TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Grocery delivery startup Good Eggs is announcing that it has raised $100 million in new funding, and that it’s planning to launch in Southern California in either the summer or fall of this year. Parts of this story might sound familiar to readers familiar with Good Eggs — when the startup raised its most recent, $50 million funding round in 2018, CEO Bentley Hall also mentioned plans for geographic expansion.

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Southern California Orange County San Diego Commerce 318

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Ladera Heights-based defense contractor LinQuest Corp. received a five-year contract from U.S. Space Force worth $500 million.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Redlands-based GIS software giant Esri said on Wednesday that it has released a new tool, ArcGIS Velocity, which is aimed at ingesting and analyzing real-time data from the Internet-of-Things. The company said the tool--previously known as ArcGIS Analytics for IoT--is meant to capture information from sensors, moving objects, or anything that changes over time, and then automatically flag patterns, trends, and anomalies.

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Tool Pricing Software Company 196

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

When meeting with investors or even your board, during the period devoted to feedback after your presentation, you will hear comments and recommendations that don’t resonate with you. Some will be from a misunderstanding of your explanation. Some listeners will challenge your assumptions. Some will seem to ask just plain show-off questions, in which the questioner wants you and others in the room to know that s/he knows more than you do.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Resource Email Organization 156

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

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Techstars Los Angeles , the local Los Angeles-focused branch of the global accelerator network, has named Matt Kozlov as its new managing director. Kozlov, a longtime Techstars network fixture, has previously served as the head of the organization’s healthcare accelerator through a partnership with Cedars-Sinai and as the head of the Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator, which was focused on space and aerospace startups.

Los Angeles 191

Los Angeles Angel Southern California Social Media 191

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Filip Diarra, co-founder of social media startup Surprize Inc. (doing business as NewNew), says that when he met company co-founder Courtne Smith, it was “business love at first sight.

Social Media 147

Social Media Media Startup Company 147

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

San Diego-based Launch Factory a new "venture studio" which is looking to recruit entrepeneurs to help it launch vetted business concepts, recently raised $2.5M in funding, according to the group. The funding came from a number of angels, including Broadway Angels, San Diego Venture Partners, and TI Platform Management. According to the startup studio it plans to use the funding to launch four new startups in San Diego, investing $300K in seed capital in each of those companies.

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San Diego Incubator Funding Platform 145

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

The Los Angeles-based commerce and content platform StackCommerce has been acquired by the Integrated Media Company, a holding company set up by the massive private equity fund, TPG, to acquire new media businesses. StackCommerce’s affiliate buying platform has distributed more than $175 million on its platform by going directly to merchants. Through its platform publishers can make between 15% to 20% of gross compared with 5% on an affiliate marketing site.

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Media Commerce Company Companies 134

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

Ladera Heights-based defense contractor LinQuest Corp. received a five-year contract from U.S. Space Force worth $500 million.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Professional investors and advisors, on the other hand, usually refuse to sign these agreements today due to the risk of litigation and administrative workload, and will walk away. How can you make this a win-win opportunity?

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Ideas Tips Technical Review Patents 159

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

Los Angeles-based nstartup HealthTensor, which is developing artificial intelligence (AI) software aimed at helping to augment medical decision making, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $5M in a seed funding round. The funding was led by Calibrate Ventures, TenOneTen Ventures, and Susa Ventures, along with angels. HealthTEnsor said it will use the funding to scale its software engineering and implementation team.

Artificial Inteligence 133

Artificial Inteligence Seed Funding Software Engineering Los Angeles 133

SoCal Tech Calendar

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 --.

IP 100

IP Guide Entrepreneur 100

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

In 2017, backed by early investors including Capital One Ventures and Mark Cuban, Dave Inc. launched a mobile app to help users manage expenses and avoid overdraft fees.

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Mobile Capital Help 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2021

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing. Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different.

Product 159

Product Technical Review Pricing Software Review 159

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Universal Music Group has pulled all of the music from its catalog from Los Angeles-based social app developer Triller, claiming that Triller has withheld payments owed to the label's artists, and refuses to negotiate a license with the company. Universal Music Group represents a large number of artists, including such artists as Eminem, Drake, and others.

Los Angeles 113

Los Angeles Platform Report Angel 113

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

El Segundo-based health insurance startup Sidecar Health Inc. announced Jan. 26 that it had raised $125 million in a Series C funding round that valued the company at $1 billion.

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El Segundo Startup Funding Company 130

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Honey Science, which was founded in 2012 to help customers find online shopping deals, made a huge leap from startup to established player in November 2019 when it was acquired for $4 billion in cash from PayPal.

Company 130

Company Companies Customer Custom 130

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Video games surged in popularity last year, and Activision Blizzard reaped the benefits with revenue for the first three quarters of 2020 up 26% over the same period in 2019.

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Activision 130

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Snap Inc. announced strong fourth-quarter results, but said that it expected disappointing revenue numbers in the first quarter of 2021.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Santa Monica-based video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. collected more than $2.4 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter.

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Activision Santa Monica 147

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

SpaceX is planning a new mission with a crew entirely made up of civilians later this year.

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SpaceX 190

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

SpaceX lost another prototype of its Starship rocket when a test flight of the enormous spacecraft ended in a crash landing.

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SpaceX 147

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan.

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Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

The tech sector in Los Angeles has grown tremendously over the past decade. These companies reflect where L.A.'s tech scene is headed.

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Los Angeles Angel Company Companies 130

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2021

If you sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably already know how to build a business, and even conservative investors won’t worry about the quality of your next business plan. But, for the rest of us, don’t believe the Silicon Valley myth that all you have to do is sketch your million-dollar idea on the back of a napkin, and investors will line up to give you money.

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Sample Writing Mentor Content 137

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, which provides employee development tools and online learning management, says it has integrated with Microsoft's new Viva software. Viva, Microsoft's new "employee experience" software, is aimed at connecting remote workforces with communications, learning, knowledge sharing, and other features. According to Cornerstone OnDemand, both Cornerstone Learning and Saba Cloud will be integrated in the new Microsoft Viva Learning app.

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Cornerstone OnDemand Software Santa Monica Course 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Los Angeles-based car sharing marketplace HyreCar, which provides access to cars for drivers int he ridesharing, food, and package delivery services business, says it expects to raise $25.85M in a public offering of the company's stock, which priced on Wednesday evening. The publicly traded company, which trades as HYRE on the NASDAQ, said it was offering up 2,200,000 shares of its company at $11.75 per share.

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Los Angeles Pricing Sales Capital 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

San Diego-based Decipher Biosciences, a precision oncology company developing treatments for urologic cancers, has been acquired by South San Francisco-based Veracyte. Veracyte said it will pay $600M in total consideration to Decipher's shareholders, split between $250M in cash and $350M in stock. As part of the acquisition, Decipher Biosciences' president and CEO has left Veracyte's board of directors, and becomes GM, urologic cancers at Veracyte.

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San Diego Acquisition Capital Marketing 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Pasadena-based Green Dot Corporation, the operator of prepaid Mastercard, online and mobile banking, and other related businesses, has named Gyorgy Tomso as the company's Chief Technology Officer. Tomso was most recently Chief Operations Officer for fintech payments technology provider PayU. Prior to that, he served at Sia Central Europe. He also served at Euronet Worldwide, where he was for 14 years, serving as Chief Information Officer.

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Chief Technology Officer Pasadena Mobile Technology 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Startup accelerator network operator Techstars has named Matt Kozlov as Managing Director of Techstars LA, the company's Los Angeles startup accelerator program, the accelerator said on Wednesday. Kozlov previously was Managing Director of the Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator, in addition to serving as Director of the Techstars Healthcare Accelerator in partnership with Cedars-Sinai, two of Techstars' other programs which have been run in the Los Angeles area.

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Los Angeles Angel Venture Capital Networking 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Los Angeles-based Halogen Ventures, the venture capital firm led by Jesse Draper, has raised $21M in its second fund, the firm said on Wednesday. According to Halogen Ventures, the fund will continue to invest in women and diversity. Halogen Ventures was founded in 2015, and so far has invested in over 60 female founded companies, and says it now has ten exits out of its portfolio.

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Draper Funding Venture Capital Invest 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

In one of those strange moments to come out of the high tech world still in a pandemic, Santa Barbara-based Invoca--with its workers all temporarily working from home like the rest of the world apparently was taken over by 20,000 bees while people were away, according to the company. Invoca--which sent its workers home in March to due to the COVID-19 pandemic--apparently discovered in January that bees had taken up residence in its offices, resulting in a major bee removal operation which netted

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Santa Barbara Technical Review Software Review High Tech 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Los Angeles-based Crush Capital, a startup founded by Darren Marble and Todd Goldberg, said on Wednesday that it has raised $3.25M in a seed funding round, which will go towards its own, online streaming series called "Going Public". The company said the seed funding round came from over 30 investors, including Arlan Hamilton, managing partner of diversity-focused VC fund Backstage Capital, Chris Burch, co-founder of iconic fashion brand Tory Burch, and Walter Cruttenden, the co-founder and chai

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Capital Seed Funding Venture Capital Los Angeles 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Los Angeles-based Newegg said on Wednesday that it has opened up a brand new, 275,000 square foot third party logistics (3PL) location, in Eastvale, California. The company said that the addition of new warehousing and distribution facilities will help it to serve its existing 3PL clients more effectively. Newegg offers up third party logistics services--including storage, fulfillment, and transporation of products--through its Newegg Logistics business unit.

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NewEgg Commerce Los Angeles Services 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

La Jolla-based CLICS, a startup developing an Internet connected device for hair salons for dispensing hair coloring, has raised $1M via a crowdfunding effort, the company announced this week. The company said that the fundraising came via crowdfunding website Wefunder, including funding from Brian Claypool, a civil rights trial attorney. CLICS says it has developed a product it calls the "Digital Hair Color Studio", which is a mobile app-controlled Internet connected (IoT) hair color dispenser

Design 113

Design Mobile Funding Startup 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Amazon said it has started testing electric delivery vans from Rivian on Wednesday morning, using the all electric vehicle in multiple locations in Los Angeles. According to Amazon, it hopes to have its custom electric delivery vehicles in up to 15 additional cities in 2021. Amazon did not say how many of Rivian's delivery vans will be deployed in the Los Angeles test.

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Commerce Los Angeles Startup Customer 113