The LAPD Faces Criticism For Using a Surveillance App To Target Predominantly Black Neighborhoods

Amrita Khalid
Amrita Khalid is a tech journalist based in Los Angeles, and has written for Quartz, The Daily Dot, Engadget, Inc. Magazine and number of other publications. She got her start in Washington, D.C., covering Congress for CQ-Roll Call. You can send tips or pitches to amrita@dot.la or reach out to her on Twitter at @askhalid.
The LAPD Faces Criticism For Using a Surveillance App To Target Predominantly Black Neighborhoods
Evan Xie

The LAPD is facing criticism from privacy groups after SweepWizard — an app it used to conduct multi-agency raids last fall — exposed the personal data of thousands of suspects and details of police operations. Earlier this month Wired reported that LAPD and the regional Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force used a free trial version of the app to conduct multi-agency raids on sex offenders. While the app led to the arrest of 141 suspects, it also revealed sensitive details on police operations that could have put the entire mission at risk.


“LAPD has a long history of using free trials of surveillance technologies to experiment on our communities, especially in Skid Row and other Black and brown neighborhoods,” said Tiff Guerra, a researcher with the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition.

In 2020, the Los Angeles Times reported that the LAPD ended its relationship with controversial predictive policing program PredPol. Though Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore claimed the decision was due to financial constraints, community activists argued that Moore’s decision only came after they pressured the department to discontinue the program.

Guerra also cited the police department’s use of social media surveillance tools like Dataminr and Skopenow, which officers use to regularly monitor the online activity of suspects as well as search for certain terms.

“Every day, LAPD generates and collects sensitive data about our locations, associations, appearance, interests, and relationships. LAPD tracks and maintains this data regardless of whether a person is suspected of any crime,” they said.

Guerra added that ODIN Intelligence — the company behind SweepWizard — sells another app that uses gait and facial recognition to track homeless communities. Known as the Homeless Management Information System, or HMIS, the app lets users create a profile for each unhoused resident that includes their photo and personal data, including prior arrests, temporary housing history and contact information for family members and parole officers. The app’s facial recognition feature allows police to identify unhoused persons by searching for a match in the larger database.

None of this is particularly new. Law enforcement agencies have regularly used third-party surveillance tech — such as location-tracking and social media monitoring apps — to spy on suspects. But digital privacy groups say that the marketplace for such police tech faces few restrictions. “There are many privacy and safety harms caused by police using third party surveillance technologies including wrongful arrests, over-policing, and data breaches like this one. The marketplace for police tech is unregulated and full of poorly designed and poorly implemented software,” said Jake Wiener, counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

Wiener also stressed that the police shouldn’t have used a free trial version of an app on “live cases”, as the LAPD did with SweepWizard. “Unfortunately, free trials are a common sales technique in the police tech market, and often lead to individual officers using tech without the knowledge or approval of supervisors,” said Wiener.

ODIN Intelligence — the company that developed SweepWizard and other police surveillance apps — regularly held a “Sex Offender Supervision Officer Bootcamp” to train officers on how to use the SweepWizard app. Screenshots of the app posted on the bootcamp’s website indicate that the third-party app allowed police to input personal details on targets, including address, date of birth, social security number and a photo. The app also includes a section for officers, which allows the user to assign specific targets to officers by name.

Wiener said that storing sensitive information such as addresses, identifying details and social security numbers is a “substantial privacy risk” and likely isn’t necessary to make the app work.

Following the Wired story’s publication, TechCrunch reported that an unidentified hacker on Sunday exfiltrated data from the website for ODIN Intelligence. The hackers defaced the website, leaving behind a message that claimed that “all data and backups” on the company’s servers had been shredded. The company’s website was quickly taken offline, and remains so as of Wednesday afternoon.

The LAPD is currently investigating what caused the SweepWizard breach, and has suspended use of the app. dot.LA has reached out to the LAPD for an update on its investigation, but has yet to hear back.

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Heaviside Raises $28M for Autonomous Precision Munitions

🔦 Spotlight

Hey Los Angeles,

For years, Southern California’s defense tech story has largely been told through satellites, rockets, drones and software. This week, another category stepped into the frame: autonomous precision munitions.

Los Angeles-based Heaviside Industries emerged from stealth with a $28M Series A led by Interlagos, with participation from Menlo Ventures, Flume Ventures, Cantos, Anorak Ventures and several individual defense and technology investors. The company, founded in 2024, is building autonomous precision munitions for U.S. and allied special operations and conventional forces.

The round will help Heaviside accelerate development, production and delivery of its multi-domain munitions platforms, including its first aerial and underwater systems. According to the company, its products are designed to operate in jammed and GPS-denied environments, where legacy systems can degrade or fail.

That detail matters. Modern warfare has been reshaped by unmanned systems, contested communications and the growing need for weapons that are not only precise, but affordable enough to be produced and deployed at scale. In other words, the defense tech race is not just about building more advanced systems. It is about building systems that can actually survive the battlefield they are designed for.

Heaviside has been operating in stealth for more than two years and says it has built a team of more than 50 engineers and operators across Los Angeles and Oslo, Norway. The company also says it already has a roster of U.S. and allied customers, with the new funding going toward expanding production and accelerating deliveries domestically and abroad.

For LA’s hard tech ecosystem, Heaviside adds to a growing defense-tech cluster that is less about splashy software and more about applied engineering. The company’s work sits at the intersection of autonomy, manufacturing and national security, where Southern California’s aerospace and robotics talent has become increasingly relevant.

Now onto this week’s LA venture deals and fund announcements.


🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • Furientis emerged from stealth with a $5M pre-seed led by Silent Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, SV Angel and other investors. Founded in 2025, the defense technology startup is developing cost-effective, ship-based interceptor systems designed for scalable production, with the funding going toward initial production, expanded testing and hiring across engineering, manufacturing and operations. - learn more
    • Rogue raised a $2.5M pre-seed led by Science Inc., with participation from Uncommon VC, Simple Food Ventures and strategic investors, to accelerate its national retail and digital commerce strategy. Built by the team behind Dollar Shave Club and Liquid Death, Rogue makes high-protein chips and puffs with active probiotics, no seed oils and no artificial ingredients, and will launch in 2,800 Walmart stores nationwide in July. - learn more
    • Develo raised $14M led by Blueprint Equity, with participation from Villain Capital, Z21 Ventures and Bienville Capital, to grow its AI-native operating system for pediatric practices. The platform unifies clinical, billing and family engagement workflows beyond the traditional EMR, with the new capital going toward R&D and customer success as Develo expands across pediatric providers nationwide. - learn more
    LA Venture Funds
    • Kinship Ventures participated in Nectar Social’s $30M Series A, which was led by Menlo Ventures and its Anthology Fund, with participation from True Ventures and GV. Nectar Social is building an agentic social operating system for modern marketing, helping brands manage social intelligence, community engagement, creator workflows and conversational commerce across platforms like Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Reddit and X. The new funding will support engineering and applied AI hiring, deepen platform partnerships and expand Nectar Agent into more brand workflows. - learn more
    • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in CREATE Medicines’ $122M Series B, which was co-led by existing investors Newpath Partners, ARCH Venture Partners and Hatteras Venture Partners. The Cambridge-based biotech is developing in vivo CAR therapies for autoimmune disease and oncology using an mRNA-LNP platform that engineers immune cells directly inside the body, with the funding going toward advancing its CD19-targeted autoimmune program into the clinic, expanding its dual CAR CD19 x BCMA program and continuing work across its oncology pipeline. - learn more
    • Overture Ventures participated in GridCARE’s $64M Series A, which was led by Sutter Hill Ventures with backing from John Doerr, National Grid Partners, Future Energy Ventures, Emerson Collective, Stanford University and other existing investors. Redwood City-based GridCARE is building a physics-based AI platform that helps identify underused grid capacity and accelerate power delivery for AI data centers, compressing interconnection timelines from years to months. The company says it is already engaged in projects across more than a dozen markets representing more than 2 GW of new AI compute capacity. - learn more
    • Taste Tomorrow Ventures invested in Harken Sweets’ seed round, joining Selva and GRTSHT as the early-stage VC firm continues backing better-for-you snack brands. Founded by Katie Lefkowitz, Harken Sweets makes cleaner-label chocolate bars sweetened with whole-food dates instead of refined sugar or synthetic alternatives, and is already sold through retailers including Sprouts, Whole Foods, Kroger, Costco, Walmart, Albertsons and Wegmans. - learn more
    • Bonfire Ventures led Ranger AI’s $8.4M seed round, with participation from 25madison, Inovia Capital and Panache Ventures. Ranger AI is building an agentic revenue operations platform for industrial tendering, helping industrial, manufacturing and supply chain companies automate complex RFP, bid and project workflows. The company says its platform is already being used across more than 1,000 projects and can cut industrial tendering time by up to 50%. - learn more
    • Fika Ventures participated in Outmarket AI’s $17M Series A, which was led by Permanent Capital Ventures, with participation from SignalFire, TTV Capital, Dash Fund and senior insurance industry executives. Outmarket AI builds AI workflow software for insurance agencies and brokers, helping teams automate policy reviews, quote comparisons, renewals, coverage gap analysis, proposal building and other core workflows. The round brings the company’s total funding to $21.7M. - learn more
    • Wedbush Ventures participated in Secludy’s $4M seed round, which was led by Impression Ventures and also included LAUNCH, The Syndicate, Precursor Ventures, Hustle Fund, Script Capital, Mana Ventures and Chispa VC. San Francisco-based Secludy helps banks, payments firms and fintech companies safely use proprietary customer data to train and evaluate GenAI models by generating privacy-protected synthetic data, with the funding going toward hiring, go-to-market growth and expanding its platform across more enterprise AI workflows. - learn more
    • Sound Ventures led a new $17M funding round for Anomaly Insights, joined by Alumni Ventures and existing investors Link Ventures, Redesign Health and RRE Ventures. The New York-based company uses AI to help health systems analyze payer behavior, identify denials, underpayments and contract issues, and strengthen how providers engage with insurers across claims management and managed care negotiations. The new funding brings Anomaly’s total raised to $34M. - learn more
    • B Capital and UP.Partners participated in Havoc’s $100M Series A, backing the company’s push to scale its all-domain autonomous systems for defense operations. Havoc’s autonomy stack is designed to operate across air, sea and land platforms, and the new funding brings its total capital raised to nearly $200M as it expands deployment capacity, engineering and partnerships with defense manufacturers. - learn more
    • B Capital led Star Catcher’s oversubscribed $65M Series A, with the round co-led by Shield Capital and Cerberus Ventures. The Florida-based company is building what it calls the first power grid in space, using optical power beaming to deliver electricity on demand to satellites and other spacecraft, with the funding going toward orbital demonstrations, engineering and commercial expansion. The round brings Star Catcher’s total funding to $88M. - learn more
    • Interlagos participated in Cowboy Space Corporation’s $275M Series B, which was led by Index Ventures and valued the company at $2B. Formerly known as Aetherflux, the San Carlos-based company is building vertically integrated orbital infrastructure for the AI era, including low-Earth orbit satellites, purpose-built launch vehicles and in-orbit data centers designed to help meet rising demand for AI compute. - learn more

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

      🔦 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

          🔦 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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