PRESS RELEASE: EVONEXUS JOINS WITH CISCO TO ACCELERATE THE GROWTH OF EMERGING COMPANIES IN THE SAN DIEGO REGION

Joint incubation program will support early-stage entrepreneurs innovating in the Internet of Everything, cloud computing, Big Data, enterprise mobility and related areas

SAN DIEGO – June 3, 2014 –EvoNexus, the CommNexus incubator for start-up companies in the high-tech sector, today announced the launch of CiscoEIR@EvoNexus, a joint incubation program sponsored by Cisco. The program will combine the global reach and support of Cisco with EvoNexus’ successful incubation model. CiscoEIR@EvoNexus will help promote opportunities for further technology development in the San Diego area.

Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence (CiscoEIR ) connects early-stage business-to-business (B2B) startups with Cisco and its global partner ecosystem. The Cisco innovation program helps selected startups accelerate their product and business development by providing financial support, use of co-working space, access to mentors and opportunities to collaborate with Cisco and its partners. Cisco is expanding these benefits to San Diego by collaborating with EvoNexus to launch CiscoEIR@EvoNexus.

“Launching CiscoEIR@EvoNexus allows Cisco to tap into the ideas and talent of the entrepreneurial community in the San Diego region,” said Tom Yoritaka, managing director of Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence.  “EvoNexus, with its structured incubation program and record of fostering successful startups, is an ideal collaborator for Cisco.  We expect CiscoEIR@EvoNexus to play an important role in accelerating the growth of early-stage startups in San Diego and advancing the Internet of Everything, cloud computing, Big Data, enterprise mobility and other strategic areas for Cisco. “

EvoNexus currently has 31 companies in incubation and 29 graduates that have helped create over 1,000 jobs and raised over $541 million in funding and outcomes since EvoNexus’ inception in October 2009.  CiscoEIR@EvoNexus will be a joint innovation program supporting early-stage B2B entrepreneurs through the existing EvoNexus program with Cisco’s financial and infrastructure support in pursuit of Cisco’s strategic goals.

“Cisco is an iconic Silicon Valley company with a long history of influencing technology innovation on a global scale, and many companies can trace their lineage back to Cisco,” said Rory Moore, CEO of CommNexus. “The Cisco EIR program extends Cisco’s support and domain knowledge in emerging technologies such as the Internet of Everything, Big Data and cloud services to San Diego and will help our region accelerate the growth of startups in these new areas.”

Cisco and EvoNexus invite San Diego area entrepreneurs to apply for the next round opening in late July. Qualified applications already in the EvoNexus incubator pipeline for the current round will also be automatically considered for CiscoEIR@EvoNexus.  Companies admitted into CiscoEIR@EvoNexus will receive financial support in the form of payments and benefits from Cisco, access to mentors and opportunities to collaborate closely with Cisco business and engineering teams. Other benefits from EvoNexus include free office space in the Downtown San Diego or La Jolla office locations, mentorship and other support.