M8 Systems Inc. has come a long way since it made the trip from Irvine to Bakersfield last spring, and for that, founder-CEO Max Safai thanks the locals who helped with the move.
A range of assistance from the city of Bakersfield and Kern Venture Group helped M8 get a slick office downtown, where it now employs two Cal State Bakersfield engineering graduates, and connect with big names in local oil and agriculture.
Next week, Safai — the technologist credited with inventing Amazon’s cashier-less retail stores — plans to open the doors for 2½ hours and show the southern Central Valley’s business community exactly why he has come.
M8 Systems does fluid flow management. Its automated, cloud-controlled irrigation systems turn off and on different kinds of valves while monitoring pressure and flow. Customers get cellphone alerts pinpointing every leak.
About 75 farms in San Diego County use the system, Safai said, and those with even the earliest version of M8’s technology have yet to report a single failure.
“I haven’t had one service call,” he said.
The smart-ag company’s arrival in Bakersfield is part of a coordinated effort hatched in recent years to attract tech companies from outside the area. Government subsidies now combine with local introductions along with other guidance to help out promising startups.
The city pitched in up to $99,999 toward M8’s business relocation and development assistance. In exchange, M8 promised in January to move its business operations to the city, including assembly and testing, shipping and receiving, assembly and quality checks.
It’s at least Bakersfield’s second such agreement since 2021, following a $150,000 deal the city recently struck last year with North Carolina battery startup SineWatts Inc.
Meanwhile, angel investors at Kern Venture Group not only took an equity stake in M8 but also provided introductions at several of the largest companies in two of the county’s biggest industries.
KVG Managing Partner JP Lake sees M8’s recruitment as the first of a new kind of attraction effort also involving Kern government, the countywide economic collaboration B3K Prosperity and Cal State Bakersfield.
Impressed by Safai’s entrepreneurial and technological talents, Lake said, KVG may increase its investment in M8 as the company hits milestones. He noted KVG has welcomed Safai as an adviser to the investor group.
Similar collaboration has led to talks with three other companies KVG is trying to bring to Kern, Lake said. Two are aerospace startups interested in setting up operations in Bakersfield while connecting with the industry in eastern Kern, he said. The other is a precision medicine company involved in neuroscience, he added.
The group hopes to do more recruiting soon.
“We’re working now on a more formal plan as part of our next phase of growth at Kern Venture Group,” he said.
Safai said his company was very lucky to have received the city’s assistance and that KVG has been super helpful. Now that he’s settled in Bakersfield, a place he considers critical to M8’s ambitions in agriculture, M8 has been learning about local farmers’ “pain points” and adjusting its systems accordingly.
Soon it will be time to show off a little: From 4 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10, farmers, distributors and research-and-development people have been invited to M8’s showroom at 2531 M St. to check out the company’s irrigation control equipment.
The systems use solar powered units with built-in cellphone antennas that operate existing valves, so growers don’t have to bring in new infrastructure. Safai said oil companies making use of M8’s systems don’t have to attend to remote locations as frequently as before.
Not everyone working for the company moved to Bakersfield, Safai noted: Some engineers and others continue to work in Irvine and elsewhere M8 tries to maintain the ability to reach any client within two hours.
But he expects to see more local hires in Bakersfield as customers embrace the cost savings M8 offers. Bakersfield will increasingly become the company’s focus, Safai said, “because the Central Valley is incredibly important to me.”
