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- 🐺 I went looking into one fund and found a San Diego battery hub
🐺 I went looking into one fund and found a San Diego battery hub
That's the headline. But the more interesting story this week might be a 30-person battery company in Carlsbad
A San Diego company just closed a $2 billion funding round.
Not a biotech this time. A defense-AI company building autonomous aircraft out of San Diego, now valued at $12.7 billion.
That's the headline. But the more interesting story this week might be a 30-person battery company in Carlsbad you've never heard of that's hiring 13 engineers.
Howl yeah, let's dive in.
Proper Voltage - 13 Open Carlsbad Roles
Carlsbad battery-tech company building custom energy storage, including for defense. Small team, ~$3.6M raised, and hiring 13 engineers right now.
Why they matter:
I hadn't heard of Proper Voltage until I started digging into TL Fund and one of their portfolio companies. That pull of the thread turned up something I should have known already: San Diego is quietly becoming a battery hub. Proper Voltage is one of the reasons why.
Here's the problem they're chasing. Battery technology is mostly one-size-fits-all, so if your product's power needs don't fit an off-the-shelf cell, you re-engineer around it or pay for capability you'll never use. Proper Voltage builds custom energy storage that matches the right battery to the right application, from critical power to defense to commercial, without that overhead.
They're early, around $3.6 million raised, backed by TL Fund and Commonweal Ventures, and based in Carlsbad. But the hiring is the tell: 13 open roles, almost entirely engineering, and every one of them local. When a seed-stage company opens this many engineering seats at once, something is about to scale.
Momentum signals:
Backed by TL Fund and Commonweal Ventures, building out of Carlsbad
Product lines across defense, critical power, and commercial
13 roles open at once across battery systems, embedded, electrical, and mechanical
Open roles (all Carlsbad, several remote-eligible):
Lead Electrical Engineer
Lead PCB Designer
Mechanical Engineer III — Battery Systems
Senior Embedded Software Engineer
Chief Engineer — Critical Power
This is the discovery pick of the week. If you build hardware, power systems, or embedded software and want in early somewhere that's clearly ramping, go take a look.
Want us to keep an eye out for the right role for you? Pack members tell us what they're looking for, and we tap you on the shoulder when we find a fit. It takes 2 minutes
Clinically AI - 6 Open SD Roles
SD-built AI for behavioral health and long-term care. Founder-led, bootstrapped, and hiring across product, design, and clinical adoption.
Why they matter:
Most AI startups raise a big round before they hire. Clinically AI did it the other way around, $0 in outside funding and a growing team in San Diego.
I was at their office a few weeks ago for the AI Tinkerers event. Ross, their CEO, and I are tied 1-1 on the ping-pong table, and I still owe him a rubber match. What I saw between points: an office that's clearly set up for new hires, and a company sourcing its talent right here in San Diego.
The problem they're solving is a real one. Clinicians in behavioral health and long-term care lose hours every day to documentation, chart audits, and paperwork instead of patients, and it's a leading driver of burnout. Clinically AI handles that documentation, chart auditing, and workflow load, the corners of healthcare most AI companies skip right past. That they're hiring leadership on revenue instead of a raise tells you the product is landing.
Momentum signals:
Founded in San Diego (2023), fully bootstrapped, hiring on revenue rather than a raise
Bringing on both a Head of Product and a Head of Growth at once, a real build-out moment
Two of six roles are clinical AI adoption, a sign of live, in-the-field deployment
Open roles (San Diego):
Head of Product
Head of Growth Marketing (Player-Coach)
UX/UI Designer (AI Workflow & Product Experience)
Quality & Reliability Engineer
Clinical AI Adoption Lead and Adoption Specialist
A bootstrapped, founder-led SD team building its first leadership layer. If you want real ownership at an applied-AI company solving a problem clinicians feel every day, this is the kind of early seat that matters. (Ross, if you're reading, the table's still warm.)
Shield AI - 33 Open SD Roles
SD-built defense autonomy. Just closed a $2B Series G at a $12.7B valuation. Never been featured here. Now the deepest engineering board in San Diego tech.
Why they matter:
Most autonomous systems still depend on GPS and a constant comms link. Jam the signal and they go blind.
Shield AI builds the alternative. Their Hivemind software lets aircraft fly and make decisions on their own, no GPS and no pilot, in exactly the contested environments where everything else fails. It powers the V-BAT drone already in the field, and it's the brain behind X-BAT, the vertical-takeoff fighter they're now developing.
In March, that work earned them a $2 billion raise, one of the largest in San Diego history. A San Diego company is now one of the most valuable defense-tech startups in the country, and the open roles show exactly where the money is going.
Momentum signals:
Series G led by Advent International, with Blackstone adding $500M in preferred financing
Projecting 80%+ revenue growth to $540M+ in 2026
Hiring weighted heavily toward the X-BAT vertical-takeoff fighter program
Open roles across (SD and remote):
Autonomy systems integration & test
Software (C++/networking, DevOps, modeling & simulation)
Mechanical, electrical, and power electronics engineering
AI platforms product management
The deepest board on our entire list. If you want to build autonomy at the company defining where defense tech is going, and do it without leaving San Diego, this is the one to study this week.
Want us to keep tracking SD roles for you?
Tell us what you're looking for, and we'll tap you on the shoulder when we find a real fit. Not just what happens to be open.
It takes 2 minutes.
On the Radar
Two companies still very much worth your time:
Netradyne — 9 open SD & remote roles. The SD-headquartered AI fleet-safety unicorn ($1.34B) just acquired Moove Connected Mobility (May 5). AI, computer vision, and a global board if you're open to it.
Seasats — 13 open SD roles. Still at the center of San Diego's aquatic drone scene, still hiring across engineering and maritime systems after their $20M Series A and $24M Navy APFIT award.
One pattern this week:
The range is the story. A $2 billion defense raise (Shield AI), a 30-person battery company hiring a full engineering bench (Proper Voltage), and a founder-led healthcare-AI team building its first leadership layer (Clinically AI). Big or small, San Diego is hiring engineers at every stage at once.
Let's help good people find great San Diego teams.
Jonah 🐺
P.S. Know someone job-hunting in SD tech? Forward this email. They can join in too at thecareercoyote.beehiiv.com.
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