L.A. Business Journal

JANUARY 18, 2021

With the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden days away, local companies are preparing for an array of proposed policy changes.

Companies 264

Companies Company 264

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Too many founders have learned that passion and free beta products do not imply a sustainable business.

Sales 165

Sales Custom Customer Social Media 165

Berkonomics

JANUARY 21, 2021

Ask the important question first. When making a presentation to a new audience, the smart thing to do, if there is an opportunity, is to ask your audience by show of hands, if they have some knowledge of your industry or space. And if you are making a one-to-one presentation, don’t start without a conversation about the other person’s knowledge of your space.

Slides 156

Slides Startup Venture Capital Email 156

socalTECH

JANUARY 19, 2021

Los Angeles-based GOAT, best known for its online marketplace for sneakers, but which now also has expanded into apparel and accessories, has received a strategic investment from Groupe Artemis. Groupe Artemis is owner of the Kering luxury fashion brand. Size of the investment was not announced. GOAT said the strategic investment follows its Series E funding announcned in September of 2020, which was worth $100M, valuing GOAT at $1.75 billion.

Invest 140

Invest Los Angeles Funding Angel 140

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

L.A. Business Journal

JANUARY 21, 2021

Culver City-based company OpenDrives Inc. has raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by IAG Capital Partners.

Culver City 246

Culver City Capital Funding Company 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. If you need funding for these early stage activities, I have some suggestions on better strategies to follow.

Help 165

Help Research Startup Funding 165

L.A. Business Journal

JANUARY 20, 2021

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. deployed another 60 satellites into space on Jan. 20 in support of the company’s ambitious Starlink global broadband project.

SpaceX 245

SpaceX Technology 245

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2021

Based on my experience as a business advisor, I’m convinced that most startup investors invest in the entrepreneur, as much as a solution or product. In that context, I’ve long realized that some players seem to command real attention, even if their proposal sounds far-fetched or very risky. The attribute most often mentioned in this regard is supreme self-confidence or chutzpah.

Startup 162

Startup Entrepreneur IBM IBM 162

L.A. Business Journal

JANUARY 21, 2021

Culver City-based company Open Drives Inc. has raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by IAG Capital Partners.

Culver City 147

Culver City Capital Funding Company 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2021

Being an entrepreneur seems to be one of the most popular lifestyle aspirations these days. According to most definitions, anyone who starts a business is an entrepreneur , but most people don’t realize there are many startup types out there, and picking the wrong one can be just as disastrous as being stuck in a cubicle at work, or doing things with no interest and no skills.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur High Tech Startup Services 131

L.A. Business Journal

JANUARY 18, 2021

Brace Software Inc., the Santa Monica-based developer of a digital mortgage servicing platform, announced Jan. 12 that it had raised $15.7 million in a Series B funding round.

Platform 130

Platform Santa Monica Software Funding 130

L.A. Business Journal

JANUARY 18, 2021

With the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden days away, local companies are preparing for an array of proposed policy changes.

Companies 130

Companies Company 130

L.A. Business Journal

JANUARY 18, 2021

Santa Monica-based startup Nacelle Inc. has raised in $18 million in Series A funding led by Inovia Capital.

Santa Monica 130

Santa Monica Startup Capital Funding 130

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2021

A common challenge faced by every entrepreneur is that they don’t have the bandwidth, interest or skills to do everything that is required to build their startup. Of course, they can outsource part of the work or hire employees, but that approach means more time and money to manage the work, which they don’t have. The right answer is to find a co-founder with complementary skills.

Startup 126

Startup High Tech Entrepreneur Writing 126

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2021

La Jolla-based Avidity Biosciences, a biopharmaceuticals company which is developing oligonucleotide-based therapies, said this week that it as named W. Michael Flanagan, Ph.D., as its Chief Technical Officer. Dr. Flanagan was most recently Senior Director and Project Team Leader, Oncology and Immunology for Genentech, and also previously served at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences, and Merck & Co.

Chief Technology Officer 113

Chief Technology Officer Product Develop Development 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2021

Irvine-based smart television maker VIZIO is launching a set of free sports programming on its devices, saying this week that it has added NFL Channel, Pac-12 Insider, and beIN SPORTS XTRA, as well as the CBS Sports App to its VIZIO apps and free channels. The company said all of the three channels and the app are free to its SmartCast viewers. Terms of the content deal were not announced.

Content 113

Content Help Companies Company 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2021

Elon Musk, the CEO and founder of Hawthorne, California-based companies SpaceX and The Boring Company said on Thursday that he is donating $100M to a new prize for the best carbon capture technology. Musk said more details would be announced next week. Musk has spoken in the past about the existential threat posed by climate change, and also runs Tesla--which makes electric cars, solar panels, and battery energy storage systems.

SpaceX 113

SpaceX Hawthorne Technology Companies 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2021

Los Angeles-based electric vehicle charging network operator EVgo said early on Friday morning that it will be going public, via an acquisition by a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). According to EVgo, it has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition Corporation, with the combined entity expected to trade under the new ticker symbol EVGO.

.Net 113

.Net Acquisition Los Angeles Networking 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 21, 2021

Los Angeles-based OpenDrives, a developer of network attached storage (NAS) products for the enterprise, said on Thursday that it has raised $20M in a Series B funding round. The funding was led by IAG Capital Partners. According to the company, the new funding will go to grow the company and accelerate product development. The company has now raised $30M in total.

Networking 113

Networking Entertainment Los Angeles Invest 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 21, 2021

Camarillo-based semiconductor developer Semtech announced another win for its LoRaWAN low power networking technology, this time in Australia, saying that Meshed Pty Ltd (Meshed IoT Integrators), an Australian provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for smart cities, environment, water, energy, agriculture, and asset management, has adopted its technology for monitoring city public health.

Activity 113

Activity Networking Technology Product 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 21, 2021

San Diego- and New Jersey-based OncoSec Medical, a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on treatment of cancer, said today that it is raising $42.0M in a public offering of its common stock. The company said it is offering of 7,711,284 shares of its common stock at a price of $5.45, with an expected close on January 25th. The company said the new funds will go towards clinical, regulatory, manufacturing and, if and when approved, potential commercial activities of its product candidates

San Diego 113

San Diego Activity Research Pricing 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 21, 2021

Los Angeles-based Cloudbreak Health, a provider of telehealth and video remote interpretation for the healthcare market, said Wednesday that it has partnered with Extended Care LLC, a healthcare technology software provider. According to the two companies, they will integrate Martti, Cloudbreak's video remote interpretation (VRI) service, and the ExtendedCare Telehealth virtual care platform.

Los Angeles 113

Los Angeles Platform Services Software 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 21, 2021

San Diego-based Plexium, a biotech startup focused on discovering and developing protein degrading therapeutics directed towards historically challenging drug targets, announced this morning that it has raised $35M in a financing round. The funding is an extension of the company's October 2019 Series A round. The funding was led by Lux Capital and Pivotal BioVentures, and also The Column Group, DCVC Bio and other curren tinvestors.

San Diego 113

San Diego Capital Funding Startup 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 21, 2021

San Diego-based Decipher Biosciences, a provider of genomic testing for urological cancer, has filed for an IPO, saying it is looking to raise up to $100M in an offering on the Nasdaq Global Market. The IPO is being underwritten by Evercore ISI, Wells Fargo Securities, Canaccord Genuity, and BTIG. The company has received funing from Yonghua International, CRG Partners, Tekla Capital, and UnitedHealth Group.

San Diego 113

San Diego Marketing Capital Companies 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 20, 2021

Culver City-based PacketFabric, a network connectivity provider backed by NantWorks and Digital Alpha Advisors, said it has launched a new product called Cloud router. The company said its new product is aimed at enterprises and small businesses, and provides connectivity to multiple cloud providers. The company says its product can be used for data transfer, disaster recovery, distributed cloud applications and managed Layer 3 connectivity.

Culver City 113

Culver City Product Networking Companies 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 20, 2021

San Diego-based EDF Renewables North America has completed two solar projects, according to the company. According to EDF Renewables, it has completed the Maverick 1 (173.4 MWdc) and Maverick 4 (135.9 MWdc) Solar Project, both part of the Panel Solar project in Riverside County. The company said Maverick 1 is providing electricity to Southern California Edison on a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and Maverick 4 is providing energy to Shell Energy North America (US), L.P.

Riverside 113

Riverside Southern California San Diego Companies 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 20, 2021

Lake Forest-based Higher Ground Education, which operates a network of Montessori schools in the US and China, says it has acquired software developer Altitude Learning LMS. According to Higher Ground, it has acquired the Altitude Learning LMS technology, along with Altitude's product and engineering teams. Financial terms of the buy were not announced.

Education 113

Education Equity Software Development Acquisition 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 20, 2021

Santa Monica-based Happy Returns, a startup which helps e-commerce companies manage their returns process, has partnered with omnichannel logistics services company Port Logistics Group, the two announced this morning. The two said that Happy Returns has become part of Port Logistics Group's Whiplash partner integration network. Whiplash Merchandising, owned by PLG, is an ecommerce technology company providing integration, order management system (OMS) and warehouse management system (WMS) capab

Santa Monica 113

Santa Monica Commerce Networking Help 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 19, 2021

San Diego-based Mosaic, a fintech startup developing software to help CFOs make financial decisions, said last week that it has raised $18.5M in its Series A funding. The funding was led by General Catalyst, and also included Felicis Ventures, Village Global and XYZ Ventures. The startup said the new funding brings its total raised to $21M. The company said it will use the funding to accelerate product development and for growing its team.

San Diego 113

San Diego Funding Software Startup 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 19, 2021

Los Angeles-based electric vehicle developer Canoo says it has named a new VP of Investor Relations. The company--which recently went public via a reverse merger--said it has named former Cars.com Director of Investor Relations, Kamal Hamid, to the post. Hamid has previously also served at Solera Holdings, in addition to experience in the sell-side equity research and corporate finance areas.

Equity 113

Equity Research Los Angeles Angel 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 19, 2021

Mojave-based Virgin Orbit, which is developing space launch technology which uses a modified 747 to launch rocket payloads into space, successfully launched its first rocket into space from the Southern California coast on Sunday. The company's LauncherDemo2 mission--which took off from Mojave, before launching a rocket off the coast of Santa Cruz Island--carried 9 CubeSat satellites into Low Earth Orbit.

Southern California 113

Southern California SpaceX Technology Develop 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 19, 2021

Aliso Viejo-based utility-scale energy storage project developer esVolta has received an investment from Macquarie's Green Investment Group (GIG), Macquarie announced this morning. Size of the investment was not announced. According to Macquarie, the investment will support the continued North American expansion of esVolta and finance its portfolio of over 600 MWh of contracted energy storage projects, plus an additional pipeline of more than 2 GWh of projects.

Invest 113

Invest Outsource Development Help Develop 113