In another blow for a region crippled by a surge in omicron variant cases, L.A. County’s partner in its at-home testing program, Temple City-based biotech firm Fulgent Genetics, said it won't accept new orders for PCR testing kits until Jan. 12, citing a backlog in processing them.
Here’s what else we're reading in the news:
- Allen Media Digital launches Sports.TV, a streaming network focused on sports, news and entertainment.
- WarnerMedia becomes the latest entertainment company to create its own digital video audience-measurement tool.
- Beyond Meat is bringing its meatless chicken to KFC.
- SoCalGas announced it is partnering with two companies to create hydrogen-powered drones.
- Los Angeles and Rancho Cucamonga will get the U.S.'s first fleet of electric-powered firetrucks.
- Snap sues the U.S. Patent Office after failing in its bid to trademark "spectacles".
Quid Raises $74 Million to Help Tech Workers Borrow Against Their Equity
The Santa Monica-based company offers tech workers who are awarded equity a way to cash out early—a valuable proposition in an era when startups are choosing to stay private longer. Quid provides loans worth up to 35% of the value of an employee’s stock; in return, it charges interest rates around 7% and receives a cut of the shares after a liquidity event.
Surging Demand For COVID Tests Set Back California's Public Health Strategy
Not even a week after the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced it would offer residents free mail-in PCR tests for COVID-19, the program has been put on pause.
UP Partners’ Ben Marcus on the Changes Coming to Aerospace
UP Partners’ Ben Marcus has been fascinated by flight since he was young. After stints as a founder of aerospace startups, he’s now working on funding some of the most ambitious companies in the sector. Hear why he thinks aerial vehicles could soon turn a 45-minute drive from Santa Monica to Pasadena into a 5-minute ride.
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Star Trek’s Original Mr. Spock Beams Onto LA Billboards
It’s been almost seven years since Leonard Nimoy, the actor who created the role of Mr. Spock on “Star Trek,” passed away due to respiratory disease — but his character is coming soon to a billboard near you, part of a campaign to encourage COVID-19 vaccination.