DOT.LA TERMS OF SERVICE

Last Updated: 1/27

Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") apply to your access to and use of the websites, mobile applications and other online products and services (collectively, the "Services") provided by Intersection Media Group, Inc. ("dot.LA" or "we"). By clicking "I Accept" or by using our Services, you agree to these Terms, including the mandatory arbitration provision and class action waiver in Section 15.If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use our Services.

If you have any questions about these Terms or our Services, please contact us at legal@dot.la. For information about how we collect, use, share and otherwise process information about you, please see our Privacy Policy.

Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years of age to use our Services. If you are under 18 years of age (or the age of legal majority where you live), you may use our Services only under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms. If you are a parent or legal guardian of a user under the age of 18 (or the age of legal majority), you agree to be fully responsible for the acts or omissions of such user in relation to our Services. If you use our Services on behalf of another person or entity, (a) all references to "you" throughout these Terms will include that person or entity, (b) you represent that you are authorized to accept these Terms on that person's or entity's behalf, and (c) in the event you or the person or entity violates these Terms, the person or entity agrees to be responsible to us.

User Accounts and Account Security

You may need to register for an account to access some or all of our Services. If you register for an account, you must provide accurate account information and promptly update this information if it changes. You also must maintain the security of your account and promptly notify us if you discover or suspect that someone has accessed your account without your permission. If you permit others to use your account credentials, you are responsible for the activities of such users that occur in connection with your account. We reserve the right to reclaim usernames, including on behalf of businesses or individuals that hold legal claim, including trademark rights, in those usernames.

User Content

  1. Our Services may allow you and other users to create, post, store and share content, including messages, text, photos, videos, software and other materials (collectively, "User Content"). Except for the license you grant below, you retain all rights in and to your User Content, as between you and dot.LA.

  2. You grant dot.LA a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid, and sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform and display your User Content and any name, username or likeness provided in connection with your User Content in all media formats and channels now known or later developed without compensation to you. When you post or otherwise share User Content on or through our Services, you understand that your User Content and any associated information (such as your username or profile photo) may be visible to others.

  3. You may not create, post, store or share any User Content that violates these Terms or for which you do not have all the rights necessary to grant us the license described above. You represent and warrant that your User Content, and our use of such content as permitted by these Terms, will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity. Although we have no obligation to screen, edit or monitor User Content, we may delete or remove User Content at any time and for any reason with or without notice.

Prohibited Conduct and Content

You will not violate any applicable law, contract, intellectual property right or other third-party right or commit a tort, and you are solely responsible for your conduct while using our Services. You will not:

  1. Engage in any harassing, threatening, intimidating, predatory or stalking conduct;
  2. Use or attempt to use another user's account without authorization from that user and dot.LA;
  3. Impersonate or post on behalf or any person or entity or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
  4. Sell, resell or commercially use our Services;
  5. Copy, reproduce, distribute, publicly perform or publicly display all or portions of our Services, except as expressly permitted by us or our licensors;
  6. Modify our Services, remove any proprietary rights notices or markings, or otherwise make any derivative works based upon our Services;
  7. Use our Services other than for their intended purpose and in any manner that could interfere with, disrupt, negatively affect or inhibit other users from fully enjoying our Services or that could damage, disable, overburden or impair the functioning of our Services in any manner;
  8. Reverse engineer any aspect of our Services or do anything that might discover source code or bypass or circumvent measures employed to prevent or limit access to any part of our Services;
  9. Use any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods designed to scrape or extract data from our Services;
  10. Develop or use any applications that interact with our Services without our prior written consent;
  11. Send, distribute or post spam, unsolicited or bulk commercial electronic communications, chain letters, or pyramid schemes;
  12. Bypass or ignore instructions contained in our robots.txt file; or
  13. Use our Services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose, or engage in, encourage or promote any activity that violates these Terms.
You may also post or otherwise share only User Content that is nonconfidential and that you have all necessary rights to disclose. You may not create, post, store or share any User Content that:
  1. Is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory or fraudulent;
  2. Would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party or otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law;
  3. May infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party;
  4. Contains or depicts any statements, remarks or claims that do not reflect your honest views and experiences;
  5. Impersonates, or misrepresents your affiliation with, any person or entity;
  6. Contains any unsolicited promotions, political campaigning, advertising or solicitations;
  7. Contains any private or personal information of a third party without such third party's consent;
  8. Contains any viruses, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files or content; or
  9. In our sole judgment, is objectionable, restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying our Services, or may expose dot.LA or others to any harm or liability of any type.
1. Enforcement of this Section 4 is solely at dot.LA's discretion, and failure to enforce this section in some instances does not constitute a waiver of our right to enforce it in other instances. In addition, this Section 4 does not create any private right of action on the part of any third party or any reasonable expectation that the Services will not contain any content that is prohibited by such rules.

Ownership; Limited License

The Services, including the text, graphics, images, photographs, videos, illustrations and other content contained therein, are owned by dot.LA or our licensors and are protected under both United States and foreign laws. Except as explicitly stated in these Terms, all rights in and to the Services are reserved by us or our licensors. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, you are hereby granted a limited, nonexclusive, nontransferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to access and use our Services for your own personal, noncommercial use. Any use of the Services other than as specifically authorized herein, without our prior written permission, is strictly prohibited, will terminate the license granted herein and violate our intellectual property rights.

Trademarks

dot.LA and our logos, our product or service names, our slogans and the look and feel of the Services are trademarks of dot.LA and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without our prior written permission. All other trademarks, registered trademarks, product names and company names or logos mentioned on the Services are the property of their respective owners. Reference to any products, services, processes or other information by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, supplier or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation by us.

Feedback

You may voluntarily post, submit or otherwise communicate to us any questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, original or creative materials or other information about dot.LA or our Services (collectively, "Feedback"). You understand that we may use such Feedback for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you, including to develop, copy, publish, or improve the Feedback in dot.LA's sole discretion. You understand that dot.LA may treat Feedback as nonconfidential.

Repeat Infringer Policy; Copyright Complaints

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other applicable law, we have adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that anything on our Services infringes any copyright that you own or control, you may notify dot.LA's designated agent as follows:

Designated Agent: DMCA Manager
Address: 212 26th st #317

Santa Monica CA, 90402

E-Mail Address: legal@dot.la

Please see 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) for the requirements of a proper notification. Also, please note that if you knowingly misrepresent that any activity or material on our Services is infringing, you may be liable to dot.LA for certain costs and damages.

Third-Party Content

We may provide information about third-party products, services, activities or events, or we may allow third parties to make their content and information available on or through the Services (collectively, "Third-Party Content"). We provide Third-Party Content as a service to those interested in such content. Your dealings or correspondence with third parties and your use of or interaction with any Third-Party Content are solely between you and the third party. dot.LA does not control or endorse, and makes no representations or warranties regarding, any Third-Party Content, and your access to and use of such Third-Party Content is at your own risk.

Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you will indemnify, defend and hold harmless dot.LA and our officers, directors, agents, partners and employees (individually and collectively, the "dot.LA Parties") from and against any losses, liabilities, claims, demands, damages, expenses or costs ("Claims") arising out of or related to (a) your access to or use of the Services; (b) your User Content or Feedback; (c) your violation of these Terms; (d) your violation, misappropriation or infringement of any rights of another (including intellectual property rights or privacy rights); or (e) your conduct in connection with the Services. You agree to promptly notify dot.LA Parties of any third-party Claims, cooperate with dot.LA Parties in defending such Claims and pay all fees, costs and expenses associated with defending such Claims (including attorneys' fees). You also agree that the dot.LA Parties will have control of the defense or settlement, at dot.LA's sole option, of any third-party Claims. This indemnity is in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other indemnities set forth in a written agreement between you and dot.LA or the other dot.LA Parties.

Disclaimers

Your use of our Services is at your sole risk. Except as otherwise provided in a writing by us, our Services and any content therein are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. In addition, dot.LA does not represent or warrant that our Services are accurate, complete, reliable, current or error-free. While dot.LA attempts to make your use of our Services and any content therein safe, we cannot and do not represent or warrant that our Services or servers are free of viruses or other harmful components. You assume the entire risk as to the quality and performance of the Services.

Limitation of Liability

  1. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, dot.LA and the other dot.LA Parties will not be liable to you under any theory of liability—whether based in contract, tort, negligence, warranty, or otherwise—for any indirect, consequential, incidental, or special damages or lost profits, even if dot.LA or the other dot.LA Parties have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

  2. The total liability of dot.LA and the other dot.LA Parties for any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or our Services, regardless of the form of the action, is limited to the greater of $100 or the amount paid by you to use our Services.

  3. The limitations set forth in this Section 12 will not limit or exclude liability for the gross negligence, fraud or intentional misconduct of dot.LA or the other dot.LA Parties or for any other matters in which liability cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. Additionally, some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations or exclusions may not apply to you.

Release

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you release dot.LA and the other dot.LA Parties from responsibility, liability, claims, demands and/or damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown (including claims of negligence), arising out of or related to disputes between users and the acts or omissions of third parties. If you are a consumer who resides in California, you hereby waive your rights under California Civil Code § 1542, which provides: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor."

Transfer and Processing Data

In order for us to provide our Services, you agree that we may process, transfer and store information about you in the United States and other countries, where you may not have the same rights and protections as you do under local law.

Dispute Resolution; Binding Arbitration

Please read the following section carefully because it requires you to arbitrate certain disputes and claims with dot.LA and limits the manner in which you can seek relief from us, unless you opt out of arbitration by following the instructions set forth below. No class or representative actions or arbitrations are allowed under this arbitration provision. In addition, arbitration precludes you from suing in court or having a jury trial.

  1. No Representative Actions. You and dot.LA agree that any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services is personal to you and dot.LA and that any dispute will be resolved solely through individual action, and will not be brought as a class arbitration, class action or any other type of representative proceeding.
  2. Arbitration of Disputes. Except for small claims disputes in which you or dot.LA seeks to bring an individual action in small claims court located in the county of your billing address or disputes in which you or dot.LA seeks injunctive or other equitable relief for the alleged infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property, you and dot.LA waive your rights to a jury trial and to have any other dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services, including claims related to privacy and data security, (collectively, "Disputes") resolved in court. Instead, for any Dispute that you have against dot.LA you agree to first contact dot.LA and attempt to resolve the claim informally by sending a written notice of your claim ("Notice") to dot.LA by email at legal@dot.la .la or by certified mail addressed to [insert legal department address]. The Notice must (a) include your name, residence address, email address, and telephone number; (b) describe the nature and basis of the Dispute; and (c) set forth the specific relief sought. Our notice to you will be similar in form to that described above. If you and dot.LA cannot reach an agreement to resolve the Dispute within thirty (30) days after such Notice is received, then either party may submit the Dispute to binding arbitration administered by JAMS or, under the limited circumstances set forth above, in court. All Disputes submitted to JAMS will be resolved through confidential, binding arbitration. Arbitration proceedings will be held in Los Angeles County, California unless you are a consumer, in which case you may elect to hold the arbitration in your county of residence. For purposes of this Section 15, a "consumer" means a person using the Services for personal, family or household purposes. You and dot.LA agree that Disputes will be held in accordance with the JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures ("JAMS Rules"). The most recent version of the JAMS Rules are available on the JAMS website and are hereby incorporated by reference. You either acknowledge and agree that you have read and understand the JAMS Rules or waive your opportunity to read the JAMS Rules and waive any claim that the JAMS Rules are unfair or should not apply for any reason.
  3. You and dot.LA agree that these Terms affect interstate commerce and that the enforceability of this Section 15 will be substantively and procedurally governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq. (the "FAA"), to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. As limited by the FAA, these Terms and the JAMS Rules, the arbitrator will have exclusive authority to make all procedural and substantive decisions regarding any Dispute and to grant any remedy that would otherwise be available in court, including the power to determine the question of arbitrability. The arbitrator may conduct only an individual arbitration and may not consolidate more than one individual's claims, preside over any type of class or representative proceeding or preside over any proceeding involving more than one individual.
  4. The arbitration will allow for the discovery or exchange of non-privileged information relevant to the Dispute. The arbitrator, dot.LA, and you will maintain the confidentiality of any arbitration proceedings, judgments and awards, including information gathered, prepared and presented for purposes of the arbitration or related to the Dispute(s) therein. The arbitrator will have the authority to make appropriate rulings to safeguard confidentiality, unless the law provides to the contrary. The duty of confidentiality does not apply to the extent that disclosure is necessary to prepare for or conduct the arbitration hearing on the merits, in connection with a court application for a preliminary remedy or in connection with a judicial challenge to an arbitration award or its enforcement, or to the extent that disclosure is otherwise required by law or judicial decision.

  5. You and dot.LA agree that for any arbitration you initiate, you will pay the filing fee (up to a maximum of $250 if you are a consumer), and dot.LA will pay the remaining JAMS fees and costs. For any arbitration initiated by dot.LA, dot.LA will pay all JAMS fees and costs. You and dot.LA agree that the state or federal courts of the State of California and the United States sitting in Los Angeles County, California have exclusive jurisdiction over any appeals and the enforcement of an arbitration award.
  6. Any Dispute must be filed within one year after the relevant claim arose; otherwise, the Dispute is permanently barred, which means that you and dot.LA will not have the right to assert the claim.
  7. You have the right to opt out of binding arbitration within 30 days of the date you first accepted the terms of this Section 15 by emailing dot.LA at legal@dot.la. In order to be effective, the opt-out notice must include your full name and address and clearly indicate your intent to opt out of binding arbitration. By opting out of binding arbitration, you are agreeing to resolve Disputes in accordance with Section 16.
  8. If any portion of this Section 15 is found to be unenforceable or unlawful for any reason, (a) the unenforceable or unlawful provision shall be severed from these Terms; (b) severance of the unenforceable or unlawful provision shall have no impact whatsoever on the remainder of this Section 15 or the parties' ability to compel arbitration of any remaining claims on an individual basis pursuant to this Section 15; and (c) to the extent that any claims must therefore proceed on a class, collective, consolidated, or representative basis, such claims must be litigated in a civil court of competent jurisdiction and not in arbitration, and the parties agree that litigation of those claims shall be stayed pending the outcome of any individual claims in arbitration. Further, if any part of this Section 15 is found to prohibit an individual claim seeking public injunctive relief, that provision will have no effect to the extent such relief is allowed to be sought out of arbitration, and the remainder of this Section 15 will be enforceable.

Governing Law and Venue

Any dispute arising from these Terms and your use of the Services will be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of California, except to the extent preempted by U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict of law rules or principles (whether of California or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction. Any dispute between the parties that is not subject to arbitration or cannot be heard in small claims court will be resolved in the state or federal courts of California and the United States, respectively, sitting in Los Angeles County, California.

Modifying and Terminating our Services

We reserve the right to modify our Services or to suspend or stop providing all or portions of our Services at any time. You also have the right to stop using our Services at any time. We are not responsible for any loss or harm related to your inability to access or use our Services.

Amendments

We may make changes to these Terms from time to time. If we make changes, we will provide you with notice of such changes, such as by sending an email, providing a notice through our Services or updating the date at the top of these Terms. Unless we say otherwise in our notice, the amended Terms will be effective immediately, and your continued use of our Services after we provide such notice will confirm your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the amended Terms, you must stop using our Services.

Severability

If any provision or part of a provision of these Terms is unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these Terms and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Miscellaneous

  1. The failure of dot.LA to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. These Terms reflect the entire agreement between the parties relating to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior agreements, representations, statements and understandings of the parties. The section titles in these Terms are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. Use of the word "including" will be interpreted to mean "including without limitation." Except as otherwise provided herein, these Terms are intended solely for the benefit of the parties and are not intended to confer third-party beneficiary rights upon any other person or entity. You agree that communications and transactions between us may be conducted electronically.

  2. Under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California consumers are entitled to the following specific consumer rights notice: The Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at 1625 N. Market Blvd., Suite N-112, Sacramento, California 95834, or by telephone at 1 (800) 952-5210.

The $100M Plan to Deliver Sunlight After Dark
Reflect Orbital

🔦 Spotlight

Hello, LA.

Most companies built around solar energy are trying to capture more sunlight.

Reflect Orbital wants to move it.

The Hawthorne-based startup is developing satellites equipped with large reflectors that could redirect sunlight from orbit to specific locations on Earth after sunset. The idea sounds borrowed from science fiction, but Reflect Orbital is getting closer to testing whether it can work at commercial scale.

This week, the company announced $73.5M in new funding, bringing its total raised to more than $100M. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Lux Capital and Starship Ventures participated alongside new backers including Buckley Ventures, Convective Capital, The Uncommon Group and Salesforce Ventures.

The funding will support Reflect Orbital’s first satellite launches, continued development of its reflector technology and new commercial partnerships across the energy and lighting industries.

The company’s premise begins with a familiar limitation: Solar panels stop producing energy when the sun disappears below the horizon, often just as electricity demand is rising.

Reflect Orbital wants to extend that window.

Its planned satellites would remain in sunlight while orbiting Earth, then angle their reflectors toward selected areas on the ground. Solar farms could potentially generate electricity beyond daylight hours without acquiring more land or replacing their existing infrastructure.

The same technology could eventually illuminate disaster zones for search-and-rescue teams, help construction crews work more safely at night and provide light in places without reliable electrical infrastructure.

That is a considerable expansion from where the company stood two years ago.

Reflect Orbital raised a $6.5M seed round in 2024 to develop its production vehicles and grow its Hawthorne team. It followed that with a $20M Series A led by Lux Capital in May 2025.

Now, the company is preparing to leave the warehouse and test its technology where it was designed to operate.

Reflect Orbital has received Federal Communications Commission approval for its first demonstration mission, Eärendil-1, which is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2027. The satellite will allow the company to study how its reflector deploys and performs in low Earth orbit while gathering data that could shape future versions of the system. Reflect Orbital has also secured additional launch opportunities for 2027, including two dedicated missions with Skyroot Aerospace.

Building the satellites presents its own unusual manufacturing challenge. According to the company, its team produces reflector material 28 times thinner than a human hair, folds individual sections into packages roughly the size of a shoebox and assembles satellites containing approximately 12,000 parts.

In other words, delivering sunlight after dark requires some very careful folding.

The concept has naturally prompted questions from astronomers and dark-sky advocates about light pollution and potential interference with scientific observations. Reflect Orbital says it is designing the service around predictability, transparency and control, including limiting reflections to defined locations and short periods, publishing satellite positions in advance and avoiding observatories and other protected sites.

The demonstration mission is expected to produce illumination comparable to a full moon for no more than five minutes during the two hours following local sunset. Reflect Orbital has also said it will collect data, invite outside evaluation and use the results to refine both its technology and safeguards before attempting to scale.

That process will matter because Reflect Orbital is not simply building another satellite. It is proposing a new kind of infrastructure, one that could change when and where sunlight becomes available.

The company still has significant technical and regulatory work ahead. But it has already moved from an unconventional idea to more than $100M in funding, an approved demonstration mission and multiple launch opportunities.

The next step is proving that its technology can deliver light precisely, reliably and responsibly from hundreds of miles above Earth.

If it succeeds, the sun may no longer disappear from the energy grid when it drops below the horizon.

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

🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • Helix raised $6.2M in a round led by Chicago Ventures, with participation from BAM Ventures, Aglaé Ventures, Corazon Capital and others. The startup is developing on-device voice technology that verifies whether users are human and estimates their age without collecting traditional identity documents, offering a privacy-focused alternative to CAPTCHA and photo verification. - learn more
    • Opdo raised a $2.3M pre-seed round led by Angular Ventures, with participation from Inflection and Tiny.vc. The company uses AI agents alongside established optical-design software to help engineers develop and manufacture complex components faster, and will use the funding to expand its engineering capabilities, improve its AI tools and support more customer projects. - learn more
    • Athlete To Athlete raised an $8M Series A led by Rally Ventures, with participation from Newbound VC, Scrum Ventures and UpHonest Capital. The platform pairs young athletes with college-athlete mentors for virtual one-on-one guidance and will use the funding to expand youth sports partnerships, strengthen participant safeguards and reach more families nationwide. - learn more
    • Kindo raised $30M in a round co-led by Crosspoint Capital and Forgepoint Capital, bringing its total funding to $57.6M. The company provides a centralized platform for enterprises to monitor and control AI agents, including their data access, activity and costs, and will use the capital to expand sales and further develop its AI management and security products. - learn more

    LA Venture Funds
    • Trousdale Ventures made a follow-on investment in Databento’s $100M Series C, which was led by Fifth Down Capital and valued the market-data company at $1.1B. Databento plans to accelerate its global infrastructure expansion and build a larger historical market-data archive as demand grows from financial institutions and AI companies. - learn more
    • Upfront Ventures led General Translation’s seed round, while Andreessen Horowitz led its Series A, bringing the AI localization startup’s combined funding across the two rounds to $27M. The company is building full-stack infrastructure that helps businesses translate and continuously update apps, websites, documents and videos across languages. - learn more
    • Alpha Edison participated in Q-CTRL’s $290M Series C, which was led by Salesforce Ventures. The quantum infrastructure company will use the funding to expand its AI-powered software for improving the performance and reliability of quantum computers and sensors while accelerating commercial adoption. - learn more
    • KittyHawk Frontier participated in Twin1 AI’s $5M seed extension, which was led by Curql and brought the company’s total seed financing to $25M. Twin1 develops privacy-focused AI “digital twins” that preserve professionals’ knowledge and working context, and will use the capital to expand across credit unions, law firms and financial institutions while growing its teams and enterprise governance tools. - learn more
    • Bonfire Ventures co-led Axle’s $9M funding round alongside Eniac, with participation from Teamworthy Ventures. Axle provides investment banks with a unified platform for managing conferences, corporate access, roadshows and expert engagements, and will use the capital to expand its AI capabilities and bring the product to more financial institutions. - learn more
    • TenOneTen Ventures participated in Tristar AI’s $12.4M Series A, which was led by Isogon Ventures. The Cambridge-based company uses AI-powered visual inspection to identify manufacturing defects in real time and will use the funding to improve its vision and edge-computing platform, enter additional industries and support larger deployments across customer facilities. - learn more
    • Clearlake Capital Group co-led Mirendil’s $1B Series A alongside Kleiner Perkins, with M13 participating among the company’s other new and existing investors. Mirendil is developing AI agents and tools that allow smaller teams to conduct advanced AI research and will use the funding to make frontier-level R&D more accessible to scientists and engineers. - learn more
    • CommonKind VC participated in Akara’s $5.5M funding round, which was led by Locke Health and brought the healthcare technology company’s total funding to $12.3M. Akara combines privacy-preserving sensors, AI agents and robotics to give hospitals real-time visibility into clinical operations, and will use the capital to expand its teams, grow adoption across U.S. hospitals and further develop its physical AI platform. - learn more
    • March Capital co-led Rox’s $100M Series B alongside General Catalyst, valuing the AI sales startup at $1.3B. Rox helps large enterprises automate pipeline generation, deal execution and upselling, and will use the funding to advance its AI models and expand across industries including healthcare, energy, financial services and manufacturing. - learn more
    • Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in Palomma’s $10M Series A, which was led by Cometa and brought the Colombian fintech’s total funding to $14M. Palomma combines AI leasing software, rent payments and financial products for landlords and tenants, and will use the capital to expand in Colombia, develop additional services and prepare for entry into new markets. - learn more
    • Alpha Edison led Agent F’s $4M pre-seed round, with participation from United Founders, Tiny Supercomputer Investment Company and several technology executives and founders. The Berlin startup is building AI-powered enterprise software that automates accounting, financial planning and compliance tasks for fast-growing companies while keeping finance professionals responsible for final approval. - learn more
    • Bail Capital participated in Delix Therapeutics’ oversubscribed $100M Series C, which was co-led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation and SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund. The neuroscience company will use the funding to advance its non-hallucinogenic depression treatment Zalsupindole into Phase II development and expand its broader pipeline of therapies for psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions. - learn more
    • M13 participated in Nominal’s $240M Series C, which was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and co-led by Insight Partners at a $3B valuation. The hardware intelligence company will use the funding to expand its AI-powered engineering platform, develop new tools across the hardware lifecycle and enter additional industries and markets. - learn more
    • MANTIS Venture Capital participated in Project Omega’s $80M Series A, which was led by B Capital. The nuclear technology company will use the funding to begin building a domestic fuel-recycling facility and advance long-duration power systems that transform materials recovered from used nuclear fuel into energy, reactor feedstock and strategic isotopes. - learn more
    • Critical Frontier participated in Mavria’s latest funding round, which was led by Paradigm and valued the infrastructure startup at $1B. Mavria has raised $130M across its pre-seed and seed rounds to scale manufacturing, secure supply chains and build factory-produced data centers designed to bring AI computing capacity online faster and at lower cost. - learn more

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      Northwood’s Nine-Month Rise to $2B
      Northwood

      🔦 Spotlight

      Happy Friday, Los Angeles.

      Nine months ago, Northwood Space was operating from a 35,000-square-foot facility in Torrance. Today, it occupies a factory more than five times the size, has deployed six ground sites across two continents and is reportedly worth $2B.

      Aerospace companies are not generally known for moving this quickly.

      When dot.LA last covered Northwood, the company had just raised a $100M Series B and secured a nearly $50M contract with the U.S. Space Force. The deal established Northwood as one of the more closely watched companies working on the essential infrastructure that keeps satellites connected to Earth.

      Less than a year later, Northwood is operating at a considerably different scale.

      The company announced this week that it raised a $375M Series C co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and DFJ Growth, with additional investment from Washington Harbour Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, StepStone, In-Q-Tel and others. The round values Northwood at a reported $2B. A separate credit facility from HSBC Innovation Banking will provide additional support for working capital and network expansion.

      The financing is notable. What Northwood accomplished between rounds is the more interesting part.

      Since January, the company has deployed six ground sites across two continents, demonstrated communication with a government satellite in geosynchronous orbit and introduced a high-throughput antenna system for moving larger volumes of data. It also opened a 185,000-square-foot headquarters and factory in Torrance, expanding its manufacturing footprint more than fivefold.

      Northwood now employs more than 140 people and plans to add 400 jobs across Torrance and Washington, D.C., over the next three years.

      The company builds the infrastructure that allows satellites to exchange commands and data with operators on Earth. Rather than requiring every satellite company to develop its own ground stations, Northwood is creating a shared network that commercial operators and government agencies can access as needed.

      Think cloud infrastructure, except the servers are antennas and adding capacity requires considerably more than clicking a button.

      That distinction matters. Software companies can often scale by purchasing additional computing power. Northwood must manufacture physical systems, establish sites around the world and reliably serve customers operating across multiple orbits.

      Its new Torrance factory is central to that plan. The facility is designed to produce hundreds of antennas each year, giving Northwood the manufacturing capacity to expand its network faster than traditional ground infrastructure can typically be built.

      Demand is moving just as quickly. The number of active satellites worldwide grew from roughly 3,000 in 2020 to more than 14,000 by the end of 2025. Every one of them eventually needs to send information somewhere, and existing ground networks were not designed for the volume of missions now entering orbit.

      Northwood’s previous funding helped prove it could build the technology and win serious customers. This round is about turning that early progress into global infrastructure.

      The question is no longer whether Northwood can build a modern ground network. It is whether the company can make Torrance-built hardware the default connection layer for a rapidly expanding space economy.

      With another $375M behind it, that test begins now.

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

      🤝 Venture Deals

        LA Companies

        • Guava, a Los Angeles-based developer platform for building AI voice agents, raised a $12.5M seed round led by Acrew Capital, with participation from Flourish Ventures, WillowTree Ventures, Clocktower Ventures and existing investor Commerce Ventures. The company will use the funding to further develop its voice AI models and products while building a go-to-market team focused on enterprises and business process outsourcing providers. - learn more

        LA Venture Funds
        • Blue Bear Capital participated in Ocient’s $100M Series C alongside Greycroft, In-Q-Tel, Buoyant Ventures and other existing investors, while BOKA Capital and OCA Ventures co-led the round. The data analytics and AI infrastructure company will use the funding to expand OcientAIQ, its platform for delivering fast, reliable answers from petabyte-scale datasets, and bring its technology to more customers globally. - learn more
        • Mystic Ventures participated in Siggy’s $6M pre-seed round, which was led by Village Global and also included PsyMed Ventures, Coalition Operators and several angel investors. Founded by veterans of Nurx and Journey Clinical, Siggy combines AI, wearable data and licensed clinicians to monitor patients between mental health appointments, with the funding supporting product development, regulatory work and hiring across its clinical and engineering teams. - learn more
        • Grid Capital and Thin Line Capital participated in Strive Robotics’ more than $3M pre-seed round alongside Tenon Ventures, with Hi Ventures leading the financing. The Cambridge-based startup develops adaptable robots that can learn complete manufacturing workflows and operate existing factory equipment, with the funding supporting product development, hiring and early customer deployments. - learn more
        • Sum Ventures participated in Circularity Fuels’ $7M seed round alongside Automotive Ventures, with DCVC and Trucks Venture Capital co-leading the financing. The company converts dairy biogas into sustainable aviation fuel and will use the capital to build a demonstration plant, design its first commercial facility and begin licensing its reactor technology to outside partners. - learn more
        • Griffin Gaming Partners participated in EloElo Group’s $80M Series C alongside MIT Investment Co., Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital and WaterBridge Ventures, while Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal co-led the round. The Bengaluru-based entertainment company will use the funding to produce more original microdramas across multiple languages, expand its Story TV platform internationally and continue developing Dolphin AI, its AI-powered creative suite. - learn more
        • Mucker Capital participated in Lazarus AI’s $43M funding round alongside QBE, State Farm Ventures, Wave Function Ventures, Techstars and several other investors. The Boston-based company develops AI systems for enterprises and government agencies that retain control over their data, models and deployment, with the new capital supporting research and development, strategic partnerships and new product launches. - learn more
        • Alexandria Venture Investments continued its support of Thryv Therapeutics by participating in the company’s $30M Series B, which was led by InClin and included several other existing investors. The clinical-stage biotech will use the funding to launch a Phase 2a study of THRV-1268 in patients with heart failure and evaluate the drug’s safety and potential effects on cardiac function and arrhythmia risk. - learn more
        • Supply Change Capital led Kodiact’s $2.5M pre-seed round, with participation from Green Circle Foodtech Ventures and Velocity Catalyst. Kodiact helps manufacturers anticipate raw-material price swings and simulate sourcing decisions, and will use the funding to expand its market data and AI capabilities, grow enterprise deployments and enter additional industries including cosmetics, packaging and chemicals. - learn more

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          Anduril Built Fighter Jets. Now It’s Making a Laptop.
          Anduril

          🔦 Spotlight

          Happy Friday, Los Angeles.

          Anduril has built autonomous drones, underwater vehicles and fighter aircraft. Its newest product is considerably more familiar.

          A laptop.

          The Costa Mesa-based defense technology company announced this week that it is partnering with San Diego-based Qualcomm Technologies to launch BlueChip, a new line of computers designed in California and manufactured in the United States.

          The first product will be a rugged laptop powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Series platform and built for customers in government, defense, public safety and other critical industries. Anduril has already produced working prototypes and plans to begin accepting orders in 2027.

          At first glance, a laptop may seem like a modest addition to a company known for developing autonomous military systems. But BlueChip is less about entering the crowded consumer-electronics market and more about rebuilding the industrial foundation behind the machines Americans use every day.

          The United States remains a leader in designing advanced technology, but much of the physical production required to turn those designs into finished computers has moved overseas. That includes not only semiconductor manufacturing, but also circuit boards, displays, batteries, enclosures and the network of specialized suppliers that connects them.

          For most consumers, that dependency is largely invisible. For the government and military, it represents a potential vulnerability.

          BlueChip is Anduril’s attempt to close that gap.

          Components sourced from the United States and allied countries already account for more than 90% of the prototype laptop’s procurement cost. Circuit-board assembly is planned for Anduril’s Arsenal-1 facility in Ohio, while the company develops domestic production capabilities for enclosures, batteries and other hardware.

          The goal is to gradually replace remaining foreign dependencies and create an end-to-end American computer supply chain that can support additional products beyond the first laptop.

          That process requires more than moving an existing design into an American factory. Anduril is redesigning the computer around what domestic manufacturers can realistically produce at scale. The work includes selecting machinable American metals, adapting power systems to available battery technology and developing a bonding process for domestically made display glass.

          In other words, Anduril is not simply assembling a laptop in America. It is working backward through the supply chain to make American assembly possible.

          Qualcomm will supply the computing foundation. Its Snapdragon X platform will handle processing, graphics and on-device artificial intelligence, giving BlueChip users the ability to run certain AI models locally rather than sending sensitive information to the cloud.

          That is particularly valuable for government and defense customers operating in secure environments, but it also reflects a broader shift in computing. As AI becomes embedded in everyday workflows, the location where information is processed may become nearly as important as the model doing the processing.

          The partnership also reinforces Southern California’s growing role in the effort to rebuild American advanced manufacturing.

          Anduril remains headquartered in Orange County, but its regional footprint is expanding. The company is investing $1B in a new campus spanning Long Beach and Lakewood that is expected to support approximately 5,500 jobs and include engineering, laboratory and prototype-manufacturing space.

          Qualcomm, meanwhile, has spent decades building San Diego into a center for wireless technology and semiconductor design.

          BlueChip brings those two Southern California strengths together: Anduril’s ability to move quickly from engineering concept to physical product and Qualcomm’s expertise in efficient, high-performance computing.

          The first BlueChip laptop is not intended to compete for space in every backpack or coffee shop. Its early customers will likely be institutions that care deeply about security, reliability and control over their technology supply chains.

          But the larger ambition reaches far beyond a single device.

          If BlueChip succeeds, Anduril and Qualcomm will have created more than an American-made computer. They will have helped restore the suppliers, production knowledge and technical workforce required to build the next one.

          For a company accustomed to tackling difficult national-security problems, the laptop may be one of Anduril’s most practical ideas yet.

          Sometimes rebuilding an industry begins with reopening the machine.

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

          🤝 Venture Deals

            LA Companies

            • StimCardio raised an oversubscribed $30M Series A led by Metis MedTech, with participation from Catalyst Health Ventures and other investors. The Los Angeles medical device company will use the funding to advance a pivotal study of Rhyvive, its investigational wrist-worn therapy designed to reduce recurring atrial fibrillation after catheter ablation, and prepare for an FDA submission. - learn more
            • Gardena-based Neuron Industries raised an oversubscribed $10M seed round co-led by FCVC and Obvious Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Thin Line Capital, Zee Prime Capital and Founder Factor. The company will use the funding to develop and launch its AI-powered industrial control platform, expand its product line and establish domestic production as it works to help engineers automate new factories and machinery more quickly. - learn more
            • Offe Market raised a $3M seed round led by Slauson & Co., bringing the off-price retail marketplace’s total funding to $4.3M. The company will use the capital to expand its commerce platform with AI-powered pricing and inventory tools, personalized recommendations and live shopping features designed to help brands sell excess merchandise without sacrificing control over presentation or pricing. - learn more
            • Loamy raised a $6M seed round led by Zeal Capital Partners, with participation from LA investors Slauson & Co., Supply Change Capital and Amplify.LA, bringing its total funding to $10M. The company will use the capital to expand its engineering and sales teams, advance its AI platform and enter additional food categories as it helps growers, packers and distributors reduce waste and prevent rejected shipments. - learn more

            LA Venture Funds
            • MaC Venture Capital co-led Rendezvous Robotics’ oversubscribed $20M seed round alongside Toyota Ventures, marking the space startup’s first priced financing. The company will use the funding to develop its next-generation modular spacecraft, expand its team and prepare for flight demonstrations of technology that allows spacecraft components to assemble and reconfigure autonomously in orbit. - learn more
            • BOLD Capital Partners participated in General Compute’s $100M Series A, which was co-led by Blackbird and Abstract. The company will use the funding to scale its AI inference cloud, which deploys specialized chips from companies including Cerebras, SambaNova and Positron AI to help customers run AI workloads faster without managing the underlying infrastructure. - learn more
            • Mantis Venture Capital participated in Vera Health’s $28.5M Series A, which was led by Threshold Ventures and brought the clinical AI company’s total funding to $32M. Vera will use the capital to strengthen its medical-evidence infrastructure, enter new healthcare markets and expand partnerships with medical societies, publishers and health systems. - learn more

            LA Exits

            • Breastfeeding platform Swehl was acquired by Willow Innovations alongside infant-feeding technology company Momtech, with financial terms undisclosed. Swehl’s educational resources and community programs will anchor Willow World, a new platform designed to expand Willow’s business beyond wearable breast pumps and support mothers across more of the postpartum journey. - learn more
            • SmartLess Mobile was acquired by Noble Mobile and will transition to the Noble brand as the companies combine their efforts to offer simpler, more affordable wireless service. Existing customers will retain their plans, prices, phone numbers and T-Mobile 5G coverage, while gaining the ability to use their data in Mexico and Canada at no additional cost; financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more

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