Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. It is also a result of pent-up demand. If the stock market holds then the pace of VC may hold steady. The VC constipation is coupled with structural changes in our industry.

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Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

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Venture Capital Marketing Startup Social Network 255

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2010

This morning, we're sharing the insights of Greg Martin , a venture capitalist at Archer Venture Capital. I left a great firm, Redpoint Ventures (after 11 years), to start a new firm, Archer Venture Capital. What was the biggest news for you/your firm this year? 2010 was a momentus year for me personally.

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Venture Capital Capital Rustic Canyon Southern California 234

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

To see the video of This Week in VC click on this link. What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures).

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Venture Capital Google Web Sites 225

socalTECH

MAY 3, 2018

On-demand, car wash startup Washe , which lets users connect with professional mobile car washers, said this week that it has raised $3.5M in a seed funding, to help it to "greatly expand" its operation sin Los Angeles, as well as expand into other new markets.

Demand 100

Demand Southern California Seed Funding Startup 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Culver City-based Clutter , which offers up "on-demand" self storage of your extra stuff, has raised $200M in a Series D funding, the company announced on Wednesday morning. According to Clutter, the Series D funding was led by SoftBank Vision Fund with participation from Sequoia, Atomico, GV, Fifth Wall and Four Rivers.

Demand 113

Demand Culver City Orange County San Diego 113

Xconomy

OCTOBER 9, 2018

Every month, there’s news of another partnership among carmakers like GM and tech companies such as Uber, as they vie for dominant roles in a transportation future where individual car ownership may largely give way to rides-on-demand from fleets of autonomous and tech-enabled vehicles.

Mobile 83

Mobile High Tech News Marketing 83

socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2016

Los Angeles-based on-demand, massage service Soothe has raised another $35M in funding to expand its service into more cities, the company said on Thursday. Soothe is led by Merlin Kauffman, and lets users book both through a mobile app, through its website, or even a phone call. The funding came from the Riverside Company.

Demand 100

Demand Riverside Services Startup 100

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2015

On-demand pickup service Curbside , which develops a mobile, on-demand app and associated service that lets users buy products from retailers such as Target and Best Buy, and pick them up later that day, is planning to expand to Southern California.

Southern California 100

Southern California Demand Services SoCal 100

socalTECH

DECEMBER 4, 2014

uber ridesharing fundraising venture capital ride taxi mobile ondemand demand smartphone' That fundraising completely dwarfs recent funding rounds for Sidecar ( $15M in September ), and Flywheel ( $12M in November ), and is several times larger than the $250M raised by Lyft in April. READ MORE>>.

Demand 166

Demand Venture Capital Mobile Los Angeles 166

socalTECH

JUNE 14, 2017

Los Angeles- and New York-based SURE , which offers up personal insurance, on-demand, via a mobile app, has raised $8M in a funding round. The Series A funding was led by IA Capital, and also included Menlo Ventures, FF Venture Capital, Nationwide Ventures, Assurant and AmTrust.

Mobile 100

Mobile Venture Capital Demand Los Angeles 100

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 20, 2014

Mobile on-demand taxi app developer Flywheel , which has been attempting to leverage the existing taxi and transportation infrastructure in Los Angeles to go head-to-head against Uber, said Thursday that it has raised $12.0M The new funding came from TCW, Rockport Capital, and Shasta Ventures. READ MORE>>.

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Venture Capital Los Angeles Mobile Demand 147

socalTECH

JUNE 20, 2012

A trio of online advertising vets are heading up a new, mobile advertising firm, Gradient X , which said this morning that it has raised $3.75M in a seed financing round. The firm said it will provide a demand side platform focused on advertising on mobile media. READ MORE>>.

Mobile 140

Mobile OpenX GRP Partners Advertising 140

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Los Angeles-based subscription air travel provider Surf Air Mobility Corporation --the latest incarnation of Surf Air--says an investor has promised it $200M in investment, if the company manages to go public. Surf Air Mobility Corp.

Mobile 124

Mobile Demand Invest Los Angeles 124

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 23, 2019

One year after a $38 million Series B valued on-demand aviation startup Blade at $140 million, the company has begun taxiing the Bay Area’s elite. Blade, led by founder and chief executive officer Rob Wiesenthal, a former Warner Music Group executive, has raised about $50 million in venture capital funding to date.

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Van Nuys Help Startup Google 279

socalTECH

OCTOBER 21, 2016

San Diego-based GoShare , the developer of an on-demand, moving and delivery app, has raised $1M in a seed funding round, the company said on Friday. The company--which calls itself the "Uber for Trucks"--said the funding was led by race car driver and entrepreneur Claudio Burtin, and also included Dr. David Panton (Panton Equit Partners).

Demand 100

Demand San Diego Seed Funding Los Angeles 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

-Incubated by Clearstone Ventures in 2008. Geodelic develops free mobile applications to easily browse your surroundings (restaurants, banks, businesses, etc). Includes content mobile guides, ie. Includes 70,000 apps for all major mobile OS platforms, including Apple’s. Tags: This Week in Venture Capital.

Zag 248

Zag Truecar Venture Capital CarsDirect 248

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

With the new capital, SpotOn has raised $628 million since its inception. The latest investment is being used to finance the acquisition of another company in the space — Appetize, a digital and mobile commerce payments platform for enterprises such as sports and entertainment venues, theme parks and zoos. Image Credits: SpotOn.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

socalTECH

OCTOBER 9, 2017

Los Angeles-based venture investor Rustic Canyon Partners is one of the returning investor in a new round for mobile, on-demand babysitting app and marketplace provider UrbanSitter. UrbanSitter said last week that it has raised $17M in a Series C funding round.

Rustic Canyon 113

Rustic Canyon Funding Demand Los Angeles 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

Josh Brooks , OnTheRunTech.com dba Post Cards On The Run (Los Angeles, mobile apps). Sean Callahan , SlimSurveys (San Diego, mobile apps). Greg Cohn , Burner (Los Angeles, mobile app). Sam Friedman , ParkMe (Santa Monica, mobile apps). Melani Gordon , Taphunter (San Diego, mobile apps).

Southern California 279

Southern California SoCalTech Dollar Shave Club Santa Monica 279

Xconomy

MARCH 20, 2018

Mythic , which last year unveiled its novel computer chip designed for artificial intelligence, announced today that it has raised $40 million in a Series B fundraising round led by the venture capital arm of Japanese telecom and tech giant SoftBank.

Artificial Inteligence 77

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Venture Capital Software Review 77

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Investors demand more than that. What The Heck Does “Traction” Really Mean To A VC? Great analysis from John Greathouse: Do You Speak VC? A Beginner's Guide to Investors How to Speak the Language of Venture Capital Now that You've Got MVP, It's Time to Think About MVC You can't raise money on achieving an MVP.

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Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 12, 2008

Los Angeles-based FlipSwap , which operates an electronics trade-in service for mobile phones and other electronics, said Wednesday that it has raised $14M in a Series B funding round. The funding came from RRE Ventures, and cleantech VC NGEN. READ MORE>>

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Funding Venture Capital Demand Mobile 100

socalTECH

OCTOBER 15, 2019

San Diego-based last mile transportation startup Wheels , which offers up on-demand bicycles, has raised $50M in a new round of funding, the company said today. The funding was led by DBL Partners.

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San Diego Demand Funding Startup 113

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Today I’m handing her the largest A-round check I’ve ever written as a VC as we lead her $10 million A-Round at uBeam. As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. Was there consumer demand? No brainer.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

These are industries where structural impediments to technology adoption have only recently been broken down by the advent of incredibly powerful mobile devices. Finally for startups there’s a $31 billion available for programs that give small businesses access to credit, venture capital, and R&D dollars.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

socalTECH

OCTOBER 16, 2019

TDK Ventures , the venture investment arm of TDK Corporation , has made an investment in Los Angeles-based Wheels , the last-mile, on-demand, electric bicycle company led by Josh Viner. According to TDK Ventures, the investment came as part of the recently announced funding round led by DBL Partners.

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Invest Demand Los Angeles Funding 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 31, 2019

Los Angeles-based on-demand moving and storage company Clutter is reported to be raising somewhere between $200M to $250M in a new funding round, according to a report today, saying that the yet-to-be-completed round is being led by Softbank. Citing "sources", the report by TechCrunch said the round values Clutter at between $400M and $500M.

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Report Funding Demand Google 113

socalTECH

APRIL 25, 2013

com) recently scored a round of funding from such notable investors as Data Collective, Brad Jones of Redpoint Ventures, Horizon Ventures, and TenOneTen Ventures, the new Southern California venture capital firm headed by Gil Elbaz and David Waxman. It''s mobile and mobile apps, but not just mobile apps.

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Technology Google Commerce Southern California 216

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2015

the developer of a mobile, on-demand marketplace to find dog walkers, said last week that it has raised $2.45M in a seed funding round. The funding came from Freestyle Cpaital, Greylock, Crunchfund, Slow Ventures, Social Leverage, and RRE Ventures. Los Angeles-based Wag! ,

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Seed Funding Demand Los Angeles Mobile 100

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 31, 2022

Yet despite billions in VC money and plenty of hype , the future that micromobility companies promised still hasn’t quite arrived. Fluctuo, an aggregator of shared mobility data, found the average scooter trip length in Paris was 2.67 Or, maybe scooters just aren’t reliable as forms of transport for longer journeys.

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Los Angeles San Pedro Santa Monica Study 257

socalTECH

OCTOBER 31, 2014

We spoke with Kara Norton and Phoebe Hayman about the newly merged company, and how Pinterest and mobile are a key to the company''s business  and how the company doesn''t think of it as an e-commerce or retail brand, but a little bit of both. The two most important are Pinterst and mobile. We''re mobile first.

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Commerce Mobile Startup Product 138

SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 3, 2009

Sophisticated digital consumer devices such as the iPod, Xbox, Archos PMP, and Mobile Smartphones along with the broadband networks that connect themhave quickly moved the distribution of content to the digital world. Saturday, May 9, 2009 -- "New Paths Toward Convergence" Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum. See [link] (more).

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Enterprise Forum CalTech IP Content 100

socalTECH

JULY 31, 2020

Indi's app lets users tag products they are enthusiastic about, and earn commissions when people buy those products; allows experts to create on-demand videos teaching different skills; payment for peer-to-peer feedback; and much more.

Demand 113

Demand Content Funding Help 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 30, 2018

Los Angeles-based on-demand, dog walking startup Wag has raised an enormous, $300M funding round, the company announced Tuesday morning. Wag said the funding comes from SoftBank Vision Fund. As part of the funding, the company said it has named Hilary SChneider as its new CEO.

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Symantec Funding Yahoo Demand 138

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 25, 2015

I take my hat off to people like Adam Miller , the CEO of LA-based Cornerstone on Demand, who started at the exact same time as I did (November 1999) and is still the CEO but now of a public company valued at around $2 billion. Its a big to-do list and one that demands someone experienced in operating at this sort of scale.

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Demand SaaS Startup Sales 150

socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2010

For this morning's interview, we thought we'd talk with Los Angeles-based Sidebar (www.sidebar.com), a venture backed startup in the mobile space, to learn more about what they are up to. Patrick Kennedy: Sidebar is a company that was founded to bring consumers personalized content, focused on mobile delivery of that content.

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Content Screening Mobile Customer 189