socalTECH
JULY 18, 2018
Los Angeles-based Brat , which operates a content production studio that creates teen content for the online, streaming market, has raised $30M in funding, the company detailed on Wednesday. The funding came from Anchorage Capital. The company, founded by Rob Fishman and Darren Lachtman, is behind "Chicken Girls: The Movie", which is available on YouTube specifically focused on teenagers.
L.A. Business Journal
JULY 17, 2018
MTech Capital’s new $75M fund for “InsureTech;” smart key maker Openpath raises $20M; Pelican Products has an new consumer marketing team leader
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L.A. Business Journal
JULY 18, 2018
Downtown-based car-sharing platform HyreCar Inc. announced July 17 that it will partner with DriveItAway.com Inc., a used vehicle auction platform based in Cambridge, Mass. The collaboration is designed to allow independent car dealerships in 34 states and Washington, D.C. to list their vehicles on the HyreCar platform.
socalTECH
JULY 18, 2018
Los Angeles-based AdQuick , the outdoor advertising marketplace founded by veterans of Instacart, said this week that it has raised $2.1M more in funding. The new funding came from Initialized Capital. AdQuick, which launched its marketplace for outdoor advertising space, launched its services in 2017. Matt O'Connor is founder and CEO at AdQuick. AdQuick previously raised $1.1M in its seed funding in July of 2017, in a round also led by Initialized Capital, and also included VTF Capital and Hays
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Both Sides of the Table
JULY 17, 2018
One thing that comes with being a venture capitalist is you see hundreds and hundreds of businesses. You get to have interesting conversations with founders and review business plans and then see how these businesses evolve over the years. A firm like ours has almost 100 different investments across all the various partners so we get to see some businesses very intimately.
Berkonomics
JULY 19, 2018
And d oing both well usually wins the day. This is one of those arguable insights, where both sides win. Dell is a great example of emphasis upon fast, creating a customized computer in 48 hours or less, bringing in assemblies and components just-in-time to make the assembly line. However, if Dell quality were poor and returns high, the company surely would not have survived on speed of response alone.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
socalTECH
JULY 18, 2018
How do you apply virtual reality (VR) technology, and turn it from just a nifty technology trick, to something which is truly a lifelike journey you can experience with friends? Santa Monica-based SPACES (www.spaces.com), led by CEO Shiraz Akmal and a team of entertainment veterans from Dreamworks Animation, is hoping to do that with a series of physical attractions, powered by VR technology.
L.A. Business Journal
JULY 16, 2018
Netflix subscribers up, stock prices down; Google gets is cloud online in L.A.
SoCal Tech Calendar
JULY 20, 2018
Thursday, July 26, 2018 -- MasterMinds OC Startup Accelerator Workshop #16. OC ENTREPRENEURS: Join us for another LIVE MasterMinds Workshop. Bring your startup ideas and business questions so our friendly group of local Orange County entrepreneurs and business owners can help you move your business farther, faster. Free tickets available if you have a good startup business question for discussion, or you want to practice your startup pitch!
TechCrunch LA
JULY 16, 2018
Google Cloud’s new region in Los Angeles is now online, the company announced today. This isn’t exactly a surprise, given that Google had previously announced a July launch for the region, but it’s a big step for Google, which now boasts five cloud regions in the United States. It was only three years ago that Google opened its second U.S. region and, while it was slow to expand its physical cloud footprint, the company now features 17 regions around the world.
socalTECH
JULY 16, 2018
Commerce, California-based Joybird , an online retailer and manufacturer of furniture, has been acquired by La-Z-Boy Incorporated , La-Z-Boy said on Monday. Financial terms of the deal were not announced. Joybird (Stitch Industries) was founded in 2014 by Alex Del Toro, Andres Hinostroza, Joshua Stellin and Christopher Stormer, and manufactures mid-century modern upholstered furniture, which it sells online through its own brand.
L.A. Business Journal
JULY 20, 2018
Packaging design software company Esko-Graphics Inc., a subsidiary of the Danaher Corp. has bought Blue Software, an artwork management software firm, from Westwood-based Diversis Capital.
Xconomy
JULY 19, 2018
One in five pairs of shoes sit unworn in the average woman’s closet. So, why not sell these unused, or slightly used, pairs to someone who will wear them? That’s the view of Scott Van Valkenburgh, co-founder of Luxury Shoe Club, a Raleigh, NC-based startup that caters to women who want to buy and sell high-end designer footwear. “This is a way for people who love shoes to trade them,” he says.
socalTECH
JULY 19, 2018
Los Angeles-based j2 Global , which has made an art out of buying small companies and incorporating them into a large portfolio of acquired companies, has acquired two more companies, saying this morning that it completed two more acquisitions in Q2. j2 Global said it acquired certain assets of Line2, which will join its cloud services arm, and Mosaik Solutions, which will become part of its digital media operations.
L.A. Business Journal
JULY 20, 2018
Wemo links its smart plug with Apple’s Homekit; Esko-Graphics buys Blue Software; Bird accepts low-income riders
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 20, 2018
As a business advisor, I have long been surprised by the large number of industry stalwarts, including Blockbuster, Kodak, and General Motors, that have been dealt major setbacks, or even total failure, by upstart young companies, with a fraction of the resources or industry experience. The stalwarts should be making the big leaps to be competitive, rather than the other way around.
Xconomy
JULY 17, 2018
The enemy of my enemy is my friend—even in the retail and cloud computing businesses. So says retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT ) as it announced this morning a five-year partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) to use machine learning and other technologies, deepening an existing partnership between two of Amazon’s biggest rivals. “Whether it’s combined with our agile cloud platform or leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to work smarter, we believe Microsoft will be a
socalTECH
JULY 19, 2018
Rancho Palos Verdes-based Kumbaya , which is developing a device to bring solar- and battery- powered Internet connectivity and content to third world communities, said today that it has added a United Airlines IT executive to its board. According to Kumbaya, Silvia Prickel has joined its Board of Directors. Prickel is currently Managing Director of Application Development for United Airlines, where Kumbaya said she has spent the past 12-years in the IT department.
L.A. Business Journal
JULY 19, 2018
Hyperloop Transportation wins China contract, StartEngine accepting bitcoin; HyreCar partners with dealerships
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 16, 2018
Starting a new venture and thriving in today’s economy is hard, but the best have figured out that customers and employees need to feel that you have a sense of purpose, to complement the company’s pursuit of profit. A higher purpose motivates people in a way that financial wins alone never will. For a company to thrive, it needs to find and broadcast its purpose in all that it does.
Xconomy
JULY 20, 2018
After nearly two years of all smoke, no fire around President Trump’s promise to curtail drug prices, there’s finally some glimmer of action. Pfizer said last week it would halt its price hikes, and Novartis and Merck took similar actions this week. But we still don’t know the details of the administration’s drug-pricing policy, if there is one beyond the blueprint released in May.
socalTECH
JULY 20, 2018
Sherman Oak-based Payscout , a provider of payment processing services, said on Thursday that it has acquired cloud and mobile software developer Paywire. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Paywire develops software which integrates payment processing with third party systems, web sites, hardware, SAP systems, and processors. payscout is led by CEO and co-founder Cleveeland Brown.
L.A. Business Journal
JULY 18, 2018
AdQuick raises $2.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 18, 2018
I’m sure you know a few people at work who are always “too busy,” but never seem to get much done. For many of these, it’s an excuse to decline new work, impress others, or gain sympathy. For others, it’s a legitimate complaint, indicative of being out of control or not managing their time. If you find yourself in this category, you need to focus on techniques to improve your productivity On software teams, for example, a detailed study published years ago shows differences as great as ten to on
Xconomy
JULY 17, 2018
Selling a new Web-connected thermostat or other wired gizmo to consumers without a plan to deliver the necessary security patches is not only bad business—it’s unethical. So is failing to challenge a law or tech company rule that governs work on technology products, if that rule causes unjustifiable harms to people or the environment. Those are among the new guidelines in an updated Code of Ethics announced today by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a professional organization
socalTECH
JULY 19, 2018
Los Angeles-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has signed a deal to bulid a test track in China, in the province of Guizhou, the company disclosed on Wednesday--the first big deal the company has in China to deploy its technology. The company--one of several in Los Angeles looking to build the Hyperloop high speed transportation tubes first envisioned by Elon Musk-- reportedly will build the test route in the Tongren prefecture, with an initial track length of 10km.
socalTECH
JULY 18, 2018
Los Angeles-based j2 Cloud Services , the cloud services arm of j2 Global , announced this morning that it has named Timothy Smith as its new Senior Vice President and General Manager of its Backup Business Unit. Smith joins j2 Global from Western Digital, where he had been Vice President, PLatforms Business Management. Smith had also served as an executive at EMC Corporation for more than 10 years, and also was an investment banker with Lehman Brothers and the Credit Suisse First Boston Technol
socalTECH
JULY 17, 2018
Irvine-based online car shopping and financing provider AutoGravity announced both a new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer this morning, saying that it has named Alex Mallmann named CEO and Jason Bonifay as CTO. Mallmann also joins AutoGravity's board of directors. Mallman was most recently President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance China, having served at Mercedes-Benz sine 1998.
socalTECH
JULY 16, 2018
Carlsbad-based TC Technology , an IT services provider which develops mobile software for the utility market, has been acquired by SSP Innovation , a provider of IT services and software to the electric, gas, and water utilities, the two said on Friday. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. SSP Innovation is backed by private equity investor Warren Equity.
socalTECH
JULY 16, 2018
San Diego-based Human Longevity , which is developing genomics-powered, health intelligence software, said on Friday that it has named David Karow, M.D., Ph.D., as its Interim CEO. Karow was previously Human Longevity's Chief of Radiogenomics. Karow has previously been a researcher at UC San Diego, UCLA, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The company also said Scott Sorenson will serve as Interim Chief Operations Officer; Sorenson was most recently Chief Technology Officer at the company
socalTECH
JULY 20, 2018
Venice-based, last-mile scooter transportation company Bird has rolled out a brand new program which will offer up discounted rates to low income users, saying it will eliminate its $1 base fee per ride for anyone who qualifies for a state or federal assistance program. Those users will still pay the normal 15 cents per minute rate for using the company's scooters.
socalTECH
JULY 20, 2018
San Diego-based mobility products developer Inseego says it has named Jacques Fradet as its new Senior Vice President of Operations, the company said this week. Fradet previously was at Kyocera Communications, serving as Divisional Vice President of Operations. Fradet had been at Kyocera for 12 years, and prior to that served at such companies as Qualcomm Personal Electronics, Palm Inc., Denso, Hughes and Linkabit.
socalTECH
JULY 20, 2018
Los Angeles-based private equity investor Diversis Capital said this morning that it has sold one of its portfolio companies, BLUE Software , to software company Esko. Financial details of the sale were not announced. BLUE Software is a developer of label and artwork management software, and is based in Chicago. Esko is owned by Danaher, and develops software and hardware for package design.
socalTECH
JULY 20, 2018
Los Angeles-based Wemo , the "smart home" products maker which is part of Belkin, said on Thursday that its popular Wemo Mini Smart Plug product is now compatible with Apple's smart home app. Wemo said that users can upgrade the Wemo Mini Smart Plug to enable Apple HomeKit support, which will enable Apple Home app support, so that Siri can control their devices and what is plugged into them.
socalTECH
JULY 20, 2018
Aliso Viejo-based esVolta , which develops utility-scale energy storage projects, said it has beens elected for a large battery energy storage project in Northern California. According to esVolta, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has selected the company to build an energy storage system in Santa Clara County, California. The 75 MW / 300 MWh lithium-ion battery storage system is called the Hummingbird Energy Storage project, and is aimed to be put into service by December of 2020.
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