Alto Launches in LA as the 'Safer' Ride-Hailing Service

Francesca Billington

Francesca Billington is a freelance reporter. Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter for dot.LA and has also reported for KCRW, the Santa Monica Daily Press and local publications in New Jersey. She graduated from Princeton in 2019 with a degree in anthropology.

Alto Launches in LA as the 'Safer' Ride-Hailing Service

The Texas ride-hailing startup Alto hopes to give tech giants like Uber and Lyft some stiff competition in Southern California with an employee model and a slew of safety measures — from masks to HEPA cabin air filters.

The company launched its app in Los Angeles on Tuesday at a time when the pandemic has hurt ride-hailing services' bottom lines and employee relations remain frayed by a spat over working conditions.


The move into L.A. marks Alto's first expansion outside of Texas, where it launched in 2016. The venture-backed company, which has so far raised $20.5 million, announced plans to begin operations in California last fall but the team rescheduled when coronavirus cases began to rise again.

"We're hoping people don't use us to go out to dinner or events but we know that some travel is essential," said co-founder and CEO Will Coleman. "We want to be there to serve those use cases in the safest way possible."

Alto owns its own fleet of clean SUVs and runs extensive background checks on new drivers. And, unlike its competitors, it classifies its drivers as W-2 employees, dodging the ongoing battle waged by Uber and Lyft over worker classification. The two companies poured millions into Proposition 22, which passed in November and exempted them from a state law that would require them to treat drivers as employees rather than contractors.

Beginning Tuesday, Alto will be available to consumers hailing on-demand rides in Santa Monica, Venice, Marina del Rey and West Hollywood. Users outside these areas can pre-book rides and the company hopes to expand services across the city this year.

To offset the costs that come with hiring employees, Alto charges more for rides — requesting a trip through Alto costs about 30% to 40% more than an UberX. Coleman describes his service as "affordable luxury" that promises consistency, like the Starbucks for ridesharing.

But launching a new transportation service could pose some challenges.

Ride-hailing services are bleeding revenue. Uber reported an 18% decline in the third quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, some drivers are hesitant to work. Rideshare Drivers United, a group that opposed Prop 22, found that only 20% of its members are still driving.

"Many of us are doing gigs that pose a little less risk such as food delivery," said Nicole Moore, an organizer with Rideshare Drivers United. "Drivers are at pretty high risk because the people in their cars are either essential workers or people not taking the health directives seriously."

Coleman said the company hasn't struggled to hire yet and it's onboarded 25 to 30 drivers in the city.

"We definitely have slowed down the progression of our launch," he said. "We know there are fewer use cases. Clearly, there's going to be less movement than if restaurants were open, for example."

As L.A. County continues to battle a surge in new cases and hospitalizations, Alto wants to position itself as the "safer" ridesharing option — for both drivers and consumers.

Plexiglass barriers and air filters are installed in each Alto car and drivers disinfect the vehicle between rides. The company also provides free PPE to drivers and riders.

Moore said many drivers she knows are paying for masks and disinfectant out of pocket. Some choose not to clean their cars between rides because they aren't paid for that time. She said Alto's selling points would be a "huge step up for drivers and, I would expect, passengers as well."

Lyft said it has a health and safety program in place for drivers.

Alto currently employs 200 drivers in Texas. Many previously drove for traditional rideshare services — taxi and limo companies — while others came from the hospitality and retail industries. As restrictions ease in L.A., Coleman is prepared to onboard more employees.

He also has plans to close a new round of fundraising in the first quarter. By the end of 2021, he wants to launch Alto in four to six new cities, including one or two in California.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: LeaseLock, Visgenx, PlayVS and Pressed Juicery Gains New CEOs

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: LeaseLock, Visgenx, PlayVS and Pressed Juicery Gains New CEOs
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

***

LeaseLock, a lease insurance and financial technology provider for the rental housing industry named Janine Steiner Jovanovic as chief executive officer. Prior to this role, Steiner Jovanovic served as the former EVP of Asset Optimization at RealPage.

Esports platform PlayVS hired EverFi co-founder and seasoned business leader Jon Chapman as the company’s chief executive officer.

Biotechnology company Visgenx appointed William Pedranti, J.D. as chief executive officer. Before joining, Mr. Pedranti was a partner with PENG Life Science Ventures.

Pressed Juicery, the leading cold-pressed juice and functional wellness brand welcomed Justin Nedelman as chief executive officer. His prior roles include chief real estate officer of FAT Brands Inc. and co-founder of Eureka! Restaurant Group.

Michael G. Vicari joined liquid biopsy company Nucleix as chief commercial officer. Vicari served as senior vice president of Sales at GRAIL, Inc.

Full-service performance marketing agency Allied Global Marketing promoted Erin Corbett to executive vice president of global partnership and marketing. Prior to joining Allied, Corbett's experience included senior marketing roles at Disney, Warner Bros. Studios, Harrah's Entertainment and Imagi Animation Studios.

Nuvve, a vehicle-to-grid technology company tapped student transportation and automotive sales and marketing executive David Bercik to lead the K-12 student transportation division.

This Week in ‘Raises’: Curri Scoops Up $42M, Mosaic Scores $26M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local logistics platform raised fresh funding to put toward product development, infrastructure and sales and marketing initiatives, while a San Diego-based fintech company closed its Series C funding round to expand its investment in AI which will empower high-growth SMB and mid-market finance leaders.

***

Venture Capital

Curri, a Ventura-based logistics platform, raised a $42 million Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.

San Diego-based financial platform Mosaic raised a $26 million Series C funding round led by OMERS Ventures.

AHARA, a Los Angeles-based startup focused on providing personalized nutrition suggestions, raised a $10.25 million seed funding round led by Greycroft.

Per an SEC filing, San Diego-based developer of peptide therapeutics designed to assist in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and disorders selectIon raised $5 million in funding.

Miscellaneous

Los Angeles-based Sensydia, a company working on non-invasive cardiac diagnostics, said this morning that it has received $3 million in a NIH grant.

Raises is dot.LA’s weekly feature highlighting venture capital funding news across Southern California’s tech and startup ecosystem. Please send fundraising news to Decerry Donato (decerrydonato@dot.la).

Why a Downturn in Esports Investments Isn’t Something To Fear

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Why a Downturn in Esports Investments Isn’t Something To Fear
Samson Amore

Last year, global venture capital investment in esports dropped by more than 40%. Investors have been rapidly selling off teams and franchises, and the industry has witnessed a consistent decline in ad spend. This has prompted many critics to coin the term “esports winter,” referring to a fall-off in the industry, an indication that VCs believe their investments didn’t achieve success as expected.

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