LA Tech Week: The Auctioning of an NFT From AI LA

Andrew Fiouzi
Andrew Fiouzi is an editor at dot.LA. He was previously a features writer at MEL Magazine where he covered masculinity, tech and true crime. His work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Long Reads and Vice, among other publications.
LA Tech Week: The Auctioning of an NFT From AI LA
Fun for Funds Festival (Image c/o AI LA)

A Custom Home Built in 33 Days

In the suburbs of Silver Lake, Cover — a technology company that builds custom backyard homes is showcasing their latest, life-size lego abode. Their latest $270,000 accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is built atop a garage on a slanted hill that required some standard contracting work. But other than laying the concrete foundation every other part of this home was built in Cover’s new 80,000 square feet factory in Gardena.

If Tesla was in the home-building business, this is what it would look like.


“Our approach is similar to Tesla,” says Cover’s technological advisor to the CEO Rico Jaeggi. “Start with high-end products then, through scaling we can bring the cost down.” In other words, as a few of their other employees tell me, Cover’s current model is equivalent to Tesla’s roadster.

The idea is to streamline the homebuilding process so that, “if you work an eight-hour job, you never see us in your backyard,” says Jaeggi. In other words, with Cover you’ll never have to worry about seeing a contractor drop a stack of lumber in your backyard then disappear for a few weeks.

The 550 square-foot, single-room home I’m touring was built in 33 days. The bathroom is aseptic and white and the paneling on the ceiling–also white–can be unscrewed and removed like a car bumper in case there’s a leak. Cover co-founder Alexis Rivas tells me that although the homes are built on production lines using algorithms, the layouts are custom.

“You can move the door to this side of the home and you can put the bathroom and the kitchen anywhere you want,” he adds.

On my way out, the valet attendant who works in construction asks what I thought of the house. I tell him it looks good. That his job might soon be automated and, instead of laboring in the sun, he may be working behind a computer for a software company. He looks at me like I just told him he’s had a death in the family. Then he shakes his head. “Nah man,” he says. “That ain’t me.”

The VC Fund in Silver Lake

Inside a small office space that was recently vacated by reselling platform Depop, Worklife Ventures is hosting one of only a handful of L.A. Tech Week events on the Eastside of Los Angeles.

“They [presumably the folks that helped put on L.A. Tech Week] encouraged us to relocate our event to the Westside, but the Eastside is the heart of L.A.,” says Brian Yip, head of marketing at Worklife.

The small studio space looks like what you’d imagine from a V.C. fund aiming for some Silver Lake street cred: a panel of vinyl records, recessed ceilings coated in yellow paint and a Cup Noodles placard the size of a movie poster hanging on the wall. The event is jam-packed and Nelly’s “Country Grammar” blaring through the speakers makes it difficult to hear anyone say anything.

Currently, the space features merch from Canadian YouTuber Cody Ko. Last month, Yip tells me, they hosted Grailed superseller 4Gseller for an in-person retail pop-up. Worklife, per Yip, is a fund aimed at helping to connect digital communities in real life.

Inside Worklife’s Silver Lake studio, I also meet Joshua Blackwell, founder of Blck Unicrn — a Web3 project he describes as Netflix meets Spotify. Blackwell further explains that the idea is “to bring stories to life via immersive experiences and through augmented reality.” For example, he continues, “what if the ‘Thriller’ video kept going and you could be in the house with the zombies?” In other words, Blackwell says, “the concept is to mix the concert experience with the immersive nature of being inside an escape room.”

His idea sounds promising. If it were me though, I’d maybe consider reframing the pitch.

Auctioning an NFT of an AI’s Interpretation of LA

A few blocks from Downtown Los Angeles’s Skid Row, where roughly 8,000 men and women live in encampments, sits the steel and glass 1010 Wilshire building guarded by a brass Buddha statue as tall as a middling palm tree. On 1010’s labyrinthine rooftop, AI LA is hosting its luxurious $150 per ticket ($250 for V.I.P.) Fun for Funds Festival to promote AI literacy in the city of Los Angeles.

Here, the ills that plague society have been given the NFT treatment: Five 10x4 feet screens display glittering images with a variable backstory. Their similarity to a Microsoft music visualizer circa Windows 2000 is uncanny.

Each screen represents a different district in Los Angeles, something participants learn after they’ve scanned the screen-adjacent QR code. Each district has a 15-second clip from the NFT collection. The first display– or “District 1” as it’s referred to–covers Downtown and East L.A. According to the information drawn from the QR code, the main challenge in District 1 is “access to quality jobs, retail stores and perhaps most importantly—food.”

This being an AI event, the solution, as suggested by the information drawn from the QR code, is reinventing the supply chain “through smart supply systems” and via “AI-based monitoring.”

So what do the mashing molecules on the screen have to do with any of this? James Macion, the data analyst tasked with pulling public data and grouping the data into themes tried his best to put it in terms I can understand.

“For example, District 4 represents racial equity,” says Macion. So Macion pulled data sets related to racial equity: population, education, social depression and language. The data was then given to award-winning independent media studio Ouchhh to create AI-generated NFTs. In other words, the psychedelic renderings are the visual incarnation of the data that tells us everything that’s wrong with our society. The idea, Macion says, was to make the AI-generated art, “homegrown for L.A.”

According to the summary of “District 3’s” future, AI predictive models will play a role in “anticipating housing needs of individuals who are encountering circumstances that may cause them to be unhoused and connecting them to relevant resources before they become unhoused.” This is all to suggest that AI is the future and it’s here to save the world from suffering.

The event is the brainchild of AI LA’s founder, president and executive director Todd Terrazas, who tells me that AI LA’s goal–among other things–is to promote AI literacy to “fewer white guys.” The way he plans to do this is by piloting AI literacy programs in community colleges where students of color comprise 60% of enrollment.

Early in the evening, Terrazas promises that when the sun goes down the screens will change. That they will then display one-of-one NFTs produced by Ouchhh that will soon travel to a Mozilla conference in Hawaii and that the attendants of the AI LA event can bid on to become owners of the NFT.

The other major AI enterprise at the event is Jeremy Fojut’s friendship-finding platform Like|Minded. After diving into psychological research about friendship and personalities, Fojut, also the co-founder of NEWaukee, known for hosting community events in Milwaukee, turned his attention to developing a platform that uses a personality assessment to match individuals within an organization to help them form meaningful connections and increase their engagement within their company.

The algorithm is based on HEXACO, a personality inventory that assesses a person's honesty, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. Fojut promises the algorithm won’t lead to issues oft-associated with group think or conformity since the algorithm “doesn’t define your entire identity, but rather highlights the parts of you that are most present in your worldview and interactions with other people.”

Perhaps even more compelling is Like|Minded’s use in establishing mentorships within organizations by leveraging the inverse of the algorithm to match people, which Fojut refers to as “growth matches.”

An hour or so before nightfall, Stephen Piron is staring at an installation of old TVs of variable sizes displaying the footage of cameras recording different parts of the party. Piron is the founder of Dessa — acquired by Square in 2016 and famous for creating deep fakes, the most notable of which was a Joe Rogan clip that went viral in 2019. Piron is a veteran of the deep learning space and he seems eager to leave this party. But not before he tells me about how he and his colleagues at Dessa tripped and fell onto their AI-generated deep-fake notoriety.

“It was an accident,” he says. They were bored working on projects that helped banks detect fraud, so, he says, “some of us started working on this other thing.”

Near the end of the evening, as promised, the NFT auction begins when the electric-blue NFT graphic transforms into an abstract red, white and black animation. The bidding begins at $500.

“If you don’t buy this for $500,” begins the auctioneer, comedian Alli Goldberg. “You’re a broke bitch and we hate you.”

The bidding on the first of five, one-of-one NFTs reaches $4,300. From the ground floor, I can still hear the auctioneer as I exit the building.

Rain's Latest Funding Fuels the Future of Financial Wellness

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday,

This week, the LA tech scene buzzed with news that Rain, a leader in financial wellness, hassecured $75 million in Series B equity funding, spearheaded by Prosus. This isn't just another funding round; it's a pivotal chapter in Rain's mission to transform how American workers interact with their earnings.

Since its inception, Rain has been at the forefront of innovation in financial technology, particularly with its earned wage access solutions. The concept was simple yet revolutionary: allow workers to access their earned wages instantly, mitigating financial stress and dependency on high-interest payday loans. This vision quickly gained traction, propelling Rain from a promising startup to a key player in the fintech space.

What makes this Series B funding particularly noteworthy is what it represents on a larger scale. It's not just an influx of capital but a strong endorsement of Rain's potential to expand even further. With previous rounds fueling their initial growth and strategic partnerships, such as their notablecollaboration with Marqeta to enhance payment technologies, Rain has steadily built a foundation not just for success but for significant impact.

As Rain secures this significant new funding, their initiative to reshape financial wellness is set to expand dramatically, showcasing the profound impact tech can have on everyday financial challenges.

Looking forward to seeing how their innovations will drive change in the financial landscape.

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Dosen, a Los Angeles-based HRtech startup founded by Ronan Wall, Victor Burke, and Cian McCarthy, has secured $2.3M in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round led by Affinity Ventures. The company offers an AI-powered platform that aligns employee-led learning with business goals through personalized, gamified development programs. The funds will be used to scale the platform, enhance AI-driven personalized learning, and improve employee engagement and productivity. - learn more
  • Plug, a Santa Monica-based company operating an EV-exclusive wholesale online auction platform, has secured $6.7M in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Floodgate, Autotech Ventures, and A*. The company has also launched Plug Trade Desk™, the first EV-focused service designed to help dealers confidently price, move, and monetize trade-ins. The newly acquired funds will be used to enhance Plug's technology and expand its services, aiming to support dealers in navigating the growing used EV market. - learn more
  • Gallatin AI, a defense tech startup, has raised $15M in seed funding led by 8VC to scale its AI-powered logistics platform, Navigator. The tool helps military logisticians predict, plan, and execute operations more efficiently in contested environments. Funds will be used to expand the team and deploy the platform across military services. - learn more
  • BLNG AI, a generative AI platform based in Los Angeles and Paris, raised $3M in seed funding led by Speedinvest to streamline jewelry design by turning sketches into photorealistic renderings and animations. The funding will support commercialization, team expansion in Europe and the U.S., and the launch of a subscription-based app for luxury brands and independent jewelers. - learn more
  • Amca, a newly launched aerospace company focused on modernizing the industrial supply chain, has raised $76M in funding from investors including Caffeinated Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and others. The company plans to acquire specialized suppliers and develop new aerospace products, aiming to strengthen and future-proof the sector’s manufacturing and innovation capabilities. - learn more
  • Turbine Finance Corp., a Santa Monica, California-based data science-driven liquidity platform, has raised a total of $21.75M in equity funding, comprising a $13M Series A round co-led by Alpha Edison and TTV Capital, and a previously unannounced $8.75M seed round with participation from Fin Capital, B Capital, and Sozo Ventures. Additionally, the company secured up to a $100M warehouse facility from Silicon Valley Bank to provide credit facilities to venture investors. The combined funding of $121.75M will be used to deploy the warehouse line and expand Turbine's data science team. Turbine's platform enables private equity and venture firms to offer limited partners access to the value of their portfolio investments without reducing exposure, leveraging machine learning to expedite underwriting processes. - learn more
  • Gente Beauty, an innovative Brazilian body care brand, has received a lead investment from Webster Capital, a private equity firm specializing in consumer and healthcare sectors. This partnership aims to support Gente Beauty's growth and expansion in the beauty industry. - learn more
            LA Venture Funds
            • Alexandria Investment Partners participated in a $41M Series A round for Solu Therapeutics, a Boston-based biotech company developing targeted protein degradation therapies. The funding will advance its lead candidate, STX-0712, which recently entered a Phase 1 clinical trial for CMML and other advanced blood cancers. - learn more
            • Calibrate Ventures participated in SigIQ.ai's $9.5M seed funding round. SigIQ.ai, based in Berkeley, California, is an AI tutoring startup focused on providing personalized education through advanced AI models. The funds will be used to hire top talent, enhance their AI models, and scale their platforms to educational systems worldwide. - learn more
            • Rusheen Capital Management participated in Zero Industrial's $10M Series A funding round, aiming to accelerate the development of thermal energy storage solutions in North America. Zero Industrial focuses on deploying large-scale thermal energy storage projects to enhance energy efficiency and support decarbonization efforts. The funding will be used to expand their project pipeline and advance the commercialization of their technology. - learn more

            LA Exits

            • Bread Beauty Supply has been acquired by Cost of Doing Business (CODB), a holding company founded in 2024 by Topicals founder and CEO Olamide Olowe and president Sochi Mbadugha. The acquisition aims to expand Bread's retail presence in the U.S., starting with an increased footprint in Sephora stores. Founder Maeva Heim will continue as Chief Creative Officer, focusing on the brand's creative direction, while CODB will manage strategic operations. This move reflects CODB's commitment to supporting Black-owned businesses and fostering diversity in the beauty industry. - learn more

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                          El Segundo Startup Turns Tax Credits into Big Business

                          🔦 Spotlight

                          Hello LA,

                          Step into the world of Incentify, the El Segundo-based innovator turning the headache of managing tax credits and incentives into a walk in the park. Founded in 2019, this trailblazing company is reshaping how businesses approach what was once a daunting bureaucratic challenge.

                          Incentify’s platform is revolutionizing the industry by helping businesses discover and effectively manage a share of the estimated $1.2 trillion in tax credits and incentives that often go unclaimed each year. This critical service not only simplifies the process but also ensures that companies can more easily access and leverage these financial opportunities to fuel their growth and sustainability initiatives.

                          Recently, Incentify reached a new milestone by securing $9.5 million Series A funding led by Innovent Capital Group. This significant investment underscores the market’s confidence in their innovative approach and supports their mission to expand their technological capabilities and market reach.

                          As Incentify gears up for this expansion, their efforts are set to make tax incentives more accessible to a broader spectrum of businesses. This is especially vital in today’s economy, where optimizing financial strategies is crucial for business resilience and growth.

                          Incentify's success story from El Segundo is not just about financial gains but also about empowering companies with the tools to turn complex financial engagements into strategic advantages.

                          Stay tuned for more from LA’s vibrant tech scene. Let’s continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

                          Enjoy your weekend, and keep innovating, LA!

                          🤝 Venture Deals

                          LA Companies

                          • TOGETHXR, a pioneering women's sports media and commerce brand co-founded by athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel, and Sue Bird, has achieved profitability and significant growth, including tripling its year-over-year revenue and increasing its social media following by 17% year-to-date. The company has secured additional growth capital in a funding round led by Alex Morgan's Trybe Ventures. The funds will be used to expand TOGETHXR's presence in the women's sports marketplace. Additionally, media executive Nancy Dubuc has joined the company as Executive Chair, bringing her extensive experience to support TOGETHXR's mission of elevating women's sports and culture. - learn more
                          • Airvet, a Los Angeles-based pet telehealth platform, has secured $11M in an oversubscribed Series B-2 funding round led by HighlandX. This investment follows a year of significant growth, including a 4x increase in year-over-year revenue and a tripling of its client base. Airvet partners with leading employers across various industries, such as PepsiCo, Adobe, and Lyft, to provide employees with 24/7 access to veterinary care via video or chat. The platform's services include online pharmacy, e-prescriptions, discounted pet insurance, wellness programs, and specialty care, with recent expansions into Spanish and French language support. The funds will be used to further enhance Airvet's platform and expand its reach, aiming to make veterinary care more accessible and affordable for pet families globally. - learn more
                                  LA Venture Funds
                                  • Interlagos co-led a $50M Series A funding round for Aetherflux, a San Carlos, California-based startup developing satellites to collect and transmit solar energy from space to Earth. The funds will be used to expand Aetherflux's engineering team and advance the technology for its planned low Earth orbit demonstration mission in 2026. - learn more
                                  • Bungalow Capital Management co-led a $2M seed funding round for Juno, a Denver-based startup specializing in corporate guest travel management. Juno offers an integrated platform that streamlines booking, logistics, payments, reimbursements, and support for non-employee travelers such as job candidates, contractors, and customers. The funds will be used to accelerate product development and expand partnerships, including a collaboration with ALTOUR as their first travel management company partner. - learn more
                                  • Veridical Ventures co-led a $3.75M seed funding round for Flagship, a Sydney, Australia-based retail technology company specializing in visual merchandising solutions. Flagship's platform creates digital twins of retail stores, enabling data-driven optimization of product placement and store layouts to enhance sales performance. The funds will be used to expand Flagship's presence in the U.S. market and further develop its product offerings. - learn more
                                  • Miroma Ventures participated in a £6.5M Series A funding round for Limitless Travel, a Birmingham, UK-based company specializing in accessible holidays for individuals with disabilities. Founded in 2015 by Angus Drummond, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at 22, Limitless Travel offers curated group holidays with trained carers, ensuring accommodations and excursions meet specific accessibility needs. The investment will enable the company to enhance its technology, expand its range of destinations, and lay the groundwork for international growth, aiming to transform the lives of disabled individuals through travel. - learn more
                                  • B Capital participated in a $20M Series A funding round for Gable, a Seattle-based company specializing in data management solutions. Gable's platform focuses on "shifting left" in data management by enabling software and data developers to collaboratively build and manage high-quality data assets through API-based data contracts. The funds will be used to accelerate product development and expand Gable's team to meet the growing demand for data collaboration tools. - learn more
                                  • Rebel Fund participated in a $3.8M funding round for Sohar Health, a health technology company. Sohar Health is developing an AI-powered platform designed to streamline patient intake and triage, aiming to enhance access to healthcare services. The funds will be used to accelerate product development and expand the company's reach within the healthcare industry. - learn more

                                      LA Exits

                                      • Tixologi, a next-generation ticketing platform, has been acquired by Punchup Live, a New York-based comedy platform. This strategic move integrates Tixologi's advanced ticketing technology into Punchup Live's ecosystem, enabling seamless, direct-to-fan ticket sales for comedians and venues. The acquisition aims to enhance the ticket purchasing experience by providing features such as fast checkout, unified outreach tools, and advanced anti-scalping solutions, thereby empowering comedians to connect more effectively with their audiences. - learn more
                                      • InVisit, a Calabasas, California-based provider of cloud-based visitor management solutions, has been acquired by Motorola Solutions. InVisit's platform streamlines visitor registration, access, and host notifications across sectors such as commercial offices, education, and healthcare, enhancing security through features like blocklist screening and real-time guest activity insights. This acquisition aims to integrate InVisit's capabilities into Motorola Solutions' Avigilon Alta security suite, offering enterprise customers a unified, cloud-native approach to managing security threats and improving operational efficiency. - learn more

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                                                  $207M Later, Napster is Back and Ready for the Metaverse

                                                  🔦 Spotlight

                                                  Happy Friday, Los Angeles!

                                                  This week, we’re rewinding the clock and fast-forwarding into the future at the same time. Napster, yes, that Napster, just got acquired for $207 million byInfinite Reality, a metaverse and immersive tech company that’s aiming to bring the iconic music platform into the next generation.

                                                  For anyone who came of age in the early 2000s, Napster was either your musical awakening or the reason your dial-up connection crashed. Launched in 1999 by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, it was the face of peer-to-peer file sharing and a lightning rod in the music industry’s first wave of digital disruption. After its legal battles and shutdown in 2001, Napster bounced between owners like Roxio and Best Buy, before eventually merging with Rhapsody and evolving into a legitimate streaming service.

                                                  Now, Infinite Reality is giving Napster a fresh remix. The company says it plans to turn Napster into a social-first music platform that emphasizes artist-fan interaction over passive listening. We’re talking virtual 3D concert experiences, listening parties, fan communities, and merch drops… essentially, a metaverse-native platform built for music superfans.

                                                  According to Infinite Reality CEO John Acunto, this aligns with the company’s bigger vision: moving the internet away from “a flat 2D clickable web” into “a 3D conversational one.” They’re betting that a brand like Napster, which already carries cultural weight, can thrive in a world where fans want deeper connections and creators want modern monetization tools.

                                                  It’s a bold move, but maybe a smart one. Nostalgia is a powerful asset, and in an era where legacy brands keep getting digital reboots, Napster has a chance to go from early disruptor to comeback story.

                                                  Will today’s listeners hit play? We’ll see. But as far as tech comebacks go, we’re here for this remix.

                                                  🤝 Venture Deals

                                                  LA Companies

                                                  • Topanga, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in AI-driven waste reduction solutions for commercial kitchens, has raised an $8M Series A funding round led by Blue Bear Capital, with participation from Struck Capital, Amasia, and Wonder Ventures. This investment brings Topanga's total funding to $12.2M. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its food waste tracking platform into the senior living, health care, and hospitality sectors, accelerate the growth of its ReusePass system beyond universities into enterprise food service, and enhance integration with major food-service platforms like Grubhub and Jamix. - learn more
                                                  • Flight Science, an aviation tech startup focused on AI-powered flight optimization, raised $1.5M in pre-seed funding led by Outsiders Fund. The company helps airlines reduce fuel costs, emissions, and turbulence impact, and will use the funds to grow its team and expand product rollout by summer 2025. - learn more
                                                        LA Venture Funds
                                                          • Second Sight Ventures participated in a $14.2M Series A1 funding round for Lucky Energy, an Austin, Texas-based energy drink company. Lucky Energy offers a line of zero-sugar, zero-calorie beverages in six flavors, formulated with ingredients like maca and beta-alanine. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate distribution, introduce new products, support strategic partnerships, and recruit in key business areas. - learn more
                                                          • M13 led a $5.5M funding round for Chord Commerce, with participation from Act One Ventures and others. The New York-based company provides an AI-powered customer data platform (CDP) that helps commerce brands unify customer data, generate real-time insights, and automate marketing decisions. The funding will be used to further develop the platform and support brands in scaling their data-driven marketing efforts. - learn more
                                                          • Upfront Ventures led a $4M Seed funding round for Arlo Health, a New York City-based AI-powered health insurance underwriter focused on small and mid-sized businesses. Arlo offers level-funded health plans designed to improve preventive care and cost transparency through value-based care and AI-driven underwriting. The funds will be used to expand its broker network, grow its engineering and sales teams, and scale operations. - learn more
                                                          • Bonfire Ventures co-led a $5M Seed funding round for VoiceOps, with participation from Village Global and others. Based in New York City, VoiceOps uses generative AI to analyze phone calls and surface insights that boost sales performance, ensure compliance, and optimize marketing. The funding will support product development, team expansion, and broader market adoption. - learn more
                                                          • MANTIS Venture Capital participated in a $17.2M Seed funding round for EDGE Markets, a fintech company building banking tools tailored to the gaming industry. EDGE’s flagship product, EDGE Boost, offers a debit card and bank account specifically designed for betting, with features like spending limits, financial transparency, and cash-back rewards. The funds will be used to further develop the platform and expand its presence within the gaming market. - learn more

                                                              LA Exits

                                                              • SmartDepo, a leading provider of AI-powered deposition summaries for the legal industry, has been acquired by Rev, a prominent speech-to-text technology company. Founded in 2023 by civil rights attorney Isaac Manoff, SmartDepo delivers comprehensive deposition summaries featuring 100% accurate page-line citations, hyperlinked tables of contents, key admissions analyses, and deposition memos highlighting essential themes. This strategic acquisition combines Rev's highly accurate transcription services with SmartDepo's advanced summarization capabilities, aiming to enhance productivity for attorneys and court reporters by reducing manual review time and improving client outcomes. - learn more
                                                              • Stem, a platform offering personalized distribution and digital strategy services for independent artists and labels, has been acquired by Concord, a leading independent music company. Stem will operate as a separate division within Concord Label Group, with CEO Milana Lewis and President Kristin Graziani continuing in their roles. This acquisition provides Stem with the capital and resources to invest in new technology, expand its suite of label services, and accelerate global growth, while maintaining its mission to empower independent artists with autonomy and support. - learn more

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