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DECEMBER 15, 2020

Los Angeles-based venture investor Fifth Wall has added a new partner to the firm, Greg Smithies , to help it with its investments in climate related technologies. Smithies formerly was at BMW iVentures. The fund--better known for its real estate investments--disclosed today that it is raising a new, climate-focused fund targeted at at least $200M. Fifth Wall has not disclosed limited partners or current commitments in that new fund.

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NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Redland-based GIS software giant Esri announced this week that it has rolled out a new, free and open tool it says helps countries monitor their coastal water quality. The company said its new tool is being released in partnership with the United Nationas and GEO Blue. The company says the tools can be used to help guide policy and reduce pollution from land sources.

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NOVEMBER 5, 2020

San Diego-based biotech startup Micronoma announced this morning that it has hired three new executives, and plans to set up a headquarters in San Diego. The company said it has named Eddie Adams as Chief Scientific Officer, Greg Poore as Chief Analytic Offier, and Darryl Garrison as Chief Operating Officer. Micronoma says it is setting up a new headquarters in San Diego with 4300 square feet, with plans to have their new headquarters in San Diego CLIA certified by late 2021, with a dry lab and

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

BayWa r.e. , a renewable energy developer and distributor with its U.S. office in Irvine, says it has acquired Enable Energy , a solar and energy storage solutions provider. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. BayWa r.e. says it will expand its solar and storage capabilities with the acquisition. Enable Energy provides engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and operations and maintenance (O&M) support, according to BayWa r.e.

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AUGUST 12, 2020

Uber has threatened to shut down its service entirely in California, for at least a "several months", after a California superior court judge ordered both Uber and Lyft to reclassify its drivers as employees. In an interview on MSNBC, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that "it's hard to believe we'll be able to switch our model to full-time employment quickly," saying that it would have to shut down its on-demand ride service in California "for several months" if the court doesn't overturn its rul

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MAY 13, 2020

Los Angeles-based GrowFlow , a software-as-a-service company which provides its software to the cannabis and hemp industry, has raised $8.5M in a growth financing round, the company announced on Tuesday. The funding was led by TVC Capital, and also included Bull & Bear Fund and two angel investors. As part of the funding, TVC's Jeb Spencer and Ryan McMorrow will both join the company's board.

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MAY 13, 2020

Los Angeles-based Upkeep , a developer of software used by enterprises for managing their facilities, has raised $36M in a Series B funding round, the company said this week. The funding was led by Insight Partners, and also included Emergence Capital, Battery Ventures, YCombinator, Mucker Capital, and Fundersclub. UpKeep's software is used for plant and infrastructure management.

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APRIL 15, 2020

Los Angeles-based mobile streaming video startup Quibi will not be launching a series about Venice, Californi-based Snapchat , according to a report from Variety. Quibi had said last year at SXSW that it would film a series based on the script "Frat Boy Genius" by Elissa Karasik. Variety did not say why Quibi decided to drop its plans for the series.

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APRIL 6, 2020

Ventura-based online advertising exchange The Trade Desk says it will offer up free access to its digital advertising courseware until the end of 2020, allowing everyone from advertising industry professionals to those looking to build the required skills to enter the field. The company said it also has revamped its courseware and certification platform.

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APRIL 6, 2020

San Diego-based TurboTax said over the weekend that it has launched a new product, to help Americans register for the new stimulus payment. According to Intuit, the product is designed to help millions of Americans who are not required to file a tax return easily register with the IRS to get their stimulus money. TurboTax said that there are as many as 10 million Americans who are not required to file a tax return, which the IRS will use to determine eligibility and send individual stimulus paym

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APRIL 6, 2020

Los Angeles-based games and entertainment content provider IGN says it is launching plans for a new series of live and on-demand gaming events, focused on games and next generation console hardware, as a result of cancellations of events such as E3 2020 and e-sports events. According to the company, it will launch a season of live broadcasts and on-demand programming with editorial coverage, beginning in early June, working with such partners as 2K, Square Enix, SEGA, Bandai Namco, Amazon, Googl

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Santa Monica-based Catasys announced this morning that it is expanding its artificial intelligence and technology-enabled healthcare products with a "leading national health plan" into Colorado, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Louisiana. Name of that national health plan and financial impact was not announced. Catasys said the expansion of its OnTrak-A solution makes the product available in 28 states, as well as Washington, D.C.

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FEBRUARY 20, 2020

San Diego-based Tocagen , which develops cancer-selective gene therapy aimted at treatking skin cancer, and Torrance-based Forte Biosciences , a biopharmaceuticals firm developing a live biotherapeutic for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases, said on Wednesday that the two are in an agreement where Tocagen will merge with Forte in an all-stock transaction.

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DECEMBER 4, 2019

In a three part series, VICE has decided to dig into the background and history of Santa Monica-based Ring , and how the company--and founder, Jamie Siminoff--turned the device into one of the most successful electronics products out there today, in addition to digging into the controversy behind the company's cozy relationship with law enforcement.

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SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

Los Angeles-based electric car maker Faraday Future said this morning that it has named a new CEO, and has named Dr. Carsten Breitfeld to head up the company, with founder and CEo YT Jia becoming Chief Product & User Officer (CPUO). Dr. Breitfeld spent 20 years at BMW, and previously led BMW's i8 vehicle program as Group Vice President, in addition to co-foundering and serving as Chairman and CEO of BYTON.

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AUGUST 15, 2019

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard has turned to a veteran of the entertainment industry to head up its marketing efforts, saying on Thursday that it has named David Messinger, a veteran of CAA, as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Messinger previously spent more than 15 years at sports and entertainment agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), most recentl as co-head of CAA Marketing.

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AUGUST 7, 2019

Hawthorne-based SpaceX has again sent another payload into space, this time from Florida, where it launched the AMOS-17 satellite for Spacecomm from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral. According to SpaceX, the launch was the third flight for the Falcon 9 used in the launch, and represents its 25th reflight of one of its rockets. The liftoff happened at 7:23 p.m.

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JULY 18, 2019

Oxnard-based SimpliPhi Power , a manufacturer of Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LFP) batteries, says that it is ramping up its manufacturing efforts, and providing discounts to consumers in California who are being affected by wildfire "Public Safety Power Shutoffs". According to the manufacturer, its is increasing storage capacity of its units to 3.8 kWh and 2.9 kWh, and also lowering prices, to encourage purchase of its batteries, which it claims are the safest lithium-based battery technology on th

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JULY 18, 2019

The Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator , the new, space-themed startup accelerator run by Techstars in Los Angeles, has announced its inagural class, naming ten companies that will participate over the next three months in its startup accelerator program. The startup accelerator is being supported by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lockheed Martin, Maxar Technologies, SAIC, Israel Aerospace Industries North America, and the U.S.

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JULY 19, 2019

Too busy at work to spend time with your dog or cat? Does your dog get separation anxiety? Maybe a robot can help--at least, that's the thought of Los Angeles-based VARRAM , which announced this week that it has launched a "pet fitness robot". Varram said its robot is "specially designed to keep dogs and cats mentally and physically engaged", by automatically interacting with your pets while you are away.

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JULY 19, 2019

Santa Monica-based Fair , the automotive startup which offers up subscription-based access to vehicles with much more flexibility than a traditional lease, is expanding its partnership with Uber , saying that eligible "Uber Pro" drivers can earn "Fair Credits" to help cover their weekly Fair vehicle payments. Uber Pro is Uber's program for rewarding the most consistent and higher rated drivers on its platform.

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JULY 19, 2019

Los Angeles-based ZEFR has sold its rights management and content-flagging assets--RightsID and ChannelID--to Vobile Group , a provider of video content protection, measurement, and monetization, in a deal worth $90M, the two companies annoucned late Thursday. According to Vobile, it will open up a new office in Los Angeles as a result of the acquisition, with approximately 100 employees.

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JULY 1, 2019

Newport Beach-based Rocket Lab launched another set of satellites into space over the weekend, on its seventh launch of its Electron rocket. Rocket Lab places its "Make It Rain" mission into space from its launch complex in New Zealand on Saturday at 04:30 UTC, deploying a payload of satellites booked onto the rocket by satellite ride sharing company Spaceflight.

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JULY 1, 2019

What if you could reate a roaming band of autonomous, ocean going robots, to help clean up the problem of plastic in our oceans? San Diego-based FreeGen Technologies has developed robot technology which is aimed at automatically cleaning up trash, especially plastic, from the ocean using a fleet of cooperative robots. The company's founders, Saakib Akbany (CEO) and Casey Fitzpatrick (CTO), spoke with us about what the very early stage startup is hoping to do.

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JUNE 13, 2019

San Diego-based Atlazo , a startup developing systems-on-a-chip (SoC) semiconductors aimed at used in healthcare and Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications, has raised $3.4M in a seed funding round. The funding round was led by the Tech Coast Angels, and the TCA's San Diego chapter. According to the TCA, its angel network members invested $2.5M in the round.

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MAY 8, 2019

Los Angeles-based online sneaker marketplace operator GOAT has rolled out an augmented reality (AR) feature, which lets buyers on the site see sneakers feature on the site in AR, the company said on Wednesday. According to GOAT, users on iOS and Android can both view sneakers in a new AR feature of those apps, starting with the Travis Scott x Air Jorcan 1 Retro High OG 'Mocha'.

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MAY 7, 2019

Los Angeles-based Exploding Kittens , the developer of the card game of the same name, has raised a huge, $20M equity funding round, according to a regulatory filing from the firm. Details on the fundraising effort have not yet been announced by the company, however, the developers behind the game have been crowdfunding for the new title since earlier this year.

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MAY 8, 2019

Los Angeles-based Neural Analytics , a developer of medical robotics technology being used to track and measure brain health in possible stroke victims, has raised $22M in its Series C funding, the company said this morning. The company says it has now raised approximately $66M in total. The Series C funding was led by Alpha Edison. Neural Analytics has developed a fully autonomous robotic systems used for neurovascular assessment, which uses ultrasound to non-invasively measure and display brai

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APRIL 12, 2019

Camarillo-based semiconductor developer Semtech has chalked up another design win for its LoRa wireless radio frequency technology, saying that its technology has been selected by an aerospace manufacturer, Ineo-Sense , for it smart asset tracking tools. Semtech said its wireless technology is being used in Ineo-Sense's "Clover-Core" sensor products, used for asset tracking in manufacturing settings.

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APRIL 12, 2019

Los Angeles-based XPRIZE , which organizes prize competitions to inspire people to advance technology to help change the world, said last night that it has awarded a $1M "Moonshot Award" to SpaceIL , the Israeli team which attempted a moon landing on Thursday. XPRIZE said it decided to recognize the successful lunar orbit and (not-so-successful) landing attempt for its contribution to private space exploration.

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MARCH 26, 2019

Need a way to get around Los Angeles, but just can't handle those scooters? Wheels , a new startup from the co-founders of Wag , announced this morning that the company has started offering up access to its electric powered, two wheel bicycles in Los Angeles, as it expands from its base in San Diego. The company--which has offices in both LA and San Diego--said it is launching in Venice, Hollywood, Brentwood, West LA, Westwood, Miracle Mile, Mid City and other local LA markets.

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MARCH 1, 2019

Irvine-based Zadara , which develops cloud-based, data storage products, said it has enhanced its Virtual Private Storage Arrays product running on Amazon Web Services (AWS). According to the company, its product now allows AWS users to create virtual private storage arrays of any size up to 288 terabytes, selecting their own mix of flash, hard drives, NAS, SAN, CIFS, and other options.

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MARCH 1, 2019

In an important move towards launching astronauts into space, Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX is getting set to launch an important, test flight of its Crew Dragon on Saturday, from Florida. The first Crew Dragon spacecraft was rolled out onto Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, where it is now being prepped for an early Saturday morning launch.

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JANUARY 23, 2019

Lynwood, California-based NEXT (formerly, NEXT Trucking), has raised $97M more in a funding round for its development of an online marketplace for shippers and carriers, the company said on Wednesday. The startup, led by Lydia Yan, said the funding came from Brookfield Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and GLP. The startup has now raised $125M in total. NEXT was founded in October of 2015 Yan's is an e-commerce veteran, however, her family runs one of the country's largest TV logistics companies, which

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AUGUST 24, 2018

Los Angeles-based Fullscreen has named a new vice president, the company disclosed this week. Fullscreen named Stu Smith as VP of Talent for the company, which develops online video content. Smith was most recently at Omaze, a company which develops fundraising software, and reportedly will work on developing strategic programs for Fullscreen's talent clients.

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JULY 19, 2018

Los Angeles-based j2 Global , which has made an art out of buying small companies and incorporating them into a large portfolio of acquired companies, has acquired two more companies, saying this morning that it completed two more acquisitions in Q2. j2 Global said it acquired certain assets of Line2, which will join its cloud services arm, and Mosaik Solutions, which will become part of its digital media operations.

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JUNE 26, 2018

Los Angeles-based CLoud Constellation Corporation , which is in the midst of planning a satellite constellation aimed at providing high speed, cloud storage from space, said today that it has signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ARABSAT). Cloud Constellation said the two have agreed to develop a go-to-market strategy for enterprise and government customers in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Central Asia.

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