socalTECH

MAY 31, 2019

Los Angeles-based Snap Inc. , the parent firm of Snapchat , has sold off Placed , a developer of location intelligence and offline attribution software tools. The acquisition by Foursquare came after it raised a new $150M investment from the Raine Group. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced.

Snapchat 124

Snapchat Acquisition Los Angeles Tool 124

socalTECH

APRIL 11, 2014

Los Angeles-based Tinder , the mobile dating app developer led by Sean Rad, is now worth over $5 billion, according to a report Friday from Bloomberg. A valuation of $5 billion puts Tinder''s worth above the $3 billion offer that Snapchat rejected last year from Facebook. Bloomberg cited "people with knowledge of the deal."

Report 190

Report Snapchat Social Network Venture Capital 190

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 21, 2014

Snapchat, the messaging pioneer leads the charge with a staggering $123 million raised (and a valuation of $3-4 billion) even amongst a strange series of uncertainty surrounding their denial of Facebook’s $3 billion cash offer and security leaks. Originally posted by the good people at Built In Los Angeles.

Los Angeles 105

Los Angeles Angel Startup Snapchat 105

socalTECH

JANUARY 17, 2014

Southern California''s venture capital investments totaled a little more than $598.4M The investments were a drop from Q4 of 2012, $711.8M was invested in the region. billion was invested across Southern California''s technology industry. in the quarter and social media darling Snapchat raised $50.0M. For Q4, $8.4

Southern California 246

Southern California Venture Capital Orange County Tech Coast Angels 246

socalTECH

JULY 18, 2013

in venture capital investments in Q2 2013 across Southern California, spread across 80 deals. Those numbers reflected a drop from Q2 of last year, when there was $868.98M in investments across 97 deals. However, venture dollars invested were above Q1, when Southern California saw $569.1M in investments across 90 deals.

Southern California 187

Southern California Venture Capital Tech Coast Angels Capital 187

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 17, 2018

Based in Los Angeles, Lensabl already has an agreement inked with the city’s latest tech wunderkind, partnering with the spectacles-producing augmented reality luminaries at Snap. “We are the preferred prescription provider of Snapchat Spectacles,” says Lensabl chief executive Andrew Bilinsky.

Snapchat 179

Snapchat Los Angeles Pricing Startup 179

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Upfront Ventures was created 20 years ago as one of the original VC funds in Los Angeles. Back then only 15% of our dollars were invested locally whereas today 50% of our dollars are invested in LA. Back then only 15% of our dollars were invested locally whereas today 50% of our dollars are invested in LA.

Dollar Shave Club 321

Dollar Shave Club Cornerstone OnDemand Riot Games Venture Capital 321

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

Venice, California-based early stage, pre-seed investment fund and accelerator Amplify.LA has released its latest report on the state of the Los Angeles technology scene, saying that the city had a "landmark year". In the report, Amplify.LA

Snapchat 100

Snapchat Venice Los Angeles Report 100

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 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. READ MORE>>.

Class 185

Class Startup Seed Funding Entertainment 185

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 27, 2013

Meet the next generation of startup success stories at Be Great Fest in Los Angeles. Their mission: to support a charity, savor the hot SoCal nightlife, and transform Los Angeles into the startup capital of the world. Although the Startup Genome Project named Los Angeles the No. 3 startup ecosystem in the world, with L.A.

Los Angeles 101

Los Angeles Angel Startup Venture Capital 101

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2016

billion funding round for Snapchat. The most amount of investment came for the Los Angeles-Long Beach MSA, which saw $247.6M in investments in the quarter, followed by $197.5M Another $28.68M was invested in Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, plus Ventura. for San Diego, then $189.0M in funding in Orange County.

Southern California 100

Southern California Orange County Report Santa Barbara 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Here are the venture firms who have been most active in SoCal (Santa Babrara - Los Angeles - Orange County - San Diego) in the last twelve months, based on the number of deals: 1. Most recent investments: GOAT, cloudvirga, Vemba, LootCrate, Invoca. Most recent investments: EventBoard, Sensay, Shipt, Scopely, ALL DEF DIGITAL.

Southern California 100

Southern California Dollar Shave Club Lootcrate Orange County 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” And it wasn’t just Google Ad Words that originated in Los Angeles. LA By The Numbers. acquired Overture for $1.63

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2022

Identify the total investment required for profitability. A very common mistake of early-stage startups is to request a small investment to get started. But some of you will surely say “What about Facebook and Snapchat, who focused on growth first and are clearly successful?” So let’s take a look.

Platform 118

Platform Snapchat Startup Course 118

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 5, 2022

From Los Angeles to Silicon Valley , a trend emerged among social media influencers and startup founders alike: move into a mansion with 10 or so collaborators, work day and night together to build fame and wealth, and hope that your new roommates do their dishes. “Some of these programs are cool, but it’s like, what’s after that?

Platform 210

Platform Social Media Netflix Content 210

socalTECH

DECEMBER 2, 2016

Los Angeles-based Joymode , the new startup led by Joe Fernandez which is hoping to people to invest in experiences, not stuff , is hoping to show off its new service with a pop-up shop in Sunset Junction next week.

Santa Monica 100

Santa Monica Snapchat Los Angeles Services 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2014

Maynard Webb) and the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. I’m super proud of the work produced by Gravity , a local #LATech company I invested in who was recently sold to AOL for $90 million. We also had many senior studio executives and leaders. Buying local teams with talented engineering groups. Maker Studios. FullScreen.

Startup 318

Startup Santa Monica Snapchat Yahoo 318

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2016

This continues to solidify Los Angeles’ place as a major player in the global tech ecosystem and while any one success doesn’t define a city — the number of high-profile startups and exits has definitely increased. But mostly I’m just happy for Michael, his team, for Science and for the continued success of the Los Angeles startup community.

Dollar Shave Club 150

Dollar Shave Club Venture Capital News Snapchat 150

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

The world’s top tech companies have heavily invested in AR/VR and are persistent in broadcasting the technologies’ potential to blur the lines of how consumers interact with the digital world. UCLA, Los Angeles // October 18. In the meantime, check out these agenda highlights: TechCrunch Sessions: AR/VR. Your Virtual Self.

UCLA 185

UCLA Startup Snapchat Los Angeles 185

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

Chance Barnett , Crowdfunder (Los Angeles, crowdfunding). Allison Beal , StyleSaint (Los Angeles, fashion). James Borow and Clark Landry (shared position), SHIFT (Los Angeles, Santa Monica, advertising). Josh Brooks , OnTheRunTech.com dba Post Cards On The Run (Los Angeles, mobile apps).

Southern California 279

Southern California SoCalTech Dollar Shave Club Santa Monica 279

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 14, 2019

. “The way I look at it… a lot of it is going to be like any kind of content studio,” says Peter Rojas, a partner at the New York investment firm Betaworks Ventures. ” Los Angeles-based Brud is by far the most established of this new breed in the U.S. (at at least in terms of the amount of money it has raised).

Social Media 261

Social Media Content Media Artificial Inteligence 261

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

Earlier this week, Derek Norton , a long time advisor to the media, Internet, and technology industry in Los Angeles, announced a brand new venture capital fund called Watertower Ventures (www.watertowerventures.com). Where are you planning making investments? Derek Norton: We're investing in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and New York.

Invest 145

Invest Funding Capital Startup 145

socalTECH

DECEMBER 22, 2016

Cody Simms: Techstars tripled down on Los Angeles in 2016 with the launch of three investment and mentorship programs for startups through which we will be investing in more than 30 startups per year in LA. Cody Simms: Locally in LA the Snapchat IPO will have a huge impact on our local startup ecosystem.

Southern California 100

Southern California Snapchat Yahoo Social Media 100

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 16, 2013

Previously known as GRP Partners, Upfront Ventures has focused on early stage investments since 1996. Fun Fact: Los Angeles heavy hitters J.J. Fun Fact: Their latest investment was into LA-based Daqri – the augmented reality platform that has been used for campaigns with Cadillac and MAXIM Magazine. Social Media: Snapchat.

Startup 111

Startup Snapchat Venice Social Media 111

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. But it still takes VC to scale a business (thus large capital into industry winners like Uber, Airbnb, SnapChat, etc). Opportunity funds typically have better economics for the LPs who invest in them.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

Mike Bonin , Council Member, City of Los Angeles. Phillipe Browning , SnapChat. The socalTECH 50 is aimed at identifying and highlighting the top 50 people in the technology industry here, who are most likely to create the next big thing, produce the next big exit, or influence the industry in a significant way. Chad Billmeyer , Panjo.

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Lootcrate Southern California Snapchat 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2019

Identify the total investment required for profitability. A very common mistake of early stage startups is to request a small investment to get started. But some of you will surely say “What about Facebook and Snapchat, who focused on growth first and are clearly successful?” Even Snapchat is now trying hard to generate revenue.

Snapchat 74

Snapchat Startup Course Yahoo 74

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2015

As an active investor in the Los Angeles technology market we’re always seeking to better understand the data and trends of why our market has grown so rapidly since 2009. Everybody now knows that LA produced SnapChat, Tinder and Maker Studios. Everybody now knows that LA produced SnapChat, Tinder and Maker Studios.

Marketing 150

Marketing Newsletter Venture Capital Blogging 150

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2020

Our interview today is with Scott Grimes , the CEO of Los Angeles-based Stackin' , which operates a text-based, financial messaging platform. There are lots of others trying to put content on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tiktok, which is more about entertainment around social media. Stackin recentlyraised $12.6M

Content 124

Content Social Media Startup Artificial Inteligence 124

TechCrunch LA

JULY 23, 2016

Los Angeles didn’t have much in terms of a real tech scene — and even San Francisco only had a few VCs or tech companies. Now, VC offices have sprung up in San Francisco, moving more of the investment energy up there. It wasn’t so long ago that venture capital was a suburban California phenomenon.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Los Angeles Activity Dollar Shave Club 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2017

Identify the total investment required for profitability. A very common mistake of early stage startups is to request a small investment to get started. But some of you will surely say “What about Facebook and Snapchat, who focused on growth first and are clearly successful?” Even Snapchat is now trying hard to generate revenue.

Snapchat 55

Snapchat Startup Course Yahoo 55

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

Prime examples include Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat. People are even talking about “decacorns" -- investable companies with net worth now exceeding $10 billion -- like Dropbox and Pinterest. Seed-round investment. This term refers to an initial venture-capital investment, often wrongly sought to seed early product development.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards. Bad board members can make business very unpleasant. But it’s quite rare.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 9, 2016

We are an innovation, investment, and advisory firm. Manatt is a significant brand in the digital media space, particularly in Los Angeles, and it's a great place, and we'll continue to collaborate on opportunities. Does this include investments or an investment fund? The word firm is not even a word we like.

Media 100

Media Blogging Hulu Invest 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

There are so many events to attend that one could become a full time conference attendee and you could easily feel like you’re missing out with each event that happens without you and of course there is Twitter and Instagram and Snapchat to remind you just how fun it was for everybody else. For investors life is no different.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

Zach Games: Rich and I were trying to build a big software company here in LA, and in order to that, you need people who are invested in the ecosystem. We wanted their late stage investing experience, and their experience in social software, which they have through Buddy Media and other companies they have invested in.

Hollywood 159

Hollywood Help Media Content 159

socalTECH

DECEMBER 18, 2019

Michael Lynton , the LA-based angel who is Chairman and CEO at Sony Pictures, and also chairman of Snap, Inc., is one of the backers in a new startup focused on workforce diversity. According to Jumpstart , it raised $8.5M

Capital 100

Capital Angel Funding Help 100