Can AI Change How Hollywood Structures Stories? Corto.ai is Launching to Find Out

Sam Blake

Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake

Can AI Change How Hollywood Structures Stories? Corto.ai is Launching to Find Out

Having watched his reputation flourish upon a foundation of self-spun fabrications, then crumble into a heap of infamy that led him to change his name, Yves Bergquist knows a thing or two about stories.

As detailed in a November 2019 story in The Hollywood Reporter, Bergquist, who leads artificial intelligence (AI) projects at USC's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), was formerly a national security analyst and ABC News consultant named Alexis Debat. Once his lies were exposed, he left Washington D.C. in 2007, shrouded in shame.


Now, Bergquist is set to go public with Corto, his previously stealth-mode startup that uses AI to help storytellers in the entertainment industry better understand their content, their operations, and their audiences. Since 2016, Corto has worked symbiotically with the ETC, a think tank founded in 1993 by Star Wars creator George Lucas to support cooperative technological advancement in Hollywood.

As the THR story conveyed, Bergquist seems genuinely contrite. He has embraced working extra hard to overcome his tarnished past and salvage his integrity.

"This is a very sensitive thing for me," he told dot.LA. "Twelve years later it's still haunting."

With the coronavirus indefinitely shutting down production and threatening to erode disposable incomes, Bergquist's comeback may be just in time to help Tinseltown recover from a looming downfall of its own.

Introducing Corto

Even in normal times, says Bergquist, Hollywood faces challenges. With front-loaded costs and lengthy investment timelines, it's an inherently risky industry. And Hollywood's customers have unique expertise in the products they consume.

"Cars and yogurt don't deal with car and yogurt experts," he said. "Media sells to customers who are extremely experienced and knowledgeable about the product of media."

Taking a page out of philosopher Yuval Noah Harari's book, Bergquist waxes poetic on the idea that religion, nationality, and modern economies all rely on collective buy-in to stories.

"They're the most important objects in human civilization," he said. "They're the reason we have a society."

Put that way, it's no wonder that people crave stories; and that many seek to profit from satisfying that craving. Indeed, as technology has progressed, the variety and volume of content platforms and stories at our fingertips has exploded.

Where Corto comes in, is to help storytellers–and story sellers–meet that demand and stand out against that competition.

The end goal, according to Bergquist: "Better understand what resonates with whom, and why."

Modern medicine offers a useful analogy. Previously, Bergquist explains, doctors made diagnoses with little information.

"Say you (were to) walk into my office. You seem to have a fever, your tongue is white. Those generally are associated with cold or bronchitis. So there's your diagnosis."

Compare that to modern healthcare, which empowers physicians to collect far more sophisticated and useful information. And soon enough, pundits forecast a new era of medicine, where tech-enabled lifestyle data merge with a patient's medical history, genetics, and more to provide the granular insights needed for personalized healthcare.

"It's the same thing for entertainment," said Bergquist.

So how does Corto aspire to bring about a new era of stories?

The What: Content Genomics

Essential to Corto is its database of stories that it has thoroughly analyzed using several AI techniques. Like a submarine, Corto probes the depths of a story at a level and speed that a human brain cannot, and extracts the extent to which the story contains certain features, including dozens of "emotional tonalities" like melancholy, power, and generosity. Soon, Bergquist says, Corto will be able to extract additional deep features, like those related to specific characters and the story's structure.

For now, Corto's value starts with what it can tell a user about a script that's not in its database.

Bergquist showed dot.LA how it works, using Ad Astra as an example. He expressed that the interface, while functional — and actively used by a "major studio" for the past several months — is in early form, and that the feature set is still just about "5% of the vision."

When a user uploads a script, Corto takes about five seconds to "parse" the document. Then, like a doctor receiving a patient's genetic readout, new doors suddenly open.

Corto has parsed the script, in this case Ad Astra

Typing "emotion for AD ASTRA" in the command bar brings up a table of dozens of those emotional tonalities, each with a score from 0-100. Anything in the 25-75 range is a weak signal, Bergquist explained, meaning that particular emotion is not especially prominent in the script. Scores below 25 suggest a notable absence of the given emotion, while those above 75 indicate a strong presence.

Corto emotional tonality output

The command "comps for AD ASTRA" yields a list of titles from the Corto database that are similar to the given title based on the deep features that Corto has unearthed. The lower a title's "distance" from another, the more similar they are. "Comp emotion" breaks down these comparisons across each of the dozens of emotional tonalities. Search results can be filtered, such as by type (movie, TV episode, etc.), release year, or country.

Comps for Ad Astra


Ad Astra comps across emotional tonalities

Importantly, these results can reveal unexpected similarities. The comparable titles that Corto yielded for a test user's spy procedural show, for instance, surprisingly included several Sci-Fi titles, said Bergquist.

"Suddenly," he said, "there's a whole new audience that they could potentially market this to."

In the future — later this year, according to Bergquist — Corto will add visual analysis to its text parsing. On top of exploring a script's depths, it will also be able to extract insights from video.

"We want to create a tool," Bergquist explained, "that essentially understands how specific human emotions or narrative structures are expressed visually and from a sensory perspective."

It would function similarly to what Corto currently does with scripts, except it would turn audiovisual footage, rather than text, into data and insights.

Parsing video footage

Encoding and labeling the various elements of video would also theoretically increase pre- and post-production efficiency. For example, explained Bergquist, a film editor could say, "'Show me all the times when a female character was smoking a cigarette in the rain' — things like that. You cannot search content like that currently."

And the content comparisons this would enable–based on attributes that do not exist in a script–would also help to improve recommendation algorithms, which Bergquist describes as the "big kahuna" for Corto's content analysis.

Whether the purpose is to identify just the right title for someone to watch next, or to successfully execute a finely targeted marketing campaign based on a title's comparables, one needs insight not just about the content, but also the audience.

The Who: Audience Genomics

"It's not just, 'okay, people liked Avengers, so they'll probably like this'," Bergquist said. "It's 'why did they like it? What did they like about it? Who liked which attributes?'"

To find these answers, Bergquist explained, Corto probes the wide world of social media.

By analyzing Tweets, Reddit posts and such that are related to a given title, and using analytical methods similar to those used for the content analysis, Corto "can derive positive or negative sentiment for a title based on attributes like the acting, the cast, the director, visual elements, emotional tonalities, the music, the plot and more."

Using a method called knowledge representation to pair this granular data with broader datasets like census data and voting behavior can provide a detailed picture of who these groups are, and where to find them.

"If you give us a script we'll give you all the zip codes where each narrative domain and/or character will resonate the most," Bergquist said.

What's more, Corto layers in network analysis, so that on top of knowing what resonates with whom, and where they are, it also shows how sentiment travels from one group to another. Particularly useful is the identification of "swayable" communities–those whom Corto believes are not yet fans of a given title, but could be converted. Armed with the knowledge of what titles and attributes have historically resonated with such a group, "these are the communities that you can target as a marketer."

"Since we have content analysis integrated directly with audience analysis," Bergquist summarizes, "we can run your script, get a list of comparables, then immediately give you deep insights on the size and type of audience for your script, directly based on millions of social media conversations across all the places where people talk about media."


Helping Hollywood

Though Bergquist shared plenty with dot.LA, he showed a practiced guardedness when asked about specific customers and pricing.

"I would love to tell you everything," he said, "but I would get sued into oblivion if this stuff was identified. Working with Hollywood is like working for the CIA."

He did share, however, that two studios have currently licensed Corto, with a third set to sign up soon. He declined to provide pricing information.

Corto is not the only AI-for-storytelling game in town. Cinelytic, also L.A.-based, uses AI for film analytics and project management. The firm, founded in 2013, recently inked a deal with Warner Bros. And StoryFit, which is headquartered in Austin but does most of its business in Los Angeles, has found some success licensing its tools which, like Corto, include elements of natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment analysis to analyze scripts.

"Marketing is frequently our first stop when we're introduced to a studio, because they're used to using data," StoryFit Chief Executive Monica Landers told dot.LA. "But we're really a better fit during development."

This often entails helping creatives avoid what Landers calls "red flags."

"You may want a character to be intelligent," she explains as an example, "but our analysis will show that she's actually speaking less intelligently than other characters. Or we can surface that your script is too flat. Or that the balance of dialogue and action is off."

StoryFit does a variety of projects, ranging from focusing on one script to a broader landscape analysis. Landers says customers include large and mid-size studios, and networks.

"Annual subscriptions range for most studios from $5,000 - $40,000 a month," she said.

"We've taken a radically different approach," claimed Bergquist. "As a result, we're able to output much deeper insights from a much wider dataset."

AI Skepticism

"My feeling about using NLP on scripts, is there's just so many places that can go wrong," said Brian Dolan, who formerly managed NLP analytics as director of research at MySpace and with the CIA, and is now Chief Executive of LA-based AI venture accelerator Verdant.ai.

"I'm skeptical it'll hit two marks," he told dot.LA. "I don't think it'll get to the sophistication where it can (predict performance), and more importantly, I'm not sure it can reach a level of sophistication where it can be tested – how do we know where it's making a mistake?"

"That's on top of whether machines should (even) be trying to analyze content," Dolan continued. "Aren't we humans making stories for other humans? Who benefits? The finance department – not the audience."

"Look, this isn't a silver bullet," retorts Bergquist. "And it's going to be a long time until it is. What this is, is a set of powerful tools to give development and marketing executives a lot more context and data than was previously available."

"Tens of billions of dollars are being spent every year making and marketing media content," he wrote. "If we can optimize even 5% of that – and it's likely we could do even more, from what our initial tests tell us – that's an enormous amount of money."

Neither CEO denied that what they are aiming to do is hard. And they both recognize that appealing to the community that will ultimately use these tools is crucial. To that end, each emphasized that what they seek to do is not replace people and processes, but augment them. Bergquist points out that Corto has the advantage of having been developed with a high degree of Hollywood input through ETC members, which include most major studios.

In the future, Bergquist believes Corto can reach the sophistication that's needed to make predictions about a story's bottom line. For now, he is taking it slow.

"The last thing the AI field needs is more buzz."

Knowing full well what can happen when a story gets out of hand, Bergquist appears to be ratcheting up the caution in his personal comeback sequel.

"What bit me in the ass in my last career is I created a story that was false," he reflected.

Time will tell how his story this time around lands with his own target audience.

---

Sam Blake covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Find him on Twitter @hisamblake and email him at samblake@dot.LA

https://twitter.com/hisamblake
samblake@dot.la
VC Giants Back LA Defense Tech Startup

🔦 Spotlight

Hello Los Angeles, and happy Friday!

Memorial Day Weekend is finally here, and it seems even PCH got the memo, just in time for those coastal drives to kick off summer, traffic jams included. Speaking of navigation, El Segundo based startup CX2 has charted its own impressive course this week, securing $31 million in a Series A round led by Point72 Ventures, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, and Pax Ventures, to boost its mission in electronic warfare.

Electronic warfare (EW), for those of us who aren't regulars at the Pentagon, involves the tactical use of electromagnetic energy to control the spectrum, essentially jamming or confusing enemy communications and radar systems. CX2 was founded by a diverse and experienced group: Nathan Mintz, who brings deep expertise in defense technology from previous ventures such as Epirus and Spartan; Mark Trefgarne, a software entrepreneur known for a successful acquisition by Meta; Lee Thompson, an expert RF engineer previously with SpaceX; and Porter Smith, whose practical insights stem from his background as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and subsequent experience as an investor.

The new funds will help CX2 scale its team and accelerate the development of advanced tools, including autonomous drones and specialized signals-intelligence systems. These innovations promise precision interference without collateral disruptions, addressing critical defense capability gaps identified by industry experts.

With tensions escalating globally, there's big demand for next-gen defense solutions, and CX2’s technology positions them as a major player in shaping future electronic battlespaces.

Dive deeper into the details and check out this week's roundup of LA’s venture deals and acquisitions below.

Here's to a weekend filled with sunshine, clear roads (fingers crossed), and tech that keeps pushing boundaries!

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Axle Health, founded by former Uber execs, raised $10M in Gaa Series A round led by F-Prime Capital to expand its AI-powered logistics platform for home healthcare. The software streamlines scheduling, routing, and patient engagement, and is now used by major health systems and agencies across all 50 states. The company has seen 10x revenue growth over the past year. - learn more
  • Promise, a generative AI studio based in Venice, California, has secured a strategic investment from Google's AI Futures Fund, alongside contributions from The North Road Company, and others. This funding will support Promise's integration of advanced AI technologies into its proprietary production platform, MUSE, and facilitate collaborations with Google's DeepMind researchers to push the boundaries of AI-driven storytelling. The studio plans to commence production on its first feature-length film this year, marking a significant step in its mission to blend human creativity with cutting-edge AI tools in filmmaking. - learn more
  • Final Boss Sour, a Los Angeles-based snack brand blending gaming nostalgia with sour fruit treats, raised $4M in a Seed 2 round. The funds will go toward expanding distribution, product innovation, and creator partnerships. The company also launched a new tropical sampler box featuring real fruit flavors like mango, pineapple, and kiwi. - learn more
  • VUZ, a UAE-based immersive media platform, raised $12M in a pre-Series C round led by the International Finance Corporation with participation from CrossWork.us, among others, to fuel global expansion and enhance its AI-powered streaming experiences. The funding brings its total raised to over $35M and will support growth across the U.S., Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. VUZ, now EBITDA positive, hosts 30,000+ hours of immersive content and has exclusive deals with leagues like LaLiga and Serie A. - learn more

      LA Venture Funds

      • B Capital co-led Data Sutram's $9M Series A funding round, supporting the company's expansion of its AI-driven fraud detection platform into sectors like cryptocurrency, gaming, and insurance. The investment will also aid in strengthening Data Sutram's AI capabilities and facilitating its international growth into markets such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia. - learn more
      • Upfront Ventures led Clair's $23.2M Series B funding round, reinforcing its commitment to the fintech startup it initially backed during the seed stage. Clair provides embedded earned wage access (EWA) solutions, allowing employees to access their earnings instantly through integrations with payroll and workforce management platforms like Gusto and TriNet. The new funding will support Clair's expansion across more than 29,000 business locations and enhance its partnerships with additional HR and payroll providers. - learn more
      • Rebel Fund participated in Keep's recent C$108M funding round, supporting the Toronto-based fintech's mission to modernize small business banking in Canada. Keep offers an all-in-one financial platform tailored to Canadian small businesses, addressing challenges like outdated systems and limited access to credit. The funding will help Keep expand its services, which include business credit cards, expense tracking, and multi-currency accounts, to more entrepreneurs across the country. - learn more
      • MarcyPen Capital Partners participated in SparkCharge's $30.5M funding round, supporting the expansion of its mobile, off-grid EV charging services across North America. This investment will help SparkCharge scale its Charging-as-a-Service model, enabling fleets to adopt electric vehicles without the need for permanent infrastructure. - learn more
      • Matter Venture Partners participated in Biostate AI's $12M Series A funding round, supporting the Houston-based startup's mission to revolutionize molecular diagnostics through affordable RNA sequencing and generative AI. Biostate AI aims to build a comprehensive RNA sequencing dataset to train AI models capable of predicting disease progression and treatment responses, thereby advancing precision medicine. - learn more
      • Prototype Capital participated in Sensmore's €6.5M funding round, supporting the German robotics startup's mission to retrofit heavy machinery with AI-driven automation. Sensmore's technology enables real-time automation of complex tasks in industries like construction and mining. The investment will help expand Sensmore's Physical AI platform, enhancing productivity and safety in industrial operations. - learn more

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            Forget Traffic: Air Taxis Are Coming to LA28

            🔦 Spotlight

            Hello Los Angeles,

            The future just got a flight plan, and it includes skipping traffic for the 2028 Olympics.

            Image Source: Archer

            This week, Santa Clara-based Archer Aviation made headlines (and history) by being named the official air taxi provider for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA. Yes, that means electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will be soaring above the gridlocked freeways, whisking athletes, officials, and perhaps a few lucky spectators through LA’s famously congested skies.

            This isn’t just a flashy PR stunt (although, let’s be honest, it is peak LA). It’s a strategic move to redefine how we move around the city, especially during one of the largest global events ever to hit Southern California. In partnership with the LA28 Organizing Committee, Archer plans to deploy its Midnight aircraft, an all-electric air taxi that promises ultra-quiet, zero-emission rides from point A to point OMG-I’m-not-in-traffic.

            While Archer is headquartered in Santa Clara, it has deep ties to the LA tech ecosystem. United Airlines, one of its major partners, has previously announced plans to establish eVTOL routes between downtown and LAX. Pair that with this new Olympic milestone and we’re looking at LA as ground zero for what could become the world’s first large-scale urban air mobility network.

            Of course, there are still regulatory hurdles, infrastructure needs, and airspace coordination issues to iron out before we can book our sky ride to the Coliseum. But make no mistake, this announcement is a moonshot moment for LA tech, mobility, and the future of Olympic-scale transportation.

            We’ll be keeping our feet on the ground (for now), but we’ll definitely be watching the skies.

            Catch you next week ✈️✨

            🤝 Venture Deals

            LA Companies

            • Akido, a Los Angeles-based health tech company, has raised $60M in Series B funding led by Oak HC/FT to expand the reach of its AI-powered clinical tool, ScopeAI. The platform assists physicians by generating clinical questions, documenting patient responses, and drafting care plans in real time. The funding will help Akido scale its technology across its provider network and expand into new markets like New York City. - learn more
            • Reflect Orbital, a startup developing satellite-based sunlight delivery systems, has raised $20M in a Series A round led by Lux Capital. The company plans to use the funding to expand its team, scale operations, and prepare for its first satellite launch in Spring 2026. Reflect Orbital’s technology aims to reflect sunlight from space to Earth, enabling nighttime illumination for energy, remote operations, and civil infrastructure. - learn more
            • Rolli, an AI-powered platform designed to support fact-based journalism, has received an investment from the NYU Impact Investment Fund (NIIF). This marks NIIF's first investment in a media company, underscoring its commitment to backing ventures that enhance democratic institutions through innovation. Rolli's platform connects journalists with a diverse range of vetted experts, aiming to streamline news production and promote equitable representation in media. The funding will help Rolli expand its reach and further develop tools that empower journalists to produce accurate and impactful reporting. - learn more

              LA Venture Funds

              • CIV and Wonder Ventures participated in The Nuclear Company’s $46.3M Series A round to support its plan to develop large-scale nuclear reactor sites across the U.S. CIV co-founder Patrick Maloney also co-founded the company, which is taking a “design-once, build-many” approach to modernize nuclear construction. The funding will help meet rising energy demands from sectors like AI and data centers. - learn more
              • WndrCo participated in Cartwheel's recent $10M funding round. Cartwheel is an AI-driven 3D animation startup that enables creators to generate rigged animations from text prompts and videos. The funding will support Cartwheel's efforts to simplify and democratize 3D animation production. - learn more
              • Crosscut Ventures participated in Solestial's $17M Series A funding round, which aims to scale the company's production of radiation-hardened, self-healing silicon solar panels for space applications. Solestial plans to increase its manufacturing capacity to 1 megawatt per year, matching the combined annual output of all U.S. and EU III-V space solar companies. This investment supports the growing demand for cost-effective, high-performance power systems in the expanding space industry. - learn more
              • Upfront Ventures participated in Tern's $13M Series A funding round, adding to its earlier $4M seed investment in the travel tech startup. Tern offers an all-in-one platform for travel advisors, streamlining itinerary building, CRM, and commission tracking. The new funding will help Tern enhance its product offerings and expand support for its growing user base. - learn more
              • Dangerous Ventures participated in Verdi's $6.5M seed funding round, supporting the Vancouver-based agtech startup's mission to modernize farm irrigation systems through AI-powered automation. Verdi's technology retrofits existing infrastructure, enabling precise, row-level control of irrigation, which helps farmers reduce water usage and labor costs. The investment aligns with Dangerous Ventures' focus on climate resilience and sustainable food systems. - learn more
              • Pinegrove Capital Partners participated in Saildrone's recent $60M funding round, supporting the company's expansion of its autonomous maritime surveillance technology into Europe. The investment will aid in deploying Saildrone's uncrewed surface vehicles for enhanced maritime security and defense applications across European waters. - learn more
              • Starburst Ventures participated in a €2 million seed funding round for French defense tech startup Alta Ares, which specializes in embedded AI and MLOps solutions for military applications. Alta Ares' technologies, including the Gamma platform for real-time video analysis and the Ulixes platform for managing operational data lifecycles, operate autonomously without the need for internet or cloud connectivity. This funding will support the industrialization of these solutions and expand their deployment across European armed forces and NATO allies. - learn more
              • Nomad Ventures participated in Stackpack’s recent $6.3M seed funding round, supporting the company's mission to streamline vendor management for modern businesses. Stackpack offers an AI-driven platform that provides finance and IT teams with a centralized system to oversee third-party vendors, manage renewals, and mitigate compliance risks. The investment will enable Stackpack to expand its operations, enhance its platform, and introduce new features like the "Requests & Approvals" tool, aimed at simplifying vendor onboarding and procurement processes. - learn more
              • Tachyon Ventures participated in Stylus Medicine's $85M Series A funding round, supporting the biotech company's development of in vivo genetic medicines. Stylus aims to simplify gene editing by enabling precise, durable CAR-T therapies delivered directly inside the body, potentially transforming treatment for various diseases. - learn more
              • Up.Partners led a $28M Series A funding round for WakeCap, a construction tech startup that uses sensor-powered platforms to deliver real-time workforce visibility and site intelligence. WakeCap’s system tracks labor hours, safety, and productivity across large-scale projects, with over 150 million labor hours already monitored. The new funding will help the company expand globally, enhance product features, and grow its engineering and customer success teams. - learn more


                LA Exits

                • MediaPlatform, a leading provider of enterprise video solutions, has been acquired by Brandlive, a company renowned for bringing the magic of television to business communications. This strategic acquisition aims to enhance Brandlive's capabilities in delivering high-scale, reliable CEO town halls and global corporate broadcasts. By integrating MediaPlatform's robust infrastructure with Brandlive's creative video tools and production services, the combined entity seeks to offer more engaging and authentic internal content experiences for enterprise clients. - learn more
                • RHQ Creative, a studio renowned for its competitive Fortnite training maps, has been acquired by JOGO, the game development company founded by popular creator Typical Gamer (Andre Rebelo). This acquisition aims to bolster JOGO's expansion into the competitive gaming arena by integrating RHQ's expertise in skill-building and training map design. RHQ Creative, co-founded by Fortnite pro Quinn Gannon (RichHomieQuinn) and Sean Lugo, has achieved over 20 million map visits and 200 million hours of playtime. The deal includes full ownership of RHQ's map catalog and the addition of its team to JOGO, enhancing the company's capabilities in developing high-quality, competitive gaming experiences. - learn more

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                    This LA Startup Wants to Make It Rain and Just Raised $25M to Do It

                    🔦 Spotlight

                    Hello LA!

                    While most tech headlines are busy chasing AI chatbots and flying taxis, one startup in El Segundo is aiming a little higher. Literally.

                    Rainmaker just secured$25 million in Series A funding to expand its cloud-seeding drone technology. The round was led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Starship Ventures, 1517 Fund, Long Journey Ventures, Naval Ravikant, and others.

                    Their idea is simple but urgent. Instead of relying on old-school aircraft to spray rain-making particles across the sky, Rainmaker uses AI-powered drones that find and seed clouds with pinpoint accuracy. It is faster, more affordable, and could reshape how regions fight back against droughts.

                    California's ongoing water struggles have made it clear that simply "saving" water is not enough. Cities and entire economies need new tools to create it. Rainmaker plans to use the funding to grow its fleet, invest in atmospheric science, and expand commercial partnerships with utilities and governments searching for solutions.

                    Bigger picture, Rainmaker is part of a growing shift in LA's tech ecosystem. While software remains dominant, more investors and founders are quietly betting on "hard tech" that addresses real-world problems like water, energy, and infrastructure.

                    It is not just about apps anymore. It is about survival tech.

                    With the skies getting hotter and the reservoirs getting lower, the next great tech export out of LA might not be entertainment or social media. It could be rain.

                    Stay tuned…

                    🤝 Venture Deals

                    LA Companies

                      • SimpleClosure, a Santa Monica-based startup that automates the business shutdown process, has raised a $15M Series A funding round led by TTV Capital. The company, which launched publicly in late 2023, helps startups and businesses navigate legal, regulatory, and compliance hurdles when closing down, using AI to streamline paperwork and communications. The new funding will support SimpleClosure’s platform growth and product expansion, as rising economic pressures create heightened demand for efficient dissolution solutions. - learn more

                        LA Venture Funds

                        • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in Haya Therapeutics’ $65M Series A funding round. Haya Therapeutics, which is developing precision RNA-guided medicines for chronic and age-related diseases, will use the capital to advance its lead therapeutic programs targeting heart failure and fibrosis. The company plans to expand its pipeline, invest in its discovery platform, and grow its team to accelerate clinical development. - learn more
                        • Griffin Gaming Partners led a $7M funding round for Fuse Games, a gaming studio focused on developing new original IP. Fuse Games, founded by industry veterans with experience at major gaming companies, plans to use the funds to accelerate production of its first title and expand its team as it builds ambitious new gaming experiences. - learn more
                        • Shamrock Capital has made a strategic growth investment in Neocol, a leading consulting platform that specializes in sales and AI-driven software solutions for subscription businesses. Neocol, which helps companies optimize revenue operations and digital transformations, plans to use the investment to accelerate its growth, expand its services, and further strengthen its leadership position in the Salesforce ecosystem. - learn more
                        • Trust Fund participated in a $7.2M seed funding round for Agree.com, an all-in-one platform that combines e-signature and integrated payments, aiming to streamline and speed up service agreements. The company plans to use the new capital to grow its engineering team, expand integrations, and enhance payment capabilities to help service providers close deals faster. - learn more
                        • Hyperlink Ventures participated in Orca AI’s $72.5M funding round. Orca AI, headquartered in London, develops AI-based navigation and collision-avoidance solutions to improve safety and efficiency for commercial shipping fleets. The funding will help Orca AI scale its autonomous shipping technologies, expand its team, and support global growth efforts. - learn more


                        LA Exits

                        • StoryFire, a social storytelling and video platform with over 2.5M users, has been acquired by Flashy Finance to launch a new platform called Flashy Social. The move aims to merge content creation with blockchain-powered financial tools, allowing creators to monetize through token incentives, streaming features, and community engagement. This acquisition supports Flashy Finance’s broader vision of building a cultural, creator-led financial ecosystem. - learn more
                        • Jaanuu, Inc., a Los Angeles-based medical apparel brand known for its stylish and functional scrubs, has been acquired in an asset sale by VentureOn Management, LLC. The acquisition includes substantially all of Jaanuu's assets, encompassing its intellectual property, inventory, and customer relationships. VentureOn Management plans to continue Jaanuu's operations, focusing on delivering high-quality medical apparel to healthcare professionals. - learn more
                        • Skechers has agreed to be acquired by 3G Capital in a deal valued at approximately $9.4 billion. Shareholders will receive either $63 per share in cash or $57 plus an equity unit in a new private parent company. Following the acquisition, Skechers will become privately held, maintain its Manhattan Beach headquarters, and continue to be led by its current management team. - learn more

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