CONNECT Analyzes San Diego’s Innovation Economy

CONNECT released its 2016 San Diego Innovation Report and it shows continued growth in companies, funding, and jobs. In 2016, 477 innovation startups were launched in San Diego, the highest number to date. Software companies made up 280 of those new businesses. Venture funding was up 120% from 2015, with approximately $700 million going to 50 deals. At $55 billion, the innovation economy now makes up one quarter of San Diego’s GDP. The number of jobs in the innovation economy is also growing, to 150,000 in 2016 with an average salary of $110,000 (2.1 times the salary for the average job in San Diego).

Faster Football Scores

With football season right around the corner, many will love this new development reported by Xconomy. Local startup ScoreStream, a crowdsource platform for reporting high school football scores from fans, has entered into an agreement with the Associated Press (AP) to publish scores through the AP and other media networks. As news organizations work to produce the same quality and quantity of news with smaller budgets and fewer people, ScoreStream was an attractive way for the AP to get scores faster. ScoreStream co-founder and CEO Derrick Oien told Xconomy, “The real driver for them was that they realized we had pretty much the same scores they had, but we were getting them more quickly.”

A New Approach to the Corporate Retreat

Last summer I heard about this new concept company – focused on changing the dynamic of corporate retreats, incentive trips, and corporate travel overall. Luxpitality has now grown to encompass more than 50 hospitality experts located in 20 different locations around the globe. The company strives to connect modern businesses with luxury hotels, unique hotels, and “outside the box” accommodations and experiences for their employees. It recently started working with local company Classy and added connections to unique hotels such as Grande Colonial, Hollywood Roosevelt, and AutoCamp Santa Barbara. Due to its recent growth, the company just moved into new digs at Union East Village. “We’ve experienced some serious momentum since we launched Luxpitality in 2015, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be based in the East Village, an area that’s growing as fast as we are and truly embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of our company,” said Patrick Burkhardt, co-founder and Chief Idea Person at Luxpitality.

Vacayo Makes TechCrunch Favorites List

Think property management for the short-term rental market. You can rent your home out to Vacayo and it will pay you upfront. The company then takes care of renting the property across multiple channels and handles the cleaning, maintenance, and insurance. Vacayo just participated in 500 Startups Demo Day in the Mountain View, CA along with 28 other companies. Tech Crunch called out 8 companies from the event for a list of its favorites and San Diego’s Vacayo made the list.

Another SD Booster

Local entrepreneur Will Caldwell penned a piece for Entrepreneur tooting San Diego’s horn as a great place to build a company. The CEO and co-founder of Dizzle and SnapNHD calls out four big reasons San Diego is the go-to spot for tech companies: qualified applicants, office space, the community, and quality of life.

Pivots and Opportunities

Hera Fast Pitch

Female entrepreneurs can apply to pitch as part of the Hera Fast Pitch Competition hosted at Hera Hub in Sorrento Valley on Thursday, August 31. Three finalists will go on to pitch at the Hera Venture Summit in September.

Quick Pitch Competition

Applications are now being accepted for the Quick Pitch Competition sponsored by Tech Coast Angels and the San Diego Venture Group. Ten finalists will be chosen and receive coaching, while the top three companies will be awarded a combined $50,000. Applications are due by August 11.

Tags: Blogs, CONNECT, Innovation, Startup Buzz, Startups, Vacayo