Welcome back to the Sunstone Way.
You’ve heard of positive reinforcement, right? It is an important part of team leadership, and it’s an important way to explain what we do.
That’s why in the second quarter of 2026 at Sunstone we are focusing on Sunstone Success Stories. I admit to enjoying alliteration when I can make it happen, but the bigger reason for the theme is that we want to celebrate our wins over the last 10 years.
I plan to use this space to share some of those success stories with you over the next three months. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Sharing Founders’ Success
One of the first goals of Sunstone Management was early investment in young companies. That investment portfolio is overseen by Sunstone Advisors, an SEC-registered investment advisor.
Today our portfolio of companies has more than 100 great firms. Many of those startups have graduated from the Long Beach Accelerator, where we are a founding member and continue to be an active supporter.
But before the Long Beach Accelerator launched, Sunstone became partners with a number of amazing companies. Let me share a bit today about two real success stories – Boom Supersonic and Syntiant – as seen by their growth over the years.
A Big Boom
Boom Supersonic has been around for more than a decade. It started with an idea to bring back commercial faster-than-the-speed-of-sound flight, with new technology and an innovative approach to dealing with the sonic boom that had limited supersonic flight over land.
2025 proved to be a milestone year for Boom. After a decade of research and development, Boom’s XB-1 demonstrator jet became the first privately funded aircraft to break the sound barrier, according to multiple industry reports. That happened in January.
By the end of the year, subsequent test flights had demonstrated the “Boomless Cruise” technology, the company’s annual report states. The proof was strong enough that legislation has been introduced in Congress to repeal the ban on supersonic flight over the U.S.
Clean Energy
Also in 2025, Boom engineers developed an entirely new use for the Overture Symphony turbofan engine that was developed for the aircraft. A standalone version of the engine was developed as a turbine generator fueled by natural gas capable of generating up to 42 megawatts of electricity, as seen in documented tests.
The new off-grid power source would be a significant addition to the rapidly growing need for electricity at data centers being built all over the country to support Artificial Intelligence computing. Industry reports say Boom already has orders for the power plants – specifically, infrastructure firm Crusoe has placed an order for 29 generators, a Boom release said.
Cutting Edge AI App
2025 also was a big year for Irvine-based Syntiant, a company that specializes in developing sensors and microphones to enable mobile edge AI applications. Syntiant acquired the MEMS Microphones division of Knowles Corporation, completing what Syntiant needed to offer an integrated stack of microphones, processors and machine learning models for AI audio and sensing.
That has helped Syntiant offer the necessary sensing components for mobile edge AI applications – those applications untethering AI machine learning models from cloud computing and data centers. Learning can now take place on site.
Syntiant won a number of industry awards in 2025, in addition to inclusion in the 2025 NatSec100 as a dual-use technology innovator serving commercial and U.S. national security markets. For the sixth consecutive year, Syntiant was named one of the “Best Places to Work in Orange County by the Orange County Business Journal!
We are proud to call these innovative companies our partners here at Sunstone. This kind of forward-thinking, problem-solving approach is definitely the Sunstone Way!
And remember, always be a Sunstone.
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
Sunstone
To receive a copy of this blog each week, sign up at the link.
And check out the P3 Builder newsletter here.
Have a comment about this topic, or want to suggest topics for future blogs? Click here.
Sunstone Investment Group, headquartered in Southern California, is the holding company for the Sunstone family of entities, including: Sunstone Investment Management Services, responsible for administrative services; Sunstone Advisors, an SEC-registered investment adviser, which oversees Sunstone Venture Partners LLC, a private capital fund manager; Sunstone Cities, a government economic development consulting firm; and Sunstone Community Fund, a charitable organization that supports entrepreneurship. Sunstone is dedicated to enriching lives through investment, entrepreneurship, and community. Email us at contact@sunstoneinvestment.com.
©Sunstone, 2026
Note: The company profiles are for informational purposes only and its contents should not be construed as a recommendation. The information on this social media site alone cannot, and should not be used in making investment decisions. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses associated with any investment.