los angeles tech news

Billion-Dollar Beauty. Billion-Dollar Radios. Only in LA.

Grace Lee
Billion-Dollar Beauty. Billion-Dollar Radios. Only in LA.

🔦 Spotlight

Hello Los Angeles,

This week, LA proved it can scale in silence and shine in the spotlight, sometimes in the same breath.

Let’s start with the quiet powerhouse.

Culver City-based Silvus Technologies is being acquired by Motorola Solutions for $4.4 billion in up-front consideration, with the potential for an additional $600 million in earnout payments, bringing the total deal value to $5 billion. Silvus builds tactical mesh radios, rugged high-bandwidth systems used by militaries, emergency responders, and defense contractors in more than 40 countries. These aren’t just walkie-talkies. They are engineered to deliver secure, uninterrupted communications in places where cell service and Wi-Fi don't stand a chance. Think natural disasters, war zones, and remote terrains. The tech spun out of DARPA-funded research at UCLA, and this deal is a reminder that LA isn’t just cranking out consumer apps and AI models. We’re exporting national security infrastructure too.

But while Silvus was locking down defense contracts, another LA startup was breaking the internet.

e.l.f. Beauty Chairman and CEO Tarang Amin and Rhode Founder Hailey BieberImage Source: e.l.f. Beauty

Rhode, Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand, is being acquired by e.l.f. Beauty in a deal valued at up to $1 billion. The structure includes $600 million in cash, $200 million in stock at closing, and up to $200 million in earnout payments tied to Rhode’s performance over the next three years. Not bad for a brand that launched in June 2022 and built a cult following off just a handful of products and a crystal-clear brand identity.

Yes, it’s celebrity-founded. But Rhode didn’t just ride a name. It built a movement. The brand cut through a saturated beauty market by doing less: launching with a few standout hero products, keeping the aesthetic clean and consistent, and using community-first marketing that turned product drops into cultural events. The results speak for themselves. $100 million in net sales over the past year and a loyal fanbase that treats peptide lip treatments like limited-edition merch.

Bieber wasn’t just the face of the brand. She helped shape the strategy, led product development, and drove creative decisions from day one. Following the acquisition, she’ll continue as Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation, while also stepping into a new role as strategic advisor to e.l.f. Beauty. Rhode will continue to operate independently, with its headquarters remaining right here in LA.

This isn’t just a win for Rhode. It’s another clear signal that LA is where culture, commerce, and execution come together and scale fast.

Keep reading for the latest LA venture rounds, acquisitions, and fund moves making headlines this week.

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Bezel, a luxury watch marketplace, recently secured a $670K investment from Hyperspace Ventures as part of a broader $6.8M funding initiative. This investment aims to support Bezel's growth and enhance its platform for authenticated luxury watch trading. - learn more

        LA Venture Funds

        • Sound Ventures participated in the Series A funding round for General Counsel AI, a startup using artificial intelligence to streamline in-house legal work. The platform helps legal teams draft documents faster, stay compliant, and eliminate repetitive tasks by embedding company knowledge directly into its AI workflows. With Sound Ventures' backing, GC AI plans to scale its team and expand the platform’s capabilities to serve more enterprise legal departments. - learn more
        • Kairos Ventures participated in Vivodyne’s $40M Series A funding round, reaffirming its commitment to advancing human-relevant drug development technologies. Vivodyne, a biotech company based in Philadelphia and San Francisco, is pioneering the use of AI and robotics to grow and test thousands of lab-grown human tissues, aiming to replace traditional animal testing in drug development. This approach addresses the high failure rate of clinical trials by providing more predictive human data, potentially accelerating the development of effective therapies. The new funding will support the expansion of Vivodyne's operations, including the opening of a 23,000-square-foot fully robotic laboratory in South San Francisco, to meet the growing demand from pharmaceutical clients. - learn more
        • Fifth Wall co-led Wander’s $50M Series B funding round, joining QED Investors and others to support the company’s mission of redefining luxury vacation rentals through technology and consistency. Wander operates a vertically integrated platform that combines premium vacation homes with hotel-grade service, powered by its proprietary AI system, WanderOS. With over 1,000 properties already live and a Net Promoter Score of 85, Wander aims to scale toward 300,000 homes globally, offering a trusted and seamless experience for travelers and property owners alike. - learn more
        • Clocktower Technology Ventures and Overture VC participated in GridCARE’s $13.5M seed funding round, supporting the company's mission to address the growing power demands of AI infrastructure. GridCARE utilizes advanced AI to identify and unlock underutilized grid capacity, significantly reducing the time required to power data centers from several years to just 6–12 months. By bridging the gap between AI developers and utility providers, GridCARE aims to accelerate the deployment of AI technologies while enhancing energy resilience. - learn more
        • Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in Monarch Money’s $75M Series B funding round, reaffirming its support for the personal finance platform's mission to enhance financial wellness for households. Monarch offers tools for aggregating financial accounts, visualizing net worth, tracking budgets, and collaborating with partners or advisors. The new funding will enable Monarch to expand its team and further develop its platform to better serve its growing user base. - learn more

          LA Exits

          • TinyWins, the LA-based digital creative studio known for blending emotional storytelling with performance-driven content, has been acquired by marketing consultancy The Shipyard.Best known for its work with brands like Disney, Netflix, and Google, TinyWins will continue to operate under its own name and leadership in Los Angeles. The acquisition gives TinyWins access to deeper strategic and media resources, while The Shipyard expands its creative firepower and strengthens its presence on the West Coast. - learn more
          • Churchill Management Group has been acquired by Focus Partners Wealth, marking the firm’s first external acquisition since its January rebrand. The Los Angeles-based investment advisor manages $9.4 billion in assets and will expand Focus’s national footprint in wealth management. - learn more
          • Dolby Theatre, renowned for hosting the Academy Awards, has been acquired by Master Investment Group in partnership with Jebs Hollywood. The new ownership plans to introduce a series of events celebrating Middle Eastern culture, aiming to showcase the region's rich heritage, music, and traditions. This initiative seeks to foster community engagement and promote cultural exchange by bringing diverse artistic expressions from the Middle East to a global audience. - learn more

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                Hello Sunshine Sold for More Than $900M. Now Reese Witherspoon Is Buying It Back.

                Grace Lee
                Hello Sunshine Sold for More Than $900M. Now Reese Witherspoon Is Buying It Back.
                Image Source: Hello Sunshine

                🔦 Spotlight

                Hey there, LA.

                In Hollywood, every successful story eventually gets a sequel. This one brings Reese Witherspoon back to the company she built.

                Five years after selling control of Hello Sunshine in a deal worth more than $900M, Witherspoon is partnering with French production group Mediawan to buy back the Los Angeles media company.

                The reported purchase price is in the low-to-mid eight figures, significantly below Hello Sunshine’s valuation when Candle Media acquired a controlling stake in 2021.

                That difference tells a larger story than any single Hollywood transaction.

                Hello Sunshine was one of the most prominent acquisitions made during the streaming boom, when platforms were spending aggressively and investors placed enormous value on production companies with recognizable founders, established audiences and libraries of intellectual property.

                Witherspoon had built all three.

                Founded in 2016, Hello Sunshine developed its business around stories centered on women, producing projects including “Big Little Lies,” “The Morning Show,” “Little Fires Everywhere” and “Daisy Jones & The Six.” It also turned Reese’s Book Club into an influential audience and discovery platform that now reaches 6.2 million readers and drives approximately $900M in annual U.S. book sales, according to the company.

                By 2021, that combination of talent, intellectual property and direct audience access looked like the foundation of a next-generation media empire.

                Candle Media, backed by capital from Blackstone, acquired Hello Sunshine as part of a broader effort to assemble a portfolio of entertainment brands. The company also purchased businesses including Moonbug Entertainment, ATTN: and Faraway Road Productions.

                Then the streaming market changed.

                Entertainment companies became more disciplined about content spending. The race to accumulate subscribers gave way to pressure for profitability. Production budgets tightened, consolidation slowed and some of the valuations assigned during the streaming boom became difficult to maintain.

                Hello Sunshine’s return to founder-led ownership reflects how dramatically the media landscape has changed since 2021. It also gives Witherspoon an opportunity to regain greater influence over the company at a moment when its core assets may matter more than its former valuation suggests.

                Under the new ownership structure, Hello Sunshine plans to refocus on premium film and television, Reese’s Book Club and new storytelling and distribution formats. Mediawan brings an international production network, while Witherspoon brings something harder to manufacture: a trusted personal brand and an audience willing to follow her recommendations from books to screens.

                That relationship with consumers is increasingly valuable in a fragmented media market. Studios can finance productions. Streaming services can distribute them. Far fewer companies can reliably convince millions of people to care before a project is even released.

                For Los Angeles, the deal reflects the increasingly fluid boundary between entertainment company, consumer brand and technology-enabled audience platform. The most resilient media businesses may not be those producing the greatest volume of content, but those that own a direct relationship with a specific community.

                The first Hello Sunshine deal captured the optimism of the streaming era.

                The second may offer a more focused model for what comes next, with the company once again guided by the founder who understood its audience from the beginning.

                Hollywood loves a comeback story.

                This time, the company is making one too.

                LA Tech Week’s Final Stretch

                Still making the most of LA Tech Week? We have organized the remaining events by location to make planning the weekend a little easier:

                Event schedules may change, so confirm the latest details with the organizer before heading out.

                More from this week’s LA startup and venture scene below.

                🤝 Venture Deals

                  LA Companies

                  • Goodweek raised a $12M seed round led by Adara Ventures to expand its AI management platform for small and midsize businesses. The company brings tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Mistral into one governed workspace and will use the capital to accelerate sales and expand into Latin America and Asia. - learn more

                  LA Venture Funds
                  • Fika Ventures co-led Otter Health’s $8M seed round alongside Evidenced Capital, with participation from Slow Ventures, Metrodora, CoFound Partners, Patient Capital, SemperVirens and Layout Ventures. The startup will use the funding to scale its AI-powered platform, which helps healthcare payers and providers reduce unnecessary care and manage quality without relying as heavily on traditional prior authorization. - learn more
                  • Nant Capital co-led Prolific Machines’ $50M Series B2 alongside Atoms & Bits, bringing the biotechnology company’s total funding to more than $100M. Prolific will use the capital to scale its light-controlled biomanufacturing platform, expand pharmaceutical and biotech programs and begin early work on tissue and organ fabrication. - learn more
                  • Family Fund participated in Allara’s $30M funding round alongside new investors Camino Partners and Foreground Capital, while existing backers including Index Ventures and GV increased their commitments. The women’s healthcare company will use the capital to expand AI-enabled care, grow its provider and enterprise partnerships and advance research into hormonal, metabolic and reproductive conditions. - learn more
                  • Vida Ventures participated in Soufflé Therapeutics’ oversubscribed $135M Series B, which was led by Juvia Group. The biotech will use the funding to move three lead programs into clinical trials for muscular dystrophy, heart failure and muscle and metabolic disorders while advancing its broader pipeline of targeted RNA therapies. - learn more
                  • FJOR participated in LightSprint’s $6.1M seed round, which was led by 645 Ventures. The AI software platform will use the funding to expand its enterprise product and grow its engineering and go-to-market teams as it helps employees across departments make changes to company codebases while keeping engineers in control. - learn more
                  • Muse Capital participated in Collective X Health’s oversubscribed $3.2M pre-seed round, which was co-led by Council Capital and Anthemis Female Innovators Lab Fund. The women’s health intelligence startup will use the funding to expand its female-focused research and data platform, meet growing enterprise demand and support new research aimed at closing the women’s health data gap. - learn more
                  • Act One Ventures participated in Intake AI’s $2.5M pre-seed round, which was led by Kapor Capital. The startup is building AI agents that automate clinical-trial setup and operations, helping research teams turn protocols into documents, search study materials and transfer approved forms into existing systems. - learn more
                  • M13 participated in Ultra’s $62M financing, which included a $50M Series A led by Framework Ventures. The Brooklyn-based robotics startup will use the capital to expand deployment of its AI-powered warehouse robots, which handle packing, sorting and other fulfillment tasks and have already processed more than 500,000 orders. - learn more

                  LA Exits

                  • Farcaster is being acquired by Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School from Neynar, marking the decentralized social network’s second change in ownership this year. The deal includes Farcaster’s app, protocol repositories and related products, with its new owner planning to introduce a rules-based “social smart contract” governing full participation on the platform; financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
                  • Creator Authority has been acquired by Billion Dollar Boy Group, bringing the agency’s B2B influencer marketing expertise and LinkedIn specialization into BDB’s global creator business. The deal will help Creator Authority scale its work with enterprise brands while strengthening BDB’s presence on the U.S. West Coast and expanding its B2B creator marketing capabilities; financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
                  • Burbank-based CareerArc was acquired by AI hiring platform Humanly, with financial terms undisclosed. The deal combines CareerArc’s recruitment marketing and social recruiting tools with Humanly’s AI-powered candidate engagement, screening and interviewing platform, creating a more connected system for employers managing high-volume hiring. - learn more
                  • Ethiqly was acquired by Carnegie Learning from Owl Ventures and the company’s management, with financial terms undisclosed. Carnegie Learning plans to integrate Ethiqly’s AI-powered writing platform into its literacy offerings, helping students improve their writing while giving teachers greater visibility into the drafting, revision and learning process. - learn more

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                    How to Navigate LA Tech Week 2026

                    Grace Lee
                    How to Navigate LA Tech Week 2026

                    🔦 Spotlight

                    Happy Friday, Los Angeles.

                    Next week, hundreds of tech events will take over the city, bringing founders, investors, engineers and creators together from October 12 through 18.

                    Calling LA Tech Week a conference does not quite capture the experience.

                    Presented by Andreessen Horowitz, Tech Week is a decentralized collection of panels, workshops, demonstrations and gatherings hosted independently by startups, venture firms and technology companies. There is no convention center or central stage. The programming stretches from Santa Monica and Venice to Culver City, Downtown, El Segundo and beyond.

                    In other words, the city is the venue.

                    AI remains the dominant theme for 2026, appearing across enterprise software, healthcare, finance, media and the creator economy. The schedule also reflects industries where Los Angeles has built a particular advantage, including aerospace, defense, robotics, advanced manufacturing, entertainment and consumer technology.

                    That range is what makes LA Tech Week distinct. It brings together the software companies shaping what comes next with the industries that already define Southern California.

                    The challenge is deciding where to show up.

                    Our advice: apply early and organize your schedule by neighborhood. Crossing from Santa Monica to Downtown may look manageable on a calendar created by someone who has never driven in Los Angeles.

                    To help you spend more time meeting people and less time crossing the city, we have organized each day’s events by location:

                    You can also browse the complete official LA Tech Week calendar.

                    Plan carefully, but do not fill every minute. The best conversation of the week may be the one that was never on your calendar.

                    More from this week’s LA startup and venture scene below.

                    🤝 Venture Deals

                      LA Companies

                      • El Segundo-based Gallatin AI raised a $50M Series A from new and existing investors including 8VC and Silent Ventures, bringing its total funding to $70M. The defense technology startup will expand its engineering team and advance Navigator, an AI platform that helps U.S. military units coordinate vehicle readiness, supplies, medical logistics and other mission-support operations. - learn more
                      • Pasadena-based quantum computing startup Oratomic raised a $475M Series B at a $5.4B valuation, just three months after its Series A. ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital, Khosla Ventures, Index Ventures, General Catalyst and Bezos Expeditions co-led the round, bringing Oratomic’s total funding to $775M as it works toward a commercially viable, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2030. - learn more
                      • Torrance-based Fortastra raised a $30M Series A led by First In, with participation from Upfront Ventures, Space Capital, Rsquared, Side Door Ventures, ATX Ventures and existing investors. The company will use the capital to develop its next-generation maneuverable spacecraft, expand its engineering and operations teams and scale production of systems designed to protect critical assets in orbit. - learn more
                      • Parallel Systems raised a $100M Series C led by AVP, with participation from Hillspire, Agility Global, Cobalt Capital, Anthos Capital, Congruent Ventures, Riot Ventures and Collaborative Fund. Founded by former SpaceX engineers, the company will use the funding to scale production and commercial deployment of its autonomous, battery-electric Panther rail vehicles, which are designed to make short-haul freight more competitive with trucking. - learn more
                      • Gaming studio Gardens Interactive secured more than $35M in a Series B led by Lightspeed, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Accel, Innovation Endeavors, Zenith Capital and other investors. The company will use the funding to launch and operate its debut social role-playing “strandbox” game, an evolving multiplayer world shaped by players’ actions and interactions. - learn more
                      • Outer Spaces raised an $8M pre-seed round led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from Unlock Venture Partners, Mucker Capital and Genius Ventures. The startup is developing outdoor furnishings with integrated solar panels and batteries, turning backyards into sources of clean energy and backup power. - learn more
                      • Furientis raised a $25M seed round led by Benchmark at a reported $125M valuation, following a $5M pre-seed announced in May. The defense startup will use the capital to scale production of lower-cost missile interceptors designed to be assembled quickly with readily available components, with a long-term goal of producing 1,000 systems annually at each factory. - learn more
                      • Hiyo raised a $20.8M Series B led by Constellation Brands, with returning investor Live Nation also participating. The nonalcoholic beverage company will use the funding to expand its adaptogen- and nootropic-infused social tonics across more than 13,000 retail locations while growing its presence at hospitality venues and live events. - learn more
                      LA Venture Funds
                      • Navitas Capital participated in Vesta’s $30M Series B, which was led by Conversion Capital and included backing from several major mortgage lenders and financial institutions. The company will use the funding to scale its AI agents across mortgage origination, automating tasks such as application reviews, underwriting decisions and closing-document checks. - learn more
                      • MTech Capital led Nettle’s oversubscribed $4.8M seed round, with participation from Project A Ventures, Sure Valley Ventures, Portfolio Ventures and Ventures Together. The insurtech startup will use the funding to expand across the U.S. and Europe while growing its AI platform, which helps commercial insurers identify property risks, accelerate inspections and generate reports. - learn more
                      • Bonfire Ventures doubled down on Santé by participating in the company’s $15M Series A, which was led by FINTOP and included other returning investors. The New York startup will use the funding to expand its AI-powered operating system for independent wine and liquor stores, which combines point-of-sale, e-commerce, payments, inventory and marketing tools in one platform. - learn more

                      LA Exits

                      • Winnow Solutions was acquired by Marina del Rey-based Spring Labs, with financial terms undisclosed. Winnow’s attorney-built library of more than 100,000 state and federal regulatory requirements will become a core part of SpringGRC, helping financial institutions connect changing laws directly to their compliance policies, controls and workflows. - learn more

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                        LA Tech Week 2026: Sunday’s Event Lineup

                        Grace Lee
                        LA Tech Week 2026: Sunday’s Event Lineup

                        🔦 Spotlight

                        LA Tech Week 2026 closes Sunday with one final day of events across Los Angeles. We have organized the remaining lineup by neighborhood so you can finish the week with a few last conversations before everyone returns to their regularly scheduled inboxes.

                        ARTS DISTRICT

                        12:00 PM

                        CARSON

                        12:00 PM

                        CULVER CITY

                        9:00 AM

                        • Women in Cleantech & Sustainability Hike and Network: See Details Here
                          Women in Cleantech & Sustainability

                        6:00 PM

                        • Founders pitch competition: See Details Here
                          Biomorphix solutions, Nightingale regenerative

                        HOLLYWOOD

                        10:00 AM

                        4:00 PM

                        • AI International: Film, Music Video & Micro-Drama: See Details Here
                          AI International Film Festivals

                        MID CITY

                        1:00 PM

                        OTHER

                        12:00 PM

                        • ORGANIC LIFE LABS™ PRESENTS THE ALIGNMENT LAB: The Science of human performance: See Details Here
                          The Blue Room Collective

                        SANTA MONICA

                        8:00 AM

                        1:00 PM

                        6:00 PM

                        SOUTH LA

                        2:00 PM

                        • Future Builders : Family STEM Day: See Details Here
                          Black L.A. Tech Week (Community Collective)

                        VENICE

                        10:00 AM

                        12:00 PM

                        • How to Raise Funds to Fund Any Business Using Digital Products.: See Details Here
                          DN Events

                        VIRTUAL

                        5:00 PM

                        WEST HOLLYWOOD

                        3:00 PM

                        Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

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