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Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News!
I’m Neal Bloom from Rising Tide Partners.
This week, I’m flying solo on the mic to unpack a busy week in San Diego tech.
Before we dive in, we wanted to thank you and ask our listeners to help us grow the show, leave a review and share with one other person who should be more plugged in with the SD Tech Scene. Thank you for the support and for helping us build the San Diego Startup Community!
Topics Covered
Suja IPO & San Diego’s Consumer Brand Pipeline
Coca-Cola’s early investment thesis
San Diego as a premium wellness and consumer products launchpad
Comparison to other recent San Diego consumer brand IPOs
Why San Diego may be one of America’s best “test markets” for health & lifestyle brands
Stone Brewing, Sapporo & Maria Stipp’s Exit Track Record
The evolution of San Diego’s craft brewing ecosystem
Maria Stipp’s leadership journey across:
EcoATM
Lagunitas
Stone Brewing
Suja
Siete Foods board involvement
The importance of experienced operators recycling through ecosystems
Firestorm Labs Is on an Absolute Heater
Distributed manufacturing and edge logistics
“Factories in shipping containers”
Why modern defense tech is increasingly about adaptability and rapid production
Firestorm hosting the first annual Hardtech 50 Release Party
Why it became impossible to stop at just 50 companies
San Diego’s growing density across:
aerospace
robotics
autonomy
semiconductors
energy
ocean tech
manufacturing
- The rise of interdisciplinary founders and “things that move atoms”
UCSD’s Deep Tech Infrastructure Push
University of California San Diego and advanced engineering initiatives
Supercomputing, fusion, AI infrastructure, and scientific tooling
The importance of compute, cooling, energy, and simulation infrastructure
The long-term impact of institutions like:
Qualcomm
General Atomics
San Diego Supercomputer Center
Navy-affiliated research
Referenced article: UCSD Guardian coverage
Scripps + San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Conservation, climate science, oceanography, and AI converging
Why proximity between institutions creates innovation density
Referenced article: Scripps announcement
