Carlsbad, California – GigaIO, a pioneer in delivering datacenter-class computing at the edge, was named to the 2026 San Diego Hardtech 50, an annual recognition by Rising Tide Partners that spotlights 50 notable hardware companies in San Diego. This list, now in its second year, spotlights the founders, teams, and companies with the region’s most exciting hardware doing real, durable work across sectors like defense, aerospace, energy, robotics, semiconductors, biotech, manufacturing, and deep tech. GigaIO was named to both the 2025 and 2026 lists.
According to Neal Bloom, managing partner of Rising Tide Partners, “Hardtech companies build physical, engineered systems that integrate hardware, software, and advanced materials to solve real-world problems. Unlike pure software startups, these companies often require longer R&D timelines, complex supply chains, and physical infrastructure to scale — but they have the potential to reshape entire industries.”
GigaIO was invited to demonstrate its hardware at the first ever SD HardTech 50 Release Party, attended by founders, engineers, operators, ecosystem-builders, and a curated group of investors interested in meeting the 50 companies honored for building physical products and solving hard problems in San Diego. Said Bloom, “San Diego is uniquely suited for this moment. Long known for its strengths in biotech, defense, aerospace, semiconductors, ocean science, and energy innovation, the region is now seeing a new generation of founders reimagining how we build, move, power, and heal in the physical world.”
GigaIO CEO Alan Benjamin was proud to have made the Hardtech 50 list twice in a row, noting “We are really pleased to continue to be recognized for the great work that our team is doing to bring leading edge technology out of the data center and closer to where the data itself is being generated and used. Knowing many of the other companies on this list, we are proud to be part of this group bringing world class innovation to San Diego.”
GigaIO was honored for “Rack-scale composable AI/HPC architecture. $21M Series B in 2025. National Research Platform selected. Building the compute fabric that lets AI clusters work without the bottlenecks that slow everything else down.”
About GigaIO
GigaIO delivers datacenter-class computing at the edge, providing meaningful AI inferencing where the data is created and where answers are actually needed. Its flagship product, Gryf, is the only portable edge AI platform capable of supporting the full range of data processing needs — from the latest agentic AI inferencing, to machine and deep learning applications, to full-featured ISR analytics — all in a form factor that you can take anywhere you go. Visit www.gigaio.com, or follow on Twitter (X) and LinkedIn.
Contact: Shannon Biggs • 760-487-8395 • shannon@xandmarketing.com
Also Read:
