socalTECH

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

Venice, California-based early stage, pre-seed investment fund and accelerator Amplify.LA has released its latest report on the state of the Los Angeles technology scene, saying that the city had a "landmark year". In the report, Amplify.LA

Snapchat 100

Snapchat Venice Los Angeles Report 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2016

In 2016 I finally cracked SnapChat with the launch of Discovery. It’s hard to be discovered on SnapChat right now so I occasionally tweet my SnapChat add handle: https://www.snapchat.com/add/msuster. So this dude on Twitter says that I’m “trying to hard” because I’m using SnapChat in a new way.

Snapchat 150

Snapchat Product Startup AMA 150

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2016

billion funding round for Snapchat. The most amount of investment came for the Los Angeles-Long Beach MSA, which saw $247.6M in investments in the quarter, followed by $197.5M Another $28.68M was invested in Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, plus Ventura. for San Diego, then $189.0M in funding in Orange County.

Southern California 100

Southern California Orange County Report Santa Barbara 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” billion in venture capital to LA’s technology startups and 2014 will shatter that figure. acquired Overture for $1.63

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Most recent investments: GOAT, cloudvirga, Vemba, LootCrate, Invoca. Most recent investments: EventBoard, Sensay, Shipt, Scopely, ALL DEF DIGITAL. Most recent investments: Ring, Flipagram, Snapchat. Most recent investments: Ring, Flipagram, Snapchat. Most recent investments: Zingle, Keen.io, mPulse, Invoca.

Southern California 100

Southern California Dollar Shave Club Lootcrate Orange County 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2014

LA has a serious technology scene. Last week displayed the best of LA last week for a gala event of all of Upfront’s portfolio companies + the CEOs of many of LA’s top technology companies + 75 VC firms from LA, SF, NY & Boston + 25 LP Funds + the Chairman of Yahoo! And I’m proud of that, too. Maker Studios.

Startup 318

Startup Santa Monica Snapchat Yahoo 318

Xconomy

JULY 14, 2016

Still, the amount invested marked a 12 percent drop from the $17.4 billion that venture firms invested during the same quarter last year, and there was a 22 percent decline in deals, according to MoneyTree data released today. billion invested in Venice, CA-based Snapchat. billion investments in 251 companies.

Marina Del Rey 40

Marina Del Rey Invest Venture Capital San Diego 40

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

We did our first close in the summer of 2014, and over the first nine months we raised our fund and started investing. Fund I was fully deployed by June 30th of 2017, and we went out to raised Fund II, which was a wet close, where you invest as you close. Those investments have really broken out. They're all big winners.

Funding 160

Funding Capital Artificial Inteligence Startup 160

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2015

RadPad--which is backed by such investors as Altpoint Ventures and Goldcrest Investments said the new reward comes because engineering talent is still at a premium in Southern Californi, due to the rise of many startups here, including Tinder, Snapchat, Whisper, Flipagram, Parachute, RealtyMogul, Reformation, and Seriously.

Flipagram 100

Flipagram Snapchat Technical Review Invest 100

socalTECH

DECEMBER 22, 2016

This holiday season, we are again sharing the reflections on the year from Southern California's technology community. Cody Simms: Techstars tripled down on Los Angeles in 2016 with the launch of three investment and mentorship programs for startups through which we will be investing in more than 30 startups per year in LA.

Southern California 100

Southern California Snapchat Yahoo Social Media 100

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

The world’s top tech companies have heavily invested in AR/VR and are persistent in broadcasting the technologies’ potential to blur the lines of how consumers interact with the digital world. Beyond the tech titans, it’s the small startups that are dialing into what’s missing in the ecosystem right now.

UCLA 185

UCLA Startup Snapchat Los Angeles 185

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2016

This holiday season, we are again sharing the reflections on 2016 from Southern California's technology ecosystem. What's your favorite technology gadget, device, or innovation you ran across this year? Finally, what do you think will have the biggest impact on the technology industry in 2017? READ MORE>>.

Southern California 113

Southern California Social Media News Entertainment 113

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 16, 2013

Previously known as GRP Partners, Upfront Ventures has focused on early stage investments since 1996. Founded in London in 2006, the Hub is a global network of social enterprises with each individual chapter acting as a gathering place for innovation, technology, creativity, and positive change. Fun Fact: Technology is in their DNA.

Startup 111

Startup Snapchat Venice Social Media 111

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

Earlier this week, Derek Norton , a long time advisor to the media, Internet, and technology industry in Los Angeles, announced a brand new venture capital fund called Watertower Ventures (www.watertowerventures.com). Where are you planning making investments? Derek Norton: We're investing in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and New York.

Invest 145

Invest Funding Capital Startup 145

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

But it still takes VC to scale a business (thus large capital into industry winners like Uber, Airbnb, SnapChat, etc). Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began. .”

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 14, 2019

“The way I look at it… a lot of it is going to be like any kind of content studio,” says Peter Rojas, a partner at the New York investment firm Betaworks Ventures. Flinn got exposure to the virtual media world while at Rothenberg Ventures, the now defunct fund that invested in virtual reality and augmented reality.

Social Media 261

Social Media Content Media Artificial Inteligence 261

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

We've attempted to do that for the last three years, trying to ferret out exactly who the people--not companies--are to watch in the region's technology industry. Phillipe Browning , SnapChat. Who are the top 50 people to watch in Southern California? Julien Bellanger , Prevoty. Chad Billmeyer , Panjo. Howard Brown , RingDNA.

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Lootcrate Southern California Snapchat 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2015

As an active investor in the Los Angeles technology market we’re always seeking to better understand the data and trends of why our market has grown so rapidly since 2009. Everybody now knows that LA produced SnapChat, Tinder and Maker Studios. Everybody now knows that LA produced SnapChat, Tinder and Maker Studios.

Marketing 150

Marketing Newsletter Venture Capital Blogging 150

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 9, 2016

If you wanted to find someone who truly understands the convergence of the media and technology, you need to go no further than Peter Csathy , the CEO of newly launched CREATV Media (www.creatv.media). We are an innovation, investment, and advisory firm. Does this include investments or an investment fund?

Media 100

Media Blogging Hulu Invest 100

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2020

in a funding round led by Octopus Ventures, and also which also included Experian Ventures, Cherry Tree Investments, Dig Ventures, Mucker Capital, Unlock Venture Partners, TechStars and Wavemaker Partners. We also work with high yield savings and investment, and also have an investment partnership. Stackin recentlyraised $12.6M

Content 124

Content Social Media Startup Artificial Inteligence 124

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

We''re proud to announce the Socaltech 50 , our list of the 50, up-and-coming people in Southern California''s technology ecosystem. Evan Spiegel , SnapChat (Los Angeles, mobile app). Rob Reed , MomentFeed (Los Angeles/Ventura, analytics). Ophir Tanz , GumGum (Los Angeles, advertising). Sam Teller ,LaunchpadLA (Los Angeles, incubator).

Southern California 279

Southern California SoCalTech Dollar Shave Club Santa Monica 279

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

I was reminded of this yesterday watching my friend Justin Kan on Snapchat with this 10-second reminder, “No matter how much you raise at your company you’ll end up spending it in 12–24 months” https://medium.com/media/8594cb16d022a083932b0f3d60b79ebd/href I would probably amend it to say 12–18 months.

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

Our first set of technology in the stack was around rights management, because, as we started uploading licensed content from the studios, we found out that many fans had figured out a way to upload those same scenes on their respective channels. Then, we took that same technology stack, and thought--what more can we do with this?

Hollywood 159

Hollywood Help Media Content 159

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2017

In the entrepreneur world, most of the energy I see is focused on the current opportunity bubbles, now including anything mobile, the new sharing economy (Uber, Airbnb), or yet another social media app (Snapchat, WhatsApp). The current rate of technology change, as well as customer cultural change, is unprecedented.

Ideas 55

Ideas Snapchat Social Media Entrepreneur 55

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

With small amounts of money invested (sub $3 million) the risks are reasonably low for most VCs and the consequences of bad decisions or decisions a VC has limited say in is tolerable. Unless you’re SnapChat, Instagram or similar this is probably 3-5 years into your existence.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Most of the guidance you see for entrepreneurs is aimed at those who are selling a product (Apple, Tesla, Xiaomi), or selling a service (Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat). Use your knowledge of evolving needs and technology to add more value than competitors, and introduce clients to each other to build partnerships.

Social Media 56

Social Media Pricing Technical Review Demand 56

LATechDigest

MAY 13, 2016

” Ryoo expects to bring in up to seven companies on this round, which will all receive hands-on mentorship from Atom Factory’s management, investment, and content teams, as well as a direct connection to a new batch of mentors culled from the companies’ far-reaching Rolodex. To apply to SMASHD Labs, visit [link].

Mentor 75

Mentor Venture Capital Draper USC 75

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. While many tech startups do this intuitively (say, SnapChat thinking it would be much better if our photos out partying disappeared) it still happens. It’s worth a quick read. My argument is pretty simple. So, yes, you can buy a best seller.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

And consider Snapchat – one of our hometown favorites as they’re based in LA (Venice Beach). That’s our great gain as Snapchat has also raised a lot of money at a monster valuation ($10 billion reported) and has been scooping up talented Stanford engineers and relocating them to LA. But we still need more funds.

Company 369

Company Companies Startup Snapchat 369

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2017

He was running to be the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles and he outlined his vision to “open up the city government to technology and innovation” if he were elected. He wanted to bring the same level of technology focus and energy that Mayor Bloomberg had brought to New York City. Are you kidding me?

Riot Games 191

Riot Games Los Angeles Technical Review Venture Capital 191

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 16, 2016

Computer Vison Startup Nanit If you follow me on Snapchat ( msuster ) you might already know that I’ve been looking at and investing in a number of companies in the computer vision space. Today I am so excited to announce our latest investment in the category —  Nanit  — which is a smart baby monitor.

Invest 150

Invest Course Startup CTO Hire 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. We write about $40 million of first-checks into new deals / year and about $40 million of follow-on investments. But let me be even more clear. Why do markets adjust so quickly?

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 12, 2016

Why Invest? And while my relationship with Chuck was critical to my investment, so too was the leadership of Trevor Templar , the Chief Revenue Officer. In all my time investing I have never seen such a senior revenue officer join a company at this stage. Why Invest? Think about Snapchat.

Software 105

Software Mobile Artificial Inteligence Oracle 105

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 23, 2015

And this is following mega financings at Honest Company ($75 million), JustFab ($85 million), Victorious ($25 million) as well as the obviously known standouts like Tinder and SnapChat. But being able to raise a $75 million seed fund is a testament to the success of their investments before the LA ecosystem was as thriving as it is today.

News 150

News Funding Venture Capital Dollar Shave Club 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

There are probably 30 or so funds in the US that have similar backgrounds so while we feel great about our track record, our team and our performance but it’s hardly enough to say why you MUST invest in Upfront. We have strong theses in key technology areas. I think that’s where many startups and even VC funds go wrong.

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150