LA Tech Updates: GoodRx IPO?; Trump Gives Green Light for  Microsoft to Acquire TikTok

Rachel Uranga

Rachel Uranga is dot.LA's Managing Editor, News. She is a former Mexico-based market correspondent at Reuters and has worked for several Southern California news outlets, including the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has covered everything from IPOs to immigration. Uranga is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and California State University Northridge. A Los Angeles native, she lives with her husband, son and their felines.

LA Tech Updates: GoodRx IPO?; Trump Gives Green Light for  Microsoft to Acquire TikTok
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

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:

  • Reuters reports GoodRx is looking to go public
  • If American company doesn't buy Tiktok by Sept. 15, Trump said "it will be out of business."

          If U.S. Company Doesn't Buy Tiktok by Sept. 15, Trump Said "It Will be Out of Business."

          TikTok got at least a temporary reprieve in the ongoing battle between the U.S. and Chinese governments over its fate.

          President Donald Trump said Monday TikTok could be bought by an American company after threatening to ban it in the U.S. on Friday. The move opens the door to a Microsoft acquisition but if no deal is reached by September 15th, Trump said TikTok "will be out of business in the United States."

          Trump also added a new wrinkle to the negotiations, saying that "a very substantial portion" of the purchase would have to go to the U.S. Treasury, "because we're making it possible for this deal to happen." It is not yet clear how that would work.

          Trump's remarks follow a recent conversation with Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella about his firm's intentions to potentially acquire the Chinese-owned company, Microsoft wrote in a blog post Sunday. The President stated he will hold off banning TikTok while Microsoft negotiates with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

          According to Microsoft's statement, the two companies are exploring a proposal wherein the Seattle-based software behemoth would purchase and operate TikTok's operations in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The acquisition could also include participation from minority investors.

          In its statement, Microsoft touted its ability to add "world-class security, privacy and digital safety protections" to TikTok, which could assuage the national security concerns of many U.S. government officials over the Chinese government's access to TikTok's data.

          Specific security measures mentioned in Microsoft's statement include ensuring that TikTok's data on American users is transferred to and remains in the U.S., and that any American user data in servers outside the country is deleted.

          Microsoft underscored that the discussions are preliminary. "We do not intend to provide further updates until there is a definitive outcome to our discussions," the statement said.

          The two companies have given notice of their intent to pursue a deal to the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which is already investigating whether ByteDance's 2018 acquisition of L.A.-based Musical.ly threatens national security.

          Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called the discussions "a win-win in the making" while Senator Marco Rubio, who has been critical of TikTok, has said if the company and its data can be "purchased & secured by a trusted U.S. company that would be a positive & acceptable outcome."

          GoodRx is Reportedly Looking to Go Public

          shallow focus photography of prescription bottle with capsulesPhoto by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

          The prescription marketplace platform GoodRx Inc has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering, Reuters reported Sunday.

          The Santa Monica-based company was valued at $2.8 billion in 2018 when private equity firm Silver Lake took a stake. Reuters reported the company is hiring IPO advisers and the listing could come later this year or early 2021.

          Last year, the company purchased HeyDoctor, a telemedicine service that has expanded its care options.


          https://twitter.com/racheluranga
          rachel@dot.la

          Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

          Relativity Space Launches World’s First 3D-Printed Rocket, But Falls Short of Orbit

          Samson Amore

          Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and 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 @Samsonamore.

          Relativity Space Launches World’s First 3D-Printed Rocket, But Falls Short of Orbit
          Photo: Relativity Space

          The largest 3D-printed object to ever fly had liftoff yesterday as Long Beach-based Relativity Space launched its Terran 1 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

          Terran 1 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at around 7 p.m. PST March 22. It was Relativity’s third attempt at sending Terran 1 to the cosmos and the nighttime launch was quite a sight to behold. The clarity of the night sky was perfect to see the blue jets of flame cascading out of Terran 1’s nine Aeon 1 engines, all 3D-printed, as the rocket took off.

          Read moreShow less
          https://twitter.com/samsonamore
          samsonamore@dot.la

          What Is ‘Embodied Audio?’ And Can It Help Professional Sports Teams Fill Their Stadiums?

          Samson Amore

          Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and 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 @Samsonamore.

          What Is ‘Embodied Audio?’ And Can It Help Professional Sports Teams Fill Their Stadiums?
          Photo: Edge Sound Research

          In 2020, the Minnesota Twins experimented with a new technology that brought fans the ability to physically feel the sounds they were hearing in the stadium in the back of their seats as part of a new immersive way to experience baseball.

          The tech was made by Riverside-based startup Edge Sound Research, which built a mobile lounge – basically, a small seating section equipped with its technology and on wheels to travel around the stadium – for Twins fans to experience what it calls “embodied audio” around Target field. It was a bid on the Twins’ part to keep fans more engaged during the game, and Edge Sound Research CEO Valtteri Salomaki said the Twins were impressed.

          Read moreShow less
          https://twitter.com/samsonamore
          samsonamore@dot.la

          LA Venture: B Capital’s Howard Morgan on What To Look For in Potential Founders

          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 Venture: B Capital’s Howard Morgan on What To Look For in Potential Founders
          Provided by LAV

          On this episode of the LA Venture podcast, B Capital Group General Partner and Chair Howard Morgan discusses his thoughts on early stage investing and the importance of company ownership.


          Read moreShow less
          RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS
          LA TECH JOBS
          interchangeLA
          Trending