Xconomy
AUGUST 15, 2019
TuSimple, an autonomous trucking company, has been conducting test drives for UPS between the Arizona cities of Phoenix and Tucson since May. Now the corporate venture arm of the global package delivery giant says it has taken a minority stake in the San Diego startup, which believes its technology can reduce the costs of shipping goods via tractor-trailer by 30 percent.
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 12, 2019
Loot Crate Inc., which sells subscription boxes of pop culture apparel and collectibles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.
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socalTECH
AUGUST 16, 2019
Los Angeles-based Within , a venture-backed startup which is developing augmented reality software, said this week that it has relased another, augmented reality title on its app, Wonderscope. According to Within--which is backed by venture investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Temasek, Emerson Collective, 21st Century Fox, WPP, Raine Ventures, WME, Live Nation, Vice Media, Tribeca Enterprises, Annapurna Pictures, and Legendary Pictures--its new title, Clio's Cosmic Quest , is an augmented r
Berkonomics
AUGUST 15, 2019
I am sure you can argue with this one. Sometimes a board member is valuable in teaching the “how” to get things done inside the company. But experience reinforces the usual fact that a board member telling the CEO or founder “how” to perform a function crosses a line and can diminish the CEO’s confidence and denigrates his or her ability, often in front of the board itself.
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.
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 14, 2019
Esports team owner Echo Fox has forfeited its role as a competitor in Riot Games Inc.’s lucrative “League of Legends” League Championship Series after failing to sell the spot to another bidder.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
SoCal Tech Calendar
AUGUST 14, 2019
Tuesday, August 20, 2019 -- Los Angeles VC Panel and LAVA Annual Membership Meeting. Come meet three of the most active Venture Capital funds in Los Angeles. Meet the top VCs who are investing in Southern California. Find out what they are looking to invest in. Find out what does it take to secure Venture Capital for your company. Learn about the hottest trends and the mistakes NOT to make.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 10, 2019
Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above. The dilemma is that these goals are usually mutually exclusive.
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 14, 2019
Santa Monica-based venture investors March Capital Partners led a $51 million Series C round for conversational artificial intelligence developers Uniphore Software Systems Private Ltd.
socalTECH
AUGUST 12, 2019
San Diego-based GroundMetrics , a startup that develops electromagnetic oil and gas surveying technology, has raised nearly $7.5M in a funding round, with a target of $8.45M, according to a regulatory filing from the firm. According to the filing, approximately $6.9M of the funding was related to conversion of debt into shares of capital stock. Details on the funding have not yet been announced.
SoCal Tech Calendar
AUGUST 14, 2019
Tuesday, August 20, 2019 -- Preccelerator Workshop: UX Primer for Entrepreneurs w/ Rich Abronson. This session will discuss: What UX is (and isn't) and why it's important UX costs and how to incorporate it into your strategy The UX process including brainstorming, feature prioritization, and usability testing.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 11, 2019
Trying to be a business leader by instilling fear in your employees and partners is never a good approach, but it is particularly devastating in a startup. Yet I see this approach used all too often by new entrepreneurs, most of whom are not natural tyrants, but who are fighting to mask their own internal fears and insecurities about starting a business.
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 14, 2019
Renewable energy storage firm Energy Vault, a portfolio company of Pasadena's Idea Lab, received a $110 million investment from SoftBank Vision Fund to scale its operations and expand into international markets.
socalTECH
AUGUST 15, 2019
Oxnard-based SimpliPhi Power , a developer of lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) battery technology, said this morning that it is offering up steep discounts on its 3.8 KWh, 48V batteries, as part of its effort to cater to both Californians preparing for Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), as well as globally for other climate change-related events, including wildfires, extreme heat, and hurricanes.
Xconomy
AUGUST 15, 2019
The Food and Drug Administration approved 59 new drugs last year, a record for the agency which over the years has swung back and forth between tight control and leniency. We are in the midst of perhaps the agency’s most permissive era ever, thanks to its openness to speed up reviews and to greenlight certain drugs with slim evidence, like those for cancer patients who have run through all other options, or for kids with rare diseases and no available treatments.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 12, 2019
Most entrepreneurs are quick to assert to potential investors that their product or solution will kill the competition, but unfortunately your opinion alone is not enough to convince most experienced investors. They want quantifiable facts and figures on how your offering compares to recognized key players in your domain, and quotes from recognized third-party experts to back you up.
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 13, 2019
Andreessen Horowitz led a $16.5 million Series A funding round for Sawtelle-based online multiplayer game developer Singularity 6 Corp., which will use the cash to develop its first fantasy multiplayer game.
socalTECH
AUGUST 15, 2019
Energy Vault , a startup of Pasadena-based Idealab developing radically different energy storage technology--based on the movement of large, concrete blocks via robotic arms--has raised $110M in a Series B funding, the company announced this morning. The funding came from SoftBank Vision Fund (Vision Fund), and will go towards accelerating global deployment of its technology.
Xconomy
AUGUST 16, 2019
Imagine the transportation future 20 years from now. Here’s one way things could roll on a weekday: Many of us get picked up at home by a sturdy, standardized, driverless car that will also scoop up a few of our neighbors who work at other businesses near ours. Entering the highway, the vehicle automatically links to a platoon of similar self-driving cars headed in the same direction, and they all conform to a safe speed that maximizes energy efficiency.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 16, 2019
Most businesses spend big money testing their brand logo, catchy marketing phrases, and demographics, but spend little time training and validating that their employees can and do deliver exceptional experiences to their customers. The result, according to an often-quoted Gallup survey , is 70 percent of workers not fully engaged, and poor customer experiences.
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 13, 2019
Marina del Rey advertising technology outfit Lucidity has raised a $5 million Series A round of funding to invest in engineering, product development and customer support.
socalTECH
AUGUST 14, 2019
Seal Beach-based CUDDLY , a developer of software and technology to help non-profit, animal rescue organizations, announced on Tuesday afternoon that it has received an investment from an angel investor. CUDDLY said the investment came from Greg Kidd, the co-founder and CEO of globaliD, and founding partner of investment firm Hard Yaka. Size of the investment was not announced.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 14, 2019
As the economy flourishes after some tough economic times, more and more people seem to be turning to entrepreneurship as an alternative to traditional employment. I applaud this trend, but caution all of you thinking this direction to approach entrepreneurship with your eyes wide open. It is not for everyone, as the entrepreneur’s path is fraught with challenges.
Xconomy
AUGUST 16, 2019
We learned last week that the FDA was investigating Novartis for manipulating animal data related to its $2 million-a-dose gene therapy Zolgensma. The activity took place at AveXis, the firm Novartis bought for $8.7 billion in 2018, and Novartis reportedly knew but failed to report it to the FDA before the agency approved Zolgensma in May. There are still many unanswered questions, such as when the data-cooking took place.
socalTECH
AUGUST 13, 2019
Los Angeles-based Cinq Music , a music startup which provides technology driven music distribution, record label, and rights management, has raised $40M in a Series C funding, the company said on Tuesday. The funding came from GoDigital Media Group, a media and technology investment firm focused on intellectual property rights management. According to GoDigital, the new funding will go to purchase music rights, both masters and publishing, and to further expand internationally.
socalTECH
AUGUST 13, 2019
San Diego-based GraphPad , which develops graphing software for scientific graphing and analysis, has acquired SnapGene , a developer of bioinformatics software, the company announced this morning. GraphPad said that it has created a new company called Insightful Science as a part of the acquisition, which will become the parent company of SnapGene, Graphpad Prism, and the Geneious DNA data analysis solutions, Geneious Prime and Geneious Biologics.
socalTECH
AUGUST 13, 2019
Los Angeles-based Singularity 6 , a developer of online games, has raised $16.5M in a Series A funding round, the company said this morning. The funding was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and also included seed investor LVP as well as FunPlus Ventures. Andrew Chen, a Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, will join the company's board of directors as part of the investment.
socalTECH
AUGUST 12, 2019
Santa Ana-based SuperMoney , a startup which lets users evaluate loans and financial services, has just reached $2 billion in loan requests, according to the company. SuperMoney, led by founder and CEO Miron Lulic, says it just reached $2 billion in loan requests through its multi-lender marketplace. SuperMoney's online site provides content about everything from mortgages to credit cards, to debt and refinancing.
socalTECH
AUGUST 12, 2019
Our interview todays is with Brand Caso , the Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Meshcandy (meshcandy.com) developing mesh devices specifically for the health care industry, used for automate the measuring information at health care sites. READ MORE>>.
socalTECH
AUGUST 12, 2019
The Vinetta Project (www.vinettaproject.com), a group which is focused on helping to accelerate the growth of female-led startups, announced a few weeks ago that it is working with P&G Ventures, the internal "startup studio" of Procter and Gamble on an effort to help female-led companies in Los Angeles. We caught up with Vanessa Dawson , the CEO of The Vinetta Project, to learn more about the group and what it's doing with P&G Ventures.
socalTECH
AUGUST 16, 2019
Walnut, California-based Adesso , which manufactures computer peripherals, says it is rolling out a line of products with the KODAK brand on it, including new education and office peripherals for the PC and Mac platforms. According to the company, the products include a line of "visual presenters"--which project images on a wall in real time using 5 megapixel and 8 megapixel cameras; graphical tablets for image capture; and wireless mice which can also be used in the air handheld during a presen
socalTECH
AUGUST 15, 2019
Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard has turned to a veteran of the entertainment industry to head up its marketing efforts, saying on Thursday that it has named David Messinger, a veteran of CAA, as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Messinger previously spent more than 15 years at sports and entertainment agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), most recentl as co-head of CAA Marketing.
socalTECH
AUGUST 15, 2019
Virgin Galactic , the Richard Branson-backed startup which is working on a space tourism venture which hopes to launch well heeled tourists into space, showed off a new, swanky lounge, which it said that its "Future Astronauts" will be able depart and return from space. The "Gaia Lounge" at its "Gateway to Space" is at Virgin Galactic's new hangar at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
socalTECH
AUGUST 15, 2019
Carlsbad-based Vuori , an athletic clothing brand, has raised $45M in a funding round, the company said this week. The funding came from Norwest Venture Partners. The company offers up athletic clothing for both men and women, including board shorts, pants, T-shirts, hoodies, jackets, and other products. Vuori was founded by Joe Kudla. The company said the funding was a "growth equity" round.
socalTECH
AUGUST 15, 2019
Los Angeles-based TeleSign , which has been focused on authentication and second factor authentication services for major website and mobile applications, is expanding into mobile messaging services. According to TeleSign is has expanded into Rich Communication Services (RCS) Messaging, by launching an application programming interface (API) which lets businesses send SMS and voice messages to their customers.
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