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- 🐺 San Diego is the aquatic drone capital of the US. Seasats is at the center of it.
🐺 San Diego is the aquatic drone capital of the US. Seasats is at the center of it.
Seasats, Neomorph, Cloudbeds, and Ceder are hiring in San Diego.
I visited Seasats HQ in San Diego last week.
Two dogs greeted me at the door. The office had clearly taken over the space next door, then run out of room again. The energy was the kind you feel at a company that is moving faster than its walls can keep up with.
Someone told me something I didn't know: San Diego is the aquatic drone capital of the United States. There are hubs in the Gulf and Rhode Island, but San Diego is where it's happening. On any given day, you'll see three or four different groups deploying boats in the bay: companies, military, and research teams. All testing at the same time.
Seasats is at the center of it.
Howl yeah, let's dive in.
Seasats — 14 Open SD Roles
Solar-powered Navy USVs. Just raised $20M Series A and won a $24M APFIT award.
Why they matter:
The Navy is building toward a hybrid fleet, one that integrates autonomous systems alongside traditional vessels. Seasats is building the autonomous side of that equation.
Their small, solar-powered uncrewed surface vehicles operate continuously at sea for months at a time, collecting ocean data, supporting naval operations, and running surveillance missions. The Quickfish USV completed an eight-day continuous sea trial earlier this year. Their vessels have crossed the Atlantic and Pacific fully autonomously.
$100M+ in U.S. government contracts. $24M APFIT award from the Department of War in January 2026. $40M+ in total funding.
Their values are posted on the wall: Get Shit Done. Be Kind. Fight Entropy. Attack with Overwhelming Force. Ask More Questions. Lines, Not Dots.
That's not corporate values copy. That's how a team building autonomous vessels for the Navy actually thinks.
Momentum signals:
$20M Series A raised led by Konvoy Ventures, February 2026 to scale USV production
$24M DoD APFIT award January 2026 to accelerate fielding
Quickfish USV completed eight-day continuous sea trial (March 2026)
$100M+ in U.S. government contracts including Navy and USMC
Open roles across:
Engineering
Maritime systems
Operations
A company that has outgrown its office and still has 14 open roles. If you want to work on autonomous maritime systems at the center of where this technology is being built, this is the one.
Neomorph — 5 Open SD Roles
Molecular glue degrader platform. Just closed $100M Series B with Regeneron Ventures.
Why they matter:
Most cancer drugs try to block disease-causing proteins. Neomorph is engineering a way to destroy them entirely.
Their molecular glue degrader platform works by creating a kind of biological trap, engineering protein surfaces that recruit the cell's own disposal machinery to eliminate the target protein. It's a fundamentally different approach to targeted protein degradation, and it's opening up disease targets that conventional drugs can't reach.
In April 2026, Neomorph closed a $100M Series B led by Deerfield Management with Regeneron participating. In May 2026, they appointed Robert J. Hugin, former CEO of Celgene, as Chairman of the Board. Their lead program NEO-811 is advancing into a Phase 1/2 cancer trial in 2026.
San Diego biotech at its highest level.
Momentum signals:
$100M Series B closed April 2026, led by Deerfield Management with Regeneron participating
Robert J. Hugin appointed Chairman of the Board (May 2026)
NEO-811 advancing into Phase 1/2 cancer trial (2026)
Proprietary platform with novel E3 ubiquitin ligase portfolio and unique molecular glue libraries
Open roles:
Five roles at a biotech company that just raised $100M and has Regeneron and a former Celgene CEO backing it. If you're in drug discovery, computational biology, or biotech research, this is worth a close look.
Cloudbeds — 9 Open Roles, SD Hub and Remote
Property management platform serving 26,000+ properties in 150 countries. 2026 State of Independent Hotels Report shows OTA share of independent bookings hit 63.4%.
Why they matter:
Most hotels are running on legacy software that was never designed for how guests book, communicate, and experience travel today.
Cloudbeds built the modern alternative. Their unified platform handles property management, booking, channel management, and revenue tools for independent hotels and lodging businesses worldwide. Founded in San Diego in 2012, they now serve hoteliers across 150+ countries.
Their AI innovation hub, Cloudbeds Labs, is scaling with two products built in-house: Signals (revenue and marketing AI) and Engage (24/7 voice concierge for hotels). Their 2026 State of Independent Hotels Report identified tightening margins, shifting traveler behavior, and OTA dominance as the defining challenges for the industry right now. Cloudbeds is building the software to address all three.
San Diego HQ. Global reach.
Momentum signals:
2026 State of Independent Hotels Report (March 2026): OTA share of independent bookings hit 63.4%, with OTA cancellation rates more than 2x direct bookings (21.8% vs 10.6%)
Cloudbeds Labs AI innovation hub scaling with Signals (revenue/marketing AI) and Engage (24/7 voice concierge)
26,000+ properties served across 150 countries from San Diego HQ
7-night bookings surged 25% year over year per their 2026 report
Open roles:
Nine roles across SD and remote. If you're in hospitality tech, AI product development, or SaaS and want to work on software used by hoteliers worldwide, this one has the scale and the mission to match.
A role worth knowing about
Cedar: SD-based proptech compressing months of land development analysis into hours. Two roles, including one unlisted Head of Engineering, available by reply-for-intro only.
A recruiting partner shared something with us this week that we think belongs in front of the pack.
America is short 6.5 million homes. Not because we can't build them, but because the process of finding land, navigating zoning, and getting to permits takes longer than the construction itself.
Cedar is building software to collapse that timeline. Their platform uses generative algorithms and real data to predict development yield on any urban parcel, turning months of consultant work into something a developer can do in hours. Founded in 2022. Nate Peters, one of the co-founders, is based in San Diego and hiring here.
There is more news coming from Cedar that we can't share yet. What we can say is that this is a company worth paying close attention to right now.
They are looking for two people:
Head of Engineering — San Diego. This role is not listed publicly. If you're a senior engineering leader who has built technical teams at an early-stage company and this sounds like a fit, reply to this email directly. We'll make the introduction.
Software Engineer — Design Automation — $140-170K | San Diego
Build the tools architects use every day. Ownership over how automation shows up inside Revit and other BIM tools.
We've crossed 1,045 in the pack.
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. Over 529 of you have already told us what you're looking for. The more we know about you, the better we can look out for you.
It takes 2 minutes.
Want to be featured?
The Career Coyote features San Diego companies doing something worth knowing about. If your company is building something here in San Diego and has open roles worth sharing with 1,045 engaged local tech professionals, reply to this email or DM us on LinkedIn.
Let's help good people find great San Diego teams.
Jonah 🐺
P.S. Land an interview, connect with a company, or find a strategy that's working for you? Reply and give us a howl. We'd love to hear what's working in the pack in San Diego and celebrate with you, too.
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