TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Yellow , the accelerator program launched by Snap in 2018, has selected ten companies to join its latest cohort. The new batch of startups coming from across the U.S. and international cities like London, Mexico City, Seoul and Vilnius are building professional social networks for black professionals and blue collar workers, fashion labels, educational tools in augmented reality, kids entertainment, and an interactive entertainment production company.

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Artificial Inteligence Social Network Los Angeles Snapchat 331

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Every year, a personal Upfront Summit highlight is getting to sit down with experts in a field I care about. Sometimes that’s venture capital generally (like last year’s conversation with Reid Hoffman ) and sometimes it’s in a space where I’ve invested (like mobility and city innovation with Bird’s Travis VanderZanden , one of our portfolio founders.

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Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Is the guarantee still required today? More than ever, the banks and lenders today require personal guarantees from entrepreneurs, and even from CEO’s of angel or some VC funded businesses. Starting and running a small or growing business can be a challenge to the most confident and optimistic entrepreneur. And the process of borrowing money or financing asset purchases can be an eye-opener for those who are not used to today’s lender and seller aversion to grant easy credit.

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. closed a customer support office downtown and laid off roughly 80 employees.

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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

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

During the days when Snapchat’s popularity was booming, investors thought the company would become the anchor for a new Los Angeles technology scene. Snapchat, they hoped, would spin-off entrepreneurs and angel investors who would reinvest in the local ecosystem and create new companies that would in turn foster more wealth, establishing LA as a hub for tech talent and venture dollars on par with New York and Boston.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Venice-based Snap announced the third class of its Yellow startup accelerator class on Wednesday, naming ten companies to participate in its annual 14-week program in Los Angeles. According to Snap, the third class of the accelerator included Brightly (content, community, and brand recommendations); Charli Cohen (fashion brand); Hardworkers (digital community for blue collar workers); Mogul Millennial (platform for black millennial entrepreneurs); Nuggetverse (plush dog product); SketchAR (AI mo

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L.A. Business Journal

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Outdoor advertising software company AdQuick Inc. raised a $6 million Series A to expand its sales, marketing and engineering teams.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 -- SoCal Startup Day. We are proud to announce the first annual SoCal Startup Day. We will have a jam packed day of festivities, exhibitors, investors, keynotes, fireside chats, activites, food trucks and cocktails, and the biggest startup event Orange County has ever seen! If you are looking to network and connect with Southern California's top startups, seeking funding, or just curious about the startup community, this is the event for you.

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Southern California SoCal Orange County Startup 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Santa Monica-based security doorbell and camera maker Ring , which is part of Amazon , has upgraded its account security features, announcing a major upgrade to its privacy, security, and control features. Ring said that, among other upgrades, it will now require "two-factor" authentication for all of its users when they log into their Ring accounts.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2020

Every new venture that survives the first five years starts to drift away from their entrepreneurial thinking, and assumes they have achieved the path to longevity. In fact, even within Fortune 100 companies, almost 90 percent have encountered growth stalls or flirted with failure, or worse, in the last 50 years. No company can afford to lose the agility, flexibility, and innovation of a startup.

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Xconomy

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

The price of insulin, a life-saving treatment discovered a century ago, has been a flashpoint amid the broader drug pricing debate. The FDA is trying to tame high insulin prices by encouraging price competition. The FDA has historically regarded insulin as a drug. But insulin isn’t a chemical drug, it’s made from biological material. Under a rule change published this week, the FDA will classify insulin as a biological product.

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StartUp Beat

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

ClouDhiti today announces the launch of its AI Apps with the aim to empower online retailers, especially small and medium businesses (SMBs), with AI capabilities. With these five new apps, all available on the ClouDhiti Marketplace, SMBs don’t have to […]. The post ClouDhiti Launches AI Apps to Empower SMBs with AI appeared first on StartUp Beat.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

San Diego-based wireless device developer Inseego said late Thursday that it has named Ashish Sharma as President of IoT and Mobile Solutions. Sharma has been the company's Executive Vice President IoT & Mobile Solutions since September of 2017, and also has been the company's Chief Marketing Officer. The company says Sharma is responsible for advanced technology, product line management and engineering.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. In fact, some totally avoid it, assuming their product or solution will speak for itself later. They don’t realize that you need to build positives early, to offset any negatives later.

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Product Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Technical Review 127

Startup San Diego

FEBRUARY 16, 2020

Learn more about Evolution Smart Bag and how the founder, Angela Marino, went from idea to concept to shipping out her first orders within a couple years! The post Programination appeared first on Startup San Diego.

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San Diego Ideas Startup 52

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Max Q is a new weekly newsletter all about space. Sign up here to receive it weekly on Sundays in your inbox. This week turned out to be a surprisingly busy one in space news — kicked off by the Trump administration’s FY 2021 budget proposal, which was generous to U.S. space efforts both in science and in defense. Meanwhile, we saw significant progress in SpaceX’s commercial crew program, and plenty of activity among startups big and small.

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SpaceX Newsletter Los Angeles Sites 272

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Santa Monica-based Brace , a startup developing software to automate mortgage servicing, has raised $10M in a Series A funding round, according to the company. The funding was led by Point72 Ventures, and also included Crosslink Capital. Brace said the new funding brings its total raised to $15M. The new funds will go towards expansion of its platform and technology.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2020

In this world of constant change, new technologies, and a thousand cultures, it’s evident and somehow comforting to me that the basic rules for business prosperity really haven’t changed in the last hundred years. Business success is still more about the people than the technology or idea involved. As an angel investor and a mentor to entrepreneurs I still see this every day.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Uber is shutting down its Los Angeles offices, and has laid off about 80 employees, according to the LA Times. According to The Times, jobs from the download LA location have been moved to Manila, with staffers suddenly informed of the cuts last Thursday. A leaked message from Uber's manager in LA, published by The Times said "We have decided to close the downtown L.A. office and we will be moving the outreach and innovation work to our Manila C.O.E.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Irvine-based battery technology developer Enevate says it is looking to apply its battery technology to the power tools market, in an expansion of the applications of its technology. The company, which develops silicon-dominant lithium-ion battery technology, has previously been focused on adoption of its technology for the electric vehicle (EV) market.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Huntington Beach-based Rocket Lab has won a NASA contract, to launch a small satellite to the moon, according to NASA. NASA said that the contract will launch a CubeSat to the moon from Rocket Lab's new launch site, at Wallops Island, Virginia. The launch site is at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, where Rocket Lab recently set up its second launch location.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Hawthorne-based SpaceX , led by Elon Musk, is seeking another $250M in funding, which would value SpaceX at an astounding $36 billion. According to CNBC, the funding will go towards the Crew Dragon, Starlink, and Starship. CNBC said that SpaceX raised $1.33 billion in 2019. READ MORE>>.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Los Angeles-based sports and entertainment venue operator AEG , and on-demand, mobile fueling provider Fuelster Technologies , which is based in Porter Ranch, said this week that the two are in a new partnership where Fuelster will offer up on-demand mobile fuel delivery to fans at Staples Center and L.A. Live. Financial details of the partnership were not announced.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Los Angeles-based Liquid Death , the canned water brand backed by Science, Inc., has raised $9M in a Series A funding, as the company continues to expand distribution of its products. The company--known as much for the way it markets its products as the product itself--said the funding was led by Velvet Sea Ventures, and also included Jamie Siminoff (founder of Ring), Jake Strom and Blake Mycoskie (TOMS), Sophia Amoruso (GirlBoss), and Nick Green (Thrive Market).

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Santa Ana-based Iteris reported this week that it has scored a win in the City of Minneapolis, which will install the company's video detection systems. Financial impact of the deal was not announced. Iteris said its Vantage Next detection systems can differentiate between vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrian, and can count all of those for use by city traffic engineers, allowing signal timing to be improved, and police or other emergency resources to be deployed more effectively.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Tired of using public, on-demand scooters? Want your own Bird scooter? Amazon has apparently started selling used Bird scooters on its website today, through the "Amazon Renewed" program. The scooters--Bird's ES1-300--are also available new, however, the used versions are being sold for just $289.99. A new, "Bird One" scooter purchased directly through Bird will set users back by $1299.00.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

San Diego-based Tocagen , which develops cancer-selective gene therapy aimted at treatking skin cancer, and Torrance-based Forte Biosciences , a biopharmaceuticals firm developing a live biotherapeutic for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases, said on Wednesday that the two are in an agreement where Tocagen will merge with Forte in an all-stock transaction.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Los Angeles-based Cloudbreak Health , which develops a platform used for telemedicine efforts, has raised $10M in an investment round, the company announced this morning. According to the company, the funding came from Columbia Partners Private Capital. The company said the new funding will go towards expanding its footprint, and for growth and product innovation.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Irvine-based SmartBug Media , a marketing agency which helps businesses with lead generation, has received a private equity investment from American Discovery Capital (ADC). Financial details of that investment were not announced. According to SmartBug Media, the two have formed a strategic partnership, and will use the funding to accelerate its growth.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Huntington Beach-based Cicero Diagnostics , a company developing women's healthcare diagnostics, has received $1M in a Phase II SBIR Fast Track grant, from the National Institutions of Health (NIH), the company announced this morning. The company said the grant will go towards further research on its efforts to monitor biomarkers for unexplained infertility, failed implantation, and recurrent pregnancy loss.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Irvine-based Digital Motors , which develops software for the automotive industry, said this morning that it has received an investment from investor Autotech Ventures. Size of the investment was not announced. According to Digital Motors, it will use the new funding to accelerate its efforts. Digital Motors said other investors in the company also included InMotion Ventures (owned by Jaguar Land Rover), OpenRoad Auto Group, Maryann Keller (automotive industry expert and author), and Ryan Kerrig

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Hawthorne-based SpaceX has inked a deal with Space Adventures , to launch private citizens into space on the SpaceX Crew Dragon, according to Spacex and Space Adventures. According to Space Adventures, it is in an agreement with SpaceX to fly up to four individuals with a change to fly on the Crew Dragon, with an "opportunity to break the world altitude record for private citizen spaceflight and see planet Earth the way no one has since the Gemini program.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Culver City-based Jam City , which develops mobile games, has launched a new game, called World War Doh , which was developed by a Bogota, Columbia game studio called Brainz. Jam City acquired Brainz in March of 2018. The new game allows players to play each other one-on-one, taking the place of two "maniacal brothers" and their "army of misfits". The game is launching first on Google Android, but also will be available on iOS.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

A new, Los Angeles-based startup, Croquet Corporation has raised $2.7M in a seed funding round, to go towards its development of tools to power apps and games for 5G and augmented reality (AR), the company said on Tuesday. The startup--led by CEO and founder David A. Smith--said that the funding was led by SIP Global Partners (SIP GP), which invested $2.0M in the seed funding.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Los Angeles-based Open Raven , a developer of data security tools, has raised $4.1M in a funding round, according to the company. The funding was led by Upfront Ventures. The funding was led by Upfront's Kara Nortman, and also included Phil Venables (former Chief Information Risk Officer of Goldman Sachs), Niloo Razi Howe (RSA), and Signal Sciences.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Fountain Valley-based gaming accessories maker HyperX and NFL football star JuJu Smith-Schuster said this morning that they will be auctioning off 19, limited edition Juju Smith-Schuster Cloud MIX gaming headsets as part of a charity effort. Each of the boxes of those limited edition gaming headsets will be signed by Smith-Schuster. Smith-Schuster, who is currently a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has had an endorsement deal with HyperX since 2018.

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