TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Archer Aviation, the electric aircraft startup that recently announced a deal to go public via a merger with a blank-check company, plans to launch a network of its urban air taxis in Los Angeles by 2024. The announcement comes two months after the formation of the Urban Air Mobility Partnership, a one-year initiative between Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and Urban Movement Labs to develop a plan for how to integrate urban aircraft i

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Visual artist Clay Weishaar said he was incredulous when someone from Snap Inc. contacted him in 2018 to let him know one of his lenses was trending.

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Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Focus upon you as marketing genius. Let’s focus not upon the process of marketing and positioning, but on you. How should you become the best marketer you can be, even if you are a first-time entrepreneur or a seasoned CEO? There’s an answer for that. The title of this insight helps us find a formula: LALA. Memorize your use of “LALA”. Listen! . The first rule of marketing and positioning is to listen to the marketplace.

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Marketing Metrics Education Resource 156

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Los Angeles-based Lucid Sight, which developings videogames, said it has acquired the open source, multiplayer game engine Colyseus. According to Lucid Sight, it will be taking over the Colyseus brand, GitHub, and all social and support channels, and Colyseus creator Endel Dreyer will join its team. Lucid Sight said over 3,000 developers are active in the Colyseus community channels.

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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

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

Most startups are happy to find any customer, and will hang on for dear life to every one. Only later do they realize that some of these cost more than they are worth, or lead into commitments they can’t sustain, but no business wants to violate the golden rule that every customer needs to be treated as if they were the only customer. In reality, the real world is full of pragmatics.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Bay Area company Archer Aviation is developing electric aircraft for L.A.'s Urban Air Mobility Partnership.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Simi Valley-based Aerovironment said yesterday that it has completed the $405M acquisition of Arcturus UAV, a designer and manufacturer of high performance, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The deal had originally been announced on January 13th. Arcturus UAV supplies its unmanned vehicles to such customers as the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)--the US Special Forces--including being one of six companies being considered for a big, $975M contract for unmanned aircraft systems

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

As an advisor to many startups today, I still see that most of you entrepreneurs see yourselves as the sole driver of your new solution, and the key driver of your new business. That’s not all bad in the beginning, but as you scale , every business has to build a team to keep up with the wide range of skills needed , fight new competitors, and respond to changes in the marketplace.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

MCH Ventures Inc., doing business as Mahmee, is a family-run business in the business of supporting families.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Bay Area company Archer Aviation is developing electric aircraft for L.A.'s Urban Air Mobility Partnership.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 20, 2021

Silverlake-based Artie, which creates technology that allows for app-free game development, raised a $10 million seed round.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Alex Israel, co-founder and chief executive of Venice-based startup Metropolis Technologies Inc., said it’s time for a shakeup in Los Angeles’ parking industry.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Visual artist Clay Weishaar said he was incredulous when someone from Snap Inc. contacted him in 2018 to let him know one of his lenses was trending.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Future Acres, Inc., a Santa Monica-based food technology company, launched on Feb. 23 with the goal of raising $3 million in a seed funding round.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Future Acres, Inc., a Santa Monica-based food technology company, launched on Feb. 23 with the goal of raising $3 million in a seed funding round.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Scott Painter, founder and chief executive of NXCR, said the company had raised $30 million in seed funding for its vehicle subscription platform.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Scott Painter, founder and chief executive of NXCR, said the company had raised $30 million in seed funding for its vehicle subscription platform.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Long Beach-based rocket manufacturer Relativity Space Inc. will begin development on a fully reusable launch vehicle.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Familiar beer brands and automakers weren’t the only ones competing for the attention of Americans during commercial breaks in Super Bowl LV.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

One of the most valuable attributes of a good business professional and leader is to be able to control emotional outbursts, to maximize your credibility and respect, and to maintain your own health. The best of you train yourselves to show emotions sparingly and strategically, while the rest are convinced that emotions cannot be controlled , and are a function of culture and genetics.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than angel investors or professional investors (VCs). In fact, most investors “require” that you already have some investment from friends and family before they will even step up to the plate. You see, investors invest in people, before they invest in ideas or products.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

San Diego-based sales enablement software developer Seismic said this week that it has named Donna DeBerry as its new Vice President, Inclusion. According to the company, DeBerry will lead efforts to build an even more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce and company culture. DeBerry previously was Director of Inclusion at Indeed, and also has served at Starbucks Corporation, Nike, and Wyndham Worldwide.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Los Angeles-based The 22 Fund, a new startup investment fund which says it focuses on the "impact investing" sector--investing with a racial, gender, climate and social justice lens--says it has received an investment from The Clio Fund and ImpactAssets. The size of that investment was not announced. According to the new investment fund, it is investing in companies led by women, Black, Indigenous and People Of Color (BIPOC).

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Los Angeles-based mobile auto repair provider RepairSmith said this week that it has inked a partnership with CarAdvise, an online marketplace for vehicle maintenance and repair. Financial details of the strategic partnership were not announced. According to the companies, CarAdvise members now have access to RepairSmith's convenient at-home services.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Los Angeles-based Newegg has launched a new effort to make it more fair for its consumers to buy very high demand products--such as GPUs and graphics cards--through what it calls The Newegg Shuffle. According to Newegg, its new drawing system is aimed at defeating the "bots and scalpers" which tend to swoop in on the most popular products on its site, including things such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs, AMD Ryzen 5000 Series desktop processors, AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics cards, Pl

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

San Diego-based Inseego, which develops 5G and IoT equipment, including wireless hotspot hardware, says it is selling off the South African operations of its subsidiary, Ctrack, to private equity firm Convergence Partners. According to Inseego, an affiliate of Convergence Partners will acquire the South African operations of Ctrack for approximately 529 million South African Rand (ZAR) (approximately $36.2 million USD based on an exchange rate of 14.62 ZAR to USD) in an all-cash transaction.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Los Angeles-based Elementary Robotics, a developer of cameras for manufacturing inspection, said it has rolled out a new, cloud-based AI camera system designed for manufacturing and logistics. According to the company, its AI-based hardware and software uses machine learning and computer vision to make it easier for manufacturers to use computer vision to inspect products for defects and other problems.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Los Angeles-based startup Harbor, which is led by Dan Kessler, said it has launched a new, paid premium subscription service called Harbor Premium. The new service is being launched in a partnership with ADT, and connects users to ADT's monitoring team. According to Harbor, the partnership allows ADT to contact the user, alert authorities, and share their location, as well as other user-provided, personally identifiable information to help emergency responders locate and identify them.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Los Angeles-based First Resonance, a startup developing what it calls a "factory operating system" designed for hardware companies for use in their manufacturing operations, says it has raised a new round of funding. The size of the funding was not announced, however, the company said the roudn brings the company's total raised to more than $5M. First Resonance said the funding was led by Blue Bear Capital.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Technology stalwart HP has agreed to acquired Fountain Valley-based HyperX, the gaming accessories arm of Kingston Technology, in a deal worth $425M, the two companies said on Wednesday. According to the two, Kingston will retain its DRAM, flash, and SSD products for gamers and enthusiasts. HyperX will become part of HP's personal Systems unit. HyperX develops a number of gaming peripherals, including headsets, keyboards, mice, mouse pads, USB microphones, and console accessories.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Los Angeles-based electric vehicle developer Fisker and electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn are in a new deal to develop a new, electric vehicle, the two said on Wednesday. According to Hon Hai Technology Group, the parent company of Foxconn, and Fisker, they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on a global electric vehicle project. According to the two, they will create a new "breakthrough electric vehicle" which will be manufactured by Foxconn and will be delivered to "multiple

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Aliso Viejo-based semidconductor company indie Semiconductor says it expects its combination with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Thunder Bridge Acquisition II, to close sometime early this spring. According to the company--which develops semiconductors and systems-on-the-chip products for the automotive industry--said it did not receive any communication from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or Department of Justice (DOJ) as of the expiration of the 30-day waiting period for pre

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Huntington Beach-based BeSmartee, a developer of digital mortgage software, said Tuesday that it has received a strategic growth investment. The funding came from M33 Growth. Size of the new investment was not announced. BeSmartee develops digital mortgage software, which is used by banks, credit unions, and other lenders to manage the mortgage lending process.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Los Angeles-based startup Emotive, which develops conversational text messaging software, said this morning that it has raised $50M in its Series B funding round. The funding was led by CRV, and also included Mucker Capital, TenOneTen Ventures, plus new investors, Stripes and Vulcan Capital. The company said the funding brings its valuation to $400M.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

El Segundo-based NantStudios--a new venture which is related to the "Nant" series of companies run by billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong--said on Tuesday that it has launched a new "virtual production ecosystem and innovation campus" in El Segundo. NantStudios said it has created a 24,000 sq. ft. sound stage providing independent in-camera visual effects services and more for everything from high end feature films and independent video projects.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Hawthorne-based SpaceX confirmed a $850M fundraising in a regulatory filing on Tuesday, in an equity funding round which included 69 investors. The fundraising had been rumored to have been in process for the last month or so. The filing said the effort started on February 16th. The round reportedly values the company at $74 billion.

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