Marquise Jackson

“The SBDC’s ongoing support has been nothing short of life-saving! Just a phone call away – they give me the courage to pursue my dreams, knowing there is nothing I can’t do with this incredible team on my side.”

– Roanna Canete, Owner

Description of Business:

When her toddler son was diagnosed with multiple food allergies, Roanna Canete experienced the significant difficulties of finding healthy, safe food for allergen diners. Combined with a serendipitous visit to a 100% gluten free bakery in Paris, she embarked on an ambitious plan to transform San Diego into a safe place for allergen diners and to ultimately reshape the food industry.

Featured in Netflix’s Sugar Rush, Roanna’s Gluten Free Baking Company has seen rabid demand in San Diego and has doubled sales each year for the last 3 years.

Check out Roanna’s bagels, donuts, muffins and more at the company’s online store, or visit their first retail location at 4594 30th Street in North Park, San Diego.

Use of Capital Infusion Funds:

The financing was utilized to purchase an existing bakery and to retain and hire employees.

Location:

San Diego, CA 92116

“The SBDC was extremely helpful, and they gave me the confidence to believe in myself as a business woman.”

– Brenda Estrada, Owner

Description of Business:

Owner Brenda Estrada launched Nana’s Kitchen to share her love of fresh, authentic Mexican cuisine with her community in Imperial.

Nana’s has become an integral part of the close-knit Imperial area, and their team can be seen out-and-about regularly at a wide variety of community events and catering engagements.

Among a number of customer favorites, fans of Nana’s tacos de guisado keep the cash register ringing from open to close. Check out Nana’s Kitchen at their location in Imperial, CA, at 502 W. Aten Rd, or visit them on Facebook @welovenanaskitchen.

Use of Capital Infusion Funds:

The financing was utilized to purchase equipment and remodel restaurant site.

Location:

Imperial, CA 92251

“Since starting my business, I have been able to help our family’s household income and also contribute to the government by paying taxes, and I am able to get retirement benefits as well.”

– Naw Say Phaw

Description of Business:

Business owner Naw Say Phaw came to San Diego in 2014 as a refugee from Malaysia with her husband and child. Upon resettling in San Diego, Naw Say became a stay-at-home parent but her ultimate goal was to work outside of the home. She wanted to start her own business but had no previous experience and she was also unsure of the various licenses, permits and regulations required on the local, state and federal levels.

Naw Say came to the IRC-SBDC for help, and after receiving a wide variety of technical assistance, AYA Mini Market was launched. To learn more, see her website or visit the store at 4651 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92105.

Use of Capital Infusion Funds:

The financing was utilized to purchase inventory and to provide working capital.

Location:

San Diego, CA 92105

“The connections, coaching, and feedback provided by the Brink SBDC were invaluable in helping us close a $4M seed round, including a $295,000 investment from their incredible San Diego Angel Conference, and they also provided valuable training and community partner introductions.”

– Dr. Orianna Bretschger, CEO

Description of Business:

Founded in 2016 by Dr. Orianna Bretschger, Aquacycl (www.Aquacycl.com) is a wastewater technology company that helps food and beverage manufacturers save up to 90% in treatment costs while also solving a critical environmental problem caused by 80% of current wastewater being released untreated into our rivers and oceans.

The company’s BioElectrochemical Treatment Technology uses naturally existing bacteria to convert organic waste and sludge into direct electricity without any methane production, and treats wastewater that is 5-10x stronger than the current industry standard.

Aquacycl’s industry-leading tech can potentially disrupt the international wastewater market, and their $50M sales pipeline includes major global companies such as Mars and Anheuser-Busch.

Use of Capital Infusion Funds:

The financing was utilized to support the company’s pilot tests with Mars and Anheuser-Busch including product development and hiring additional staff.

Location:

San Diego, CA 92121

“Our SBDC advsisors were outstanding. They were always available for us to bounce ideas off, and provide suggestions and guidance.”

– Robert Ferrara, President

Description of Business:

Upon completion of a significant 12-month construction project, Valley Premier Storage will become the largest, most secure, most technologically advanced self-storage and business incubator facility in the Imperial Valley.

Their unique business model combines a traditional storage facility with commercial office space including a co-working space component. Located in the heart of El Centro’s retail corridor, their 85,000 sq/ft facility will provide over 800 storage units and over 50 office spaces on nearly 5 acres.

To learn more, visit www.ValleyPremierStorage.com.

Use of Capital Infusion Funds:

The financing is being utilized to build the company’s 85,000 sq/foot storage and office space facility, with the majority of the work performed by nearly 20 local contractors.

Location:

El Centro, CA 92243

“We moved our company to San diego from Minnesota, and the SBDC gave us instant access to a huge network of contacts that led to obtaining our startup capital and making other crucial connections. Bein the “new guy in town” is never easy, but with their help, we hit the ground running”

– Gayle McEnroe, President

Description of Business:

Urethane Masters is a custom manufacturing company that creates prototypes and production parts used in field tests and short-run production by Fortune 500 OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

Founders Gayle McEnroe and Minh Le had previously worked in the same industry for 15 and 25 years respectively. To learn more, visit them at www.UrethanMasters.com.

Use of Capital Infusion Funds:

The financing was utilized for hiring new employees and purchasing equipment.

Location:

San Diego, CA 92114

“The Brink SBDC and Dr. Martin Kleckner have been invaluable in the success and progress of AccuDava. They dedicated many hours to reviewing and giving advice on our SBIR grant application to the National Cancer Institute, which was successfully awarded $300,000. Their unconditional support continued with extreme efforts that helped us with a $50,000 NIH I-corps grant, which resulted in additional NCI grant funding of $150,000 to extend our diagnostic test application to non-small cell lung cancer.”

– Nahid Razi, Founder/CEO

Description of Business:

AccuDava’s research has the potential to create a paradigm shift in cancer treatment decision making that would ultimately save millions of lives.
Many cancer patients do not survive as a result of tumors that do not respond to commonly used chemotherapy drugs, but AccuDava’s method solves this unmet need in cancer chemotherapy. The company’s diagnostic test saves lives by identifying chemotherapy-resistant patients prior to any drugs being administered, saving people from unnecessary suffering from ineffective drugs and giving patients and doctors a chance to find treatments that work. For more information, please see www.Accudava.com.

Use of Capital Infusion Funds:

The financing was utilized by the company to fund further research and development of its diagnostic test.

Location:

La Jolla, CA 92037

“The Brink SBDC is providing an invaluable service to entrepreneurs by giving guidance and providing connections to both investors and customers. Events such as the San Diego Angel Conference are the icing on the cake, which spreads the spirit of entrepreneurship in the community by bringing entrepreneurs and new
investors together, and resulted in an investment of over $100,000 for our company.”

– Farooq Anjum, Co-Founder/CTO

Description of Business:

AgTech company GroGuru has developed the world’s first 100% wireless underground IoT platform that has the potential to be a game-changing solution for the commercial agriculture market. Utilizing soil sensors and highly advanced technological innovations, GroGuru helps farmers monitor crop growing conditions and provides real-time irrigation recommendations that improve crop yields by 10% and decrease costs by nearly 20%. For more information, please see www.GroGuru.com.

Use of Capital Infusion Funds:

The financing is being utilized for product development, new staff, and working capital.

Location:

La Jolla, CA 92037

“The Brink SBDC has been incredibly helpful to our company. They made a number of connections to potential investors, strategic partners and customers, and also used their hands-on experience to give us crucial guidance on negotiations and funding that we were otherwise lacking. It’s great having them on our side.”

– Joseph Anthony, Founder/CEO

Description of Business:

Formerly a Mandarin cryptographic linguist in the U.S. Air Force, service-disabled Veteran Joseph Anthony launched Run2Play with a grand vision: to create a technology platform that fights two epidemics at once – food insecurity and obesity. Through its website and mobile app, the company utilizes cryptocurrency to pay users to exercise along with making donations to charities of the user’s choice. To learn more, please visit www.Run2Play.com.

Use of Capital Infusion Funds:

The funding is being utilized for software development, marketing, and working capital

Location:

San Diego, CA 92107