Cool Planet funding hits $54M
Camarillo-based Cool Planet Energy Systems said on Friday that it had raised $29.9 million of what it expects to be a $100 million funding round for its first grass-to-fuel plant production facility. Cool Planet, which has received funding from Google Ventures and BP in the past, has designed a machine that uses heat and pressure Read More →
Goleta to sue state over missing RDA funds
The city of Goleta is taking on the big guys as it brings a lawsuit against the state, officials told community and business leaders at an event on May 30. Calling the lawsuit a “David vs. Goliath moment” at Goleta’s annual State of the City luncheon, Mayor Roger Aceves said the city will file papers Read More →
Cal Poly student startup sold
A San Luis Obispo startup founded by Cal Poly students has been acquired by a Silicon Valley firm, marking the second sale of a student business from the school in two years. Quest.to, which was founded during a Startup Weekend event in 2012 and then attended the HotHouse summer accelerator program organized by the school’s Read More →
Asta Fluidic takes top spot at UCSB competition
A UC Santa Barbara team developing a cheap and easy technology to test for a serious pregnancy complication is the winner of the school’s 14th annual New Venture Competition. Asta Fluidic Technologies is developing a chip that could drastically reduce the time and cost of testing for fetomaternal hemorrhage, a condition in which the red Read More →
Allan Hancock College selects new leader
Allan Hancock College has named Kevin Walthers its new president and superintendent. Walthers, who will take up the top post at the Santa Maria campus in early July, comes from Las Positas College in Livermore. Allan Hancock said he was selected after a nationwide search that was launched when former president and superintendent José Ortiz Read More →
SBA honors Trust Automation with small-business award
Ty and Trudie Safreno of Trust Automation have been honored with this year’s Central California Small Business Person of the Year Award. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Fresno District Office selected the Safrenos for their company’s contribution to the region’s economy. The San Luis Obispo-based small business, which makes devices that control high-precision electric motors Read More →
