socalTECH
JANUARY 17, 2020
Elon Musk , the founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors , says the goal of all of the spacecraft development at SpaceX is to send one million people to Mars by 2050. Saying that "there will be lots of jobs on Mars", Musk said he wants to load up a fleet of SpaceX Starships into Earth Orbit, sending nearly 1,000 ships at a time over 30 days every 26 months to the Red Planet, "Battlestar Galactica" style.
Xconomy
JANUARY 13, 2020
Daré Bioscience launched in 2015 with the aim of assembling a portfolio of novel women’s health products intended to pique interest from major pharmaceutical companies. Now the San Diego-based company has inked its first deal with Big Pharma, signing an agreement with German biopharma Bayer for its lead asset, a monthly non-hormonal form of birth control.
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Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 13, 2020
As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. As with most business and personal interactions, first impressions tend to become lasting ones.
TechCrunch LA
JANUARY 11, 2020
Throughout 2019, a number of mobility companies launched in additional markets, while many pulled out of areas that no longer served them. Meanwhile, transportation startups continued to raise more money even as they laid off employees, a sign that industry consolidation has officially begun. In October, Bird raised a $275 million Series D round at a $2.5 billion valuation.
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.
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 17, 2020
Small satellite launch firm SpinLaunch Inc. has raised a $35-million equity round.
socalTECH
JANUARY 16, 2020
Pasadena-based Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health , the seed-stage healthcare investment fund run by John Nackel, Jay Goss, Eric Marton and Kwame Ulmer, says it had the sixth and final close on its fund on December 31st. The firm said it now has more than 80 Limited Partners in the fund, with the majority being senior level healthcare executives across the US healthcare system.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
TechCrunch LA
JANUARY 13, 2020
Every radical turn in technology history has its great entrepreneur, and for space that person is SpaceX founder Elon Musk. His unswerving conviction that “space must be affordable” led him to disrupt the old-school space launch industry with reusable Falcon 9 boosters, an achievement that has inspired hundreds of entrepreneurs and investors to take up the challenge of space.
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 17, 2020
Santa Monica-based venture investors March Capital Partners led a $32 million funding round for data startup ActionIQ.
Berkonomics
JANUARY 16, 2020
Sometimes it is the first thought you or your managers have when in need of skilled talent, especially for sales or product development. It is not hard to find and observe the best employees of a good competitor at work, skillfully moving the competitor forward in a visible way. Two slices of the pie for one price. And it is a tempting slice of pie – two slices for one price – to take a critically needed employee from a competitor, damaging that firm while building yours.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 17, 2020
Although most people believe that being a successful entrepreneur is all about having the right idea, I’m convinced from my years of experience as a startup advisor and investor that’s it’s more about you as a person. If you can brand yourself as someone to remember, and someone who can deliver, I assure you that you will have no trouble finding investors, as well as customers.
socalTECH
JANUARY 17, 2020
Homebound , a startup which rebuilds homes after disasters--and which has offices in Malibu--has raised $35M in a Series B funding, the company disclosed this week, bringing its total raised to $53M. The startup--which is split between Santa Rosa, California and Malibu, California--said the Series B was led by Los Angeles-based Fifth Wall Ventures, and also included Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures, Ashton Kutcher, and Thrive Capital.
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 17, 2020
Warner Bros. Pictures International is betting that artificial intelligence can help manage its expansive catalog.
SoCal Tech Calendar
JANUARY 15, 2020
Tuesday, January 21, 2020 -- Join your Information Security and Developer peers on the beach! Training classes start Jan 21, with the keynotes, talks and CTFs starting Jan 23. There will be 4 concurrent break-out sessions throughout both speaker days. The best speakers from around the world have been gathering at AppSec California now for six years.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 12, 2020
People who have been followers too long as an employee don’t realize how hard it is to be a leader. Every new entrepreneur has to initiate the right actions to be perceived as a leader in their chosen business domain by their team and by their customers, or the road to success and satisfaction will be lost along the way. Driving these actions are some basic principles that entrepreneurial leaders, such as Airbnb CEO Brain Chesky and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, seem to have learned early.
socalTECH
JANUARY 17, 2020
Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand. announced on Thursday that it has acquired Clustree , a developer of artificial intelligence software that uses machine learning and algorithms to match an organization's employees' skills with specific job roles. Cornerstone OnDemand said it agreed to paid approximately $18.5M in cash for Clustree, which is based in France.
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 17, 2020
Five months after announcing a negotiated settlement in a sex discrimination and pay inequity lawsuit, Riot Games Inc. could be headed back to court.
Startup San Diego
JANUARY 11, 2020
Meet Chris and Marisa, co-hosts of the Business AF podcast, a weekly LIVE podcast that features business owners, industry experts, professionals and more. Learn what challenges the hosts have overcome and what makes them tick. The post Startup Spotlight: Business AF Podcast appeared first on Startup San Diego.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 15, 2020
Valuing a business based on assets and financial performance is a well-understood process, but every investor knows the real value goes well beyond these parameters, either higher or lower. The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public.
socalTECH
JANUARY 17, 2020
Los Angeles-based private equity investor Skyview Capital has acquired cybersecurity software developer Fidelis Cybersecurity a provider of network traffic analysis, digital forensics, and incident response software, the company said late Thursday. Financial terms of the stock transaction were not announced. Skyview Capital says that Fidelis has over 250 employees.
L.A. Business Journal
JANUARY 17, 2020
Burbank-based Entertainment Partners has acquired Culver City-based software developer SyncOnSet Technologies Inc.
Xconomy
JANUARY 14, 2020
[ Updated 1/15/2020, 8:51 a.m. See below. ] As the nation grapples with the ongoing opioid crisis, an FDA advisory panel on Tuesday unanimously voted against recommending approval of a Nektar Therapeutics painkiller that would add a new compound to the drug class—even though it was designed to reduce the risk of abuse. Some members of the panel, which was comprised mainly of physicians and pharmacists, said Nektar (NASDAQ: NKTR ) did not provide enough data to support its claims.
socalTECH
JANUARY 16, 2020
Los Angeles-based FabFitFun , which offers up a seasonal "box" with a collection of products in the beauty, fashion, fitness, wellness, home, and tech areas, has named its very first Chief Marketing Officer. The company said that that Louisa Wee has joined the company to help oversee strategy and execution of the company's marketing initiatives, plus brand, content and creative programming.
socalTECH
JANUARY 16, 2020
Long Beach-based SpinLaumch , a space startup working on oribal launch systems which use a kinetic launch system to deliver payloads into space from the ground using a mass acceleration system, has raised $35M more, the company said on Thursday afternoon. The company said the funding came from Airbus Ventures, GV, KPCB, Catapult Ventures, Lauder Partners, John Doerr and Byers Family.
socalTECH
JANUARY 16, 2020
Los Angeles-based location data provider Factual rolled out a new product, Data Enrichment , which the company said allows businesses to "enrich first-party customer data" with its own, real-world visitation data. According to Factual, the product will help businesses to better understand their customers, and to improve audience modeling based on real-world behavior.
socalTECH
JANUARY 16, 2020
Carlsbad-based Tyra Biosciences , a new startup developing therapies targeting acquires resistance in oncology, has raised $50M in its Series A funding, the company said last week. The round was o-led by Alta Partners, RA Capital Management, Boxer Capital of Tavistock Group, and Canaan. The company said it is aiming to develop very specific compounds targeting drug resistant cancer cells and populations.
socalTECH
JANUARY 16, 2020
A new, Los Angeles-based company, Emburse , launched today, out of the acquisition of six different expense and accounts payable (AP) automation companies, including LA-based Chrome River. Emburse said this morning that it has created a single, unified entity, emcompassing companies Abacus, Captio, Certify, Chrome River, Nexonia, and Tallie. All of those companies had provided some aspect of expense management.
socalTECH
JANUARY 16, 2020
Los Angeles-based March Capital Partners is the lead investor in a big, $32M funding round for ActionIQ , a startup which provides personalization software to enterprise customers. ActionIQ said this week that it raised $32M in its Series C funding, which was led by March Capital Partners, and also included Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and FirstMark Capital.
socalTECH
JANUARY 15, 2020
Los Angeles-based Califia Farms , which makes oat milk; probiotic, plant-based yogurt; almond milk; and other plant-based beverages, said on Wednesday that it has raised $225M more in a funding round. The Series D funding for the company was led by Qatar Investment Authority, and also included Temasek, Claridge, Green Monday Ventures, plus an un-named family office from Latin America from the coffee and consumer products industry.
socalTECH
JANUARY 15, 2020
Alexandra Real Estate Equities , a real estate investment trust (REIT) operator which has offices in Pasadena, said this morning that it is offering up a $100,000 prize for early stage agtech and food companies, and also apparently is working on a new property in the Los Angeles area. The REIT operates Alexandra LaunchLabs , which offers up laboratory and office space, entrepreneurial support, and programs to life sciences and agtech companies.
socalTECH
JANUARY 15, 2020
San Diego-based Human Longevity , a provider of precision health analytics, said today that it has acquired DoctorsForMe , which matches patients to doctors using artificial intelligence and big data technology. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. According to Human Longevity, the buy allows its clients to access the physicians and services of the Massachusetts General Hospital physician network.
socalTECH
JANUARY 15, 2020
Valencia-based H2scan , which develops hydrogen sensors and related technology for the utility and industrial market, has raised $13.5M in new funding, split between a $10.5M, equity funding and an additional $3M in venture debt. According to H2scan, the equity financing was a Series E, and came from Energy Growth Momentum, an UK-based private equity investor.
socalTECH
JANUARY 15, 2020
Los Angeles-based Pepper Financial , a startup led by startup veteran James Borow, recently raised $5.6M to bring better financial management to businesses. The firm said over the holidays that it had raised $5.6M in a seed funding, which was led by Mark Suster at Upfront Ventures, and which also included Lerer Hippeau, Manta Ray, and angels. The company said it is creating a "new set of tools" to help businesses grow smarter.
socalTECH
JANUARY 14, 2020
Huntington Beach-based small satellite launch provider Rocket Lab said on Tuesday that it is expanding in Long Beach, with a new facility which will both be a corporate headquarters as well as a production complex. The company says it has more than 50 positions open at the new Long Beach location, including jobs in engineering, avionics production, Mission Management, Launch Services and more.
socalTECH
JANUARY 14, 2020
Santa Monica-based gaming league operator Super League Gaming said on Tuesday that it has inked a deal with an arm of Chinese media conglomerate Wanda Media, to bring its live, competitive video game league to more than 700 of Wanda's theaters in China. According to Super League Gaming, the partnership with Wanda Cinemas Games will allow it to greatly expand its reach to the very large population of gamers in China.
socalTECH
JANUARY 14, 2020
San Diego-based Airgain , which develops high performance wireless antennas, has named David Lyle as the company's new Chief Financial Offier. Lyle was most recently CFO of Sunniva, and also served as CFO of Maxwell Technologies, CFO of Entropic Communications (until it acquisition by MaxLinear), CFO of RF Magic (until it was acquired by Entropic), in addition to serving as CFO of Zyray Wireless and Mobilian, and in finance positions at Intel and Broadcom.
socalTECH
JANUARY 14, 2020
Los Angeles-based J2 Global , which owns a large portfolio of Internet services and publications, says it acquired two more companies during Q4 of 2019. The company--which is likely the most active acquirer of companies in Southern California's high tech economy--says it acquired FES IQ , a company in the digital media space, and Buffered VPN , a provider of cloud services based in Gibraltar.
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