L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Science closes $75 million fund; Elon Musk’s Boring Co. sells all its flamethrowers; and Snapchat is selling hats and sweatshirts inside its app.

Snapchat 247

Snapchat Funding Report 247

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Los Angeles-based TS2 Holdings , a strategic business development firm focused on the technology industry, said on Friday morning that it has acquired three companies, including Neohire South , RockIT Recruiting , and Hero.jobs. Neohire South is a recruiting company with offices in Santa Monica and Tarzana, RockIT Recruiting is a tech recruiting company based in San Francisco, and Hero.jobs is a recuiting software company based in Santa Monica.

El Segundo 230

El Segundo Tarzana Santa Monica Company 230

SoCal Tech Calendar

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Wednesday, February 7, 2018 -- Silicon Beach Networking Mixer at Wurstkuche In Venice (Discounted Beers). Wednesday, February 7th Starting at 6pm! Meet new people and participate in lively discussions with outstanding names in the Silicon Beach community. Make sure to bring your business cards and be ready to make awesome connections with people across all industries.

Venice 100

Venice Networking 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Irvine-based Bitvore , the big data, artificial intelligence, and data analytics startup, has upped its latest funding round to $14.2M, as part of what appears to be an ongoing $17.75M funding effort. According to a regulatory filing by Bitvore, the funding comes as part of an round which kicked off in December of 2016, and so far includes 36 investors.

Artificial Inteligence 170

Artificial Inteligence Funding Tech Coast Angels IBM 170

Advertiser: Aggregage

Office leases are one of companies’ largest expenses, and if your whole team is working from home with no clear end in sight, you may be wondering what to do about your lease.

Company

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

This week, the world was treated to another rare celestial event that completes the Supermoon trifecta – the Super Blue Blood Moon – where people saw a lunar eclipse and a blue moon at the same time. A Supermoon happens “when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit — known as perigee — and about 14 percent brighter than usual,” according to NASA.

Startup 70

Startup Chief Technology Officer Technology Press 70

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

There's a huge amount of newly minted Bitcoin and Blockchain wealth in Southern California--and in particular, Los Angeles--which is now setting down a new base of operations in Puerto Rico , according to a new report from the New York Times, published Friday. The report details how such LA Blockchain moguls as Brock Pierce--director of the Bitcoin foundation--have been looking to remake Puerto Rico into a Bitcoin paradise.

Clearstone 165

Clearstone Southern California Santa Monica Los Angeles 165

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Los Angeles-based online car rental service HyreCar has just raised $1.465M in debt funding, as part of an ongoing $2.3M funding round, according to a regulatory filing from the firm on Thursday. Details on the funding--which appears to be a convertible note or bridge round, with warrants--have not yet been announced. According to those filings, the funding comes on top of $1.65M in equity raised in a round which opened in June of 2017.

CTO Hire 157

CTO Hire Funding Equity Los Angeles 157

Xconomy

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

The State of the Union address was…. long. At one hour and 20 minutes, President Trump fell about 9 minutes shy of the high mark. But those who stayed tuned in heard comments about several health policy matters. The President credited the FDA for a record number of generic drug approvals in 2017, which PwC notes is part of a trend that began three years ago.

San Diego 56

San Diego Blogging Invest Startup 56

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Los Angeles-based on-demand, massage service Soothe says it has acquired fellow LA massage service Melt , the two said this week, to grow Soothe's Los Angeles network. Soothe--which says it is available in over 55 cities across the US, Canada, UK, and Austrlia--did not disclose financial details of the buy. Soothe's CEO and founder is Merlin Kauffman.

Demand 149

Demand Los Angeles Startup Services 149

Xconomy

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ARCT ) said today it has fired co-founder and CEO Joseph E. Payne (on the right in above photo), and named Mark Herber, vice president of business development and alliance management, as interim president. The San Diego-based early stage biotech, which specializes in RNA medicines, did not explain in a statement today why the Arcturus board decided to terminate Payne—only that his dismissal “is not related to Arcturus’ operational performance, ongoing program

Arcturus 56

Arcturus San Diego Pricing Report 56

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Anzu Partners , a venture capital and private equity investors focused on industrial technology with offices in the San Diego area, has quietly raised $128.4M in its first venture capital fund. The company--which has offices in La Jolla, plus Massachusetts, Florida, and Washington, DC.--revealed its fund in December, saying it invests in breakthrough industrial technologies, with a focus on manufacturing, materials, monitoring and measurement, and modeling.

San Diego 133

San Diego Funding Enterprise Partners Venture Capital 133

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Winning customers as an entrepreneur in a startup has many parallels to a young army trying to penetrate some formidable new and unfamiliar territory. You need a strategy as well as a goal, and you need to pick your battles well. Even in this age of purpose before profits, a business won’t survive by pretending there are no competitors out there to worry about.

Entrepreneur 53

Entrepreneur Resource Training Competition 53

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

El Segundo-based Beyond Meat , which develops plant-based foods which look and taste exactly like real meat, says is in a major expansion in Los Angeles. According to Beyond Meat, it is creating a new 26,000 square foot Innovation Center in Los Angeles, with enough room for more than 100 employees. According to Beyond Meat, the new center said the new center will house the "best and brightest" scientists, scientists, engineers, food technologists, chefs, and researchers together for what it call

Los Angeles 124

Los Angeles Manhattan Beach El Segundo Angel 124

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Santa Barbara-based property management software developer Yardi continues to add to its long list of customers, saying late last night that it has added a new customer in London. Yardi said that Triple Point Social Housing will use its Yardi Voyager software for property management, including leasing, tenant services, and accounting operations. Financial details of the win were not announced.

Custom 113

Custom Customer Santa Barbara Software Development 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Los Angeles-based mobile gaming developer FriendO , which develops a social game which lets friends ask each other questions and gather answers, says it has just reached 2.4 million players, only six months of launch. The startup says it is backed by such investors as Brad Jones (of Redpoint Ventures), Mucker Capital, and Michael Greenberg (President of Skechers).

Redpoint 113

Redpoint Mobile Los Angeles Capital 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Los Angeles-based Factual , the location data startup led by Gil Elbaz, said this week that it has launched a brand new set of tools, called Geopulse Insights and Geopulse Measurement. Accordign to Factual, the new tools help marketers understand customer behavior, and link real-world, customer behavior to their online marketing campaigns. Pricing on the new software was not announced.

Tool 100

Tool Google Los Angeles Pricing 100