Sat.Aug 11, 2018 - Fri.Aug 17, 2018

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With $40 million for AuditBoard’s risk and compliance toolkit, LA’s enterprise startups notch another win

TechCrunch LA

Daniel Kim and Jay Lee, the two founders of AuditBoard , a Los Angeles-based provider of a risk and compliance software service for large businesses, grew up middle school friends in Cerritos, Calif. It was from their hometown Los Angeles exurb, that Kim and Lee first began plotting how they would turn their experience working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young (respectively) into the software business that just managed to rake in $40 million in financing led by one of venture capi

Startup 155
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Cargomatic Collects $35M

socalTECH

Long Beach-based Cargomatic , which develops technology to connect shippers and carriers, said this week that it has raised $35M in a Series B funding round. The funding was led by Warburg Pincus, and also included Canaan, Genesee & Wyoming, Xplorer Capital and Muse Family Enterprises. According to Cargomatic, the new funding will go towards geographic expansion efforts and hiring key employees.

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VERSES Finds $6M For Blockchain Powered VR/AR

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based VERSES , a new startup using blockchain and appling it to the virtual and augmented reality world, has raised $6M in a seed fudning, the company said Wednesday. The funding came from Blockchain Industries, Inc., Decentra Fund, and others. The company also says it is raising additional capital via a private token sale. According to VERSES, it is developing a virtual and augmented reality protocol to power ownership, monetization, geolocation and tradability of digital goods, hol

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Lucidity Announces $5 Million Funding Round

L.A. Business Journal

Marina del Rey advertising blockchain firm Lucidity (an affiliate of KR8OS Inc.) announced Aug. 15 it completed a funding round of $5 million in total, comprised of investments from six venture capital firms.

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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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Rapper Azealia Banks’ claims to have the inside track on Elon Musk’s Tesla take-private drama

TechCrunch LA

If Azealia Banks’ Instagram account is to be believed , Elon Musk’s tweets about Tesla’s take-private deal can be chalked up to some good ole acid and a whole lot of post-tweet frantic scrambling. Over a series of Instagram stories from the weekend, Banks (whose account should be taken with an entire salt shaker — more on that later) reported from the belly of the beast (which in this case is one of Elon Musk’s Los Angeles homes).

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Catch up to your market or be lost!

Berkonomics

Markets and competitors change. Are you being left behind? Over the years, I have often heard the complaint from CEO friends that they have become so swamped by the demands of their growing businesses that they feel themselves further and further from the center of their industry, no longer at the forefront of information and competitive development.

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Silicon Beach Report Aug. 17: SpaceX Gains NASA Fueling Approval

L.A. Business Journal

SpaceX approved for “load-and-go” procedure; Netflix testing new ads; NTS heading to Anaheim;

SpaceX 124
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South Bay Monday Club

SoCal Tech Calendar

Monday, August 20, 2018 -- South Bay Monday Club. Monday Club helps Southern California companies improve their business plan presentations and meet experts who can help them achieve their objectives. Email fredvmc@earthlink.net for more information.

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5 Indications That You Can Survive Startup Failures

Startup Professionals Musings

You can’t survive as an entrepreneur without resilience, because you are going to fail at least once, maybe multiple times. That’s the nature of trying something that’s never been done before. Resilience means not giving up, and being energized by what you have learned. As Thomas Edison said, "I have not failed. I have just found ten thousand ways that won't work.

Startup 98
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Walmart Labs Plans Major San Diego Area Expansion

socalTECH

Walmart Labs , the technology arm of retail giant Walmart , is planning a major expansion in San Diego--hoping to tap into the area's deep depth of technology talent. According to Walmart, it is planning to triple its headcount in San Diego, as it expands into a new office which is triple the size of its existing operation in the city. According to Walmart Labs, it plans to triple its San Diego headcount to over 180, and expand into a new building which is around 30,000 square feet.

San Diego 113
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Silicon Beach Report Aug. 16: Tech Investor Sues AT&T Claiming ‘SIM Swap’ Scam

L.A. Business Journal

Cryptocurrency investor Michael Terpin sues AT&T over “SIM swap” scam; Cargomatic raises $35M in series B round; Boeing acquires El Segundo-based satellite and flight-plan maker.

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Ford’s Autonomic Pairs With Alibaba Cloud On Mobility Hub for China

Xconomy

Ford—one of the automakers competing in China’s huge car market—is now making a bid to provide China’s leading software infrastructure hub dedicated to streamlining transportation by connecting cars and riders with mobility services. Ford’s recently acquired unit Autonomic , which co-created the automaker’s Transportation Mobility Cloud (TMC), inked a deal Tuesday to partner with Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Mobile 75
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7 Excuses For Giving Up Instead Of Persevering To Win

Startup Professionals Musings

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Rather than quitting, there are always alternatives, like pivoting the business model or merging with new partners for support. Either could improve the statistic that half of startups fail within the first five years.

Startup 56
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Cylance Aims To Secure Political Campaigns

socalTECH

Irvine-based cybersecurity software developer Cylance said today that it is looking to secure all of 2018's U.S. political campaigns, by offering up its software at no cost to political campaigns and candidates. Cylance cited an "unprecedented number of threats" to the democratic process. Cylance CEO Stuart McClure said that "It is clear that malicious actors are ramping up their activity in advance of the midterms, " continuing "we know malevolent hackers will exploit any vulnerability at any l

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Tinder Sues Parent Company

L.A. Business Journal

Match Group dating app subsidiary Tinder Inc. has filed a lawsuit against parent company InterActiveCorp., alleging IAC purposefully undervalued the company to avoid proper payouts to executives.

Company 113
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SF’s Full Harvest Bags $8.5M to Help Sell “Ugly and Surplus” Produce

Xconomy

Full Harvest, an online market for imperfect produce that previously would have been thrown out, announced it has raised $8.5 million in a Series A round of funding. The funding was led by Spark Capital and includes investors such as Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, Rent the Runway co-founder Jenny Fleiss, and John Scherr, head of strategic partnerships at CircleUp.

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7 Keys To The Investor Challenge For Your New Venture

Startup Professionals Musings

According to the entrepreneurs I advise, the biggest challenge they typically face in starting a new business is funding. It consistently takes a huge amount of time and effort to find an investor you can trust, and that constrains your efforts in developing the solution you envision. People always expect that it should be easy to find investors, given their passion and excitement for the solution.

Startup 56
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Wired Looks At The Early Days Of Sonos

socalTECH

How, exactly, did Santa Barbara-based Sonos get to where it is today? In an in-depth look, Wired just posted a long article charting the path of Nick Millington, the Chief Product Officer at Sonos , and the evolution of the company's whole home sound systems. Sonos just became the latest Central Coast company to have an IPO, one of a long string of successful technology startups to come out of the region.

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Silicon Beach Report Aug. 15: AuditBoard Nets $40 Million

L.A. Business Journal

Risk and compliance software company AuditBoard raises $40 million; Bird, Lime lead e-scooter protest in Santa Monica; Tinder sues parent company

.Net 113
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Best Buy Acquires GTCR’s GreatCall for $800M, Eyeing Aging Boomers

Xconomy

Best Buy is paying $800 million in cash for GreatCall, a San Diego-based healthtech company which private equity firm GTCR bought early last year. GreatCall operates a virtual mobile telecommunications network for a customers base of more than 900,000 elderly consumers. The company also sells gadgets, such as mobile devices with large screens and big buttons, wearables that can work with those devices, and emergency alert products.

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7 Lead-Generation Tactics Thrive On Limited Budgets

Startup Professionals Musings

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. Indeed, while the rules and technologies for lead generation have changed, Forrester and other experts still see it as the most effective way for businesses with limited budgets to maximize their return on marketing investment (ROMI).

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Insights: Mobile Gaming Founders Blazing New Trails

socalTECH

In our Insights and Opinions section, we regularly feature contributions from the local community about the local technology ecosystem. Today, we have an opinion piece from Ed Guerrero of Silicon Valley Bank, on the mobile gaming industry. One of the best things about working at Silicon Valley Bank in Los Angeles is the access to amazing founders and companies.

Mobile 113
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Silicon Beach Report Aug. 14: Snapchat Gives Creators AR Power

L.A. Business Journal

Snapchat enlists Nicki Minaj to show how AR tools let users shop in RL; SpaceX invites guests into the Dragon X; Treyarch testing Battle Royale mode.

Snapchat 113
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Would Uber’s IPO Be a Revival or a Reckoning?

Xconomy

In its early years, Uber was a headstrong force knocking down preconceived ideas about transportation and, along with Lyft, sparking the imaginations of countless entrepreneurs who are now building a new industry called “mobility.” As it closes in on its first decade, Uber is a conundrum: A Silicon Valley unicorn with $7.3 billion in cash, investors who recently agreed on a $62 billion valuation , short-term IPO plans, and a financial track record that on Wednesday led a Bloomberg reporter to wo

Mobile 63
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10 Success Strategies Without Requiring Alpha Leaders

Startup Professionals Musings

The reigning theory in business has long been that “alpha” leaders make the best entrepreneurs. These are aggressive, results-driven achievers who assert control, and insist on a hierarchical organizational model. Yet I am seeing more and more success from “beta” startup cultures, like Zappos and Amazon, where the emphasis is on collaboration, curation, and communication.

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LA Cryptocurrency Investor Seeks $223.8M From AT&T Over Crypto Theft

socalTECH

Michael Terpin , a well known serial entrepreneur who is very active in the Los Angeles technology industry--and has since made a name for himself as an early cryptocurrency investor and pioneer--is suing AT&T over the loss of $23.8 million due to a "SIM swap" scam. Terpin is seeking $223.8M in his lawsuit, including $200M in punitive damages, for AT&T's role in allowing an AT&T agent to transfer Terpin's cellphone account to an international criminal gang.

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Silicon Beach Report Aug. 13: Chrome River Inks Deal With Exxon

L.A. Business Journal

Chrome River picks up ExxonMobil; Wells leaving Netflix; Bird scooters face vandalism.

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DoorDash Valued at $4 billion After Adding $250M in New Funding

Xconomy

DoorDash has upped its valuation to $4 billion with a new $250 million financing round, five months after it raised $535 million to gain its “unicorn” status. The new $250 million funding round was co-led by Coatue Management and DST Global. CEO Tony Xu told Axios’ Dan Primack that the company hadn’t been actively seeking new financing. Instead, the company is characterizing the new money as a growth round—DoorDash said it has had 250 percent year-over-year growth and expects to oper

Funding 59
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Startup San Diego Announces New Executive Director – Press Release

Startup San Diego

SAN DIEGO — Aug 16, 2018 — Startup San Diego, is a nonprofit organization which fosters collaboration amongst entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors to accelerate and grow the greater San Diego startup community. After 6 years of consistent growth. with the help of passionate volunteers, the organization is thrilled to announce it has hit an important […].

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Semtech's LoRa Used For Cattle Health Monitoring

socalTECH

Camarillo-based semiconductor maker Semtech reported a design win today for its LoRa wireless technology. According to Semtech, its LoRa technology is being us to help monitor cattle health in real-time, via a design win with company Quantified Ag. Semtech said Quantified Ag is using its LoRa devices and wireless radio technology into its "smart" cattle tags, which collect body temperature and activity in cows continuously, 24 hours a day, on cattle feedlots.

Design 113
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You’re Doing It Wrong: Stop Making a Mess Out of Your App’s Time Zones With UTC

Inverted Software

At Inverted Software we craft dozens of apps and APIs per year for our customers. One of the many challenges every client / server system face is the synchronization of time. Apps might be using multiple micro services and databases in different clouds and mobile apps might be running on different devices anywhere in the world. How can all those systems coordinate times and subsequently show the correct time to the user regardless of the time zone they currently reside in?

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Bio Roundup: Big Approvals, ICER Influence, Drug-Price Pushback & More

Xconomy

We’ll start the roundup this week with two drug approvals that came late last Friday. Both were landmarks for the companies receiving the nod, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Amicus Therapeutics. We also saw a new biotech emerge in the muggy New York heat, a couple deals for new flu vaccines, and interesting developments in the complicated world of drug pricing.

Pricing 52
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Startup San Diego Announces New Executive Director – Press Release

Startup San Diego

SAN DIEGO — Aug 16, 2018 — Startup San Diego, is a nonprofit organization which fosters collaboration amongst entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors to accelerate and grow the greater San Diego startup community. After 6 years of consistent growth. with the help of passionate volunteers, the organization is thrilled to announce it has hit an important […].

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AxiaMed Adds $12.4M For Healthcare Payment Tech

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based AxiaMed , which is developing healthcare payments technology, said late Tuesday afternoon that it has raised $12.4M in a funding round. The funding was led by Health Enterprise Partners (HEP), and also included Nashville Capital Network and other existing investors. AxiaMed is a developer of payment software, used b y hospitals and others for managing payments from patients.

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Airspace Technologies Finds $8M For Logistics Technology

socalTECH

Carlsbad-based Airspace Technologies , which is developing technology for the logistics market, says it has raised $8M in a Series A funding round. The funding was led by Defy, and also included Qualcomm Ventures (the investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated), Cross Culture Ventures, and Schematic Ventures. According to Airspace, it is providing "time definite" delivery and supply chain services to the healthcare, technology, and aerospace sectors.

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GumGum Sports Wins Maui Jim Maui Invitational

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based GumGum Sports , which helps advertising agencies measure the media value of sponsorships of sporting events using computer vision technology, has agreed to provide media valuation for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, being held later this year. According to GumGum Sports, the deal--made with marketing, events and public relations agency KemperLesnik--will apply its computer-vision capabilities to measure media value for that tournament's sponsors, across television, streaming,