Happy 90th Birthday to Vice Admiral Walter Davis
This month, the EvoNexus community came together to celebrate the 90th birthday of Vice Admiral Walter Davis, co-founder of EvoNexus. Vice
Admiral Davis helped build EvoNexus into what it is today: California’s leading nonprofit technology startup incubator. In the years since, he has mentored founders, opened doors across the defense and technology worlds, championed STEM education, and strengthened San Diego’s innovation economy in ways that are easy to see and hard to overstate. To everyone who has come through our doors, Vice Admiral Davis sets the standard for how to lead, how to give back, and how to keep showing up. On behalf of our team, our portfolio companies, and our partners: Thank You.
At the celebration, longtime friend and mentee Mark Bowles, Founder of EcoATM (an EvoNexus portfolio company), offered remarks spoken better than any of us could. We’re sharing them here in full.
“I’m honored to say a few words about my friend and mentor, Vice Admiral Walt Davis, on his 90th birthday. Walt has spent a lifetime showing us what real leadership looks like.
In 1959—four years before I was even born—he was already a Navy officer and pilot. He flew combat missions in Vietnam and the Middle East, logged over 3,500 flight hours and more than 800 carrier landings in the F-4 Phantom and F-14 Tomcat, commanded fighter squadron VF-114, and later captained warships including the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. He led thousands of sailors through dangerous skies and across the world’s oceans, rising all the way to Vice Admiral and Director of Space, Information Warfare, Command and Control for the entire Navy.
Most people would have called that a career well-served and headed for the golf course. Not Walt. After retiring from the Navy, he simply pulled on his boots again—this time in defense technology, information technology, STEM education, and, most importantly for me, as co-founder of EvoNexus. That’s where I first met him. While I was busy “retiring” at age 50 after seven venture-backed startups, Walt was just getting started in the tech world in his late 60s. He has never stopped giving back—mentoring entrepreneurs, strengthening San Diego’s innovation economy, and still showing up every day with the same energy and purpose.
There’s a quote by John Quincy Adams that perfectly describes Walt’s life: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” Walt, you have done exactly that—for sailors under your command, for the startups at EvoNexus, for the young people you encourage into STEM, and for friends like me. At 90, you are still leading by example, still making the world better, and still proving that true leadership never retires. Happy birthday, Admiral. Thank you for everything.”
About EvoNexus
EvoNexus is California’s leading nonprofit technology startup incubator, with locations in San Diego and Irvine. Since its formation in 2010, EvoNexus has successfully built 289 companies with an exceptional survival rate of over 85%, with portfolio companies securing over $2.4B in cumulative venture funding — backed by a network of more than 400 venture capital and independent investors — and achieving 63 acquisitions alongside 1 successful IPO, with additional public market exits on the horizon and over $6 billion in pre-exit valuations. Backed by an elite network of global corporate partners — including Qualcomm, AMD, BAE Systems, Viasat, ResMed, LG, Murata, and EMD Electronics — EvoNexus continues to drive massive economic impact across Southern California’s innovation economy, culminating in a record-breaking year with $619M raised in 2025 alone.