Snap Partners with Headspace, Bringing Meditation to the Snapchat Masses

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

Snap Partners with Headspace, Bringing Meditation to the Snapchat Masses

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Snap Inc unveiled a flurry of new features and products at its partner summit on Thursday. The Santa Monica company held its event virtually this year due to the coronavirus.

Chief Executive Evan Spiegel kicked things off with brief remarks, including an announcement that Snap is partnering with Headspace, also based in Santa Monica.

"Soon, directly in Snapchat, Headspace will offer meditations and tools that help Snapchatters check in with their friends and family, and stay healthy," Spiegel said.

Yesterday, Headspace closed a $47.7 million raise, part of their Series C that was $53 million in equity and $40 million in debt.

Snap Inc. Chief Executive Evan Spiegel kicked off this year's partner summit, which was held virtually due to coronavirus fears.

Spiegel also noted that the Snap app will soon feature a new toolbar with tabs for chat, maps, camera, friends and its Discover platform.

Much of the presentation centered around AR, which the company has been building on for eight years. That work shows up on Snap's app in the form of "lenses," which overlay digital features onto a camera's subject. Lenses are developed by Snap and also by independent users.

Snap claims about 1 million lenses are available in total and that over 170 million users engage with them on a daily basis, nearly 30 times each day.

A procession of Snap executives followed Spiegel in rapid succession, introducing new features and partnerships related to their divisions. Here are a few of the highlights:

Snap's AR Lenses Get Supercharged

Snap's Lens Studio, a desktop app for third-party developers and artists to develop their own lenses, will now allow developers to upload their code into the studio platform and use their own machine learning models to create lens designs.

New "local lenses", meanwhile, will use 360 image capture, user snaps, and other data in conjunction with 3D-reconstruction, machine learning and distributed cloud computing technology to "build a representation of the physical world...and map whole city blocks", allowing a new level of AR mapping onto users' surroundings.

Snap's local lenses will allow users to transform cities with AR

Snap's scanning feature will soon enable users to point their cameras at plants, dogs, nutritional labels and brands to get more information, such as the type of plant, dog breed, health information and company histories. Scan will also begin accommodating voice activation. Users will be able to ask Snapchat to add on AR features like a new hot-pink hairdo or a cuddly bearhug.

"Today Scan helps you learn more about what you're seeing in front of you," a Snap executive said. "Tomorrow, it will give you results based on what you're saying."

Snap's scanning technology got an upgrade

Snap's Discover Platform Inks New Partnerships with Disney, ESPN and Sports Leagues

Snap announced expanded partnerships with Disney, ESPN, NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, the NBA and the NFL for its Discover platform. These multi-year deals will reportedly include shows repurposed for mobile viewing, original content, and highlights.

The company also introduced Happening Now, "aimed to be the fastest way for Snapchatters to consume breaking news." Updates from partners including the Washington Post, Reuters and Bloomberg will appear in mobile-friendly format.

Snap announced several new shows as well, including unscripted, scripted and docuseries formats. It also renewed four original series.

Snap Ramps Up Integration With Brands and Companies

Snap Minis, designed by third-party developers, are new utility features that integrate into Snap users' chat windows. As The Information reported last month, this functionality resembles Chinese chat platform WeChat, which takes a cut of in-app purchases. In an interview with The Verge, Spiegel explained that Minis represent Snap's expansion into e-commerce.

The initial slate of Minis includes partnerships with L.A.-based Atom Tickets, which will make it easier for Snap users to plan a group movie theater outing, and L.A.-based Mammoth Media, which will allow users to share predictions with their friends. Quick meditations from Headspace, flashcards for studying from Saturn Technologies, and coordination planning for Coachella are also among the new Mini features.

The Next Small Thing from Snapchat...Minis! | Snap Partner Summit 2020

Minis will begin to roll out next month, the company said.

Separately, Snap will also allow other applications to incorporate its AR tech.

"We built one of the world's most powerful AR cameras so you don't have to," an executive said.

Apps that will integrate Snap's AR functionality include Triller, which allows users to create their own music videos; MLB's Ballpark app, wherein teams will offer customized lenses for fans; and a new app from Nike that challenges users to reach their fitness and wellness goals.

And through "dynamic lenses," Snapchat will import lenses from other apps, including Houseparty and Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

Snap's Maps Functionality Allows Friends to Find Each Other and Local Businesses

"In an effort to help out local businesses," Spiegel said, "we're rolling out Places on the Snap Map, highlighting places that are popular with our community and easily allowing the places we love to let people know they're open for business."

Snap Unveils A New Slate of Games

Finally, Snap announced several third-party games that will now allow users to bring in their Bitmoji digital avatars, including Scrabble Go, developed by Culver City-based Scopely Inc.

Snap also introduced 10 new games that will be available on its platform. Bitmoji Paint, for example, designed by Snap's internal studio, "is a global canvas where millions of players in the Snapchat community come together to contribute to one massive collage," an executive described.

Snap's slate of games continues to grow

Spiegel returned to the stage to close out the keynote section of the summit before it dispersed into several virtual rooms to elaborate on specific announcements.

"We believe that the Snapchat generation will help create a world built on real friendship, shared success, positivity and possibility – putting people, the environment and our values first," he said in his closing remarks. "We are all kind, smart and creative and we will build a brighter future together."

The summit comes as Snap has found itself at the center of a fraught back-and-forth with the president. Earlier this month, the self-described camera company made headlines by deciding to stop promoting President Donald Trump's account on its Discover platform, where users watch Snap-curated content. The company did not directly address the issue on Thursday.

In response to Snap's announcements, Credit Suisse wrote that it is "feeling incrementally more optimistic about the company's ability to maintain or even gain time spent with its user base."

Snap's stock fell over 7% on the day at the market close, on a day when the S&P 500 index dropped nearly 6%.

From Your Site Articles

The LA Startup Taking on One of Parenting’s Most Frustrating Problems

Grace Lee

🔦 Spotlight

Hello Los Angeles,

Every parent knows the feeling of becoming an overnight expert in something they never wanted to learn.

For families navigating developmental delays, behavioral health needs, autism, speech therapy, occupational therapy or pediatric mental health support, that learning curve can become a full-time job. Finding the right specialist is hard enough. Getting those specialists, pediatricians, insurers and families to actually coordinate with each other? That’s often where the system breaks.

That’s the problem Los Angeles-based Village is trying to solve.

The specialty pediatrics startup raised $9.5 million in seed funding this week, led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from Bling Capital, GTMFund and Perceptive Ventures.

Its AI-powered platform is designed to bring families, providers, pediatricians and payers into one coordinated care system for children with developmental, behavioral and mental health needs.

The company was born out of co-founder Brandon Terry’s personal experience navigating care for his daughter after she was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. Like many parents, his family faced long waitlists, high out-of-pocket costs and a fragmented web of specialists who were not necessarily working from the same playbook.

The pitch is not simply “find a provider faster.” Village wants to coordinate the entire team around a child, including occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, behavioral therapists and pediatricians. Its AI agent, Vera, is designed to help with the administrative drag that often slows pediatric practices down: scheduling, documentation, billing and care coordination.

The company’s raise also points to a less flashy, but deeply consequential corner of health tech: making complex care easier to navigate. In specialty pediatrics, the pain point is not always the quality of care itself. It is the space between appointments, referrals, insurance approvals and provider communication where families are often left to connect the dots themselves.

So far, Village says it has built a network of more than 400 independent pediatric specialty providers in Southern California and has contracts with major commercial insurers including Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Cigna and UnitedHealthcare. The new funding will help the company expand across Southern California, into other parts of California and eventually into new states.

In other words, the next wave of healthcare infrastructure may not look like one giant hospital system. It may look more like a connected network built around the people who have been holding the system together all along: families.

And yes, in this case, it really does take a Village.

Venture deals follow below.👇

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

MOSH, the brain health nutrition brand co-founded by Maria Shriver and Patrick Schwarzenegger, raised a $13M Series A led by Main Street Advisors to expand nationally across grocery retailers and accelerate product innovation. The Los Angeles-based company plans to use the funding to grow its retail footprint, including an upcoming Target launch, while expanding its lineup of brain-focused nutrition products with new high-protein bars designed to support both cognitive and physical performance. - learn more

Spring Labs raised $5M to expand its AI-native compliance platform for banks and fintechs, with the funding led by BankTech Ventures and Haymaker Ventures. The Marina del Rey-based company is building AI agents that automate complaint handling, dispute resolution, and other compliance workflows, helping regulated financial institutions scale operations more efficiently while maintaining oversight and auditability. - learn more

FlowPrompt.ai secured a strategic seed investment from ART Fund SP, part of ChainBLX SPC, as the company expands its AI orchestration platform designed to help developers build and manage complex AI workflows through a visual interface. Alongside the investment, the companies also launched a global AI hackathon and builder program that will give selected founders access to funding opportunities, platform tools, and a live investor pitch event in Los Angeles later this summer. - learn more

Chance Studios raised $3.2M to build a unified platform for trading card game collectors, aiming to bring inventory management, marketplace activity, and community features into a single ecosystem. The round was co-led by Makers Fund and Hashed, with participation from Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, GAM3GIRL VC, and others, as the company looks to modernize how collectors buy, track, and interact around physical and digital TCG assets. - learn more

LA Venture Funds

Rebel Fund participated in Moritz’s $9M seed round, backing the AI-native law firm as it looks to automate large portions of routine corporate legal work. The company combines software with experienced attorneys to speed up contract drafting and review, and says it has already handled more than $2 billion worth of contracts across over 100 companies since launching earlier this year. - learn more

Rebel Fund participated in Corvera’s $4.2M seed round, backing the AI-native supply chain platform as it automates back-office operations for consumer packaged goods brands. The Y Combinator-backed startup is building AI agents that can handle workflows like order processing, invoicing, and demand planning across fragmented enterprise systems, helping brands scale operations without significantly increasing headcount. - learn more

Chaac Ventures participated in Astrocade’s $5.6M funding round, backing the gaming startup as it builds a social gaming platform centered around community-created interactive experiences. The company is focused on blending gaming, streaming, and creator tools into a more collaborative entertainment platform, and plans to use the funding to expand development and grow its creator ecosystem. - learn more

Fusion VC participated in MSICS Pharma’s $3.6M funding round, backing the biotech company as it advances psilocybin-based treatments for PTSD, depression, and OCD. The company is developing medical-grade psychedelic compounds and plans to use the funding to expand production, accelerate clinical trials, and prepare for broader commercialization as interest in psychedelic therapies continues to grow. - learn more

JAM Fund participated in Fun’s $72M Series A, backing the payments infrastructure startup as it scales its platform for moving money across fintech and digital asset applications. The round was co-led by Multicoin Capital and SignalFire, and the company plans to use the funding to expand internationally, pursue acquisitions, and deepen its infrastructure stack as demand grows for faster global payment systems. - learn more

LA Exits

Tapin2 was acquired by Greater Sum Ventures, joining MyVenue as part of GSV’s expanded point-of-sale technology platform for stadiums, arenas and live entertainment venues. Tapin2 provides self-service, suite catering and mobile ordering technology for high-volume sports and entertainment venues, while MyVenue offers cloud-native POS software across concessions, premium seating, retail, in-seat ordering and other venue operations. Together, the companies say their technology is used in more than 70% of MLB and NFL stadiums. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. - learn more

Motiv Space Systems signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Rocket Lab, bringing its space robotics, motion control systems and precision spacecraft mechanisms into Rocket Lab’s growing space systems business. Motiv’s technology has supported major missions including NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and lunar rover programs, and the company will be rebranded as Rocket Lab Robotics after the deal closes, which is expected in the second quarter of 2026. - learn more

Robyn was acquired by Los Angeles-based Tot Squad, bringing its AI-powered doula tool into Tot Squad’s broader support platform for expecting and new moms. Robyn’s AI was trained on more than 70,000 de-identified messages between parents and doulas, and the acquisition will help Tot Squad offer free, around-the-clock pregnancy and early motherhood guidance alongside access to human experts like doulas, lactation consultants and sleep coaches. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. - learn more

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Match Goes Niche With $100M Move

Grace Lee

🔦 Spotlight

Hello Los Angeles,

It’s May, and LA is about to have one of its more important weeks.

The Milken Institute Global Conference 2026 returns to Beverly Hills next week, bringing together thousands of investors, operators, policymakers, and executives. It’s one of the few places where public markets, private capital, and tech actually overlap in the same rooms, and where you can usually get an early read on what capital is leaning into before it fully shows up in the data.

This year, one theme is already starting to surface. Platforms are getting more specific, not more broad.

This week’s news is a good example.

Match Group is investing $100 million into Sniffies, a fast-growing, location-based platform built for gay, bi, trans, and queer men. It’s a notable move for a company best known for mainstream dating apps like Tinder and Hinge, and it signals a deeper push into more niche, community-driven platforms.

Sniffies operates very differently from traditional dating apps. It’s more real-time, more map-based, and more focused on immediacy than long-term matching. In other words, it’s built around behavior, not profiles.

And that’s what makes the investment interesting.

For years, the dominant strategy in consumer platforms was scale, build one product that works for everyone. But what we’re seeing now is the opposite. The platforms that are gaining traction tend to be the ones that understand a specific audience deeply and build for how that group actually behaves.

Match leaning into that shift isn’t just about expanding its portfolio. It’s a recognition that growth is coming from focus.

And in a city like Los Angeles, that’s usually where things start.

Below are this week’s venture deals and fund announcements across LA 👇

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

Illuminant Surgical raised an $8.4M seed round to accelerate the rollout of its real-time anatomical projection platform, which aims to give surgeons enhanced visibility during procedures. The company’s “Skylight” system is designed to project internal imaging directly onto the patient, improving precision and reducing risk, and the funding will support product development and early commercialization efforts. - learn more

Jupid raised $840K in early funding to support its AI-native accounting platform, which is designed to automate bookkeeping, tax filing, and compliance for small businesses directly within banking platforms. The company is building what it describes as an embedded “AI accountant” that integrates with financial institutions to streamline operations for entrepreneurs, and plans to use the funding to expand partnerships and accelerate product development as demand grows for automated financial tools. - learn more

Lumicup raised a $4.38M Series A to expand its product line and scale manufacturing as it looks to meet growing demand for its consumer health and wellness products. The company plans to use the funding to increase production capacity, invest in new product development, and strengthen its distribution as it continues to grow its footprint in the market. - learn more

Counterpart raised a $50M Series C to expand its AI-driven “agentic insurance” platform, which helps small businesses manage growing legal and employment risks tied to AI adoption. The round was led by Valor Equity Partners with participation from existing investor Vy Capital, bringing the company’s total funding to $106M, and the capital will be used to launch new insurance products, expand risk management capabilities, and scale its underwriting platform. - learn more

Nervonik raised a $52.5M Series B to advance its next-generation peripheral nerve stimulation technology, which aims to deliver more precise, personalized treatment for chronic pain. The round was led by Amzak Health with participation from Elevage Medical Technologies, U.S. Venture Partners, Lumira Ventures, Foothill Ventures, and Shangbay Capital, and the company plans to use the funding to accelerate clinical programs and move toward commercialization. - learn more

LighthouseAI raised an $8M Series A to expand its AI-powered platform that helps pharmaceutical companies manage state licensing and regulatory compliance. The round was led by Boxcars Ventures with participation from TGVP and existing investors, and the company plans to use the funding to enhance product development, improve service delivery, and support continued growth as it scales across the pharma supply chain. - learn more

LA Venture Funds

MANTIS Venture Capital participated in Rogo’s $75M Series C, backing the AI platform as it builds autonomous financial agents designed to streamline complex workflows for banks and investment firms. The round was led by Sequoia Capital and included a mix of major financial institutions and venture firms, signaling strong demand for AI tools that can augment decision-making across high-stakes finance. - learn more

M13 participated in Chord’s $7M funding round, backing the AI commerce platform as it builds a “context layer” designed to unify fragmented data, tools, and workflows for retail brands. The round was led by Equal Ventures with participation from Chingona Ventures and CEAS Investments, and the company aims to help operators move beyond dashboards toward systems that can make real-time decisions and automate actions across the business. - learn more

Fika Ventures participated in Lumian’s funding round, backing the startup as it launches an AI-native Amazon agency designed to automate and optimize how brands operate on the marketplace. The company is focused on replacing traditional agency workflows with AI-driven systems that can manage everything from advertising to operations in real time, reflecting a broader shift toward automation in e-commerce. - learn more

Riot Ventures co-led True Anomaly’s $650M Series D, backing the defense space startup as it scales spacecraft, software, and autonomous systems designed for national security missions in orbit. The round values the company at around $2.2 billion and brings total funding to over $1 billion since its 2022 founding, and the company plans to use the capital to accelerate mission deployments, expand manufacturing, and grow its workforce as demand increases for space-based defense capabilities. - learn more

Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in Clarasight’s $11.5M Series A, backing the AI-powered travel and expense platform as it works to unify fragmented enterprise data into a single system. The round was led by AlleyCorp with participation from several travel and fintech-focused investors, and the company plans to use the funding to expand product development and scale go-to-market efforts as demand grows for AI-driven efficiency in corporate travel. - learn more

Halogen Ventures and Mucker Capital participated in SkyfireAI’s $11M seed round, backing the startup as it builds an AI-native platform for coordinating autonomous, multi-drone operations. The company’s software is designed for public safety and defense use cases, helping teams deploy and manage fleets of drones with greater speed and efficiency without increasing staffing, and it plans to use the funding to accelerate product development, expand its team, and scale deployments with government and mission-critical customers as demand grows for autonomous drone systems. - learn more

Matter Venture Partners led OpenLight’s $50M Series A-1, with participation from Acclimate Ventures, Catapult Ventures, and existing investors, backing the photonics company as it scales its next-generation chip platform for AI infrastructure. The funding brings total capital raised to $84M and will be used to accelerate global deployment of its silicon photonics technology across data centers, telecom, and other high-bandwidth applications. - learn more

Alexandria Venture Investments participated in Fathom Therapeutics’ $47M Series A, backing the biotech startup as it applies quantum chemistry and AI to design next-generation small molecule drugs. The oversubscribed round was led by Sutter Hill Ventures with participation from Chemistry and other investors, and the company plans to advance its platform, which simulates protein behavior inside living cells to accelerate drug discovery. - learn more

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Netflix Doubles Down on LA

Grace Lee

🔦 Spotlight

Hey Los Angeles.

Goodbye Coachella, hello Stagecoach. The desert doesn’t stay quiet for long, and neither does LA’s entertainment machine.

This week, that momentum showed up in a more permanent way.

Netflix is expanding its footprint in Los Angeles with a major move to take over and invest in Radford Studio Center, a historic production lot in Studio City. The company is planning a long-term transformation of the site, with upgrades to soundstages, production offices, and infrastructure designed to support the next generation of film and television production.

It’s a notable shift in a moment when production has been under pressure in California, with studios increasingly looking outside the state for cost advantages. Netflix going deeper in LA, and specifically into a legacy studio lot, signals a different kind of commitment. Not just to content, but to where that content actually gets made.

And it comes at a time when the streaming wars have matured. Growth is harder, budgets are tighter, and the focus has shifted from scale at all costs to efficiency and control. Owning or operating more of the production environment gives Netflix tighter control over timelines, costs, and output.

For Los Angeles, it’s a reminder of what still anchors the city. Even as AI, defense tech, and infrastructure startups continue to rise, entertainment remains one of the few industries where LA isn’t just competitive, it’s foundational.

Different headlines each week, but a consistent theme underneath them. Whether it’s power, autonomy, or content, the companies that matter are investing in the layers they don’t want to outsource.

And in this case, that layer is Hollywood itself.

Below are this week’s venture deals, fund announcements, and acquisitions across LA 👇

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Venture Funds

UP Partners and Calm Ventures participated in Reliable Robotics’ $160M funding round, backing the autonomous aviation company as it advances pilotless flight technology for cargo and passenger aircraft. The round included a mix of new and existing investors, and the company plans to use the capital to accelerate certification efforts and expand deployment of its autonomous systems across commercial aviation. - learn more

Blue Heron Ventures participated in Tava Health’s $40M Series C, backing the company as it expands its tech-enabled mental health platform into a more integrated, full-stack system for providers, employers, and health plans. The round was led by Centana Growth Partners with participation from existing investors, and the company plans to use the funding to roll out new AI-powered tools and broaden access to care while reducing administrative friction across the system. - learn more

Vamos Ventures participated in Zócalo Health’s $15M Series A, backing the company as it scales its tech-enabled, community-based primary care model focused on high-need and underserved populations. The round was led by .406 Ventures with participation from existing and new investors, and the company plans to use the funding to expand its clinics and deepen partnerships with Medicaid programs as demand for accessible care grows. - learn more

LA Exits

Studio71 has been acquired by Fixated as part of a broader deal in which German media company ProSiebenSat.1 sold its North American creator business, giving Fixated a large-scale network of creators and podcast operations and significantly expanding its footprint as it continues an aggressive roll-up strategy in the creator economy. The move signals continued consolidation in the space, with Fixated building a more vertically integrated platform across talent management, content production, and distribution. - learn more

Bonsai Health has been acquired by ModMed, bringing its AI-powered patient engagement platform into a broader healthcare software ecosystem. The deal is aimed at integrating Bonsai’s “agentic AI” capabilities into ModMed’s platform to automate patient outreach, fill care gaps, and improve scheduling across a network of nearly 50,000 providers. - learn more

Snap Partners with Headspace, Bringing Meditation to the Snapchat Masses

Snap's AR Lenses Get Supercharged

Snap's Discover Platform Inks New Partnerships with Disney, ESPN and Sports Leagues

Snap Ramps Up Integration With Brands and Companies

Snap's Maps Functionality Allows Friends to Find Each Other and Local Businesses

Snap Unveils A New Slate of Games

🔦 Spotlight

🤝 Venture Deals

🔦 Spotlight

🤝 Venture Deals

🔦 Spotlight

🤝 Venture Deals

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