🐺 Lockheed Martin just invested. mPower is hiring in San Diego.

Lockheed Martin Ventures just made a strategic bet on a flexible solar technology that can wrap around satellites, reshape constellation design, and power missions that couldn't exist a decade ago.

The company building it is scaling manufacturing in New York and hiring out of its San Diego office.

That's one of three companies worth knowing about this week.

Howl yeah, let's dive in.

mPower Technology — 2 SD Roles

Why they matter:

Flexible solar for space has been the holy grail of aerospace power for decades.

mPower built DragonSCALES, a fully flexible, interconnected mesh of miniature silicon solar cells that can shape to almost any geometry. It lets satellite designers rethink form factor, wrap power around unconventional structures, and shave mass where every gram matters.

Airbus Netherlands selected DragonSCALES for its Sparkwing solar arrays powering MDA's AURORA satellites. It's headed to Telesat Lightspeed and the next-generation Apple-backed Globalstar constellation.

And in 2025, mPower brought online the world's first automated, high-volume production line for space solar at Universal Instruments in Conklin, NY. Lockheed Martin Ventures joined the cap table as a strategic add-on to Series B, bringing total Series B to more than $24M.

Momentum signals:

• Strategic investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures (August 2025)

• First automated, high-volume production line for space solar online

• DragonSCALES selected for Telesat Lightspeed, Globalstar, and MDA AURORA constellations

• San Diego office expanded to anchor executive and commercial leadership

Open roles:

• Vice President of Engineering — San Diego Metro

• Director of Quality Assurance — Carlsbad

• All open roles

Two senior leadership roles. If you're an engineering or quality leader who's scaled hardware from prototype to high-volume production, and you want to do it on technology powering the commercial space buildout, this one is the job.

Condor — 6 Remote Roles, SD HQ

Why they matter:

Pharma companies spend more than $300B a year on R&D. The financial systems tracking that spend still run on spreadsheets, manual reconciliations, and a tangle of CRO portals, ERP systems, and accounting tools.

Condor built the Financial Intelligence Platform purpose-built for life sciences. Three AI-powered modules: Connect pulls clinical, operational, and financial data into one source of truth. Compass forecasts costs, models scenarios, and flags risk. Copilot automates accruals, reconciliations, and monthly close.

Customers report more than 90% forecast accuracy, 70% faster month-end close, and roughly 30% in budget savings. Used by Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Alumis Therapeutics, BridgeBio Pharma, and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals.

In April 2026, Condor closed a $24M Series A led by Insight Partners. Total raised: $36M.

Momentum signals:

• $24M Series A led by Insight Partners (April 2026)

• Participation from Felicis, 645 Ventures, Pamir Ventures, SNR, Prebys Ventures, and Bramalea Partners

• More than $19B in R&D spend now managed on the platform

• Customers include BridgeBio, Madrigal, Acadia, and Alumis

Open roles across:

• Engineering and Product

• Sales and Business Development

• Customer Success and Solutions Engineering

• Clinical Finance and FP&A

• All open roles

If you work at the intersection of AI, enterprise software, and life sciences, and want to build something that actually accelerates how drugs get to market, this one is worth a look.

Element Biosciences — 11 SD Roles

Why they matter:

DNA sequencing has always been expensive. Both the box and the cost per genome.

Element is rewriting both equations. Their AVITI system made high-quality sequencing genuinely accessible to more labs. In February 2026, they launched VITARI, the first benchtop sequencer capable of delivering a $100 genome. Pre-orders are open; shipping starts in the second half of the year.

In March 2026, Fast Company named Element to its annual list of the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2026, recognizing its work in genomics and multiomics.

Element is the kind of San Diego life sciences story that's easy to miss until the technology shows up in every lab that matters.

Momentum signals:

• Fast Company World's Most Innovative Companies 2026 (March 2026)

• VITARI launched: first benchtop sequencer capable of a $100 genome (February 2026)

• 2026 Innovation Roadmap expanded across sequencing and multiomics

• Backed by Wellington Management, Samsung, Fidelity, Foresite Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Venrock

Open roles across:

• Research & Development (drug screening, surface chemistry, electrical and embedded systems, histology)

• Operations (quality, compliance, process development)

• Commercial, Finance, and Informatics

• All open roles

If you want to work on the hardware making genomics dramatically cheaper, and help get it into labs around the world, this one is worth a look.

In case you missed it

A few companies from last week are still worth a look:

• Monarch Quantum — Quantum light engines for NASA's first space-based quantum gravity gradiometer. $100M+ in capital and contracts inside six months. 43 open SD roles across photonics, quantum systems, robotics, and software.

• Seismic — Category-defining revenue enablement platform now merging with Highspot. $3B, six profitable quarters, SD HQ. 6 roles in SD and remote US across product, engineering, and sales.

• Flock Freight — AI-powered shared truckload platform. $60M Series E and a Fast Company Next Big Things in Tech nod. 6 open Encinitas roles in engineering and applied AI.

• Radicle Science — Proof-as-a-Service for wellness brands that want real clinical evidence. Fresh growth round in April, backed by Chris Anderson (former TED owner). 2 open SoCal roles: CSIO and Sales Director.

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Jonah 🐺

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