Both Sides of the Table
OCTOBER 26, 2020
Today we’re announcing that my partner Kara Nortman is becoming Co-Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to welcome her to her new role. As with all promotions, the reality is that Kara was already acting as a senior leader at our firm and also in the industry at large. She had all of the skills and traits we sought?
TechCrunch LA
OCTOBER 28, 2020
MarketerHire , a Los Angeles-based startup backed by a slew of executives from some of the city’s hottest startups, launched its new service matching freelance marketing experts with open jobs listed on its platform. . “Today’s startup economy depends on the expertise of industry specialists as much or more than full-time generalists,” said Nick Green, co-founder and CEO Thrive Market, MarketerHire customer and investor, in a statement.
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L.A. Business Journal
OCTOBER 26, 2020
Rocket builder Relativity Space Inc., a Long Beach-based startup, signed a contract to build a 3D-printed rocket for aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. as part of an upcoming experimental NASA mission.
Berkonomics
OCTOBER 29, 2020
Some businesses are built around a single idea. . And sometimes that idea is just too small a slice of the big picture to be interesting to investors. There was a recent investor event where I was keynote speaker, on stage only after several panels of experts had wowed the audience with their predictions and observations. One of the panelists made a point that resonated with me.
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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.
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 28, 2020
In my years of advising business leaders, from entrepreneurs to enterprise executives, I often hear a passion for strategic change planning, but seldom see the same commitment to strategic execution. I fully understand that real change is hard, but I’m convinced that more focus on the execution is required to overcome the current 70 percent failure rate for strategic transformations.
TechCrunch LA
OCTOBER 27, 2020
“We’re building a decentralized ghost kitchen,” is a sentence that could launch a thousand investor calls, and Alex Canter, the chief executive officer behind Ordermark , knows it. The 29 year-old CEO has, indeed, built a decentralized ghost kitchen — and managed to convince Softbank’s latest Vision Fund to invest in a $120 million round for that the company announced today. “We have uncovered an opportunity to help drive more orders into restaurants through t
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Tech.Co
OCTOBER 28, 2020
A just-announced partnership between the social giant TikTok and the ecommerce giant Shopify could mint a brand-new class of TikTok-friendly ecommerce stores. The two platforms are both huge in their respective markets: By connecting TikTok's audience with small businesses online everywhere, this team-up could offer a lifeline to business owners amid a rocky economy.
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 30, 2020
Every aspiring entrepreneur I know is talking about the fact that there are over 2,000 billionaires in the world today, and how their innovative idea could make them one of the next ones. Most of you prefer to ignore the feedback from analysts that your chances of creating the next unicorn startup may be as low as one in five million. The big question is how you can beat these odds.
TechCrunch LA
OCTOBER 27, 2020
Postmates is now rolling out what could be the biggest update to the company’s service in a long time — adding a retail option for users to shop local stores and for local merchants to set up a virtual on-demand storefront in the app. Starting in Los Angeles — and building on yesterday’s test run pop-up shop with the Los Angeles Rams — Postmates users will be able to shop local merchants listed in the company’s new retail tab in the Postmates app called, appro
L.A. Business Journal
OCTOBER 26, 2020
Hawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp. sent 60 more Starlink satellites into orbit using the company’s Falcon 9 rocket during an Oct. 18 launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 29, 2020
El Segundo, California- and Austin, Texas-based Slingshot Aerospace , a developer of situational awareness technology that brings together imagery and data from satellites, drones, airplanes, and other sensors, has raised $8M in its Series A funding, the company said this morning. Slingshot Aerospace said the funding was led by ATX Venture Partners, and also included Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Techstars Ventures, and Okapi Venture Capital, along with angel investors Keith Masback (
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 24, 2020
As the business economy is expected to rebound from the pandemic, many entrepreneurs are thinking that life will soon get easier, and their opportunity can only grow. In reality, the business world gets tougher every day, with new entrants, new technology, and competitors more easily entering the fray from around the globe. Way back in 1979, Michael E.
TechCrunch LA
OCTOBER 28, 2020
In a move to shore up institutional support in what’s likely to be it’s last fundraising as a private company, the Los Angeles-based mobile gaming behemoth Scopely has raised $340 million in its latest eye-popping round of funding. Acting as if there’s not still a global pandemic raging throughout the world, some of the largest institutional financing firms like Wellington Management, TSG Consumer Partners, CPP Investments, and funds managed by BlackRock poured more money into
L.A. Business Journal
OCTOBER 26, 2020
Snap Inc. revenue soared 52% in the third quarter, blowing through Wall Street estimates and continuing the company’s comeback from a rocky 2017 start as a publicly traded company.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 26, 2020
Santa Monica-based fitness and nutrition content provider Beachbody announced it has launched a new, running program for its customers, with the goal of getting its customers to be able to complete a 5K on day 30. The new program, "30 Day Breakaway" is being made available through Beachbody's "On Demand" platform. Pricing ont he new program was not announced.
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 26, 2020
The name “investment bank” somehow always sounded like a place where I could deposit my investments, and maybe even earn a little interest. Then I learned that these banks really negotiate investments and collect fees on the transactions, sort of like commercial banks do with loans to businesses. None normally work for or provide funds for early-stage startups.
TechCrunch LA
OCTOBER 27, 2020
The Los Angeles-based operations and security management software service, Replicated has raised $25 million to ramp up its staffing and scale its sales and marketing efforts. The funding, which was led by Two Sigma Ventures and included existing investors like Plexo Capital, Amplify, and BoldStart values the company at over $100 million. Replicated began as a developer of software security and management services for Docker containerized development tools, but as the market shifted to Kubernete
L.A. Business Journal
OCTOBER 27, 2020
Replicated, a Culver City-based company that provides security and operations services to software vendors, closed a $25 million Series B funding round.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 26, 2020
Newport Beach-based OnSite Waste Technologies has raised $3.5M in a Series A funding round, according to the company. The funding round was led by Mark IV Capital, which also is based in Newport Beach. The startup says it is developing technology for immediate sterilization of medical waste. The firm reported the funding was oversubscribed. Onsite Waste Technologies is led by CEO Brad Barnes; the company is aiming its onsite sterilization technology at long-term care facilities, family practices
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 25, 2020
People tell me there may be over 8,000 dating sites with scientific matchmaking algorithms worldwide, but I couldn’t find one that focused on scientifically matching companies and people for business-to-business (B2B) relationships. Yet, every business expert tells me that finding good business partners is just as tricky as a good marriage, minus the sex.
TechCrunch LA
OCTOBER 28, 2020
There’s a new company that’s sitting on top of some of the fastest growing consumer-facing businesses in the world — liquor and marijuana delivery — and its name is Pacific Consolidated Holdings Group. The investment firms and executive teams behind the Los Angeles-based delivery liquor delivery company, Saucey , along with Inception Companies, the backer of marijuana distribution company, Emjay , have formed Pacific Consolidated to merge their two companies and build wha
L.A. Business Journal
OCTOBER 28, 2020
Newly formed holding company Pacific Consolidated Holdings announced the merger of alcohol retailer Saucey and cannabis vendor Emjay.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 30, 2020
Los Angeles-based Famous Birthdays , which operates a network of sites which provide information about celebrities, social media stars, TV shows, movies, and more, has expanded its service to serve Portuguese speaking countries. According to the company on Friday, its new site is at Famous Birthdays Portugus. The company now offers up English, Spanish, and Portuguese websites.
TechCrunch LA
OCTOBER 29, 2020
Celebrity investors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebel Wilson, Ruby Rose, Darren Criss, Baron Davis, Tove Lo, and Casey Neistat have come together to back the Los Angeles-based thc-infused drink company, Cann , the company said. It’s the latest in a string of deals that show the strength of the market for alternative intoxicants — at least in California.
L.A. Business Journal
OCTOBER 30, 2020
Activision Blizzard Inc. outperformed earnings projections in the third quarter, reporting $1.95 billion in net revenue.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 30, 2020
Glendale-based LegalZoom announced this week that it has appointed Noel Watson as the company's new Chief Financial Officer. Watson was previously CFO of TrueCar, where the firm said he led financial operations including financial planning & analysis (FP&A), accounting, and investor relations. He also served at Chief Accounting Offier at TripAdvisor, in addition to serving at such companies as ArrAy Inc, Way Systems, and Arthur Andersen LLP.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 30, 2020
Los Angeles-based daily fantasy sports gaming site Monkey Knife Fight and the NFL Players Association said late Thursday that the NFL Players Association has taken an ownership stake in the gaming site. Financial details of the deal were not announced. According to the two, the NFLPA will become a strategic owner in Monkey Knife Fight, in a deal that involves OneTeam Partners.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 30, 2020
Los Angeles-based electric vehicle developer Fisker Inc. announced Thursday afternoon that it has completed the business combination deal it had with Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp. (SPAQ), a special purpose acquisition company formed by Apollo Global Management, nad will start trading this mroning on the New York Stock Exchange. Fisker says it will commence trading this morning under the ticker symbols FSR, with its warrants trading as FSR WS.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 30, 2020
Los Angeles-based SUMA Wealth , a startup which operates an online platform designed to help U.S.-born, Millennial Latinos with financial literacy, has raised a round of funding, the company announced this week. According to the company, it received a pre-seed funding round from a number of female investors. The round was led by Samara Hernndez, Founding Partner at Chingona Ventures, and also included participation from Anna Barber and Raina Kumra at The Fund, Carmen Palafox at 2045 Ventures, G
socalTECH
OCTOBER 29, 2020
Semiconductor maker Inphi , which develops high speed interconnect semiconductors--and which was started in Westlake Village, where it continues to have major operations--is being acquired by fellow semiconductor company Marvell. Marvell said it would pay $66 in cash and 2.323 shares of stock of the combined company for each Inphi share. Inphi has been a public company since 2010, trading as IPHI on the NYSE.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 29, 2020
Los Angeles-based MarketerHire , a startup developing a talent marketplace and hiring platform aimed at providing remote, marketing talent to companies, has raised $3M in a funding round, the company said this morning. According to the company, the funding came from founders and senior executives at several leading digital brands, including Zillow, Thrive Market, FabFitFun, Seamless, Notion and others.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 29, 2020
Los Angeles-based LiveXLive Media , which operates a livestreaming and on-demand audio, video, and podcasting service, says it has signed an agreement to acquire Custom Personalization Solutions, LLC , in a deal worth up to $6M. According to LiveXLive, it signed a binding Letter of Intent to acquire CPS in an all stock deal, which is expected to close by December 31st, 2020.
socalTECH
OCTOBER 28, 2020
Los Angeles-based Fair , which provides a way for consumers to access a pre-owned car using very flexible, month-to-month and other leases, has inked a deal with Honda. According to Fair, it is in a pilot program that allows customers to select Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Honda vehicles from participating dealers for a lease through Fair. Fair said the six-month pilot program is the first time Fair is making CPO vehicles available to customers, including the ability to access Fair-eligible vehicle
socalTECH
OCTOBER 28, 2020
A new, Los Angeles-based operating and holding company, Pacific Consolidated Holdings Group Inc. (PCH) announced on Wednesday that it has acquired both alcohol delivery and logistics platform Saucey , as well as cannabis delivery and retail software developer Emjay. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Pacific Consolidated Holdings said it is focused on "cannabis and analogous vice industries".
socalTECH
OCTOBER 28, 2020
San Monica-based Happy Returns , which operates services to help online, e-commerce retailers handle and accept returns, and retail and e-commerce returns processing company Inmar Intelligence said this morning that the two have entered into an agreement where Inmar Intelligence will be a reseller of Happy Returns' Returns Bar and Online Returns Exchange Services (ORES).
socalTECH
OCTOBER 28, 2020
Two, Los Angeles-area venture capital investment funds have gotten backing from PayPal , as part of a new effort by PayPal to support Black and Latinx-led venture capital funds. According to PayPal Holdings, it invested a total of $50M in eight, early-stage, Black and Latinx-led venture capital funds yesterday, including two, Los Angeles area funds-- Slauson & Co. , led by Austin Clements and Ajay Relan; and VamosVentures , led by Marcos C.
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