socalTECH
DECEMBER 13, 2019
AT&T says its next generation, 5G network is now live in both Los Angeles and San Diego, as it begins a nationwide rollout of its 5G network. According to AT&T, the rollout of its 5G network--which currently is only accessible with the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G--brings the total number of markets to ten, with plans to start building its nationwide service in the first half of 2020.
TechCrunch LA
DECEMBER 10, 2019
Los Angeles-based ProducePay has inked a $190 million debt facility from Coventure and TCM Capital, to expand its lending business and marketplace for farmers. ProducePay offers farmers cash advances throughout the growing season to smooth the sometimes lumpy revenues and give farmers a bit more predictability, the company said. It buys produce ahead of delivery and sets itself up as a middle-man between distributors, growers and grocers.
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Xconomy
DECEMBER 12, 2019
Nearly nine years ago Jeanne Loring and her colleagues at Scripps Research debuted a test that leveraged advances in genomics and data science to determine, without testing in animals, whether human stem cells were “pluripotent,” or able to become any type of cell in the body. Being able to prove that has become increasingly important as scientists look to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)—mature, specialized cells that have been reprogrammed as immature cells, regaining the capabilit
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 12, 2019
MedMen has received $37 million in gross cash proceeds for the sale of various businesses since Nov. 26.
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.
Berkonomics
DECEMBER 12, 2019
The warning is real. You’ve heard the old one – that a banker always seems willing to offer a loan when you don’t need it. For small businesses, there is such truth in that statement that you can trust the story to be based as fact from experience. Exceptions and good reasons to work on them. There are great exceptions for growing businesses and for businesses that have a track record with a banker.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2019
Huntington Beach-based Rocket Lab , the satellite rocket launch developer, has set up its first U.S. launch site, at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in Virginia. The launch site, which is it second, is in addition to an existing launch complex the company has in New Zealand. At a press conference at Wallops Island on Thursday, Rocket Lab said construction on its Launch Complex 2 started in February.
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L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 10, 2019
Glendale-based ProducePay Inc. raised a $205 million debt financing round Dec. 10.
SoCal Tech Calendar
DECEMBER 11, 2019
Tuesday, December 17, 2019 -- Preccelerator Workshop: Term Sheets w/ Caroline Cherkassky and Kelly Laffey. Topics that will be covered include: Type of financing: convertible notes vs SAFEs vs priced equity rounds Convertible notes and SAFEs: caps, discounts, and other key terms Priced equity rounds: economic provisions, voting rights, and other key terms.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2019
A new report, from AngelList, says that angel investors at the see stage would increase their expected return by broadly indexing into every credible deal they see. AngelList claimed in its report, Startup Growth and Venture Returns, that someone who "blindly invests in every credible deal" would do better than an angel investor who happened to miss "the best-performing seed investment".
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 13, 2019
When you are starting a new business, every resource is precious, including time, funding, and people. Yet we can all look back, after the fact, and realize that we could have been more memorable. Obviously you can’t go back for a do-over , but you can certainly learn from your mistakes as well as all our successes. Most challenges you have are not unique to your business.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 13, 2019
An activist investor hedge fund is driving a leadership change at Century City-based AECOM, one of the largest public companies in Los Angeles.
Xconomy
DECEMBER 11, 2019
Iterum Therapeutics’ bid to bring patients a new antibiotic that’s safer than currently available drugs has fallen short of the main efficacy goal of a late-stage clinical trial. But the company is pinning its hopes on another Phase 3 study that will report data early next year. Iterum (NASDAQ: ITRM ) reported preliminary Phase 3 data late Tuesday for its antibiotic, sulopenem, which is being tested as a treatment for complicated intra-abdominal infections.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 13, 2019
Pasadena-based Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals announced this morning that it has named Marianne De Backer, Ph.D., as an independent director for the company. Backer is Executive Vice President, Head of Global Business Development & Licensing, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Pharmaceuticals Division of Bayer AG, and she also served at Johnson & Johnson.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 11, 2019
These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done at the home location, by full-time employees. We are in the age of outsourcing, by any of many popular names, including subcontracting, freelancing, and virtual assistants. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 13, 2019
Text message marketing firm Postscript raised a $4.4 million seed round to expand its workforce and onboard new ecommerce clients.
Xconomy
DECEMBER 10, 2019
The Scripps Research Institute and AbbVie have agreed to broaden an existing drug discovery agreement focused on cancer cell therapies to now encompass treatments for other kinds of disease. Scripps’s early-stage drug discovery division, Calibr, last year inked a big partnership with North Chicago, IL-based AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV ) to develop potential treatments for solid cancer tumors.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2019
Lyft said on Thursday that it has launched a new car rental service in Los Angeles, as part of an expansion of its services. According to Lyft, the new service--which is currently only available in LA and the Bay Area--is aimed at providing a vehicle to people who need to go longer distances. Lyft said it would rent cars for weekend getaways, business trips, and to run errands, all from its app.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 8, 2019
With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. There just aren’t enough angel investors and VCs to go around. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 13, 2019
Pasadena-based software developer X1 Discovery Inc. is closing out 2019 with a series of big changes.
Xconomy
DECEMBER 10, 2019
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals is banking on small molecules for cancer—leaving the “cool technologies” aside for a “tried and true” approach, says the CEO, who wants to let the science speak for itself. Since it was founded five years ago, the company has moved three compounds into the clinic. How? By operating under the radar. “If you take away the outside distractions, which is what we’ve been doing; when you have that singular focus, which is to develop drugs, it really helps,” Zentalis Phar
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2019
The string of high profile hacks of Ring cameras--with major coverage by media outlets nationwide over the last two days--has been tracked back to a podcast , according to a report from Vice. According to the Vice article, a podcast that was being streamed on Discord was behind multiple takeovers of people's Ring cameras, including one where a hacker terrorized and 8-year old in her bedroom and one where racist comments were shouted at Florida couple.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 9, 2019
With the advent and popularity of crowdfunding platforms, including Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as a winning alternative for funding your new venture, I find that many aspiring entrepreneurs are confused about the need to ever seek a professional angel investor. I think it’s great to have more options, but I still see each one having a place, so don’t be too quick to limit your alternatives.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 13, 2019
Westwood-based Boingo Wireless has laid off more than 15% of its workforce.
Xconomy
DECEMBER 9, 2019
Synthorx is working to design new cytokine therapies for cancer using an “extended” genetic alphabet that could help avoid the shortcomings associated with earlier versions. Now French biopharma Sanofi has struck a deal to add the startup to its oncology business in a transaction that values the company at about $2.5 billion. The move is the first acquisition the company has announced since CEO Paul Hudson joined the Paris-headquartered company Sept. 1.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2019
Santa Monica-based Ring says that the widely publicized video this morning of a hacker taking over a Ring security camera and terrorizing an 8-year old is "no way related to a breach or compromise of Ring's security." The video--shown by NBC News--shows someone talking through a Ring camera at a terrified 8-year old. The 8-year old's parents apparently had installed a Ring camera in order to monitor their daughter's bedroom.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2019
Malibu-based CurtCo a new startup founded by a veteran of the magazine business, is taking on the podcasting market, and has launched what it says is a new "podcast platform". The startup, led by William (Bill) Curtis, says it has launched six original series, and will be introducing several more focused on such areas as politics, medicine, Hollywood filmmakers, luxury cars, wines as well as engaging scripted narratives and comedies.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2019
CrowdStrike , the provider of endpoint protection software which has major operations in Irvine, has added a new managed security provider covering the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Latin America. CrowdStrike said it added managed security service provider ElevenPaths, Telefnica's Cybersecurity Unit, as part of its partnership program. CrowdStrike's software uses artificial intelligence for endpoint protection, malware detection, cyber threat intelligence, and other efforts.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2019
Irvine-based NextGen Healthcare , which provides practice management software for the medical, behavioral and dental providers, has made another acquisition, saying today that it has agreed to acquire OTTO Health , a provider of software used for virtual visits. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. According to NextGen Healthcare, OTTO Health's virtual visit software is used in rural areas where access to health care is often lacking.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 11, 2019
In an unusual move, Santa Monica game development studio Naughty Dog is donating all of the proceeds of its "Limited Run" sales of four games--Jak and Daxter, Jak 2, Jak 3, and Jak X: Combat Racing--to charitable organizations, including at least one in the Los Angeles area. Naughty Dog said those funds will go to K9 for Warriors, Childs Play, Surfrider Foundation, LGBT Center of Los Angeles, Able Gamers, and DAGERS.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 11, 2019
Los Angeles-based venture investor Wavemaker Partners is one of the lead investors in San Francisco-based Balloon , a developer of tools used by companies for collaboration and sharing. Baloon said it raised $2.1M in seed funding, which was co-led by Jason Calacanis' LAUNCH and Wavemaker Partners along with Imagination Capital, Streamlined Ventures, XFactor Ventures, Matt Mullenweg, and others.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 11, 2019
Online music streaming service Napster (now owned by Rhapsody International), and Los Angeles-based audio technology developer Super Hi-Fi announced this morning that the two have entered into a partnership, where the two will work together on personalized and branded music. According to the two, they will be connecting Napster's back-end music and audio platform with Super Hi-Fi's front-end integration.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 11, 2019
Los Angeles-based Camino Financial , a fintech startup offering up small business loans to Latinx businesses, announced an $8M funding round this morning, its Series A. According to the company, the funding was led by Credito Real, the Mexican financial services company. As part of that funding, $3M in convertible notes, from DILA Capital, 10x Capital Management, and others, will convert into equity.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 11, 2019
San Diego-based XOKind , a new startup focused on building artificial intelligence software for the travel market, has raised $1.6M in a seed funding round, and emerged from stealth mode, the company said today. According to XOKind, its funding round was led by Section 32, and alos included angels Adam D'Angelo, Amir Khosrowshahi, Andreas Quandt, Bob Gunderson, Ishan Mukherjee, Naveen Rao and The Operator Network (Avid Larizadeh Duggan, Chuck Dietrich, Frederic Kerrest and Jacques Kerrest).
socalTECH
DECEMBER 11, 2019
Our interview this morning is with Laurence Sotsky , the CEO of The OIX , a startup providing tax credit and tax incentive management. Sotsky is an experienced entrepreneur, who last founded and led Hopscotch; The OIX is backed by Brett Markinson, the angel investor who has backed such companies as Hautelook and LowerMyBills. WE spoke with Laurence about the startup.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 10, 2019
A Los Angeles area man-- Joseph Frank Abel , of Camarillo--has been charged, along with three others, in a cryptocurrency fraud scheme that allegedly stole $722 million from investors, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the DOJ, Abel and his co-defendants-- Matthew Brent Goettsche, Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks, and Silviu Catalin Balaci--solicited money from investors in exchange for shares of a purported cryptocurrency mining firm, BitClub Network , but ran the venture as a po
socalTECH
DECEMBER 10, 2019
Los Angeles-based ProducePay , the venture-backed operator of an online marketplace for produce, has raised a big, $205M debt funding round, from Coventure and TCM Capital, the company said on Tuesday. ProducePay operates a maarketplace which connects produce buyers and sellers, and helping to provide faster payments to farmers. The company, led by CEO Pable Borquez Schwarzbeck, has previously raised venture funding from Anterra Capital.
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