Outer — whose eco-friendly furniture is made out of recycled materials — wants to furnish hotels, shopping malls and other businesses. On Thursday, the Santa Monica startup said it raised $50 million in a Series B round to edge its way into the growing hospitality industry. Outer gained notoriety for its program to pay existing customers to show off their new setups to prospective buyers.
⚡️ Los Angeles-based VC firm Slauson & Co. and the nonprofit Grid110 are seeking applicants for their first joint accelerator program for early-stage entrepreneurs by Oct. 8.
🔋 Watch out, Tesla. The EPA has said rival Lucid Air's luxury EVs are good for a 520-mile range on a single charge.
🚙 The California Energy Commission has awarded a grant to infrastructure agency Arup to deploy curbside EV charging stations in Santa Monica and Southeast L.A.
💲 AMC Theaters says it will accept cryptocurrency for online tickets and concession purchases by the end of 2021.
🚫 Los Angeles County is now prohibiting new oil wells within its borders and evaluating existing ones.
🖥 Defunct streaming service Quibi has agreed to hand over its perspective-shifting Turnstyle technology to Eko, an interactive video company.
But Just How Big Is the Outdoor Furniture Market?
The global outdoor furniture market topped $15.7 billion in 2020, and it's expected to grow 5.7% by 2027, according to a September report from Global Market Insights. What's more is that a 2019 report from Grand View Research found that while residential purchases of outdoor furniture are still holding steady globally, the real growth is in the commercial sector.
Geek Ecommerce App Whatnot Raises $150 Million
Geeky ecommerce app Whatnot has reached a $1.5 billion valuation after its latest round of funding. But can it compete with GOAT, the high-flying Los Angeles-based sneaker shop valued at $3.7 billion?
Gaming Startup Elodie Gets Backing from Andreessen Horowitz
Elodie Games is a new Venice-based gaming startup formed by two Riot Games alums and it's getting the backing of big VC players: Andreessen Horowitz and Galaxy Interactive.
Bono, Tom Brady and Others Back Omaze
Richard Branson used Omaze to sweepstake a seat on the Virgin Galactic VSS Unity. Now the charity fundraising platform has the backing of celebrity investors Bono, Tom Brady, Kerry Washington and others.
The company announced on Thursday it raised $85 million in a Series C funding round.
Nominate Innovators for dot.LA's Startup Awards
Nominate Innovators for dot.LA's 2021 Startup Awards
We are thrilled to announce the dot.LA Startup Awards 2021, a celebration of the most innovative people and companies in the L.A. startup and tech community. The event will be hosted live on Friday, October 29th, during the dot.LA Summit.
Nominations are open for company submissions in six categories. Get involved and nominate a startup or an individual to win an award by clicking here.
Nominations Are Open for Our Summit LA Pitch Showcase
We're looking for Southern California startups that have a product on the market and have raised less than $1 million in funding to pitch at dot.LA's Summit on Thursday, October 28th at 6:00pm PT on the main stage at Fairmont Miramar.