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Inspectiv Raises $8.6M To Build a Better Cybersecurity Platform
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.
What do education startups, maternal care platforms and Minecraft servers have in common? They’re all susceptible to hacking.
Also, businesses in each industry use software created by Manhattan Beach-based Inspectiv, which announced Thursday that it’s raised an $8.6 million Series A round to continue developing its artificial intelligence that detects and wipes out security threats.
The new funds bring the total Inspectiv has raised to $16.6 million since its 2018 launch. Founder and chairman Joseph Melika told dot.LA the company’s recent growth has largely been steered by the pandemic as companies put a higher value on data security.
The heightened need for better security, according to Melika, is due to recent changes in how people work. “Just people, frankly, getting distracted,” he said, has made some businesses more vulnerable to hackers.
“They’re working remotely, their laptops are from home [with] no firewall,” he said, adding that has left a lot of systems potentially exposed to hacks.
Inspectiv’s risk management platform runs autonomously 24/7 and is constantly scanning for threats, Melika said. The software isn’t just run on A.I., it's also combined with a network of security researchers. Melika said part of Inspectiv’s intelligence comes from the input of thousands of researchers.
Once it finds a threat, the software alerts Inspectiv, whose vulnerability spot-checkers verify it and identify it to the client. Then, Inspectiv scans its other clients for the same threat, or similar invasions that could be lurking. There’s also the potential for the software to review backup files, in case a company wants to make sure no older resolved threats spring back to life.
Melika pointed out several current Inspectiv clients using its software are local, including GoGuardian, maternal care company Mahmee and Minehut, a platform for people to host custom “Minecraft” servers.
The funding round was led by StepStone Group, among a suite of existing Inspectiv investors including Westwood-based Fika Ventures, San Francisco’s Freestyle Capital and Santa Monica-based Mucker Capital.
CEO Ryan Disraeli (left) and Founder and Chairman Joseph Melika (right)
Courtesy of Inspectiv
Inspectiv also announced a leadership transition this week alongside several new hires – former CEO and co-founder of fraud prevention service Telesign Ryan Disraeli will take the reins as CEO of Inspectiv, while Melika will remain on board as the company’s board chairman.
“Inspectiv is really helping secure the internet, and that was something that personally I could get passionate about,” Disraeli said. “To be able to work with a team of people that we brought in that also has that security background, but also experience scaling up organizations was a pretty exciting opportunity.”
The company also hired Karen Nguyen as chief revenue officer, Ray Espinoza as chief information security officer and Ross Hendrickson to be vice president of engineering. Disraeli said the Inspectiv team is currently 22 people but the company is “adding aggressively to that number” by expanding its product development team.
Disraeli wouldn’t disclose revenues but told dot.LA he’s confident he can grow Inspectiv quickly.
“There's a lot of companies raising money that don't have customers and don't have real growth,” Disraeli said. “This is a company that has real customers that are growing and growing with us.”
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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.
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samsonamore@dot.la
The Upcoming LA Auto Show Is Going to Be Electric
08:43 AM | September 17, 2021
After two years away from the spotlight, the Los Angeles Auto Show is plotting a comeback — and a reinvention with the changing climate.
In the aftermath of pandemic restrictions that started 18 months ago, the upcoming Auto Show — one of Los Angeles' largest events and a major draw for international visitors —will focus not only more on electric vehicles, but on an education on rapidly changing automotive technology.
"This is the decade for the electric car," said Lisa Kaz, owner and CEO of the LA Auto Show. "We're seeing all these new brands enter the market. It's the perfect storm because California leads the market in electrification."
Automakers have in the past used the L.A. show to reveal new car concepts to the public, or to gauge reaction before they're even produced. But the 2021 L.A. Auto Show, scheduled for November 19-28, has more than just the usual automotive hype on its shoulders.
After New York Auto Show organizers canceled their event last month (a result of rising Covid cases), the L.A. Auto Show is now in line to become the first major U.S. auto show since the start of the pandemic. (The Chicago Auto Show held a scaled-down event over five days in July, but only about half the space typically allotted was used and fewer automakers participated.)
The show organizers and auto companies are rethinking the traditional stands and polished array of new vehicles. This year, there will be a 45,000 square-foot indoor track to drive EVs, which will join an expanded slate of outdoor offerings, including driving courses — led by Ford, Jeep and VW, among others — and street-level test drives of certain vehicles.
There's other departures from past shows. Many automakers are moving away from the big splashy media events of past years where they talked up their latest models. And they also are using more outside space to introduce consumers to the latest bells and whistles including smartphone and media integration systems, advanced driving assistance systems and other emerging technologies.
The L.A. Auto Show may well look overseas for inspiration amid pandemic-era restrictions and corporate belt-tightening. Despite that, the International Motor Show of Germany held earlier this month in Munich seemingly went off without a hitch, attracting international media and prominent manufacturers like Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Renault. The widely spaced and masked-up event may serve as a template for such large-scale gatherings as vaccination mandates increase amid the discovery of new variants of the virus.
Still, automakers are keeping their plans for the L.A. show closely guarded for now. Some are still picking up the pieces from planned press conferences in New York, unwilling to commit to anything more than smaller, regional events.
Among the companies expected at the L.A. Auto Show is Manhattan Beach-based Fisker Inc., which plans to showcase its $38,000 Ocean electric SUV — a crucial product for the startup automaker as it tries to capture the mainstream EV market. In a conference call in August, company founder and CEO Henrik Fisker said there were contingency plans if the show were to be canceled again — including a smaller event at another time in November. But a November debut was critical to the car and company's success.
But, given the uncertainty around event planning, not every company is waiting for the biggest stage to unveil their newest vehicles.
Though Irvine-based Karma Automotive initially signed up to participate in the 2020, then 2021, L.A. Auto Show, it chose to unveil its latest product separate from a major auto show and through a virtual presentation for the media.
"We'd fully planned on attending in 2020 and then the pandemic hit," said Jeff Holland, public relations director for Karma. "That changed our planning. You have to stay on it week by week with these shows."
Holland said he saw signs traditional automotive shows are starting to fall back into place, but as the cost and logistics of shipping cars and setting up elaborate stages is weighing on some companies — especially during a global pandemic.
"It's not just the cost to exhibit, but the lighting and materials," Holland said. "And if we have a press conference, there's hosting and scriptwriting and other logistics."
What's Changed
As for consumers, though, Kaz said the L.A. Auto Show still serves as an important introduction to people shopping for a new car with the most up-to-date equipment. She said the show skews towards younger attendees and represents a way car shoppers can learn about advances in vehicles like electrification and advanced driver assistance systems.
"It seems like for most people when they feel like they experience a vehicle it changes perceptions," Kaz said. "We see technology changing so fast and it's been two years since the show has demonstrated it."
Kaz sees the L.A. Auto Show as an event that can lift up the city, even in times of transition. With only about three cancelations in its century-long history, the auto show celebrates this year 50 years at the Los Angeles Convention Center, when the center first opened in 1971.
But if the show doesn't go on, Kaz said she's learned to adapt to the times. More virtual events during the pandemic means a consistent rethink about how large auto shows can thrive when companies are more carefully spending money and the public is doing more shopping from home.
"We're in such unprecedented times now I think we're having to learn to adapt more," she said. "We're fortunate we're in November and not in August."
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Zac Estrada
Zac Estrada is a reporter covering transportation, technology and policy. A former reporter for The Verge and Jalopnik, his work has also appeared in Automobile Magazine, Autoweek, Pacific Standard, Boston.com and BLAC Detroit. A native of Southern California, he is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston. You can find him on Twitter at @zacestrada.
Behind Her Empire Podcast: Real Talk On Building Family And Business with Ashley Merrill, Founder of Lunya
04:51 PM | October 19, 2020
Ashley Merrill, founder of Lunya, is a serial-entrepreneur and investor whose personal mission is to elevate and empower women and girls.
In 2012, Merrill started business school and in the same month realized she was pregnant with her first child. The news lit a now-or-never fire and pushed her to overcome her fears and launch the company she had been thinking about for years: Lunya, a luxury sleepwear line that provides confidence to the modern woman.
On this episode of the Behind Her Empire podcast, we have an honest conversation about why we need more successful women in business, what the journey was like starting a high-growth company while raising two young kids and the importance of partnership in marriage.
Ashley is also the chairwoman of Outdoor Voices, an activewear brand; founder of Lahgo, a men's luxury sleepwear line and her newest project, the Deep, a platform for curious people that aims to change the way we have conversations with each other.
Want more? Subscribe to Behind Her Empire on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify iHeart Radio or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Yasmin Nouri
Yasmin is the host of the "Behind Her Empire" podcast, focused on highlighting self-made women leaders and entrepreneurs and how they tackle their career, money, family and life.
Each episode covers their unique hero's journey and what it really takes to build an empire with key lessons learned along the way. The goal of the series is to empower you to see what's possible & inspire you to create financial freedom in your own life.
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