🎙️ This Week in San Diego Tech (4/21/25 Edition)

Tacos and Tech Podcast

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👋 Welcome!

Welcome to This Week in San Diego Tech!

I’m Neal Bloom from Fresh Brewed Tech, the Tacos and Tech Podcast, and Interlock Capital.

Joining me as always is Fred Grier, journalist and author of The Business of San Diego Substack, covering startups, funding, and M&A across the region.

🗞️Top Headlines This Week: 🎶 Music Tech Meets the Symphony - link

• Interlock Capital hosted 30+ tech leaders for a behind-the-scenes tour of the newly renovated Jacobs Music Center ($150M remodel!)

• The tech community showed up at the San Diego Symphony’s Discovery Night, featuring jazz, Mardi Gras flair, and remarks by ResMed CEO Mick Farrell

• The call to action: it’s time for the next generation of founders to support arts, science, and innovation in SD

🚀 Startup 101 & Founders Funnel Kickoff - link

• Neal and Tim Ryan launched Startup 101, a community event for early-stage builders to explore the “car, plane, or rocket ship” path of growth

• 10 attendees, curated cohort, high demand for more, filling a new cohort each quarter - and Founders Build Day now expanding to 3 monthly locations in May!

💰 Funding Rounds

• Symphonic Capital raises $13.5M for its debut fund, led by Sydney Thomas (ex-Precursor), focused on fintech and digital health

  Read Fred’s article »

• Bliss AI, an aesthetic-focused AR software platform, secures Series A funding (co-founder based in North County)

• Biolinq raises $90M for non-invasive glucose sensing — originally spun out of UCSD labs and now scaling hard

  SEC filing »

🧬 NIH Funding Shakeup & Market Headwinds - link

• UCSD sees $150M+ in NIH funding paused or cut, impacting researchers and early-stage startups

• Federal agency funding delays (FDA, DOD, SBIR) creating ripples in life sciences and defense tech

• Tariffs, market uncertainty, and reduced VC capital raise concerns for hardware and deep tech founders

🧱 Real Estate & Ecosystem Expansion

• Pfizer moves to new Torrey View campus

• Novartis to build a $1.1B San Diego R&D hub

• Prebys Foundation acquires Wells Fargo Plaza for $40M (previously $148M), signaling interest in downtown tech corridor

• GemPharmatech, Qpex, and BioLabs expanding presence in the region

• EvoNexus UTC set to open new space for medtech/life science founders in May

👟 SDSU Goes Jordan

• San Diego State men’s basketball team debuts custom Air Jordan 4 PEs — only 50 pairs made!

  See them here »

🗓️ Community Events & Ecosystem News

• One Million Cups is back!

  • Every Wednesday at 8am @ Ansir Innovation in Convoy

  • Two startup presentations + community feedback

  • Event photo recap »

• Interlock Capital LP + Portfolio Founder Day

  • LPs and founders will be connecting in curated roundtables to move the needle on growth

• The Social Coyote has your curated event list:

  Subscribe here »

💬 Final Shoutouts

• Thanks to Michael Robertson and other listeners for your feedback — we’re testing a shorter intro song this week!

• Follow Fred on Substack » and Neal on Fresh Brewed Tech »