Join in for the weekly tech news from San Diego with Neal Bloom and Jonah Peake of Fresh Brewed Tech. Join us on Clubhouse at 12:30pm PST weekly for the live feed

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Ted Stearns is the CEO of Meallogix, an e-commerce platform company that provides meal prep and restaurant delivery automation software for meal prep operators. 

Before starting Meallogix, Stearns was a casual customer of meal prep. His girlfriend at the time was a meal prep business owner, so he was accustomed to the backend operations of this industry. He was shocked to learn that there wasn’t digital software available for meal prep operators, and that many used paper, which leads to more than 30 hours being spent writing recipes and taking transactions. He believed that providing a software platform would help these entrepreneurs work more efficiently, and began to put his idea to work.

Meallogix had an overwhelming amount of interest from meal prep companies, which gave Stearns the market validation that this was a solution people needed. The platform launch was successful and allowed companies to scale even faster. The precious 30 hours spent on administrative tasks was digitally condensed to 30 minutes, allowing entrepreneurs to use their time to market themselves or focus on other operations. 

During the pandemic, the meal prep and food delivery industries saw incredible growth due to increasing interest in consumers buying pre-made meals, with 85% of meal prep companies that used Meallogix seeing substantial growth. Listen to Ted Stearns share his story on making an impact through helping other entrepreneurs and how Meallogix is rapidly expanding to provide more resources to digitize the meal prep industry. 

His favorite local tacos:

Ted: Mitch’s Seafood in Point Loma

Connect with Ted: 

Ted’s LinkedIn

Learn more about Meallogix:

Website: https://www.meallogix.com/

Facebook: @meallogix 

Instagram: @meallogix.co

LinkedIn

Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Companion Medical is a diabetes medical device company that offers a smart insulin pen system to help patients take proper insulin doses at the right time. The company’s product, InPen, was the first to be FDA-approved, and revolutionized the medical device industry. 

In this week’s podcast, Neal is joined by Sean Saint, founder and CEO of Companion Medical, who shares his entrepreneurial journey. Tech Coast Angel investor Justin Jue also makes a special appearance as co-host, and talks about how he made his very first investment in Companion Medical during their early stages. 

Sean graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a mechanical engineering degree, and became involved in the medical device technology field as an engineer for Medtronic. He appreciated that he could do what he was skilled at and also have a significant impact helping others. He eventually moved to San Diego to work for diabetes management companies like Dexcom and Tandem, and stayed in the area ever since.

Although he was heavily focused on developing ways to treat diabetes, Sean did not fully understand the complications of the disease until he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes himself. He realized that automated insulin pumps are good devices, but are inefficient if they are not used by the patients themselves. With a changed perspective, he took it on himself to develop better technology for people to actually use. 

After thinking of an idea for a smart insulin pen, Sean began to research for a smart pen company to work with. However, he was unable to find one, and it became clear that if he wanted to do this, he would have to take a leap of faith and do it himself. He started Companion Medical in 2013, and held on to his personal mantra, “Never Stop Talking,”— always bringing conversations and lunch meetings back to his vision for the startup. Through his consistent effort, he was eventually able to meet Justin in a TCA pitch, securing much-needed funds for Companion Medical’s early days. 

Companion Medical faced many challenges being the first novel product in the market, having to convince investors that the work they were doing was feasible and important. Although large pharmaceutical companies with resources were interested in creating a similar device, Sean’s startup had the advantage of being quick and flexible, and with his first-hand experience with diabetes, the personal motivation and urge to truly create a product to improve people’s lives. 

Listen in to hear Sean’s growth as an entrepreneur through Companion Medical and its recent acquisition by Medtronic, an opportunity to gradually expand in the diabetes management field. 

Their favorite local tacos:

Sean: Local taco place in Tecate (South of border in Mexico)

Justin: Don Bravo in La Jolla

Connect with Sean and Justin on LinkedIn:

Sean Saint

Justin Jue

Learn more about Companion Medical Here:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram: @myinpen

Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

$20m for AI, Omniome Acquired, A quick lesson on Hydrogen fuel and some supplies to take to a BBQ. Join Neal Bloom and Jonah Peake of Fresh Brewed Tech for weekly hot tech news from where the tacos meets the tech

UC San Diego is an innovation powerhouse that has a significant influence over San Diego’s economic development. The campus boasts over 500 inventions per year, and is in the top five ranking universities in the nation for startups. To continue cultivating a strong innovation ecosystem, the university established a local chapter of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Meet the UC San Diego team who helped create this chapter: Paul Roben and Al Pisano. 

Paul was a previous postdoc at UC San Diego, and proceeded to work for the Irish government as the Director of Lifesciences, developing national policy for the biotechnology sector. He returned to San Diego to work at the Salk Institute, and eventually transitioned to UC San Diego as the Associate Vice Chancellor of Innovation & Commercialization. He focuses on creating educational activities for students involved in entrepreneurship, such as certificate programs and incubators, and manages relationships between the school and various industries to commercialize technology developed on campus. 

Al’s career consistently involved designing and innovating new products. In the past, he was a practicing engineer that created new products for companies such as Xerox and General Motors. As the current Dean of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, he quotes the school’s two mantras, “We make bold possible,”and “Innovation happens here,” as the driving force behind the curriculum and research efforts for students interested in innovation. He anticipates that the chapter will excite the local communities and continue the outpour of startups and inventions from the campus. 

The NAI was created to recognize innovators and create an environment for like-minded students to receive education and mentorship. Both men agree that the addition of the local chapter is a great opportunity, as it gives a national platform to showcase the school’s progress and innovative efforts, collaborate with others, and access a global network of mentors and investors. The San Diego region has received over $5 billion in venture investment funding in the past year. UC San Diego has been active in working with local industry partners. The campus has already shown successful results, and with the new chapter, will most likely continue that momentum. 

Listen in to hear Paul and Al share their vision for the UC San Diego’s NAI chapter and how San Diego’s tech community and private sector can engage with the school’s innovators. 

Their favorite local tacos:

Paul: Del Sur Mexican Cantina in South Park

Al: City Tacos in Encinitas

Connect with Paul and Al on LinkedIn:

Paul Roben and Al Pisano

Learn more about UCSD’s NAI Chapter Here:

Website: https://innovation.ucsd.edu/naiucsd/

Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Join Neal Bloom and Jonah Peake every Friday at 12:30pm PST on the Clubhouse app where they share the latest news in tech in San Diego. From big tech like Qualcomm to trends in talent development, Neal & Jonah bring in guests like local tech journalists to share what's the latest in San Diego.

Talena Handley is the Founder and CEO of Girlie Garage, an educational platform that aims to teach women about their vehicles so they feel empowered and confident on the road. Girlie Garage provides automotive consulting and online videos to help its customers solve car issues without being taken advantage of by shops. 

While growing up in Northern California, Talena was always tinkering with motorcycles, even getting her first one at the young age of four. Her grandfather used to refurbish Ford Model Ts and Volkswagen Karmann Ghias, and she would always be found in his workshop helping him. Although it was her hobby, she began to pursue auto mechanics in a more serious light after her car was stolen for the second time. Knowing that there was a stigma of women being taken advantage of for not being well-versed in cars, Talena went to mechanic school so she could learn how to help herself instead. Her education in automatics took her around the U.S. and Canada, where she worked for various race teams.

Talena added business and entrepreneurship to her list of skills while attending San Diego State University.She began to use her entrepreneurial experience and passion for automobiles for Girlie Garage, her lifelong mission to educate and help others with their personal vehicles. Her vision is to pass on her knowledge and expertise to others, and to make her business a household name. 

Listen in as host Neal Bloom talks with Talena about the impact of being actively involved in the entrepreneurial community and Girlie Garage’s plans for the future. 

Talena’s Favorite Tacos:

Fat Fish Cantina Grill in Pacific Beach

Connect with Talena on LinkedIn:

LinkedIn

Keep up with Girlie Garage Here:

Website: https://www.girliegarage.com/

LinkedIn

Facebook: @GirlieGarage1

Instagram: @girliegarage

Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Power Digital Marketing is a data-driven marketing agency that uses Nova, the company’s very own machine learning platform capable of analyzing business growth opportunities, and tracking consistent progress for its clients. Founder Grayson Lafrenz, and Pierre Le Veaux II, Vice President of Private Equity & Venture Capital Partnerships, gave us an insider’s perspective into the use cases and success of Nova. 

Grayson is a successful entrepreneur, and founded 11 companies before starting Power Digital. He began to delve into digital marketing, and noticed the common problem of fluff and idealistic concepts that would not bring tangible results. He began to focus on all aspects of performance marketing, like traffic, conversion, lifetime value, and how to best present a product to online consumers. This inspiration eventually led to the creation of Nova, which was a system created to find startups with potential to grow and identify what factors would help them become successful, and to create a positive feedback loop to help the AI become smarter.

Pierre came from a banking background, having worked at Goldman Sachs for 10 years. His expertise in the finance industry became instrumental in expanding Nova’s realm beyond startups into private equity and venture capital firms. He became a key communicator of the value proposition of digital marketing to the investment community. Although marketing is seen as an unnecessary expense from their perspective, he was able to convince many firms that it is actually a revenue driver, and that using Nova would help growth diligence from a data-driven way to find potential portfolio companies. 

As Power Digital continues to grow, its Nova AI platform helps over 400 clients, and the forecasting of results becomes smarter as more data is added to the system. Although it can be used as a self-service tool, many PE/VC firms also appreciate the insights that human SEO experts are able to provide, and overall benefit from using the software. Nova is the core of Power Digital, and is responsible for the company’s compounding annual growth rate, accurate analysis of revenue and expenses, and custom matches teams to clients. Nova’s intelligence continues to grow as it recommends marketing strategies that are more profitable for its clients. 

Listen in to hear more about the impact of Nova and how it is changing the digital marketing scene and investment landscape for organizations ranging from startups to private equity firms.

Grayson and Pierre’s Favorite Tacos:

Casa Sanchez in Long Beach

El Pescador in La Jolla

Connect with Grayson and Pierre on LinkedIn:

Grayson & Pierre

Keep up with Nova & Power Digital Here:

Website

LinkedIn

Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Melissa Lopez is CEO of Onyx Offsites and Trainings, an experimental education company that provides custom-retreats, executive training, team building and wellness initiatives for organizations all over the world. 

Originally from Phoenix, Ariz., Melissa came to San Diego for college, studying at the University of San Diego. After she graduated, she decided to stay in town to accept an advertising and marketing position. As her marketing skills grew, Melissa was able to observe the transition of in-person marketing to interactive advertising, largely due to the introduction of the internet. Melissa began to gain steady influence at Castle Advertising, a former advertising agency, and then consistently moved on to other companies, helping build each organization’s digital marketing division. 

Eventually, she co-founded Katana Media with current Analytics Ventures Managing Partner Andreas Roell (acquired by BVAccel, another San Diego company). While running her own company, Melissa was also offered a board position in Entrepreneurs’ Organization, where she learned the importance of having a lifelong learner mindset, even as a CEO. She continued to grow as an entrepreneur, and after Katana was acquired, she built another company called DataQ that offered e-commerce tools to analyze first-party data and insights. DataQ was eventually acquired by another San Diego company, Power Digital Marketing.

After selling DataQ, Melissa joined Onyx in early 2020, a month before the pandemic hit, and immediately had to make hard decisions to survive. Melissa focused on downsizing and finding a new way for Onyx to provide its services. Everything was originally done in an in-person group gathering.However, the inability to gather in groups forced her to look for a new virtual solution. Her and her team began to focus on making activities as interactive as possible, such as sending materials for wine tasting, or having virtual game shows. The pandemic forced a new productization that was predominantly virtual, which succeeded despite the initial setbacks. 

Onyx had a huge breakthrough with many companies, as the pandemic made organizations focus on how to connect teams through technology now more than ever. Listen in to hear about Melissa’s transformative experience in San Diego’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and how Onyx plans to expand.

Melissa Lopez Favorite Tacos:

Lucha Libre in Mission Hills

Connect with Melissa: 

Linkedin

Keep up with Onyx Offsites and Trainings

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

LinkedIn

YouTube

Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

San Diego’s bluetech cluster is a sub-sector of the larger, broader local “Blue Economy,” which accounts for more than 1,400 companies, supporting 46,000 jobs, and generating $14 billion in direct sales. President and CEO, Yi Chao, contributes to this with his company, Seatrec, which recently relocated to Vista from Los Angeles. Seatrec designs technology used to convert temperature differences in the ocean into electricity. Other applications include oceanic robotics, ocean energy stations, and polar environmental research.

Yi grew up in China and was introduced to the STEM field at a young age. He received his bachelor's degree in Atmospheric Physics at a highly selective science and technology university. Soon after, he applied to graduate schools all over the U.S., ultimately attending Princeton and receiving his Ph,D, in Oceanography. Yi employed his background in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at NASA, where he worked with computer modeling used to develop the first satellite to measure salinity (the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water) from space. 

While working in underwater robotics at JPL, Yi discovered that in order for underwater robots to be active in the ocean, they require consistent energy. He understood that this could not be achieved manually and worked to develop an ocean-powered technology with which robots charge themselves and automatically recognize varying water temperatures. This data would then be sent to command centers for further research and analysis. 

Seatrec is currently used primarily by researchers and academic institutions, but in the near future, Yi hopes to expand the technology for commercial uses. Listen in to hear more about Yi and Seatrec’s mission to harness and create sustainable energy for current and future generations 

Yi’s Favorite Tacos:

Yi is new to the San Diego area, so Neal recommends the following spots: Tacos Don Paco, La Original Casa Del Taco, and The Original Mr.Taco

Connect with Yi: 

LinkedIn

Keep up with Seatrec:

Website

LinkedIn

Facebook: @seatrec

Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.