Q2 VC Report: SD's Co.'s Land Funding, IPO Filings & Billion-Dollar M&A Deals

San Diego ranks 7th in the United States as a top startup ecosystem (per Carta data)

Jun 30, 2025

Business San Diego delivers in-depth profiles of founders and insights on San Diego's most successful companies, executives, and technologies. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss the next story.

San Diego ranks 7th in the United States as a top startup ecosystem, according to Carta, attracting roughly 3 percent of total capital invested. San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles hold the top spots.

In San Diego, startup funding for the second quarter hit $500 million, down from $1 billion in Q2 2024, amid global and local venture capital slowdown.

The majority of venture capital funding went into several late-stage companies Biolinq, Flock Freight as well as roughly ten seed stage deals.

A significant number of those venture-backed companies included medical device, pharmaceutical and software focused companies.

The San Diego metro area ranks ranks 7^thin the United States, according to Carta, following Seattle and Austin respectively — San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles hold the top spots.

Aardvark Therapeutics remains the only San Diego company to have gone public so far this year. On June 26, Carlsbad-based Carlsmed a fast-growing medtech startup announced it had filed for a $100M IPO.

Deal activity in the region fell to 37 transactions in Q2, compared to 48 in the same quarter last year.

High-Level Overview

Top bio deals: RayThera ($110M), Biolinq ($100M), Actio Bioscience ($66M)
Top tech deals: Linear ($82M), Flock Freight ($60M), Clearspeed ($60M)
Top seed deals: WeGive ($2M), EyePop AI ($3M) RetroRate ($2.6M)

Below are San Diego’s top deals in Q2 2025, including bio, tech and seed deals.

Eli Lilly and Company’s officially opened its doors to the Lilly Gateway Labs program in Torrey Pines. San Diego-based HAYA Therapeutics, RyboDyn, and several other biotech startups were accepted into the first cohort.

Life Science

RayThera a small molecule drug discovery company raised $110M Series A.
Biolinq a healthcare tech company that sells biosensors raised $100M Series C.
Actio Biosciences a biotech focused on rare and common diseases raised $66M.
HAYA Therapeutics a precision therapeutics biotech raised $65M Series A.
Field Medical a med-device company developing ablation tools $40M Series A.

Miguel Carranza (Left), CTO at RevenueCat moved to Encinitas from the San Francisco Bay Area during the pandemic. A remote-first company, it has a small office in North County San Diego.

Technology

Linear an enterprise software maker raised a $82 million Series C.
Flock Freight a logistics tech company serving the trucking industry raised $60M.
Clearspeed a tech company assessing risk in speech raised $60M Series D.
RevenueCat a subscription management platform for paid apps raised $50M.
mPower Technology a startup providing solar power in space raised $21M.
Firestorm Labs maker of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) vehicles raised $10M.

Recoup, sells an organic sparkling prebiotic beverages infused with ginger, maple water, and electrolytes to support gut health and hydration. In June, it took first place at the San Diego Angel Conference, receiving a $200,000 grand prize.

Early-Stage Investments

WeGive a giving experience platform for nonprofits and ministries raised $2M.
EyePop AI a startup focused on building AI-powered vision models raised $3M.
RetroRate a real estate startup focused on assumable mortgages raised $2.6M.
Finlete a platform that connects fans with athletes raised a $1 million Seed round.
TheQwikFix a tech startup focused on home inspection reports undisclosed seed.
Recoup Beverage a gut-friendly beverage company raised $200,000 grand prize.

On Friday June 27, Medtech firm Carlsmed announced it has filed for a $100 million IPO. The Carlsbad-based company was founded in 2018 and raised $110 million in venture capital funding to date.

IPO and M&A News

Qualcomm semiconductor giant acquired AlphaWave Semi for $2.4B.
Capstan Therapeutics late-stage biotech acquired by AbbVie for $2.1B.
Dr. Squatch a men’s focused grooming brand acquired by Unilever for $2B.
Carlsmed a spine surgery-focused medtech filed to go public for $100M.