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XAmazon Tells Employees to Delete TikTok, Then Claims Directive Was Sent in Error
An Amazon spokesperson said Friday afternoon that an email ordering employees to delete TikTok was sent in error. The company declined to provide further explanation for how the directive was sent.
"This morning's email to some of our employees was sent in error," the spokesperson said. "There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok."
Amazon's had earlier sent an email saying that it was requiring employees to remove the popular video-sharing app TikTok from their mobile devices immediately due to security concerns.
"Due to security risks, the TikTop app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email," the company said Friday in an email to employees.
TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media apps in the world but government officials and business leaders are becoming increasingly wary of the Chinese-owned company.
The U.S. military has already barred its members from using TikTok and the federal government is considering a broader ban out of concerns that the Chinese government may be using the app to spy on Americans.
Earlier this month, India announced it will ban TikTok and other popular Chinese apps citing threats to "sovereignty and integrity."
Amazon did not provide details on its concerns in the employee email. We've reached out to the company to comment and will update this story when we hear back.
A TikTok spokesperson said the company is "fully committed to respecting the privacy of users," in a statement to the Times.
"While Amazon did not communicate to us before sending their email, and we still do not understand their concerns, we welcome a dialogue so we can address any issues they may have and enable their team to continue participating in our community."
Last month, a new privacy feature in iOS 14 revealed TikTok was accessing users' clipboard content despite promising to discontinue the practice last year.
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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Spencer Dinwiddie’s Calaxy Taps New CEO, Nativo Lures New Marketing Chief
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern 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.
“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.
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Calaxy, a Web3 social media app co-founded by NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie, promoted former chief operating officer Solo Ceesay to chief executive officer. Former CEO Dinwiddie is now executive chair of the company.
Brand marketing platform Nativo appointed former Modern Luxury Media chief marketing officer Raquel Cadourcy as its first CMO.
AI platform Ferret hired fraud prevention industry veteran Greg Loos as chief operating officer, and former Fullsteam marketing executive Melissa Yearta as director of marketing.
Nonagen Bioscience, a cancer diagnostics company, appointed Wayne Hogrefe, as chief operating officer.
Health care startup Greater Good Health named Matthew Gagalis as chief commercial officer. Gagalis previously led business development at Eleanor Health.
ChangeUp, a financial software company, named Raj Kamachee as co-founder and chief technology officer. Kamachee previously served as CTO and chief information officer at Team Rubicon.
Arcules, a cloud video-surveillance-as-a-service (VSaaS) provider, hired Steve Prodger as chief revenue officer. Prodger previously served as executive vice president of sales at Turing Labs.
Spanish language media company Estrella Media promoted René Santaella to chief digital and streaming officer. He was previously the company’s executive vice president of digital and streaming media.
Bluemercury founder and former CEO Marla Beck joined beauty brand BeautyHealth’s board of directors.
Clean energy veteran Tom Werner joined H2U Technologies, a developer of green hydrogen technologies, as chairman of the board.
Holoportation company Proto named comedian and “America’s Got Talent” judge Howie Mandel as an advisor.
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern 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’: Tom Brady’s Production Company Lands $50M, Wavemaker 360 Closes $64M Health Care Fund
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern 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.
This week in “Raises”: San Diego led the way with big funding hauls for a pair of biotech and aviation startups based there, while yet another L.A.-based Tom Brady venture landed a raise of its own. Meanwhile, a Pasadena health care VC launched its second fund.
Venture Capital
Resilience, a San Diego-based biomanufacturing company, raised a $625 million Series D financing round from undisclosed investors. The company also disclosed a previously unannounced $600 million Series C round raised last year.
Shield AI, a San Diego-based developer of AI pilots for aircraft, raised a $90 million Series E equity round led by Snowpoint Ventures’ Doug Philippone.
Religion of Sports, a Santa Monica-based sports media production company co-founded by NFL legends Tom Brady and Michael Strahan, raised a $50 million Series B funding round led by Shamrock Capital.
Trovata, a San Diego-based open banking platform, raised a $27 million Series B funding round led by Fin Capital.
Calaxy, an L.A.-based Web3 social media app co-founded by NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie, raised $26 million in new funding co-led by the HBAR Foundation and Animoca Brands.
Just Women’s Sports, an L.A.-based media platform dedicated to women’s sports, raised a $6 million funding round led by Blue Pool Capital.
Adim, an L.A.-based Web3 content creation platform co-founded by actor Rob McElhenney, raised $5 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz general partner Chris Dixon.
Gander, an L.A.-based ecommerce startup, raised a $4.2 million seed round co-led by Harlem Capital and Crossbeam Venture Partners.
Aliso Viejo-based medical device company Bright Uro raised $4 million in seed financing from Academy Investor Network, Fred Moll, and other angel investors. It also received a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
IndieFlow, a Santa Monica-based platform for independent music artists, raised $4 million in funding led by State of Mind Ventures.
Curio, a Santa Monica-based NFT analytics startup, raised a $3.7 million seed funding round led by Alexis Ohanian’s 776.
Ivella, a Santa Monica-based fintech startup targeted toward couples, raised $3.5 million in funding from Anthemis, Financial Venture Studio and Soma Capital.
Revolution RE, an L.A.-based data and analytics platform for residential real estate companies, raised a $3 million funding round from investors including 29th Street Ventures, Moderne Ventures, Techstars, PLG Ventures, Silicon Badia and Jason Calacanis' LAUNCH.
De Oro Devices, a San Luis Obispo-based startup specializing in devices for people living with Parkinson’s disease, raised a $2.8 million seed funding round led by True Wealth Ventures.
L.A.-based blockchain gaming site Haste Arcade raised $1.5 million in seed funding led by Logic Boost Labs CEO Jonathan Cogley.
Funds
Wavemaker 360 Health, a Pasadena-based venture fund focused on seed-stage health care startups, closed its $64 million second fund.
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).
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern 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.
Fintech Startup Albert Lays Off 20-Plus Employees: Sources
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him
Albert, a Culver City-based fintech startup backed by investors including General Atlantic and Alphabet’s growth fund CapitalG, is in the process of laying off a chunk of its locally-based staff, dot.LA has learned.
At least 20 Albert employees were informed Friday that they were being laid off, multiple sources inside the company told dot.LA. The cuts affected members of the company’s Genius customer support team as well as its engineering, operations and legal staff.
Albert employees were notified that the company would be holding an internal meeting at 2 p.m. PT Friday. The six-year-old company—part of a wave of fintech startups that help customers plan and budget their financial lives—recently celebrated hitting 250 staffers, sources noted.
Representatives for Albert did not immediately return requests for comment on the layoffs.
Some Albert employees who were among those laid off have already posted on LinkedIn about looking for new work. According to sources at the company, Albert is looking to offshore jobs on its Genius customer support team to remote locations that offer cheaper labor. The startup already operates a team in the Philippines that handles customer support and is planning to launch another team overseas, they said.
One source with knowledge of Albert’s fundraising efforts said the company has been struggling to raise its upcoming Series D round amid an ongoing slowdown in venture capital funding. Albert most recently raised a $100 million Series C round last January led by General Atlantic that took the company’s total funding to more than $170 million.
Like its fellow L.A.-based fintech startup Dave, Albert is among a cadre of so-called “neo-banks” that provide digital financial services targeted toward millennial and Gen Z consumers. Albert’s offerings include a mobile banking app, access to cash advances, an investing platform and a savings tool.
Have a tip? Email samsonamore@dot.LA.
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him