compass is an electronic medical record, a patient portal, and a laboratory quality management system. It documents IVF staff clinical decision-making, streamlines reporting to SART/CDC, and automates data analysis, working specifically with IVF provided by military physicians.
Inova Drone, with founder and CEO Chad Amonn, is a drone company focused on developing next-generation unmanned aerial vehicles for mission-critical commercial and defense applications. Inova Drone produces proprietary, ruggedized, high performance all-weather capable drone systems to save lives.
Yembo, founded by Siddharth Mohan, develops software that uses computer vision and advanced artificial intelligence technology to improve the user experience and quality of military moves. Using Yembo’s software, military members can conveniently survey their home before they move on their own time. The software and technology identify furniture and other items, making it transparent to the member and the moving company so the right items get shipped, improving the overall quality and efficiency of the move.
To learn more about the additional six companies that received CASCADE subgrant funding from Connect earlier this year, read more here.
For more information about California’s GO-Biz program, please visit http://www.business.ca.gov/