Why is this important for Marin and North Bay Economic Development?
75% of Marin’s 12,000 incorporated businesses are small (under 10 employees) but make up 50% of the local economy’s sales revenues and local sales tax generation. Yet, Marin does not have an adequately resourced, centralized capacity to support this important sector.
VenturePad’s Accelerator services and assistance to start-ups and small, growing businesses have proven to be the difference between non- incubated start-ups having a survival rate of 44% and incubated-accelerated start-ups having a survival rate of 87%, according to industry research reports. Marin's two prior incubators supported and launched over 360 companies starting in 2010 and ending in 2015 when they closed. Three years into this hiatus without an entrepreneurship center, VenturePad is filling that gap.
Examples of successful local companies having been incubated in the last several years in Marin include:
Illumalighting: A full service lighting solutions company dedicated to providing customers with the most cost effective solutions for their lighting needs. Acquired by Evolvelectric.
Sonoma USA: Branded gear made from upcycled banners and other industrial waste
Next Phase Solar (sold to Enphase) Worldwide leader in microinverters, AC home battery storage, smart solar monitoring technologies, and now integrated AC Modules from top PV manufacturers.
TrimTab Media: Storytelling services for progressive businesses and nonprofits - video and documentaries
Sol-Ed: design, build, pay for, and operate renewable energy systems, so you avoid upfront capital expense or financing.
Helios: World's 1st commercial real estate platform for energy project development, & financing.
The Region’s Most Successful Exits
The North Bay has a rich history of successful startup companies across multiple sectors. According to research from Marin-Sonoma Impact Ventures, if Marin + Sonoma together were the 51st U.S. state, this hypothetical state would have seen more quality startups formed here this last decade than half of U.S. states and would rank in the top 3 of all states in the number of quality startups per capita. Below is a list of the top exits that funded companies had in the past decade.
Top Exits for North Bay Startups ≤ 10 years old – 2010-2019
Source: MSIV original research across discussions and multiple platforms including Crunchbase, Pitchbook, and LinkedIn
* IPO exit value assumed to be company market cap six-months after IPO date
A Bit More About These Companies (by Marin-Sonoma Impact Ventures)
Ultragenyx ($1.3B), a Novato biotech company focusing on rare genetic diseases, is now one of Marin’s largest private employers. Founded by a former BioMarin executive, the company had a successful 2014 IPO and has seen its market cap more than 7x since then, as the company is now valued at over $9B.
Glassdoor ($1.2B), founded in Marin with the goal of giving employees an inside look at companies, now helps job seekers all over the world find jobs and companies they love. Japanese HR conglomerate Recruit Holdings acquired the Mill Valley unicorn in 2018. Glassdoor continues to operate as a standalone business.
Millipede ($325M+), founded in Santa Rosa with offices near the STS airport, developed a medical ring to be used for valve repair when treating heart disease. Boston Scientific acquired the company in 2018.
Claret Medical ($220M), also based in the same Santa Rosa medical device cluster, developed a system that reduces the risk of stroke during aortic valve replacements. They also sold to Boston Scientific in 2018.
KRAVE Jerky ($220M), founded in the city of Sonoma in 2009, created an all-natural snack brand of premium jerky products. Hershey’s acquired the company in 2015 before ultimately selling the company back to Sonoma Brands in 2020.
Cyan ($215M), founded by veterans of the North Bay’s Telecom Valley cluster, offered software-defined networks and packet-optical solutions for service providers, data center operators and private networks. The company completed a successful IPO in 2013 before ultimately being acquired by Maryland-based Ciena for $488 million in 2015.
ClairMail ($173M), founded in Novato before relocating to San Rafael, built infrastructure around mobile banking and payments systems. UK-based Montise, a specialist in mobile banking, acquired the Marin FinTech startup in 2012.
mFoundry ($165M), a Larkspur-based FinTech startup, was acquired by Jacksonville-based FIS in 2013. The company built SaaS-based mobile banking solutions for financial institutions and retailers across the U.S.
Enphase Energy ($159M), founded in Petaluma by other veterans of the North Bay’s Telecom Valley cluster, offers a micro-inverter system that delivers solar energy to homes and businesses. Since its 2012 IPO, the company’s share price had a very tumultuous run before increasing substantially in 2019 and skyrocketing in 2020: it’s market cap is now more than $25.3B, or 159x the IPO lock-out price.
Zep Solar ($158M), a San Rafael-based solar startup that built a rail-free module mounting system, sold to SolarCity in 2014 in just its fifth year of operations. SolarCity was later acquired by Tesla and, well, we all know how that stock has performed as of late.
Teknovus ($123M), a Petaluma-based producer of computer chips and software for broadband access networks, was acquired by Irvine-based Broadcom in 2010. At the time of the acquisition, the company had come to employ 70 people in Petaluma.
