San Diego’s hardtech companies have now collectively raised over $10.1 billion.
Today we at Rising Tide Partners are publishing the 2026 SD Hardtech 50 — and for the first time, a companion Next Wave 30 list covering the companies worth tracking before they’re on everyone’s radar.
What started as a way to make the case for San Diego as a serious hardtech ecosystem has become something bigger. 80 companies across defense & autonomy, energy, medtech, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, agtech, and more — all building real atoms, real physics, real products.
This year we went deeper. In partnership with Metis Partners, we ran a full IP analysis across both cohorts. The Hardtech 50 alone holds 689 patent families and 1,935 patent filings. That’s not just capital — that’s an IP moat being built here, sector by sector.
Thank you to Dan Magy 🏴☠️ and the whole Firestorm team for hosting our in person award release party!
None of this happens without the partners who made the event possible: Savills, San Diego State University, Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP, @REACH Defense , Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., J.P. Morgan, Firestorm, Deloitte, Sequoia, Wells Fargo, Camber Road, and Metis Partners. Grateful for every one of them.
A huge congratulations to all 80 companies. San Diego is building and solving hard problems.
🔗 The 2026 SD Hardtech 50: https://lnkd.in/gw3FWUAt
🔗 The Next Wave 30: https://lnkd.in/gT7ca4bF
Rising Tide Partners
