Daily Business Report: Monday, Nov. 22, 2021
Blue Sky Network wins $25,000
MetroConnect export grand prize
The company offers satellite tracking solutions to support fleet managers
and operators monitoring their assets on land, sea, and in the air
World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD) has named Blue Sky Network, which provides satellite-based communications and fleet management solutions for aviation, maritime, and IoT customers, as the winner of the MetroConnect export accelerator program, now in its fifth year.
Made possible through a grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Procopio, Blue Sky Network will use the $25,000 award to expand its presence in Brazil and promote the launch of its new SkyLink product in global markets.
“Blue Sky Network is the perfect reflection of San Diego’s innovation economy coming together, leveraging our excellence in defense and technology now on an international stage,” said Lucas Coleman, senior manager at WTCSD. “The results from MetroConnect’s fifth cohort are impressive. Whether it’s alleviating supply chain processes in Australia or cultivating leads in Korea, Brazil and the UK amid incredible economic uncertainty, working to connect small and medium-sized businesses to international markets builds greater resilience here at home.”
Blue Sky Network beat out three other finalists in MetroConnect V: White Labs Inc., SIDUS Solutions, and Mayan Robotics. The grand prize-winning company was decided by a nearly 250-person voting audience via virtual events platformWhova, a former MetroConnect participant. Prior to this, a committee of senior international business leaders in San Diego helped the WTCSD team nominate these top four performers out of the initial 15-company cohort.
TOP Illustration: Image illustrate’s Blue Sky Network’s international presence.
Illumina, Sequoia Capital China select two
startups for China genomics incubator
San Diego-based Illumina and Sequoia Capital China announced the selection of the first two startups to join their Chinese genomics incubator for a six-month funding period.
Mobidrop Biotechnology is a device company developing single-cell sequencing microfluidic technologies for applications in molecular diagnostics.
Sequanta Technologies is a multiomics company building platforms for research and clinical applications. The Shanghai-based firm signed a strategic partnership with Mission Bio to offer single-cell sequencing services in China in July.
Each firm will receive access to investment, business guidance, and use of Illumina sequencing systems and reagents.
“The launch of this incubator marks a new chapter for genomics startups and entrepreneurs in China,” said Amanda Cashin, cofounder and global head of Illumina For Startups. “Together with Sequoia Capital China and leading genomics entrepreneurs, we look forward to unlocking the power of the genome to improve human health in China and beyond.”
Workforce Partnership receives $1.7 million
federal grant to serve dislocated workers
The San Diego Workforce Partnership has been awarded $1.7 million through the U.S. Department of Labor’s CAREER Dislocated Worker Grants program. The grants fund a range of reemployment services that support job seekers with search assistance, career guidance and child care and transportation costs. The funding is made possible through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
With support from local partners, the Workforce Partnership’s work will focus on the county’s recovery from the COVID-19 recession by assisting parents, specifically women and women of color, to reenter the workforce. The program strategy addresses the barriers to employment such as mental health and child care prior to focusing on training needs and re-employment services in priority sectors.
Birch Aquarium launches in-person
education program
After nearly two years with no in-person school programs or Outdoor Adventures, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Education Team is ramping up to offer a full slate of programming including Winter Camps, Tidepooling Adventures and School Programs both onsite and in-schools.
“Birch Aquarium is thrilled to be able to engage with learners in-person and at schools to accommodate teachers’ and caregivers’ needs”, said Director of Education Megan Malaska Medley. “In transitioning back to in-person programming, safety is our top priority but we are committed to offering interactive STEM experiences, including connecting students to our animals in a variety of ways.”
For more information, visit aquarium.ucsd.edu.
Illumina and Genetic Alliance launch global
initiative to help victims of genetic disease
Illumina Inc. and Genetic Alliance announced the creation of the iHope Genetic Health program aimed at providing whole-genome sequencing access (WGS) to tens of thousands of patients across the globe impacted by genetic disease. At least half of iHope Genetic Health’s efforts will be focused on areas of the world in need outside the U.S., with more than one-third of Illumina’s support being dedicated to patients in Africa.
Through this flagship program, Illumina will enable Genetic Alliance, a global nonprofit focused on advancing genetics to benefit human health, to create networks of clinics, and laboratories equipped with the necessary genome technology to provide precision genomic diagnoses to patients suffering from rare genetic disease.
As part of this program, Genetic Alliance will also partner with pharmaceutical, technology companies and care providers to support patient access to data, therapeutic interventions, and ongoing supportive care.
Scientists and Brave Software develop tool
to protect users’ privacy while browsing the web
A team of computer scientists at the University of California San Diego and Brave Software have developed a tool that will increase protections for users’ private data while they browse the web.
The tool, named SugarCoat, targets scripts that harm users’ privacy — for example, by tracking their browsing history around the Web — yet are essential for the websites that embed them to function.
SugarCoat replaces these scripts with scripts that have the same properties, minus the privacy-harming features. SugarCoat is designed to be integrated into existing privacy-focused browsers like Brave, Firefox, and Tor, and browser extensions like uBlock Origin. SugarCoat is open source and is currently being integrated into the Brave browser.
UCSD has ninth highest number of top scientists in the world
UC San Diego has the ninth-largest collection of top researchers in the world and is close to passing UC Berkeley and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says an annual assessment of global brain power by Clarivate. The report said UC San Diego is home to 56 highly cited scientists, with an additional 32 working at other local giants like Scripps Research, the Salk Institute, the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, Sanford Burnham Prebys, San Diego State and Rady Children’s Hospital.
Qualcomm to supply chips for BMW’s self-driving cars
Qualcomm’s chips will be used in the next generation of BMW’s driver-assistance and self-driving systems. As the world’s largest supplier of chips for mobile phones, Qualcomm has been diversifying its market by selling more than a third of its chips to sources other than handsets. The news comes the same week the San Diego-based company celebrated 30 years on Nasdaq by ringing the Opening Bell.
Advancing San Diego: Preferred Providers
of cybersecurity and IT talent
Preferred Providers are education programs recognized by employers as delivering the top-quality training for high-demand jobs across San Diego County. Through a competitive application process, Preferred Providers are evaluated annually against a skills-based criteria developed by industry, a commitment to industry engagement, and their ability to reach and serve a diverse student body.
Throughout 2020-2021, EDC worked with employers to select Preferred Providers in the fields of software engineering, general engineering, business, manufacturing, and most recently, health care. Coming soon: Preferred Providers of Talent in Life Sciences.
Roswell Biotechnologies debuts microchip
to detect disease and develop drugs
San Diego firm Roswell Biotechnologies debuted a teeny, tiny microchip that it believes has huge potential to revolutionize how researchers detect disease, develop drugs and more. The company says the chip, no bigger than a pea, is the first of its kind to hardwire molecules into electric circuits.
Its thousands of sensors give scientists the potential to rapidly detect molecules, cells and DNA with a scale and speed that current approaches don’t match, according to Roswell CEO Paul Mola. He’s hopeful that consumers could use the chip at home to learn, for example, whether they’ve been infected with a virus or to see whether their medication is working.
Codex DNA acquires Eton Bioscience for $13 million
Codex DNA, fresh off raising $122 million in an initial public stock offering in June, has inked a deal to buy privately held Eton Bioscience — combining two of San Diego’s synthetic biology tools and services companies.
Codex DNA will pay $13 million for Eton, which provides therapeutic discovery services ranging from DNA sequencing to rapid, inexpensive copying of certain biological fragments for research.
Synthetic biology is an expanding field — growing from $5.3 billion worldwide in 2019 to an estimated $18.9 billion by 2024, according to BCC Research.
Porter Airlines selects Viasat for in-flight
connectivity on its Embraer E195-E2 aircraft
Viasat’s in-flight connectivity product has been selected for Porter Airlines’ 30 new Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. The new aircraft will be linefit with Viasat’s high-speed, reliable in-flight internet system and are expected to enter service in the second half of 2022.
Porter is preparing to grow beyond its current regional eastern Canada- and U.S.-focused network to include routes to the West Coast, southern U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean.
Leveraging the compan’’s unrivaled capacity across its network of geosynchronous satellites, Viasat’s IFC service will provide a high-speed internet experience in the sky.
“Introducing the E2 into Porter’s fleet gives us the ability to serve customers across North America,” said Kevin Jackson, executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “Using Viasat’s technology allows us to create a distinct digital passenger experience for longer routes that builds on our award-winning approach to hospitality.”
