Los Angeles-based ticketing firm Ticketmaster said on Thursday that it is partnering with the Veteran Tickets Foundation , also known as Vet Tix , to provide a "real-time feed" of live event tickets available to veterans. According to Ticketmaster, the deal will make it easier for veterans access free and discounted live event tickets, expanding the rough a new client-facing ticket offer that will expand tickets that veterans have access to. MORE

Fridays can be the most productive work day, as you look to shore up everything before the weekend starts. Or, maybe instead, it’s a day filled with long lunches and listless Internet surfing, as you seek out all the interesting articles you missed during the week. MORE

Los Angeles-based digital advertising provider H Code Media reports that it has signed a new partnership with Peruvian radio and television broadcast company Radio Programas del Peru (RPP). According to H Code Media, it will become the exclusive partner to monetize RPP's traffic, and will represent 100 percent of RPP's ad inventory in the US on its various websites. Financial impact of the win was not announced. MORE

Los Angeles-based fintech startup Eusoh , which is offering up an alternative to insurance for veterinary care, said this week that it has raised $2M in a seed funding round. Source of the funding was not announced. MORE

Los Angeles-based GOAT , which operates an online marketplace for sneakers--designed for the very large sneaker enthusiast market--has named a new Chief Operating Officer. GOAT said that it has named Lizzie Francis as its new COO, reporting to CEO Eddy Lu. Francis is Founder and Partner at Brilliant Ventures, and also previously was Chief Marketing Officer of Gilt Groupe, and was Chief Marketing Officer and President of JustFab.com (now TechStyle Fashion Group). MORE

Eagle Rock’s Scratch Financial Inc., doing business as Scratchpay, announced June 19 that it received $6.4 million in series A funding. Underwriting for this round of funding was provided by Companion Fund, a $100 million pet-centered venture capital fund, as well as Struck Capital, TTV Capital and SWS Venture Capital MORE

Santa Monica-based sales and marketing customer relationship management (CRM) tools developer Nimble is further integrating its tools with partner Microsoft, and its Office 365 software, as well as Google's G Suite, with a new business dashboarding tool. According to Nimble, it has launched a new product called Today Page , which helps track things like deal pipelines and sales funnels, appointments and to-do's, and other information through a single dashboard within Nimble. MORE

Does Fido or Fluffy need some major veterinary care, but you don't have the money to pay? Los Angeles-based Scratchpay , which provides payment plans to pet owners to pay for their pets' immediate medical needs, said Tuesday that it has raised $6.4M in a a Series A funding. The funding came from Companion Fund, Struck Capital, TTV Capital and SWS Venture Capital. Scratchpay--based in Eagle Rock--was founded by John Keatley and Caleb Morse. MORE

Los Angeles-based UNREAL Mobile , a spinout of FreedomPop, is targeting disgruntled Sprint customers who were hoping to take advantage of Sprint's now unavailable $15 per month unlimited mobile service. According to UNREAL, it will offer up unlimited mobile plans for just $10 per month, with no contract and no credit check--and also will offer up new Alcatel Android smartphone for less than $50. The new service also will let anyone with an existing CDMA phone activate the service. MORE

$22 million raised by Pasadena Robotics Co.; MindSpark acquired by Auticon; Sure Inc. expands to rideshare insurance MORE

I’ve been heads down for quite some time managing the ecosystem at Malauzai, and so have been away from my blog. I’ve taken a new position at Finastra, should have interesting things to report going forward. Please stay tuned… MORE

Close. How much risk you and your company are willing and able to tolerate over time? Most people believe that early stage companies should take risks aggressively because there is less to lose and much more to gain with each risky bet or decision. MORE

Carlsbad-based satellite communications company Viasat announced this morning that it has named Dave Ryan as the head of its Space Systems business, heading up satellite system design, fabrication, test and operations of its global satellite constellation. Ryan has been at Viasat since 2016, previously serving as President of Boeing Satellite Systems International and serving at Northrop Grumman. MORE

San Clemente-based private equity investor Alpha Wave Investors says it has made an investment, and helped form a new company called Soul Community Planet (SCP) , a new company focused on "holistic hospitality". Size of the investment was not announced. SCP is initially developing a chain of hotels called SCP Hotels, which will develop hotels, resorts, restaurants, bars, marketplaces, recreation venues and fitness clubs. MORE

For Father’s Day I was watching the most heartfelt movies I’ve seen in a long time, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” MORE

San Diego-based startup Truepic , a developer of software which "notarizes" digital photos for authenticity, has raised $8M in a Series A funding, the company announced on Thursday. The funding came from Dowling Capital Partners; Jeffrey Parker (co-founder of FirstCall & former CEO of Thomson Financial); Andrew "Flip" Filipowski (Founder and CEO of Platinum Technology and SilkRoad Technology); and William Sahlman, along with others. MORE

Wednesday, June 27, 2018 --. MORE

GOAT, the secondary marketplace for sneakers that recently merged with Flight Club , is announcing a new hire. Lizzie Francis will join the company as Chief Operating Officer, coming from Brilliant Ventures where she will remain a managing partner. MORE

Were you aghast at revelations that third-party organizations were able to capture millions of Facebook profiles from users who were unaware of the company’s privacy policy terms? MORE

Thursday, June 28, 2018 -- MasterMinds OC Startup Accelerator Workshop #15. OC ENTREPRENEURS: Join us for another LIVE MasterMinds Workshop. Bring your startup ideas and business questions so our friendly group of local Orange County entrepreneurs and business owners can help you move your business farther, faster. Free tickets available if you have a good startup business question for discussion, or you want to practice your startup pitch! See [link]. MORE

Thursday, June 28, 2018 --. MORE

Cassandra Trimnell has sickle cell disease. She also loves to travel. For her 30th birthday last year, she and her husband planned a trip to Indonesia, and she figured she would be fine. MORE

Verra Mobility sells for $2.4 billion; Lizzie Francis joins GOAT; Pasadena company goes to Madagascar MORE

Los Angeles-based private equity investor Platinum Equity says it is selling one of its portfolio companies, Verra Mobility , to The Gores Group , in a deal worth approximately $2.4 billion. According to Platinum, the sale will create a new, publicly listed company, via a plan of merger with Gores Holdings II, Inc., a special purpose acquisition company created by The Gores Group. The deal values Verra Mobility at 11.0x the company's 2018 pro forma Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $219 million. MORE

How do you take the energy of such successes as Dollar Shave Club, Ring, Cornerstone Ondemand, and the many other local successes from the startup energy, and tap into the resources of local universities and research institutions? That was the question at the SoCal First Look Showcase , run by the Alliance for SoCal Innovation and the Los Angeles Venture Association at UCLA on Wednesday. MORE

Los Angeles-based UBTECH Robotics , which develops humanoid-like rbots for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) market, said on Wednesday that it has launched a brand new programmable robot called the Yanshee. According to UBTECH, its new robot--aimed at the U.S. MORE

BioSolar expands to Spain; Sprint Corp. phone rival emerges; Riot Games goes down under MORE

San Diego-based renewable energy developer EDF Renewables has signed a deal with the PGGM Infrastructure Fund on a portfolio of 588 megawatts of wind and solr projects, according to the two companies. According to EDF Renewables, the PGGM Infrastructure Fund will acquire a 50 percent ownership interest in the. Red Pine Wind, Rock Falls Wind, Switch Station 1 Solar and Switch Station 2 Solar projects, with a total capacit of 588MW. MORE

Torrance company contracted by Homeland Security; Quest International expands in Europe; Scratchpay gets $6.4M in series A funding MORE

Los Angeles-based snack delivery startup SnackNation says it has acquired EdgiLife , the owner of the brand Love With Food , a provider of consumer insights and data analytics for the CPG market. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. SnackNation, which is led by CEO Sean Kelly, said the acquisition will offer its brand partners access to a larger customer base. MORE

Hawthorne-based SpaceX has been selected by the U.S. Air Force, to launch one a new Air Force satellite into orbit using the Falcon Heavy, according to a contracting notice from the U.S. Department of Defense. According to the contract award, SpaceX will receive $130,000 to deliver the Air Force Space Command-52 satellite, including launch vehicle production and mission, as well as integration, launch operations and spaceflight worthiness activities. MORE