FundedIQ

Funded Startups in Santa Cruz

In Santa Cruz’s most recent 25 disclosed rounds, one deal stands well above the rest: Capstan Medical’s $110M round on 2024-12-11 is the only disclosed amo…

In Santa Cruz’s most recent 25 disclosed rounds, one deal stands well above the rest: Capstan Medical’s $110M round on 2024-12-11 is the only disclosed amount above $100M, while the next-highest disclosed figure is Emboline’s $20M on 2026-03-11. The funding sizes are also uneven at the low end: multiple pre-seed and seed rounds cluster in the hundreds of thousands to single-digit millions, including Kinisi’s $440K (2024-05-29), FishWise’s $40K (2023-12-20), and Climatize’s $2M (2024-08-06).

Timing and classification show a second pattern. Rounds span from 2021-04-01 (Elevated, Pre-Seed, $100K) through 2026-05-04 (BrandCapsule, Pre-Seed, $60K). Within that window, there’s a dense run in 2024–2026 for AI and health-related companies (e.g., BrandCapsule $60K on 2026-05-04; Unnatural Products $45M on 2026-03-16; Fullpower-AI $25M on 2025-08-06; Capstan Medical $110M on 2024-12-11). Stage labels are frequently missing or unspecified: there are 2 rows marked “undisclosed” amounts (Outsite on 2026-01-20; Indexical on 2025-06-11) and multiple entries with blank stage fields (ConnectED on 2024-03-25; 2NDNATURE on 2021-06-14).

Most recent rounds

25 shown
B
BrandCapsule
Santa Cruz, United States · Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Pre-Seed · May 2026
$60k
U
Unnatural Products
Santa Cruz, United States · Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Series B · Mar 2026
$45M
E
Emboline
Santa Cruz, United States · Health Care
Series Unknown · Mar 2026
$20M
O
Outsite
Santa Cruz, United States · Community and Lifestyle
Series Unknown · Jan 2026
Undisclosed
F
Fullpower-AI
Santa Cruz, United States · Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Series C · Aug 2025
$25M
P
Peregrine Hydrogen
Santa Cruz, United States · Energy
Series Unknown · Jul 2025
$7.5M
I
Indexical
Santa Cruz, United States · Media and Entertainment
Series Unknown · Jun 2025
Undisclosed
C
Capstan Medical
Santa Cruz, United States · Health Care
Series C · Dec 2024
$110M
S
Switchback Systems
Santa Cruz, United States · Biotechnology
Series Unknown · Aug 2024
$11M
C
Climatize
Santa Cruz, United States · Energy
Pre-Seed · Aug 2024
$1.8M
K
Kinisi
Santa Cruz, United States · Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Pre-Seed · May 2024
$440k
C
ConnectED
Santa Cruz, United States · Education
· Mar 2024
$400k
F
FishWise
Santa Cruz, United States · Food and Beverage
Series Unknown · Dec 2023
$40k
P
Pescavore
Santa Cruz, United States · Food and Beverage
Series Unknown · Dec 2023
$550k
M
minds.ai
Santa Cruz, United States · Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Seed · Oct 2023
$5.3M
G
Gooder Foods
Santa Cruz, United States · Food and Beverage
Series A · Sep 2023
$13M
P
Performica
Santa Cruz, United States · Administrative Services
Seed · Feb 2023
$3.0M
J
Joby Aviation
Santa Cruz, United States · Science and Engineering
Post-IPO Equity · Oct 2022
$60M
N
New Teacher Center
Santa Cruz, United States · Education
Grant · Apr 2022
$100k
R
ROOMDEX
Santa Cruz, United States · Information Technology
Corporate Round · Feb 2022
$10M
T
Tanzle
Santa Cruz, United States · Consumer Electronics
Series A · Dec 2021
$40M
S
SupplyShift
Santa Cruz, United States · Internet Services
Series B · Dec 2021
$9.4M
C
Cruz Foam
Santa Cruz, United States · Other
Seed · Nov 2021
$2.5M
2
2NDNATURE
Santa Cruz, United States · Government and Military
· Jun 2021
$5.0M
E
Elevated
Santa Cruz, United States · Apps
Pre-Seed · Apr 2021
$100k

Related listings

Frequently asked

Which disclosed round is the clear outlier in this Santa Cruz list, and how far above the rest is it?

Capstan Medical’s $110M on 2024-12-11 is the only disclosed amount above $100M. The next-highest disclosed figure is Emboline’s $20M on 2026-03-11, so the outlier more than separates Capstan Medical from the rest of the disclosed amounts in this table.

Do the most recent entries cluster tightly in time, or are they spread evenly across years?

They’re spread across a multi-year range (from Elevated on 2021-04-01 to BrandCapsule on 2026-05-04). At the top end, the 2026 entries are tightly packed (BrandCapsule 2026-05-04; Unnatural Products 2026-03-16; Emboline 2026-03-11), with additional rounds following in 2026-01-20 (Outsite, undisclosed).

Are AI and health-related companies over-represented among the 25 rows shown?

AI appears repeatedly across different stages, including BrandCapsule (Pre-Seed, $60K on 2026-05-04), Unnatural Products (Series B, $45M on 2026-03-16), Fullpower-AI (Series C, $25M on 2025-08-06), Kinisi (Pre-Seed, $440K on 2024-05-29), and minds.ai (Seed, $5M on 2023-10-10). Health Care also recurs with Emboline (Series Unknown, $20M on 2026-03-11) and Capstan Medical (Series C, $110M on 2024-12-11).

How often are amounts or stage classifications missing, and does that affect comparisons?

Two rows show “undisclosed” amounts: Outsite (Community and Lifestyle, 2026-01-20) and Indexical (Media and Entertainment, 2025-06-11). Stage fields are also blank on ConnectED (Education, $400K on 2024-03-25) and 2NDNATURE (Government and Military, $5M on 2021-06-14), which limits stage-based comparisons for those entries.

What stage mix dominates the visible list, based on repeated stage labels?

Pre-Seed and Seed labels appear multiple times: BrandCapsule (Pre-Seed, $60K on 2026-05-04), Climatize (Pre-Seed, $2M on 2024-08-06), Kinisi (Pre-Seed, $440K on 2024-05-29), Elevated (Pre-Seed, $100K on 2021-04-01), and minds.ai (Seed, $5M on 2023-10-10) alongside Performica (Seed, $3M on 2023-02-05) and FishWise (Series Unknown, $40K on 2023-12-20). Higher staged rounds also exist but are fewer and more dispersed, with examples like Unnatural Products (Series B, $45M on 2026-03-16), Fullpower-AI (Series C, $25M on 2025-08-06), and Capstan Medical (Series C, $110M on 2024-12-11).

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