Sat.Jul 07, 2018 - Fri.Jul 13, 2018

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Facebook Alternative MeWe Raises $5.2M

L.A. Business Journal

Sgrouples Inc.’s MeWe, a Culver City social network startup that calls itself an alternative to Facebook Inc., announced July 5 it had raised $5.2 million in Series A fundraising.

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UCLA Granted $9.75 Million for Battery Research

L.A. Business Journal

University of California–Los Angeles has received a $9.75 million grant from the United States Department of Energy of to advance research in rechargeable batteries.

Research 100
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Silicon Beach Report July 13: Spotify Moves to L.A.

L.A. Business Journal

Spotify moves to L.A.

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Are you the bottleneck in your organization?

Berkonomics

Close. At many board meetings, I can be counted upon to ask, “Where’s the bottleneck this month?” Senior management is usually prepared with an answer, and a good discussion of resource availability and application follows. Sometimes, the bottleneck is not so visible to the CEO. In those instances, I follow with: “Do you notice people waiting at your door, telling you that they were waiting for your response or decision, even if you were unaware of this?”.

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Can You Ask for Office Rent Relief? How to Manage Your Lease During COVID-19

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.

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Surf Air Aims At Weekend Travelers With New Experiences

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based air travel provider Surf Air --which got its start offering up low cost "all you can fly" travel between Silicon Beach and Silicon Valley--has lauched a new offering which hopes to attract its members for weekend getaways. According to Surf Air, its new Surf Air Experiences, which it is running in conjunction with partner All Roads North, will offer up special, three-day weekend trips to its Surf Air Members only.

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LAXTechRecruit

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, July 19, 2018 -- LAXTechRecruit. All Day hands-on conference on Recruiting and Hiring Strategies. Lou Adler keynote, 35+ Talent Acquisition Leaders speaking and opening playbooks on Hiring, Employer Branding and Sourcing Automation Tools and Recruiter Outbound Marketing. 200+ attendees @ CTRL Collective and Sponsored by Hiretual.

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Venture Funding Keeps Momentum Amid IPO Wave; Plus Q2’s Top 10 Deals

Xconomy

Last year, U.S. venture capital investments swelled to a level not seen since the dot-com era of the early 2000s. This year could be even bigger. Investors funneled $57.5 billion into U.S. companies through the first six months of 2018, according to the latest Venture Monitor report produced quarterly by Seattle-based PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

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Crinetics Sets Estimated IPO Range

socalTECH

San Diego-based Crinetics Pharmaceuticals , a pharmaceuticals firm focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for rare endocrine diseases and endocrine-related tumors, has set its estimated IPO range, saying in a filing that it is looking to sell 5,000,000 shares of its stock at between $15.00 and $17.00 per share.

San Diego 133
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BizBash Live: Los Angeles 2018

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, July 18, 2018 -- BizBash Live Los Angeles. BizBash Live: Los Angeles returns to the California Market Center with the most important experience for event and meeting professionals. These event organizers will connect, collaborate, and cultivate new relationships with industry vendors from across Southern California and North America, and learn from the leading names in live experiences.

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Silicon Beach Report July 12: Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures’ New Funding Round

L.A. Business Journal

Ashton Kutcher’s VC opens $150 million funding round; Cleantech and Clean Energy kick off climate-change challenge; $9.

UCLA 100
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6 Demand Generation Metrics To Quantify Marketing ROI

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur knows that good demand generation marketing is the key to growth these days, but very few have the discipline or know-how to measure return in a world of a thousand tools and techniques. Even those things that worked yesterday may not work tomorrow, as the market matures, the culture changes, and competitors appear with new solutions.

Metrics 57
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The Irvine Company Caught Up In Privacy Struggle Over License Plate Data, ICE

socalTECH

The Irvine Company , which operates a huge list of shopping centers in Orange County and elsewhere, including Fashion Island and the Irvine Spectrum, is in the midst of a flap over license plate data sharing. The real estate development firm was accused of sharing license plate scanning data with ICE , according to a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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Pitch Genius Workshops

SoCal Tech Calendar

Saturday, July 14, 2018 -- Pitch Genius Workshops/ The purpose of this workshop is to educate idea-to-early stage startups about investors, fundraising, and how to make a successful pitch.

Education 100
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Silicon Beach Report July 9: Snap Builds Camera Search

L.A. Business Journal

Guess Inc.

Report 100
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7 Reasons To Not Give Up Too Soon On Your New Venture

Startup Professionals Musings

Most of the young entrepreneurs I know are classic proof of the old adage that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a short period, and underestimate what they can do over a long period. They become frustrated when they are unable to build their startup in a weekend, and give up way too soon when the path to real success seems to be interminable.

Startup 57
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Illuminate Education Gets Backing From Insight Partners, Rolls Up Five Companies

socalTECH

Irvine-based Illuminate Education , a brand new startup backed by Insight Venture Partners, said today that it has merged five different companies-- Illuminate Education , IO Education , SchoolCity , Alpine Achievement , and Key Data Systems --to create a new company focused on data platforms, data, analytics, and formative assessments of K-12 students.

Education 124
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38th Annual Esri User Conference

SoCal Tech Calendar

Friday, July 13, 2018 --.

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Best Friday Reads: Social Media Rules Us All, and Mints Billionaires

Xconomy

Humans have had a drastic physical evolution recently—one that has notably taken only a few years. While the evolution from hunched primates to homo sapiens took tens of millions of years, we needed only about a decade to develop an arched neck that is perennially looking down at a smartphone—presumably one with a social media app open. Whether or not social media is healthy for or bodies—or minds—it now influences every aspect of our life, in particular the economy, with

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Conscious Capitalism Drives Winning Businesses Today

Startup Professionals Musings

I’ve noticed that most young entrepreneurs are more socially conscious today than ever before, which is a great trend. Unfortunately, some are so focused on this principle that they forget that every business, even nonprofits, have to practice the basic principles of capitalism (build a business model to make money) to cover their costs to do good things another day.

Capital 57
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Cylance Extends to Consumer Market

socalTECH

Irvine-based cybersecurity software developer Cylance has launched a new product, aimed at the consumer market. Cylance said it has launched Cylance Smart Antivirus, which takes the company's enterprise, artificial intelligence-driven antivirus technology and applies it to home users. The software is the first for the consumer market for Cylance, which supplies its AI antivirus software to corporate users under the name CylancePROTECT.

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Silicon Beach Report July 11: Overwatch League Finals to Air on ESPN, ABC

L.A. Business Journal

Musk takes on Flint water crisis, the Overwatch League’s grand finals will be televised, Jam City is taking Harry Potter to Asia

Report 100
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EU Regulators Approve Akcea’s Inotersen. FDA Decisions Are Next.

Xconomy

Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AKCA ) has beaten rival Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY ) to a first drug approval, getting the nod for its drug inotersen (Tegsedi) in the European Union. Akcea and Alnylam, both of Cambridge, MA, are developing treatments for the rare genetic disease transthyretin amyloidosis, or ATTR. It stems from a gene mutation that causes the protein transthyretin, which carries vitamin A around the body, to misfold and build up in nerves and other tissues, causing pain,

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9 Innovation Practices For Long-Term Business Health

Startup Professionals Musings

A guiding principle for startup success, as well as the long-term health of a mature business, is a liberal dose of innovation at the beginning, with additions of the same on a regular basis. Unfortunately, innovation means change, and most business professionals and existing customers, by default, hate change. Thus without thinking, every company becomes more static.

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Clearlake Capital Sells Pomeroy To Getronics

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based private equity investor Clearlake Capital said this morning that it has sold one of its portfolio companies, Pomeroy Group Holdings , to an affiliate of Getronics Group. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Clearlake has owned Pomeroy Group Holdings for the last five years. Pomeroy provided information technology services, including managed services, to the middle market and enterprise customers.

Capital 113
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Broadcom Acquires CA Technologies For $18.9 Billion

socalTECH

Semiconductor giant Broadcom , which has significant operations in Orange County, said late Wednesday that it will acquire software developer CA Technologies in a deal worth $18.9 billion in cash. According to Broadcom, it will pay $44.50 per share in cash for CA, in a move which it says will help it create a "infrastructure technology company" and add "significant recurring revenue" to the company.

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MTech Capital Raises $75M Insurance Technology Fund

socalTECH

Los Angeles- and London-based MTech Capital , a brand new venture capital fund focused on the insurance technology, or "InsureTech" market, says it has raised a new, $75M venture capital fund. According to MTech Capital, the new fund has three anchor investors, including CNA Financial Corporation, NN Group, and a top-3 global insurance company. MTech Capital says that its founders are Kevin McLoughlin and Brian McLoughlin, and that it is focused on technology-enabled investment opportunities wit

Capital 113
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GUESS Links With Alibaba On AI-Powered Retail Store Effort

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based fashion brand Guess is making a move into the world of artificial intelligence, with a link with Chinese technology and e-commerce giant Alibaba. According to Guess, it is working with Alibaba on Alibaba's FashionAI project, whcih the two said will "provide customers with a more enriching shopping experience that combines online and offline shopping behaviors.

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Famous Birthdays Launches Spanish Site

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Famous Birthdays , the online information provider led by Evan Britton, is expanding into the Spanish language market, with a new Spanish site called Famous Birthdays Español. According to Famous Birthdays, the new site will provide its brand, technology, and user experience to the Spanish market. Famous Birthdays profiles celebrities and other famous people's birthdays and bios.

Sites 113
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New Competition Looks For Startups Combating Climate Change

socalTECH

A new, startup competition, called the California Climate Cup --run by te Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) and the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF)--says it is looking to identify the most promising startups, globally, who are working on innovations for megacities for zero emission transportation and clean energy. The new competition will offer up cash prizes and an opportunity to pitch those startups to investors.

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Turo Sues LAX Over Car Rental Classification

socalTECH

Peer-to-peer car sharing site Turo has filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), over difficulties Turo has been having in launching at LAX. Turo said it filed a lawsuit today at the U.S. Central District Court of California in Los Angeles. Turo said that it blames its lawsuit against collusion between LAX and car rental company Enterprise to keep it out of LAX.

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Viasat Powers In-flight Wi-Fi For EL AL

socalTECH

Carlsbad-based Viasat is powering the new in-flight Wi-Fi service from EL AL Israel Airlines , the two companies said today, as El Al officially launches its new commercial in-flight Wi-Fi service. According to Viasat, EL AL was its original European launch customer. Viasat says that so far, 15 EL AL aircraft have been outfitted with its latest equipment, including Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Boeing 737-900 aircraft and Boeing 737-800 planes; Viasat says EL AL expects to have the majority of its fle

Services 100
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JMI Equity Invests $35M In Cosential's Construction Proposal Software

socalTECH

La Jolla-based private equity investor JMI Equity has made a $35M strategic growth investment in Cosential , a developer of customer relationship management (CRM) and proposal automation software for the architecture and engineering market. Cosential announced on Wednesday that it has raised $35M in the strategic growth investment, which came from private equity investor JMI Equity.

Equity 100
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Blizzard In Deal with ESPN, Disney XD On Overwatch League TV Coverage

socalTECH

Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment has inked a television deal where ESPN and Disney XD will provide live television coverage of the Overwatch League , the three companies announced on Wednesday. Financial details of the multiyear, exclusive telecast agreement were not announced by the company. According to Blizzard, ESPN, and DisneyXD, the live coverage will include Overwatch League playoffs and Grand Finals across ESPN and Disney television networks in 2018, with a 2019 schedule to be announc

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Okapi's Pegasus Solar Finds More Funding

socalTECH

Pegasus Solar , the startup developing rooftop mounting systems for solar installations which is backed by Orange County's Okapi Ventures, has raised new funding, bringing its total raised to $10M in its Series A. The company announced the additional funding on Tuesday. Pegasus Solar said the round was led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), with participation from Okapi Capital, Howard Wenger, Mike Miskovsky, and other solar industry executives.

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Synteract Buys Cu-Tech

socalTECH

San Diego-based Synteract , a contract research organization (CRO) which runs clinical trials for the pharmaceutical industry, said today that it has acquired Cu-Tech , a contract research organization which specializes in dermatology. Synteract said it would use the buy to create a "dedicated center of dermatology development" at the company. Cu-Tech was based in New Jersey.

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Newegg Counters Prime Day With Its Own Sale, FantasTech

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based electronics e-commerce site NewEgg said today that it is kicking off its annual, "FantasTech" sale on July 16th--a counter to the big Amazon Prime Day sale on the same day. According toNewegg, it will offer up a four-day sale on a wide range of the "latest and greatest" tech products. NewEgg said it will start with a "pre-sale" starting on July 11th, an offer up daily deals leadin gup to its big sale on July 16th.

NewEgg 100