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- 🐺 Flock Freight has a new CEO. Element just closed a $175M Series E.
🐺 Flock Freight has a new CEO. Element just closed a $175M Series E.
Flock Freight's leadership handoff, Element's $175M Samsung round, and Zoox planting a depot in San Diego.
In the last two weeks, Zoox and Waymo both announced robotaxi programs in San Diego. Big-name teams betting on our streets.
Meanwhile, SD-native companies keep hiring. Flock Freight just moved Pat Dillon into the CEO seat. Element Biosciences closed a $175M Series E led by Samsung. And sodium-ion battery startup UNIGRID just passed Hyundai's technical validation.
Howl yeah, let's dive in.
Flock Freight - 8 Open SD Roles
The largest shared-truckload freight brokerage in the U.S. Encinitas HQ, one block from the Coaster.
Why they matter:
Pat Dillon has been at Flock Freight for years - CFO, then COO, then President. In 2026, founder Oren Zaslansky moved to Executive Chairman, and Pat took the CEO seat.
Flock's shared-truckload (STL) platform pools shipments so trucks run full, cutting shipper cost and emissions. Their patented tech has kept them growing through two brutal freight-market years.
Newell Brands 2025 Carrier of the Year.
Fast Company 2025 Next Big Things in Tech Award for their STL AddOns product.
$60M Series E led by O'Neil Strategic Capital (May 2025).
40,000 sq ft Encinitas HQ campus.
Founded 2015 in San Diego by Executive Chairman Oren Zaslansky.
Open roles across:
Engineering (Senior Full Stack, Applied AI, Pricing)
Product (Senior Product Analyst)
Carrier and People Operations
Account Executive
Element Biosciences - 14 Open SD Roles
Sorrento Mesa DNA sequencing company. Their new VITARI benchtop is targeting a $100 genome.
Why they matter:
Element is rewriting sequencing economics on two fronts. Their AVITI system made high-quality benchtop sequencing accessible. This year, they took it further with VITARI, which targets a $100 genome. Announced February 2026 at $689K per system. Pre-orders opened. Shipping starts later this year.
In June, Samsung led their $175M Series E and became the largest shareholder. The round funds the IVDR launch of Aviti Dx and the Aviti24 tissue-profiling platform.
Momentum signals:
Samsung-led $175M Series E, June 2026.
Fast Company Most Innovative Companies 2026, March 2026.
Biomodal partnership, February 2026, combining Duet multiomic tech with Element sequencing.
AVITI installed in labs across 25+ countries.
Founded in San Diego by CEO Molly He, CTO Michael Previte, and VP Biochemistry Matthew Kellinger. HQ: 10055 Barnes Canyon Road, Sorrento Mesa.
Open roles across:
R&D (Biochemistry, Cell Culture, Surface Chemistry, Optical Systems, Embedded Systems)
Software Engineering and Informatics
Operations (Enterprise Data, Compliance, Commodity Management)
Commercial (Global Support, Product Management)
Legal
Also worth knowing
UNIGRID - 1 open SD role
Sodium-ion battery startup with a big August. Shipped their first residential batteries in July. Signed a Syntropic Power partnership on August 5. Passed Hyundai's ZER01NE technical validation on August 26.
They're hiring a Chief of Staff in San Diego. Onsite role. Reports into the founding team.
Founded 2021 by CEO Darren H. S. Tan and CTO Erik A. Wu. $12M Series A closed June 2024, with follow-on investment from LG Technology Ventures.
Hiring a pack in San Diego
Two out-of-town companies building their SD footprint.
Zoox - Amazon-owned autonomous robotaxi company planting a flag in San Diego.
On September 1, Zoox announced a San Diego test fleet and plans for a local depot and charging site. Retrofit SUVs with safety drivers begin mapping by end of September.
Zoox launched paid commercial robotaxi service in Las Vegas on August 10, the first paid rides in a vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals in the U.S.
Open SD roles across:
Software
Firmware
Vehicle Ops
City Ops
Havoc AI - Collaborative-autonomy defense company building for sea, air, and land. Rumford, RI HQ. 200+ employees globally, $200M+ raised, 8 offices.
Open SD roles across:
Air Operations Specialist
Mission Software Engineer
Rapid Prototyping Engineer (Drones)
Senior Drone Engineer
Mechanical Engineer (Drone Development, Design & Test)
Still on the Radar
Three companies from last week still hiring and worth your time:
9amHealth - 17 open roles. Virtual cardiometabolic clinic. Founders sold mySugr to Roche in 2017 and just closed a $26M Series B for 9amHealth.
Looq AI - 9 open SD roles. Spatial AI turning field walks into 3D infrastructure models. 2026 Constructech Top Products and DTECH Power Player.
Protogon Research - 4 open SD roles. 7-person AI research team training and monetizing systems through proprietary trading. Founded by Rafael Cosman (ex-TrustToken, ex-Google Brain).
We're hunting for growing San Diego companies with open roles and sharing them in our newsletter every Tuesday.
Let's help good people find great San Diego teams.
Jonah 🐺
the Howl Guy
Find me on LinkedIn
P.S. Found a growing company? Send me a DM
Hiring a tricky role? We know which recruiter to call.
