How a Canter's Deli Scion Built a Restaurant Tech Revolution — and Stoked a Revolt

Oren Peleg
Oren Peleg is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles. He covers design, media, the restaurant industry, and local politics. He can be found on Instagram @o_peleg and Twitter @orenpeleg.
Alex Canter
Photo by Dan Tuffs

Alex Canter understood his role from the beginning. As a fourth-generation restaurateur and heir to beloved Canter's Deli in Los Angeles, he was set to continue the family legacy. But running a restaurant in 2021 is very different than running one in 1981, let alone 1931.


As Canter saw it, his job was "bringing in new technology and proving to my family that change is good," he says with a laugh.

Within a few short years, Canter has undoubtedly succeeded, building a delivery platform, Ordermark, that not only brought the family business into the digital age, but helped thousands of other restaurants as well.

But as Ordermark expands into the worlds of 'virtual brands' and ghost kitchens, some are asking whether the company is creating more problems for mom-and-pop businesses than it's solving, and if the ultimate goal is to support restaurants or compete with them.

Bringing the Deli to the Web

After a few years of working his way up from a dishwasher to managing the restaurant, Alex Canter set about bringing his family's 90-year-old deli online. He introduced Postmates, GrubHub and other delivery apps into Canter's service, and business for the kitchen picked up.

Alex Canter is the heir to L.A.'s beloved Canter's Deli and founder of Ordermark.

Photo by Dan Tuffs

"Fourteen online ordering platforms later, delivery accounted for over 30% of our revenue," Canter says. A substantial chunk, no doubt, and surprising for all, "but the staff in the back hated me because we had nine tablets, two laptops and a fax machine" to manage all the incoming orders.

"It was a very complicated process and very disruptive to our operations," he continues, adding that each third-party platform used its own device, and menus had to be manually updated across each site individually.

After talking with a few other restaurants around L.A., Canter came up with a solution: consolidate.

"Most brick-and-mortar restaurants are not set up for delivery," he says. From the in-and-out of delivery drivers waiting on their pick-ups, to the constant if disorganized stream of orders coming into the kitchen, "I really wanted to take a step back and reimagine the entire online ordering experience from scratch at a restaurant."

The result was Ordermark, which Canter co-founded in 2017.

The idea was to combine the various delivery apps onto a single OrderMark tablet. The device would allow restaurant kitchens to view incoming orders from Postmates, DoorDash, UberEats and others on one screen, and easily update menus from the same spot, too.

"When we started, we had no relationship with any of these companies," Canter says of the 50 or so online ordering platforms and point-of-sales companies that integrate with Ordermark. "And none of these companies wanted to be hardware businesses, anyway."

It was easy to see how Ordermark's system would be a win-win for restaurants and delivery platforms alike: driver wait-times were reduced along with order errors, while revenues increased.

And Ordermark seemed to have entered the online delivery market at just the right time. According to a report by Morgan Stanley, the total U.S. market for food delivery grew from $260 billion in 2017 (the year Ordermark launched), to $356 billion in 2019. Any company that could capture even a fraction of the market was poised for a windfall.

Then the pandemic hit.

Within a few weeks, the company went from adding about 300 new restaurants a month to their platform, to over 1,000 a month in March and April 2020. By then, 92% of restaurants' orders were coming from off-premise sales.

This explosion in growth, fueled by a once-in-a-century scenario, helped push Ordermark past $1 billion in sales in 2020 and sent a nascent service Ordermark had begun experimenting with into hyperdrive.

From Ordering and Delivery to Virtual Brands and Ghost Kitchens

Canter and his team launched Nextbite in late 2019, envisioning a platform that partners restaurants with virtual brands designed by Ordermark.

"The restaurant industry is in the midst of the ecommerce phase where restaurants must get creative by embracing technology and new sources of revenue generation to reach customers outside of their four walls," Canter said in an October statement after securing a $120 million Series C round of funding.

Through Nextbite, a restaurant essentially does gig work using their kitchen and staff to fulfill orders for virtual brands.

The brands are designed from scratch, Canter explains, by "looking at a lot of data of what's performing well in which markets and what time of day, based on what we know is going to deliver well, and based on what we know will be non-disruptive to restaurants' existing business."

So, say you're a Thai restaurant with a kitchen operating at only 75% capacity on weeknights, Nextbite might partner you with HotBox by Wiz Khalifa to pump out burgers and BBQ tofu in addition to your Thai menu. If all goes well, you have a new revenue stream—you keep 55% from each order you've filled, and the remaining 45% gets split between the delivery apps and Ordermark.

"A big chunk of that [45%] goes to the third-party delivery services," says Canter, "and we use some of our take to invest in the marketing of that brand so that we can continue to drive more gross sales for the restaurant."

But all this begs the question: is Ordermark solving a problem that Ordermark itself helped to create?

The restaurant industry was already in a fragile state before the pandemic. Food delivery apps and point-of-sales platforms have been devouring the razor-thin margins of small operators for the last few years now. Is Nextbite creating a cannibalistic cycle by propping up smaller restaurants' while simultaneously ensuring that their margins continue to shrink?

"It's an inevitability that dining occasions are moving off-premise," begins Zach Goldstein, founder and CEO of Thanx, a customer engagement platform.

Faced with that inevitability, many restaurants are rushing to adopt various platforms and technologies to capture whatever revenue they can from outside sales. The problem, Goldstein continues, "is that's all well and good in the medium term. But in the long term, if you have incubated a new class of restaurant [with virtual brands] that has taken on a disproportionate share of dining occasions, then we will see far fewer traditional restaurants able to survive."

Restaurants should be creating their own digital channels instead, Goldstein states.

"Every restaurant should be focused on, 'how am I building my first-party digital channels under a brand I own so that I gain the brand equity?'," he says. And the technology is there for even the smallest and least savvy players to do it, Goldstein adds. "The only proven model, in my opinion, for long-term sustainability as a restaurant is to own your own digital channels, to own your own brand or brands, and to own your customers directly so that you can talk to them."

It's a notion Canter pushes back on. He says Nextbite is plugging businesses into a national virtual restaurant marketing system.

"A mom-and-pop restaurant can't just go partner with George Lopez," he says. With the resources a small business has, "they're not going to be able to even get in the door with Wiz Khalifa to say, 'hey, let's collaborate and co-market a brand together'. But we're doing that for them, and turning it on for them, and driving all the demand for them, and basically paying them to make the food for this concept."

Investors seem to agree. SoftBank Investment Advisers, which led Ordermark's Series C raise, said in a statement that their firm was "excited to support [the company's] mission to help independent restaurants optimize online ordering and generate incremental revenue from under-utilized kitchens."

$120 million is a sizable sum of cash if neither Ordermark nor their big-name investors are looking for anything more than assist struggling mom-and-pops.

Canter's Deli pastrami sandwichCanter's famous pastrami sandwich.Photo by Dan Tuffs

Still, Nextbite has already helped save certain restaurants during the pandemic. "It's given me a way to hire some of my staff back, get a stream of revenue, and leverage the fact that I have a kitchen and a health permit and all that, when previously I wasn't able to make any money," says Mitch Edelson, owner and operator of Jewel's Catch One in Los Angeles.

Since the city of Los Angeles mandates an establishment with a liquor license to also serve food, Nextbite has helped Catch One turn the burden of a nightclub's kitchen into a profitable proposition. Yet, Edelson is aware that the platform is something of a double-edged sword for operators. He says that bars, music venues, and restaurants should adopt the technology "before their neighbors do and they kind of lose out on opportunity."

Xandre Borghetti, co-owner and operator of Nossa LA, is even more skeptical. As he sees it, Nextbite definitely could be a band-aid for a one, two, six-month period, he says, "but at some point, it's not going to last. And then you're gonna be back to where you were, probably worse," because you've been distracted from your core business by an outside concept.

"You want to be investing in the people that you have hired to get better at your own business," Borghetti notes. "This it's kind of a distraction, and not really worth it. Especially during this time when it's pretty difficult to hire people."

It's a sentiment Jesse Gomez of restaurants YXTA and Mercado echoes. As the owner/operator of two concepts and multiple locations, "why would I want to invest energy into a concept that isn't my own?" Gomez asks. "And what if one of those outside concepts should take off?"

So, does integrating a Nextbite brand into a kitchen distract small owner/operators and potentially push them into a losing cycle of chasing revenue streams from competing virtual brands whose recipes and IP they don't own?

"Absolutely not," says Canter. "We're not in the business of competing with restaurants, we're rather enabling restaurants to do more with their existing operations." All Nextbite brands are designed specifically to be non-disruptive to the restaurants they're partnering with. Canter says the first question Ordermark asks a potential fulfillment partner is "can you handle an extra 10 or 20 online orders a day in your restaurant? If the answer's no, then why would you sign up to throttle extra orders in your kitchen if you're already at full capacity?

For those struggling to bring in revenue, Ordermark has positioned itself as a life-line in a time of flux — even if it means trimming their margins and feeding concepts that aren't their own.

The rise of delivery apps and the pandemic shutdowns have left the restaurant industry irrevocably changed. But will off-premise orders remain at 2020 highs, or will diners clamor back into seats desperate for face-to-face interaction? The continued growth in revenue among the various ordering platforms suggests delivery is here to stay. Meanwhile virtual concepts and ghost kitchens will have to prove that they're not as ephemeral as their names suggest.

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Rain's Latest Funding Fuels the Future of Financial Wellness

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday,

This week, the LA tech scene buzzed with news that Rain, a leader in financial wellness, hassecured $75 million in Series B equity funding, spearheaded by Prosus. This isn't just another funding round; it's a pivotal chapter in Rain's mission to transform how American workers interact with their earnings.

Since its inception, Rain has been at the forefront of innovation in financial technology, particularly with its earned wage access solutions. The concept was simple yet revolutionary: allow workers to access their earned wages instantly, mitigating financial stress and dependency on high-interest payday loans. This vision quickly gained traction, propelling Rain from a promising startup to a key player in the fintech space.

What makes this Series B funding particularly noteworthy is what it represents on a larger scale. It's not just an influx of capital but a strong endorsement of Rain's potential to expand even further. With previous rounds fueling their initial growth and strategic partnerships, such as their notablecollaboration with Marqeta to enhance payment technologies, Rain has steadily built a foundation not just for success but for significant impact.

As Rain secures this significant new funding, their initiative to reshape financial wellness is set to expand dramatically, showcasing the profound impact tech can have on everyday financial challenges.

Looking forward to seeing how their innovations will drive change in the financial landscape.

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Dosen, a Los Angeles-based HRtech startup founded by Ronan Wall, Victor Burke, and Cian McCarthy, has secured $2.3M in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round led by Affinity Ventures. The company offers an AI-powered platform that aligns employee-led learning with business goals through personalized, gamified development programs. The funds will be used to scale the platform, enhance AI-driven personalized learning, and improve employee engagement and productivity. - learn more
  • Plug, a Santa Monica-based company operating an EV-exclusive wholesale online auction platform, has secured $6.7M in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Floodgate, Autotech Ventures, and A*. The company has also launched Plug Trade Desk™, the first EV-focused service designed to help dealers confidently price, move, and monetize trade-ins. The newly acquired funds will be used to enhance Plug's technology and expand its services, aiming to support dealers in navigating the growing used EV market. - learn more
  • Gallatin AI, a defense tech startup, has raised $15M in seed funding led by 8VC to scale its AI-powered logistics platform, Navigator. The tool helps military logisticians predict, plan, and execute operations more efficiently in contested environments. Funds will be used to expand the team and deploy the platform across military services. - learn more
  • BLNG AI, a generative AI platform based in Los Angeles and Paris, raised $3M in seed funding led by Speedinvest to streamline jewelry design by turning sketches into photorealistic renderings and animations. The funding will support commercialization, team expansion in Europe and the U.S., and the launch of a subscription-based app for luxury brands and independent jewelers. - learn more
  • Amca, a newly launched aerospace company focused on modernizing the industrial supply chain, has raised $76M in funding from investors including Caffeinated Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and others. The company plans to acquire specialized suppliers and develop new aerospace products, aiming to strengthen and future-proof the sector’s manufacturing and innovation capabilities. - learn more
  • Turbine Finance Corp., a Santa Monica, California-based data science-driven liquidity platform, has raised a total of $21.75M in equity funding, comprising a $13M Series A round co-led by Alpha Edison and TTV Capital, and a previously unannounced $8.75M seed round with participation from Fin Capital, B Capital, and Sozo Ventures. Additionally, the company secured up to a $100M warehouse facility from Silicon Valley Bank to provide credit facilities to venture investors. The combined funding of $121.75M will be used to deploy the warehouse line and expand Turbine's data science team. Turbine's platform enables private equity and venture firms to offer limited partners access to the value of their portfolio investments without reducing exposure, leveraging machine learning to expedite underwriting processes. - learn more
  • Gente Beauty, an innovative Brazilian body care brand, has received a lead investment from Webster Capital, a private equity firm specializing in consumer and healthcare sectors. This partnership aims to support Gente Beauty's growth and expansion in the beauty industry. - learn more
            LA Venture Funds
            • Alexandria Investment Partners participated in a $41M Series A round for Solu Therapeutics, a Boston-based biotech company developing targeted protein degradation therapies. The funding will advance its lead candidate, STX-0712, which recently entered a Phase 1 clinical trial for CMML and other advanced blood cancers. - learn more
            • Calibrate Ventures participated in SigIQ.ai's $9.5M seed funding round. SigIQ.ai, based in Berkeley, California, is an AI tutoring startup focused on providing personalized education through advanced AI models. The funds will be used to hire top talent, enhance their AI models, and scale their platforms to educational systems worldwide. - learn more
            • Rusheen Capital Management participated in Zero Industrial's $10M Series A funding round, aiming to accelerate the development of thermal energy storage solutions in North America. Zero Industrial focuses on deploying large-scale thermal energy storage projects to enhance energy efficiency and support decarbonization efforts. The funding will be used to expand their project pipeline and advance the commercialization of their technology. - learn more

            LA Exits

            • Bread Beauty Supply has been acquired by Cost of Doing Business (CODB), a holding company founded in 2024 by Topicals founder and CEO Olamide Olowe and president Sochi Mbadugha. The acquisition aims to expand Bread's retail presence in the U.S., starting with an increased footprint in Sephora stores. Founder Maeva Heim will continue as Chief Creative Officer, focusing on the brand's creative direction, while CODB will manage strategic operations. This move reflects CODB's commitment to supporting Black-owned businesses and fostering diversity in the beauty industry. - learn more

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                          El Segundo Startup Turns Tax Credits into Big Business

                          🔦 Spotlight

                          Hello LA,

                          Step into the world of Incentify, the El Segundo-based innovator turning the headache of managing tax credits and incentives into a walk in the park. Founded in 2019, this trailblazing company is reshaping how businesses approach what was once a daunting bureaucratic challenge.

                          Incentify’s platform is revolutionizing the industry by helping businesses discover and effectively manage a share of the estimated $1.2 trillion in tax credits and incentives that often go unclaimed each year. This critical service not only simplifies the process but also ensures that companies can more easily access and leverage these financial opportunities to fuel their growth and sustainability initiatives.

                          Recently, Incentify reached a new milestone by securing $9.5 million Series A funding led by Innovent Capital Group. This significant investment underscores the market’s confidence in their innovative approach and supports their mission to expand their technological capabilities and market reach.

                          As Incentify gears up for this expansion, their efforts are set to make tax incentives more accessible to a broader spectrum of businesses. This is especially vital in today’s economy, where optimizing financial strategies is crucial for business resilience and growth.

                          Incentify's success story from El Segundo is not just about financial gains but also about empowering companies with the tools to turn complex financial engagements into strategic advantages.

                          Stay tuned for more from LA’s vibrant tech scene. Let’s continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

                          Enjoy your weekend, and keep innovating, LA!

                          🤝 Venture Deals

                          LA Companies

                          • TOGETHXR, a pioneering women's sports media and commerce brand co-founded by athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel, and Sue Bird, has achieved profitability and significant growth, including tripling its year-over-year revenue and increasing its social media following by 17% year-to-date. The company has secured additional growth capital in a funding round led by Alex Morgan's Trybe Ventures. The funds will be used to expand TOGETHXR's presence in the women's sports marketplace. Additionally, media executive Nancy Dubuc has joined the company as Executive Chair, bringing her extensive experience to support TOGETHXR's mission of elevating women's sports and culture. - learn more
                          • Airvet, a Los Angeles-based pet telehealth platform, has secured $11M in an oversubscribed Series B-2 funding round led by HighlandX. This investment follows a year of significant growth, including a 4x increase in year-over-year revenue and a tripling of its client base. Airvet partners with leading employers across various industries, such as PepsiCo, Adobe, and Lyft, to provide employees with 24/7 access to veterinary care via video or chat. The platform's services include online pharmacy, e-prescriptions, discounted pet insurance, wellness programs, and specialty care, with recent expansions into Spanish and French language support. The funds will be used to further enhance Airvet's platform and expand its reach, aiming to make veterinary care more accessible and affordable for pet families globally. - learn more
                                  LA Venture Funds
                                  • Interlagos co-led a $50M Series A funding round for Aetherflux, a San Carlos, California-based startup developing satellites to collect and transmit solar energy from space to Earth. The funds will be used to expand Aetherflux's engineering team and advance the technology for its planned low Earth orbit demonstration mission in 2026. - learn more
                                  • Bungalow Capital Management co-led a $2M seed funding round for Juno, a Denver-based startup specializing in corporate guest travel management. Juno offers an integrated platform that streamlines booking, logistics, payments, reimbursements, and support for non-employee travelers such as job candidates, contractors, and customers. The funds will be used to accelerate product development and expand partnerships, including a collaboration with ALTOUR as their first travel management company partner. - learn more
                                  • Veridical Ventures co-led a $3.75M seed funding round for Flagship, a Sydney, Australia-based retail technology company specializing in visual merchandising solutions. Flagship's platform creates digital twins of retail stores, enabling data-driven optimization of product placement and store layouts to enhance sales performance. The funds will be used to expand Flagship's presence in the U.S. market and further develop its product offerings. - learn more
                                  • Miroma Ventures participated in a £6.5M Series A funding round for Limitless Travel, a Birmingham, UK-based company specializing in accessible holidays for individuals with disabilities. Founded in 2015 by Angus Drummond, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at 22, Limitless Travel offers curated group holidays with trained carers, ensuring accommodations and excursions meet specific accessibility needs. The investment will enable the company to enhance its technology, expand its range of destinations, and lay the groundwork for international growth, aiming to transform the lives of disabled individuals through travel. - learn more
                                  • B Capital participated in a $20M Series A funding round for Gable, a Seattle-based company specializing in data management solutions. Gable's platform focuses on "shifting left" in data management by enabling software and data developers to collaboratively build and manage high-quality data assets through API-based data contracts. The funds will be used to accelerate product development and expand Gable's team to meet the growing demand for data collaboration tools. - learn more
                                  • Rebel Fund participated in a $3.8M funding round for Sohar Health, a health technology company. Sohar Health is developing an AI-powered platform designed to streamline patient intake and triage, aiming to enhance access to healthcare services. The funds will be used to accelerate product development and expand the company's reach within the healthcare industry. - learn more

                                      LA Exits

                                      • Tixologi, a next-generation ticketing platform, has been acquired by Punchup Live, a New York-based comedy platform. This strategic move integrates Tixologi's advanced ticketing technology into Punchup Live's ecosystem, enabling seamless, direct-to-fan ticket sales for comedians and venues. The acquisition aims to enhance the ticket purchasing experience by providing features such as fast checkout, unified outreach tools, and advanced anti-scalping solutions, thereby empowering comedians to connect more effectively with their audiences. - learn more
                                      • InVisit, a Calabasas, California-based provider of cloud-based visitor management solutions, has been acquired by Motorola Solutions. InVisit's platform streamlines visitor registration, access, and host notifications across sectors such as commercial offices, education, and healthcare, enhancing security through features like blocklist screening and real-time guest activity insights. This acquisition aims to integrate InVisit's capabilities into Motorola Solutions' Avigilon Alta security suite, offering enterprise customers a unified, cloud-native approach to managing security threats and improving operational efficiency. - learn more

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                                                  $207M Later, Napster is Back and Ready for the Metaverse

                                                  🔦 Spotlight

                                                  Happy Friday, Los Angeles!

                                                  This week, we’re rewinding the clock and fast-forwarding into the future at the same time. Napster, yes, that Napster, just got acquired for $207 million byInfinite Reality, a metaverse and immersive tech company that’s aiming to bring the iconic music platform into the next generation.

                                                  For anyone who came of age in the early 2000s, Napster was either your musical awakening or the reason your dial-up connection crashed. Launched in 1999 by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, it was the face of peer-to-peer file sharing and a lightning rod in the music industry’s first wave of digital disruption. After its legal battles and shutdown in 2001, Napster bounced between owners like Roxio and Best Buy, before eventually merging with Rhapsody and evolving into a legitimate streaming service.

                                                  Now, Infinite Reality is giving Napster a fresh remix. The company says it plans to turn Napster into a social-first music platform that emphasizes artist-fan interaction over passive listening. We’re talking virtual 3D concert experiences, listening parties, fan communities, and merch drops… essentially, a metaverse-native platform built for music superfans.

                                                  According to Infinite Reality CEO John Acunto, this aligns with the company’s bigger vision: moving the internet away from “a flat 2D clickable web” into “a 3D conversational one.” They’re betting that a brand like Napster, which already carries cultural weight, can thrive in a world where fans want deeper connections and creators want modern monetization tools.

                                                  It’s a bold move, but maybe a smart one. Nostalgia is a powerful asset, and in an era where legacy brands keep getting digital reboots, Napster has a chance to go from early disruptor to comeback story.

                                                  Will today’s listeners hit play? We’ll see. But as far as tech comebacks go, we’re here for this remix.

                                                  🤝 Venture Deals

                                                  LA Companies

                                                  • Topanga, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in AI-driven waste reduction solutions for commercial kitchens, has raised an $8M Series A funding round led by Blue Bear Capital, with participation from Struck Capital, Amasia, and Wonder Ventures. This investment brings Topanga's total funding to $12.2M. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its food waste tracking platform into the senior living, health care, and hospitality sectors, accelerate the growth of its ReusePass system beyond universities into enterprise food service, and enhance integration with major food-service platforms like Grubhub and Jamix. - learn more
                                                  • Flight Science, an aviation tech startup focused on AI-powered flight optimization, raised $1.5M in pre-seed funding led by Outsiders Fund. The company helps airlines reduce fuel costs, emissions, and turbulence impact, and will use the funds to grow its team and expand product rollout by summer 2025. - learn more
                                                        LA Venture Funds
                                                          • Second Sight Ventures participated in a $14.2M Series A1 funding round for Lucky Energy, an Austin, Texas-based energy drink company. Lucky Energy offers a line of zero-sugar, zero-calorie beverages in six flavors, formulated with ingredients like maca and beta-alanine. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate distribution, introduce new products, support strategic partnerships, and recruit in key business areas. - learn more
                                                          • M13 led a $5.5M funding round for Chord Commerce, with participation from Act One Ventures and others. The New York-based company provides an AI-powered customer data platform (CDP) that helps commerce brands unify customer data, generate real-time insights, and automate marketing decisions. The funding will be used to further develop the platform and support brands in scaling their data-driven marketing efforts. - learn more
                                                          • Upfront Ventures led a $4M Seed funding round for Arlo Health, a New York City-based AI-powered health insurance underwriter focused on small and mid-sized businesses. Arlo offers level-funded health plans designed to improve preventive care and cost transparency through value-based care and AI-driven underwriting. The funds will be used to expand its broker network, grow its engineering and sales teams, and scale operations. - learn more
                                                          • Bonfire Ventures co-led a $5M Seed funding round for VoiceOps, with participation from Village Global and others. Based in New York City, VoiceOps uses generative AI to analyze phone calls and surface insights that boost sales performance, ensure compliance, and optimize marketing. The funding will support product development, team expansion, and broader market adoption. - learn more
                                                          • MANTIS Venture Capital participated in a $17.2M Seed funding round for EDGE Markets, a fintech company building banking tools tailored to the gaming industry. EDGE’s flagship product, EDGE Boost, offers a debit card and bank account specifically designed for betting, with features like spending limits, financial transparency, and cash-back rewards. The funds will be used to further develop the platform and expand its presence within the gaming market. - learn more

                                                              LA Exits

                                                              • SmartDepo, a leading provider of AI-powered deposition summaries for the legal industry, has been acquired by Rev, a prominent speech-to-text technology company. Founded in 2023 by civil rights attorney Isaac Manoff, SmartDepo delivers comprehensive deposition summaries featuring 100% accurate page-line citations, hyperlinked tables of contents, key admissions analyses, and deposition memos highlighting essential themes. This strategic acquisition combines Rev's highly accurate transcription services with SmartDepo's advanced summarization capabilities, aiming to enhance productivity for attorneys and court reporters by reducing manual review time and improving client outcomes. - learn more
                                                              • Stem, a platform offering personalized distribution and digital strategy services for independent artists and labels, has been acquired by Concord, a leading independent music company. Stem will operate as a separate division within Concord Label Group, with CEO Milana Lewis and President Kristin Graziani continuing in their roles. This acquisition provides Stem with the capital and resources to invest in new technology, expand its suite of label services, and accelerate global growth, while maintaining its mission to empower independent artists with autonomy and support. - learn more

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