TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 17, 2021

A California-based medical startup that provides COVID-19 testing across Los Angeles has pulled down a website it used to allow customers to access their test results after a customer found a vulnerability that allowed access to other people’s personal information. Total Testing Solutions has 10 COVID-19 testing sites across Los Angeles, and processes “thousands” of COVID-19 tests at workplaces, sports venues and schools each week.

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Software Review Los Angeles Customer Custom 205

L.A. Business Journal

AUGUST 19, 2021

Software company Nacelle has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round.

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Software Funding Company Companies 290

Berkonomics

AUGUST 19, 2021

How to get more performance from your directives. Empowering your direct reports with the reasons for your orders gives them incentive to act, motivation to accept authority, and purpose behind action. I try to teach this with the simple phrase that is the headline of this insight. Wouldn’t you want to know “why” if you thought an order illogical? Think of the last time someone above you in your business or personal life gave you an order to do something that seemed either illogical or of low p

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Report Sales Email Examples 156

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2021

Every dedicated business professional I know can’t find enough hours in a day to do their best work, and yet they often find themselves saying yes to new requests from the people around them. In some cases it may be fear of retribution by the boss, but more often they just hate to disappoint others, and end up instead with high stress and low credibility in a crisis to deliver.

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Startup Tool Coach Satisfaction 172

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.

Company

socalTECH

AUGUST 19, 2021

Los Angeles-based mobile automotive repair startup RepairSmith, led by Joel Milne, has raised $42M in a new funding round, the company announced this morning. The Series B funding came from TI Capitl, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche Ventures, and Spring Mountain Capital. According to the company, the funding will go towards rapid expansion of its service. The company offers up mobile automotive repair and maintenance in 650 cities.

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Mobile Funding Los Angeles Capital 124

L.A. Business Journal

AUGUST 16, 2021

Hawthorne-based SpaceX is planning a mission to the International Space Station on Aug. 28.

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SpaceX Hawthorne 227

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2021

The message I hear publicly from most entrepreneurs is that you have to think outside the box and take big risks to ever beat the odds and be among the less than ten percent that experience real success. But privately, as a mentor to many entrepreneurs, I see mindsets and attributes that may be equally critical to success, but are not readily admitted, for fear of being too wacky.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2021

San Diego-based Borrego, a developer of utility-scale, renewable energy projects, reported this week that it has been selected to build three new, utility-scale solar projects in Michigan. According to Borrego, it was selected by AES Corporation to engineer and construct the three power plants in Michigan. Financial impact of the win was not announced.

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L.A. Business Journal

AUGUST 16, 2021

Hawthorne-based SpaceX is planning a mission to the International Space Station on Aug. 28.

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SpaceX Hawthorne 162

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2021

With the advent of the Internet, social media, and instant communication via texting, customer expectations for service, as part of their entire customer experience, have changed. They expect you to be there, to know their history as a customer, and to treat them with priority and respect. They tell their friends and the world everything, and a bad experience can kill your business.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2021

In case you hadn’t noticed, the world of business is becoming more and more a “gig economy.” This simply means that the number of people with a long-term single-employer agreement is going down, and the number of short-term contractors and freelancers is going up. It’s good for professionals, who get more control, and good for companies, who need more flexible staffing.

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Pricing Mentor Entrepreneur News 149

socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2021

San Diego-based electronics accessories maker LifeProof has launched a new line of cases for the Apple Watch, AirPods, and AirPods Pro, which use plastic which has been removed from the ocean. Accrding to the company, its new accessories are made out of anywhere from 85 to 99 percent "ocean plastic yarn", plastic which has been made from recovered plastic in the oceans.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2021

Los Angeles-based fintech startup Camino Financial said this week that it has named a new Chief Risk Officer. The company--backed by such investors as Collaborative Fund, Hunt Holdings, Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund, Impact America Fund, and others--said it has named Praveen Varma to the Chief Risk Officer position. The company said that Varma previously was RO at Versara Lending, and also has served at such companies as Zebus Group, Moody's Investors Services, Alpha Delta Analytics, and AMEX.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2021

Los Angeles-based conversational text messaging software developer Emotive--which is backed by CRV and others--said this week that it has named Matt Cooley as the company's President and COO. The company recently raised $50M in its Series B funding round. Cooley is a seed investor in the company, and previously was President and COO of Skael. He also was Chief Revenue Officer at Quip, which was acquired by Salesforce for $750M in 2016, and also served at New Relic, Citrix Systems, and Mixpanel.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 19, 2021

Symplr, the enterprise healthcare software developer which is owned by Santa Monica-based private equity investor Clearlake Capital Group, has acquired SpinFusion, a developer of healthcare scheduling software. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Symblr develops governance, risk management, and compliance software-as-a-service, used for enterprise healthcare operations.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 19, 2021

San Diego-based MicroConstants, a provider of bioanalytical testing services, said Wednesday that it has signed an agreement to become part of BioAgilytix Labs, a contract research organization (CRO) focused on supporting pharmaceutical and biotech partners with large molecule drug development. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced.

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Outsource Development San Diego Research Acquisition 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 19, 2021

Santa Barbara-based Apeel Sciences, which has developed a plant-based coasting for fresh produce to extend its shelf life, has raised another big $250M funding round, a Series E for the company. The funding was led by Temasek, and also included Mirae Asset Global Investments, GIC, Viking Global Investors, Disruptive Technology Solutions, Andreessen Horowitz, Tenere Capital, Sweetwater Private Equity, Tao Capital Partners, K3 Ventures, David Barber of Almanac Insights, Michael Ovitz (Creative Art

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socalTECH

AUGUST 19, 2021

Los Angeles-based micromobility provider Bird said this morning that it has seen record second quarter and first half fiscal 2021 financial results, with $60.0M in revenues in Q2, which was 36 percent above its expectations. The company said the results are a 477 percent increase from the same period in 2020, when it only had revenues of $10.4M. Bird appears to be benefiting from the surge in the economy as pandemic restrictions have loosened, especially compared to Q2 of 2020, when most of the

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Los Angeles Acquisition Report Marketing 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2021

A new, Los Angeles-based startup, AVENUEAR said this morning that it has launched its digital music efforts, where it will connect independent artists, writers, and producers with industry professionals in the A&R industry. The startup said it was founded by Jay Leopardi, and will help artists, songwriters, and producers who have had difficulty getting to record labels.

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Los Angeles Help Startup Angel 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2021

Los Angeles-based Jambox.io said this morning that it has launched new, online music licensing service, which aims to connect film and video makers with music. The company said it offers up a catalog of songs, soundtracks and special effects for its customers, available both via subscription or through single song licensing.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2021

Los Angeles-based ForeVR Games, a developer of immersive, virtual reality games, said on Tuesday that it has raised $7M in seed funding. The funding came from Bessemer Venture Partners, Galaxy Interactive, plus All Star Capital, Mark Pincus and Emmett Shear. The company said the new funding brings its total raised to $8.5M. The startup, led by CEO Marcus Segal, said it will use the new funding to build social games in VR, building out its team, developing new games, and expanding to additional p

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Seed Funding Los Angeles Funding Platform 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2021

Los Angeles-based PayEngine, a startup developing a white label, payment platform for software-as-a-service companies, has raised $1.6M in a seed funding, the company said this morning. The funding came from Mucker Capital, BAM Ventures, I2BF Global Ventures, HIVE Ventures and other strategic investors, according to the company. Spartak Buniatyan is founder and CEO of PayEngine.

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SaaS Seed Funding Los Angeles Platform 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2021

Glendale-based LegalZoom has partnered with the University of Southern California (USC), to fund a scholarship and a new lab, the company said this week. According to LegalZoom, it has partnered with the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business to amplify the learning opportunities offered through the Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab (BSEL).

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socalTECH

AUGUST 17, 2021

Los Angeles-based HUSSLUP, a startup which is developing a networked marketplace of individuals in the creative industry, has been selected for the Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator.

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Startup Los Angeles Networking Angel 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 17, 2021

Santa Monica-based Aparavi, a developer of unstructured data management software, said this morning that it has named Joe Maionchi as Vice President of Engineering. Maionchi has served at such companies as VERITAS, EMC, and Syncplicity,and is a veteran of the unstructured data management industry, according to the company.

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Santa Monica Software Develop Development 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 17, 2021

El Segundo-based Wpromote is launching a new marketing technology platform, the company said today, which it says will help complement its performance marketing services. The company said its new platform is called Polaris, and includes three apps for data capture and collection, analytics and automation, and apps for predictive modeling. Pricing on the tools were not announced.

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El Segundo Platform Marketing Pricing 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 17, 2021

San Diego-based Qualcomm has rolled out a reference design for a 5G enabled drone, the Flight RB5 5G platform. The new design is based in Qualcomm's ARB5165 processor, plus its Kryo 585 CPU and Adreno 650 GPU. The reference design is designed to help manufacturers developed advanced drone systems that support 5G connectivity, which can enable things like drone swarms and drone-to-drone communications.

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San Diego Design Platform Help 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 17, 2021

Santa Monica-based on-demand scooter and bicycle company Bird has integrated its rentals with Google Maps, the company announced this morning>. According to Bird, anyone using Google Maps will be able to quickly locate nearby Bird scooters and bikes, as well as determine approximate trip duration, estimated price and optimized route. The integration deal is one of several that Google Maps has just inked with on-demand, micro-mobility scooter providers, including one announced yesterday with Spin

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Google Santa Monica Demand Pricing 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 16, 2021

Laguna Beach-based Edgemesh said last week that it has launched a new offering, which helps accelerate the loading speed of e-commerce websites. The company said its new solution, Edgemesh Server, provides seamless web acceleration with zero developer effort. Pricing on the new service was not announced. Edgemesh is led by co-founder and CEO Jacob Loveless.

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Commerce Web Pricing Software 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 16, 2021

Santa Barbara-based Yardi says that its software is being used in an emergency rental relief effort in Erie County, in Pennsylvani. According to Yardi, its software is being used by Erie County Care Management (ECCM) to streamline delivery of emergency rental assistance (ERA) to local tenants and landlords affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial details of the win were not announced.

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Santa Barbara Software 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 16, 2021

Camarillo-based PBS Biotech announced this morning that it has raised $10M in a funding round, which came from BroadOak Capital Partners. The company says it is developing single-use bioreactor systems and also offers up contract process development services. The company says it is enbling scalable manufacturing of stem cells, nd is the first investment in BroadOak's Fund V.

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Outsource Development Funding Invest Capital 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 16, 2021

Santa Barbara-based smart speaker manufacturer Sonos has scored a win in court over Google, over an intellectual property dispute over wireless audio technology. The win came when a U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled that the patents held by Sonos are valid, saying Google violated a part of the Tariff Act.

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Patents Google Santa Barbara Technology 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 16, 2021

San Diego-based sales and marketing software developer Seismic has raised $170M in a Series G funding round, the company said this morning, and is now valued at $3 billion. The Series G round was led by Permira and also included JMI Equity, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Jackson Square Ventures, Ameriprise, and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price, according to the company.

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San Diego Coach Sales Training 113

L.A. Business Journal

AUGUST 19, 2021

Automotive technology company RepairSmith has raised $42 million in Series B funding for its on-site repair platform.

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Platform Sites Funding Technology 130

L.A. Business Journal

AUGUST 16, 2021

Nanotech Energy Inc. has plans for a big expansion.

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L.A. Business Journal

AUGUST 16, 2021

Rocket Lab USA Inc. has a busy docket for the rest of the year.

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