CA · West
San Diego venture capital & startups
San Diego defense autonomy and software — Shield AI, SkySafe, ClickUp, Turquoise Health, Function Oncology, Comma.
San Diego’s directory signal mixes defense autonomy (Shield AI, SkySafe), work OS scale (ClickUp), healthcare price transparency (Turquoise Health), and functional oncology (Function Oncology). Local fund HQ pages are empty; Torrey Pines biotech remains mostly a gap.
Aliases: San Diego, La Jolla, Carlsbad, Sorrento Valley. Startups matched by hq plus curated IDs when HQ is missing but public materials cite San Diego. Funds matched by fund.location only — we do not curate national investors as San Diego HQ firms.
Venture firms in San Diego
Matched from fund headquarters in our directory (alias-based). Dual-HQ firms may appear in more than one city.
| Firm | HQ (directory) | Leads |
|---|---|---|
| Andreessen Horowitz | — | |
| Bessemer Venture Partners | — | |
| Tiger Global Management | — | |
| BoxGroup | — | |
| Founders Fund | — | |
| Lux Capital | — | |
| Qualcomm Ventures | San Diego, California, United States | — |
Startups we cover in San Diego
Matched from startup hq fields. Many profiles still lack HQ — curated lists
in editorial notes fill gaps when verified.
| Startup | One-liner | HQ |
|---|---|---|
| Shield AI | — | |
| SkySafe | — | |
| ClickUp | — | |
| Turquoise Health | — | |
| Function Oncology | — | |
| Comma | — | |
| Faro AI | Structured clinical-development data models and agentic AI from protocol intent through execution. | San Diego, CA |
| KymaThera | Precision-medicine biotech developing mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitors for cancer and vascular malformations. | San Diego, California, United States |
| VECKTA | Planning and procurement software for businesses buying onsite energy systems. | San Diego, California |
Coverage gaps
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Torrey Pines / La Jolla biotech cluster (Illumina-adjacent, clinical-stage peers)
San Diego’s largest venture narrative is life sciences; our startup JSON barely covers it yet. Priority for founders researching buyers and talent density.
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Local seed / life-science funds (e.g. historic Domain Associates-class, regional biotech specialists)
No San Diego HQ fund profiles in our directory today — founders must use national /directory shortlists plus offline local lists.
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Qualcomm / wireless spinouts and 5G infrastructure startups
Wireless is a core regional buyer set; few company pages ingested with structured whyInteresting + investors.
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Defense primes’ San Diego vendor layer beyond Shield AI / SkySafe
Autonomy and sensors around Navy/SPAWAR buyers matter for American Dynamism founders; only two defense names are profiled so far.
Related reading
San Diego FAQs
Practical answers for founders researching this investor.