special supplement | July 28, 2017 TheTri-Valley The future has arrived

Stephanie Beasly Chris Weeks David Selinger Sanjeev Saxena National labs unleash Bishop Ranch reinvents A new hub for artificial The pulse of medical innovation transportation intelligence technology

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Contents introduction 3 The tipping point The Tri-Valley tipping point 4 Where are we now? 6 Building the Tri-Valley brand Drive East on highway 580 anytime around rush hour, and estimated 360,000-plus residents also call small communities like 7 Innovation: There’s a logo for that you’ll reach an inevitable conclusion: a whole lot of people are Norris Canyon, Diablo and Camino Tassajara home. 8 The in crowd coming and going to the Tri-Valley. In addition to ongoing population gains, the Tri-Valley is also 10 A roadmap to the cutting edge (graphic) Even in comparison to Silicon Valley’s rapid sprawl to San seeing a wave of commercial activity. Well-known companies 12 Show me the money Francisco, Oakland and adjacent cities, the population and eco- like Tesla and Phillips have recently moved to Livermore and 15 Silicon Valley goes global from Tri-Valley nomic growth in the Tri-Valley is happening at breakneck pace. Pleasanton, respectively. They join growing industry clusters 16 Linking up on transit The City of Dublin, for instance, has seen its population swell by in fields like medical technology and cloud software, which are 18 Diagnosing the med tech market more than 25 percent in the past five years alone, state estimates comprised of a blend of homegrown upstarts and incumbents show. like GE, Workday and SAP. 20 The elephant in the room: housing 22 Cloud software takes flight The question now: how will local cities and a growing number Among the brightest lights is the region’s burgeoning local 24 A new artificial intelligence hub of big-name business tenants navigate this growth — especially technology sector, which has for decades been bolstered by 25 Out of the lab, into the market as they strive to maintain an often-cited high quality of life. proximity to two national laboratories and plentiful jobs in nearby Silicon Valley. Now, however, data shows that more capital 26 City-scale transformation “We can’t ignore the fact that there’s traffic. We and new enterprises are being attracted to the Tri-Valley 32 A space race at Hacienda can’t ignore that it’s expensive,” said Dale Kaye, proper. 34 Bishop Ranch redefines work CEO of nonprofit business advocacy group Innova- 36 Focus on foodies tion Tri-Valley. “But what we do have is a region rich Familiar California planning woes like housing and 38 Who’s next with Innovation Assets that also boasts an excellent transportation loom large for those thinking about the education system, a great quality of life and most region’s economic development, but there are plenty of rea- Dale Eldridge Kaye importantly a passion, which eclipse any negatives.” CEO sons to believe the trend toward local growth is here to stay. Innovation Tri-Valley Lauren Hepler Writer on the cover Geographically speaking, the Tri-Valley lies at “If you look at innovation’s inevitable path, and knowing Left to right: Brandon Cardwell, Michael Grant Dale Eldridge Kaye, Vijji Suryadevara the junction of the Amador, Livermore and San Ramon valleys, that the Tri-Valley has more advanced degrees per capita than Creative Director Photo by Spencer Brown spanning parts of both Alameda and Contra Costa counties. even Silicon Valley, it just makes sense,” said Don Garman, Carol Collier Designer The biggest cities in the area are Danville, Dublin, Livermore, founder and chief investment officer of Pleasanton-based finan- Carolyn Seng Pleasanton and San Ramon, though some of the region’s cial advisory firm Mirador Capital Partners. Designer 4 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

Growth at a glance:

27.1% 59,686 Increase in Dublin population this year “The Tri-Valley from 2012-2017, to is leading the Bay Area, and the state of 48% $1 million California, in jump in Livermore median home this July sale price from 2012-2017, to job growth, income, quality of life, and growth in $139 $120 venture capital average nightly rate for Tri-Valley the year prior investment.” hotels during 2015-2016, up from Mirador Capital’s Mirador View report

360,000 $24 million estimated Tri-Valley population amount invested by German auto supplier Dräxlmaier Group in new Livermore expansion

where are we now? Deal flow grows along with Tri-Valley cities t may seem like a rapid ascent, but the Tri-Valley has been gaining residents and business tenants All five cities in the Tri-Valley — Danville, Dublin, for decades. Livermore, Pleasanton and San Ramon — have seen year-over-year population growth from 2016-2017. With roots in the post-Gold Rush development There’s also been no shortage of leasing or expansion Iboom and the historic downtowns to show for it, the activity at both Class A office hubs, like San Ramon’s region today aims to leverage a combination of desirable Bishop Ranch, and R&D or industrial space in neighbor- local amenities and forward-looking economic prospects ing cities including Livermore. to kickstart more homegrown commercial activity. With that growth also comes longer-term questions The current economic upcycle has only served to about what’s next for the region’s talent pool, develop- amplify that goal. ment pipeline and a new wave of locally-founded compa- nies. “The Tri-Valley really is becoming a particularly ro- bust sub-region of the Bay Area,” said Pamela Ott, who To better understand the state of play in the Tri-Val- leads economic development for the City of Pleasanton. ley, here’s a snapshot of key data on deal flow, regional “Each of the cities brings something unique.” economic context and growth already underway. July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 5

Silicon Valley vs. Tri-Valley How does the Tri-Valley stack up economically against its famously tech-fueled neighbor?

Population growth Unemployment

37% 2.7% Tri -Valley 2010-2015 Tri-Valley 2016

13% 4% Bay Area 2010-2015 Bay Area 2016 A tech hub growing fast

The Tri-Valley has long provided ample Office space housing for workers in nearby San Percentage of residents Francisco, Silicon Valley and the East $/SF/month with advanced degrees (2016 average) Bay cities along the bay. What’s changed of late is the number of 22% companies setting up shop or choosing $2.55 Tri-Valley to grow in the region, particularly as Tri-Valley M&A activity heats up.

Livermore-based regional tech incu- 18% bator and co-working space i-GATE Bay Area $5.45 crunched the numbers on the local tech San Francisco industry using data from Crunchbase and the Bay Area Council, tallying the 21% following figures: $5.13 Silicon Valley Peninsula

450 estimated number of tech companies in the Tri-Valley region

Salary spotlight Median incomes around the Tri-Valley, according to the $16estimated billion number of startups latest available Census estimates in 2015. in the Tri-Valley region

Danville 150,000 $140,809 San Ramon $128,916 Dublin $1amount billion of capital raised $118,773 by Tri-Valley companies since 2015 120,000 Livermore Pleasanton $100,992 $101,022

90,000 $75median million price of Tri-Valley companies acquired since 2010

60,000

30,000 6 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

brand Building a brand on empathy and innovation How do you brand an entire region?

n the case of the Tri-Valley, that question was the focus in April at a tech-themed, black-lit party complete with lightsaber-equipped ushers and Tri Tini cocktails.

“Attendees loved the purple ice cubes, the tritinis Iand the vibe,” recalled Dale Kaye, CEO of regional busi- ness group Innovation Tri-Valley. “But what resonated with them was the sentiment of the logo and the need for a brand.”

The Innovation Tri-Valley brand unveiling party this spring — marked by a distinctive new logo and the tagline “The heart of California Innovation” — capped nearly two years of research and strategic planning for Kaye and branding specialists at San Francisco design firm Black- belt.

A regional identity became increasingly important over time to enabling a new level of growth in the region’s budding ecosystem of startups, incubators and large busi- nesses, Kaye said.

“We are a region that hasn’t ever marketed like a re- gion,” she said. “As Innovation Tri-Valley grew, so did the need for branding for business purposes.” Liza Nebel For Liza Nebel, founder and COO of Blackbelt, the proj- ect was a chance to lend the regional nonprofit the brand- ing expertise the firm has employed with clients like IBM, Salesforce and AT&T. In differentiating from other tech they’ve never heard of, it’s harder for them to swallow hubs like the “stress land” of Silicon Valley, Boston and these sort of head-spinning prices of homes,” Kaye said.” North Carolina’s research triangle, the theme of collabora- A lot of people do come from places like Austin and the re- tion and empathy soon emerged. gional triangle. There’s international recruitment as well.”

“It’s hard because we’re so trained to think that business “Bringing in new businesses and getting buy-in from shouldn’t be empathetic,” Nebel said. “Geographically, Tri-Valey residents is another priority of the branding pro- they’re obviously competing with San Francisco, Silicon cess,” Kaye added. Valley, Fremont. There are all these regional economic hubs in the Bay Area, and it’s something that is truly differ- “If you can’t convince your own community you’re cool, entiating.” you’re probably not going to convince anybody else,” Kaye added. In addition to attitude, Kaye said name recognition and a brand that highlights quality of life were also priorities With the new brand out in the market, Nebel said the as regional employers and cities seek to attract new work- next step is translating the ideals highlighted in the pro- force — especially with costs of living climbing in the cess to everyday life. current economic cycle. “If businesses can come together and own this regional “When you’re recruiting people to come to an area identity, it will make all of them stronger,” Nebel said. JulyJuly 28, 28, 2017 2017 tri-valley tri-valley | |innovation innovation lives lives here here Advertising Advertising s Supplementupplement 7 7

InnovatInnovationIon There’sThere’s aa logologo forfor thatthat WWhathat goes goes into into building building a abrand? brand? In In many many cases, cases, visual visual elements elements like like a alogo logo are are front front and and center. center. Here’s Here’s a alook look behind behind thethe scenes scenes at at the the creation creation of of Tri-Valley’s Tri-Valley’s new new logo logo developed developed by by Innovation Innovation Tri-Valley Tri-Valley that that debuted debuted earlier earlier this this year: year:

InterlockingInterlocking triangles triangles ThreeThree connected connected dots dots convey convey a asense sense of of growth growth signalsignal the the connectivity connectivity and and andand upward upward mobility mobility with with the the right-most right-most dot dot collaborationcollaboration the the region region beingbeing bigger bigger and and higher higher than than the the others others TheThe color color indigo indigo strivesstrives to to achieve achieve with with isis meant meant to to itsits burgeoning burgeoning cluster cluster of of evokeevoke strength, strength, startups,startups, investors investors and and trust,trust, creativity creativity nationalnational laboratories laboratories andand imagination imagination

AA central central triangular triangular AnAn inverted inverted “V” “V” used used as as badgebadge icon icon is is designed designed thethe letter letter “A” “A” represents represents toto provide provide a asense sense of of versatilityversatility and and freedom freedom to to placeplace and and dimensionality dimensionality “live“live life life on on your your terms” terms” 8 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

M&A activity heats up Funding highlights —­ 2016-2017 As incubators and accelerators sprout up in Livermore, San Ramon and beyond, a pair of June 2017 companies native to the Tri-Valley have cashed in on Aeye – A robotic “vision” company with a strong cycle for tech. applications for autonomous vehicles, Pleasanton’s AEye raised a $16 million Series A round from investors like Kleiner Perkins and Intel Capital $2.5 billion Zeltiq-Allergan ­­‑ February 2017 Zeltiq Aesthetics, a pioneer in the field of cosmetic cryolipolysis, or fat-freezing “CoolSculpting,” acquired by botox giant Allergan

April 2017 Deep Sentinel – The Trov – On-demand $915 million artificial intelligence- insurance company Trov ServiceMax-GE Digital – November 2016 based home security netted $45 million in a Pleasanton-based equipment field service software startup founded by Tri- Series D funding round, provider ServiceMax bought by neighboring GE Valley serial entrepreneur bringing the company’s software division, GE Digital, of San Ramon and Amazon veteran total equity haul to more David Selinger closed a than $87 million $7.4 million Series A round

The in crowd Incubating a new generation of Tri-Valley tech talent

n a recent Tuesday just before a coffee shop to the mix of co-working space, a family will increasingly translate to more lunch, an open co-working designated stations for incubating startups homegrown entrepreneurs. space in a converted phone and industrial lab areas for more technical switching facility is buzzing endeavors. “There’s this primordial soup of executive with people typing at tall com- talent in this area,” said Greg Hitchan, co- Omunal desks, huddling in conversation and As a city-backed, business-focused non- founder and managing partner of the recent- meandering through a “robot garden” assem- profit, Cardwell is also technically a city of ly-launched area venture capital firm Tri-Val- bled in front of a neon wall. Livermore economic development official but ley Ventures. “The entrepreneurial spirit is i-GATE is at the forefront of a convergence embedded.” It’s not downtown Mountain View or any between growing incubators, accelerators of the myriad incubators around the Stanford and new streams of local capital in the Tri- Then and now campus, but rather, the downtown Livermore Valley. home of the seven-year-old i-GATE incubator. To put today’s tech economy in perspec- Though the region has seen the extended tive, seven-time entrepreneur and Tri-Valley “You want to be in a place where lots of effects of boom-and-bust economic cycles up resident Les Schmidt thinks back to the rise people can accidentally find out about you,” close in the past, startup founders, investors of Silicon Valley. explains i-GATE Innovation Hub Executive and a growing number of area tech boosters Director Brandon Cardwell. “Being in a contend that this time around is different. He draws a parallel between the founding downtown is extremely important.” of Intel and birth of computing — the seed First, there’s an employment base bol- that ultimately spawned Apple and countless The Livermore native is describing plans stered by two federal laboratories and the other companies — and the dot-com era for the incubator’s new 16,000-square-foot spillover from the neighboring Bay Area and tech companies drawn to the Tri-Valley, like space down the street, where i-GATE is slated Central Valley that has swollen the Tri-Val- PeopleSoft and Sybase. to move this September, a lightbulb tattoo on ley’s population and job numbers. Beyond his forearm visible as he sips a mug of green that, in a region with one of the highest per “We continuously run into what people call tea to combat a cold. capita concentrations of PhDs in the nation, the PeopleSoft mafia,” Schmidt says of alumni business groups also hope that a reputation from the human resources tech company that “It would be sort of like a porous mem- for luring Silicon Valley veterans craving would go onto be acquired by Oracle. “We’re brane,” Cardwell summarizes of a plan to add open space and suburban amenities to raise kind of at generation one or two, whereas I’d July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 9

February 2017 January 2017 March 2016 Evident.io – Cloud POC Medical – Four-year- 10X Genomics – DNA security and compliance old medical diagnostic sequencing technology automation software hardware company POC company 10x Genomics company Evidene.io closed Medical Systems raised a landed a large Series C a $22 million funding $20.4 million Series A round funding round with $55 round this year, following million up a $15.7 million capital infusion last spring

August 2016 Unchained Labs – Life xMatters – San Ramon HealthTell – A $26.1 million science tool provider communication tech Series B round brought San Unchained Labs received company xMatters raised Ramon diagnostic company another $13 million in a Series $42 million in a debt HealthTell’s funding total to C funding that boosted the financing round on top north of $35.5 million company’s total capital raised of nearly $10 million in to $38 million previous equity funding

call Silicon Valley generation five or six.” to partners from Accel Partners, Google Ven- housing costs and increasing traffic gridlock. tures, Andreessen. They all live here.” Providing opportunity to a mix of veteran and Don Garman, founder and chief investment aspiring entrepreneurs who aim to keep their officer of Pleasanton financial advising firm Still, connecting the nascent push for more companies local is another issue. Mirador Capital Partners, sees that evolution local funding to founders already active in the reinforced by an ever-expanding pool of tech Tri-Valley will be key. “For young women entrepreneurs, there is talent drawn to housing at non-San Francisco very little infrastructure,” said Suryadevara prices and other suburban lifestyle perks. “The primary issue has been access to cap- of Career Waze, who added that she has ital,” said Vijji Suryadevara, a veteran startup encountered skepticism about her executive “This is where those guys live – not when founder and CEO of two-year-old Pleasanton prowess due to gender despite a successful they’re 25, but when they’re 35,” Garman skills training platform Career Waze. “There past acquisition and two computer science de- explains. is still a stigma that the hard startups are only grees. “We don’t need extra marks for being on the Peninsula.” women. We just don’t want negative marks Cardwell has noticed a similar demo- for being women.” graphic trend at i-GATE in Livermore. Connecting the dots For Garman, one big potential benefit of “You don’t get the 24-year-old, hoodie-wear- With talent and investment capital combin- growing the business case for launching com- ing, code-monkey entrepreneur out here,” ing to buoy the Tri-Valley startup ecosystem, panies in the Tri-Valley, rather than driving he said. “You get people with 10-15 years of it’s easy to get caught up in the momentum. the 35 miles to Palo Alto or elsewhere in the experience.” Bay Area, is keeping the benefits of the area’s Particularly encouraging for industry talent pool closer to home. In the Tri-Valley’s case, with experience supporters like Dale Kaye, CEO of Innovation often comes a blend of work at large compa- Tri-Valley, is the brand the region is building “We shouldn’t be outsourcing our No. 1 nies and more entrepreneurial pursuits. That for a more “empathetic” approach to launch- asset, which is all these brainiacs, to other potential source of more locally-developed ing new ventures. valleys,” Garman said. business activity is what groups like i-GATE, Innovation Tri-Valley and others are trying to “Unlike the pressure cooker atmosphere of Though the flurry of new companies, harness. other tech hubs, the Tri-Valley is known for funders and startup meeting points are all its work-life balance and collaborative cul- steps in the right direction for many, Cardwell Garman and Hitchan, for instance, are two ture,” Kaye explained. adds that success won’t happen in a vacuum. of the partners behind a new $10 million in- vestment fund raised by Tri-Valley Ventures. Still, those watching the evolution of the “Innovation ecosystems are entirely about industry closely say there is reason to keep people,” he said. “The extent to which artifi- “Venture capital being here as opposed to a close eye on dynamics that could pose cial barriers are constructed that keep people being somewhere else is a new development,” problems down the road, like a high pro- out — whether its housing our whatever it is Schmidt said. “I’ve already been introduced portion of out-of-region commuters, rising — is bad for the ecosystem.” 10 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

artificial intelligence A new “center of the universe” for artificial intelligence?

his September, a new node in the alarms.” Players to Tri-Valley tech network will offi- watch cially come online with the Bishop At BRIIA, Schmidt, an entrepreneur seven Ranch Intelligence Innovation Ac- times over after two IPOs and two acquisitions, AEye – Fresh off a celerator’s first class of startups. said the program will admit no more than 10 $16 million Series T companies and offer a set 12-week lineup of A funding round from Silicon Valley “We’re on a mission to make San Ramon the mentoring, business planning and other events. backers like Kleiner center of the universe for artificial intelligence That will leave room for several dozen co-work- Perkins and Intel startups,” Founder and Executive Director Les ing members at the space, plus time to develop Capital, Pleasan- Schmidt says matter-of-factly. corporate partnerships. ton-based AEye uses Lidar technol- The new accelerator, which goes by the “Over time, we’re going to raise a fund,” he ogy for the “robotic vision” systems the shorthand BRIIA, will operate as a for-profit added. company hopes to enterprise within 12,000 square feet earmarked apply in the field by the developers of the Bishop Ranch office With 10 million square feet of office space at of autonomous park for entrepreneurial endeavors. Bishop Ranch, the idea is that founders who hit vehicles their stride at BRIIA will then stick around to And BRIIA is also far from the only game grow their companies. Deep Sentinel – With seven employ- in town when it comes to artificial intelligence ees in downtown and machine learning ventures taking root in “They always have room for companies to Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley. Startups in industries ranging grow at almost any size. It’s very strategic on a nascent manu- from education (Career Waze) to home secu- their part,” Schmidt said of Bishop Ranch own- facturing arm in rity (Deep Sentinel) and self-driving vehicles ership. “Do you have to stay in San Ramon? No. Taiwan, the home (AEye) also now call the region home. But why would you leave?” security startup is using $7.4 million in venture capital “It’s this interesting combination of three While nascent industry gathering places like funding raised things happening concurrently,” explained BRIIA and a machine learning meetup that Sel- this spring to work Deep Sentinel Co-Founder and CEO David inger now hosts at the Deep Sentinel office in toward commercial- Selinger, a veteran of Amazon, co-founder of downtown Pleasanton are building momentum, ization of its smart Redfin and entrepreneur multiple times over. he said the region will need to continue to fo- camera systems “We believe we’re in the second inning of A.I.” cus on building infrastructure for local funding Career Waze – The and more sophisticated talent recruiting. online education What attracted Selinger to artificial in- space is nothing telligence now, he said, is a combination of “Right now I think it’s on balance a little if not busy, which hundred- or even million-fold improvements risky,” Selinger said of the decision to launch is why Pleasan- in computational power enabled by parallel in the Tri-Valley. “Capital is certainly impor- ton-based Career Waze is using technical breakthroughs. In an industry like tant, but I think recruiting is probably the most machine learning home security, a mix of incumbents like ADT important thing.” to more precisely and newcomers such as Google-owned Nest, identify and sug- the opportunities for artificial intelligence are Partnering with Livermore startup incubator gest educational vast, he said. i-GATE to host a job fair to better advertise opportunities for the number of locally-based tech companies — users looking to hone their technical Deep Sentinel, which recently closed a $7.4 estimated at around 450 by i-GATE — is one prowess million funding round and employs 11 people in current pet project for Selinger. Pleasanton and Taiwain, aims to mass produce BRIIA — The A.I.-equipped camera systems that evaluate po- Moving forward, he is also cognizant of Bishop Ranch tential threats to prevent both home invasions allaying fears about his new industry’s pop Intelligence Innova- and increasingly common property crimes like culture associations with Big Brother-style tion Accelerator, or BRIIA, will host its package theft. surveillance. first class of start- ups this September “We can provide a fundamentally different “The two things come down to control and in a bid to become value to the end consumer,” Selinger said, transparency,” Selinger said. “If you can accom- a “center of the citing a goal of going from 60 to 99 percent ac- plish those two in a really effective way consis- universe” for artifi- curacy in threat detection. “Let’s not have ADT tently, you’re in a good position.” cial intelligence in San Ramon. having thousands and thousands of false police July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 11

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84 Roadmap to the cutting edge A new geography of innovation takes shape in the Tri-Valley with a growing network of incubators, accelerators and co- working spaces.

1. i-GATE 3. Innovation Tri-Valley 5. iValley Innovation Center 7. GE Digital Foundry What: Nonprofit co-working space What: A business led membership What: A startup accelerator and What: An incubator housed at and startup accelerator group aligning the region’s private co-working space focused on finance the Bishop Ranch headquarters of Where: 2324 Second Street, sector, national labs, political leaders tech, or fintech, operating out of the software-focused General Electric Livermore from local to federal as well as Bishop Ranch development offshoot GE Digital Why: After launching in 2010, education institutions. Where: Bishop Ranch, San Ramon Where: 2623 Camino Ramon, San i-GATE is now home to 15 resident Where: 5960 Inglewood Dr, Why: iValley aims to connect Ramon companies and about two dozen Pleasanton domestic and international fintech Why: Industrial giant GE now co-working members. The nonprofit Why: Innovation Tri-Valley acts as startups to Silicon Valley through an operates several startup foundries supported by several Ti-Valley cities the umbrella organization for the Tri- accelerator program, “co-creation worldwide, including the Digital will move to a new 16,000 square-foot Valley innocation ecosystem bringing studio” and industry conference. Foundry at the San Ramon space in downtown Livermore this fall. together the public and private headquarters of GE Digital, which sectors to advance priorities like 6. Silicon Valley Global’s offers young companies guidance in 2. Livermore Valley Open workforce development, education, Launching Pad “creat(ing) a strategic business case Campus regional housing and transit planning What: Bay Area arm of the nonprofit for digital transformation.” What: An offshoot of Lawrence as well as regional marketing. Silicon Valley Global, which operates Livermore and Sandia national both a business membership group 8. Victory Workspace laboratories focused on bringing 4. BRIIA and a “Silicon Valley Offshore What: A co-working space started as federal research technologies to the What: The Bishop Ranch Intelligence Incubator” a “laptop lounge” in 2012 that now private sector Innovation Accelerator, which Where: 2220 Camino Ramon, San has two locations in Danville and Where: 7000 East Ave, Livermore launched this year and focuses on Ramon Walnut Creek Why: From traditional tech licensing developing startups using machine Why: Drawn to site of the former Where: 100 School St, Danville to more agile partnerships and learning and artificial intelligence San Ramon city hall for the Tri- Why: As a residential enclave for even a few spin out startups, the Where: Bishop Ranch, San Ramon Valley’s density of well-educated many executives and entrepreneurs open campus works with companies Why: A dual data innovation tech talent, including many Chinese in Silicon Valley and the Tri-Valley, like IBM to leverage technologies accelerator and community for nationals, Silicon Valley Global Victory was launched as an alternative developed at the Tri-Valley’s federal Tri-Valley entrepreneurs, BRIIA is recently launched The Launching to traditional offices with three floors labs. one of the region’s newest tech Pad incubator with early participants of community space, dedicated hubs. Mentors for participants in representing China, Thailand and desks, private offices and meeting the program’s first startup class will more. space. include venture capitalists, startup veterans and more. 12 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

show me the money Growth mode: Funding a tech ecosystem

on Garman has lived in the Tri-Valley since among the biggest obstacles after starting her two-year-old the dot-com boom, but there’s one thing company in the Tri-Valley instead of the Peninsula where about the current tech cycle in the Bay Area she previously worked. that’s gotten under his skin. Also a factor, Sengupta said, is a dearth of local investors DDespite the Tri-Valley’s concentration of affluent execu- with technical backgrounds. A nagging sense in investor tives and entrepreneurs, the vast majority of venture capital meetings throughout the Bay Area that venture capital bankrolling local companies — a full 100 percent raised remains largely a “male club” is another hurdle she hopes in the first quarter of 2017, he said — still comes from the to see resolved. region’s famous Western neighbor. Though Career Waze is currently “All of the capital that’s come in here growing in the Tri-Valley and India, to fund these great ventures is Silicon Cashing in Sengupta said one approach she and Valley,” said Garman, the founder and co-founder Vijji Suryadevara are chief investment officer of Pleasanton’s $272 million – total 2012 considering is leveraging connections Mirador Capital Partners. “We ought to venture investment in in Silicon Valley to launch their own be the incumbent player.” Tri-Valley startups investment outfit.

Though tech boosters in the Tri- $350 million – 2016 venture “If nobody does it, we’re thinking Valley are pleased to see more local- about creating a fund of our own,” capital investment in ly-grown companies raising seven- and Sengupta said. eight-figure sums, anxiety remains that Tri-Valley startups a lack of concentrated capital close to Finding a niche home is a missing link in the region’s 29% – Five-year change in economic development. Tri-Valley venture funding As Tri-Valley Ventures gets off the from 2012-2016 ground, Garman said the firm aims There are signs, however, that the to make 10-12 investments over three math could be starting to change. years with its initial fund. At the new Bishop Ranch Intelligence Innovation This summer, Garman and three Accelerator (BRIIA) slated to host partners at the recently-formed Tri-Valley Ventures closed its first cohort of entrepreneurs in the fall, Founder Les an initial $10 million fund. The nascent venture capital firm Schmidt said the goal is also to create an in-house invest- has already started a portfolio with area companies includ- ment fund. ing Pleasanton robotics company AEye, home security startup Deep Sentinel and software provider SwarmSales. Whether these and other seed-stage funding efforts will lead to larger funds for more mature companies remains Add to that an ever-expanding network of incubators, ac- to be seen. In the meantime, better leveraging a concentra- celerators and other entrepreneurial ventures — some with tion of investors who live in the Tri-Valley but work at firms plans to launch their own new investment funds — and the in Silicon Valley is another approach. financial picture gets more intriguing. One point of emphasis for Garman is to support emerg- “You start to see this infrastructure with space and ing industry clusters, what he calls “under-appreciated collateral services developing from Livermore all the way themes,” or an increasing density of local companies up to Walnut Creek,” said Greg Hitchan, managing director working in fields like medical technology, cloud software of Tri-Valley Ventures. His new firm, he adds, is “focusing and robotics. on the earlier stage in the funding cycle, the first kind of institutional capital in.” “We just need one to really hit,” he said.

The pitch Though Tri-Valley companies may stretch their net- works for funding today, Garman said he is also thinking Garman’s firm calculates that venture capital funding for longer-term about reversing the dynamics currently in play Tri-Valley companies grew to a total of $350 million in 2016, — that is, luring away businesses that have traditionally up 29 percent since 2012. Only a small fraction, however, located in the Bay Area or elsewhere. came from local investors. “Eventually, the holy grail will be attracting companies For Jayati Sengupta, co-founder and chief product and where the technology is elsewhere but we’re bringing marketing officer for Pleasanton personalized learning them here,” he said. startup Career Waze, a lack of local funding has been July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 13

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global topcon

Topcon Positioning targets “By 2030 — which seems like a lifetime away, but it’s not — there is a need for about $64 trillion of infrastructure,” O’Connor said. “The amount of Tri-Valley expansion public capital available is $24 trillion. We have to come up with ways to close that gap.” t’s no accident that the Tri-Valley-based American division of Japanese ophthalmology and surveying equipment manufacturer In the meantime, the company is also keeping

Topcon ended up in Livermore. a close eye on emerging technologies like the Ray O’Connor Internet of Things, agriculture tech and autono- CEO Topcon Positioning As a company with 500 local employees spanning design, mous vehicles. Connectivity and precision controls Group Imanufacturing, testing and corporate functions like finance, Topcon of industrial equipment are the primary variables Positioning Group in 2004 moved to the edge of the Tri-Valley for easy in play, which could change the cost landscape for access to both the region’s immediate workforce and the neighboring expensive GPS and other advanced positioning technologies used in Central Valley. other industries.

“We catch all those people who don’t want to commute into Silicon “There’s no doubt that robotic control of the machinery is the Valley,” said Topcon Positioning Group CEO Ray O’Connor. “Probably big space,” O’Connor said. “That’s going to be big, as you can imag- 60 percent of our workforce comes from the Central Valley.” ine, with autonomous vehicles. You’re not going to be able to put a $100,000 system on a car.” Now, after growing from one building to five, O’Connor said the company is planning a bigger expansion. If all goes according to plan, And being close to the action with bigger hardware players, like he sees Topcon Positioning occupying a total of around 300,000 square Apple, has already proved beneficial for Topcon in harnessing new feet in six buildings, plus a new parking structure in Livermore. industry breakthroughs as fast as possible.

“We’re looking to expand, and we’ve bought the land around us,” “When the iPhone was developed, it was a great day for companies he said. “We would expect, hopefully, if we get all the approvals and like us,” O’Connor said, citing the “backbone” for cloud connectivity everything, to break ground early next year.” pioneered with the device while also lowering processing and memory costs. The headwinds driving Topcon’s growth are varied, illustrating the unexpected overlap between wide-ranging industries — from survey- Today, he still considers easy access to scope out new technology ing to precision agriculture to autonomous vehicles — that can happen in both the Tri-Valley and Silicon Valley one of the biggest perks of his in the Bay Area’s fast-paced tech industry. company’s location.

First, there are the applications for contractors in need of surveying “Very early on with startups we’re looking at what they’re doing,” equipment for major infrastructure or building projects, which is Top- O’Connor said. “Whether that happens in Silicon Valley or the Tri-Val- con Positioning’s core business. ley doesn’t really matter. You’re so close.” July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 15

Silicon valley goes global from tri-valley Building a bridge between China and San Ramon

hat do tech, wine and China’s emerging startup ticularly rapid. Between the 2000 and 2010 Census estimates alone, the scene have in common? A lot, if you ask the lead- Asian population in the Tri-Valley cities of Danville, Dublin, Livermore, ers of the trans-continental nonprofit Silicon Valley Pleasanton and San Ramon increased 160 percent, to 65,575 people. Global. At Silicon Valley Global, which has 10 employees, plans are being WAfter purchasing space at the former San Ramon City Hall last year, laid to move into 20,000 square feet at 2220 Camino Ramon in Septem- the year-old organization with a sister office in Beijing plans to open a ber. Cui said several groups have already signaled an intention to par- “New Silicon Valley Offshore Incubator” this fall after renovations are ticipate in incubator or co-working programs, including the Bangkok complete. In the meantime, the group is staying busy exporting wine Innovation Cooperation Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, produced by Tri-Valley winery Clos de Mayo to eager markets back Nantong Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, Clear Strategy Group, home, said Silicon Valley Global Chairman Cindy Cui. WYL Consulting and American Corporate Services.

“We want to be a bridge between business in China and business in “As a newly-established incubator, we have already attracted several Silicon Valley and the Tri-Valley,” Cui said. Chinese and U.S. companies to come and reside in the center,” Cui said. “It’s not like others starting from scratch. We’re just building a And Cui is deliberate in labeling her organization’s San Ramon office platform.” part of Silicon Valley. A major point of attraction to the space was being on the next frontier of Bay Area tech industry expansion in the Tri-Val- In addition to growing emerging companies with an interest in inter- ley. national expansion, Cui said the group was also drawn to San Ramon for close proximity to corporate tenants like Chevron, AT&T and GE “I see the improving development. That’s why we call it the new Sili- Digital. con Valley,” said Cui, who was previously based in Stockton and moved to the Tri-Valley four years ago. “A lot of scientists or high-tech people The winery, she said, comes as an added bonus. move out to the Tri-Valley.” “It’s really popular,” Cui said. “A lot of people said this wine tastes While the region has seen population gains across the board in better than the wine from France.” recent decades, growth in the number of Asian residents has been par-

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transit upgrades Linking Up: A Transit overhaul for the Tri-Valley?

hree valleys, three inter- taking advantage of a new wave of Accelerating connected economies, and connected car technology, the pos- connectivity one big logistical question: sibilities for easing regional traffic What will it take to move congestion are numerous. In July, the The number of transporta- between Silicon Valley, the California state assembly took up a tion upgrades on the table TTri-Valley and the Central Valley? bill that would create a new 12-person in the Tri-Valley can seem dizzying at first glance. “Tri-Valley-San Joaquin Valley Regional Here’s a breakdown of With a lack of housing supply in Construction Authority” that would be projects proposed or in the the Bay Area and job growth in inland tasked with stewarding transit up- works: cities that make up the Tri-Valley in- grades to reality. creasing the flow of people and goods State Route 84 – After through the region, transportation has As many locals have been saying several previous expan- sions of the State Route become an inflection point in efforts for years, state lawmakers are increas- 84 expressway, planning to plan ahead for a better-connected ingly casting transportation issues as is currently underway for Northern California. key to sustaining economic activity in a $220 million proposal to the region. Of particular concern is the widen the route by ex- increasingly crowded Altamont Pass, panding a high-occupancy Tri-Valley travel which serves as the gateway from vehicle lane and improving the I-680 interchange. at a glance fast-growing residential hubs in the Central Valley and jobs in the Tri-Val- BART – According to the ley and Bay Area. 1 million - annual number of last formal estimate, it would take 5.5 miles of riders on the Altamont Com- “Commute patterns throughout new track and $1.2 billion muter Express train line con- northern California, and in particular to extend Bay Area Rapid Transit rail service from necting Sacramento to Silicon through the Altamont Pass Corridor, Pleasanton to Livermore. Valley through the Tri-Valley traverse the boundaries of traditional About half of that sum, metropolitan planning agencies,” the $552 million, has been 60% - expected increase in text of AB 758 explains, calling a new committed through various approach, “essential to sustained eco- sales tax measures, and traffic on Interstate 580 from nomic vitality in the megaregion.” an environmental review is 2013-2040 currently underway.

Among the most high-profile ef- ACE – Amtrak’s Altamont $4,830 – estimated annual forts are a proposed $1.2-billion BART Corridor Express, or ACE cost of commuting by car extension to Livermore, ideally linking train, is the only rail service from the Tri-Valley to Silicon the Bay Area rail system to the Alta- that links the residential mont Corridor Express Amtrak service hubs of the Central Valley Valley through the Tri-Valley to that brings riders in Sacramento and Silicon Valley. Cities in the the Central Valley toward the coast. 12,109 – Daily entries at Tri-Valley are teaming up to advocate for more fre- Dublin/Pleasanton and West In the meantime, while bond fund- quent service and connec- Dublin/Pleasanton BART in ing, land use and other potential tivity to BART. June 2017 roadblocks are debated, there’s also Private alternatives – With the question of how the region’s com- several major public transit muter dynamics may evolve with new expansions hanging in the technologies being honed by area tech balance, some operators companies, from shared rides and cars of large regional develop- “We’re currently in the midst of a to autonomous vehicles. ments, like Bishop Ranch regional effort to connect two megare- owner Sunset Develop- ment, are taking matters gions — the Sacramento region and “As a technology hub we have to into their own hands by the San Francisco region,” said Liver- continue to think beyond concreate investing in subsidized more Director of Innovation and Eco- and bricks,” said Dale Kaye, CEO of or free bikesharing, car nomic Development Stephan Kiefer. business advocacy group Innovation sharing, daily shuttles and Tri-Valley. “In 10 years, what will our other services. From linking up existing rail sys- transportation structure look like?” tems to refining bus offerings and July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 17

Powering the Tri-Valley Startup Community

The Switch is an incubator and coworking space for startups, tech developers, and freelance creatives. Our diverse community is building everything from mobile apps to nanomaterials, and collaboration is at the core of everything we do.

Located in the heart of Downtown Livermore, The Switch offers shared and dedicated workspaces, a makerspace, and light industrial lab space to support our diverse community of entrepreneurs and innovators.

www.theswitch.io 18 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

medical Pulse quickens for Tri-Valley medical technology

hen Sanjeev Saxena Players took his last health to watch care company to India, he noticed something Sandstone while frequenting the Diagnostics – A Wlocal hospitals that would plant the seed for spinout company his next venture. from Sandia National Labora- tories, Sandstone “I’d see people just lined up waiting for Diagnostics cre- days,” Saxena recalled. “You go to China, ates male fertility you go to Africa, you see the same thing. testing equip- There are far and few hospitals and people Despite turmoil when it comes to do- ment and data visualization just camping out.” mestic health policy, the emergence of new medical technologies and drug develop- 10x Genomics – The obvious lack of timely point-of-care ment platforms has boosted the greater Since 2012, 10x medical services — abroad, but also in large Bay Area’s science and medical technology Genomics has swaths of the U.S. — set Saxena on a path companies from South San Francisco to been honing a that would lead through the Tri-Valley’s two Marin County and beyond. DNA sequencing technology that national labs, Livermore’s has netted the i-GATE startup incubator and In the Tri-Valley, entrepreneurs like company more onto a $21 million funding Saxena say they are drawn to the combina- than $113 million round this January for his tion of affordable real estate for a mix of use in funding four-year-old company, POC types and access to a residential talent pool Medical Systems. With a “lab attracted to the area’s amenities for families. Purigen Biosys- tems — In less in a box” approach to diag- Saxena, who moved from San Jose to Liv- than an hour, nostic testing, particularly for ermore in the mid-1990s, said his company Pleasanton-based breast cancer detection, POC currently occupies 24,000 square feet of Purigen’s electric has grown to 40 employees space dedicated primarily to R&D in Liver- field-driven tech- in Livermore, plus another 10 more and will likely look to expand locally nology allows for people in India and Malaysia. by up to 20,000 square feet in the next year. extraction, purifi- cation and testing Sanjeev Saxena of samples like CEO And as Saxena points out, In the meantime, POC Medical Systems cancerous cells POC Medical Systems Inc. his company is just one exam- is also hiring as it looks to ramp up manu- ple of a growing medical tech- facturing capacity ahead of large-scale trials POC Medical nology cluster in the Tri-Valley. planned in both the U.S. and international Systems – markets. Founded in 2013 by life science “There’s Roche, there’s Thermo Fisher industry alum and a bunch of other startups in medical,” “There’s a bunch of positions coming Sanjeev Saxena, Saxena said. “Then there’s the digital health open right now as we speak,” Saxena said. Livermore-based software guys.” “We have some people from here, and some POC aims to sell people who are living as far away as Red- “lab in a box” di- Potential applications include DNA se- wood City or San Francisco. They love it agnostic systems in the U.S. and quencing from startup 10x Genomics, more because it’s reverse commute.” abroad streamlined lab equipment supply from Unchained Labs and better male fertility In the meantime, POC is completing a Unchained Labs testing from Livermore National lab spinout 2,500-person study in India and plans to be – Pitched as “the Sandstone Diagnostics. All told, Tri-Valley on the market in the South Asian county next cool life sci- companies in the medical and biotechnol- later this summer after an initial govern- ences tools com- pany,” Pleasanton ogy industry attracted upwards of $200 ment order for testing equipment. Among lab equipment million during 2016, with an additional $40 the advantages afforded by the startup’s company Un- million and counting raised so far this year, rapid diagnostic technology is faster trial chained Labs has according to news reports. times, since the company’s microfluidic CD raised $38 million technology works quickly. since its late 2014 “I think life sciences is actually our best founding play,” said Brandon Cardwell, executive “We’re running 10 tests at a time, and all director of regional tech incubator i-GATE. 10 studies take 15 minutes,” Saxena said. “Look at the talent pool for engineering and “You’re talking about running 200 patients science.” a day.” July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 19 20 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

HOUSING How to house a tech hub

or Sblend Sblen- dorio, there are more common- alities between today’s Tri-Val- Fley and the early days of Silicon Valley’s emergence as a tech powerhouse than a busy startup scene.

Take the familiar struggle to reconcile high demand for housing with limited local supply.

“I see a lot of similari- ties,” said Sblendorio, an

attorney at Hoge Fenton Michael kern / essex and chair of regional busi- One of two new Essex Property Trust housing developments in Pleasanton. ness group Innovation Tri- Valley’s Housing, Infrastruc- ture and Transportation (HIT) committee. “We’re dealing ticism often entails both education and advocacy. with the same issues they dealt with 25 years ago.” “Finally, businesses and C-level executives are tell- In Danville, the median home sale price surged to nearly ing city councils that housing is key to their growth and $1.3 million in July, up 48 percent since the summer of sustainability,” said Innovation Tri-Valley CEO Dale Kaye. 2012, according to market analysis by real estate data site “And millennials are becoming key and powerful advocates Trulia. Further East, in Livermore, prices are up 65 per- for more housing, starting online organizations like Liver- cent during the same period, to a median $735,000. more Rising.”

Rental rates don’t offer much reprieve. Average rent for Perhaps the most under-appreciated dynamic in the a one-bedroom apartment in Pleasanton has climbed from region’s housing market, Sblendorio said, is the extent to $1,581 five years ago to $2,213 in June, housing data site which high housing costs have accelerated regional sprawl Rent Jungle reports. as far as the Sacramento and Central Valley regions.

While that’s still a far cry from San Francisco’s $3,500-a- A lack of political advocacy for proactive measures, month average rents, Sblendorio and a growing chorus of Sblendorio said, has real impacts for workers — and, peers in the Tri-Valley business community are arguing increasingly, the children of longtime Tri-Valley residents that assuming the market will self-correct is a risky propo- — struggling to find balance between sustainable housing sition. costs and proximity to work in growing job centers.

“I’m afraid we may lose some of our economic vitality “Our short-term goal is to educate the people in the because of some self-inflicted wounds,” he said. Bay Area,” he said. “We need to get people to understand they are part of a bigger megaregion with Sacramento and Economic reports, meanwhile, already document a Stockton. People are suffering for that.” sharp increase in the number of people vying for housing in the region. The Tri-Valley’s population swelled 20 per- Individual development proposals aside, state lawmakers cent between the 2000 and 2010 Census estimates, while have moved to adopt policies like a reduction in restrictions commutes from the Tri-Valley to San Francisco and Silicon for backyard in-law units and discussed various funding Valley grew 66 percent from 2011-2014, according to the and planning changes to encourage growth in housing Bay Area Council. supply.

Among the issues that often stop project-level housing Meanwhile, the stakes of action on housing are already proposals in their tracks are resident objections to traffic clear to Sblendorio: “To maintain the quality of life we have. and other familiar congestion concerns, often criticized by To maintain the ability of folks to move here. To maintain housing advocates as a “Not in my backyard,” or NIMBY, the ability of our children to live here,” he said. “We cannot sentiment. For Innovation Tri-Valley and a range of other just expect people to move to the Central Valley.” business and citizen-led groups that support more building to accommodate population growth, overcoming that skep-

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Cloud A cloud software cluster takes flight Key ecently, the software division of industrial giant GE took another players big step in the Tri-Valley. Veeva Systems – Following a 2013 After setting up shop in a IPO, Pleasanton R240,000-square-foot headquarters at Bishop life sciences tech Ranch, the company in April officially moved service provider into an expanded 350,000 square-foot space. Veeva sells plat- forms for com- “When GE decided to build out what be- mercial, medical and regulatory came Digital, our first location where we really uses that tallied set up shop was in San Ramon here,” said million in January. $409 million in Jason Chukel, GE Digital’s financial planning 2016 revenue. and analysis leader. “It has the right mix of “We’re very plugged into the local up talent and access to the local market. It sort of -and-coming companies,” Chukel said. “We CallidusCloud – has grown with us.” actually were an early investor in ServiceMax.” Based in Dub- lin, enterprise software provider GE Digital’s pursuit of the “Industrial In other cases, however, companies come CallidusCloud of- Internet” based in the Tri-Valley is also just one to GE Digital’s San Ramon space looking for fers cloud-based example of a growing base of cloud software guidance on how technologies like Internet tools to track and companies in the region. In addition to other of Things connectivity, artificial intelligence improve sales heavyweights like SAP that have also taken up and renewable energy could change the way performance. residence nearby, software companies span- industrial processes are done. Last year alone, GE Digital – Built ning a range of industries have moved to set Chukel said, some 700 groups toured the com- on the pursuit of up shop or expand their presence. pany’s on-site startup Foundry, representing the “Industrial industries like aerospace, automotive or oil and Internet,” the San For human resources, there’s Workday. In gas. Ramon-based the life science field, there’s Veeva Systems. In division of GE sells software for the realm of cloud-based sales management is More broadly, Chukel said GE Digital is manufacturing, CallidusCloud. Safeway offshoot Blackhawk looking to leverage proximity to talent in both asset manage- Network focuses on digital gift cards and the Tri-Valley and Silicon Valley to develop a ment and equip- payments. Finally, with iTrade Network, food new suite of software offerings for end users. ment service. and beverage supply chains are adapted for The company sees three primary ways cloud enterprise cloud management. software will shape the industrial Internet, or Evident.io – A security service the term used as shorthand for connected or targeted to “Two of the 10 largest public cloud service automated production. companies that providers are based in the Tri-Valley,” notes rely on Amazon the 2017 Mirador View economic report “Really what we’re after is to be the leading Web Services, authored by Pleasanton financial advisory technology or software company for the indus- this Pleasanton firm Mirador Capital Partners. “In the startup trial Internet,” he said. “As a service provider, upstart has raised $49 million in space, Tri-Valley cloud companies raised over we have an opportunity to benefit from those funding. $137 million in VC funding in 2016 and early technologies ourselves as well as do them for 2017.” others.” Workday — After being Four-year-old Pleasanton cloud security One focus has been GE Digital’s Predix plat- founded by company Evident.io, for example, has raised form, which functions as a central operating former People- Soft CEO David $49 million to develop its services. Dan- system for industrial equipment. Another new Duffield in 2005, ville-based Trov, meanwhile, raised another product, Digital Twin, promises detailed digital Pleasanton-based $25.5 million for its on-demand insurance representations of physical assets, allowing Workday is now a software last spring. companies to better monitor and predict usage human resources patterns for big ticket machinery. and financial For GE Digital, too, a wealth of local soft- management gi- ant with a market ware talent has proved useful. The company “We’re only really a year and a half in,” cap of more than acquired Pleasanton-based field service Chuckel said. “The way we look at it is we’re $20 billion. management company ServiceMax for $915 really at the very, very early stages here.” July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 23 24 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

labs Out of the labs, into the market y now, startups, incubators, venture capitalists systems that have provided a jumping off point for several and a highly-educated workforce are all well- young companies in the region. known ingredients in efforts to bolster a re- gion’s tech economy. “Everything we do here comes out of our mission areas, and then there’s another use found for it,” Rankin said. BBut in the case of the Tri-Valley, what role should two federal laboratories play in such a fast-moving environment? Between the two labs, the Livermore Valley Open Cam- pus opened in 2009 as a way to help physically break down It’s a question that Sandia National Laboratories and the barriers that can stand in the way of a successful tech neighboring Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory transfer opportunity. (LLNL) have been asking for years. Their answers, however, have started to change with the rise of new open innovation “What that did was just change the environment and models, decreasing corporate reliance on traditional licens- made it more welcoming,” said Stephanie Beasly, a San- ing deals and ever-expanding opportunities to collaborate dia National Laboratories veteran named director of open with emerging companies close to home. campus partnerships in January. “When you drive in, you no longer see guards, guns and gates.” “You really can’t do what we do successfully without having a regional economic development perspective,” said In the meantime, the open campus has beefed up pro- Richard Rankin, director of industrial partnerships at LLNL. gramming in fields that naturally stem from Sandia’s home- “We have connections with many of the incubators and land security focus, like energy, bioscience and cybersecu- accelerators. It’s all about providing a good, healthy place for rity. technologies to get out there and turn into products.” “When we originally opened there were just a few dozen At the lab, this can mean everything from informally researchers,” Beasly said. “Between the two campuses, we allowing companies to test out the “horsepower” of LLNL’s now have over 200 researchers.” supercomputing programs to rapid material diagnostic July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 25

Lawrence Liver- Licensing Stats more National for Sandia Labs Laboratory annual tech roy- Number of alties Licenses

2016 - $8.4M 2016: 31 2015 - $9.9M commercial, 259 2014 - $10.3M non-commercial 2013 - $8.6M (typically govern- 2012 - $9.8M ment use) 2015: 30 commer- Lawrence Liver- cial, 289 non more licensing -commercial and corporate 2014: 39 commer- R&D deals cial, 225 non -commercial While licensing 2013: 23 commer- is still a major cial, 183 non component -commercial of technology 2012: 28 commer- transfer efforts at cial, 186 non federal laborato- -commercial ries, other forms of corporate Income from research agree- Licensing ments and other less formalized 2016: $2.4M arrangements 2015: $2.2M are becoming 2014: $2.9M increasingly com- 2013: $2.9M mon. 2012: $4.4M

Total active Agreements licenses – New Cooper- The technologies lot of informal arrangements.” ative Research 2016 - 110 & Development 2015 - 119 Agreements For Rankin, one of the biggest At Sandia and the Open Cam- 2014 - 116 shifts impacting the way national pus, Beasly said that the number 2013 - 124 2016: 29 laboratories think about outside of researchers actually leaving 2012 - 125 2015: 32 opportunities for in-house tech- the lab to start new companies 2014: 31 nology is the evolving corporate is relatively modest. There are New 2013: 18 Cooperative 2012: 19 innovation landscape. examples, though, like male fer- Research and tility testing company Sandstone Development Agreements – “Traditionally, you do licens- Diagnostics. Agreements, New Strategic ing and so on with large compa- plus total fund- Partnerships nies,” he said. “More and more “The numbers that actually ing (CRADAs) Projects big companies aren’t doing that. leave the laboratory are pretty 2016 - 13 - 2016: 69 They’re buying small companies, small,” Beasly said, adding that, $6.7 million 2015: 53 so we work a lot with startups.” “tech transfer isn’t a one-size-fits- 2014: 52 all [process]. We customize the 2015 - 12 - 2013: 62 The shift is evident in data on solution based on the desired $3.2 million 2012: 65 LLNL’s formalized relationships. outcome for our partners and the The number of active licensing lab.” 2014 - 5 - Agreements – $3.6 million Industry Funds- deals has dipped from 125 during In to Sandia the 2012 fiscal year to 110 in Rankin added that one re- 2013 - 4 - (Partnership 2016. Meanwhile, another type of maining obstacle for aspiring $1.6 million projects and tech transfer program — Cooper- lab-grown startups is a so-called CRADAs) ative Research and Development “valley of death” between capi- 2012 - 4 - Agreements, or CRADAs — have tal-intensive R&D and commer- $4.7 million 2016: $36M 2015: $42M grown. The lab had 33 such ac- cialization. 2014: $38M tive deals at the close of the 2016 2013: $28M fiscal year. “A lot of the stuff you see in 2012: $25M this area is very transactional. It’s Smaller programs, like indi- all about cashflow,” he said. “This vidual $300,000 federal grants for valley of death is well known in use of the lab’s supercomputing the tech transfer community. equipment, also help. The kinds of tech we typically develop, I see them as generating “Not everything is formal- more long-term value, but they ized,” Rankin said. “We do quite a take longer.” 26 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

Recognizing that regional change is afoot in the Tri-Valley is one thing. Figuring out how to harness an influx of new residents and businesses at the local level, however, is quite another.

All five major cities in the Tri-Valley — Danville, Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton and San Ramon — have added 3 percent or more to their populations during the current economic cycle. All five have also charted steady increases in home values, and several are juggling development priorities like downtown strategic planning and major new office tenants.

So, how do they prioritize, and what’s still in the pipeline for the Tri-Valley? We asked each city’s eco- nomic development lead for a snapshot of his or her community.

cities Danville embraces local ‘consultant economy’

or a relatively compact residen- leverage the demographic shift toward tial enclave, Danville can some- remote work. danville times seem like an anomaly. “There is a network of supporting busi- 2017 One example: despite a rep- nesses who could benefit from our cottage population — Futation for housing CEOs and other busy industry of consultants,” Williams said. executives, a surprising number of people 43,355 can be found cruising around downtown One idea on the table is to work with during work hours. business associations like the Chamber of 2012-2017 Commerce to help connect independent change — “A disproportionate number of peo- entrepreneurs or consultants with support ple who live here are entrepreneurs or services like accounting, logistics or other +3% work on a consulting basis,” said Danville needs. Assistant Town Manager Tai Williams. “It 2017 median explains all those people who are riding Marrying those efforts with a broader home sale around on bicycles at 10:00 in the morn- bid to evolve the city’s commercial offer- price — ing.” ings is another imperative the city council will debate in late August, when a proposal $1.2 million The emergence of a local “consultant to alter the city’s zoning ordinance to en- economy,” as one city report called the courage non-traditional land use concepts phenomenon, has pushed policymakers is expected to be discussed. in Danville to reconsider what types of commercial space and services are most “We want to change our regulatory valuable for the community. structure so we support more of what I call blended uses,” Williams said, giving Especially in a town known for review- examples like a grocer such as Whole ing new development proposals “with a Foods also operating a beer bar or retail microscope,” as Williams said, the shift to shops adding a coffee shop to round out emphasizing “shared infrastructure” is a revenues. “In order for retail to survive, major shift. “ they need to offer more than just retail.”

“They are a hard group to reach. They Longer term, Williams said the city certainly don’t congregate in one place,” is also thinking about how Danville fits Williams said of Danville’s disparate con- into the Tri-Valley’s overall development sultant base. “We’ve thought long and hard prospects on issues like transportation. about trying to create co-working spaces.” Commuter connectivity is of particular im- portance given Danville’s location between With a stroke of good timing, regional job corridors along both the 680 and 580 co-working company Victory Workspace freeways. decided to open up shop in the city late last year. Now, the city with a median “We are at the center of those venn household income of $140,616 is thinking diagrams,” Williams said. “Transportation strategically about opportunities to further connectivity is a priority.” July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 27

cities San Ramon readies for a new City Center

or the City of San Ramon, the might look East for expansion opportu- birth of a new downtown retail nities. San Ramon hub is only a year away. “We’re hoping some of these big name tech companies will find a way to expand 2017 It’s a major turn of events for out here too,” he said. population — Fa city that has historically lacked a dense central commercial district, but one that That’s not to say the city isn’t already 80,550 is now tantalizingly close to reality with thinking about how to diversify. Like Sunset Developments’ plans for the two- many small- and mid-sized cities, reori- 2012 and 2017 phase, 900,000 square-foot City Center enting sales tax-generating retail in the population project at Bishop Ranch. age of e-commerce is one open question. growth — “That is a huge opportunity for the “We’ve been traditionally a grocery-an- +8.2% community,” said San Ramon Assistant chored retail community,” Figueroa said. City Manager Eric Figueroa. “What “How do we retail-up correctly?” 2017 median we’re bracing for is the impact of hav- home sale ing a retail center right in the middle of With the prospect of more business town.” activity also comes the need to brace for price — residential growth. That’s especially true $967,000 The plan to add a new hotel, residen- given the 8.2 percent population gain tial space and 75 retail slots at the City San Ramon posted between 2012 and Center project — which is expected 2017 alone, according to California state to come online between 2018-2020 — estimates. comes after an active slate of office leasing in the city. Figueroa said several residential projects are in the planning stages, Companies including GE Digital and including a 170-unit project at the former SAP have taken large spaces at Bishop site of the locally-beloved Outpost Sports Ranch in recent years, and developer Bar shuttered in February and a senior Sunset is also now aiming to kickstart housing development on the South side smaller enterprises by backing the of the city. Bishop Ranch Intelligence Innovation Accelerator (BRIIA) launching this sum- “Anywhere in the Bay Area there’s tre- mer. mendous pressure for housing,” he said. “We as a community are wrestling with “We have a significant job base here. how to do that in an effective way.” Not all communities do,” Figueroa said. “In an ideal world, we’d love for people Aside from engaging Bishop Ranch and our intellectual capital here to both transportation planners on early efforts live and work here.” to roll out self-driving buses, he said the city is focused on adding non-automotive Down the road, Figueroa said the city options like a new pedestrian and cycling is also thinking about the trajectory of overpass near the popular Iron Horse high-profile tech tenants in the neigh- Trail. boring Bay Area — and hoping that they 28 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

cities Livermore’s new industrial revolution

bus manufacturer, an electric more so than the car company and a German businesses. We believe Livermore auto parts manufacturer all that bodes well for the drive into town. No, it’s not the future.” 2017 start of a bad joke, but rather a population — Asnapshot of the flurry of demand for industrial Having two federal space happening in the City of Livermore. laboratories within the 89,648 city limits, Sandia and Stephan Kiefer Gillig, Tesla and German component com- Lawrence Livermore, 2012-2017 pany Dräxlmaier Group’s burgeoning auto- doesn’t hurt, either. population motive cluster in the city is just one example growth — of growth afoot. In recent months, existing Still, Kiefer added, the city isn’t take the tenants like Topcon, Lam Research and FM current economic upcycle for granted. +8.3% Industries have all also disclosed plans to increase their footprints in Livermore, said Among the policy priorities Livermore is 2017 median Director of Innovation and Economic Devel- working with neighboring cities to address home sale opment Stephan Kiefer. is an expansion of the Altamont Corridor Ex- price — press (ACE) train to Bay Area Rapid Transit “They’re all either moving in or expand- (BART). Addressing a dearth of new housing, $715,000 ing,” Kiefer said “We have some larger particularly in suburban areas where, “there’s spaces, more industrial-focused spaces, and traditionally a push back to putting in more Total square ft. of we’re attracting some of the larger manufac- housing,” is another ongoing challenge for industrial, flex, turers.” planners. R&D space — With a total of 17 million square feet of flex, One local debate that has played out in re- 17 million industrial and R&D space, the city is looking cent months is how the city should approach to leverage its location at the crossroads of downtown development. One plan from Len- the agro-industrial Central Valley to the East nar Multifamily Communities for 260 housing and Silicon Valley to the West to attract both units, a 12,000-square-foot retail space and new business tenants and residents. 4,000 square-foot conference center was shot down early this year, signaling that density is So far, it’s working. Livermore’s population likely to remain a contentious issue. swelled another 1.6 percent in the last year alone, when the Tri-Valley suburb added Still, Kiefer said the city also sees more almost 1,500 new residents, state estimates immediate opportunities in daily commuter show. In the meantime, regional city-backed flows. The increase in daily employee shuttles co-working space and tech incubator i-GATE to the Bay Area, for instance, double as new has outgrown its downtown digs, and the business leads. area’s famous wine region has expanded to encompass new craft beer players and a “There’s a number of companies, partic- distillery. ularly down in Silicon Valley, that have daily shuttle service,” Kiefer said. “What we’re do- “There’s a lot of quality of life attributes,” ing is analyzing that demographic and inviting Kiefer said. “We’re focused on the people companies to expand here.” July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 29

cities Business flourishes in Pleasanton

hen it comes to doing company often needs business in the Tri-Valley more flexible space Pleasanton enclave of Pleasanton, where they can do big names like Workday, manufacturing or 2017 population – Roche and Thermo Fisher R&D.” 75,916 WScientific might spring to mind. Front and center Pam Ott But for Director of Economic Development in the city’s office 2012-2017 Pamela Ott, the real story is how the city has portfolio is the nearly population seen its business community diversify with an 10 million-square-foot (and growing) Haci- growth — influx of young or growing companies. enda mixed-use development just east of the junction between the 580 and 680 freeways. +6.7% “You can be a large company, but you can Though office space has been Hacienda’s also be a start-up and find an environment bread and butter for years, more recent hous- 2017 media for success,” Ott said. “We have a range of ing and retail additions have diversified the home sale space, but also the infrastructure of services 825-acre complex. price — and amenities to meet the needs of a variety of business types.” Essex Property Trust, with two new adja- $985,000 cent apartment developments coming online Just look at homegrown businesses that near the East Pleasanton BART station, is Square feet of have chosen to grow in place, like mortgage among the developers that have embarked office space — software company Ellie Mae, global life on multi-family large housing projects for the sciences software firm Veeva Systems and suburb of 75,900 people. Safeway finance tech spin out Blackhawk 12.5 million Network. In line behind them are a new wave “Pleasanton has several projects that have of companies, several in the city’s expanding just come to completion or are getting there in life sciences industry, like 10x Genomics, Un- the near term, adding to the range of the city’s chained Labs and Purigen Biosystems. housing options for workers and their fami- lies,” Ott said. A strong cycle for M&A activity has also benefitted local companies that have opted to Like many neighboring cities, transporta- stay in place after recent acquisitions, includ- tion is also top of mind as Pleasanton seeks ing heart pump manufacturer Thoratec, now ways to address congestion and get residents Abbott, and cosmetic cryolipolysis company and employees where they need to be. This Zeltiq Aesthetics, recently acquired by Aller- includes working regionally to expand rail gan. service to the East or bolster heavily-trafficked auto corridors. Key to the attraction across the board is the variety of options afforded by 12.5 million “As successful as each of our cities has square feet of office space in the city, Ott said. been, and as we’ve been collectively in the Tri- Valley, there is so much opportunity for each “Companies locate where the type of space of us in continuing to grow in ways that suit they need is available,” she said. “A tech our individual communities,” Ott said. “We company, particularly a software company, certainly know that we haven’t achieved all might be looking for more traditional office that we know we can achieve.” space, often in a campus setting. A life science 30 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

cities Dublin reaps rewards of planning for growth

s just shy of 60,000 residents, broke ground in November on a planned the Tri-Valley suburb of Dublin 220,000-square-foot outpatient services dublin is still small by city standards. facility that the medical provider says will serve some 135,000 Tri-Valley patients. One 2017 But size hasn’t stopped the negative, the recent departure of software population — Acity from joining the ranks of California’s giant SAP for a new space in neighboring San fastest-growing municipalities multiple times Ramon, is also being seized as a potential 59,686 in recent years, with the local population opportunity to diversify. climbing 4 percent from 2016-2017 alone, 2012-2017 state department of finance estimates show. “The property owner is re-positioning that population property, called Park Place, and making it growth — If you ask Dublin Assistant City Manager possible for them to attract multiple tenants,” Linda Smith, the root causes of the influx are Smith said. “That’s very exciting for Dublin +27.1% clear. because we believe that smaller firms will get an opportunity to locate here and grow their 2017 median “There is tremendous demand in the businesses.” home sale market for housing,” Smith said. “Very few price — communities have planned for future housing At the same time, she added, the city is in the way that Dublin did back in the 1990s.” working with one of its largest employers, $860,000 medical equipment company Carl Zeiss, on a From 2007-2014 alone, the city saw con- new campus in Dublin that would consolidate struction of 2,644 new units. The vast major- operations from throughout the Tri-Valley ity of new inventory targeted area workers — one of several efforts in the pipeline that and commuters making over the region’s could have major implications for future median income, according to a 2015 housing development. inventory. “We have three specific plan areas in var- Adding to the appeal is connectivity, ious stages of implementation,” Smith said, with the 2011 opening of the West Dublin/ for Dublin’s downtown, Dublin Crossing and Pleasanton BART stop providing more direct Eastern Dublin areas. access to the Bay Area.

“What it comes down to is we simply had Among the focus areas is building on the the land availability and the land use plan addition of recognizable names in retail, like that made our development possible,” Smith Whole Foods and Nordstrom Rack. The goal explained. now is to bring in new local businesses, “fill- ing in around traditional retail experiences” As with cities throughout California, with concepts like Three Sheets Craft Beer balancing residential and commercial growth Bar and Inc 82 Brewing, Smith said. has become a priority in Dublin. Kaiser Permanente, for example, July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 31 32 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES

hacienda Record occupancy boosts Pleasanton’s mixed-use Hacienda

ames Paxson doesn’t total approved have to look far to see The growth at Hacienda to 13.8 signs that the Hacienda million approved square feet of total square footage mega-mixed-use develop- building space is reflective of more 13.8 million ment where he’s worked than just routine real estate trends. Jfor the last 32 years is entering a new phase in its evolution. “We are a microcosm of what you see and hear happening in the larger Just outside his window at the Bay Area,” he said. “Our activity, es- 900-acre Pleasanton complex home pecially over the last couple of years, to 685 companies and 5,000 (and has been phenomenal.” Residential counting) full-time residents, a wave 3.2 million of new construction is wrapping up. While transplants from the Penin- Office 5.6 million sula or other parts of Silicon Valley Warehouse 559,990 “You do all this planning work are always welcome, Paxson credits Retail and put all these ideas on paper,” the Tri-Valley’s increasingly evident 951,459 said Paxson, who is the general “entrepreneurial churn” as a sig- Flex/R&D manager for Hacienda. “To see nificant factor in Hacienda’s office 1.9 million things manifest and actually happen growth. is really exciting.” “Tenants that have started out Two big, small at Hacienda have grown and BART-adjacent grown and grown,” he said, citing june occupancy A live-work residential proj- companies like Ellie Mae, Zeltique lifestyle ects by Essex and Veeva Systems. “These are all per square foot Property Trust really classic examples of this sort Total tenants: 685 are among of homegrown activity.” Current employees: the newest additions to the With more local jobs also comes 19,812 n n n combination more opportunity to employ new Current residents: office, residen- residents at Hacienda. Already, 7 n n n 4,994 tial, retail and percent of people who live at Ha- 7.6 millio Residents who R&D space cienda also work within the devel- 7.3 millio 7.1 millio work and live at at Hacienda. opment, and almost one-third of 6.5 millio 6.8 millio 6.5 millio Hacienda: 7.4% Recent com- residents work somewhere within Residents who mercial activity the Tri-Valley. work and live in the includes a first quarter lease “Our residential population is Tri-Valley: 30% for Phillips, increasingly significantly. Lots more which is mov- live-work opportunities for people,” ing to Pleasan- Paxson said. “We really feel like ton from Foster that’s creating a synergy. The access City, and a to labor is such a huge component new 70,000-square-foot building for of making the business sector here medical giant Roche. successful.” 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 Though Hacienda dates back to The shift to becoming “more of the early 1980s, when tenants like an integrated mixed-use develop- AT&T and Hewlett Packard buoyed ment” has Paxson and others eyeing the business park, Paxson said the the addition of more retail options, current surge in activity is unprece- like a high-end grocery store, fast- dented. casual food or a brewpub.

“We’ve had seven years at this “We haven’t run out of space yet,” point of positive absorption,” he he said. said. “We’re at the highest occu- pancy in our history.” July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 33

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leasing Residential, retail on tap for Bishop Ranch

ith 600 companies employing some 30,000 on-site employees in 10 million square feet of office space, San Ramon’s Bishop Ranch is already a giant in the Tri-Valley commercial Wmarket. So why not add 300,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, a 169-room hotel and 500 residential units? w n “It’s creating sort of the next version of Bishop Ranch with an eye toward our audience and what they’re presented with,” said

spencer bro Jeff Dodd, senior vice president of retail at Bishop Ranch opera- tor Sunset Development. “The trend has been a little bit more of a blurring between the lines of where you work, where you live, where you eat.” lion-square-foot office building at 2600 Bishop Ranch, Dodd said that many smaller companies on site should not be overlooked. In two phases, the forthcoming City Center Bishop Ranch will add roughly 900,000 square feet of new buildings, plus design “The storyline at bishop ranch has always been dominated by elements like outdoor plazas and seating. those big names because they take up those large blocks,” Dodd said. “The total composition here is about 600 companies. Four Phase one, slated for a grand opening in October 2018, will hundred of the 600 are under 5,000 square feet.” include 75 retail slots for food, shopping, entertainment such as a full-service movie theatre and personal services like fitness When it comes to industry representation, however, corporate concepts and salons. Phase two, expected to come online two names still tip the scales. years later, will include the hotel and residential components of the project. “The largest single sector is energy because we have the big Chevron headquarters and the big PG&E headquarters,” Dodd “We’ll have added almost a million square feet of vibrant city said. “Our second largest sectors are telecom and tech. Then we elements,” Dodd said. “It will sort of round out the evenings and have finance, insurance and accounting.” the weekends.” With the addition of the new City Center elements to a campus In the meantime, Bishop Ranch’s signature office businesses is already buzzing with a major conference complex, ever-expand- staying busy. ing food options and an emphasis on transportation connectivity, Dodd also expects to see a more intangible shift in the environ- Dodd points to four blockbuster deals in recent years: GE Digi- ment at Bishop Ranch. tal’s 100,000 square-foot expansion; Blackberry’s 50,000 square- foot lease; beauty company Rodan & Field’s new 150,000-square- “We think that’s enough to have a critical mass to bring that foot space and software giant SAP’s 150,000-square-foot space. energy of the city, but not so much that you have to do every- thing,” he said. While those familiar names have helped fill a central 1.8 mil- July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 35

transportation Disrupting your commute (in a good way)

hris Weeks wanted to make sure that the alter- native transportation options really worked at the supersized San Ramon mixed-use develop- ment Bishop Ranch.

CSo the transportation director for the sprawling 585-acre complex decided to see if he could make one of 100 new shared bikes available to Bishop Ranch tenants and their employees his primary mode of transportation.

“I actually did that for three months to see if I had any problems,” Weeks said. “I got a lot of funny looks when I was 20 miles away and riding a bike that said Bishop Ranch.” This summer, the BRiteBikes For Weeks, who got his start as a museum curator at shared program launched at San Francisco International Airport before going back to Bishop Ranch. school for city planning, this fall will mark five years at the San Ramon office park home to some 600 companies. After working for both the Metropolitan Transportation Commis- sion and as an on-site transit coordinator for Google, Weeks saw the task of aligning transit options at commuter-heavy Chris Weeks Bishop Ranch as a natural next step. don’t always cut it. Lacking transit connections in the area “He saw what I had been doing at Google and could see have made other alternatives, from shared rides to autono- that I had a lot of experience working in transportation for mous buses, increasingly necessary. campuses,” Weeks recalled of an early meeting with Alex- ander Mehran, Jr., president and COO of Bishop Ranch “We are a suburban location,” Weeks said. “Getting operator Sunset Development. BART here is unfortunately just not a viable option at this point” In the case of the shared bikes, Weeks was evolving a concept first pitched to Google to offer free, GPS-enabled During a regular month, an express bus that connects bikes for use anywhere on or off the campus, so long to BART provides about 20,000 rides, or 500 trips per day, as they were tracked and reserved. It was a concept the Weeks said. A direct bus to San Francisco adds about 40 Mountain View tech giant rejected, Weeks said, when the trips each day. Commuters can also try subsidized carpool CFO decided that tracking and locking bikes was too far apps like Scoop, where they pay only $2 per ride. from the company’s carefree persona. For those who need wheels during the day, Bishop Starting with 100 bikes made by manufacturer Social Bi- Ranch is evaluating carsharing providers like ZipCar and cycles, Weeks and his team at Bishop Ranch initially rolled AAA’s Gig. In the event of a need for an immediate option, out the “BRiteBikes” program to 400 early paid users. The Uber and Lyft provide fallbacks. For those coming from idea: “You can use it anywhere, lock it anywhere.” If any the notoriously gridlocked South Bay and Peninsula, small- GPS data appears suspicious, like a stolen bike traveling at er-scale vehicles like vanpools are one of the more agile the speed of the car that drove it away, employees monitor- option Weeks continues to explore. ing the inventory via mobile app can immediately lock the bike and set off an alarm. And then there’s the technological upheaval in auto- motive technology that stands to make the program more The program will be tested at scale this year after the cutting edge. recent campus-wide debut of BRiteBikes. “We have purchased two fully autonomous buses,” “This summer we opened it up to everyone for free,” Weeks said, which are currently being tested at Concord’s Weeks said. “We’ve seen the number of rides going up mas- former naval weapons air station. “If this all goes well, it sively – three or four times.” will be much more innovative. We foresee the possibility of rolling out hundreds and hundreds of these vehicles and Beyond bikes not having them on a fixed route.”

Still, with commuters to Bishop Ranch coming from as far away as the Central Valley and San Francisco, biked 36 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES drink Beer Baron booms with new locations hen Harpreet Singh Judge bought the aging Livermore Saloon at age 23, he didn’t exactly plan to create a craft beer empire that would expand to four loca- Wtions in three years. “It was a bar that had been in existence for 40-50 years,” said Judge, who grew up in Livermore. “I thought I’ll buy it, run it for a year or two years, save up money and rebrand it.”

Today, at 28, Judge and his younger brother, Raj, are 50-50 owners of the Beer Baron locations in Livermore and Pleasanton, plus two soon-to-open locations in Santa Rosa and Oakland. Though the focus is on California for now, Judge said longer-term expansion to other markets could also be possible.

“When we did Livermore, we didn’t have any thoughts about opening a second one,” said Judge, who himself worked behind the bar for two years before switching gears to fo- cus on expansion. “People really appreciated what we were doing.”

In addition to stocking rare, small- “We’re dealing batch brews, the Beer Baron Bar & with a lot of Kitchen in Pleasanton provided a smaller brewers jumping off point for in-house food offerings. and distillers that have smaller Judge hired San Francisco chef distribution. We Stephen Silva of Melons Catering to develop a menu that will now be rep- like putting our licated by Beer Baron Executive Chef money back into Daniel Taylor at the locations in Santa the craft.” Rosa and Oakland slated to open next Harpreet Singh Judge month and in September, respectively.

“I was very nervous in the begin- ning,” Judge said of the foray into food. “The overhead was a lot more, a lot more people working for you.”

When it comes to drink, road trips to distilleries and brew- ers in craft alcohol hubs like San Diego and Oregon are part of the groundwork that Judge said has differentiated the com- pany from others in the increasingly crowded market. Judge also credits his father’s bottle shop located near the former Livermore Saloon with planting another idea for the business.

“The focus started out as being beer, but we did have a full liquor license,” Judge said. “My own passion working at the bottle shop was good whiskey and good beer.”

In July, Beer Baron’s Pleasanton location officially launched a whiskey club, where members buy in with the purchase of a $250 gift card they can use at private events, specialty tastings and to purchase small-batch whiskeys.

“Most of what makes us different is we do a lot of footwork to bring our product in,” Judge said. “We’re dealing with a lot of smaller brewers and distillers that have smaller distribu- tion. We like putting our money back into the craft.” July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 37

food Restaurateur goes whole hog in Pleasanton

estaurateur Matt Greco sees become an outlet for people.” Pleasanton as the anti-Brook- lyn. Still, the path to a grand opening hasn’t been clear cut. After pairing an SBA loan And that’s a very good with capital from small investors, Greco Rthing, as far as he’s concerned, when it opted to take on a major construction comes to opening his new restaurant Salt project. Craft in a converted house near downtown this fall. Salt Craft will be housed in a con- verted 1,200 square-foot-house — he’s “We have no desire to go to Berkeley or designing the commercial kitchen from Oakland or even the city,” said Greco, who scratch — on a property that includes a previously opened Char No. 4 in Brooklyn 500 square-foot-basement for storage and before relocating to Pleasanton with his 2,700-square-foot lot for outdoor seating family six years ago. “I’m done cooking in that he plans to weatherproof. a city.” “I had a great location, and the catch With a culinary pedigree that includes was that it was residential,” Greco said. training at the Culinary Institute of “Turning it into commercial was going to America and working in restaurants for be a little more challenging, but a lot of world-renowned chefs like French restau- competition really didn’t want to deal with rateur Daniel Boulud, Greco, 41, was most the conversion.” recently the executive chef for Livermore’s Wente Vineyards. As the retrofit moves ahead, the chef is optimistic that the timing is ripe for a new After considering Livermore for the venture with a unique perspective — even restaurant, which will focus on whole-ani- if it’s a messy road to get there. mal utilization and local ingredients, Greco was attracted to Pleasanton’s mix of lower “I totally understand why startups lose prices for unconventional space and a a lot of money,” Greco said with a laugh. busy daytime crowd of office workers. The Still, he adds, “I see people go in and restaurant at 377 St Mary St. is currently maybe change the table and chairs. How slated to open in October and will serve can you be successful if you don’t change breakfast, lunch and dinner in addition to the backbone of a place?” offering catering.

“The name salt really references a timeless ingredient, something in constant evolution,” Greco said. “And then we’re dedicated to craft. We make everything in house.”

Greco has won acclaim for dishes like lamb pastrami using once-undesirable cuts of protein such as lamb shoulder. With Salt Craft, he aims to build a network of local food suppliers, including one farm in Sunol that plans to offer up 20 varieties of toma- toes to perfect a sun-dried tomato recipe.

“That’s what’s kind of fun when we talk about (being) sustainable,” Greco said. “When you do a project like this, so much stuff comes out of the woodwork. You

Salt craft Matt Greco, chef and owner of the new Salt Craft restaurant in Pleasanton. 38 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES Positioned to Meet Today’s Training next gen talent Employees drive for next gen jobs Infrastructure and Agriculture Challenges

In 2012, Vijji Suryadevara found herself at a crossroads. business at Sensiba After hitting $10 million in revenue, she had sold her content management and delivery company BPA Tech- nologies to Moody’s offshoot ICRA Group, which left San Filippo her deciding what to tackle next. While raising her family in the Tri-Valley, Suryadevara With 175 employees spread turned her focus to emerging technologies — Big Data, across six offices in Northern mobile, the early days of artificial intelligence — and and Central California, John encountered a sharper learning curve than might be Sensiba knows that adapting anticipated for a seasoned technologist. to the needs of employees is “Despite having two degrees in computer science and crucial to sustained business having worked with industry, it was very hard to get a success. grip of what was going on,” Suryadevara said, which triggered a realization. “If it is hard for me, imagine how That’s why Sensiba, manag- hard it is for everybody else.” ing partner of Pleasanton-based That realization eventually manifested in Career Waze, a accounting and businesses ser- two-year-old Pleasanton startup that harnesses machine vices firm Sensiba San Filippo, learning to personalize skills training recommendations has staked his firm’s brand for individual students. After securing the buy in of co- on flexible work schedules, founder and former Oracle and startup executive Jayati support of employee’s philan- Sengupta in early 2016, the company now has a staff of thropic endeavors and the pur- John Sensiba four in Pleasanton and 15 in India, where both women grew up. suit of a 10-year “impact goal” “As a alongside traditional business Day to day, another impera- With Career Waze, the pair is in metrics like revenue growth. tive is making the connection many ways aiming to connect the startup, between impact efforts and the dots between disparate innovation you have to happening in the multibillion-dollar His philosophy, in a nutshell: broader evolution of the work- work long, “It’s family, community, firm,” force. Accommodating telecom- education tech, or ed tech, industry. With both consumer and enterprise long hours. Sensiba said. muting preferences, even as offerings, the company aims to large companies like Yahoo and build out a “skill profile” for users There’s no And that’s not an abstract IBM pull back on remote work, and tell them what, where and how way around notion. He cites his own son, has been one boon for retaining they might address gaps. it.” a paramedic, with putting the talented employees, Sensiba Locating their company in the firm’s work in perspective. said. Vijji Suryadevara Tri-Valley made sense given the combination of more affordable real “He really helps people in a “I’ve found over the last 20 estate and the specter of many long very direct and identifiable way. years that people who tend to days ahead. It’s harder to identify how we be really successful within our impact people,” Sensiba said, four walls tend to be successful “As a startup, you have to work long, long hours. There’s no way around it,” Suryadevara said. “If we have adding that he finds providing wherever they are,” he said. our company far, far away, that’s two to three hours a financial stability and peace “We have a tax manager in day you’re not spending with your family and not work- of mind the most rewarding Michigan, and I don’t think I’ve ing on your company.” aspects of the business. seen her in seven years.” For Sengupta, who moved to the Tri-Valley from the When it comes to community Thinking longer term about Peninsula in 2012, the 2013 IPOs of local companies Veeva Systems and Workday has always symbolized a involvement, charitable causes the success of his business and chance to finally end “that soul-crushing commute to that Sensiba San Filippo em- employees in the Tri-Valley and the peninsula.” ployees have become involved beyond, however, Sensiba finds with (and the firm now sup- himself increasingly worried Now, she said, growth of the local tech industry is ports) include pediatric hospice about more daunting systemic encouraging for her own company — though access to provider the George Mark challenges. Exceedingly diffi- capital beyond angel investors, a dearth of funders with a technical background and few accelerator options for Children’s House and annual ef- cult immigration processes and more seasoned entrepreneurs remain areas for im- forts to provide back-to-school the nagging lack of housing provement. backpacks or holiday food bank options throughout the region In a rapidly changing world, we’re reshaping how things are built, grown, services. are two major examples. “There are a few people who want to foster innovation and managed. We’re based in Livermore, but our presence and impact is global. and a tech center here,” Sengupta said. “It’s still small.” Part of that effort, Sensiba “As the Tri-Valley’s reputa- Our innovative positioning technology helps contractors and farmers work One other idea on the horizon as the pair targets said, is focusing on local need tion grows to become the heart growth and additional fundraising for Career Waze: cre- smarter and faster to create sustainable infrastructure and agriculture. in cities where the company of California innovation, we will ating their own Tri-Valley venture fund to broaden the operates. continue to surpass more and playing field for other startups willing to bet on starting more regions throughout the their companies in the region. “The San Francisco office nation.” and the Fresno office are about “You don’t really see a lot of women,” Sengupta said. as different as you can get,” he “I’m sure there are more. We just haven’t met them topconpositioning.com yet.” said. July 28, 2017 tri-valley | innovation lives here Advertising Supplement 39 Positioned to Meet Today’s Infrastructure and Agriculture Challenges

In a rapidly changing world, we’re reshaping how things are built, grown, and managed. We’re based in Livermore, but our presence and impact is global. Our innovative positioning technology helps contractors and farmers work smarter and faster to create sustainable infrastructure and agriculture.

topconpositioning.com 40 Advertising Supplement tri-valley | innovation lives here San Francisco Business TIMES