Sat.Jan 18, 2020 - Fri.Jan 24, 2020

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TikTok inks licensing deal with Merlin to use music from independent labels in videos and new Resso streaming service

TechCrunch LA

TikTok , the fast-growing user-generated video app from China’s Bytedance, has been building a new music streaming service to compete against the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. And today it’s announcing a deal that helps pave the way for a global launch of it. It has inked a licensing deal with Merlin , the global agency that represents tens of thousands of independent music labels and hundreds of thousands of artists, for music from those labels to be used legally o

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CEOs of Women’s Health Companies Fight to Open Investment Floodgates

Xconomy

Talking about sex with potential investors? For EvoFem Biosciences CEO Saundra Pelletier, it’s the first item on the docket. Her company recently submitted Amphora, a non-hormonal contraceptive gel, to the FDA for review. EvoFem (NASDAQ: EVFM )—and the rest of the women’s health sector—will know by midyear whether the product will be approved, making the San Diego companies one of the few biotechs to commercialize a novel prescription women’s health product in recent years.

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Tinder To Add Panic Button

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based dating app developer Tinder is getting set to add a new, emergency panic button to the app--in the case a date really goes bad--which will immediately summon emergency authorities and send them to a person's location. According to the WSJ, the new features will be enabled by an investment by Tinder's parent company, Match Group, in an app developer called Noonlight.

Screening 113
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Scopely Acquires FoxNext Games

L.A. Business Journal

Scopely Inc. acquired Century City-based game developer FoxNext Games from the Walt Disney Co. Jan. 22.

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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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As Virus Fears Rise, LA Company Offers Up Germ Killing Robots To Airports

socalTECH

As worries about the spread of a new virus from China--which has resulted in the quarantine of Wuhan, China , a city of 11 million--a Los Angeles company, Dimer UVC Innovations , is offering up its technology to airports and officials, at no cost, to a number of airports. According to Dimer UVC Innovations, its germ-killing robot, the GermFalcon, is designed to use ultraviolet light to kill viruses, bacteria, and superbugs on surfaces and in the air--with a model specifically designed for use in

Company 124
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Los Angeles-based CREXi raises $29 million for its online real estate marketplace

TechCrunch LA

Los Angeles is one of the most desirable locations for commercial real estate in the United States, so it’s little wonder that there’s something of a boom in investments in technology companies servicing the market coming from the region. It’s one of the reasons that CREXi , the commercial real estate marketplace, was able to establish a strong presence for its digital marketplace and toolkit for buyers, sellers, and investors.

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Is AECOM on the Block?

L.A. Business Journal

Century City-based engineering giant AECOM reportedly has been in possible buyout talks with Montreal-based engineering services firm WSP Global Inc.

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Acquicent Adds Advisor, Investor

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Acquicent , the startup which is developing a marketplace that allows users to invest in "museum-grade" collectibles such as art and vintage automobiles, is announcing this morning that it has added Kevin Conroy, CEO of ConroyMedia and former director of Sotheby's, as both an advisor and ivnestor. Conroy was on the board of Sotheby's from 2016 to 2019, and also had served as MGM's President of Digital from 2016-2018, Univision's Chief Strategy and Data Officer from 2009-2016, a

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China Roundup: Tencent’s new US gaming studio and WeChat’s new paywall

TechCrunch LA

Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch’s China Roundup, a digest of recent events shaping the Chinese tech landscape and what they mean to people in the rest of the world. The spotlight this week is back on Tencent, which has made some interesting moves in gaming and content publishing. There will be no roundup next week as China observes the Lunar New Year, but the battle only intensifies for the country’s internet giants, particularly short-video rivals Douyin ( TikTok’s Chinese vers

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5 Crowdfunding Approaches To Tempt Every Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. According to a recent article on Thrinacia , there are now aver 600 crowdfunding platforms in existence, currently estimated to add more than $89 billion to the economy at a compound growth rate of 17% from 2019 to 2022.

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TikTok Opens Culver City Office

L.A. Business Journal

Social media company TikTok has opened an office in Culver City's Hayden Tract business park.

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TigerConnect Names New CTO

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based TigerConnect , which develops communications tools for the healthcare and other industries, said on Wednesday that it has named Tim Goodwin as the company's new Chief Technology Officer. Goodwin was most recently CTO at Vacasa, which provide online vacation rental management. Goodwin also served as CIO and Senior Vice President at Fiserv Digital Channels.

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Diligent’s Vivian Chu and Labrador’s Mike Dooley will discuss assistive robotics at TC Sessions: Robotics+AI

TechCrunch LA

Too often the world of robotics seems to be a solution in search of a problem. Assistive robotics, on the other hand, are among one of the primary real-world tasks existing technology can seemingly address almost immediately. The concept for the technology has been around for some time now and has caught on particularly well in places like Japan, where human help simply can’t keep up with the needs of an aging population.

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9 Keys To Finding The Perfect Angel Investor For You

Startup Professionals Musings

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs, and a former angel myself, I still find startups confused about the definition of an angel investor, and how and when to attract one. Angels are actually serious investors who invest their own money, versus venture capitalists who invest institutional money, or regular people who invest in crowdfunding. Thus they don’t live or fly above the clouds.

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MedMen Exec Revamps Ops

L.A. Business Journal

Just over a year into his tenure at the cannabis retailer, Lissack has become a linchpin at the company, overseeing multiple areas of the business.

Company 147
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CREXi Collects $29M More For Commercial Real Estate Marketplace

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based CREXi says it has raised $29M more in a funding round, which came from Mitsubishi Estate Company, Industry Ventures, Prudence Holdings, plus Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Jackson Square Ventures, the company said on Friday. The company operates a commercial real estate marketplace, and is led by CEO Mike DiGiorgio. Crexi previously also raised funding from Manifest Investment Partners, Freestyle Capital, and TenOneTen Ventures, but it's unclear if those firms participated in this

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In Los Angeles, the Women’s March embraces technology to organize and inspire

TechCrunch LA

The roughly 300,000 marchers that filled the streets of downtown Los Angeles for the third annual Women’s March received more than just an opportunity to hear from some of the state’s high powered politicians, they were also part of a new experiment from local March organizers in bringing technology into the movement. Using an organizational tool called SameSide , whose launch coincided with the Women’s March and a joint effort with RockTheVote, Women’s March organizers a

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7 Lessons For Mobile App Developers To Beat The Odds

Startup Professionals Musings

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. According to Tim Cook at Apple, there were over 20 million registered developers in 2018. Yet according to other statistics, vanishing few of these ever generate a significant profit.

Mobile 126
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Gaining Momentum

L.A. Business Journal

L.A. tech companies experienced a flurry of mergers and acquisitions in late 2019, and that momentum is expected to continue in the coming months.

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Sonos Walks Back Plan To Brick Older Devices

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based Sonos has walked back plans it had to essentially force its users with older Sonos devices to either "brick" and upgrade those devices, or to be locked out from any further updates of software--even on their newest equipment. In a letter to users on Thursday, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence apologized to users , saying that "all Sonos products will continue to work past May", apologizing for the company's earlier announcements, which had implied that older Sonos gear would no longer

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Growth Capital Conference

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, January 30, 2020 -- Growth Capital Conference. Pitch to and Network with Investors: Angels, VCs, High Net Worths, Strategic Partners and 100 entrepreneurs seeking capital and counsel. DEAL DISPLAYtm showcases growing firms needing capital. View products, videos, online demos. Hot Networking Breakfast at 7:00am sharp! See [link].

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6 Insights To Current Funding Trends For Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according the Crunchbase. A major chunk of this activity is provided by the newer class of “super angels,” who often look more like micro-VCs, except that they are investing their own money.

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TikTok Opens Culver City Office

L.A. Business Journal

Social media company TikTok has opened an office in Culver City's Hayden Tract business park.

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TikTok Grows In LA With New Office

socalTECH

TikTok , the developer of the popular, short video app where people combine short videos of themselves set to music, says it is growing in Los Angeles, and is moving into a brand new, 120,000 square foot office in Culver City. According to the company, the expansion will strengthen its U.S. presence, as it continues to grow its team here. According to TikTok, the new, permanent office in LA "deepens our bonds with the city, and the talent and companies, that call it home".

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Startup World Cup - SoCal Regional hosted by LAVA and Pepperdine

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, January 28, 2020 -- Startup World Cup - SoCal Regional hosted by LAVA and Pepperdine. Startup World Cup ("SWC") offers innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities for the startup ecosystem around the world via a global series of startup conferences and competitions that bring together phenomenal startups, VCs, and world-class tech CEOs. Startups worldwide first compete at regional events, and the regional finalists will showcase themselves at the Grand Finale event in San Francisco an

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Startups Are Not Just The Realm Of Young Generations

Startup Professionals Musings

One of the biggest myths in the business world is that startups are no place for Baby Boomers, that aging generation born between 1945 and 1964. They couldn’t possibly understand the new social media culture, new technologies, or have the determination to beat their younger counterparts in the market. Yet credible reports on current trends tell us just the opposite.

Startup 124
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After Ending Cancer Drug Program, Halozyme Predicts Profits in 2020

Xconomy

Halozyme suffered a setback in November when its investigational pancreatic drug failed a Phase 3 clinical trial , but its CEO says the biotech’s drug delivery technology will make the company profitable as early as the second quarter of this year. The San Diego-based company’s technology, called Enhanze, allows some drugs traditionally given intravenously over hours to be delivered instead by subcutaneous injection in minutes.

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Interview with Eric Friedrichsen, Emburse

socalTECH

For our interview today, we talked with Eric Friedrichsen , the CEO of Emburse , a developer of expense management and accounts payable software which has major operations in Los Angeles. Emburse recently merged LA's Chrome River into the company, as part of an effort to combine six different companies in the expense management area. For those who haven't heard of Emburse, talk about what you do?

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Pitch and Learn With Investors

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, January 30, 2020 --.

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Getting to know Alexa-Rae Navarro

Startup San Diego

Get to know Alexa-Rae Navarro, Startup San Diego's Executive Director. Learn more about her background in the non-profit sector and her passion for startups. The post Getting to know Alexa-Rae Navarro appeared first on Startup San Diego.

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Bio Roundup: Coronavirus Concerns, Sarepta’s CRL, Eye Drug OK’d & More

Xconomy

Company news slowed somewhat this week, perhaps as some took the federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday away from the office and others recovered from back-to-back meetings and late nights at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. However, a new coronavirus believed to stem from Wuhan, China, captured the attention of the world healthcare community.

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Juris Launches AI-Powered Service To Help Renters Get Their Deposits Back

socalTECH

A new, Los Angeles-based startup, Juris , said this morning that it has launched a new, artificial intelligence-powered service to help renters get their security deposits back. According to Juris, its new service, DepositLetter , uses AI-tools to help people recover illegally withheld security deposits on behalf of renters. The company says the service takes information from renters, and helps them create a "demand letter" to help them enforce their legal rights and claim back their security de

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Pitch and Learn With Investors

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, January 30, 2020 --.

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MOX Networks, Owned By Billionaire Soon-Shiong, Expands Fiber Routes

socalTECH

El Segundo-based MOX Networks , the fiber optic network operator owned by billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, is expanding in West Virginia, saying it has just added a new Columbus to Ashburn route through West Virginia. The company--which says it is in the midst of a corporate branding and identity under the name MOX--did not say how much it is spending to establish the fiber optic route, only saying it will be open by Q2 of 2020.

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Report: Broadcom Mulls Sales Of Radio Frequency Chip Business

socalTECH

Broadcom is reportedly looking to sell its radio frequency chips business--which has significant operations in Orange County--to either Qorvo or Skyworks Solutions, according to a report on Friday from Bloomberg. The report says the deal could be worth a much as $10 billion. Broadcom's RF chips are used in mobile phones and elsewhere. The company just announced a $15 billion deal to supply its RF chips to Apple for its iPhones on Thursday.

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Iteris Names Former Raymond James COO To Board

socalTECH

Santa Ana-based Iteris , which develops data products for the transportation and agriculture markets, said this week that it has named Dennis W. Zank, the former Chief Operating Officer of Raymond James Financial to its board. Zank was COO of Raymond James Financial until September of 2018. Zank previously served on the boards of Raymond James Financial, the Options Clearing Corporation and the National Securities Clearing Corporation.

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