LA Tech Updates: LA's Largest VC is Now a Public Benefit Corp; Treehouse Games Raises $2.6M

Sam Blake

Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake

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Here are the latest updates on news affecting Los Angeles' startup and tech communities. Sign up for our newsletter and follow dot.LA on Twitter for more.

Today:

  • LA's Largest VC is Now a Public Benefit Corp
  • Treehouse Games Raises $2.6M

        'Collaborative' Game-Maker Treehouse Games Raises $2.6M

        Treehouse Games, founded by former Riot Games product lead Michael Chu and indie games studio veteran Ryan Sullivan, has raised $2.6 million in seed funding. The studio will focus on making collaborative games "to serve a growing, global audience of millions of people who use games as their favorite way to hang out," the company said in a statement.

        London Venture Partners (LVP) led the funding round. Bay Area-based Transcend Fund and Super Evil Megacorp CEO Kristian Segestrale also participated.

        Chu and Sullivan told dot.LA that "it's too early to go into specifics about the game, but our team is hard at work building an innovative cooperative game to bring friends and family together."

        "We want to create games that give you that feeling of camaraderie during a road trip, or the sense of generosity you get when buying your friend a cup of coffee," the founders said.

        Fifth Wall Venture Firm Is Now a B Corporation

        fifthwall.com

        Fifth Wall announced this week it is now a Certified B Corporation or "B Corp," which means it is legally required to consider the impact of its decisions on workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.

        Fifth Wall is the largest venture capital firm focused on real estate tech, known as proptech. It announced the close of its second real estate technology fund last year, with $503 million in dry powder, making it the largest VC fund in Los Angeles.

        "It is incumbent upon all of us to take actionable steps towards building a more equitable and sustainable society," said Brendan Wallace, co-founder and managing partner at Fifth Wall. "We're grateful to the resources and community offered by B Lab to help our firm as we continue to educate ourselves and make changes within our own organization."

        Fifth Wall is now part of a cohort of 3,939 other B-Corps that include names like Ben & Jerry's, Allbirds, and Patagonia.

        The real estate industry accounts for 40% of the world's consumption of energy and Fifth Wall says it is ready to help make construction more sustainable. Earlier this year, the firm announced a new carbon impact fund.

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        Office Hours: Apex Founder Ian Cinnamon on Why LA Is the Aerospace Capital of the World

        Spencer Rascoff

        Spencer Rascoff serves as executive chairman of dot.LA. He is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer's time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of "best places to work" awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003. Through his startup studio and venture capital firm, 75 & Sunny, Spencer is an active angel investor in over 100 companies and is incubating several more.

        ​Ian Cinnamon
        Ian Cinnamon

        On this episode of Office Hours, Apex founder and CEO Ian Cinnamon discusses the importance of investing in space exploration and shares his thoughts on the evolving space ecosystem in Los Angeles.


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        This Week in ‘Raises’: Measurabl Snags $93M, Selva Ventures Grabs $34M

        Decerry Donato

        Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

        Raises
        Image by Joshua Letona

        A local data management platform company lands fresh funding to help commercial real estate owners reduce carbon footprint, while one Los Angeles-based venture firm closes its second fund to accelerate the growth of emerging companies across health, wellness, beauty and personal care.

        ***

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        McKinsey & Company Launches InLA Accelerator To Help Underrepresented Founders Tackle Startup Challenges

        Decerry Donato

        Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

        McKinsey & Company Launches InLA Accelerator To Help Underrepresented Founders Tackle Startup Challenges
        InLA

        In 2022, female founders saw a 28% decline in overall U.S. funding, while Black-led startups saw a 38% decline in total capital received. In an effort to increase funding for minority-led startups, global venture firm McKinsey & Company is launching InLA, an accelerator program for underrepresented founders.

        “This effort is something that the firm has been really excited about for a long time,” Engagement Manager Elkhyn Rivas Rodriguez said. “There's obviously a meaningful and growing startup community out here and just from a diversity standpoint, LA is incredibly diverse and multi-ethnic and multicultural. So we think that there will be a really great pool of potential companies to partner with.”

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