socalTECH

MARCH 26, 2018

Venice, California-based Snap , the parent firm of Snapchat , has quietly acquired a 3D gaming engine developer based in the UK, according to a report. According to the report, Snap acquired PlayCanvas, a developer of 3D game design software, last May. No details on the acquisition have been announced by either of the companies.

Snapchat 138

Snapchat Venice Startup Report 138

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions for 2019 from Southern California's technology industry. My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

socalTECH

JULY 8, 2021

Venice, California-based Repeat, a startup which is developing technology to help encourage reordering of consumer packaged goods online, has raised $6M in a funding round, according to the company. Battery Ventures' Neeraj Agrawal will join the company's board of directors as part of the funding.

Venice 113

Venice Capital Funding Product 113

SoCal CTO

MAY 22, 2012

I recently posted about the Increase in Early-Stage Startup Activity in Los Angeles. In that post, I mentioned how one of the signals is the big increase in number of startup events and the number of attendees at those events. Of course, given the size of this list and having kids, I really can't attend a lot of these.

Los Angeles 198

Los Angeles Southern California Angel Enterprise Forum 198

socalTECH

MAY 3, 2017

Venice, California-based Fifth Wall Ventures , a brand new venture capital firm focused on investing in real estate technology, announced this week that it has raised a new, $212M venture capital fund.

Invest 124

Invest Funding Venice Venture Capital 124

socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2019

Tony is a longtime veteran of the digital marketing world, co-founded the InterActive Agency, was a VP at companies like ValueClick, GumGum, Search123, and others, and also has been very involved in bringing together the local technology community through such efforts as the Digital Family Reunion and during the Internet 1.0

Venice 124

Venice Southern California Los Angeles Marketing 124

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

Venice-based Snapchat might be the darling of the technology startup scene, but there are at least three, privately held startups--and maybe, more--in Southern California who recently passed $100M in revenues, according to a look through recent announcements.

Snapchat 100

Snapchat Southern California OpenX SoCal 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

One of my favorite events last year was attending Startup Grind where I got to interview Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma. ” We talked about my influences as a younger person and what got me started in technology and entrepreneurship. I grew up in Northern California. It was an IBM XT.

Startup 337

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Venture Capital 337

socalTECH

DECEMBER 13, 2018

Venice, California-based startup Vyng , which develops software which turns calls from friends into cute "video ringtones" that show up on your lock screen when a friend calls, has raised $4M in a funding round, the company said on Thursday. Paul Kats is the CEO and co-founder of Vyng. READ MORE>>.

Venice 133

Venice Screening Patents Software 133

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2016

Venice-based Snap, Inc. , the parent company of Snapchat, has reportedly acquired Israeli startup Cimagine Media. Cimaging Media develops augmented reality technology. The deal is reportedly worth between $30M and $40M. The acquisition was first reported by a local Israeli financial daily. Cimagine was founded in 2012.

Snapchat 113

Snapchat Media Report Venice 113

socalTECH

DECEMBER 26, 2018

Editor's note: All this week, and into the start of next year, we'll be featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. Are there any technology innovations, gadgets, devices, software, that you found most interesting in 2018? Happy Holidays!

Southern California 113

Southern California SoCal Pasadena Startup 113

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 16, 2013

Today’s startup innovators come from about six hours south of Silicon Valley. Fun Fact: One of the most prominent figures from their firm, Mark Suster t, runs a blog startups follow religiously. Fun Fact: Technology is in their DNA. Silicon Valley? That’s so yesterday. Get to know them now before they become household names.

Startup 111

Startup Snapchat Venice Social Media 111

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 26, 2020

Startups across the nation and around the world are looking for ways to relieve shortages of much-needed personal protective equipment and sanitizers used to halt the spread of COVID-19. ” Against this backdrop local startups and maker spaces are stepping up to do what they can to fill the gap.

Company 281

Company Companies Mobile Organization 281

socalTECH

JUNE 14, 2013

Venice-based ZEFR has rolled out a new product today, BrandID , which it says will help brands identify their fans on YouTube, provide visibility into how those fans are responding and engaging, and provide data on a brand''s competitors. Pricing on the new software offering was not announced. READ MORE>>.

Services 124

Services Venice Startup Content 124

socalTECH

JUNE 22, 2017

Venice, California-based Snap Inc. , the parent company of Snapchat , has acquired social app startup Zenly , in a deal reportedly worth $250M to $350M in cash and stock. Snapchat just rolled out a new, location sharing feature for Snapchat based on Zenly's technology, but will continue to operate Zenly as an independent service.

Snapchat 113

Snapchat Report Venice Services 113

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Editor's note: All this week, and into the start of next year, we'll be featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. We moved from our loft in Venice to a new tech campus in Santa Monica. You'll be able to browse all of those contributions here.

Riot Games 133

Riot Games Southern California Startup Santa Monica 133

socalTECH

JUNE 10, 2013

In the latest services-meets-smartphone service to launch in the Los Angeles area, a new startup, Naki Laundry , said today that it has launched its service in Santa Monica, letting the tech set use their smartphone or the web to get their laundry cleaned. Naki''s name comes from the Hebrew for the word "clean". READ MORE>>.

Santa Monica 268

Santa Monica Marina Del Rey Services Santa Barbara 268

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 For its own part, Amplify.LA billion, with so far 9 of its companies acquired.

Snapchat 100

Snapchat Venice Los Angeles Report 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 25, 2018

Venice, California-based venture capital investor Fifth Wall says it has made a $135M investment in San Francisco-based real estate sales startup Opendoor , as part of a combined equity and debt funding. The funding came as part of Opendoor's Series D funding round.

Invest 124

Invest Venice Equity Venture Capital 124

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

Let’s start with the fund. Santa Monica is the place where the highest concentration of early-stage startups are created if you consider also the contiguous geography of Venice Beach. What’s up with that? To start, we believe that our industry was too closed-door and secretive. So what changed?

Funding 343

Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

socalTECH

DECEMBER 5, 2012

Venice-based StackSocial , which develops an e-commerce platform for publishers, said today that it has partnered with technology publication Digital Trends. StackSocial said that the deal will offer up new products via a new "Digital Trends Deals" section, which will offer up new apps and products to users.

Technical Review 183

Technical Review Venice Software Review Commerce 183

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2012

We asked the same four questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next week. Paul Bricault is Managing Partner at Amplify LA (Www.amplify.la), a hands-on startup accelerator and co-working and community space in Venice.

Southern California 215

Southern California Technical Review High Tech Venice 215

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 12, 2013

Starting off in Santa Monica at ROC for a fireside chat with CBS Interactive, then heading to Westwood at UCLA for Spotlight: LA Tech, and ending at NextSpace / Amplify LA in Venice for TechZulu Final Friday. Fireside Chat with Cameron Olthuis VP at CBS Interactive | Search & Social for Startups. The Deets: . Apply now !

Startup 92

Startup Santa Monica UCLA Southern California 92

socalTECH

OCTOBER 30, 2015

Venice, California-based startup accelerator Amplify.LA is an investor in a host of LA startups, including HelloTech, StackSocial, Vadio, Gem, and many others. The accelerator recently had a high profile exit, in mapping technology developer Mapsense, which was acquired by Apple in September. Amplify.LA Amplify.LA

Capital 100

Capital Funding Venice Los Angeles 100

socalTECH

JULY 19, 2016

Roni Eschel , the founder of goFlow, is a former Israeli pro surfer, who is now in Los Angeles; she told us a bit more about the startup and her journey from pro surfing to the startup world. How did you go from pro surfing in Israel, to starting a company here in L.A.? What is goFlow all about? After I arrived here in L.A.,

Startup 100

Startup Southern California Social Network Activity 100

socalTECH

JULY 22, 2016

In an interesting twist on an Airbnb-for-anything, a new, Los Angeles startup, MyLucke , has recently launched a marketplace for private parking spaces in Los Angeles, which lets people with their own parking spaces--say, your driveway--make them available to others.

Santa Monica 100

Santa Monica Venice Los Angeles Startup 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

The company started the year with no revenue and at it’s peak had a run rate well in excessive of $100 million / year. They are no longer remarkable in Santa Monica or Venice or in many cities in America, Europe or South America. They were new, they were strange, they were ridden mostly by young people?—?they they were highly visible.

Santa Monica 250

Santa Monica Venice Competition Software Review 250

socalTECH

OCTOBER 28, 2016

Venice-based Amplify LA (www.amplify.la) is celebrating its fifth anniversary as a startup accelerator here in the Los Angeles area � one of the few in the area to have survived in more or less original form after the launch of a number of startup incubators and accelerators five years ago.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Incubator 100

socalTECH

JULY 23, 2013

Rick Perry recently touring Southern California--and not a small number of its technology startups--trying to convince them to move away. Resignation Media was based in Venice Beach, and publishes a series of mostly male-focused (women, funny videos, humor) websites. READ MORE>>.

Media 164

Media Southern California Venice Technical Review 164

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

Venice, California-based ZEFR , the online content distribution startup founded by Zach James and Richard Raddon, has some new experience in its corner: Ross Levinsohn, the former interim CEO of Yahoo. READ MORE>>.

Yahoo 159

Yahoo Southern California Venice Content 159

socalTECH

JUNE 26, 2014

Venice, California-based online flower delivery service TheBouqs said this morning that it has raised $6M in a Series A financing, to go towards expansion of its team, delivery outside the US, and scaling of its technology and infrastructure. The company lets users order flowers via iOS and Android apps, plus via the its website.

Legalzoom 159

Legalzoom Venice Venture Capital Mobile 159

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

popped up consistently in an informal (and highly non-scientific poll) of a number of readers, executive recruiters, and others in the Los Angeles area, who cited growth, brand, profitability, and other factors in their suggestions to us of the top companies. the "startup culture" at the company as among reasons to work for the company.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Company Companies Southern California 279

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

We caught up with Rachel recently to hear more about the company. Part of the difference is we use video recommendations as a starting point, not and end point. How did you end up in Los Angeles? That''s why I decided to start my next new company here. rachel payne video recommendation inteview startup entrepreneur'

Google 233

Google Content Startup Venice 233

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Let me start with the obvious baseline that most people probably know instinctively: Los Angeles is the 3rd largest technology startup ecosystem in the US. Given how efficient markets are when a large market like LA starts to blossom it attracts capital pretty quickly. LA By The Numbers. But even this is changing.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2013

In a sign of the growth of the Silicon Beach technology world, last year, Google moved its headquarters out of a space on Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica, and into a new fancy headquarters space in Venice. Walter Grieves: Our goal is to bring together universities, startups, and investors in one place. It's up to the community.

Google 253

Google Tech Coast Angels Screening Santa Monica 253

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2017

Hollod is now joined up with Burkle and recording artist D.A. How did you end up here in Los Angeles doing investments? Chris Hollod: Growing up in Atlanta, I was completely oblivious to California and more specifically LA. I immediately started to bombard various LA professionals with LinkedIn messages.

Invest 157

Invest Startup Hollywood Echo Park 157

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2011

Venice-based CitizenGlobal , a startup working on crowd-sourced video content, has landed the inventor of the web wiki as Chief Technology Officer.

Chief Technology Officer 153

Chief Technology Officer Venice Web News 153