Companies participating in Octane’s startup accelerator LaunchPad combined to raise $25.3 million in funding during the first half of this year.
That’s a 30% increase from the same period a year earlier.
LaunchPad was established in 2004 by the Aliso Viejo-based networking organization in a bid to connect technology and life-science entrepreneurs with potential backers. It is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration and California State University, Fullerton.
More than 60 LaunchPad companies have drawn a total of $114 million in initial investments since its inception. The overall amount of funding, including follow-on investments, totals $250 million.
The 15 companies that received investments in the first half of this year include MelRok, an energy-monitoring and management firm in Santa Ana, which got $2 million; Lake Forest-based drug developer Bioniz, which received $500,000; and San Diego-based OncoSec Medical, which got $7.75 million to further its development of therapies to treat advanced-stage skin cancer.
