
Get in the KNOW
on LA Startups & Tech
XNew 'Coronavirus DNA Health Report' Purports to Evaluate Severity, Risk
Tami Abdollah was dot.LA's senior technology reporter. She was previously a national security and cybersecurity reporter for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. She's been a reporter for the AP in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times and for L.A.'s NPR affiliate KPCC. Abdollah spent nearly a year in Iraq as a U.S. government contractor. A native Angeleno, she's traveled the world on $5 a day, taught trad climbing safety classes and is an avid mountaineer. Follow her on Twitter.

The world's largest online marketplace for DNA services is providing a new "Coronavirus DNA Health Report" that promises to assess a user's individual risk of coronavirus infection and the likely severity of reaction from the virus, including the risk of serious illness or death, based on a free analysis of their DNA.
Los Angeles-based Sequencing.com, founded by Dr. Brandon Colby in 2014, said in a phone call with dot.LA Wednesday that the platform started allowing people to begin getting the newest report for free early this morning and within a few hours thousands had already done so and it quickly became the No. 1 report on their site.
"We really have been working day and night going through the literature, identifying what studies are valid to use, creating algorithms for that, automating algorithms, and creating a report that's very straight forward and very accessible to the layperson, so that everyone can be empowered by that," Colby said.
"We specialize in this, working nonstop, and are not sure if that capabilities exists with other companies, so we see that as a competitive advantage."
The new report is based on 18 scientific studies, with the company's team adopting research from the SARS outbreak in 2003 because at a molecular level COVID-19 is caused by a strain that appears to be similar.
"Sounds like bullshit to me," said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a University of California, Los Angeles epidemiologist who is also a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Program in Global Health. "If you can put in someone's age, that's probably the strongest predictor of the likely severity" of the disease for them.
Klauser added: "They can say whatever they want. It's of high concern to an infectious disease epidemiologist and clinical specialist like myself."
Health specialists have also noted that the existence of other chronic diseases like lung or heart disease can also be the strongest predictor of clinical outcomes.
"There are certain human gene alterations that can put people at risk for lung disease or heart disease, but that hasn't been adequately studied, gone through a peer review process, tested and epidemiological studies (conducted) to verify so it's not something I'd recommend or encourage people to waste their money on," Klausner said.
The company, which was backed by Mucker Capital a little over a year ago, moved into doing its own genomic sequencing 2-3 months ago, too, providing a DNA sequencing that's roughly similar to what the other major companies offer for $69 or a full sequencing of the human genome for $399.
Colby said that anyone who has done DNA sequencing, whether with them, or others like 23andMe or Ancestry.com, could upload their data on the site for the newest coronavirus report, which is ready in about 10 minutes.
"The more this pandemic evolves, the more it becomes clear that younger people – even if asymptomatic – should also be concerned about knowing their risk factors," said Colby in a statement responding to Klausner's comments. "Knowledge is power, and if getting their Coronavirus DNA Health Report from Sequencing.com provides further confirmation that they should not be going out in public for their own safety and to eliminate the potential spread of the virus to others, then all the better."
The website is HIPAA, GDPR and CCPA compliant, Colby said, and has adopted practices to ensure user privacy, ownership and control of data.
__
Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter @latams. You can also email me at tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my Signal.
- Michael Milken Predicts We'll Soon Develop a Coronavirus Testing ... ›
- Coronavirus Test Kit Facility Aims to Produce 10K A Day in L.A. - dot ... ›
- A New Coronavirus Vaccine Wants to Take on More Variants - dot.LA ›
Tami Abdollah was dot.LA's senior technology reporter. She was previously a national security and cybersecurity reporter for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. She's been a reporter for the AP in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times and for L.A.'s NPR affiliate KPCC. Abdollah spent nearly a year in Iraq as a U.S. government contractor. A native Angeleno, she's traveled the world on $5 a day, taught trad climbing safety classes and is an avid mountaineer. Follow her on Twitter.
Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.
This Week in ‘Raises’: Improvado Hauls $22M, Clearlake Launches $14B Fund
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
This week in “Raises”: A pair of Web3 platforms for gamers landed funding, as did a Manhattan Beach medical startup looking to bolster primary care via nurse practitioners. Meanwhile, a Santa Monica-based investment firm launched its seventh fund with more than $14 billion in dry powder.
Venture Capital
Improvado, a marketing data aggregation platform, raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Updata Partners.
Web3 gaming platform FreshCut raised $15 million in funding led by Galaxy Interactive, Animoca Brands and Republic Crypto.
Medical startup Greater Good Health raised $10 million in a funding round led by LRVHealth.
Joystick, a Web3 platform for gamers and creators, raised $8 million in seed funding.
Open source data protection company CipherMode Labs raised $6.7 million in seed funding led by Innovation Endeavors .
Mobile phone charging network ChargeFUZE raised $5 million in seed funding led by Beverly Pacific, TR Ventures, VA2, Jason Goldberg and Al Weiss.
Polygon, a startup aiming to better diagnose children with learning disabilities, raised $4.2 million in seed and pre-seed funding led by Spark Capital and Pear VC.
Pique, a virtual women's sexual health clinic, raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by Maveron.
Psudo, a sneaker startup that utilizes recycled water bottles and 3D sublimation printing to create its shoes, raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by SternAegis Ventures.
Funds
Santa Monica-based investment firm Clearlake Capital Group raised $14.1 billion for its seventh flagship 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 Kristin Snyder (kristinsnyder@dot.la).Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
LA Tech ‘Moves’: New Head of Originals at Snap, New President at FaZe Clan
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
“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.
***
FaZe Clan brought on Zach Katz as the gaming and media company’s new president and chief operating officer. Katz was previously the chief executive officer of the music tech investment fund Raised in Space Enterprises.
TikTok brand factory LINK Agency promoted Dustin Poteet to chief creative officer. Poteet was previously creative director at the firm.
Livestream shopping platform Talkshoplive hired Tradesy co-founder John Hall as its chief technology officer. Universal Music Group Nashville's former vice president of digital marketing, Tony Grotticelli, also joins the company as vice president of marketing.
Anjuli Millan will take over as head of original content at Snap after three years of overseeing production for the division.
Tech and media company Blavity hired Nikki Crump as general manager of agency. Crump joins the company from Burrell Communications Group.
O'Neil Digital Solutions, which provides customer communications and experience management for the health care industry, hired Eric Ramsey as national account sales executive. Ramsey joins from T/O Printing.
Investment firm Cresset Partners named Tammy Funasaki as managing director of business development. Funasaki previously served as head of investor relations for Breakwater Management.
- LA Tech Updates: Artie Closes $10M Seed Round; FaZe Clan Has a ... ›
- FaZe Clan Announces Immersive Pop-Up Shop - dot.LA ›
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Snapchat’s New Controls Could Let Parents See Their Kids’ Friend Lists
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Snapchat is preparing to roll out enhanced parental controls that would allow parents to see who their teenagers are chatting with on the social media app, according to screenshots of the upcoming feature.
Snap’s parental controls.
Courtesy of Watchful.
Snapchat is planning to introduce Family Center, which would allow parents to see who their children are friends with on the app and who they’ve messaged within the last seven days, according to screenshots provided by Watchful, a product intelligence company. Parents would also be able help their kids report abuse or harassment.
The parental controls are still subject to change before finally launching publicly, as the Family Center screenshots—which were first reported by TechCrunch—reflect features that are still under development.
Santa Monica-based Snap and other social media giants have faced mounting criticism for not doing more to protect their younger users—some of whom have been bullied, sold deadly drugs and sexually exploited on their platforms. State attorneys general have urged Snap and Culver City-based TikTok to strengthen their parental controls, with both companies’ apps especially popular among teens.
A Snap spokesperson declined to comment on Friday. Previously, Snap representatives have told dot.LA that the company is developing tools that will provide parents with more insight into how their children are engaging on Snapchat and allow them to report troubling content.
Yet Snap’s approach to parental controls could still give teens some privacy, as parents wouldn’t be able to read the actual content of their kids’ conversations, according to TechCrunch. (The Family Center screenshots seen by dot.LA do not detail whether parents can see those conversations).
In addition, teenage users would first have to accept an invitation from their parents to join the in-app Family Center before those parents can begin monitoring their social media activity, TechCrunch reported.
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.