Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 1, 2020
In the past two weeks we have entered perhaps to most surreal experience in any of our lives. I think intuitively many of us believe it may be a more lasting impact than just “60 days at home,” which is why we almost have a nervous laughter when we call (Zoom!) somebody we haven’t spoken to since before the crisis and acknowledge how bizarre we all feel right now.
L.A. Business Journal
MARCH 30, 2020
Michael Burke, who had been expected to step down as chief executive at Century City-based engineering company AECOM at the end of March, will remain at the helm of the company for the foreseeable future.
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Berkonomics
APRIL 2, 2020
Surely, you’ve heard the buggy whip analogy. A business making those necessary items ignored the signs of progress and found itself without a market. Perhaps that happened to sword smiths upon the invention of the rifle, and certainly to the makers of cassette tapes upon the dawn of the CD. And CD’s with the advent of streaming. My stories of unexpected change.
socalTECH
MARCH 31, 2020
Long Beach-based space launch company Virgin Orbit has temporarily shifted its attention from developing rockets and its satellite launch systems, and applied its engineering skills to developing a new ventilator, designed to help in the battle against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. According to Virgin Orbit, it has developed a new, new mass-producible bridge ventilator, working with the Bridge Ventilator Consortium (BVC), led by the University of California Irvine (UCI) and the University o
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TechCrunch LA
APRIL 1, 2020
The Los Angeles-based venture capital studio focused on blockchain and fintech startups which longtime venture investor Tim Draper now calls home has added a new venture partner to its team. Draper Goren Holm , the firm Draper manages alongside co-founders Alon Goren and Josef Holm said Rodney Sampson has joined the crew as a venture partner. Sampson previously founded Multicast Media Technologies, which was acquired for $24 million back in 2010 and was a partner at TechSquare Labs, which has a
L.A. Business Journal
APRIL 2, 2020
Virgin Orbit will start making a "bridge ventilator" for partially recovered Covid-19 patients at its Long Beach manufacturing facility.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
socalTECH
MARCH 31, 2020
San Diego-based AristaMD , a developer of telehealth software, which allows primary care providers to conduct and document electronic medical consultations, has raised $18M in a Series B funding round. The funding was led by Cigna Ventures and MemorialCare Innovation Fund (MCIF), and also included Avalon Ventures, CU Healthcare Innovation Fund and Stanford Health Care.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 30, 2020
Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs seem to prefer to fail their way to the top, rather than do some research and learn from the successes and mistakes of others. It seems to be part of the “fail fast, fail often” mantra often heard in Silicon Valley. As an advisor to many startups, I’m convinced it’s an expensive and painful approach, but I do see it used all too often.
L.A. Business Journal
MARCH 30, 2020
Ring is one of the most recognized brands and most widely used technologies in a smart-home market that’s expected to total $101.1 billion in 2020.
Xconomy
MARCH 31, 2020
Cameron Hewitt’s family celebrates the anniversary of her life not once, but twice yearly: Besides her September birthday, they commemorate a day in March—the anniversary of two-year-old Cameron receiving the gene therapy that gave her a new shot at life. Cameron was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic disorder that leads to the progressive loss of muscle function.
socalTECH
MARCH 31, 2020
Irvine-based HireRight , which provides employment background checks, drug testing, education verification, and other services, says it has added new social media screening, via a partnership with Fama Technologies. Financial details of the deal were not announced. HireRight said the partnership will help companies analyze a andidate or current employee's digital footprint through their publicly available online data, with the goal of identifying any potential risks posed to the organization, wh
Startup Professionals Musings
APRIL 3, 2020
According to Gallup surveys , job satisfaction for employees is at an all-time low. Only 13 percent of workers are fully engaged in their job. The sad part is that is seems to be getting worse, rather than better. One obvious alternative is to become an entrepreneur. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle.
L.A. Business Journal
MARCH 30, 2020
For Saucey Inc. Chief Executive Chris Vaughn, the signs pointing to a spike in demand for the company's alcohol delivery app came well ahead of the stay-at-home order.
Xconomy
APRIL 1, 2020
Parkinson’s disease patients experience progressive breakdown of their neurons, cells essential to movement and mental function. Aspen Neuroscience, a biotech working to develop a therapy that would reprogram those patients’ own living cells in ways that would allow the cells to reconstruct their damaged neural networks, has raised $70 million in a Series A financing round.
socalTECH
APRIL 2, 2020
Employees at six, Amazon Fulfillment Centers across Southern California have now tested positive for COVID-19, with centers in San Bernardino, Rialto, Hawthorne, and Glassell Park, including four all tested in the last 24 hours. According to a number of reports , the four latest cases were at Amazon's ONT2 fulfillment center in San Bernardino; LGB8 in Rialto; DLA8 in Hawthorne, and also an Amazon Prime warehouse in Glassell Park.
Startup Professionals Musings
APRIL 1, 2020
Attracting the right customers is the key to success in business, whether you have a new startup or a mature enterprise. In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often see struggling businesses trying to be too many things for too many people, resulting in customer confusion, initiatives executed poorly, and high costs, few customers, and slow growth all around.
L.A. Business Journal
MARCH 30, 2020
RCT Studio, a Burbank-based developer of interactive games, announced it has raised $10 million in Series A funding.
Xconomy
APRIL 3, 2020
Fate Therapeutics has signed an agreement with Janssen Biotech to develop new cancer cell therapies that are derived from stem cells and landed $100 million up front as part of the global collaboration deal. The San Diego-based biotech has built a pipeline of experimental cell therapies that use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to create chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell and CAR natural killer (NK) cell treatments.
socalTECH
APRIL 2, 2020
Foothill Ranch, California-based Fujitsu Frontech North America , which is a subsidiary of Fujitsu which provides technology and IT solutions, said it has acquired Texas-based Fulcrum Biometrics , a developer of biometric hardware, software, and solutions. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Fujitsu Frontech said the move will help it boost its biometric authentication and access management solutions business.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 28, 2020
As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to set the culture you need for a thriving business, as well as thriving employees, customers, partners, and vendors. In fact, in my experience, cultures are very hard to change, so if you don’t get it right the first time, the road ahead will forever be difficult. “The Art of War” culture as an analogy for business doesn’t always work anymore.
L.A. Business Journal
MARCH 30, 2020
Digital media company Ranker Inc. has rolled out a new app to help consumers search for and discover shows across a range of streaming platforms.
Xconomy
MARCH 30, 2020
The local biotech ecosystem is growing up thanks to its innovative science and collaborative ecosystem, advantages that put it nearly on par with the nation’s top life science regions, according to industry veterans. San Diego has long been considered a second-tier primary biopharma hub in terms of number of companies and venture capital raised, falling behind the twin behemoths of Boston-Cambridge and the San Francisco Bay Area on those and other metrics.
socalTECH
APRIL 2, 2020
Los Angeles- and St. Louis, Missouri-based SteadyMD , a developer of an online telehealth service which matches up people with their own, personal doctors they can access via video, text, and phone, has raised $6M in a Series A funding round, the company said this morning. According to the company, the funding was led by Pelion Venture Partners, and also included Next Ventures, First Trust Capital Partners, The Daube Family office, Crosscut Ventures, M25 Group, Wild Ventures, and Hyde Park Ventu
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 29, 2020
In today’s fast moving world of business startups, learning trumps knowing every time. What established businesses know through experience keeps them from looking for the new and innovative ways to do what they do better, cheaper, and faster. I’m convinced that’s why most mature companies are slowing down or buying their innovation through acquisition, rather than building it.
L.A. Business Journal
MARCH 30, 2020
Mobile-game developer Robin Games Inc., which was founded by former Jam City Inc. executive Jill Wilson, has raised $7 million in a seed round.
Xconomy
APRIL 3, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has shaken the global economy, but three life sciences venture capital firms this week announced new funds totaling nearly $3 billion. ARCH Venture Partners led the pack, adding two funds totaling $1.46 billion to its war chest. Flagship Pioneering bagged $1.1 billion , and venBio Partners reeled in $394 million. Flagship CEO Noubar Afeyan told Xconomy that the pandemic unexpectedly highlights the need for investment in one of its new thematic areas of interest: “
socalTECH
APRIL 1, 2020
Los Angeles-based artificial intelligence software developer Omnidya announced this morning that it has named Akshay "Ed" Vachhani as its Chief Technology Officer. Vachhani previously had served as Executive Director of Data and Analytics at Morgan Stanley. Vachhani also previously served at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. Omnidya says it is using artificial intelligence to develop an IoT product used for home and auto insurance.
socalTECH
APRIL 3, 2020
A number of Los Angeles area startups--including GOAT , Scopely , Honey , Factual , TotSquad , and others--has launched a new effort to buy N-95 protective masks for local Los Angeles area hospitals. The effort, being led by Jiake Lu, has a goal of raising $160,000, and so far has raised over $68,000 in donations from the local community. The group says it is looking to buy 30,000 face masks which it has already ordered from a supplier in China.
socalTECH
APRIL 3, 2020
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the biotechnology community group which had planned its big, annual convention for June 8th through 11th in San Diego, has shifted its convention to a digital-only conference, saying that it made the decision based on the impact of COVID-19, the safety of the attendees and global health recommendations regarding large, in-person gatherings.
socalTECH
APRIL 3, 2020
Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand , which develops online employee training and development tools, says it is offering up its exertise to help K-12 teachers with their shift to online learning. According to Cornerstone OnDemand, the expertly created training content, created in partnership with its nonprofit arm, the Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation, includes "bite-size" informative videos and downloadable guides, and was created by a former teacher and Head of Cornerstone Studios, Summer S
socalTECH
APRIL 2, 2020
An Amazon Fulfillment Center employee in Los Angeles, in Glassell Park has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report on Thursday. The employee reportedly is in self quarantine at home. The report is the first in the Southern California area, but is not for Amazon, which has had a number of employees tested positive for the virus across its warehouses nationwide.
socalTECH
APRIL 2, 2020
Santa Monica-based fintech startup Quid says it is offering up a way for users of pre-IPO companies who are in need of cash, or who have just been laid off, allowing them to access as much as 30% of the cash value of their private shares. According to the company, it charges 7 percent fix interest plus other fees to those employees for a cash advance.
socalTECH
APRIL 2, 2020
San Diego-based Inseego , the provider of 5G and IoT products, said this week that it is seeing "unprecedented" demand for its hotspots, as a result of the wholesale move to employees, students, and others connecting from home. The company--which just a few years ago was trying to sell off its hotspot business--said it is ramping up production of its 4G and 5G MiFi mobile hotspots and other wireless connectivity devices.
socalTECH
APRIL 1, 2020
Los Angeles-based TotSquad , which operates a marketplace that connects new parents with various services, has sold its baby gear cleaning services to San Francisco-based BabyQuip. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. According to TotSquad founder Jennifer, it will now shift its focus to offering virtual services, including doula coaching, lactation support, sleep consultation and moreespecially helpful for new parents who are confined at home in the midst of shelter-in-place
socalTECH
APRIL 1, 2020
Costa Mesa-based Strategic Wireless Infrastructure Funds Management said Tuesday that it has acquired a cell phone tower in La Grande, Oregon. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. The companys said it acquired the Snake River Tower, which was constructed in 2012. The company said the tower is strategically located close to the center of town and in close proximity to Eastern Oregon University, and that it currently has a "top-tier wireless carrier" as a tenant on the site, wi
socalTECH
APRIL 1, 2020
Los Angeles-based online advertising exchange Rubicon Project nd New York-baesd Telaria said this morning that the two companies have completed their previously announced merger. The two said the merged company is now the world's largest independent sell-side advertising platform. The new company will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange as RUBI; the combined company said it will be launching with a new name in the coming months.
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