June, 2019

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Locana, Fueled With $55M, Looks to Develop Fixes for Faulty RNA

Xconomy

Editing human DNA has entered the public consciousness in a big way in recent years with its increasing use in laboratories— and, in recent news that shocked the scientific community, in embryos —of tools such as CRISPR-Cas9. Locana, a gene therapy biotech in San Diego, is taking what it describes as a “parallel path” to developing therapeutics that could potentially fix diseases by changing our genetic code through altering DNA’s molecular compatriot, RNA.

Develop 84
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Connected Classroom Technology and Essentials for K-12 School Districts

Southern California Edison Blog

Connected classrooms are part of a rapid trend to leverage technology to bring learning into a more national and global sphere. Instead of interacting only with their peers sitting next to them, connect classroom technology enables students to reach out to their peers around the country or world, broadening their access to both people and information.

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TenOneTen Ventures Backs Probably Genetic

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based venture investor TenOneTen Ventures is one of the investors in a newly launched startup, which is looking to use artificial intelligence and DNA testing to identify autism and other medical conditions. According to Probably Genetic , it has raised a round of venture capital funding from Khosla Ventures, TenOneTen Ventures, the Oxford Angel FUnd, as well as angels.

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Relativity is building a 3D-printing rocket manufacturing hub in Mississippi

TechCrunch LA

The future of rocket manufacturing has touched down in Mississippi. At NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center , nestled in Hancock County, Miss., right on the border of Louisiana, the Los Angeles-based 3D-printed spacecraft manufacturer, Relativity Space , is planning a massive $59 million expansion to make a permanent manufacturing hub in this bucolic corner of the southeast.

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Can You Ask for Office Rent Relief? How to Manage Your Lease During COVID-19

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.

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Dave Inc. Raises $110 Million, Launches Banking Business

L.A. Business Journal

Santa Monica-based Dave Inc., developers of a financial management mobile app designed to prevent bank overdrafts, announced June 19 a $110 million debt funding raise.

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Do you take those loyal, key customers for granted?

Berkonomics

OK. We know that an executive’s job is not easy. Nor is there much time in a typical day for outreach of any kind. Especially in your growing company, you are drawn into daily process issues by all of your direct reports, often responding to questions and problems, leaving little time for strategic thought. That’s bad behavior! And that behavior results in leaving little time for outreach to the most critical component in your chain – your key customers.

Customer 120

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Four More Through the IPO Door as Life Science Firms Raise $465M

Xconomy

It’s been a strong year for biotech IPOs and Wednesday shaped up to be a particularly busy day as four life science firms debuted on the public markets. So far this year, 72 companies have gone public, according to IPO research firm Renaissance Capital. That total is down 20 percent compared to the same period a year ago. But healthcare IPOs continue to lead the pack, with 33 companies going public—the most of any sector.

Research 108
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New LA Startup Combines Virtual Reality, Massage

socalTECH

Is the future of getting a massage virtual reality? A new, brick-and-mortar startup in Los Angeles, Esquapes sure hopes so, saying on Monday that it plans to launch the world's first ever "virtual reality massage center" in Los Angeles. Esquapes said it has created a center for "automated massages" which combines virtual reality and "curated fragrances" to transport its clients to a "place of relaxation"--whether that's an exotic beach, a desert spa, a tropical jungle, or other locations--to hel

Startup 168
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‘Socially Inept,’ a comedy startup founded by Microsoft employees, roasts tech bros

TechCrunch LA

Everyone gets a kick out of mocking the quintessential San Francisco techie, Patagonia vest and all. ‘ Socially Inept ,’ a new traveling comedy cohort, is making a business out of it. The group has been roasting the tech scene in hubs across the U.S., including Seattle, where the company is based, as well as Los Angeles, Austin and San Francisco, since last summer.

Netflix 237
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Virgin Orbit Partners With Japan's ANA Holdings

L.A. Business Journal

Long Beach-based small satellite launch company Virgin Orbit announced June 6 that it will partner with Japanese firm ANA Holdings to bring Virgin’s LauncherOne rocket launch system to Japan.

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How much do you spend on R&D? Is it enough?

Berkonomics

Why do profitable, mature businesses die away? One of the most obvious reasons mature businesses die away – when we look in the rear view mirror – is that they did not spend to renew their product or service when newer entrants into the business arrived with better products and services built upon newer technology. Should be an easy fix for companies making annual net profit.

.Net 120
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First Time Entrepreneur Workshop 6/22/19

SoCal Tech Calendar

Saturday, June 22, 2019 -- LAVA First Time Entrepreneur Workshop. LAVA is extremely pleased to announce its next First Time Entrepreneur training program. The program is open to entrepreneurs that are starting companies in areas that are likely to draw venture capital investment. The program is not open to service providers. You are encouraged to apply today for one of the 25 slots open in our workshop.

LAVA 100
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Review: Inside the House of Lies at Theranos

Xconomy

Youth. Charm. Fearlessness. Ruthless focus. These can be positive attributes in an entrepreneur, but in a more rational world, technology investors wouldn’t overvalue them. Risk capital would be allocated based mostly on evidence, data, progress towards milestones—in short, on proof. In the real world, of course, proof is hard to come by. Hope, avarice, or fear of missing out often drive investors to plunge ahead.

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Ingram Micro Aims At SQL Server, Windows Server 2008 Migration

socalTECH

Irvine-based Ingram Micro is taking aim at users of Microsoft's end of life Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server 2008 products, saying it has launched a new program to help migrate those products to Microsoft Azure. Ingram Micro--which provides cloud services among its offerings--said its Azure Accelerate program is aimed at helping companies trying to beat Microsoft's end of support date in July for SQL Server and Windows Server 2008.

Pricing 157
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Songtrust adds another 55,000 artists to its rights management service

TechCrunch LA

Over the past year, Songtrust has added another 55,000 artists and songwriters to its rights management service. The company, a subsidiary of Downtown Music, a publishing and rights management firm that manages rights for artists such as John Lennon, One Direction and Santigold, now has 205,000 artists on its roster and has 2 million songs it tracks.

Services 184
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Insight Acquires PCM for $581M in Cash and Debt

L.A. Business Journal

El Segundo-based information technology services firm PCM Inc. will be acquired by Tempe, Ariz.-based Insight Enterprises Inc. in a deal worth roughly $581 million.

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Should a leader support constant change?

Berkonomics

The worrying that always precedes a change. When a new CEO or manager is hired into a company, for a while lots of energy flows from the top and new ideas seem to be generated daily. It is one reason not to fear the unknown when upper level management long in place turns over, often leaving most everyone worrying over how they’ll ever do without their lost leader.

Ideas 120
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LA CEOs: Celebrity Endorsements - Paradigm

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, June 20, 2019 -- LA CEOs: Celebrity Endorsements - Paradigm. Join your CEO and CFO peers in our informative LA CEOs breakfast presentation led by Roger Wood - Partner Paradigm Talent Agency. This sponsor supported event is restricted to qualified CEOs and CFOs only. Confirmed RSVP required. No service providers will be admitted.

Services 100
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Agtech Startup GroGuru Gets Audience Kudos at EvoNexus Demo Day

Xconomy

Three wildly different startups among those incubating at EvoNexus, a La Jolla, CA-based nonprofit organization that supports early-stage tech companies, earned top marks from the audience at a pitch contest this week. EvoNexus typically hosts a “Demo Day” event twice per year to highlight the top startups currently housed in its incubator.

Incubator 105
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Virgin Hyperloop One In Design Link With St. Louis School

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Virgin Hyperloop One , which is developing futuristic transportation technology, says it has linked up with the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. According to Virgin Hyperloop One, the two will create a "Master of Architecture (MArch) studio" to map out the "social, political and physical context of the state" and to and explore "elegant hyperloop infrastructure proposals" for Missouri.

Design 149
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10 Tips To New Venture Leaders To Never Stop Learning

Startup Professionals Musings

You probably think that the fact that you have started your own business validates your leadership ability. It may confirm that you were a leader yesterday, but do you have what it takes to be a leader tomorrow? In this era of rapid change, you can’t afford to stop learning, or you will find that your competitors, your customers, and your team, may soon be following someone else.

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Greycroft Leads $8 Million Enboarder Series A

L.A. Business Journal

Downtown headquartered venture capital firm Greycroft Partners led a $8 million Series A round for Austin, Texas-based human resources software developer Enboarder Inc.

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Jarrod Russell, Executive Director, Transitions to Bay Area

Startup San Diego

The post Jarrod Russell, Executive Director, Transitions to Bay Area appeared first on Startup San Diego.

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SoCal First Look Innovation Showcase 2019

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, June 19, 2019 -- SoCal First Look Innovation Showcase 2019. The SoCal First Look Innovation Showcase supports, nurtures and stimulates our unique innovation culture in Southern California and promotes its position as a vibrant hub for start-ups and emerging technology. In addition to the presenters, venture capitalists and early stage angel investors attend the event, along with local elected officials, business leaders and senior administrators from the universities.

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Encoded Nabs $104M, Illumina’s Help, to Push Gene Therapy’s Limits

Xconomy

Despite the progress of gene therapy—a cutting edge medicine promising long-lasting effects from a single treatment—it remains a crude and limited tool. Startup Encoded Therapeutics has raised $104 million to join the race to expand gene therapy’s reach. The South San Francisco, CA, company has emerged from the startup accelerator of Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN ), and it counts the DNA sequencing giant among its investors along with Arch Venture Partners, Venrock, and others.

Help 105
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Restaurant365 Finds $88M In Funding

socalTECH

Irvine-based Restaurant365 , a developer of cloud-based accounting software specifically aimed at the restaurant industry, has raised $88M in a Series C funding round, the company said this week. The funding was led by ICONIQ Capital, and also included Tiger Global Management and Bessemer Venture Partners. As part of the funding, ICONIQ Partner Will Griffith has joined the company's board of directors.

Funding 138
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5 Reasons Business Leaders Are Short On Relationships

Startup Professionals Musings

If you are a business professional or owner today, success is more and more about relationships. People relationships are the key to career growth, more than results, and customer relationships build brands, rather than the other way around. In this era of communication overload with many misleading messages, we have learned to count first on the people we know well, even virtually.

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Faraday Future Lays Off Furloughed Employees

L.A. Business Journal

Gardena-based electric vehicle maker Faraday & Future Inc. fired several employees it had previously placed on unpaid leave in December, citing lack of funds to pay salaries.

Gardena 133
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3 Lesser-Known Ways Enterprise Can Improve Network Uptime

Southern California Edison Blog

As enterprises outsource more of the business operations to hosted platforms, more emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring mission-critical applications are always accessible. This means that the network connections to enterprise sites increase in their importance. The traditional goal is “five 9s” (99.999 percent) network uptime¹, which roughly calculated means your business experiences about five minutes of network downtime in a year.

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Preccelerator Workshop: Financial Modeling for Startups w/ Eli Eisenberg

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, June 18, 2019 -- Financial Modeling for Startups Workshop In this workshop you will learn the following: The theory and purpose of a financial model in a pitch deck An approach to financial modeling that resonates with investors How to build the model.

Startup 100
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Celebrating San Diego Life Sciences: Xconomy Awards Gala Slideshow

Xconomy

View the Slideshow We at Xconomy were thrilled to see such a great turnout at our first-ever awards gala in San Diego. About 250 people from the local life sciences community filled a ballroom at Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa (see photos above). As Greg Huang, Xconomy’s editor in chief, said in his opening remarks before a sold-out crowd on May 29: How far the region has come since Xconomy first launched here, back in 2008!

San Diego 101
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Locana Wins $550,000 Grant

socalTECH

San Diego-based gene therapy startup Locana has just received $550,000 in a grant, from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), according to the MDA. The award will go to advance Locana's development program for treating mytonic dystrophy (DM). According to the MDA, the grant came from its MDA Venture Philanthropy (MVP) grant program, which specifically funds drug development, discovery and clinical application of treatments and cures for neuromuscular disorders.

San Diego 138
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5 Key Attributes That Foretell New Venture Survival

Startup Professionals Musings

Every startup wants to be a predictable success, yet so few ever achieve this enviable position. In reality, getting there is not a random walk, and requires an understanding of the stages that every business must navigate and the organizational characteristics necessary at each stage. Les McKeown, in his book from a while back, “ Predictable Success ” outlines these stages and characteristics for any business.

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Riot Games Responds to DFEH Investigation

L.A. Business Journal

West Los Angeles-based game developer Riot Games Inc. responded today to a June 12 announcement from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing that it was opening an investigation into the company's management practices.

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Jarrod Russell, Executive Director, Transitions to Bay Area

Startup San Diego

The post Jarrod Russell, Executive Director, Transitions to Bay Area appeared first on Startup San Diego.

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Orange County FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, June 13, 2019 -- Orange County FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop. We're doing it again! Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in Orange County, we're throwing an exclusive PitchFest speed dating event where you will be pitching to over 20 investors one-on-one! At this OC Event, we will be showcasing some of the newest early-stage venture funds and angel groups in the San Diego area!