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XSnap Is Bringing AR Experiences To Local Landmarks
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.

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Social media giant Snap is taking a step toward its goal of overlaying the physical world with digital objects, launching a new feature that lets creators turn local landmarks into augmented reality (AR) experiences.
On Wednesday, the Santa Monica-based company unveiled Custom Landmarkers, a software tool that lets users build 3D models of physical locations and design AR creations for those structures. The new feature enables individuals and businesses to attach AR experiences to a broad array of locations, from statues to storefronts, that could be seen by Snapchat’s 319 million daily users.
Snap already allows third-party creators to build AR experiences (called lenses) for the app through its Lens Studio software. The company previously let artists design AR lenses for a limited number of iconic structures, such as the Eiffel Tower or the U.S. Capitol Building, using templates that it provided.
Snap Landmarker
Now, Snap is giving creators the tools to map locations themselves with their smartphones, then upload the data to Lens Studio to design immersive experiences anchored to those places. Hypothetically, a user could build an AR creation that teaches the history of a local landmark, or a business could pay a developer to turn a bakery into a gingerbread house and display a code allowing customers to redeem a discount.
“We're excited about how creators, developers and businesses can use Custom Landmarkers to enhance the way we explore, learn and shop locally,” Sophia Dominguez, Snap's head of AR platform partnerships, said in a statement. “This new capability weaves AR naturally into our surroundings and the places we love, positively impacting our daily lives.”
Many tech firms are betting on the much-hyped metaverse, a vision for the internet where users work, shop and socialize inside 3D digital worlds, possibly through virtual reality. Snap is taking a slightly different approach by focusing on computing that’s overlain on the real world—instead of trying to transport people somewhere else, as social media rival Meta envisions.
Letting external creators build Custom Landmarker lenses could help Snap more quickly scale AR on top of physical locations. But Snap is still proceeding cautiously to prevent users from uploading lenses that could be offensive or incite violence. Other location-based AR experiences, such as Pokemon Go, have faced issues with users trespassing on private property and Russian trolls meddling in U.S. politics.
A company spokesperson said Snap recognizes that certain locations may be sensitive, such as memorials and private homes, and will evaluate each lens in context. Snap’s moderation team approves all lenses before they’re publicly accessible, according to the company.
In addition, the location-based AR experiences won’t be discoverable by default. The main way users can find them are through physical “Snapcodes”—the company’s version of QR codes—that can be scanned with smartphones at the landmark. (Users could also access them through the lens creator’s profile).
One creator who got early access to Snap’s new software is Michael Nicoll, the CEO of Marina del Rey-based startup BLNK (pronounced “blink”), which builds AR experiences for musicians. BLNK, which has a partnership with Snap, recently designed a Custom Landmarker promoting the new Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa single “Sweetest Pie,” by transforming the iconic Pink Wall on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood into a 3D cherry pie.
Until now, Snap’s AR experiences have largely focused on a user’s face or body, Nicoll noted. Soon, creators will be able to design experiences that essentially flip the smartphone camera toward the rest of the world. For Nicoll, that could mean adding AR experiences to concerts.
“It's gonna open up so many opportunities, especially from the music industry,” he said. “This new tech is really going to give us this whole new canvas to work off of.”
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Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
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The Impact of Authentic Storytelling. LA Latino/a Founders and Funders Tell All
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.
As one of the most diverse cities in the world, Los Angeles is home to almost 5 million people who identify as Hispanic or Latinx. Yet, many feel they still lack representation in the city’s tech space.
“I can safely say that last year’s LA tech week hosted all of the events on the west side, and very few were focused on telling Latino and Latina entrepreneurial stories,” said Valeria Martinez, investor at VamosVentures. “We wanted to change that this year.”
The event, titled “The East Side Story –– Latino/a Founders and Funders in LA,” was held at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) in the vibrant Arts District with participation from VamosVentures, LatinxVC, VCFamilia, Supply Change Capital, and LEEAF.
The event was centered around stories about the Latinx community told by its members. “Storytelling is the most powerful tool we have as human beings,” said restaurateur Bricia Lopez. “We are all here because of the stories that were told to us and the stories that were read to us.”
Lopez’s father migrated to Guadalajara, Mexico because he heard a story about a better life on the other side of the border. While he didn’t have the opportunity to see that “better life,” Lopez wants to share his story with the world in the hopes of inspiring others to share their stories.
“I think for many generations, we were the gatekeepers holding us back from telling our own stories,” Lopez said. “But we are now empowered to share our stories and when we talk about wanting to hear stories from us, it's because we want a mirror into the possibility of who we can become. To me that was how powerful a story is.”
With over 400 RSVPs and a packed house that ranged from founders and investors to vendors and aspiring entrepreneurs, the event brought light to a community hungry for stories they can connect and relate to.
Fanny Grande, CEO of Avenida Entertainment Group, said that on-screen stories about the Latino community are very limited. This lack of representation inspired her to start her production company that aims to empower independent creators.
“The advances of technology, social media and the new generation being very vocal about how they want to be represented gives me hope that things are going to change,” Grande said.
One way Avenida Entertainment Group champions its creators is by providing tech solutions to help fund and produce projects. At the event, Grande announced that her production company plans to launch an English-language streaming service for Latinos to provide visibility to these projects.
“A lot of our clients are so happy that not only did they get their projects made, they're going to be seen by the community who funded the project,” she said.
Patty Rodriguez, co-founder of publishing company Lil’ Libros, aims to give representation to the Latinx community by publishing bilingual children’s books.
Rodriguez said that entrepreneurship was never a part of her vocabulary while growing up. She also had no experience in publishing before she started her business, but she believed that “we belong on these platforms.” For her, the greatest moments are opening the doors for Latinx authors and seeing copies of their books at major bookstores.
“It's so beautiful to see your dreams come true and you're working every morning to see them,” she said. “It's wonderful to see them at Target, Barnes & Nobles across the country.”
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.
L.A. Tech Week has brought venture capitalists, founders and entrepreneurs from around the world to the California coast. With so many tech nerds in one place, it's easy to laugh, joke and reminisce about the future of tech in SoCal.
Here's what people are saying about day three of L.A. Tech Week on social:
Who's out at #LATechWeek This Week!? 🚀
Just like always, we have the team on location & producing out-of-this-world content! 🪐
Follow @Techweek_ 👈 https://t.co/bl7MvmhVIb
— Edge of NFT 🎙 (@EdgeofNFT) June 7, 2023
Ethereal Engine blowing our minds today #LaTechWeek@Techweek_@andrewchen@KatiaAmeri@john_at_stonks@75SunnyVentures@mucker@fikavcpic.twitter.com/zfw38Fo17m
— Sean Goldfaden (@seangoldfaden) June 7, 2023
Great Tuesday at #LATechWeek - @STHoward and @houseofvc hosted an impressive set of entertainment panels that ft. @spencerrascoff and @tbiggio and others and then went to a @CrosscutVC and @75SunnyVentures party in the Palisades. Excited for @dotLA tonight! pic.twitter.com/eWKAtvQshv
— Garrett (@GRothstein1) June 7, 2023
Yesterday, the Ampera Foundation attended @lightspark's #LATechWeek meetup in LA focused on payments and lightning, and the Ethereum Chicago meetup at the @im_not_art gallery space connecting with the local crypto community. What's your favorite local crypto event? pic.twitter.com/kg7m0bIHld
— Ampera (@ampera_xyz) June 7, 2023
Excited to be helping with LA #techweek at #Google today. In partnership with #a16z and #Stonks, we have some exciting founders pitching their Ent & Gaming business demo's.#LATechWeekpic.twitter.com/J2gkE7L5fq
— Jonny Cranmer (@jonnycranmer) June 7, 2023
WOW!🔥VC panel last night w @adelajamal@jarichert44@jekerner@GarnetHeraman@joshresnick01 & Anne Feuss
We discussed community, empathy, fundraising & mental health (& more) during this challenging time
So grateful to have such a real discussion w diverse humans#LATechWeekpic.twitter.com/GtjVnRQkuu
— Roger DaSilva (@RogerDaSilva1) June 7, 2023
Such a fun throwback to the event we did in 2022 for #LATechWeek ! Thanks @seangoldfaden for the amazing video 🎉 https://t.co/SWYCXbMDJe
— Amplify.LA (@amplifyla) June 7, 2023
We hosted a packed @whitecapai happy hour in Venice with panelists from @Verizon@Microsoft@Google and @LA28 with diverse thoughts on Enterprise AI. Thanks Alex Chao, Ric Edwards, Iman Ghanizada, and Mumtaz Vauhkonen! #LATechWeekpic.twitter.com/pCXXbxDAoY
— Craig DAVIS (@CraDav) June 7, 2023
Thoroughly enjoying #LATechWeek so far, I started Day 2 of with @SlausonAndCo amazing event. Ran into so many familiar faces, met some amazing new founders then checked out their art gallery.
Then popped by @BLCKVC and @diversityvc panel on Navigating the Capital Landscape pic.twitter.com/8PKcT5Wr8u
— Tanisha (@tanisha_london) June 7, 2023
Reunion of old and new friends is LA Tech Week’s PMF 💡
The irony is that for how big LA is, people haven’t seen others for a while, because its vastness makes serendipity challenging. So this week gives the community an excuse to catch up with coworkers and even childhood and… pic.twitter.com/NS8ID8rnP5
— Wilson Kyi (@WilsonKyi) June 7, 2023
Excited for the @LatinxVCs Avanza Summit! @itsmarielasalas@MariaSalamanca@jomayra_herrera@RamiReyesVC@aguerrerovc@ambersvida@nic_detommaso@VCSerge#LatinxVC#LATechWeekpic.twitter.com/DdtYcrCzaY
— Tiq (@TiqChapa108) June 7, 2023
If you wonder how #Music,#Space,#AI come together for you in one place - join our Twittet Space 11 am PST
@https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1OwxWwQqoWDxQ CopernicSpace @spaceibles and @LadyRocketSpace ,I will share endeavors LA Tech Week how I buildnew Stage for @spaceibles… pic.twitter.com/djXDuENiWI
— Lady Rocket Eva Blaisdell (@LadyRocketSpace) June 7, 2023
What a great time for LA tech week, escape New York at the right timehttps://t.co/FEHhYgmxHU
— Christopher | Mad Oath 🆔 (@chrismadoath) June 7, 2023
Here representing Australia. Hello #latechweek it’s nice to meet you. pic.twitter.com/rDIOM7hflJ
— Christopher Bartlett (@chipershot) June 7, 2023
(1/2)
In the thick of LA Tech Week and loving it!! 🤘🤘🤘
🔥🔥Scroll for new events!!! 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/5n6eV81oiE
— Tech Week (@Techweek_) June 7, 2023
#LATechWeek are you ready for the @trustfundvc launch party?!!! We got a disco ball too pic.twitter.com/smIJFAKlcA
— Sophia Amoruso (@sophiaamoruso) June 7, 2023
#robstory 157/365: tonight’s “The East Side Story” event in the Arts District for #LATechWeek proves what’s possible in our LA entrepreneurial economy! It proves our opportunity to breathe life into our words about diversity & inclusion. Take note, I did!
I’m so so grateful to… pic.twitter.com/ks45MdY7BF
— Rob Ryan (@IAmRobRyan) June 7, 2023
Had a blast at LA @techweek_ last night! Huge thanks to Eddy for his amazing storytelling and the behind-the-scenes look into @goatapp’s journey to product-market fit. And of course, to all the founders, startup enthusiasts, and @firstround team for showing up to support 🙌 pic.twitter.com/93bieSkbBA
— Todd Jackson (@tjack) June 7, 2023
“Gamify the experience of consuming. Drink an ape water? Scan the code. It donates .05 to clean water.” #LATechWeek@Techweek_pic.twitter.com/ZpKbadNSh1
— Sean Goldfaden (@seangoldfaden) June 7, 2023
Moderating is easy when you have brilliant folks like @Chrisjjosephs and @brianschardt on the other side
Was great to talk @JoinAutopilot_ during #LATechWeekhttps://t.co/v9CEshahPL
— James Mumma (@JamesMumma) June 7, 2023
A beautiful, intimate networking event discussing all things Fintech with founders and innovators on Day 3 of #LATechWeek with Clocktower Ventures. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/z3SMPMoTZw
— Tech Week (@Techweek_) June 7, 2023
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LA Tech Week: Female Founders Provide Insights Into Their Startup Journeys
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.
Women remain a minority among startup founders. According to Pitchbook, even though women-led startups in the United States received a record $20.8 billion in funding during the first half of 2022, U.S. companies with one or more female founders received less than 20% of total venture funding in 2022. U.S. companies solely led by female founders received less than 2% of the total funding.
The panel, titled Female Founders: Planning, Pivoting, Profiting, was moderated by NYU law professor Shivani Honwad and featured Anjali Kundra, co-founder of bar inventory software Partender; Montré Moore, co-founder of the Black-owned beauty startup AMP Beauty LA; Mia Pokriefka, co-founder and CEO of the interactive social media tool Huxly; and Sunny Wu, founder and CEO of fashion company LE ORA.
The panelists shared their advice and insights on starting and growing a business as a woman. They all acknowledged feeling pressure to not appear weak among peers, especially as a female founder. But this added weight only causes more stress that may lead to burnout.
“The mental health aspect of being a founder should not be overshadowed,” said Kundra, who realized this during the early stages of building her company with her brother..
Growing up in Silicon Valley, Kundra was surrounded by the startup culture where, “everyone is crushing it!” But she said that no one really opened up about the challenges of starting your own company. .
“Once you grow up as a founder in that environment, it's pretty toxic,” Kundra said. “I felt like I really wanted to be open and be able to go to our investors and tell them about challenges because businesses go up and down, markets go up and down and no company is perfect.”
Honwad, who advocates for women’s rights, emphasized the value of aligning yourself with people with similar values in the tech ecosystem. “[Those people] can make your life better not just from an investment and money standpoint, but also a personal standpoint, because life happens,” she said.
Moore, who unexpectedly lost one of her co-founders at AMP Beauty, said that entrepreneurs “really have to learn how to adapt to [their] circumstances.”
“She was young, healthy, vibrant and we've been sorority sisters and friends over the past decade,” she said about her co-founder Phyllicia Phillips, who passed away in February. “So it was just one of those moments where you have to take a pause.”
Moore said this experience forced her to ask for help, which many founders hesitate to do. She encouraged the audience to try and share their issues out loud with their teams because there are always people who will offer help. When Moore shared her concerns with her investors, they jumped in to support her in ways she didn’t think was possible.
Kundra said that while it is important to have a support group and listen to mentors, it is very important for entrepreneurs to follow their own thinking and pick and choose what they want to implement within their strategy. “At the end of the day, you really have to own your own decisions,” she said.
Kundra also said that while it is easy to turn to your colleagues and competitors and do what they are doing, you shouldn’t always follow them because every business is different.
“When I was in the heat of it, I kind of became [a part of] this echo chamber and that was really challenging for us,” Kundra added, “but we were able to move beyond it and figure out what worked for us [as a company] and we're still on a journey. You're always going to be figuring it out, so just know you're not alone.”
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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.