OCTANe LaunchPad Companies Raise $74.8M in Funding in the Second Quarter of 2016

ALISO VIEJO, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 15, 2016) - OCTANe, Orange County's life science and technology accelerator organization announced today that during Q2 of 2016, LaunchPad™ SBDC companies raised a total of $74.8 million in funding. The total marks an increase from $27.3 million the previous quarter, and is up from $37.5 million in the same quarter in 2015.

In a recent report from real estate brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle, there was $229 million raised for high-tech companies in the second quarter in Orange County. This reflects that OCTANe's LaunchPad companies were responsible for 33 percent of that total.

"OCTANe's LaunchPad program has proven to be an invaluable resource for early-stage companies across a variety of industries in Orange County," said Bill Carpou, CEO of OCTANe. "These recent reports only reinforce the fact that the ecosystem is thriving, more OC-based companies are reaching their goals, and OCTANe is helping them get there."

The increased funding activity includes the following LaunchPad companies:

• Sonendo: $33 million - Gentlewave root canal system
• Acorns: $30 million - Automatically invests your spare change
• Osprey Data: $5.9 million - Physical systems intelligence platform
• Metamason: $3.7 million - Healthcare focused software that uses 3D scans of the body
• Bioniz Therapeutics: $1.4 million - Biotech company focused on multi-cytokine inhibitory therapeutics. The company announced on August 1^st an additional $13 million raised.
• TinyKicks: $500,000 - Smart sensor that captures fetal movement

OCTANe is set to co-host its first ever StartUpOC Investor Summit on September 20^th at The Cove at UCI. This collaborative effort with many of Orange County's network of startup partners will be introducing venture capital investors to the OC ecosystem, as well as feature many exciting startup companies. The Summit will highlight how Orange County continues to create, fund and scale innovation in the region.

About OCTANe

OCTANe drives technology industry growth and innovation in Orange County by connecting ideas and people with resources and capital. Its members represent Orange County technology executive leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, academicians, and strategic advisors, all working together to fuel innovation in the OC. The organization has helped more than 800 companies via the LaunchPad™ SBDC accelerator. LaunchPad™-certified companies have received more than $1.7 billion in investment and equity exits. OCTANe annually welcomes more than 7,000 people to its programs and events. More than 2,000 business leaders throughout the Orange County region are OCTANe members. For more information, visit www.octaneoc.org.