San Diego Business Journal - Cover Story Feb 27-Mar 5, 2017 issue: Flux's Gamble Got the Market to Bet on Its Product - Page 1

1. Vol. 38, No. 9 February 27-March 5, 2017 • $3.00T H E C O M MU N I T Y O F B U S I N E S S ™
S D B J .C O M
SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL
New View: 2
entreprenuers reflect on
moves from Silicon Valley
Robust Outlook: Why
the real estate climate
should remain strong
On the Runway:
Settlement clears path for
Brown Field project
Revenue Driver: Jenn
Harris will bring her golf
simulator to you.5 7
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Palomar page 11
CubicAimsforDefense
AcquisitionstoClick
DEFENSE: Mission Solutions
Biz Combines Systems, Services
■ BY BRAD GRAVES
Nottoomanymilitarysatellitedishesmakeahiss-
ing noise like an air mattress
deflating when it’s time to
pack things up and ship
them off to their next
location. Then again,
the satellite dish from
Cubic Corp.’s GATR
Technologies business
is not your typical model.
Mixed-UsePlannedat
FormerHospitalSite
PROPERTY: Bids for Old
Palomar Facility Already In
■ BY JOHN COX
Escondido finally has an answer — part of one
anyway — on what will be done with the hospital
campus that has stood as a landmark in the city’s
downtown since the 1950s.
Palomar Health CEO Robert “Bob” Hemker
told the health care district’s board of directors
earlier this month that Palomar Medical Center
Downtown will be redeveloped into housing, for
sale or rental, plus some kind of commercial space.
TECH: Actions After
Lumedyne Acquisition
Make For Good Mystery
■ By JOHN COX
Searching
For Google’s
Motive
Cubic page 12Google page 44
G
oogle has sparked a mystery
of sorts by apparently shelv-
ing the project that brought it
toSanDiegointhefirstplace.
The tech giant recently terminated a
series of Navy license agreements it ac-
quired in 2014 when it bought Lumedyne
Technologies Inc., a local company that
wasdevelopingsensortechnologyinvent-
ed at San Diego’s Space and Naval War-
fare Systems Command, or SPAWAR.
The move seems to have attracted
notice: On Feb. 15, SPAWAR said it
was contacted by a separate company
interested in using the same patents
Google walked away from. The agency
declined to identify the company.
Here’s the twist: Google has retained
Flux’sGambleGottheMarkettoBetonItsProduct
Flux page 46
ENERGY: Battery Co. Got
Key Customers, Credibility
■ By JOHN COX
him like product development was taking
a precariously long time.
He figured if the Vista lithium-ion bat-
tery company didn’t stake out a market
position soon, larger competitors would.
So, in early 2013, he took a big chance.
Despite what was then Flux’s relatively
lowproductreliabilityandlimitedassembly
line, Dutt started showing its batteries to
forklift manufacturers. It worked: In Febru-
ary 2014, Toyota Motor Corp. approved the
company’s batteries for use in its low-power
forklifts,bestowinganewlevelof credibility.
It remains a work in progress, and the
Jamie Scott Lytle
Flux Power
Holdings Inc.’s
CEO Ron Dutt
Ron Dutt had only just started as CEO at
Flux Power Holdings Inc., but it looked to
8 17
Jamie Scott Lytle
Brad Chisum says Google had a sense of urgency in 2014 when it purchased Lumedyne for a reported $85 million. Since establishing
a presence here, however, Google apparently has recently stopped work on related efforts.
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