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.

From Breaking Tech News to Backing It
Image Source: Sources

🔦 Spotlight

Hey there, Los Angeles.

For the past decade, Alex Heath has made a career out of figuring out what the technology industry is doing before everyone else.

Now, he is going to invest in it.

Heath announced this week that he is joining Los Angeles-based Sound Ventures as a partner on its investing team. The veteran technology journalist will continue independently operating Sources, the newsletter and podcast business he launched after leaving The Verge last year.

It is an unusual career move, but perhaps not as unusual as it initially appears.

Journalists and venture capitalists spend much of their time doing surprisingly similar work. Both look for signals before they become obvious, build relationships with people who know what is coming next and attempt to distinguish a lasting shift from a convincing story.

The crucial difference is what happens after they find one.

A journalist publishes. An investor writes a check.

Heath has spent years reporting on some of the technology industry’s most powerful companies and executives. At The Verge, where he served as deputy editor, his work focused on the internal decisions shaping companies such as Meta. More recently, Sources has taken readers inside the AI race through reporting and interviews with executives including Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg.

That experience gives Sound something venture firms increasingly want: someone who already understands the founders, companies and narratives competing to define the next era of technology.

Sound Ventures is not exactly starting from scratch. Led in Los Angeles by Guy Oseary and Effie Epstein, the firm manages nearly $2B and has backed companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, World Labs, Brex, Affirm and GitLab. According to The Wall Street Journal, Sound deployed more than $800M into early positions in OpenAI, Anthropic and World Labs as it intensified its focus on artificial intelligence.

Heath is joining during an important transition for the firm. Ashton Kutcher, who co-founded Sound with Oseary in 2015, departed earlier this year to launch a new venture firm. Oseary and Epstein are continuing to lead Sound while raising its fifth flagship fund and sharpening its strategy around companies with the potential to reach meaningful commercial scale.

Adding Heath suggests that Sound’s next phase will not be defined by capital alone.

As AI makes it faster and less expensive to build software, technical capability may become less effective as a differentiator. More startups will be able to create credible products, and more of them will compete for the same finite supply of customers, talent and attention.

In that environment, knowing how to identify a compelling founder is only part of the job. Venture firms also need to understand how companies earn trust, communicate what makes them different and remain culturally relevant in an increasingly crowded market.

That is familiar territory for Sound. Oseary built his career managing artists including Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, where recognizing talent was inseparable from helping that talent connect with an audience. Heath brings a different version of the same instinct, developed through finding important stories and understanding why people should pay attention to them.

Heath will continue owning and operating Sources independently while expanding its podcast and interviewing prominent voices across the technology industry. That means he is not abandoning the platform or audience he built. He is adding a new vantage point.

The combination could prove especially valuable to Sound. Heath brings the instincts of a reporter, the reach of an independent media founder and years of relationships with the people shaping technology. Now, he can apply that experience to finding and supporting the next generation of founders.

It is a fitting evolution for someone who has spent his career identifying important technology stories early.

This time, he will have the opportunity to help write what happens next.

Venture firms once competed primarily through capital, networks and operating expertise. Now, access to attention is becoming an asset of its own. Founders need help reaching customers and shaping public understanding, while investors want better ways to recognize which people and ideas will command that attention next.

Sound Ventures hired someone who has spent a decade doing exactly that.

Heath used to decide which technology stories were worth following.

Now, he will help decide which ones get funded.

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

🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • Maven Robotics emerged from stealth with a $100M Series A and humanoid robots already operating in warehouse deployments. The company says its robots can work for 16 hours a day with 99% uptime and is positioning itself as a reliable alternative for businesses whose existing robotics providers fail to meet deployment targets. - learn more

    LA Venture Funds
    • Bedrock Capital participated in Mach Industries’ $600M Series C extension alongside Ribbit Capital, Infinite Capital and Sequoia, bringing the round’s total to $900M and doubling the defense startup’s valuation to $3.7B in three months. The Huntington Beach company manufactures lower-cost unmanned aircraft, strike weapons and counter-drone systems, while expanding into solid rocket motors and jet-engine production to address critical defense supply-chain bottlenecks. - learn more
    • U First Capital participated in Positron AI’s $875M funding round, which was co-led by NEA, Atreides Management, Valor Equity Partners, Andra Capital, SemiAnalysis Capital and Jim Clark, valuing the AI chip startup at $5B. Positron will use the capital to bring its memory-focused Asimov processor and Titan server system to market, offering an energy-efficient alternative to GPUs for running AI models. - learn more
    • WndrCo participated in Harvey’s $550M funding round, co-led by Diffusion and Lightspeed Venture Partners, valuing the legal AI company at $15.5B. Harvey will use the capital to expand its team and advance its AI platform, which helps law firms, in-house legal departments and professional-services organizations build and manage proprietary legal intelligence. - learn more
    • Nolan Capital participated in Encoded Therapeutics’ $275M Series F, which was co-led by GV and another healthcare-focused fund and included several new and returning investors. The biotech will use the capital to advance its lead gene therapy for Dravet syndrome through pivotal studies, expand its manufacturing capabilities and prepare another treatment for post-amputation nerve pain for clinical testing in 2027. - learn more
    • UP Partners led Overroute’s $5.5M seed round to expand its AI-powered freight execution platform for large trucking fleets and logistics operators. The company’s AI agents automate load monitoring, exception management and freight coordination, helping fleets respond to disruptions and keep shipments moving with less manual work. - learn more
    • Patron Fund participated in System’s $20M funding round alongside Will Ventures, Vine, Courtside, Daybreak, SV Angel and RiverPark Ventures. The San Francisco company will use the capital to expand its vertically integrated peptide platform, which connects patients with licensed clinicians and personalized treatments from U.S. compounding pharmacies while emphasizing testing, traceability and regulatory compliance. - learn more
    • Alpha Edison led Onix’s $5M pre-seed round, with participation from Garage Capital, Ride Home Fund and strategic investors including UTA co-founder Jeremy Zimmer and Real Ventures co-founder JS Cournoyer. The Montreal startup will use the funding to develop its private AI platform, onboard more specialists and prepare for a public launch, offering personalized guidance built exclusively from licensed expert knowledge rather than information scraped from the internet. - learn more
    • Rebel Fund participated in VideoGen’s $3.3M seed round alongside Y Combinator, Lobster Capital, Stretford End Capital, Mento VC, Pioneer Fund and Decacorn VC. The San Francisco startup, which has reached more than 5M users across 190 countries, will use the funding to expand its team and grow its AI platform for producing editable, copyright-free videos. - learn more

      Download the dot.LA App

      Who Gave the AI Access?

      🔦 Spotlight

      Happy Friday, Los Angeles.

      The newest employee in the office does not need a desk, a salary or a coffee order. But it may have access to your company’s emails, financial records, customer data and software systems.

      That raises a fairly important question: Who decides what an AI agent is allowed to do?

      El Segundo-based cybersecurity company Saviynt is building its next chapter around the answer.

      Carrick Capital Partners announced this week that it closed a $600M continuation vehicle for Saviynt, including a new $255M investment in the company. The transaction allowed Carrick’s existing investors to either take liquidity or remain invested, while also providing liquidity to Saviynt employees through a tender offer.

      Continuation vehicles are not exactly known for making gripping Friday reading. The company behind this one is considerably more interesting.

      Saviynt develops identity security software that helps businesses determine who can access their applications, data and infrastructure. Increasingly, however, “who” does not refer exclusively to a person.

      Companies are deploying AI agents that can retrieve information, write code, communicate with customers and complete multistep tasks with limited supervision. These digital workers need access to company systems to be useful, but every new permission also creates another opportunity for sensitive information to be exposed or an unintended action to be taken.

      In other words, AI agents may be tireless employees. They are not necessarily trustworthy ones.

      Saviynt is addressing that problem through Zuma, its platform for discovering, securing and governing AI agents, large language models and other nonhuman identities alongside a company’s human workforce. The goal is to give businesses one place to determine what every identity can access, whether it belongs to an employee, a contractor, a software application or an autonomous agent operating at machine speed.

      The opportunity appears to be growing quickly. Saviynt has surpassed $300M in annual recurring revenue, up from approximately $10M when Carrick first invested. The company says bookings have increased by more than 80% this year while customer retention remains at 96%.

      The new investment was completed as part of the final close of Saviynt’s previously announced $700M Series B, which valued the company at approximately $3B. Carrick’s continuation vehicle was led by Coller Capital and co-led by HSBC Asset Management, giving the investment firm more time and capital to remain behind one of its strongest-performing companies.

      For Saviynt, the funding will support further development of its identity platform, deeper integrations with major cloud and software providers and its push to become a central security layer for the agentic workplace.

      That ambition reflects a broader change taking place inside companies. The first wave of enterprise AI focused largely on what the technology could generate. The next phase is about what it can actually do, and whether businesses can maintain control once AI moves from answering questions to taking action.

      Saviynt is betting that identity will become the gatekeeper.

      AI agents are gaining access to the digital workplace, whether corporate security teams are ready for them or not.

      Someone still has to hold the keys.

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

      🤝 Venture Deals

        LA Venture Funds

        • Fulcrum Ventures participated in Critical Materials Group’s $10.3M seed round, led by Overmatch Ventures and joined by Victory Six Advisors. The Austin-based defense manufacturer will use the funding to develop and commission modular, automation-ready production systems designed to expand domestic manufacturing capacity for munitions and advanced energetic materials. - learn more
        • Fusion VC participated in Newlight’s $9M seed round alongside lomarlabs, BIRD Energy, Undeterred Capital and CiRi Ventures. The San Francisco-based maritime technology company recently demonstrated its hydrogen-hybrid retrofit on an 8,500-nautical-mile commercial voyage, reducing fuel consumption by 24% and carbon dioxide emissions by 28%. - learn more
        • Rebel Fund participated in Metal’s $4.5M seed round alongside a16z, Y Combinator, Gaingels, Indus Valley Capital, Phaze Ventures and Pioneer Fund. Metal will use the funding to build an AI-native operating system that helps founders identify relevant investors, manage outreach and automate other parts of the venture fundraising process. - learn more
        • UP.Partners participated in Reframe Systems’ $40M funding round, led by Energy Impact Partners and joined by Counterpart Ventures, E12 Ventures, Global Brain, Thin Line Capital and LACI Impact Fund. The homebuilding startup will use the capital to expand its network of robotics-powered microfactories, which it says can construct homes three times faster and at 35% lower cost than traditional methods. - learn more
        • Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in Sharpi’s $4M seed round, co-led by NXTP and ONEVC and joined by MAYA Capital. The Brazilian startup will use the funding to expand its team and develop autonomous AI agents that connect WhatsApp conversations with enterprise systems to automate B2B sales tasks such as order processing, customer follow-ups and demand generation. - learn more

        LA Exits

        • Extensiv, a California-based provider of warehouse management and fulfillment software, has been acquired by Descartes Systems Group for approximately $120M in cash. The acquisition adds Extensiv’s AI-enabled inventory, order, billing and omnichannel fulfillment tools to Descartes’ logistics network, strengthening its offerings for third-party logistics providers and ecommerce brands. - learn more
        • DocSolutionUSA has been acquired by Stewart Information Services alongside ProTitleUSA, adding mortgage document generation and automation capabilities to Stewart’s title services platform. The companies provide title, document and due diligence services for mortgage servicers, investors and capital markets clients; financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
        • Fysh Foods, the Los Angeles-based plant-based seafood brand founded by creator and entrepreneur Zoya Biglary, has been acquired by City Roots Hospitality in an all-cash deal with undisclosed terms. City Roots plans to introduce Fysh Foods’ raw fish alternatives across its New York City restaurants and potentially expand the brand beyond the city as its restaurant portfolio grows - learn more

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          An LA AI Company Just Won Entertainment’s Backing

          🔦 Spotlight

          Hello LA.

          The entertainment industry has spent the past several years debating what generative AI could take from creators.

          This week, some of its biggest companies put money behind an AI startup promising to build something for them instead.

          Los Angeles-based Stability AI raised $76M in Series B funding from an investor group that includes Electronic Arts, Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. AMD Ventures and Pacific Alliance Ventures also joined the round, while LA-based MANTIS Capital and Sound Ventures are among the company’s existing backers.

          The financing brings Stability AI’s total funding under CEO Prem Akkaraju to $232M, including two equity rounds and convertible notes. The company plans to use the new capital to expand its creative production tools, applied research and professional services across music, gaming and entertainment.

          The amount is notable. The names attached to it are the bigger story.

          Generative AI’s arrival in entertainment has been anything but quiet. Artists have questioned whether their work was used to train models without permission. Studios have faced pressure over how the technology could affect jobs. Record labels have pursued AI companies in court while simultaneously exploring how the same technology might fit into their businesses.

          Now, several of the world’s largest entertainment companies are investing directly in one.

          That does not mean the industry has resolved its concerns about AI. It means some of its biggest players would rather help shape the technology than wait to see what it becomes.

          Stability AI is positioning itself for that opening. Rather than focusing solely on general-purpose models, the company is building tools specifically for professional creatives. Its recently launched Stable Audio 3.0 was trained on fully licensed music and lets artists generate, edit and arrange audio through a web platform or directly inside digital audio workstations.

          Image Source: Stability AI

          That licensed-data approach is central to the pitch. The next phase of creative AI will not be decided only by which company produces the most impressive model. It will also depend on which companies can earn the trust of the artists, studios and rights holders whose work gives those models value.

          For its new strategic investors, the round offers more than financial upside. It creates a closer view into how generative AI may change production, a voice in how the tools develop and an opportunity to establish rules before those rules are established for them.

          For Stability AI, the backing provides something equally important: credibility inside industries that have every reason to scrutinize what it is building.

          The company now has capital and access to some of the largest catalogs, franchises and creative workforces in entertainment. What it does with that access will determine whether this becomes a meaningful alliance or simply an impressive collection of logos.

          Either way, the industry is no longer watching from a safe distance.

          It has entered the room.

          LA’s Air-Taxi Plans Are Coming Downtown

          While Stability AI is trying to change how entertainment gets made, Archer Aviation wants to change how people get to it.

          AEG and Archer announced plans to develop downtown Los Angeles’ first vertiport at L.A. LIVE, creating a potential new stop in Archer’s proposed electric air-taxi network ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

          Image Source: Archer

          The planned site would sit beside Crypto.com Arena and allow passengers to travel to and from the entertainment district aboard Archer’s Midnight aircraft. The company says its network could turn drives that take an hour or longer into electric flights lasting approximately 10 to 20 minutes.

          Archer has already identified SoFi Stadium, USC and Hollywood Burbank Airport as possible locations, with its recently acquired Hawthorne Airport expected to serve as the network’s central operating hub. As the official air-taxi provider of LA28 and Team USA, Archer has an unusually visible deadline for turning those plans into something tangible.

          AEG and Archer have completed an initial feasibility study of the L.A. LIVE site, including reviews of land use, airspace, power availability and community impact. The next phase will examine operations and the passenger experience.

          There is still a substantial distance between a proposed vertiport and a functioning air-taxi network. The infrastructure must be built, regulatory approvals must be secured and passengers must be persuaded that flying across the city is safer and more practical than staying on the ground.

          Still, few locations could make that future feel more real than L.A. LIVE. Millions of people already pass through the district for concerts, games and major events. Placing a vertiport there would bring urban air mobility out of the concept stage and directly into public view.

          Together, this week’s announcements show Los Angeles becoming a testing ground for two technologies still moving from promise toward everyday use.

          One could reshape how entertainment is created. The other could reshape how Angelenos reach it.

          In a city famous for both its creative industries and its traffic, that feels appropriately on brand.

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

          🤝 Venture Deals

            LA Companies

            • Atorie raised a $9.5M seed round from investors including a16z speedrun, Night Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Jeremy Liew. The AI-powered fashion startup connects consumers directly with luxury manufacturers to offer high-quality goods without traditional designer markups, and will use the funding to expand logistics, production and its AI shopping tools. - learn more
            • Long Beach-based Maglut Heavy Industries emerged from stealth with $3.1M in pre-seed funding from Wave Function, Nova Threshold and Julian Capital. The startup is developing a chromatography-based system to process and refine rare earth elements domestically, with pilot tests producing materials at more than 99.9% purity. - learn more

            LA Venture Funds
            • MANTIS Venture Capital participated in Voya Energy’s $35M Series A, led by Energy Impact Partners and joined by John Doerr, StepStone, Founders Fund, Overmatch and Seven Stars. The Hayward-based startup will use the funding to commercialize its aluminum-fueled generators, which provide clean, off-grid power for data centers and other energy-intensive operations without combustion or local air emissions. - learn more
            • Regeneration.VC participated in eComID’s $17M seed round, led by Systemiq Capital and joined by Course Corrected, Stadium and returning investor CapitalT. The Stockholm-based startup will use the funding to expand internationally and scale its AI-powered Shopping Passport, which helps retailers personalize sizing and product discovery while reducing returns. - learn more
            • Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in Helcim’s $53M Series C, led by BDC Capital’s Growth Venture Fund and joined by new investors Curql Collective and LA-based Gold House Ventures. The Calgary payments company will use the funding to expand its platform, develop additional financial services and serve more small and midsize businesses across North America. - learn more

            LA Exits

            • Altruist agreed to be acquired by Vanguard, giving the Los Angeles-based wealth technology and custody platform greater resources to expand its tools for independent financial advisors. Altruist will continue operating as a standalone business under its existing leadership and brand after the deal closes, which is expected later this year pending regulatory approval; financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
            • Personality AI has been acquired by WildBrain for approximately $11M in cash and 1M WildBrain shares upfront, with additional payments tied to future performance. The startup develops kid-safe conversational AI experiences for entertainment characters, including “Hey Peppa Pig,” and will help WildBrain expand its franchises into interactive products across toys, apps and digital platforms. - learn more

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