socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Los Angeles-based Crush Capital, a startup founded by Darren Marble and Todd Goldberg, said on Wednesday that it has raised $3.25M in a seed funding round, which will go towards its own, online streaming series called "Going Public".

Capital 113

Capital Seed Funding Venture Capital Los Angeles 113

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Leonardo DiCaprio is making a significant commitment to the Los Angeles-based investment firm, Struck Capital , as part of the actor’s commitment to building LA into a tech development powerhouse. DiCaprio has already made a number of investments in startup companies that have done very well for the Academy Award-winning actor.

Capital 188

Capital Funding Los Angeles Invest 188

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 19, 2018

million in seed funding to begin building a manufacturing facility and expand its presence in Los Angeles as the city continues to grow as a hub for robotics and automation. . After about a year of research, the company launched with an initial investment of $1.2 Elementary Robotics has raised $3.6

Los Angeles 207

Los Angeles Angel Artificial Inteligence CalTech 207

socalTECH

JANUARY 29, 2020

This week, Los Angeles-based Crosscut Ventures announced a brand new effort to provide health and wellness to the founders of companies it invests in, helping those founders with well being, mental health, stress management, coaching, and leadership development. Tell us about this new program?

Invest 113

Invest Framework Coach Startup 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

If you follow the Twittersphere you may have noticed several people weighing in on this recent piece by Mike Isaac of the NY Times, asking “ How Many Angels is Too Many? ” I found myself nodding through all of it with quotes like, “Seed investing is the status symbol of Silicon Valley,” said Sam Altman.

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Angel Startup Seed Funding Invest 150

TechCrunch LA

MAY 23, 2019

The Los Angeles ecosystem is $76 million stronger today as Fika Ventures , a seed-stage venture capital firm, announces its sophomore investment fund. Fika invests roughly half of its capital exclusively in startups headquartered in LA, with a particular fondness for B2B, enterprise and fintech companies.

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Funding Startup Seed Funding Los Angeles 218

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

Santa Monica-based GoCoin --one of the first BitCoin startups to emerge out of the Silicon Beach technology ecosystem--said today that it has raised $550,000 in a seed funding round, to develop a platform to enable the purchasing of good and services around the world with Bitcoin. angel seed purchase capital venture bitcoin gocoin'

Beachbody 211

Beachbody Seed Funding Santa Monica Platform 211

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. Seed has become an option factory for many. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. That used to be called A-round investing. It’s just now that we’re Seed Investors.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2021

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Fundraising is indeed brutally tough at all stages, and seed funding is the hardest to find.

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Software Review Seed Funding Funding Startup 123

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2014

in seed funding for its service, from such angels as Aaron Batalion (LivingSocial), Ben Huh (The Cheezburger Network), Naval Ravikant (AngelList), Paige Craig, Jillian Manus, Mike Walsh, and Structure Capital, along with Double M Capital, Venture51, Expansion, and Karlin Ventures. Honk also revealed that it has raised $1.8M

Help 190

Help Services Demand Santa Monica 190

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. Here are eight key insights that will help you find a productive match: Angels want equity ownership, not causes. Angels prefer strong teams to big ideas.

Angel 106

Angel Startup Venture Capital Seed Funding 106

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Many entrepreneurs struggle with their setbacks.

Entrepreneur 288

Entrepreneur Startup Slides Seed Funding 288

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. would you want to give up the right to invest in subsequent rounds?

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

socalTECH

OCTOBER 15, 2014

The Disney Accelerator said that Smart Toy was acquired by Los Angeles-based children''s product firm Cartwheel Kids, and that SnowShoe raised $2.2M in its seed funding round. Disney offered up up to $120K in investment capital, access to entrepreneurs and executives at Disney, and other resources to its startups.

Class 185

Class Startup Seed Funding Entertainment 185

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. This post is for those who want to raise angel money. At an angel round you can get away with no market validation.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 7, 2016

Los Angeles-based Armorway , which develops data analytics software which uses artificial intelligence (AI) for cybersecurity response, has raised $2.5M in a seed funding round.

Artificial Inteligence 100

Artificial Inteligence Platform Southern California Seed Funding 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2021

More and more entrepreneurs are hearing about the successful graduates and investors queued behind a few well-known startup incubators, including Y Combinator, TechStars, and the Founder Institute. Initial funding. Every successful incubator has strong leadership and staff with business and investment credentials. Peer support.

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Incubator Technical Review Entrepreneur Mentor 146

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2018

We sat down with Kelly ahead of the announcement to chat about the new fund, why they think military veterans are particularly well suited as startup entrepreneurs, why the two went from organizing individual deals for funding to a formal fund, and more. I'm in Los Angeles, and Craig is in Austin.

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Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 164

socalTECH

OCTOBER 18, 2011

Irvine-based K5Launch , a new venture accelerator started by angel investors Amir Banafatemi, Ray Chan, David Cheng, and Kai Tao, is looking to spawn the growth of startups in Southern California, saying today that it has launched its efforts in the area.

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Orange County Southern California Seed Funding Mentor 208

socalTECH

AUGUST 14, 2014

Vadio , the developer of a platform which helps match music videos and ads with streaming music , said Thursday that it has raised $2M in a seed funding round, which included Mucker Capital, Amplify.LA, as well as other LA investors. READ MORE>>.

Capital 138

Capital Funding Seed Funding Incubator 138

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

No, Jason Calacanis , the Santa Monica angel investor, and CEO and founder of Mahalo , isn''t bootstrapping a new company and reverting to the hungry''s entrepreneur diet. The size of the investment round was not announced.

Mahalo 140

Mahalo Sites Santa Monica Conference 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. He is going gangbusters, and is now targeting a $50M second round of funding. The hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play. Super Angels.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Seed Funding Incubator 101

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” ” And even the venerable Fred Wilson weighed in with how people “ leading vs. following ” in funding rounds play different roles and have different skills.

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Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

We all know that funding markets have changed for startups. The trends are well understood: more angels, more seed funds, more crowdsourcing and so forth. We led an investment round in a company a while ago in which we wrote a seven-figure check and have taken a board seat. There is a reason for this. You betcha.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. So the people who invest in VC funds have two problems.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

socalTECH

JANUARY 27, 2010

The Tech Coast Angels is stressing its mixer program, seed investment efforts, and a new website, as it kicks off a 2010 program, according to the angel investing group. The group also said it is focusing on its SeedTrack program, which is specifically focused on seed stage funding and extensive mentoring.

Tech Coast Angels 157

Tech Coast Angels Orange County Seed Funding Santa Barbara 157

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2013

The number of startups getting seed funding in 2012 jumped by 65% over the previous year to a total of 1749, according to a recent report by CB Insights. Seed investments” are early stage financings (typically less than $1.5 million) made by either Angels or venture capitalists, or both. This is nothing new.

Startup 99

Startup Invest Venture Capital Seed Funding 99

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

I know many super experienced entrepreneurs who don’t understand the basics of how fund size and age can affect them so I thought it was worth establishing a baseline. First, if the VC does 15-20 of these under one partner then it is certain he can’t spend any time with these investments. Let me explain: 1.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Invest 265

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Funding 96

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Make sure everyone comes with an entrepreneur mindset for real innovation. In my experience, team members with an entrepreneur mindset are rare in mature companies, due to a growing focus on low risk fixed processes, narrow job roles with specialized expertise, and long-term tenure. Entrepreneurs crave more ownership.

Incubator 143

Incubator Seed Funding Metrics Customer 143

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2014

More and more entrepreneurs are hearing about the successful graduates and investors queued behind a few well-known startup incubators, including Y Combinator, TechStars, and the Founder Institute. Initial funding. Every successful incubator has strong leadership and staff with business and investment credentials. Peer support.

Incubator 103

Incubator Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor 103

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

Even if you work every day in the world of new-venture funding, as I do, the options are confusing, and their meanings seem to change on a regular basis. I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. A seed-stage “super angel.”

Funding 104

Funding Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding 104

socalTECH

OCTOBER 23, 2012

One of the biggest complaints that local entrepreneurs have with Los Angeles has been a dearth of local sources of venture capital. However, the recent surge in startup activity has attracted a lot more capital into the area, including a significant amount of capital from LA's latest fund: Karlin Ventures (www.karlinvc.com).

Funding 253

Funding Startup Invest Commerce 253

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113

socalTECH

DECEMBER 6, 2017

Los Angeles-based venture investment firm CrossCut Ventures (www.crosscut.vc) announced this morning that it has raised its fourth fund, CrossCut 4 , a brand new, $125M early stage investment fund. We spoke with one of the firm's four Managing Directors, Clinton Foy , about the big new fund and its investments.

Funding 100

Funding Southern California Riot Games Activision 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community. Startup Boost became global, growing to six cities in 2018 (Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Detroit, Dublin and London), helping over 70 early stage startups. What was the biggest lesson you learned this year?

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Fundraising is indeed brutally tough at all stages, and the seed funding is the hardest to find.

Software Review 106

Software Review Funding Startup Seed Funding 106