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XLast Updated: 7/3/20
This Privacy Policy explains how Intersection Media Group, Inc. (" dot.LA," "we," or "us") collects, uses, and discloses information about you. This Privacy Policy applies when you interact with us online (e.g., by using our websites or other online products and services) or offline (e.g., when you attend our sponsored events) (collectively, our "Services"), contact our customer service team, engage with us on social media, or otherwise interact with us.
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this policy and, in some cases, we may provide you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to our website or sending you a notification). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.
CONTENTS
- Collection of Information
- Use of Information
- Sharing of Information
- Analytics
- Transfer of Information to the United States
- Your Choices
- Your California Privacy Rights
- Contact Us
Collection of Information
Information You Provide to Us
We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, you share information directly with us when you create an account, fill out a form, submit or post content through our Services, communicate with us via third-party platforms, request customer support, or otherwise communicate with us. The types of personal information we may collect include your name, email address, demographic information, employer, job title, and any other information you choose to provide us.
Information We Collect Automatically When You Interact with Us
When you access or use our Services or otherwise transact business with us, we automatically collect certain information, including:
- Activity Information: We collect information about your activity on our Services, such as which articles you read, how far down an article you read, and how long you read an article.
- Device and Usage Information: We collect information about how you access our Services, including data about the device and network you use, such as your hardware model, operating system version, mobile network, IP address, unique device identifiers, browser type, and app version. We also collect information about your activity on our Services, such as access times, pages viewed, links clicked, and the page you visited before navigating to our Services.
- Information Collected by Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies: We (and our service providers) use tracking technologies, such as cookies and web beacons, to collect information about you. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us improve our Services and your experience, see which areas and features of our Services are popular, and count visits. Web beacons (also known as "pixel tags" or "clear GIFs") are electronic images that we use on our Services and in our emails to help deliver cookies, count visits, and understand usage and campaign effectiveness. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, see our Cookie Policy and the Your Choices section below.
Information We Collect from Other Sources
We obtain information from third-party sources. For example, we may collect information about you from our consumer communication providers, such as your profile information and location, or data analytics providers.
Information We Derive
We may derive information or draw inferences about you based on the information we collect. For example, we may make inferences about your location based on your IP address.
Use of Information
We use the information we collect to provide the Services you request and customize and improve your experience with us. We may also use the information we collect to:
- Maintain and improve our Services;
- Send you technical notices, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
- Respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service;
- Communicate with you about products, services, and events offered by dot.LA and others and provide news and information that we think will interest you (see the Your Choices section below for information about how to opt out of these communications at any time);
- Facilitate discussions through use of the Services;
- Gather feedback and potential story angles;
- Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Services;
- Detect, investigate, and prevent security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity and protect the rights and property of dot.LA and others;
- Debug to identify and repair errors in our Services;
- Comply with our legal and financial obligations; and
- Carry out any other purpose described to you at the time the information was collected.
Sharing of Information
We share personal information in the following circumstances or as otherwise described in this policy:
- We share personal information with vendors, service providers, and consultants that need access to personal information in order to perform services for us, such as companies that assist us with web hosting, communicating with you, customer service, and marketing.
- If you submit feedback or post content, such as comments, in a public area of our Services, we share this information publicly on our Services. You can request we delete your feedback or content by logging into your account and navigating to your preferences options or by emailing us at admin@dot.la.
- We may disclose personal information if we believe that disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law or legal process, including lawful requests by public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
- We may share personal information if we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our user agreements or policies, if we believe that you have violated the law, or if we believe it is necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of dot.LA, our users, the public, or others.
- We share personal information with our lawyers and other professional advisors where necessary to obtain advice or otherwise protect and manage our business interests.
- We may share personal information in connection with, or during negotiations concerning, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company.
- Personal information is shared between and among dot.LA and any current or future parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries and other companies under common control and ownership.
- We share personal information with your consent or at your direction.
- We may also share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.
Analytics
We allow others to provide analytics services on our behalf across the Services. These entities may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of our Services and other websites and applications, including your IP address, web browser, mobile network information, pages viewed, time spent on pages, and links clicked. This information may be used by dot.LA and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, and better understand your online activity.
Transfer of Information to the United States
dot.LA is headquartered in the United States, and we process and store the information we collect in the United States. If you are based outside the United States, we may transfer your personal information to, or store or access it in, the United States, which is a jurisdiction that may not provide levels of data protection that are equivalent to those of your home jurisdiction. We will take steps to ensure that your personal information receives an adequate level of protection in the jurisdictions in which we process it.
Your Choices
Account Information
You may update and correct certain account information at any time by logging into your account or emailing us at admin@dot.la. If you wish to delete your account, please email us at admin@dot.la, but note that we may retain certain information as required by law or for our legitimate business purposes.
Cookies
Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually adjust your browser settings to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that removing or rejecting cookies could affect the availability and functionality of our Services. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, see our Cookie Policy.
Communications Preferences
You may opt out of receiving promotional emails from dot.LA by following the instructions in those communications. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those about your account or our ongoing business relations.
Your California Privacy Rights
The California Consumer Privacy Act or "CCPA" (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.100 et seq.) affords consumers residing in California certain rights with respect to their personal information. If you are a California resident, this section applies to you.
In the preceding 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information: identifiers, internet and other electronic network activity information, location information, professional or employment-related information, and inferences drawn from the collected information. For details about the precise data points we collect and the categories of sources of such collection, please see the Collection of Information section above. We collect personal information for the business and commercial purposes described in the Use of Information section above. In the preceding 12 months, we have disclosed the following categories of personal information for business purposes to the following categories of recipients:
Category of Personal Information | Categories of Recipients |
Identifiers | Cloud Infrastructure Providers Consumer Communication Providers |
Internet and Other Electronic Network Activity Information | Analytics Providers Cloud Infrastructure Providers Consumer Communication Providers |
Location Information | Analytics Providers Cloud Infrastructure Providers Consumer Communication Providers |
Professional or Employment-related Information | Cloud Infrastructure Providers Consumer Communication Providers |
Inferences Drawn from the Collected Information | Analytics Providers Cloud Infrastructure Providers Consumer Communication Providers |
dot.LA does not sell your personal information.
Subject to certain limitations, you have the right to (1) request to know more about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect, use, and disclose, (2) request deletion of your personal information, (3) opt out of any "sales" of your personal information, if we engage in that activity in the future, and (4) not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. You may make these requests by calling 1 (800) 213-8611 or by emailing us at admin@dot.la. We will verify your request by asking you to provide certain identifying information, such as your name or contact information. We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your rights under the CCPA.
If we receive your request from an authorized agent, we may ask for evidence that you have provided such agent with a power of attorney or that the agent otherwise has valid written authority to submit requests to exercise rights on your behalf. If you are an authorized agent seeking to make a request, please contact us.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at admin@dot.la.
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Regard Raises $15M for AI-Powered Software That Help Doctors Diagnose Patients
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
Culver City-based health care startup Regard, which uses AI-driven software to help physicians accurately diagnose patients, has raised $15.3 million in Series A funding.
Pasadena-based Calibrate Ventures and Colorado-based Foundry Group led the investment in Regard, formerly known as HealthTensor. Other investors that participated in the round include TenOneTen Ventures, Susa Ventures, Brook Byers of Byers Capital and Dropbox CEO Drew Houston. The new funding will be used to grow Regard’s team and customer base, the company said in a press release.
At a time when the clinical health care workforce is suffering from burnout and attrition in the wake of the pandemic, Regard’s technology looks to alleviate some of the pressure on health care workers. The startup’s AI-enabled software is integrated directly into a provider’s system and uses an algorithm to analyze patients’ medical records, allowing physicians to more easily diagnose them.
Since launching its flagship product in 2020, Regard’s technology has been used on more than 30,000 patients, according to the company. The startup charges health care providers around $500 to $700 per month for access, co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Joseph told dot.LA, with its customers including Torrance Memorial Medical Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and roughly a dozen other hospitals across the U.S.
“We’re building something that’s a game-changer for doctors,” Ben-Joseph said. “It’s helping them catch medical conditions that they would have missed. So regardless of market conditions, we’re able to have value and I think investors saw that and got excited.”
Co-founders from left to right: CEO Eli Ben-Joseph, CTO Thomas Moulia, and COO Nate Wilson. Courtesy of Regard
Founded by pre-med students Ben-Joseph, Nate Wilson and Thomas Moulia in 2017, Regard got its start through Cedars Sinai’s Techstars-backed accelerator program. It was at the accelerator program that Ben-Joseph observed physicians’ workflows and saw the need for a product like Regard’s; he recalled noticing how doctors would constantly pop in and out of a patient’s room, shuttling between the patient and a computer where they could enter data and notes.
“I think that’s why so many doctors are burning out now, as they just don’t have software that really enables them,” Joseph said.
Ben-Joseph—who coupled a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from MIT with a master’s in computer science from Stanford—noted that Regard’s technology can automatically detect up to 50 of the most common medical conditions, including heart failure, diabetes, obesity, depression and anxiety.
“We have a 90% accuracy rate at the minimum,” he said. “Physicians will look at our software and accept it, but it’s not perfect. We tell physicians to treat it like the relationship [with a] medical student.”
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
This Week in 'Raises': Regard Secures $15M, MaC Venture Capital Raises $203M for Second Fund
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
This week in “Raises”: A local healthcare startup secured funding to help grow the team and deploy its software to more physicians and hospitals, while Black-led, seed-stage venture capital firm surpassed its goal for its second fund.
Venture Capital
Regard, a Culver City-based healthcare startup using AI software to help physicians diagnose patients, raised a $15.3 million Series A funding round co-led by Calibrate Ventures and Foundry Group.
Homelister, the Santa Monica-based digital brokerage and real estate startup, raised a $10M Series A funding round co-led by M13 and Homebrew.
L.A.-based cybersecurity firm Inspectiv raised an $8.6 million Series A funding round led by StepStone Group.
Foresite Technology Solutions, a Costa Mesa-based technology platform that offers IP management to the construction industry, raised $8 million in funding led by Gallant Capital.
L.A.-based virtual dressing room StyleScan, which uses AI and augmented reality for its virtual dressing room fashion SaaS, raised $1 million in new funding led by Clearbrook Capital.
Santa Ana-based online health care provider platform Sensible Care, raised a $13 million Series A funding round led by Volition Capital.
Funds
MaC Venture Capital, an L.A.-based, Black-led, seed-stage venture capital firm, raised $203 million for its second fund from repeat investors like Goldman Sachs, ICG Advisors, StepStone, the University of Michigan, the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation.
Raises is dot.LA’s weekly feature highlighting venture capital funding news across Southern California’s tech and startup ecosystem. Please send fundraising news to Decerry Donato (decerrydonato@dot.la).
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
Braid Theory's Plan to Foster the Next Generation of Ocean Tech Startups
Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
San Pedro-based Braid Theory is one of the growing number of accelerators in the country looking to grow the so-called blue economy, which spans a range of ocean-related industries and is estimated at $2.5 trillion a year.
The accelerator is accepting online applications until July 18, with its second-ever program kicking off in August.
This year’s focus will be different from the typical accelerator: Startups in this group will test their products directly with companies active in the ocean economy for four months, collecting data on what works, what doesn’t and further developing proof of concept. Braid Theory will help these startups come up with their business plan and pitches, and connect them to investors and potential partners in the field. In return, it takes an equity warrant that can be converted after three years.
The startups joining Braid Theory typically span industries like port logistics, aquaculture and energy, all of them aiming to test their technologies and untapped opportunities of the burgeoning industry. The accelerator’s goal is to bring those companies from pre-revenue into commercialization.
And all of them are looking to solve challenges within the blue economy ecosystem, many of which have also been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. With 31% of all goods floating across the ocean to and from the U.S. pass through the Port of L.A. and the Port of Long Beach, COVID-19 strangled supply chains and increased the volume of goods handled at L.A. 's premiere dock by nearly 16% between 2020 and 2021. This created numerous logistical challenges for the dwindling workforce at the nation’s busiest ports while increasing emissions.
“The thing that we're trying to think about are ways in which we can leverage biological systems and software to make more immediate changes in markets that have a low barrier to entry,” Braid Theory co-founder Jim Cooper said of accelerator’s approach to addressing a wide range of climate and logistical issues.
Cooper founded Braid Theory with his colleague Ann Carpenter after the pair left PortTechLA, a maritime and logistics incubator that shuttered in 2016. The two wanted to create an accelerator for port and ocean startups that went beyond logistics and took into account other promising sectors of the ocean economy, including sustainable fish and plant cultivation as well as tools to make the shipping sector more efficient.
Jim Cooper co-founded Braid Theory with his former colleague from PortTechLA, Ann Carpenter.Image courtesy of Braid Theory
Accelerators like Braid Theory are attempting to fill a void in the blue economy ecosystem. Despite being home to several universities with robust maritime research centers and a giant port infrastructure that could be better optimized, few startups survive in Los Angeles due to a lack of early stage funding, according to a 2020 report from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. The accelerator provides funds and lab space and investor connections to nascent startups tackling a wide range of ocean-related problems.
The same report found that ocean startups, particularly early-stage ones, have a difficult time getting funding to accommodate the need for expensive lab equipment like centrifuges, chillers and pipettes. Startups in the blue economy space are primarily funded through federal and state dollars, NGOs and philanthropies, and competitions. But while angel funding has historically been slow to trickle into blue economy startups, some are starting to take note of the size of the market. In the first cohort, eight out of 12 startups received federal funding and investor funding with the help of Braid Theory.
The accelerator’s first graduating class included Florida-based Tampa DeepSea Xplorers, which makes seafaring autonomous vehicles that can scrape the bottom of the ocean and collect data faster for researchers to use as they study climate change impact or source for different medicines. Irvine-based ReCreate Energy is another graduate, which sources algae to create a more sustainable bio-crude oil that can be used at gas and oil refineries. While FlashQ, a Canada-based AI platform, is trying to reduce truck congestion and the emissions caused by them at the port by creating a scheduling platform that optimizes waiting and shipment times.
“The key is the opportunity, the opportunity was there,” Mimi Carter, a biotech investor with the Pasadena Angels, said of the business opportunities in the ocean market. “We saw a market that was unaddressed and is still an emerging market.”
A cluster of cranes at the Port of Long Beach.Photo by DJANA 575/ Shutterstock
To Carter’s credit, L.A. County boasts 75 miles of coastline that the LAEDC expects by 2023 will produce more than $80 billion in regional output, make roughly $50 billion in gross county product, and create over 200,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to a 2020 report. And, according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, economic and job growth in this sector relies heavily on the creation and implementation of new technologies, making angel investors necessary players in bolstering the ocean economy.
“Not only do we want to be investing in a sustainable product, but someone we count as a first mover,” Carter said of her investment approach. Already, groups like the Pasadena Angels and Techstars L.A. have made investments in the space. Reece Pacheco, a blue economy angel investor, is quietly working on a new venture fund around the blue tech space that hasn’t been announced yet.
“What we're starting to see is there are entrepreneurs who are either coming up through these research firms, or there are entrepreneurs who have cut their teeth elsewhere but care about the ocean,” Pacheco said.
There’s also Braid Theory’s neighbor (and landlord), AltaSea, the nonprofit research hub that has facilitated a number of partnerships with companies across the world.
“We do want to become the leading destination for the blue economy in terms of technology, finance, the education pathways it takes for students to get into these jobs in the future, and then the actual workforce development for the jobs of the future,” said Terry Tamminen, the new CEO of AltaSea.
Braid Theory’s makeshift shipping container-turned-lab is next door to a slew of other startups and projects in the blue economy space. USC researchers are incubating bubbling cauldrons of kelp that could create biofuels and alternative food sources. While Oceanographer Robert Ballard, who found the Titanic wreckage in 1985, set up a sea exploration program a few doors down.
“The ocean is more than a destination for tourists and a place for Jacques Cousteau and David Attenborough to go diving,” Tamminen said. “It's actually something right at our doorstep that we need to protect for our own survival, but it’s also an economic opportunity.”
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Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.