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XEverlaunch Wins dot.LA's Startup Pitch Competition
Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.

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.
Heng was selected as the night's winner by the competition's three judges — Boba Guys founder and investor Andrew Chau, Worklife VC founder Brianne Kimmel, and Plug and Play Ventures investor Kiswana Browne.
Everlaunch debuted in May to offer a "roadmap" for the "business-building process." Current partners include GoDaddy, Squarespace and 99designs. "The days of endless googling are over," a tagline for the service reads.
"I'm just excited to do the work and be an ally in order to build the future, and to help people of color build generational wealth," said Heng, speaking before attendees of the dot.LA Summit.
"And don't forget to bet on black women," she added.
The pitch-off also featured Rent-a-Romper and Reeplayer. All three startups are Southern California-based, have raised less than $1 million to date in outside funding and were nominated for the competition by dot.LA readers.
Rent-a-Romper offers a monthly subscription to clothing for babies and toddlers. "We are changing children's fashion by providing parents a curated wardrobe that grows with their child," said CEO Lauren Gregor.
Reeplayer provides a $99-per-month subscription that aims to help coaches and young soccer players capture game footage. Reeplayer's software and 4K camera system, which goes on a tripod and records from the sideline, are both included in the monthly fee. "Down the line we want to bridge the gap between athletes and recruiters," said founder Orhan Ajredinovski.
Crewtify, a livestreaming platform for concerts, won last year's dot.LA pitch competition.
Watch the full 2021 event here:
dot.LA Summit: Startup Pitch Competitionwww.youtube.com
Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.
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Overair Raises $145M To Fly Its Electric Aircraft Prototype
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him
Santa Ana-based aircraft startup Overair has raised $145 million to develop and fly its flagship vehicle, a prototype electric airplane called Butterfly, by the second half of next year.
The investment was led by South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, which holds a 30% stake in Overair and has now poured a total of $170 million into the startup, according to TechCrunch. The funds specifically came from two of the conglomerate’s divisions, Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Systems, Overair said in a press release Tuesday.
Butterfly is part of a class of electric aircraft, known as eVTOL, that are capable of vertically taking off and landing and do not require a runway. Such aircraft require less space to operate and produce fewer or no carbon emissions, and have increasingly been floated for potential use as air taxis and for regional flights.
With the help of electric motors and battery packs provided by Hanwha, Overair said the six-seater Butterfly prototype should be ready to take flight by the second half of 2023. The startup was spun off in 2020 from Lake Forest-based, military-focused aerospace manufacturer Karem Aircraft.
“Our technology was meant to drop Navy SEALs into hot zones, and we’re going to use it for urban air mobility (UAM) so that you and I can go to a Rams game from Orange County,” Overair head of business development Josh Aronoff told TechCrunch.
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him
Performio Raises $75M for Its Sales Commission Software
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Performio, an Irvine-based provider of sales commission software, has raised $75 million in new funding.
The company announced Tuesday that growth equity firm JMI Equity led the funding, with JMI chairman Paul Barber and vice president Jack Duane also joining Performio’s board of directors. The new investment will go toward advancing the company’s technology and meeting the needs of its growing client base, it said.
Performio’s cloud-based sales performance management platform allows companies to oversee and automate their incentive compensation—a task that many firms have traditionally managed manually on spreadsheets. Its customers include AstraZeneca, ChargePoint, Johnson & Johnson and Vodafone.
Founded in Australia in 2006, Performio built up its business in the Asia-Pacific region before opening its global headquarters in Irvine in 2017 and subsequently growing its North American customer base. The company said it grew its revenues 77% year-on-year and more than doubled its number of employees globally in 2021. Last month, it announced the appointments of former Salesforce executive Neil Graham as chief revenue officer and former Datometry executive Dmitri Korablev as chief technology officer.
While private capital funding at large has slowed down in 2022, local software startups and SaaS-focused funds have continued to raise money through the first half of the year—a trend that speaks to the sector’s ongoing growth and appeal.Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Rivian Delays SUV Deliveries Yet Again
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Rivian pre-order holders took to the forums over the weekend to share news of the latest, delayed delivery windows for the electric automaker’s R1S sports utility vehicle.
After already pushing back its original January 2022 delivery date for the SUV to this summer, Irvine-based Rivian recently informed customers of yet another production delay. As Autoevolution reported on Monday, many of those who had pre-ordered the R1S received emails detailing new delivery dates ranging from August to December of this year.
The newly delayed delivery windows are based on supply chain issues and service infrastructure, Rivian said in its emails—noting that customers’ updated delivery dates will be based on their pre-order date, delivery location and vehicle configuration. The automaker said it has looked to “prioritize deliveries in locations where service infrastructure is in place so that we can provide the full ownership experience to Rivian owners from day one.” Rivian currently operates 19 service centers across the country, according to its website.
It’s not the first time this year that the company has irked pre-order holders. Rivian’s attempt to raise prices on both the R1S and its R1T pickup truck were met with a fierce backlash from customers that prompted a quick reversal and a public apology from CEO RJ Scaringe. Rivian is also familiar with supply chain issues; Scaringe blamed material shortages for the price hikes while also warning that they would hinder the electric vehicle industry at large in the years to come.
The delivery delays and price hikes are part and parcel of what’s been a tough year for Rivian—one that’s seen product recalls, disappointing earnings and a swooning stock price.- Rivian Backtracks on Price Hikes, Reinstates Original Prices - dot.LA ›
- Rivian Misses Earnings Estimates Again - dot.LA ›
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.