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DECEMBER 15, 2020

El Segundo-based NEOGOV , which develops human resources software for the public sector, says it has agreed to merge with PowerDMS , a developer of cloud-based compliance software. Financial details of the merger were not announced. PowerDMS develops compliance software used to track compliance with politics, training, and industry standards. NEOGOV said the merger will expand its product offerings.

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DECEMBER 15, 2020

Los Angeles-based life sciences investor Westlake Village BioPartners announced today that it has raised two new venture capital funds, worth a total of $500M, for its investments in biotech companies. According to the company, its two funds include Opportunity I, worth $70M, which will invest in additional Series B or later-round capital into promising companies they incubated or invested in with their original fund, Westlake BioPartners 1 (WBP1).

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OCTOBER 28, 2020

San Monica-based Happy Returns , which operates services to help online, e-commerce retailers handle and accept returns, and retail and e-commerce returns processing company Inmar Intelligence said this morning that the two have entered into an agreement where Inmar Intelligence will be a reseller of Happy Returns' Returns Bar and Online Returns Exchange Services (ORES).

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OCTOBER 28, 2020

Los Angeles-based mobile games developer Scopely announced this morning that it has raised a huge, $340M Series E funding round. According to the company, the new funding came from Wellington Management, NewView Capital, TSG Consumer Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), funds managed by BlackRock, D1, Battery Ventures, Eldridge, Declaration Partners, and Moore Strategic Ventures, plus Greycroft, Baillie Gifford, Sands Capital, Revolution Growth, and Highland Capital

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

Amazon and Rivian , the electric vehicle developer with operations in Irvine and Carson, California, have revealed Amazon's first electric delivery vehicle, which Amazon plans to roll out as part of its climate efforts. According to Amazon, it plans to roll out its electric delivery vehicles as early as 2022, with 100,000 on the road by 2030. Amazon said it is looking to be net zero carbon by 2040.

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

Los Angeles-based Harbor , a startup which is developing apps to gamify the process of preparing your family and home from disasters and emergencies, has launched its iOS app , three months after announcing its seed funding. The startup is led by former Headspace executive Dan Kessler, and raised $5M in August. The company's app guides users through different things they can do to improve their emergency and disaster preparedness, based on their zip code.

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JULY 22, 2020

Santa Barbara-based TrackStreet , a developer of brand protection software, has raised $5.1M in a funding round. According to the company, the round--a Seed-2 funding--was led by Okapi Capital, and also included The Cove Fund, Early Light Ventures, SaaS Venture Capital, and Stage Venture Partners and Brad Perry (co-founder of Dealer Socket), along with others.

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JULY 20, 2020

Hawthorne-based SpaceX has again successfully put another payload into space, this time, a military communications satellite for South Korea. The launch--which happened at 5:30pm ET--is the fastest turnaround for a Falcon 9 rocket, using the same Falcon 9 that carried NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station in May.

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JUNE 24, 2020

Los Angeles-based Pipe Technologies , which is developing a subscription financing platform to help software companies finance their businesses without debt or dilution, has raised $60M in a funding round, the company said on Wednesday. The company said the equity and asset financing is an extension of its seed funding round, and was led by Fin VC, and also included new investors Tribe Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Lachy Groom, Anthemis, along with prior investors Craft Ventures, Fika Ventures

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JUNE 15, 2020

San Diego-based Qualcomm Technologies has launched a new program to help small businesses move towards the "mobile-first" world, the company said last week. According to Qualcomm, its Qualcomm Small Business Accelerator Program will offer up products powered by Qualcomm Technologies solutions, plus collaboration tools and technical and integration support, so they can continue to maintain operations throughout the current global pandemic and beyond.

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JUNE 15, 2020

Los Angeles-based LegalZoom , which provides online legal help and documents, says it has named Nicole Miller as the company's General Counsel. Miller was most recently General Counsel at The Honest Company, and also had previously served at Cooley and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. LegalZoom said Miller will lead the company's legal organization and provide strategic guidance on compliance, risk management, and corporate governance.

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JUNE 15, 2020

Recently, A new, nonprofit organization, Gift A Plate (www.giftaplate,org), launched effrts in Los Angeles, to allow people to donate to help both restaurants and families in need. The organization said it is looking to help aid restaurants and families who have been greatly impacted by COVID-19 in LA. The new nonprofit is was created by software company PlateIQ (www.plateiq.com), and is led by Bhavuk Kaul, who who chatted with about the new effort.

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MAY 14, 2020

Newport Beach-based NextVR , a developer of virtual reality technology, has been acquired by Apple , Apple disclosed on THursday afternoon. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. NextVR's backers had included CITIC Guoan Information Industry Co Ltd, NetEase, CMC Holdings, SoftBank Corp., VMS Investment Group, Founder H Fund, China Asset (Holdings) Limited, Spectrum 28, Formation Group, Time Warner Investments, Comcast Ventures, Stephen Ross's RSE Ventures, Mandalay Entertainment

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APRIL 7, 2020

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft successfully splashed down 300 miles southwest of Long Beach at 2:50pm on Tuesday, after the 20th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. The spacecraft was loaded with more than 4,000 pounds of scientific experiments and cargo. According to NASA, experiments on the returning Dragon included one focused on making food and nutrients in space; an experiment focused on developing technology for printing human organs in space, and a 3D heart cel

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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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MARCH 30, 2020

Anaheim-based IronOrbit , which provides virtualization and cloud services for businesses, says it has geared up to help other businesses set up remotely, as a result of work-from-home measures to counter the coronavirus pandemic. The company--like many others--says it has been helping many users relocate from corporate offices to remote workspaces.

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MARCH 30, 2020

Los Angeles-based venture investor Moonshots Capital is the lead investor in Zabo , a developer of software which helps financial institutions link bank accounts to cryptocurrency wallets. Zabo recently raised $2.5M in funding for its cryptocurrency effort, which also included Blockchange Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, the Tezos Foundation, CoinShares, Digital Currency Group, and Capital Factory.

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FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Los Angeles-based Liquid Death , the canned water brand backed by Science, Inc., has raised $9M in a Series A funding, as the company continues to expand distribution of its products. The company--known as much for the way it markets its products as the product itself--said the funding was led by Velvet Sea Ventures, and also included Jamie Siminoff (founder of Ring), Jake Strom and Blake Mycoskie (TOMS), Sophia Amoruso (GirlBoss), and Nick Green (Thrive Market).

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JANUARY 28, 2020

Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand said this morning that it has joined an industry group, which is looking to accelerate the development of a universal blockchain-powered network for human resources. According to the firm, it is a founding member of the Velocity Network Foundation , a nonprofit which also includes Aon's Assessment Solutions, Cisive, HireRight, Korn Ferry, National Student Clearinghouse, Randstad, SAP, SumTotal Systems, SHL, Ultimate Software, Unit4, Upwork, Velocity Career

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JANUARY 28, 2020

ServiceNow , the developer of information technology service management software which has major operatinos in San Diego, has acquired Mountain View-based Passage AI , a developer of conversational AI tools. Financial details of the buy were not announced. According to ServiceNow, the deal will help it advanced its own artificial intelligence capabilities, including the addition of support for all major languages on its platform.

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JANUARY 28, 2020

Santa Monica-based venture capital Troy Capital Partners and alternative investment firm Oaktree Capital announced this morning that they have spun off a new company, Quid , which will provide loans back by pre-IPO shares of stock. According to the companies, the business will provide company employees and shareholders access to money for their shares, with the money repaid when the company has an IPO or sale.

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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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OCTOBER 2, 2019

San Diego-based MemComputing , a startup developing high performance computing (HPC) technology, has been selected by Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV), for CTV's Catalyst Program, which supports early stage companies focused on the oil and gas industry. MemComputing did not say if the selection for participation included an investment from CTV. According to MemComputing, its technology has shown the ability to reduce compute times from hours to seconds for challenging computational problems.

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

Ventura-based 3D printer manufacturer Nexa3D said today that it has added another new member to its board of directors. According to Nexa3D, it has added Frank S. Sklarsky, former CFO of PPG Industries and Tyco International, to its board of directors. Sklarsky previously also served as an executive at such companies as Chrysler and DailmerChrysler, Dell, ConAgra Foods, and Kodak.

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

Irvine-based information technology distributor Ingram Micro said on Monday that its IT asset disposition services arm, Ingram Micro ITAD , will certify under the e-Stewards certification standard, which is administered by the environmental advocacy organization the Basel Action Network (BAN). Ingram Micro said that all of its IT asset processing facilities worldwide will follow the e-Stewards standards within three years, in order to provide "the most responsible level of ITAD services" to its

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

Carlsbad-based Zingle , a developer of mobile messaging and customer experience software for the hospitality, travel , and retail markets, has been acquired by San Francisco-based Medallia , a provider of customer experience management software. Medallia said it will pay approximately $42M in cash for Zingle. Zingle had been backed by Rincon Ventures and Crosscut Ventures, and had raised $3M in its Series A funding round in 2016.

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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 8, 2019

Los Angeles-based co-living community developer Tripalink , which develops themed co-living communities aimed at both young students and young professionals, has raised $10M more in a Series B funding, the company said this week. According to the company, the new round came from Calin SJG Fund, L.P, K2VC, Tekton Ventures, plus Oriza Venture. The company said the funding will go towards market expansion.

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AUGUST 8, 2019

Santa Monica-based Ring , which develops video doorbells and cameras, is extending its efforts to attract business owners to its products. According to Ring, it has launched a new product, Ring for Business, which will let business owners manage and install its Ring Alarm, Ring Video Doorbells and security cameras. Ring says it will offer up 24/7 monitoring, and 60-day video event recording for unlimited cameras at a business location for only $10 per month.

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JUNE 6, 2019

Los Angeles-based Backstage Accelerator , the startup accelerator run by Backstage Capital, which seeks to support underrepresented founders, has received a big boost to its efforts today, after Google said that it will be supporting Backstage Accelerator to help it scale its efforts. According to Google, each startup in the Backstage Accelerator will gain access to Google advisors and product experts, onsite workshops in Google spaces, and access to the Google network of resources and support.

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MAY 28, 2019

A report today, from Reuters, says that the Chinese owner of Los Angeles-based gay dating app developer Grind , gave access to its Beijing-based engineers to the data of millions of Americans, despite U.S. orders to keep that data private. According to the report, Grindr's parent company, Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd gave those Chinese engineers access to private messages and HIV status of millions of Americans, and prompted the recent ruling which ordered the firm to sell Grindr as matter of Nati

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APRIL 30, 2019

Los Angeles-based electric vehicle developer Faraday Future (FF) says it has received a new, $225M Senior Bridge Financing, from Birch Lake Fund Management, LP, ahead of a $1.25 billion equity capital raise it is running with Stifel Nicolaus & Co. According to the EV developer, the new funding will go towards supporting the completion and launch of its flagship vehicle, the FF 91 EV, as well as for development and launch of its mass market FF 81 vehicle in 2021, along with "support" of its v

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MARCH 27, 2019

Burbank-based Entertainment Partners , a provider of workforce management and automated production software and services for the entertainment industry, has been acquired by private equity investor TPG Capital. Financial terms of the buy were not announced. According to Entertainment Partners, the company will continue to be led by its existing management team, led by President and CEO Mark Goldstein.

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MARCH 27, 2019

Santa Monica-based Science Inc. , the startup studio led by former MySpace CEO Michael Jones and startup veteran Peter Pham, is the lead investor in electric motor startup Linear Labs. Linear Labs, which is developing electric motors it says produce twice the torque or force compared to conventional technologies in the same package size, said it raised $4.5M in a seed funding round, led by Science Inc. and Kindred Ventures, and also included Chris and Crystal Sacca, Saltwater Ventures and others

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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

San Diego-based antenna developer Taoglas , which develops antennas for the Internet-of-Things and automotive markets, said that it has launched a new line of MIMO LTE antennas, used for indoor distribution antenna systems (iDAS). According to the company, the new antennas are designed for DAS systems improving connectivity for indoor locations such as office buildings, stadiums, conference centers, shopping malls, hotels and other locations.

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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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