Berkonomics
JANUARY 26, 2017
I admit that my dad taught me this when I was just a fifteen–year old kid starting a business and negotiating with suppliers for the first time. But I learned it again and again in my various business lives. The most striking example was the one hundred–million–dollar purchase of one of my companies by a New York private equity investor using only five million of its cash.
socalTECH
JANUARY 26, 2017
Los Angeles-based fintech investor Core Innovation Capital announced this morning that it has closed its second fund, which is at $100M so far. As part of the funding, the company said it has just made an investment in Fundera, a New York company which provides a service to help small business owners shop and compare personalized credit recommendations.
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TechCrunch LA
JANUARY 13, 2017
2016 was a good year to be a tech startup in LA, and, with the $25 billion planned public offering for the city’s startup darling, Snap Inc., coming up, the future’s so bright entrepreneurs might want to wear… Spectacles. Last year saw the city reap windfall exits from the acquisition of companies like Dollar Shave Club, and has a number of promising e-commerce companies… Read More.
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 3, 2017
Electric bus manufacturer Proterra of Burlingame announced on Tuesday that it has raised $140 million from investors, which will be partly used to start manufacturing and hiring at its City of Industry plant.
Advertiser: Aggregage
Office leases are one of companies’ largest expenses, and if your whole team is working from home with no clear end in sight, you may be wondering what to do about your lease.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 27, 2017
Customer service has traditionally been a support function to respond to customer initiated requests, meaning someone waits for the phone to ring or for a website support request form. Today’s customers definition of service is the sum total of their “experience,” covering all aspects of their relationship, including the shopping and buying process, as well as ongoing assistance.
Xconomy
JANUARY 30, 2017
When I last spoke to Sophie Vandebroek in December, it was for a kind of exit interview as she prepared to leave her longtime job as Xerox’s CTO and head of its worldwide research organization. We went over highlights of her Xerox tenure, her outlook on key technology trends for 2017 and beyond—the Internet of Everything, cognitive computing, healthcare IT, and cybersecurity chief among them—and her own plans for the future.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
socalTECH
JANUARY 10, 2017
Los Angeles-based nonprofit fundraising and crowdfunding software platform developer MobileCause has raised $15M in a Series B funding, according to the company. The funding came from growth equity firm Level Equity. As part of the funding, Levil Equity's Sarah Sommer has joined the company's board. MobileCause said the new funding will go towards "aggressive" product innovation and expansion in the US and internationally.
Both Sides of the Table
JANUARY 29, 2017
Trump. In a week there is enough evidence to know that he truly is the narcissistic child and xenophobic race-baiter we saw during the election and that wasn’t just reality TV to get him elected. Here is a quote you should regret believing “ The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.” You should all take him literally.
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 27, 2017
Snap could be courting more lawsuits as the tech giant moves forward on going public.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 8, 2017
Starting and building a company is all about leadership – formulating an idea, building a unique plan based on vision and experience, and forging a path over and through all obstacles. Yet the image of leadership in business is at an all-time low, according to national leadership experts, considering the political debacles, record business bankruptcies, and executive fraud cases.
Xconomy
JANUARY 9, 2017
Millions of consumers who used to type their search questions on a laptop or the tiny keys of a smartphone are now simply telling a tabletop device what they want. Signs are that the Amazon Echo and Google Home—both equipped with smart voice assistants—will turn out to be blockbuster sellers of the holiday gift season of 2016. I think that’s a big deal.
Berkonomics
JANUARY 12, 2017
I recently experienced an amazing effort of outreach by a vice president of a large national customer asking for a meeting with the product development team of a critical supplier, one of “my” companies. The goal, the VP stated, was to “see if these guys are battle hardened veterans that have dealt with the real-world product and delivery problems” of a nationally important customer.
socalTECH
JANUARY 20, 2017
Larry Gilbert , the founder of the technology transfer program at Caltech , passed away in November in Florida, Caltech said this week, with a tribute to Gilbert's efforts at the school. Gilbert was the "founding father of technology transfer" at Caltech, according to the school, forming the Office of Technology Transfer in 1995. The office helps license technology and patents from the school to startups and other companies, as well as helps take ideas created by professors and researchers to ma
Berkonomics
JANUARY 5, 2017
In the non–profit world, the term, “time, talent and treasure” has been used so often it is almost at the edge of being trite. It’s used in that arena to describe a volunteer’s sacrifice in support of the non–profit enterprise. I have been surprised to discover that it seems undiscovered in the business world. So, let’s bend the meaning to help us focus on resources while preserving those words.
socalTECH
JANUARY 4, 2017
Redlands-based GIS and mapping software developer Esri is dipping its toes into the connected car market, saying that it is showing off use in the connected car market at CES. Esri said on Tuesday that its mapping and spatial anlytics technology will be shown off at an automated driving demonstration in conjunction with Microsoft, NXP Semiconductors, IAV, Cubic Telecom, and Swiss Re.
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 25, 2017
Ring raises $109 million and eyes initial public offering, Elon Musk endorses former ExxonMobil Chief Tillerson for Sec. of State, and 3-D car part printer Divergent raises $23 million.
socalTECH
JANUARY 18, 2017
Los Angeles-based Famous Birthdays , which operates an online service which lets you look up the birthdays of famous people, says it has now passed 13 million unique visitors, based on numbers from December. The company also says it now has a staff of 20 full-time staffers working out of its Santa Monica office. The startup, which recently relaunched its website to add video on its many profiles, is led by Evan Britton.
socalTECH
JANUARY 30, 2017
Calabasas-based network testing software and hardware developer Ixia has been acquired by Keysight Technologies , in a deal worth $1.6 billion in cash, the two announced this morning. Keysight and Ixia said that Keysight will pay $19.65 per share in cash for Ixia, a premium of approximately 45 percent to Ixia's stock price on December 1st, when Ixia said it was considering "strategic alternatives".
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 5, 2017
Imax Corp. will open a virtual reality arcade at the Grove shopping center at the end of this week. The facility is the first of six planned virtual reality arcades worldwide, including spaces in Great Britain, Japan, and China.
socalTECH
JANUARY 27, 2017
Pasadena-based Virtualitics , a new startup which provides data visualization in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) environments, and says it uses machine learning and artificial intelligence, has raised $3M in a seed funding round. The funding came from un-named angel investors. Virtualics said its software is used to provide insights into "big and complex" data.
socalTECH
JANUARY 11, 2017
In the startup world, one of the most difficult journeys to market is by companies who are taking basic scientific advances and technologies originally developed at universities, and taking them all the way to use in the commercial world. One of the companies on that journey is Los Angeles-based Carbonics (www.carbonics.com), which is taking technology developed in the labs of USC and UCLA, and bringing it to use in the wireless semiconductor market.
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 13, 2017
Another big L.A. player is diving into the digital world of e-sports, hoping to grab a piece of a market that is expected to grow to $1 billion as early as next year.
socalTECH
JANUARY 17, 2017
Redlands-based GIS software developer Esri says it has tied with another software developer, GISinc, in a move to provide indoor mapping of customers for retailers. According to Esri, the partnership with GISinc will help retailers increase sales by analyzing customer behavior, using data collected by GISinc's indoor mapping capabilities using sensor-enabled overhead smart lighting and opt-in mobile data from customer phones.
socalTECH
JANUARY 12, 2017
San Diego-based driver safety systems developer Lytx said this morning that natural and organic food distributor KeHe Distributors has been using its DriveCam video safety service. According to Lytx, KeHe is using its DriveCam video safety system to help its drivers stay engaged on driving, and has been since 2013, to cover its nearly 595 drivers and 489 vehicle fleet.
socalTECH
JANUARY 10, 2017
Los Angeles-based venture investment firm Moonshots Capital , which is led by Kelly Perdew, has seen a big exit via the acquisition of San Diego's Harvest.ai by Amazon Web Services. The deal, which has not yet been formally announced, was reportedly worth around $20M. Moonshots and fellow investors, including Trinity Ventures, had invested only $2.3M in Harvest.ai, which develops cybersecurity software aimed at data loss prevention.
socalTECH
JANUARY 9, 2017
San Diego-based MatriSys Bioscience , which is developing treatments for treating skin and dermatologic conditions, says it has raised $1.5M in a funding round from the Tech Coast Angels. The lead investor in the investment was Jeff Friedman, MD, Ph.D., who is head of the TCA's Life Sciences Committee. The company's technology is based on skin microbiome research developed at the University of San Diego, in the labs of Professor Richard Gallo.
socalTECH
JANUARY 9, 2017
Thousand Oaks-based Amgen announced this morning that it has made a $30M investment in a German company developing cancer immunotherapy, Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH. According to Amgen, the deal could potentially be worth over $1 billion in milestone payments plus royalties. Immatics Biotechnologies is developing cancer immunotherapies focused around target discovery and T-cell receptors, which the two said they are combining with Amgen's bispecific antibody platform, in order to create novel
socalTECH
JANUARY 5, 2017
Irvine-based medical device manufacturer Axonic Modulation Technologies announced this morning that it has received marketing approval in Canada, from Health Canada. The company's medical devices are used to treat overactive bladder and incontinence issues. The company said the marketing approval means its products meets all of the Canadian Medical Devices Regulations, Section 36, allowing it to market its systems throughout the country.
socalTECH
JANUARY 5, 2017
Wingsland Technology , a Chinese manufactuer of drones for the consumer market, announced on Wednesday that it has opened up its first international office, in Los Angeles. According to the company, the new office will help it service the growing U.S. market. Wingsland said it has opened up an office in the City of Industry, which will include a warehouse, local inventory, and a product, customer service team, and dedicated marketing and sales team.
socalTECH
JANUARY 4, 2017
Pasadena-based Vertical Management Systems , a developer of financial technology and software for managing fiduciary risk, fee transparency, and revenue reconciliation, has been acquired by NewSpring Holdings. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Vertical Management Systems (VMS) provides its software to large financial institutions.
socalTECH
JANUARY 30, 2017
Santa Monica-based Comparably , the startup which lets employees and employers track compensation trends, find careers, compare companies, and more, led by serial entrepreneur Jason Nazar, has raised $7M in a funding round, the company announced this morning. The funding came from Greycroft Partners, Comcast Ventures, as well as Crosslink Capital, Upfront Ventures, Cornerstone OnDemand, Nate Redmond, Lowercase Capital, Accelerator Ventures, and Jim Andelman.
socalTECH
JANUARY 3, 2017
Electric bus maker Proterra announced this morning that it has raised $140M in an equity funding round, a chunk of which will go towards ramping up initial production in the City of Industry, and hiring "key personnel" in Los Angeles and elsewhere for its electric bus manufacturing. According to Proterra, which is based in the Bay Area, the Series 5 round of funding was led by a $40 million investment from an undisclosed investor, an additional $60 million from several new investors, and also in
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 19, 2017
Fred Walti, the founding chief executive of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, is stepping down after six years at the helm, Los Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Thursday.
socalTECH
JANUARY 23, 2017
A new analysis of the IPOs from the last ten years, from Geckoboard, says that--if successful--the IPO of Venice, California-based Snap, Inc. will be the fourth largest IPO in the last 10 years, behind Alibaba, Facebook, and JD.com, and ahead of Twitter, VMware, and Renren. Geckoboard said it compared the 100 highest-valued tech companies that went public in the last decade to Snap's rumored IPO valuation.
socalTECH
JANUARY 19, 2017
Los Angeles-based Two Bit Circus , the STEM-focused, entertainment company led by Brent Bushnell, has raised $15M in a Series B funding round, the company said Thursday morning. The funding was led by JAZZ Venture Partners, and also included Foundry Group, Techstars Ventures, and Intel Capital plus new investors Dentsu Ventures, Georgian Pine and others.
socalTECH
JANUARY 18, 2017
Los Angeles-based TeamDom , a new startup started by 19-year old social media star Jake Paul, disclosed today that it has raised $1M in a funding round. The round was led by Danhua Capital, and also included Eward Lando, Gary Vaynerchuk, Abe Burns, and Adam Zeplain. Jake Paul--a Disney star who played Dirk on The Disney Channels "Bizaardvark" -- says he has 15.5 million followers.
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