TechCrunch LA

JULY 24, 2019

Cann , a Los Angeles-based purveyor of CBD and THC-infused intoxicants, is rolling out its first major distribution through the venture-backed delivery service Eaze as it begins to hit the streets in California. The company founded by two former Bain consultants is the latest to take on the growing market for non-alcoholic intoxicants that use a combination of chemicals traditionally found in the marijuana plant to make their drinks.

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Company Companies Los Angeles Startup 241

socalTECH

JULY 25, 2019

Los Angeles-based web application security software developer Signal Sciences says that it is seeing strong revenue growth, as it grows its headcount by nearly 100 employees just in the past year. According to the startup, led by Andrew Peterson, the company has doubled its employee headcount annually since its inception, and has added another 10,000 square feet to its office space, as it continues its efforts at market expansion.

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Report Web Software Development Los Angeles 150

Xconomy

JULY 22, 2019

Acadia Pharmaceuticals’ treatment for Parkinson’s disease-related psychosis failed a Phase 3 trial that was studying use of the drug for schizophrenia patients who haven’t fully responded to existing therapies. The company announced the trial failure Monday after market close. Acadia (NASDAQ: ACAD ) shares dropped about 4 percent on the news in after-hours trading, falling from just shy of $26 each to about $22 apiece.

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Study News Marketing San Diego 80

L.A. Business Journal

JULY 22, 2019

Downtown-based digital car-sharing marketplace HyreCar Inc. announced July 19 it will sell an additional 3.5 million shares to raise capital to expand its staff and technology offerings.

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Pricing Capital Technology 193

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.

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TechCrunch LA

JULY 26, 2019

Marcus Hutchins, the malware researcher who became known as an “accidental hero” for stopping the WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017, has been sentenced to supervised release for one year on charges of making and selling the Kronos banking malware. Presiding Judge J. P. Stadtmueller described Hutchins, 25, as a “talented” but “youthful offender” in remarks in federal court in Milwaukee Friday.

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Research Los Angeles Conference Angel 277

socalTECH

JULY 26, 2019

Ventura-based Nexa3D , which develops 3D printers, says it is expanding its North American channel, with a new partnership with Dynamism. Dynamism is a provider of additive manufacturing solutions and services. According to Nexa3D, the addition of Dynamism will enable it to more rapidly expand its North American footprint. Nexa3D is a developer of industrial, 3D printing systems, which it says dramatically reduce 3D printing cycles of precision functional parts from hours to minutes.

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L.A. Business Journal

JULY 22, 2019

Web security firm Signal Sciences Corp. celebrates its fifth anniversary this year, and the startup has quickly grown from a six-person operation in a Venice apartment to a 150-strong workforce rapidly outgrowing office space.

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Culver City Venice Web Startup 127

TechCrunch LA

JULY 24, 2019

Postmates’ cooler-inspired autonomous delivery robot, which will roll out commercially in Los Angeles later this year, will rely on lidar sensors from Ouster, a burgeoning two-year-old startup that recently raised $60 million in equity and debt funding. Postmates unveiled the first generation of its self-described “autonomous rover” — known as Serve — late last year.

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socalTECH

JULY 26, 2019

Torrance-based BQE Software , a developer of accounting and project management software, says it has added a new module for managing human resources. According to BQE, it has launched Core HR, a new module of its BQE Core software that provides benefit tracking, salary history tracking, employee's journal and incident tracking, certification, awards, paid-time off and employee reviews.

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Software Review Software Torrance Journal 127

Xconomy

JULY 26, 2019

From the moment Talia Frenkel resolved to found a company after a kitchen-table talk with her parents, the odds were against her. There were a host of reasons—she wasn’t a software engineer, she had no product development experience, and she wanted to launch a consumer item that was already sold widely by established enterprises. Yet Frenkel, a participant in the summer 2015 class at Y Combinator , an influential Silicon Valley accelerator program, raised $120,000 from investors by August

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Software Engineering Class Startup Software 110

L.A. Business Journal

JULY 23, 2019

Chatbot developer Convrg is merging with Haptik, a New York-based artificial intelligence company.

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Artificial Inteligence Startup Develop Development 165

TechCrunch LA

JULY 23, 2019

Mumbai-based Haptik, which operates a conversational AI platform , has already won several high profile clients in India. Now the five-year-old firm, with newly found significant capital in the bank , is attempting to replicate its success in international markets. On Tuesday, Haptik announced it has acqui-hired Convrg, a Los Angeles-based startup that develops chatbots, to serve customers in North America.

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Los Angeles Angel Startup Google 209

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2019

Hawthorne-based SpaceX is planning to launch another resupply rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) today--its eighteenth--in a launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, later this evening. According to SpaceX, its eighteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-18) is targeted for launch at 6:24 p.m. EDT, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40).

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Xconomy

JULY 24, 2019

The first business accelerator program in southeast San Diego is accepting applications for its second cohort of entrepreneurs, who would start the program in fall. The six-month program, called Connect All @ the Jacobs Center, is run by Connect, a longstanding local organization that for years has supported startups through its flagship tech and life sciences accelerator, Springboard; the city of San Diego; and the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, a nonprofit organization.

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San Diego Startup Organization Entrepreneur 99

L.A. Business Journal

JULY 23, 2019

Snap Inc. posted second quarter earnings today, continuing its trend of beating analyst expectations for revenue and trimming losses.

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TechCrunch LA

JULY 25, 2019

Spin, the electric scooter company acquired by a Ford subsidiary for around $100 million , is launching a new electric scooter with a sturdier frame, improved braking system, bigger tires and longer-range battery. In short, this third-generation product is built to handle the kind of abuse that a shared dockless scooter is subjected to on a daily basis.

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Los Angeles Design Customer Custom 202

socalTECH

JULY 25, 2019

The Trade Desk , the programmatic advertising platform developer led by technology veteran Jeff Green--and which got its start at the Ventura Venture Technology Center, the incubator behind Ventura's city hall--is planning a major expansion in Ventura , according to the company. The company--which had a successful IPO in 2016--is planning to move back to 505 Poli Street, for a combined 20,376 square feet in the same office building where it got its start.

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Ventura Incubator Advertising Platform 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2019

The good news is that the latest Kauffman Early-Stage Entrepreneurship (KESE) Index shows the highest level of new business activity recorded in the last two decades, and the cost of entry at an all-time low. The bad news is that it’s still a jungle fight for survival for entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics, with over 80 percent not having access to bank loans or venture capital.

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Startup News Framework Outsource 94

L.A. Business Journal

JULY 23, 2019

Software developer Tapcart Inc., based in Santa Monica, announced it completed a $4 million seed round led by venture firm Greycroft.

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Santa Monica Software Development Software Develop 100

Xconomy

JULY 26, 2019

Three years ago, the FDA made one of the most polarizing decisions in its history. It approved a drug for the rare genetic disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy on the slimmest of evidence, a watershed moment that caused a highly publicized rift within the agency. In the midst of it all were parents who pushed hard and advocated like never before, even making public presentations to the FDA, under the agency’s new willingness to hear public and patient input.

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San Diego Blogging Marketing Startup 95

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2019

Bryant Stibel , the Los Angeles area venture capital investment firm of Kobe Bryant and Jeff Stibel, has backed item tracking startup Tile in a new, $45M funding round. The growth equity funding was led by Francisco Partners, and also included GGV Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, plus new investors Bryan Stibel and SVB Financial Group. Tile is best known for its wireless-enabled tags which allow users to track all kinds of items, from their keys, wallet, luggage, and anything else.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2019

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. They know leadership is all about managing their own complicated, illogical, and fallible human foibles, as well as the people they depend on. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep.

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Startup Case Study Competition Entrepreneur 93

L.A. Business Journal

JULY 22, 2019

Hulu CFO leaves for Amazon; Frank Pearce retires from Blizzard; SpaceX picks hyperloop competition winner

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Hulu SpaceX Company Companies 113

Xconomy

JULY 24, 2019

Freenome , one of the rivals racing to detect the earliest signs of cancer through blood tests, announced Wednesday it has raised $160 million in a Series B funding round. The money boosts Freenome’s fundraising total to $238 million. It’s a boon for the South San Francisco startup founded in 2014, but not an unusual haul for competitors in the same field, where the tantalizing promise of a simple test to find cancer sooner, when it is much easier to treat, has emerged from advances in DNA seque

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Funding Startup Artificial Inteligence Venture Capital 90

socalTECH

JULY 22, 2019

A German team has won the fourth annual SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition on Sunday, taking its pod up to 288 mph (463 km/h), as SpaceX continues to push development of technology for the high tech, futuristic transportation technology cooked up by Elon Musk. The German team, from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), was also a previous winner in the Hyperloop Pod Competition, and came close to that record speed last year.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2019

Every entrepreneur and business person I know wishes he had more time for coaching all the members of his team. I often hear the excuse that coaching takes more time than simply diving in and doing the job for the other person, but is that really true? In fact, studies have shown that the long-term value of coaching has a return of at least 2x to more than 100x times the cost.

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Coach Course Mentor Examples 91

L.A. Business Journal

JULY 23, 2019

SpaceX resupplies International Space Station; WeRecover uses apps to treat addiction; Snap beats expectations in Q2

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Xconomy

JULY 24, 2019

Recreational marijuana is now legal here in Massachusetts and it seems that everywhere you look, people are excited to create business ventures around it. But, like any other business endeavor, research, planning, and discipline are essential – maybe even more so given the legal and regulatory issues involved with cannabis. As of now, marijuana is fully legal in 10 US states plus Washington, DC, and 33 states have a legal medical cannabis program ( this map shows marijuana legality by state).

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Research Venture Capital San Diego Invest 88

socalTECH

JULY 22, 2019

Aliso Viejo-based Corent Technology , which develops cloud migration technology, is expanding its efforts in Europe, saying this morning that it has partnered with UniSystems , a provider of services in the European market. Financial details of the cooperation agreement were not announced. According to the two companies, the two are working together on cloud migration to Microsoft Azure.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 21, 2019

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. Then they are surprised to see productivity and creativity take a big dip. What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business.

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Training Sales Entrepreneur Technical Review 88

L.A. Business Journal

JULY 24, 2019

Snap stock on the upswing; Tile gains $45 million; FanDragon raises seed round

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Report 100

Xconomy

JULY 24, 2019

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY ) this afternoon revealed yet another setback for its cancer immunotherapy nivolumab (Opdivo) in lung cancer, boosting the outlook for rival Merck. The New York pharma giant said that a regimen of nivolumab (Opdivo) and chemotherapy failed to extend the lives of non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer patients compared to chemo alone in a Phase 3 study.

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Study San Diego Blogging 79

socalTECH

JULY 22, 2019

Los Angeles-based Fifth Wall Ventures , an investor in real estate-related technology, says it has raised $503M for its second fund, Fifth Wall Ventures II. The fund--which has been raising the fund since June of 2018--makes invests in companies related to real estate, and its LPs include a large number of real estate owners, operators, and developers.

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Funding Technology Los Angeles Invest 124

SoCal Tech Calendar

JULY 21, 2019

Saturday, July 27, 2019 --.

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Los Angeles Angel Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2019

More and more customers these days are doing their own marketing research, scanning internet reviews and feedback from friends, rather than trusting messages that you push out through advertising. This is called inbound marketing, where customers are pulled to you, rather than feeling accosted at every turn by your brand messages via email, newspapers and television.

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Xconomy

JULY 25, 2019

Castle Biosciences is joining the public markets through a $64 million IPO that will support cancer tests that help doctors make treatment decisions. On Wednesday evening, Castle priced its offering of 4 million shares at $16 apiece, which was the high end of its targeted price range. The Friendswood, TX, company had previously planned to sell approximately 3.4 million shares in the range of $14 to $16 each.

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