dot.LA Summit: Grid110 Wins Social Justice Award

dot.LA Summit: Grid110 Wins Social Justice Award

dot.La kicked off its inaugural in-person summit on Oct. 28-29 at the Fairmont Miramar hotel in Santa Monica. This year's summit features over 45 speakers covering cryptocurrency, telehealth, urban mobility and women in tech, among others. You can find a full schedule of this year's summit here and read the recap below!

Updates:


dot.LA Summit: As Attitudes Shift Around Drugs and Mental Health, ‘It’s Time’ for Psychedelic Therapies

Keerthi Vedantam

Fifty years after President Nixon announced the war on drugs, changing cultural attitudes around psychedelics have led to a slew of decriminalization and legalization efforts across the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration is now reviewing psychedelic-based drug, a sea change from just a few years ago.

Mike Dow from Field Trip Health, one of the many companies testing psychedelic-based drugs, and cannabis company Kurvana CEO Mehran Moghaddam believe that this shift will change the course of mental health treatment as the drugs become more accepted for medicinal use.

Canada-based Field Trip Health has clinics around the world, including Santa Monica, where therapists perform ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Ketamine, once known as a rave drug, has long been studied for its correlation with positive mental health outcomes in patients who use it. Read more >>

dot.LA Summit: The Concerts of the Future Will Be Hybrid, Says Wave Co-Founder

Joshua Letona

As the pandemic shut down, cancelled and delayed events people had been looking forward to, Wave co-founder and CEO Adam Arrigo saw an opportunity.

His company was founded in 2016 at a time when brands like Oculus and PlayStation were looking to bring virtual reality into the mainstream. Not knowing how ready people would be, Arrigo and his team were conservative with the company's money.

"We basically didn't spend any money because we weren't sure how quickly people were going to strap these things to their heads… And we were kind of right because VR sort of petered out," said Arrigo. Read more >>

dot.LA Summit: What to Expect When Breaking Into Tech Startups

Decerry Donato

There is no one secret to breaking into the tech industry, but one thing helps, a strong support system of colleagues and believing in yourself.

A group of powerhouse tech veterans talked about the roadblocks faced when starting out. Grace Kangdani, senior vice president market manager at Bank of America moderated a discussion on the pitfalls of coming up in a fast-paced industry. BallerTV Chief Technology Officer Kavodel Ohiomoba, Zella Life CEO Remy Meraz and Supernatural's Vice President of People Operations Lynnette Scarratt and Elisabeth Tuttass, head of community at Grid110 all agreed that there's no one path to success.

Finding success is oftentimes a matter of seeking out the right people to help you.

"At the end of the day people are genuinely wanting to help people," said Meraz who runs the life coaching platform. "And I guarantee you within two degrees of separation, there's a connection and people are really willing to make introductions and help in any way they can."

It's not uncommon for even accomplished people to feel as if they aren't competent. Read more >>

Once a Moonshot, Los Angeles' Venture Scene is Bigger Than Ever

Los Angeles has long taken a back seat to San Francisco when it comes to investing in and incubating local companies, but in recent years the venture capital scene in Silicon Beach has exploded.

Greycroft Partners co-founder and partner Dana Settle told dot.LA co-founder Spencer Rascoff during the second annual dot.LA summit Friday that when she started Greycroft 15 years ago, her fellow investors in Northern California balked at her choice to leave the Bay Area and start investing in what was then a seldom talked-about market: Los Angeles. But since then, Settle's happily proved the haters wrong.

Settle told Rascoff that being an early investor in LA technology wasn't easy, and that over the years she also struggled to raise funding for Greycroft at first, which informs how she advises new companies.

Read more >>

Solving LA's Big Problem: How Metropolis Wants to Change Mobility 

By Ivan Fernandez

Metropolis co-founder Alex Israel has a grand plan to fix L.A.'s infrastructure. It just won't happen overnight.

Speaking to dot.LA co-founder Sam Adams during the "The Future of Urban Mobility" session out closed out dot.LA's summit, Israel described his vision of a complete repurposing of parking spaces and mobility that looks ahead at least 30 years into the future. Electric cars fit into this vision; rideshare companies do, too.

"Parking is the wild, wild west of real estate," said Israel. "It's a component of real estate that represents a large swath of the city that is non-institutionalized."

The startup raised $41 million in Series A financing earlier this year. It has parking garages throughout the U.S., in cities that include Los Angeles and Nashville.

Israel laid out three components that are at the core of Metropolis' work in understanding how to improve and empower the future they hope to create. The first is to understand the inventory of the facility in real time. The second is to have the ability to provision access to that facility in real time. Finally, one must be able to price inventory in real time.

"You have to understand the underlying infrastructure before you can repurpose the infrastructure," said Israel.

In a city as car-dependent as L.A., Israel will certainly have a lot of people rooting for his company's success.

"Getting around L.A. is one of the biggest obstacles to [Los Angeles] being, objectively, one of the nicest places on Earth to be," said Adams.

dot.LA Summit: Women at the Top on How to Expand LA's Tech Scene

As women in tech and venture, Kara Nortman and Robyn Ward heard a lot of nos when they started out. No we won't fund you. No, we don't have positions.

But, it was the yeses that kept them going.

"We have to expand the tent, we have to figure out how to continue. The tent needs to get bigger every day. If every one of us every day can find one more woman to bring into this tent, in some way it gets bigger and bigger," Nortman said.

Read more >>

dot.LA Summit: Telehealth Changed the Game for Health Care -- for Most

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, telehealth had been lauded as a great equalizer in the health care world.

The benefits were clear: It could help patients avoid travelling long distances and allow those with dependents to seek help without looking for childcare. And for poor neighborhoods and rural areas, where health care options are few and far between, telehealth could send specialists straight to their doors.

Those advantages have only become obvious during the pandemic, as executives from Honeybee Health, Advekit and Kenshō Health explained during dot.LA's panel "Telehealth: The New Way To Stay Healthy." The conversation was moderated by dot.LA's Rachel Uranga.

Read more >>

Going Beyond Lip Service

Pledges to boost diversity and inclusion are widespread in the tech and startup world, but the industry chronically fails to realize its own goals.

That's no coincidence. The venture capital world, which provides much of the capital fueling fledgling startups, remains a boys club with a bias towards white male founders. And that bias has a ripple effect, warping industry hiring practices and decision making. The problem is repelling workers, too, as post-lockdown resignations skyrocket and companies weigh new policies, such as remote work and hybrid schedules, to retain staffers.

"It's about being able to show up at work as your full self, said Ricardo Vazquez, executive officer at the mayor's Office of Economic Development, in a dot.LA Summit panel on building diversity and inclusion within startups and larger firms.

Read more >>

Pixar-Level Storytelling on Social Media

In just a few weeks, social media users can meet Jennifer Aniston's brand new 3D animated character—and though the avatar is mostly under wraps, word on the street is that it's "very cute." That character comes thanks to a partnership with Invisible Universe, an entertainment technology company partnering with celebrities to capitalize on their unique IP.

In a conversation with Rachel Horning (CEO of RippleFX Events), Invisible Universe CEO Tricia Biggio described the company as the "Pixar of the internet." The company creates beloved, celebrity-sponsored animated characters who live on social media and interact with fans.

Biggio, who started in television, is passionate about bringing Hollywood quality storytelling and worldbuilding to social media characters:

"We really think about being platform agnostic and story and character obsessed," she said. Pandemic isolation and scrolling was a boon for the company, with ten times the rate of growth on TikTok versus YouTube, Instagram and others.

Read more >>

How the Pandemic Changed Entertainment Tech Forever

By Ivan Fernandez

Like so many other industries, the world of entertainment went through some radical shifts during the pandemic. And, for the speakers at dot.LA's "The Evolution of the Digital Landscape in Shaping the Entertainment & Tech World" panel, that wasn't always a bad thing.

Take the music sector, for example. When the pandemic put a pause on live concerts—leaving musicians, promoters and stage crews without a main source of income—industry players pivoted to streaming.

"We found other ways to get our clients into people's homes, whether it was through a digital series or just releasing music in a more unconventional manner," said Allison Kaye, president of SB Projects. "Our clients really turned into content creators in a way that they hadn't been before."

"The need for kids content, especially digital-first, escalated tremendously as kids were stuck at home with nothing else to do except hang out on YouTube," added Kerry Tucker, chief marketing and franchise officer at pocket.watch, which works with kid stars/influencers on YouTube. "We actually saw a rise in our constant consumption, and then we also saw a rise in our consumer products."

Many artists, however, needed a helping hand when dabbling into the new digital space. That's where a company like Wave enters the picture. Wave is at the forefront of virtual entertainment, helping artists create virtual—and interactive—performances to livestream to viewers all over the world. "We are in this really cool, exciting space and everyone wants to get in on the action," said Tina Rubin, CMO at Wave. "In terms of the artists we work with, the way I think about it is virtual concept art. It's still evolving. We're still trying to figure out what is the art form and how does it encapsulate various types of performances?"

Technology can also help to strengthen traditional models such as the sale and purchase of a concert ticket. There are many issues that fans and promoters face when purchasing or selling a ticket. Scalpers use bots to scoop up tickets en masse and resell them on a secondary market. There's also the risk that a fan will purchase a fake ticket from a scammer. Tech such as blockchain and crypto can help with these challenges.

"Blockchain technology, crypto technology, can solve that," said Brent Weinstein, chief innovation officer & partner at United Talent Agency. "That's really, really exciting because that is a chance to completely change the nature of how people buy tickets to live events [and] how they relate to artists. That's a real life problem that people have been trying to solve for a long time and I finally have some hope that can be solved."

What It Takes to Transition From Founder to CEO

by Michaella Huck

A good founder will have a clear yet flexible vision. The same might be said of a good CEO. Still, there are plenty of differences between the two titles, as the speakers at dot.LA's "From Founder to CEO" discussion made clear.

"To be an entrepreneur you are the tip of the spear," said Boba Guys and Tea People USA founder and CEO Andrew Chau. "You want to be apologetic, you want to be authentic."

Chau chatted with KraveBeauty founder and CEO Liah Yoo about starting their businesses from the ground up. He said that as the company grew, he became much more than "a guy who owns a boba shop"; Yoo said she, too, morphed into something beyond a YouTube influencer.

"I call myself an accidental entrepreneur because I now have a skin care brand. Nowhere in my life did I ever think that I would be starting a company and second running a company," Yoo said.

One might assume a business' creator would spearhead its strategies, but that's often not the case. In fact, in a World Management Survey that looked at 212 startups over a 20-year period, only 50% of founders were still in control of their companies.

For Chau, the key lies in embracing both the micro- and macro-level problems. He said that though he has successfully transitioned into CEO, he sometimes can't help but treat his business like a grassroots operation, picking up trash he finds in front of his Boba Guys storefront in Culver City. Yet he's also often talking business strategies with other entrepreneurs over Zoom.

For Yoo, becoming a CEO was also an exercise in self-acceptance. "You keep comparing yourself to another CEO," she said. "I think the more I did that and then when we got started, I started to trick myself into this vicious cycle of 'I'm not good enough.'"

The Challenge of Finding Male Allies in Tech Circles

by Michaella Huck

Women-led startups made up just 2.3% of venture capital funding in 2020. In addition, only about 12.4% of decision makers at venture capital firms are women. Though these numbers have increased throughout the years, the industry is still very much a boys' club, and, as the women at dot.LA's "Elevating Your Presence as a Woman in Tech" panel discussed, it can be tough to break through the glass ceiling.

"We are talking into an echo chamber about our problems, so it is also going to require a man to help us change that," said Samantha Ettus, founder and CEO of Park Place Payments.

Ettus was joined by founder and CEO of Makelene, Dulma Altan; co-founder and CEO of Vurbl Media, Audra Gold; and Head of Community at How Women Invest, Sophie Nazerian. Their discussion was centered around how they have managed to navigate leadership and microaggressions from co-workers, all while climbing the corporate ladder as an anomaly in the tech world.

Ettus discussed how she has experienced microaggressions firsthand; she remembered being on a conference call with a bank executive when he mentioned he brought a guest: his daughter. Ettus thought it was sweet until he mentioned he wouldn't have put her on the screen if it were a male CEO because he would not want to be seen as less professional. Ettus reminded him he has the power to change that.

"It's always on our shoulders to speak up or to wrong the right or to have this panel where 90% of the attendees are women," she said.

The panelists also talked about the importance of finding a good work/life balance — something that doesn't always come naturally. "The biggest thing I'm proud of, I've learned that not everything is actually on fire," said Altan. "My ability to discern what actually is from what isn't has increased, and my mental health has stabilized."

dot.LA Summit: How Crypto Is Changing the Creative Industries

NFTs aren't just remaking investments but they are changing how entertainment is being produced and distributed.

Non fungible tokens were the focus of the panel with Scott Greenberg, CEO of Blockchain Creative Labs; Andrew Klungness, Partner at Fenwick & West LLP; and Michelle Munson, CEO of Eluvio.

"When you own an NFT, you actually own what we call a convertible electronic record on the blockchain. You own a space in a ledger," said Klungness. As an example, it's the difference between owning the record versus owning the commercial rights to the property, like owning a baseball card doesn't give you the right to use that image commercially.

Read more >>

Virtual Influencer Lil' Miquela Will Soon Be Run By Her Community

Dapper Labs, the company that helped bring NFTs into the mainstream, is set on decentralization. And it's turning to its signature virtual social media influencer Lil Miquela to drive home the idea, company executives told a crowd at Friday's Future of Storytelling panel at the dot.LA Summit.

The NFT startup behind NBA Top Shot, Dapper Labs clearly sees the value of virtual influencers. Brands are expected to spend about $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022, according to Business Insider Intelligence. And the company is betting that a rising number of dollars will be spent on virtual influencers who can be fully controlled.

Read more >>

LA Investors on Tech Resilience and the Future of Work

Plenty of tech firms laid off workers as the pandemic took hold, but the industry ultimately raked in record profits as schools and offices spent big on remote tools and lockdowns drove shoppers toward digital services.

But there are challenges ahead for the startup community, like adapting to workers' evolving needs and expectations and building climate change mitigation into investment strategies.

Those were some of the takeaways from dot.LA's Town Hall panel on "rising from the COVID-19 ashes as a thriving startup ecosystem," which also explored how the virus is reshaping work. The talk was moderated by dot.LA CEO Sam Adams and featured Barber, RippleFX Events CEO Rachel Horning, Grid110 CEO Miki Reynolds, M13 partner Anna Barber and Leila Lee, of the mayor's Office of Economic Development.

Read more >>

Everlaunch Wins dot.LA's Startup Pitch Competition

A startup that offers gamified how-to guides for aspiring entrepreneurs was declared the winner of the second annual dot.LA pitch competition on Thursday in Santa Monica.

"My mission is to 'Pinky and the Brain' all of the currently available resources," said Everlaunch CEO Michelle Heng, referring to a cartoon where the main character was obsessed with taking over the world. Heng's service sets out to build a community for entrepreneurs and bring together essential business resources in a single hub.

Read more >>

Jam City's Josh Yguado on How the Blockchain WIll Change Gaming

At dot.LA's second annual summit, mobile game publisher Jam City's Chief Operating Officer Josh Yguado said he believes the next generation of mobile gaming will enable users to own parts of their favorite games on the blockchain.

"More than anything we're investing in where gaming is going, so we're making huge investments right now in augmented reality and cryptocurrency," Yguado said during the summit's fireside chat Thursday evening. "We've talked about the metaverse a bit today, but we're really thinking about where gaming is going to be two to three years from now."

Read more >>

What to Expect at This Year's In-Person Summit

dot.LA SummitThe Annual dot.LA Summit Kicks Off in Santa Monica

The two-day conference will begin with a pitch showcase competition for early-stage startup companies that have raised less than $1 million in funding. Judges for the event include Boba Guys and Tea People USA co-founder and CEO Andrew Chau, Worklife Venture Capital founder Brianne Kimmel and Plug and Play Ventures Associate Kiswana Browne. The winner will receive a prize package from Fenwick, Coda Search and TriNet.

The pitch competition will be followed by a fireside chat and podcast taping with Jam City co-founder & President Josh Yguado. Jam City isa leader in mobile entertainment and Yguado has proven himself a mastermind behind it, leading the company's operations, growth strategies and game portfolio.

While this event will be in person, the panels will be covered by dot.LA and those interested are still able to register for the conference here. Last year, the event drew over 500 guests virtually. This year's summit expects over 300 in-person guests. There is no livestream this year.

On Friday, the activities will begin at 9 a.m. An L.A. tech and startup town hall will focus on the tech and startup landscape as the effects of COVID-19 retreat. There will also be panels on the future of cryptocurrency and storytelling at this hour.

The afternoon's speakers will include United Talent Agency Chief Innovation Officer Brent Weinstein, BallerTV Chief Technology Officer Kavodel "Kav" Ohiomoba, KraveBeauty founder & CEO Liah Yoo, Makelane founder and CEO Dulma Altan and many other CEOs, technologists, founders and innovators.

Join us here and on Twitter and Instagram for updates from the summit. And let us know your thoughts using the hashtag #DOTLASUMMIT.

LA Tech Week: Final Days • Coco’s bots, Anduril’s helmet AI, Impulse’s moon freight

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday Los Angeles,

Founders are closing out Tech Week, robots are getting a new research brain, space logistics are taking shape, and defense tech just moved mission command into a helmet.

Anduril’s EagleEye: mission command, heads up

Image Source: Anduril

Anduril introduced EagleEye, a helmet mounted system that puts maps, comms, sensor fusion, and on device AI directly in a warfighter’s line of sight, integrated with the Lattice stack. The goal is simple: less time looking down at a tablet and more decisions made at the edge.

Impulse Space: a practical path to lunar deliveries

Image Source: Impulse Space

Impulse outlined a two piece ride to the Moon. Its Helios stage ferries an Impulse built lander to lunar orbit in about a week, the lander detaches, then descends to the surface without in-space refueling. The company says each mission could carry about three tons and that starting in 2028 it could run two missions per year for roughly six tons total, filling the gap between today’s small CLPS deliveries and future heavy landers.

Coco Robotics: new lab, new chief AI scientist

Image Source: Coco Robotics

Coco named UCLA’s Bolei Zhou chief AI scientist and is launching a physical AI research lab to turn years of curbside driving data into faster, more autonomous sidewalk deliveries. Expect quicker iteration from data collection to local models on the bots.

LA Tech Week: last three days

We are down to the final few days of LA Tech Week 2025. If you are still slotting meetings or panels, use the rundowns to plan your route:

Friday's Event Lineup

Saturday’s Event Lineup

Sunday’s Event Lineup

Scroll for the most recent LA venture deals, funds, and acquisitions.

🤝 Venture Deals

      LA Companies

      • Second Nature, an AI role-play training platform for sales and service teams, raised $22M Series B led by Sienna VC with participation from Bright Pixel, StageOne Ventures, Cardumen, Signals VC, and Zoom (also a customer). The company will use the funding to expand operations and advance its platform, which generates AI-driven practice scenarios and feedback for enterprise clients like Oracle, Zoom, Adobe, Teleperformance, and Check Point. - learn more
      • Pelage Pharmaceuticals, a Los Angeles–based biotech developing regenerative treatments for hair loss, raised a $120M Series B co-led by ARCH Venture Partners and GV. Participants include Main Street Advisors, alongside Visionary Ventures and YK Bioventures; proceeds advance PP405, a topical small molecule that reactivates dormant hair-follicle stem cells, toward Phase 3 in 2026 following positive Phase 2a data. - learn more
      • Launchpad, an AI-first robotics company for factory automation, raised an $11M Series A to speed product development and meet demand across the U.S., U.K., and Europe. The round was co-led by Lavrock Ventures and Squadra Ventures, with participation from Ericsson Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Cox Exponential, and the Scottish National Investment Bank; it follows $2.5M in grant funding from Scottish Enterprise. - learn more
      • Mythical Games raised a Series D round, with a strategic investment from Eightco Holdings alongside ARK Invest and the World Foundation. The partnership focuses on human verification and digital identity in gaming, tapping Worldchain/Worldcoin’s Proof-of-Human infrastructure. The transaction is expected to close the week of October 20. - learn more
      • Electric Entertainment, the L.A. studio behind “Leverage,” “The Librarians,” and “The Ark,” secured a $20M investment from Content Partners Capital. The funding follows CPC’s launch of an investment arm in April 2024 and is aimed at supporting Electric’s growth across production and distribution. - learn more
      • Everyset raised $9M to launch Background Payroll, a SAG-AFTRA approved platform that automates timecards and payroll for background performers, including overtime, penalties, and premiums. The round was led by Crosslink Capital and Haven Ventures, and the company says studios such as Netflix, CBS, Apple TV, Sony, and Amazon already use its tools as it expands into fully integrated background payroll. - learn more
      • TORL Biotherapeutics raised $96M in Series C funding to advance TORL-1-23, its Claudin-6 targeted antibody-drug conjugate, through a pivotal Phase 2 study in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and into a confirmatory Phase 3 program. The company also reported that updated Phase 1 data for TORL-1-23 will be presented at ESMO 2025, bringing total funding since its 2019 founding to more than $450 million. - learn more
      • The Plug, a plant-based liver health brand, raised $5M in a venture round of equity and debt to fuel marketing and retail expansion after rolling out its Pill Jar in June and entering all Total Wine & More locations nationwide in September. The company is keeping the round open for additional strategic investors and says it recently hit its first profitable month, is pursuing a partnership with a $500 million nutrition telehealth company, and is targeting a 40% boost to gross margins through a new operational milestone. - learn more

      LA Venture Funds

        • Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in MGT’s $21.6M Series B, an oversubscribed round led by Mubadala Capital with Tacora Capital and existing backers also joining. The AI-native commercial P&C neo-insurer for small businesses will use the capital to accelerate R&D, deepen vertical AI capabilities, and expand its E&S initiatives nationwide. - learn more
        • M13 participated in Daylight’s $75M financing, which combines $15M in equity led by Framework Ventures with a $60M project facility led by Turtle Hill Capital. Daylight is building a decentralized energy network that turns homes into mini power plants via a subscription model and crypto-enabled incentives, aiming to lower costs and dispatch battery power back to the grid. - learn more
        • Presight Capital co-led Peptilogics’ $78M Series B2, with Beyond Ventures participating, to fund a Phase 2/3 pivotal trial of zaloganan (PLG0206) for prosthetic joint infections. The raise brings Peptilogics’ total equity financing to about $120M and positions the company to begin the pivotal program in late 2025, pending approvals. - learn more
        • Patron participated in Ego AI’s $6.7M seed round to help the YC-backed startup launch human-like AI characters for games via its new character.world engine. The round also included Y Combinator, Accel, and Boost VC, and the capital will support research on Ego’s proprietary model, which combines small language models with reinforcement learning, plus partnerships in Singapore to scale compute and development. - learn more
        • Untapped Ventures participated in Woz’s $6M seed round, joining Cervin Ventures (lead), Y Combinator, Burst Capital, MGV, and the Lacob family. The funding will help Woz scale its platform that blends agentic AI with expert human oversight to deliver production-ready mobile apps for enterprises. - learn more
        • Perseverance Capital participated in Kailera Therapeutics’ $600M Series B, which was led by Bain Capital Private Equity. The funding advances KAI-9531, an injectable dual GLP-1/GIP agonist, into global Phase 3 trials by year end and supports a broader pipeline of oral and injectable obesity therapies. - learn more
        • March Capital participated in Lila Sciences’ $350M Series A, which lifts the company’s total funding to $550M. The capital will scale Lila’s AI Science Factories and commercialize its “scientific superintelligence” platform for partners across materials, energy, and biopharma. - learn more
        • Mucker Capital participated in Pear Suite’s $7.6M Series A, which was co-led by Rock Health Capital and Nexxus Holdings. The L.A. based company equips community health workers with an AI-powered platform and provider network, and it will use the funding to expand product development, grow its network, and support new Medicaid and Medicare health plan contracts. Other investors include Enable Ventures, The SCAN Foundation, Acumen America, Impact Engine, and the California Health Care Foundation. - learn more
        • Upfront Ventures participated in Renew’s $12M Series A, which was led by Haymaker Ventures with Goldcrest Capital and several Renew customers also investing. Renew’s AI-powered resident retention platform helps apartment operators automate renewals and prevent fraud, and the company says the new funding will scale the product and launch what it calls the industry’s first Resident Referral Network. - learn more
        • Acre Venture Partners co-led Ascribe Bio’s oversubscribed $12M Series A with Corteva to scale its natural crop protection platform and launch Phytalix, a broad spectrum “biofungicide without compromise.” The funding advances Ascribe’s small molecule technology derived from the soil microbiome toward commercial rollout, with participation from Syngenta Group Ventures, Trailhead Capital, Silver Blue, Cultivation Capital, and others. - learn more
        • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in Tr1X’s $50M financing, announced alongside FDA clearance of the IND for TRX319, an allogeneic CAR-Tr1 Treg cell therapy for progressive multiple sclerosis. The funding extends Tr1X’s runway into 2027 and supports a Phase 1/2a dose-escalation trial slated to start in early 2026, while the company continues its TRX103 studies in Crohn’s disease and other indications. - learn more
        • LFX Venture Partners participated in FleetWorks’ $17M funding, which supports the launch and expansion of its “always-on” AI dispatcher for the U.S. trucking industry. The round was led by First Round Capital with participation from Y Combinator and Saga Ventures, and the company says the capital will go toward hiring, commercial rollout, and product development. FleetWorks’ platform automates freight matching between carriers and brokers to speed up bookings and reduce manual calls, emails, and texts. - learn more
        • Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in Yendo’s $50M Series B. The fintech behind a vehicle-secured credit card will use the funding to expand its AI credit platform toward an inclusive digital bank that taps “trapped” consumer equity, aiming to unlock up to $4 trillion from assets like cars and homes for underserved borrowers. - learn more
        • Alpha Edison participated in TransCrypts’ $15M seed round. The company builds a blockchain-based verified-credentials platform to fight AI-driven fraud and plans to expand beyond employment verification into health and education records. - learn more
        • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in Nilo Therapeutics’ $101M Series A, which launched the company to develop medicines that modulate neural circuits to restore immune balance in disease. The round was led by The Column Group, DCVC Bio, and Lux Capital; Nilo also appointed Kim Seth, Ph.D., as CEO and plans to build out New York labs and advance preclinical programs. - learn more
        • Chapter One participated in Glue’s $20M Series A. Glue builds an “agentic team chat” platform that embeds MCP-powered AI directly in workplace messaging, with 35 in-app integrations and support for thousands more via custom MCP servers. The funding will help expand product development and infrastructure as Glue pushes this model to more teams. - learn more
        • StillMark participated in Meanwhile’s $82M raise, backing the Bermuda-regulated bitcoin life insurer as it expands bitcoin-denominated savings, retirement, and life insurance products for individuals and institutions. The round was co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Haun Ventures with participation from Apollo, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Pantera Capital, and brings Meanwhile’s 2025 funding to $122 million after an earlier $40 million Series A. - learn more
        • Blue Bear Capital co-led Energy Robotics’ $13.5M Series A with Climate Investment. The Darmstadt-based company provides AI software that lets robots and drones autonomously inspect critical infrastructure, and it will use the funding to scale deployments across energy, chemical, industrial, and utility sites. Customers already include majors like Shell, BP, BASF, Merck, and E.ON, and the company reports more than one million inspections completed to date. - learn more
        • B Capital participated in EvenUp’s $150M Series E, which values the AI legal-tech company at over $2 billion. EvenUp builds AI tools for personal-injury law firms and plans to use the new capital to scale its platform and product suite; the round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with investors including REV (LexisNexis) and others. - learn more
        • WndrCo participated in Zingage’s $12.5M seed round to build an AI care-delivery platform for home-based healthcare. Zingage is rolling out “Operator,” which automates scheduling, staffing, billing, and compliance for home care agencies, and “Perform,” which boosts caregiver retention, with the new capital supporting product expansion and go-to-market. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners with additional investors including TQ Ventures and South Park Commons. - learn more
        • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in AeroRx Therapeutics’ $21M Series A, which was led by Avalon BioVentures with Correlation Ventures also investing. The funding advances AERO-007, a first-in-class nebulized LABA/LAMA for COPD, into late-stage clinical development aimed at patients who struggle with handheld inhalers. - learn more
        • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in Affinia Therapeutics’ $40M Series C, alongside lead investor NEA and new investor Eli Lilly, to advance its AAV gene therapy pipeline. Proceeds will fund an IND submission in Q4 2025 and initial clinical work for AFTX-201 in BAG3 dilated cardiomyopathy, with a Phase 1/2 trial targeted for Q1 2026. - learn more
        • Clocktower Ventures participated in Vycarb’s $5M seed round, which was led by Twynam with participation from MOL Switch, Hatch Blue, Idemitsu, and SGInnovate. The Brooklyn startup develops sensor-driven, water-based carbon capture and storage systems that convert CO₂ into stable bicarbonate, with the new funding aimed at scaling deployments at industrial sites. - learn more

        LA Exits

        • Empaxis Data Management was acquired by Communify, which is integrating Empaxis’ custodial and accounting data connections and operations expertise into its financial AI platform. The aim is to remove fragmented data so wealth and asset managers can deploy MIND AI apps like Client Stories and Portfolio Stories more quickly with cleaner, unified data. Communify also cites pre-integrations with over 175 market-data vendors to speed rollouts. - learn more
        • TrueCar is being acquired by founder-led Fair Holdings (Scott Painter) in an all-cash deal at $2.55/share (~$227M), with Painter set to return as CEO. A 30-day go-shop runs through Nov. 13, 2025; largest holder Caledonia supports the acquisition, which is expected to close Q4 2025 or early 2026 pending approvals. - learn more
        • Kate Somerville Skincare was acquired by Rare Beauty Brands, as Unilever moves to divest the prestige label it has owned for a decade. The deal includes the skincare and body-care lines as well as the brand’s Melrose Place clinic in Los Angeles; terms weren’t disclosed and closing is expected in Q4 2025 pending approvals. - learn more
        • 3GC Group was acquired by Pandoblox, combining 3GC’s enterprise IT operations and cybersecurity services with Pandoblox’s Themis AI data platform to form a unified, AI-ready data and IT operations offering for mid-market companies. The deal aims to solve fragmented data and IT workflows so growing businesses can get enterprise-grade intelligence, security, and support through a single partner. - learn more
        • The Free Press was acquired by Paramount, and co-founder Bari Weiss will become editor in chief of CBS News as part of the deal. Paramount says the move pairs CBS News’ scale with The Free Press’ voice, with Weiss reporting to CEO David Ellison and working to “modernize” the brand. - learn more

              Download the dot.LA App

              LA Tech Week 2025: Sunday’s Event Lineup

              Here's the Sunday, October 19th lineup for LA Tech Week 2025, organized by location so you can easily explore events that fit your goals and schedule. Dive in and see what’s happening near you!

              ARTS DISTRICT

              3:00 PM

              BEL AIR

              3:00 PM – 7:00 PM

              BURBANK

              6:30 PM – 9:30 PM

              CULVER CITY

              9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

              4:30 PM – 7:30 PM

              INGLEWOOD

              10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

              • Spinovation: The Future Is Femme, The Future is Frequency: See Details Here
                Sonder Impact, Black Women Spin, Sip & Sonder

              KOREATOWN

              12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

              MARINA DEL REY

              12:00 PM

              • Sunday Tech Brunch
                Sawubona

              MID CITY

              9:00 AM – 11:00 AM

              • Women in Cleantech Hike and Network: See Details Here
                Women in Cleantech and Sustainability

              SANTA MONICA

              9:00 AM

              10:00 AM

              3:45 PM

              4:00 PM – 7:30 PM

              • OFF THE HOOK Santa Monica Seafood Festival: See Details Here
                Spin PR Group, City of Santa Monica, Tech St.

              6:00 PM

              7:00 PM

              • Pritam: A Musical Legend - Live in Concert: See Details Here
                American South Asian Network

              7:00 PM

              • Building AI workflow editor in React with Workflow Builder SDK: See Details Here
                Workflow Builder

              7:00 PM

              8:00 PM

              • Unlock Apple's Corporate Advantage for your Startup!: See Details Here
                iStore by St. Moritz

              TOPANGA CANYON

              3:00 PM

              • Dreamore Hike and Picnic: LA Tech Week: *Invite Only*
                Dreamore

              VENICE

              10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

              • Coffee, Walk, and Schmooze: See Details Here
                JFE (Jews For Entrepreneurship) Network

              VIRTUAL (LA)

              10:00 AM

              • Level Up with LinkedIn: A Student’s Guide to Networking & Opportunities (Virtual Event): See Details Here
                FIMAC

              10:00 AM

              WEST ADAMS

              1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

              For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

              Enjoy LA Tech Week 2025!

              Download the dot.LA App


              LA Tech Week 2025: Saturday’s Event Lineup

              Here's the Saturday, October 18th lineup for LA Tech Week 2025, organized by location so you can easily explore events that fit your goals and schedule. Dive in and see what’s happening near you!

              BEVERLY HILLS

              2:00 PM

              CENTURY CITY

              7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

              CULVER CITY

              9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

              10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

              1:00 PM

              DTLA

              7:00 PM

              • {MiniMax x Nakid x SkyPortalx}: TECH/MOTION/MUSIC/ART: See Details Here
                MiniMax (Hailuo AI)

              10:00 PM – 2:00 AM

              EL SEGUNDO

              10:00 AM

              • Venture on the Green: *Invite Only*
                BLCK VC

              4:00 PM

              INGLEWOOD

              7:00 PM

              • Valar Atomics, Durin and Discipulus Ventures - Night With A Nuclear Reactor: See Details Here
                Valar Atomics, Durin, Discipulus Ventures

              MARINA DEL REY

              8:30 AM

              12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

              5:00 PM

              • LOST iN Sunset Sail: Navigating the Tides of the Creator Economy & Media: See Details Here
                LOST iN

              PASADENA

              9:00 AM

              PLAYA VISTA

              2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

              SANTA MONICA

              7:00 AM

              9:00 AM

              • Pedal & Network: Tech Cyclists @ LA Tech Week 🚵: See Details Here
                Instafill.ai

              9:30 AM

              • Getty Center Guided Tour & (Optional) Photography Scavenger Hunt: See Details Here
                NEW MOON Impact Productions

              10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

              11:00 AM – 2:15 PM

              12:00 PM – 5:00 PM

              1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

              1:30 PM

              • Self-Defense in Court and the Streets: See Details Here
                Santa Monica Striking, Luri Inc.

              2:00 PM

              • SMARTUP 500: THE FIRST AT TECH WEEK LA - Launching the world’s first Startup Ranking: See Details Here
                Smart Times

              2:00 PM

              • NLPs (No Lame Panels) The Creator X Founder Rooftop Party: See Details Here
                Startup Village, Sanctuary

              3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

              4:00 PM – 6:30 PM

              • Just Do It?: Helping Founders Perform Like Olympians: See Details Here
                Elite Psychology Group

              5:00 PM

              6:00 PM

              6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

              6:00 PM

              6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

              • The Future of Hospitality: Poetry, Provenance & Passports: See Details Here
                Villa Kitchen, Airble, We Speak Dance, Techstars San Francisco

              7:00 PM

              • 🚀 Investor x Founder Open Mic Pitches: See Details Here
                Feathr, Los Angeles Fun Events

              7:00 PM

              • Life is a Pitch - LA Edition: *Invite Only*
                DeepMyst

              TOPANGA CANYON

              5:00 PM – 8:30 PM

              • Walk&Jam: Use AI to make art while hiking Topanga Canyon: See Details Here
                Formhaus llc, Wonderland Immersive Design

              TORRANCE

              1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

              • Crunches & Conversations Presented by The Differentials and KIS Training Studios: See Details Here
                The Differentials, KIS Training Studios

              VENICE

              1:00 PM – 4:30 PM

              • Beyond the Language Barrier: Exploring AI's Next Frontier: See Details Here
                Medusa AI

              VENICE BEACH

              8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

              • SŨRFED Club @ Venice Beach: Founders, Creators, Investors share the waves: See Details Here
                SŨRFED Club, Go Vitamins

              WEST ADAMS

              9:30 AM – 10:45 AM

              • Funders Shaping Democracy, AI & Media: See Details Here
                New Media Ventures, New Rising Ventures

              WEST HOLLYWOOD

              4:00 PM

              6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

              9:30 PM

              • Vibe Check Comedy Show, Tech Week Edition! @ Hollywood Improv: See Details Here
                Vibe Check Comedy

              For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

              Enjoy LA Tech Week 2025!

              Download the dot.LA App


              RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS
              Trending