coronavirus updates

Coronavirus Updates: California Unemployment Claims at 1.9M; L.A. Amazon Worker Contracts Covid-19; Disney Initiates Furloughs

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Coronavirus Updates: California Unemployment Claims at 1.9M; L.A. Amazon Worker Contracts Covid-19; Disney Initiates Furloughs
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Here are the latest headlines regarding how the novel coronavirus is impacting the Los Angeles startup and tech communities. Sign up for our newsletter and follow dot.LA on Twitter for the latest updates.

Today:

  • Amazon Warehouse Worker in L.A. Tests Positive, As Company Struggles with Covid-19
  • USC Shows (and Ranks) L.A. Neighborhoods With COVID-19 Cases
  • Gov. Newsom to small businesses: "Let's get ahead of the queue"
  • L.A. County records 78 deaths, cases top 4,000
  • Patrick Soon-Shiong wants to buy shuttered hospital, convert to COVID-19 command center
  • Disney announces furloughs amid pandemic, but employees keep healthcare

    Disney announces furloughs amid pandemic, but employees keep healthcare

    upload.wikimedia.org

    Days after Disney announced top executives would take salary cuts to save money, the entertainment giant notified employees that many of them "whose jobs aren't necessary at this time" will be furloughed. "All impacted workers will remain Disney employees," the company said Thursday, meaning they will continue receiving healthcare benefits as paychecks are cut. Disney has 223,000 workers and is L.A.'s biggest employer. It is expected many of the cuts would come from the company's theme parks that have been closed, and it was not known how many employees would lose their job from the studio and other businesses.

    Patrick Soon-Shiong wants to buy shuttered hospital, convert to COVID-19 command center

    Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, one of L.A.'s richest men, wants to use his family foundation to buy shuttered St. Vincent Medical Center near downtown and convert it into a hospital to treat COVID-19 patients and conduct coronavirus research. The story was first reported by The Los Angeles Times, which Soon-Shiong owns.

    The Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation has offered to purchase the medical campus out of bankruptcy for $135 million. Terms of the bid were not disclosed. St. Vincent has been closed since January as the sprawling medical facility fell into bankruptcy. All bids for the hospital must be submitted to a judge by Friday. A final hearing on the sale is scheduled later next week.

    L.A. County records 78 deaths, cases top 4,000

    Another 13 people died of the novel coronavirus in Los Angeles County and officials logged 534 new cases on Thursday, pushing the total number of people that tested positive past 4,000.

    So far, 78 people have died in the county. Of the most recent deaths, 12 were over the age of 65, while one was between 41 and 65. With the exception of one individual over 65, all had underlying health conditions.

    The daily count of COVID-19-positive individuals increased by 1,000 in the past 48 hours, bringing to the total to 4,045.

    The increasing number has put strain on hospitals. Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that about 22% of positive cases in L.A. have required hospitalization at some point. As of Thursday, 241 individuals were in hospital beds — about two thirds of them had no underlying health conditions, Ferrer said. She said there are five COVID-19 patients now in intensive care that are under 35 and a couple have no underlying health conditions.

    Statewide, the death toll rose past 200 and on Wednesday. In a sign of just how concerned officials are, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti urged the city's 4 million residents on Wednesday to wear protective face covering to stem the spread of the fast-moving virus. To punctate his point, he donned a black mask, saying "I know it will look surreal. We're going to have to get used to seeing each other like this."

    The news comes as new cases have emerged among the homeless and jailed population — both groups officials have been closely monitoring. There have been nine cases among homeless. At the county jail, seven individuals have tested positive, including one inmate. At the Lancaster State Prison, six inmates have the virus. Two homeless shelters have also reported Covid-19 cases.

    Gov.  Newsom to small biz: "Let's get ahead of the queue"

    California Governor Gavin Newsom spoke directly to state business owners in his daily coronavirus address on Thursday, briefing them on several new statewide programs, and imploring them to begin the process of registering for federal help. Since March 12, 1.9 million Californians have applied for unemployment insurance, he said.

    Newsom introduced two actions he says will help make it easier for small businesses in California to get back on their feet. The first is an interest-free, no-penalty deferral of taxes for up to $50,000 for one year. The governor called that a "bridge loan" to help businesses recover.

    The second is a $50M program to provide loans for California businesses who, for one reason or another, don't qualify for federal assistance.

    Newsom also strongly encouraged businesses to sign up for the federal programs that will provide grants and loans to struggling businesses. Registration for those programs open tomorrow.

    Newsom stressed it's "profoundly important" people fill out their forms as soon as possible, in particular for the "paycheck protection program," a grant program that allows businesses who keep paying at least 75% of their employees to be reimbursed by the federal government.

    "Let's get ahead of the queue," he said.

    Newsom also touted an effort led by Fresno-based jobs site Bitwise to match unemployed Californians with jobs in high demand called OnwardCa.org. The site, he said, is prioritizing four industries in particular: healthcare, agriculture, logistics, and grocers.

    USC Shows (and Ranks) L.A. 'Hoods With COVID-19 Cases

    Tami Abdollah

    Los Angeles locals have always known it is a city of neighborhoods, but this novel coronavirus has made that especially clear. The official lines on where neighborhoods begin and end, and where cases are to be found, have never seemed so murky.

    On Thursday, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering released two new COVID-19 data visualizations that aim to make at least where COVID-19 cases are being found, more clear. Read more >>

    Amazon Warehouse Worker in L.A. Tests Positive, As Company Struggles with Covid-19

    Monica Nickelsburg, GeekWire

    At least 30 of the fulfillment centers that power Amazon's e-commerce business have outbreaks of COVID-19, according to news reports and employee accounts. The most recent case in Los Angeles was reported Wednesday, when Amazon confirmed to City News Service that an employee at their warehouse in Atwater Village has tested positive for COVID-19. The mounting cases are sparking walkouts, frustration, and an unprecedented challenge for a tech company that finds itself at the center of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more >>

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    Inside Tinder’s Biggest Product Shift in Years

    Hailey Chang
    Inside Tinder’s Biggest Product Shift in Years

    🔦 Spotlight

    Hello Los Angeles,

    Despite headlines about swipe fatigue and dating app burnout, Tinder believes the problem isn’t that people are tired of dating. They’re tired of bad dating experiences.

    So it felt fitting that Tinder chose the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, a venue known for reinvention, to make its case that the category is far from over.

    Walking into the El Rey, it was clear Tinder wanted this to feel less like a tech launch and more like a cultural moment. Music was bumping, the room buzzed with chatter and excited energy, red light beams cut through the room, and chandeliers glowed overhead.

    At Tinder Sparks 2026: Start Something New, Match Group and Tinder CEO Spencer Rascoff took the stage to outline what the company calls the biggest evolution of the app in years. Tinder remains the largest dating app in the world, used by tens of millions of people across more than 185 countries and responsible for billions of matches every year.

    Match Group and Tinder CEO Spencer Rascoff

    Rascoff framed the shift around a broader cultural reality. In a world where people increasingly interact with machines, technology and AI, the need for real human connection has not gone away. If anything, Tinder believes it has only grown stronger.

    To respond to that shift, Tinder says it’s focusing on what it calls “sparks,” the moments when a match actually turns into a real conversation.

    As Rascoff put it on stage:

    “We are not optimizing for swipes or likes. We are optimizing for sparks.”

    That philosophy is shaping a wave of new features discussed throughout the keynote by Tinder’s leadership team, including Mark Kantor, SVP and Head of Product, Yoel Roth, SVP of Trust & Safety, and product leaders Claire Watanabe and Hillary Paine.

    Image Source: Tinder

    Among the updates are Music Mode, which lets users connect through shared songs and artists, and a new Astrology Mode that highlights compatibility between zodiac signs. Tinder is also leaning further into social dating with Double Date, a feature that lets friends match with other pairs together. The feature is already gaining traction with Gen Z users, reflecting a broader shift toward more social and lower-pressure ways to meet people.

    Image Source: Tinder

    Tinder is also redesigning profiles to help users express more personality. New tools can surface stronger photos from a user’s camera roll, improve lighting, and highlight interests more visually, while integrations with platforms like Spotify, Duolingo and the restaurant app Belly bring more of a person’s real life into their profile.

    Image Source: Tinder

    But the most interesting experiment might be happening right here in LA. Tinder is launching IRL Events in the city, letting users browse and RSVP to real-world meetups directly through the app. Think coffee shop raves, trivia nights and pickleball tournaments. The idea is simple. Dating works better when it feels like a social activity instead of an interview.

    Image Source: Tinder

    Under the hood, Tinder is also leaning more heavily on AI to improve recommendations. New tools like Learning Mode and Chemistry aim to better understand what users are actually looking for and surface stronger matches faster. At the same time, the company is investing heavily in safety, expanding Face Check, a facial verification system designed to reduce bots and impersonation accounts.

    Closing out the presentation, Melissa Hobley, Tinder’s Chief Marketing Officer, zoomed out from the product roadmap to the brand’s cultural footprint, noting that Tinder is mentioned in billions of TikTok videos and has become shorthand for how younger generations talk about dating.

    Taken together, the updates represent Tinder’s most significant evolution in years. And judging by the energy inside the El Rey this week, the company believes the next chapter of dating will be more social, more expressive and more intentional. It’s a shift being shaped right here in Los Angeles, and one that could redefine how the next generation meets.

    Now onto this week’s LA venture deals, fund announcements and acquisitions.


    🤝 Venture Deals

        LA Companies

        • Hurray’s GIRL BEER raised a $5M seed round led by Lakehouse Ventures, with participation from Spice Capital plus CPG insiders and entertainment executives, as it accelerates national expansion. The LA-based flavored light beer brand says it has already landed retail placements at Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, and Whole Foods, and plans to use the new capital to deepen distribution, enter new markets, and ramp up marketing, alongside a rollout of seven new flavors. - learn more
        • Freestyle closed a $10M Series A led by Silas Capital, with significant participation from ECP Growth. The company also noted continued backing from existing investors including Mucker Capital, Adapt Ventures, and Superangel, as it scales its premium diapers and wipes business following nationwide launches at Walmart and Target. - learn more
        • MAX BioPharma announced a new investment and partnership with Technomark Life Sciences to advance Oxy210, its oxysterol-based, orally available drug candidate for MASH. Technomark is joining as a strategic lead investor by participating in MAX BioPharma’s $13M Series A to fund a Phase 1a/1b first-in-human study, and the companies say the collaboration will pair MAX’s therapeutic platform with Technomark’s drug development experience. - learn more

                        LA Venture Funds

                        • B Capital participated in ORO Labs’ $100M Series C, which was led by Brighton Park Capital and Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, as the company pushes deeper into what it calls agentic procurement orchestration. ORO said the new funding follows 300% revenue growth over the past year and will be used to speed up product development, expand go-to-market and customer teams globally, and broaden enterprise use cases across procurement, finance, legal, and supply chain workflows. - learn more
                        • Aliment Capital participated in Tropic’s oversubscribed $105M Series C, which was co-led by Forbion’s Bioeconomy Fund and Corteva as the company scales the commercial rollout of its gene-edited tropical crops. Tropic said the funding will help expand production of its banana portfolio, accelerate its banana and rice pipelines, and support entry into additional climate-resilient crops, following the 2025 launch of its first new banana varieties in more than 75 years and demand that is already outpacing supply. - learn more
                        • B Capital doubled down in Axiom’s $200M Series A, which valued the company at more than $1.6 billion and was led by Menlo Ventures. Axiom said the new funding will help it extend its lead from formal mathematics into what it calls “Verified AI,” with plans to apply its technology beyond mathematical discovery into software and hardware verification. - learn more
                        • WndrCo participated in Quince’s $500M Series E, a round led by ICONIQ that values the manufacturer-to-consumer retail platform at $10.1B post-money. Quince says it will use the fresh capital to accelerate growth and global expansion of its proprietary M2C operating system, which uses AI-driven demand forecasting and direct factory partnerships to cut traditional retail markups. Other investors in the round included Basis Set Ventures, Wellington Management, MarcyPen Capital Partners, Baillie Gifford, Notable Capital, and DST Global. - learn more
                        • Matter Venture Partners co-led Eridu’s oversubscribed Series A, part of $200M+ raised as the AI networking startup emerges from stealth to tackle what it calls the “network wall” bottleneck in AI data centers. - learn more
                        • Matter Venture Partners participated in Rhoda AI’s $450M Series A, backing the startup as it comes out of 18 months in stealth with FutureVision, a video-predictive control platform aimed at helping robots operate reliably in messy, real-world industrial environments. The round included a large syndicate of investors, including Capricorn Investment Group, Khosla Ventures, Leitmotif, Mayfield, Premji Invest, Prelude Ventures, Temasek, Xora, and John Doerr, and the company says the funding will accelerate development and industrial deployments. - learn more
                        • Halogen Ventures participated in Rasa Legal’s $5M late-seed round, backing the company’s push to scale its tech-enabled criminal record sealing and expungement service nationwide. The round was led by Rethink Education with participation from Social Finance and the Richard King Mellon Foundation, and Rasa says the funding will help it expand leadership, speed product development, and grow beyond its current footprint (Utah, Arizona, and Pennsylvania). - learn more
                        • Halogen Ventures participated in Nyad’s $1.3M oversubscribed pre-seed round, backing the Birmingham-based startup as it launches an AI decision-support tool for wastewater treatment operators. The round was led by Boost VC with participation from Draper Associates, Ollin Ventures, Apprentis, First Avenue Ventures, and strategic angel Troy Wallwork, and Nyad says it will use the funding to hire, grow customers, and keep building the product as retirements thin the wastewater workforce. - learn more
                        • MANTIS VC participated in Scanner’s $22M Series A, which was led by Sequoia Capital and also included CRV, as the company builds a high-speed security data layer for AI-driven threat investigation. Scanner said the funding comes as security teams at companies like Notion, Ramp, and BeyondTrust use its platform to search years of log data quickly and power agentic workflows that help hunt threats, triage alerts, and investigate incidents more efficiently. - learn more
                        • Chapter One participated in Zcash Open Development Lab’s $25M+ seed round, joining a syndicate that included Paradigm, a16z crypto, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Cypherpunk Technologies, and Maelstrom. The new company, formed by former Electric Coin Company team members, said the funding will support continued development of privacy-focused infrastructure for the Zcash ecosystem, including its self-custodial wallet and broader shielded payments tooling. - learn more
                        • CIV participated in Isembard’s $50M Series A, which was led by Union Square Ventures and also included Tamarack Global, IQ Capital, and existing backer Notion Capital. Isembard said the new funding will help it open 25 AI-powered factories by the end of 2026, expand its engineering team, and enter Germany, France, and Ukraine as it scales software-driven component manufacturing for aerospace and defense customers. - learn more
                        • WndrCo participated in Crafting’s $5.5M seed round, which was led by Mischief as the startup launched general availability for Crafting for Agents. The company said the new capital will support its push to become core infrastructure for AI-driven engineering teams, giving agents secure access to production-like environments so they can validate, test, and ship code inside complex enterprise systems used by customers including Brex, Faire, and Webflow. - learn more

                                          LA Exits

                                          • Hireguide has been acquired by HireVue, which is buying Hireguide’s underlying technology and bringing the Hireguide team into HireVue’s product org. HireVue says the deal accelerates its agentic AI roadmap, starting with a voice-based AI interviewer designed to help employers qualify candidates earlier and run smarter, more conversational hiring workflows. - learn more
                                          • Ultracor has been acquired by Applied Aerospace & Defense, bringing the California-based maker of specialized honeycomb core materials into Applied’s advanced composites platform. Applied says the deal supports its selective vertical integration strategy by strengthening supply chain control and boosting speed and capacity for space and defense programs, from satellites and missiles to antennas, radomes, and next-gen aircraft. - learn more

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                                                                    Montgomery Summit Is Back at the Fairmont Miramar

                                                                    Grace Lee
                                                                    Montgomery Summit Is Back at the Fairmont Miramar

                                                                    🔦 Spotlight

                                                                    Hey Los Angeles,

                                                                    If you’re looking to stack your March with the right rooms and the right people, The Montgomery Summit, presented by March Capital, is coming back to Santa Monica (March 10–11, 2026) at the Fairmont Miramar. It’s been running since 2004, founded by March Capital co-founder Jamie Montgomery, and it consistently draws a tight mix of founders, investors, and execs who show up to have real conversations, not just do the conference lap.

                                                                    This year’s program is shaping up to be a big one: 1,200+ attendees, 180+ speakers, and CEOs from 120+ carefully selected private tech companies. In other words, if you want early looks at breakout companies and the context you can’t get from a headline scroll, this is one of LA’s most high-signal two-day events.

                                                                    What I like about Montgomery is the vibe. It’s less “conference chaos” and more “high-signal collisions,” with structured ways to connect, including 1:1 meeting scheduling through the Summit app for eligible attendees. The agenda doesn’t stop when the panels do, there’s a Getty Villa reception and a closing reception, so the Summit keeps moving well past the main stage hours.

                                                                    It’s invitation-only, but you can request an invitation here.

                                                                    Keep scrolling for the latest LA venture rounds, fund news and acquisitions.


                                                                    🤝 Venture Deals

                                                                        LA Companies

                                                                        • Vast secured $500M in new financing, made up of $300M in Series A equity and $200M in debt, to accelerate production of its Haven commercial space stations and expand its facilities and team. The round was led by Balerion Space Ventures with participation from IQT, Qatar Investment Authority, Mitsui & Co., MUFG, Nikon, Stellar Ventures, Space Capital, Earthrise Ventures, and founder/first investor Jed McCaleb, as Vast pushes toward Haven-1 and its longer-term successor vision. - learn more
                                                                        • PartsPulse has raised $3M from UP.Partners and used the momentum to officially launch its unified AI platform at CONEXPO in Las Vegas. The startup says its “command center” combines inventory planning, pricing optimization, and sales intelligence into one system for OEMs, dealers, and fleet managers, and it was built with UP.Labs and co-developed with Wabash to help parts businesses spot revenue opportunities and stock the right parts at the right time. - learn more
                                                                        • Procode AI launched out of stealth with $4M in venture funding and acquired The Auctus Group, a major revenue cycle management (RCM) firm that bills for 300+ plastic surgery and dermatology providers. The company says the combination will bring AI into private-practice surgical billing, using its “Coding Copilot” to translate operative reports into billing codes faster and reduce denials, while Auctus continues operating under CEO John Gwin. - learn more
                                                                        • Smack has raised $32M across Seed and Series A to scale what it calls the first “frontier AI lab” built specifically for national security, after landing contracts with multiple branches of the U.S. military in 2025. The Series A was led by Geodesic Capital and Costanoa Ventures, with participation from Point72 Ventures, Felicis, First In, Scribble Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Washington Harbour Partners, Palumni VC, Fulcrum Venture Group, Anomaly Fund, and Fortitude Ventures. - learn more

                                                                                        LA Venture Funds

                                                                                        • BOLD Capital Partners participated in KeyCare’s $27.4M financing round, backing the Epic-native virtual care company as it scales an AI-enabled model designed to extend health systems’ capacity with 24/7 virtual urgent, preventive, chronic, and virtual-first primary care. The round was led by HealthX Ventures and also included 8VC, LRVHealth, and Ikigai Venture Partners, plus strategic investors such as WellSpan Health, Allina Health, University of Chicago Ventures, Edge Ventures, and Exact Sciences, bringing KeyCare’s total funding to $55M+. - learn more
                                                                                        • Fifth Wall led RenoFi’s $22M Series B, backing the Philadelphia startup’s push to make renovation financing simpler through an AI-enabled platform that underwrites loans based on a home’s after-renovation value. The round also included meaningful participation from Progressive Insurance and additional support from investors such as HighSage Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Flintlock Capital, and Gaingels, plus continued backing from Canaan, First Round Capital, Curql, TruStage Ventures, and several credit union partners. - learn more
                                                                                        • B Capital co-led Bounce’s $5M internal round alongside existing backers Accel and Qualcomm Ventures, extending fresh capital without bringing in new investors. Bounce founder Vivekananda Hallekere told The Economic Times the round underscores continued support from its current investors as the electric mobility startup pushes forward in the EV space. - learn more

                                                                                                        LA Exits

                                                                                                        • Silent House Group has been acquired by concert staging and live-experiences giant TAIT, formalizing a long-running partnership between the two companies. The deal pairs Silent House’s LA-born creative and production chops, behind major tours and live experiences including Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour and Kendrick Lamar’s Grand National Tour, with TAIT’s engineering, staging, and global delivery capabilities to build touring, experiential, and broadcast productions at any scale. - learn more

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                                                                                                                                  Revel’s Afterburner Round: $150M for Hard Tech Infrastructure

                                                                                                                                  Grace Lee
                                                                                                                                  Revel’s Afterburner Round: $150M for Hard Tech Infrastructure

                                                                                                                                  🔦 Spotlight

                                                                                                                                  Hello Los Angeles,

                                                                                                                                  This week’s biggest hard tech funding headline belongs to Revel, which just raised a $150M Series B to modernize the software layer behind hardware test and control. The round was led by Index Ventures, with major participation from Redpoint Ventures and returning investors Thrive Capital, Felicis, and Abstract Ventures, plus angel participation including Figma CEO Dylan Field.

                                                                                                                                  Image Source: Revel

                                                                                                                                  Revel’s pitch is simple: rockets, advanced energy, robotics, and defense systems have evolved fast, but the tooling that tests and commands them is still stuck in the past. The company says its platform can cut test stand setup time from 14 days to about 8 hours, and that teams go from testing every other day to multiple tests per day. One customer, Impulse Space, reportedly runs 80+ instances of RevelTest, and Revel claims every pilot it has run has converted into a paying customer.

                                                                                                                                  What makes this more than “just another big round” is where Revel is aiming next: expanding from test stands into industrial control across critical infrastructure, including nuclear facilities, power stations, refineries, water treatment, data centers, and biomedical manufacturing. Their platform includes live telemetry and safe command execution, and even a purpose built language, RevelCode, designed for deterministic, debuggable control in high consequence environments. In other words, if LA is becoming a capital of hard tech, Revel is trying to become the control room software those companies standardize on.Keep scrolling for the latest LA venture rounds, fund news and acquisitions.

                                                                                                                                  🤝 Venture Deals

                                                                                                                                      LA Companies

                                                                                                                                      • Third Way Health raised an oversubscribed $15M Series A led by Health Velocity Capital to scale its AI-enabled hybrid human and automation front-office operations for medical practices. The company says it will use the funding to accelerate customer growth, expand operations, and deepen its AI and automation roadmap, building on its claim of supporting practices serving 5M+ patients annually. - learn more
                                                                                                                                      • Inhouse raised $5M in seed funding to grow its AI legal platform that helps small and midsize businesses generate contracts, get answers to complex legal questions, and bring in attorneys when needed. The round included backing from Run Ventures, Royal Street Ventures, Switch, and LegalZoom cofounder and former CEO Brian Liu, and the company says it will use the new capital to expand its AI agent capabilities and increase automation across contract lifecycle management, compliance, and proactive risk management. - learn more
                                                                                                                                      • Subject raised a $28M growth investment led by Vistara Growth, with participation from new backers NextEquity Partners, Green Street Impact Partners, and Outcomes Collective, plus existing investors including Kleiner Perkins and others. The company says it will use the funding to accelerate development of its AI-powered K–12 curriculum and online learning platform, expand accredited course offerings, and scale adoption with more districts and educators worldwide. - learn more
                                                                                                                                      • Mogul raised $5M in a round led by the Yamaha Music Innovations Fund, with participation from Urban Innovation Fund, Mindset Ventures, Fairway Capital Partners, and renewed support from Amplify LA and Wonder Ventures. The royalty management platform says it will use the funding to expand services for artists and their teams, building on traction like processing over $1.5B in royalties and launching its new Catalog Valuation Center to help creators understand the value of their catalogs. - learn more
                                                                                                                                      • Handl Health raised a $14.2M Series A led by Arthur Ventures, with follow-on investment from Syndra Capital Partners, an additional strategic investor, and increased participation from existing backers Mucker Capital, Riverfront Ventures, Digital Health Venture Partners, and Boutique Venture Partners. The company says it will use the new capital to expand its platform and deliver deeper analytics that help employers and benefits decision-makers design lower-cost health plans with more predictable pricing and better care outcomes. - learn more
                                                                                                                                      • Skorppio launched a self-serve, on-premise high-performance computer rental platform that lets AI teams, VFX studios, researchers, and schools rent enterprise-grade systems without buying hardware or locking into the cloud. The company says its fleet includes everything from performance laptops to DGX-class AI systems and GPU servers, supported through a PNY Pro partnership that makes NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs available, plus curated “KIT” bundles designed for specific workflows. - learn more

                                                                                                                                                    LA Venture Funds

                                                                                                                                                    • B Capital participated in Gushwork’s $9M seed round, backing the startup’s bet that “AI search” will become a major new channel for B2B lead generation. The round was co-led by Susquehanna International Group and Lightspeed, and Gushwork says it’s helping businesses show up in answers from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity using automated marketing agents that generate search optimized content and backlinks. - learn more
                                                                                                                                                    • UP.Partners participated in BeyondMath’s $18.5M seed round, backing the company as it scales its “generative physics” approach to faster engineering-grade simulation. The raise included a $10M seed extension led by Cambridge Innovation Capital, with additional participation from Insight Partners and InMotion Ventures. - learn more
                                                                                                                                                    • MANTIS Venture Capital participated in SolveAI’s $50M funding round, backing the company as it launches a platform that lets employees build enterprise applications using natural language instead of code. The raise included a $45M Series A led by GV plus a previously undisclosed $5M pre-seed led by Accel, with additional participation from Northzone, NeverLift, and angels including Mike LoSapio, Pushmeet Kohli, and Olivier Godement. - learn more
                                                                                                                                                    • Fabric VC participated in Kash’s $2M pre-seed round, backing the startup as it embeds prediction markets directly into social media starting with X. Kash says users can turn posts into live, tradable markets through its @kash_bot, letting people express conviction on real-world outcomes inside the feed rather than in separate apps. The round also included investors such as Big Brain Holdings, Spartan Group, Coinbase Ventures, Kosmos Ventures, Halo Capital, MoonRock Capital, and Polaris Fund. - learn more
                                                                                                                                                    • M13 led LuminosAI’s latest funding round as the company launched Lighthouse, a new feature it says can automatically test generative and agentic AI systems for concrete legal liability. LuminosAI says the new capital will help it accelerate growth and expand its team to support a growing customer base, with participation from investors including Bloomberg Beta, Hawktail, AME Cloud Ventures, Crosscourt, Octave, Great Oaks, Fundrise, and others. - learn more

                                                                                                                                                                  LA Exits

                                                                                                                                                                  • Niagen Bioscience has sold its ChromaDex Reference Standards business to LGC in an all-cash transaction that closed on Feb. 24, 2026, as the company sharpens its focus on its core longevity strategy. Niagen says the divestiture helps it fully exit non-core operations and concentrate resources on NAD+ science, intellectual property, and commercial growth around its Niagen solutions, while LGC adds the standards portfolio to deepen its reference materials offering for pharma and lab customers. - learn more
                                                                                                                                                                  • Mutiny has been acquired by LA-based investment firm Shamrock Capital, which says the deal will help Mutiny accelerate growth and strengthen its position as a leading gaming-focused creative agency. Founded in 2021 and previously incubated within Trailer Park Group, Mutiny works with publishers and brands on research-driven, player-first creative, social, and community campaigns. Shamrock says Mutiny will continue scaling as a standalone business, with support that could include strategic acquisitions. - learn more
                                                                                                                                                                  • Vestigo Aerospace has been acquired by Applied Aerospace & Defense, bringing Vestigo’s Spinnaker deorbit drag-sail product line into Applied’s portfolio. Applied says Spinnaker helps satellite and launch-vehicle operators meet tightening orbital debris rules by providing a lightweight, cost-effective way to deorbit objects in low Earth orbit, and Vestigo founder and CEO Dr. David Spencer will join Applied as VP of Deployable Systems. - learn more

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