Oh hello Q4. I hope you are waking up with as much of a hangover as I have from playing the presidential debate drinking game. (You can’t really lose that way.)

One of the interesting trends we’ve been watching in OC is the rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market. From what has been a slow build from GM’s EV1 of the 90’s to California policy forcing only new electric vehicle sales by 2035, we’re going to see a lot of growth of an entire ecosystem.

First, three big vehicle makers are now in Orange County with Rivian, Fisker, Karma in addition to battery maker Enevate. All of these will benefit from the talent of LA’s makers Tesla, Proterra, BYD, Romeo Power, XOS, and San Diego’s TransPower. The charging infrastructure is what is needed to grow and local charger maker Noodoe is growing with demand. What other parts of this industry are growing locally? Know of a startup in this space that we should be featuring? I’m excited for these big opportunities coming.

Speaking of excited, I got to sit down with Carey Ranson on the Accelerate OC podcast recently and we nerded out over early stage startups and building the community that fosters them. Listen in and let us know where you want to jump in and help.

Also great to see two new early stage financings with Violux and Vertanza, both getting funding from local investors as well. Congrats and let’s go!

Cheers,

Neal