Former SpaceX Engineer’s Platform for Makers of EV, Rockets and Air Taxis Raises $14M

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

​First Resonance founders Neal Sarraf and Karan Talati.

Led by a former SpaceX engineer, First Resonance makes software for aerospace and electric car makers to manage their inventory, supply chain and manufacturing process.

Over the last year, the company has seen revenue shoot up 500% year-over-year and their customer base has doubled, according to the startup. This week, it raised a $14 million Series A to build out its flagship platform, ION.


CEO and co-founder Karan Talati wouldn’t share specific revenue figures but said two of the companies it works with, Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation and Alameda-based Astra, went public over the last year which accelerated their demand for his company’s products.

“As their needs and their companies grow, our factory operating system is keeping up with them and growing into new needs,” Talati said.

While the three-year old company was originally created to service aerospace manufacturers, Talati and the team decided to target manufacturing across several industries in order to maximize its revenue potential.

“What all these companies have in common is some of these trends of electrification of moving towards (3D printing), to having kind of cyber-physical systems,” he said.

First Resonance’s team has grown from seven full-time employees earlier this year to 20 now, and there’s plans to hire more engineers. The company is based in Downtown LA but continues to work remotely during the pandemic.

Some of the changes coming to the ION platform will include tools to help manufacturing plants manage their supply chains, including allowing them to track inventory, parts purchasing and receipts. ION also has a function that can analyze these and other supply chain data to give builders a forecast of what they need to do in order to meet deadlines.

First Resonance has raised $19.3 million since its 2018 launch following this round. The Series A was led by new investor Craft Ventures, a heavy-hitting VC firm based in San Francisco. Craft Ventures has invested in and sold companies including Dapper Collectives (Brud), Bird, CloudKitchens, financing platform Affirm and Airbnb. The firm was also an early investor in SpaceX, where Talati worked as an engineer for three years. Existing investors Wavemaker Partners, Fika Ventures, Stage VP and Blue Bear Capital, which led First Resonance’s $3.5 million seed round in February, also participated in this round.

Talati said First Resonance isn’t targeting an IPO or sale any time soon, but said Craft is an important new backer because “they have an investment in a fast-scaling software-as-a-service business” like First Resonance.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

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.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

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 space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

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