Southern California startups received nearly $14 billion in venture capital last year, a 52% increase over the year prior. The number of venture deals in 2021 closed around 831, up nearly 39% from 2020. This week, finance reporter Harri Weber looked at the data and came away with five highlights.
Here’s what happened in LA’s entertainment tech world this week 🍿
L.A.-based Ethernity, a blockchain network for celebs and creators, raised $20 million in seed funding.
Santa Monica-based startup Granted launched with designs on developing a secondary concert ticket market that pays royalties to musicians.
Recent trademark filings may signal that the late Kobe Bryant could have his digital presence in the metaverse.
“The Matrix: Resurrections” co-producer is suing Warner Bros. for releasing the film on HBO Max.
Delphi Interactive, which helps independent gaming studios publish their video games, quietly raised $17 million.
📱Social Media and Content Creators
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Tinder’s new feature brings back blind dating in a new form.
Twitter is putting its money where its mouth is with a new investment in blockchain technology.
TikTok updates its content policies to combat eating disorders and protect LGBTQ users.
Transportation Tech 🚗
Odys Aviation is developing aircraft that can take off vertically in a bid to make air travel faster and less cumbersome.
Autonomous driving technologies like Waymo and Cruise doubled their testing miles in California last year.
Subaru now has a preferred electric vehicle charging network: L.A.-based EVgo.
E-scooter startup Veo is setting up its new headquarters in Santa Monica and rolling out in the city of L.A.Raises and $$ 💰
Beyond a now defunct website and a recent raise, little has been publicly disclosed about Artema Labs.
Endgame raised another $30 million as it looks to win sales departments over with its data-focused approach.
Fintech platform Happy Money claimed unicorn status after raising an additional $50 million in funding.
Event software management startup Swoogo just raised $20 million in fresh funding.
Named in part after the iconic “Matrix” character, Morpheus Ventures debuted its new $200 million second fund.
The brainchild of an accountant who taught herself to code, fintech startup ComplYant raised $5.5 million in funding.
See more at our new weekly recap of funding news, Raises.
🎧 Listen Up
On this episode of Office Hours, AnnenbergTech’s Calvin Selth looks at how L.A.’s tech scene is living up to its promise to be more inclusive.
On this episode of the Behind Her Empire podcast, Daria Burke, a leader on fashion and technology, talks about reinventing yourself and switching careers.
On this episode of LA Venture, Foundation Capital’s Zach Noorani discusses how traditional banking is rapidly changing.
Also...
The boom in cryptocurrency investment interest has led to an explosion of new crypto IRA firms around Los Angeles.
USC is doubling down on its focus on teaching artificial intelligence, in partnership with Amazon.