Sat.Jul 03, 2021 - Fri.Jul 09, 2021

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ServiceTitan Acquires Aspire, Raises $200 Million

L.A. Business Journal

Glendale-based ServiceTitan Inc., a developer of management software for home services contractors, has acquired St. Louis-based Aspire Software, a technology provider for commercial landscaping businesses.

Glendale 317
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Transphorm Bolsters Board

socalTECH

Goleta-based gallium nitride semiconductor products developer Transphorm said last week that it has named a new member of its board of directors. The company said it appointed Ms. Kelly Smales to the board of the gallium nitride (GaN) power conversion device maker. Smales previously was CEO of KnuEdge (formerly Intellisis), company in the machine learning hardware and software area.

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Can you be an adaptive business leader?

Berkonomics

The title of this insight happens to be the name of a CEO roundtable organization I belong to and have been a member since 1989 (Adaptive Business Leader Organization – or ABL). The organization, like Vistage, manages roundtables of CEOs meeting monthly in small groups, where they discuss their mutual challenges and help solve each other’s complex problems, acting as an informal board of advisors.

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5 Ways Creative Startups Can Sustain The Environment

Startup Professionals Musings

As I have said many times, the cost of entry for an aspiring entrepreneur has never been lower, and the total wealth of opportunities has never been larger. Today you can start a new web site business for as little as $100, produce cheap smart phone apps, or lead the effort to tap the multitude of opportunities brought by capitalizing on our concern for dwindling natural resources.

Startup 162
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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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Demand Surges for Local Data Centers

L.A. Business Journal

Demand for data centers is growing in Los Angeles.

Demand 264
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EVgo Completes SPAC Deal, Trading Now On Nasdaq

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based electric vehicle charging network operator EVgo says it has completed its business combination with Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition Corporation. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal creates a new, publicly traded company called EVgo Inc., which is now trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as EVGO, with warrants trading as EVGOW.

.Net 133

More Trending

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8 Startup Excesses Which Will Jeopardize The Business

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Much has been written about this subject in the world of manufacturing, stemming primarily from the 1990’s work by Taiichi Ohno, called the Toyota Prod

Startup 161
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Advertisers Stick With GumGum’s AI Technology

L.A. Business Journal

After more than 15 years working in the advertising industry, Charlotte Cochrane understands the power of a well-placed ad to boost a brand’s sales.

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Energy Developer Deploys Major Battery Storage Project In Ventura County

socalTECH

Clean energy developer Arevon Asset Management has installed what it says is one of the largest energy storage sites in the United States in Saticoy, California. According to Arevon, it has opened up a battery energy storage system in Saticoy, which uses Tesla Megapacks to provide 100 megawatt/400 megawatt-hour capacity to Southern California Edison.

Ventura 127
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What are the Business Benefits of Dedicated Internet Access?

Southern California Edison Blog

Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) is a powerful setup for enterprises looking for fast speeds, network reliability , and secure connectivity. DIA connections are privately monitored and leased to customers directly from the provider, freeing up internal IT teams from time-consuming network management tasks to focus on more important business growth projects. .

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5 Tips For New Entrepreneurs Needing Investor Funding

Startup Professionals Musings

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. People cite sources like this Inc.com article “ 5 Reasons Why You Don't Need a Business Plan ,” or my own blog discussion on this subject, “ Situations Where A Business Plan Does Not Add Value.

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10 Keys For Responding To A Reputation Crisis Online

Startup Professionals Musings

In my role as an advisor to small businesses, I still find that many of you still claim to have a negligible online presence , and don’t feel it necessary to monitor your reputation there. I have to point out that the rest of the world looks for you online before visiting your business, finds talk about you on Yelp and social media sites, and what they see can make or break your business.

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Popshop Live Picks Up $20M

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based livestreaming shopping service Popshop Live said this week that it raised $20M in its Series A funding round. The funding was led by Benchmark, and also included TQ Ventures (Andrew Marks, Schuster Tanger, and Scooter Braun), Mantis VC (The Chainsmokers), Access Industries and SV Angel, plus Floodgate, Abstract Ventures and Long Journey Ventures, along with angels Sophia Amoruso, Baron Davis, Jim Lanzone, Kevin Mayer, Vivi Nevo, Michael Ovitz, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner.

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7 Keys To Asking The Right Questions To Be A Leader

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur has blind spots which limit their effectiveness and success, but due to ego, over-confidence, or deferential subordinates, many live totally in the dark. Some are smart and humble enough to assume that they don’t know what they don’t know, but lack an effective process for shining a light on their blind spots. Both are equally surprised by their every setback.

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Stamps.com To Go Private In $6 Billion Private Equity Deal

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based online postage provider Stamps.com is going private, in a private equity acquisition by Thoma Bravo, the two said on Friday. According to the two, Thoma Bravo will pay $330 per share in cash for Stamps.com, which currently trades on the Nasdaq as STMP. The offer is a 67 percent premium over Stamps.com's price on close Thursday. Stamps.com allows small businesses and other print out postage directly on a printer.

Equity 113
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CerraCap Ventures Gets Exit At Totient

socalTECH

Costa Mesa-based early stage venture capital investor CerraCap Ventures has scored an exit out of its portfolio, saying today that one of its companies, Totient, has been acquired by Absci. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. CerraCap Ventures said it made its investment in Totient out of its second fund, CerraCap II LP. The venture investor says the exit is the second for tht fund.

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FreightPOP Find Funding

socalTECH

Lake Forest-based FreightPOP a developer of cloud-based logistics and transportation management software, has raised a new funding round, the company said Thursday. According to the company, it raised a round of funding led by Mercato Partners, and also included un-named, existing investors. Size of the investment round was not announced. As part of the funding, the company has named Davis Warnock of Mercato to its board.

Funding 113
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Interview with Steve Malony, CEO, Belkin

socalTECH

Our interview today is with Steve Malony, the CEO of Belkin International (www.belkin.com), the consumer electronics and accessories giant which is based in Playa Del Rey (and soon is moving to El Segundo). The company recently announced an effort where it is partnering to open up a combined high school and college on its corporate campuses, so we thought we'd catch up with Steve and learn more about how, exactly, a high school ends up locating at the corporate campuses of a technology company,

Belkin 113
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Beyond Meat Takes Chicken Tenders To Restaurants

socalTECH

El Segundo-based Beyond Meat, which develops and manufactures plant-based meat products, is extending its reach, saying on Thursday that it is making a new plant-based chicken product, Beyond Chicken Tenders, available at a large list of U.S. restaurants. The company said the new product look, cook and taste like traditional animal-based chicken tenders.

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Synoptek Acquires Juxto

socalTECH

Irvine-based Synoptek, a provider of global IT consulting, says it has acquired Juxto, a provider of real-time-communications services. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. According to Synoptek, it will offer up real-time communication (RTC) solutions for businesses as part of its Workforce Productivity offering. Juxto offers up cloud-based communications and voice systems, and replace traditional phone systems.

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Diversis Capital Partners Invests In Adlib

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based private equity investor Diversis Capital Partners has made a "significant" growth investment in Toronto-based Adlib, a developer of software used for structuring data. Size of that investment was not announced. According to Adlib, the funding will go to accelerate its planned growth initiatives. Adlib's software is used to automate the discovery, classification, extraction, and structure of data from unstructured documents.

Invest 113
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Repeat Rounds Up $6M

socalTECH

Venice, California-based Repeat, a startup which is developing technology to help encourage reordering of consumer packaged goods online, has raised $6M in a funding round, according to the company. The company said its Series A funding round was led by Battery Ventures, and also included existing investors Harlem Capital and Mucker Capital. Battery Ventures' Neeraj Agrawal will join the company's board of directors as part of the funding.

Venice 113
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Chipotle Turns To TikTok For Recruiting

socalTECH

Newport Beach-based Chipotle Mexican Grill announced this morning that it is turning to TikTok in an effort to recruit employees and grow its workforce. According to Chipotle, it will use a new servie, "TikTok Resumes", to recruit employees through "TikTok video resumes", allowing applicants to submit videos for posted jobs. The company said the move is an effort to recruit "purpose-driven Gen-Z applicants" and to grow its workforce.

Demand 113
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Sir Richard Branson Still Set For Space Launch On Sunday

socalTECH

Sir Richard Branson is still set to launch into space on Sunday, July 11th, on what will be the twenty-second test flight for the VSS Unity, the rocket-powered space vehicle being developed by Branson's company, Virgin Galactic. According to Virgin Galactic, for the first time, it will livestream the spaceflight, which will carry two pilots and four "mission specialists", which includes Branson.

Services 113
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Heliogen Goes Public Via SPAC Acquisition

socalTECH

Pasadena-based concentrated solar energy technology developer Heliogen, a spinout of the Idealab startup incubator, has gone public via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) deal, the company said on Wednesday. According to Heliogen and Athena Technology Acquisition Corp., the deal will list Heliogen publicly on the New York Stock Exchange, with a pro forma implied enterprise value of $2 billion.

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Sunbit, Fresh Off Massive Funding Round, Names Chief Customer Officer

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based fintech startup Sunbit announced this morning that it has appointed Bill Walsh as the company's first Chief Customer Officer. Walsh was most recently General Manager for LendingClub's Personal Loans and Membership division, and previously also served at Enova International. Sunbit recently raised a huge, $130M Series D funding round, which valued the company at an $11 billion unicorn.

Customer 113
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GEN.G Esports Powers New Minecraft Competition With Crocs

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based e-sports organization Gen.G is powering a new Minecraft build competition for casual footwear brand Crocs, the two said today. According to the companies, Crocs is launching a new Minecraft competition called Build Your Life in Color, which will be judged by a number of gaming influencers. Prizes in the competition include XBOX Series X, Playstation 5, LG Laptop, and a number of Crocs products.

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The Trade Desk Launches Venture Capital Arm, Makes First Investment

socalTECH

Ventura-based advertising technology developer The Trade Desk is launching its own venture capital arm, and has made its first investment, the company said this morning. The company said that the new investment fund, TD7, will invest in open Internet startups. The first investment made by the fund is Chalice, a developer of algorithmic ad optimization software.

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Procore In Middle East, North Africa Expansion

socalTECH

Carpinteria-based construction project management software developer Procore says it is expanding its efforts in the Middle East and North Africa, through a strategic partnership with one of its investors. According to Procore, the effort--focused on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia--is a result of an partnership with Mubadala Investment Company, an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor and existing Procore shareholder.

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AbacusNext Merges With Zola Suite

socalTECH

San Diego-based legal and accounting software provider AbacusNext, and New York-based Zola Suite said last week that the two companies are combining. Financial terms of the merger were not announced. AbacusNext is led by CEO Scott Johnson, with Zola Suite founded and led by CEO Fred Cohen. Zola provides case management, email management, integrated legal billing/timekeeping, and trust and business accounting software; AbacusNext provides practice management, case management, document automation,

San Diego 113
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Esri Links With Geocoding Provider

socalTECH

Redland-based mapping software developer Esri says it has linked with a provider of geocoding services, Infutor Data Solutions, to improve its geocoding services. According to Esri, it is collaborating with Infutor to improve geocoding and address matching capability in its ArcGIS World Geocoding Services in the US. Financial details of the link were not announced.