'I'm Going to Unleash the Brains': Top GOP Recall Challenger Larry Elder on Big Tech

Harri Weber

Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.

Larry Elder

Gov. Gavin Newsom is holding onto a narrow lead, but if he fails to rally apathetic Democratic voters in the fast-approaching recall election, the Republican frontrunner could upend the state's outlook on the tech industry.


Newsom, who grew up a stone's throw from Silicon Valley and who brought in a former Google executive into his administration, is facing a leading competitor who believes "big tech is after us and what we believe in." If he's ousted by a Republican, the next governor could even tip the balance of the U.S. Senate should 88-year-old Diane Feinstein have to bow out. She's only half way through her six-year term.

It's no wonder Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings and other tech leaders like former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer are collectively doling out millions to fight the $276 million recall.

Newsom's challengers are largely Republican, and polls say Republican voters are more motivated to vote come September 14. Among the GOP, two recent polls show Black conservative talk show host Larry Elder, who has stoked outrage over his views on women in the workplace and systemic racism, is leading others in the race to oust the Democratic governor.

He is followed by former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and perennial candidate and attorney John Cox — two candidates who appear to have little to say on the matter of big tech. The same polls show reality-TV star and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner trailing far behind. A third poll shows Elder ranking second, behind Democrat and 29-year-old millionaire YouTuber Kevin Paffrath, who's pitched himself as a centrist alternative.

Elder's coronavirus-focused campaign has called for unwinding existing coronavirus restrictions. It's blasted pandemic-era state and federal relief programs and pointed to the many failings of the Employment Development Department (EDD). Elder's website is comparably sparse on other topics, briefly touching on school choice and lowering taxes. And he has shown little interest in defining substantial policies.

Where does the current leading GOP candidate stand on tech, the industry that's swelled to define much of the sunshine state? Elder's comments run the gamut, from vowing to "unleash the brains" in Silicon Valley to tweeting that big tech wants to "destroy" conservatives' income and "cancel" them.

That's in stark contrast to Newsom, who literally wrote a book called "How to Take the Town Square Digital." The former San Francisco mayor campaigned on expanding early access to computer science education and boosting broadband infrastructure. Recently he's leaned on big tech to power the state's response to COVID-19, allegedly hampering state and local health departments in the process, per Protocol.

To get a glimpse of what a victory by Elder, who has never held public office but fancies himself the "sage of South Central," would mean for the tech sector, we took a look at the leading GOP candidate's statements to date on Silicon Valley, YouTube, Google, Russian bots, workers' rights and more. Elder, who has shown a distaste for mainstream press, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.

"I'm Going to Unleash the Brains"

In an interview with the "San Joaquin Valley Sun" earlier this month, Elder said he'd lean on Silicon Valley's "brainiacs" to solve the state's water crisis.

"Israel is water self sufficient, so is Dubai. Israel sits on the coast of a little body of water known as the Mediterranean. We have a little body of water known as the Pacific Ocean," he said "Why we can't [sic] figure out how to become water self-sufficient when we have all these brainiacs in Silicon Valley. So I'm going to unleash the brains and the technology and use the bully pulpit to explain to people why we need to do this."

He may have a tough time. While humans have removed salt from water for thousands of years, wide-scale desalination is an energy-intensive process with serious drawbacks. Among them: high costs, harm to marine life and emissions from plants powered by fossil fuels. But this statement response is typical of Elder, who rarely delves into the finer points of issues.

"Big Tech Is After Us"

Elder has contributed to sites known for misinformation, and the candidate says he has been demonized by big tech. In a tweet about his account being limited by YouTube, Elder promoted a subscription to his now-defunct homegrown video site and said, "Big Tech is after us and what we believe in. They want to destroy our income because they want to cancel us!"

Elder's video site, LarryTube.com, has since merged with the Epoch Times' video site. The Falun-Gong backed Epoch Times has relied heavily on Facebook to build its large subscriber base and has been criticized for misinformation campaigns.

While claims that social media companies are biased against conservatives lack evidence, Elder has covered the topic extensively, including on YouTube and in his columns.

Similarly, on YouTube this past April, Elder decried Twitter's decision to ban former President Trump from its platform. In his buttery talk-radio voice — a foil to Newsom's Will Arnett-esque gravel — he said: "You think Americans are too stupid to figure out when somebody's telling the truth or when somebody's lying."

On Russian Bots

Elder is skeptical of Russian interference in the election. In a 2018 column titled "Russian Bots vs. Media/Academia/Hollywood — Which Had A Bigger Impact On The Election?," Elder downplayed the impact of fake accounts that were created to promote election misinformation. He wrote, "Whatever influence Russia may have had on the elections is dwarfed by the 'collusion' of the largely anti-GOP media, academia and Hollywood. If the right dominated these fields, congressional Democrats would demand hearings."

On the EDD's "Antiquated Technology"

Elder wants to revamp the website for the Employment Development Department, which doles out Californian's unemployment benefits. Elder's campaign site devotes special attention to the EDD, which has struggled with a vast backlog of unemployment claims and failed to detect an estimated $31 billion in fraud. In one paragraph, the candidate pledged to revamp the agency's technology and "promote public-private partnerships."

"As governor, I would revamp the EDD's antiquated technology, which created an unprecedented backlog and the absurdity of the agency not being able to automatically process some half of its claims online at the height of the pandemic. Gavin Newsom wants to simply throw more money at the problem. I will implement structural reforms to remove roadblocks to efficiency in the EDD's IT system and across the state government. That means promoting public-private partnerships and overhauling the state government's cumbersome procurement process, which currently favors Sacramento insiders over easy access to innovation."

On Women's Rights and Venture Capital

Elder thinks mothers are a business risk. In his book, "Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies, and the Special Interests that Divide America," Elder wrote, "Are there legitimate business reasons for a venture capitalist to ask a female entrepreneur whether and when she intends to have children? Hell, yes."

"Call it protecting an investment," the candidate said in the 2002 book.

On Reddit and Gamestonks

Elder suggests that the trading app Robinhood allows gambling. In another YouTube video, Elder commented on the Reddit-driven meme stock craze, saying, "I've been trying to understand this Gamestop thing, and how it's been characterized as 'David versus Goliath.' I am a big fan of investing in the stock market. I'm a big fan of believing in America. I believe in investing. I don't believe in gambling. This strikes me as gambing."

There Should Be "a Conservative Google"

Elder doesn't appear to support the antitrust case against Google.

When social media companies limited the reach of a "New York Post" story on Hunter Biden, Elder said in a Fox News interview: "It's an outrage. It's akin to making an in-kind campaign contribution — the way that Google admitted that they restricted the New York Post story [...] This is absolutely outrageous and all of these big tech companies are in bed with the Biden administration and they want Donald Trump to go down."

He continued, commenting on the Justice Department's antitrust case against Google:

"I've never been fond of government busting up large corporations. The larger the corporation typically the more arrogant it gets, the more dismissive it becomes of its consumers, and that's what you've got here. In the past, when the government's gone after big companies like IBM, like Microsoft, it's been because their competitors have complained.

"In this case the consumers are complaining, and it seems to me the response ought to be a conservative Google. There ought to be some sort of conservative alternatives. And there is an alternative to Twitter, it's called Parlor, and I joined that a few days ago. And it seems to me [..] we ought to be coming up with our own alternatives for search engines and social media platforms, so we don't have to run the risk of being screwed by these people who hate our guts."

LA Startup Powering Immigrant Workforce Secures $7.5M

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday, Los Angeles,

It’s Labor Day weekend, which means most of us are thinking about a little time off. But one LA startup is laser focused on work, specifically on the millions of immigrant workers who keep the U.S. economy running.

This week, Welcome Tech raised $7.5 million to expand its AI powered platform that connects immigrant communities with U.S. employers. If you’re not familiar, Welcome Tech has quietly become one of the most important bridges between immigrant workers and the American labor market. The company offers a suite of services, from job matching and financial tools to healthcare and education, built specifically for immigrant families navigating systems that weren’t designed with them in mind.

The scale is staggering. Welcome Tech already supports more than 4.5 million registered members, and its enterprise partnerships have tripled in the last year. Revenue is up more than 200 percent year over year. With this new funding, the company plans to double down on AI, personalizing onboarding, automating job matching, and expanding multilingual support so workers can find opportunities faster and employers can access a motivated workforce with fewer barriers.

Welcome Tech’s growth also underscores something very LA: this city runs on immigrant talent, and the systems that support them often lag behind. By building infrastructure tailored to this workforce, Welcome Tech isn’t just scaling a business, it’s tackling a gap that traditional employers and institutions have ignored for decades.

As Labor Day weekend rolls in, it’s a reminder that the real labor story isn’t just about time off, it’s about how companies like Welcome Tech are reshaping access to opportunity in one of the country’s most essential workforces.

And with that, let’s get into this week’s venture deals across LA.

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Payment Labs, a Los Angeles based fintech specializing in seamless payment workflows for industries like sports, esports, and the creator economy, has closed an oversubscribed $3.25M seed funding round led by Aperture Venture Capital. The company’s API powered SaaS platform, already trusted by Microsoft, SEGA, X Games, and more, simplifies complex global pay ins and payouts across 150+ currencies and 180+ countries while integrating tax compliance, royalty distributions, and reporting. This new capital will accelerate expansion of tailored payment solutions and bolster operations to support high growth verticals. - learn more

    LA Venture Funds

    • Clocktower Technology Ventures, participated in Momento Seguros’ $10.25M Series A round. The Mexico City based digital auto insurer is leveraging the capital to expand its full-stack platform, offering flexible, mobile-first coverage tailored to underserved drivers. By modernizing payments, underwriting, and claims processing, Momento aims to disrupt a traditionally rigid insurance market with transparent, user-centric solutions. - learn more
    • Dangerous Ventures participated in Copper’s $28M funding round aimed at scaling the world’s first battery equipped induction range. The Berkeley based company builds plug and play induction stoves with built in batteries that run on standard 120 volt outlets, simplifying electrification of cooking while offering backup power during outages. Copper plans to use the new funds to expand production, develop new appliances, and leverage its grid friendly design, already under contract to deliver 10,000 units to public housing, to drive broader adoption of clean, efficient cooking solutions. - learn more
    • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in Leal Therapeutics’ $30M Series A round, joining a syndicate that includes SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund, OrbiMed, Newpath Partners, Chugai Venture Fund, Euclidean Capital, and PhiFund. Leal is advancing its neuro metabolic pipeline with lead programs LTX 001 moving into clinical trials for schizophrenia and LTX 002 progressing toward initial clinical data in ALS. This funding will also support the advancement of additional pipeline candidates and technologies aimed at delivering transformative treatments for CNS disorders. - learn more
    • Impatient Ventures and Riot Ventures participated in Blue Water Autonomy’s $50M Series A funding round to accelerate development of autonomous, long range ships designed for the U.S. Navy. The capital will be used to build and deploy the firm's first full sized autonomous ship by next year and support rapid scaling, as the team has already quadrupled since its seed round while completing engineering tests and securing materials from over 50 suppliers. This funding brings the company’s total raised to $64 million and underscores growing momentum around U.S. maritime innovation. - learn more
    • TenOneTen Ventures joined a $3.5M seed round in Loman AI, supporting the Austin based startup’s efforts to transform restaurant operations using voice AI. Loman’s AI phone agent handles call volume by taking orders, booking reservations, answering FAQs, and integrating smoothly with POS systems, helping restaurants boost revenue by up to 22% while cutting labor costs by as much as 17%. This new funding will accelerate product development and team expansion as demand for Loman’s platform grows nationwide. - learn more
    • CIV participated in AiGent’s $6M seed round, backing the AI driven startup’s mission to transform idle backup generators into a powerful decentralized grid resource. AiGent’s platform aggregates and orchestrates distributed generation assets including those at commercial, industrial, and mission critical facilities like AI data centers, turning them into rapidly dispatchable “distributed power plants.” This innovative approach not only enhances grid reliability and reduces costs but also opens up new revenue streams for asset owners without the time, cost, or disruption of building additional infrastructure. - learn more
    • Blue Bear Capital led a $12.4M SAFE funding round in Splight, supporting the San Francisco-based grid technology company’s mission to dramatically expand transmission capacity using machine-learning. The new capital will fuel deployment of Splight’s flagship Dynamic Congestion Management™ across U.S. and European grids—helping alleviate long interconnection delays and renewables curtailment by intelligently leveraging existing infrastructure. This round also secures Splight’s ability to scale both its commercial and technical teams amid surging demand from AI data centers and utilities. - learn more
    • Amboy Street Ventures participated in Nest Health’s $12.5M Series A round to support the expansion of its whole family, in home care model for Medicaid populations. Nest Health leverages AI powered clinical services, from medical to behavioral and social support, to deliver care at home while cutting churn and improving outcomes, including reduced ER visits and higher vaccination rates. The company will use the funding to scale its AI enabled care offerings into new regions and enhance partnerships with payors. - learn more
    • VamosVentures participated in Kira’s $6.7M seed funding round, supporting the AI driven fintech infrastructure platform as it emerges from stealth. The capital will enable Kira to expand across Latin America, especially South America, scale its technical team, and accelerate development of new embedded financial products powered by stablecoins, AI agents, and enterprise grade APIs. Kira aims to streamline financial services in markets with large underbanked populations and has already generated $3 million in revenue in its first year. - learn more

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                Forget Rockets, This Long Beach Startup Spins Satellites Into Orbit

                🔦 Spotlight

                Hello Los Angeles!

                It may be scorching this weekend, but the real heat is coming out of Long Beach, where SpinLaunch just raised $30 million to accelerate its Meridian Space satellite constellation. If you’ve heard of SpinLaunch before, it’s probably because of its wild approach: instead of burning tons of rocket fuel, the company literally spins payloads in a giant centrifuge before releasing them into the sky. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s one of the boldest bets on making access to orbit cheaper, faster, and more sustainable.

                Image Source: SpinLaunch

                The new funding will go toward advancing Meridian Space, a low Earth orbit broadband network that aims to deliver flexible, affordable global connectivity. With its first customer links expected in 2026, the project has the potential to do more than beam internet. It could reshape how enterprises, defense networks, and communities around the world connect. For Los Angeles, it’s a reminder that our region isn’t just about building the next social app or entertainment platform. We’re also home to the companies trying to redefine the very infrastructure of the digital age.

                And while space tech often feels far away, SpinLaunch keeps its roots planted firmly here. Its headquarters and orbital accelerator facility sit right in Long Beach, reinforcing Southern California’s reputation as a launchpad for both aerospace and climate conscious innovation. After all, swapping fuel heavy rockets for a ground based launch system isn’t just cost effective, it’s far greener.

                So while you’re cranking the A/C this weekend, remember SpinLaunch is busy cranking satellites into orbit, proving once again that in Los Angeles we don’t just chase the stars, we spin new ways to reach them.

                🤝 Venture Deals

                LA Companies

                  • Wellth, a Los Angeles–based digital health company focused on daily care motivation and behavior change strategies, has closed an oversubscribed $36M Series C round led by Mercato Partners. The funds will be used to expand access to its platform across Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, D SNP, and other high-need populations, while also accelerating product innovation including introducing generative AI capabilities to personalize engagement, backed by strong performance metrics like 90 percent care plan adherence, a 51 percent drop in inpatient admissions, and a 16 percent boost in medication adherence. - learn more

                    LA Venture Funds

                      • Presight Capital participated in General Fusion’s oversubscribed $22M financing round, helping the Canadian fusion energy company push forward with its LM26 demonstration program. The fresh capital will drive progress toward key scientific milestones in Magnetized Target Fusion technology such as high temperature plasma generation and renew momentum on the path to commercializing clean fusion energy. The round also brings new board members onboard to fortify leadership as General Fusion advances toward a zero carbon energy future. - learn more
                      • B Capital led a new Series C strategic growth investment in CompanyCam. The construction tech platform, known for its AI-powered job site documentation and workflow tools, will use the funding to expand globally, deepen AI integration, and enhance product features. WndrCo also participated in the round, backing CompanyCam’s push to transform contractor productivity. - learn more
                      • Clocktower Ventures participated in Relcu’s latest funding round. Relcu provides an AI powered “system of action” for financial services that helps institutions streamline workflows, improve customer engagement, and drive growth. The company will use the new capital to extend its CRM and AI Agent Co Pilot beyond mortgage into deposits, lending, and other areas by enhancing AI integration, expanding APIs, and embedding intelligent automation to boost conversion, retention, and cross sell. - learn more
                      • UP Partners participated in Loft Dynamics’ latest $24M Series B funding round. The Swiss based VR flight training company will use the investment to expand its revolutionary pilot training solutions, built on FAA and EASA qualified VR simulators, into commercial aviation, launching full motion Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 systems alongside cloud connected, AI enhanced tools and immersive at home training kits. - learn more
                      • Upfront Ventures led the $5.6M Series A funding for Agenda Hero. The San Francisco based AI platform helps users eliminate manual calendar work by transforming text, images, and PDFs into fully structured, shareable events and schedules. The new capital will accelerate AI features, expand calendar integrations, and scale adoption across individuals, teams, and organizations. - learn more
                      • Thiel Capital participated in Stark’s latest $62M funding round, which was led by Sequoia Capital and brings the German startup's valuation to around $500 million. Stark, founded in 2024, specializes in AI powered loitering munitions and command and control systems for battlefield drones, and plans to use the fresh capital to enhance its autonomous navigation, swarming capabilities, and expand production into new markets like the UK. Doepfner Capital also joined the round, backing Stark’s push to scale its defense technology. - learn more
                      • Crosscut Ventures and Vamos Ventures joined Aalo Atomics’ $100M Series B funding round, supporting the Austin‑based company’s mission to deploy modular nuclear reactors tailored for AI data centers. Aalo plans to build its first full-scale reactor, dubbed Aalo‑X, by next summer, co‑locating it with an experimental data center to showcase how factory‑produced nuclear plants can deliver clean, reliable power rapidly. This latest capital infusion accelerates Aalo’s deployment timeline and reinforces its strategy of mass manufacturing scalable nuclear infrastructure for the AI era. - learn more
                      • Overture VC co-led a $7M seed round in ChemFinity Technologies to boost its deployment of modular, sorbent-based systems that recover over 20 critical minerals from waste streams at low cost. The funds will help the company pilot and scale its high-performance technology, enabling domestic recovery of valuable metals like rare earth elements and platinum, while reducing reliance on imports and lowering environmental impact. - learn more
                      • Muse Capital led a high profile strategic investment in Ohai.ai, the AI powered household assistant founded by Care.com veteran Sheila Lirio Marcelo, joining a star studded lineup of backers including Olivia Munn, Mindy Kaling, and Abby Wambach. The new funding will accelerate Ohai.ai’s mission to relieve parental mental load, launching a back to school feature that lets families automatically sync school calendars by ZIP code or flyer, making household planning significantly smoother. - learn more
                      • Navitas Capital, alongside other investors, participated in EliseAI’s $250M Series E funding round. The New York-based AI company automating complex systems in healthcare and housing, will use the new capital to rapidly scale its team, enhance product innovation, and accelerate deployment of its AI-powered automation platform across front-desk operations, resident services, and beyond. The company has already doubled its workforce since its Series D, surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, and aims to expand its impact across multiple stressful sectors. - learn more
                      • Bedrock participated in TensorZero’s $7.3M seed round to advance its open source infrastructure for building industrial grade LLM applications. TensorZero offers an integrated stack covering LLM gateways, observability, optimization, evaluation, and experimentation, all designed to create a data driven “learning flywheel” that turns feedback into smarter, faster model performance and is rapidly gaining traction with developers and enterprises alike. - learn more
                      • Calibrate Ventures co-led a $6M seed round in Grid Aero, backing the aerospace startup’s debut of its Lifter Lite drone, an autonomous heavy lift aircraft designed to deliver thousands of pounds over long distances in challenging environments. The seed funding will drive testing and scaling efforts as Grid Aero readies for ground trials and positions the “pickup truck of the skies” as a low cost, modular logistics solution for military and future commercial use. - learn more
                      • Chapter One participated in Hyperbeat’s oversubscribed $5.2M seed round. Hyperbeat will use the new capital to expand its suite of on-chain tools such as staking tokens, high yield vaults, credit layers, and portfolio tracking aimed at simplifying and enhancing DeFi yield generation for traders, protocols, and institutions. The round underscores growing institutional confidence in Hyperliquid’s expanding ecosystem, which recently surpassed $2.1 billion in total value locked. - learn more
                          LA Exits
                          • SpectrumAi has been acquired by CentralReach, a leading provider of autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities care software, alongside fellow acquisition AI.Measures. The deals expand CentralReach’s Care360 platform with advanced tools including predictive analytics, real time decision support, and individualized assessment capabilities that help providers deliver outcomes based care. Leadership from both acquired companies will join CentralReach, further strengthening its ability to empower providers, payors, and families with intelligent, results driven therapy solutions. - learn more

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                                    The Legal System Just Got Its AI Upgrade

                                    🔦 Spotlight

                                    Hello Los Angeles!

                                    We talk a lot about AI in L.A., usually in the context of streaming platforms that “recommend” a movie you regret watching or apps that let you swap your face onto a Marvel poster. But the most interesting AI stories here aren’t gimmicks; they’re rewiring the hidden machinery of massive, slow moving industries. And this week, that spotlight falls on…lawyers.

                                    LawPro.ai, a Los Angeles based legal tech startup, just closed a priced seed round led by Scopus Ventures to bring AI deeper into the world of injury claims. Their new “Case Assistant” isn’t about flashy automation, it’s about instantly surfacing case insights, cutting down endless hours of drafting, and helping law firms run with the precision of a Formula 1 pit crew.

                                    Here’s why this matters: the legal industry has been one of the last holdouts when it comes to adopting tech that actually speeds things up. Now, with AI making its way from the red carpet to the courtroom, we’re watching the early stages of a shift that could change how justice is delivered in real time. In L.A., we’ve already seen AI startups shaking up entertainment, aerospace, and healthcare. Legal might be next.

                                    And if LawPro.ai pulls it off, you might not just get a faster verdict, you might see the ripple effect across an industry that has spent decades charging by the hour. In other words, the billable clock might finally start running in our favor.


                                    🤝 Venture Deals

                                    LA Companies

                                      • Equatic, a company using a patented seawater electrolysis process to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide while producing green hydrogen, has raised $11.6M in a Series A funding round. The round was co-led by Temasek Trust’s Catalytic Capital for Climate and Health (C3H) and Singapore-based Kibo Invest, and the capital will support the engineering, commercialization, and construction of its first 100‑kilotonne carbon removal facility, as well as broader manufacturing and technological development. - learn more
                                      • SetPoint Medical has secured $140M in private financing, comprising a $25M second tranche of its Series C round and a $115M Series D round co-led by Elevage Medical Technologies and Ally Bridge Group. The funds will be used to launch and scale commercialization of the FDA approved SetPoint System, a pioneering neuroimmune modulation implant that targets the vagus nerve to treat moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, as well as to advance development of therapies for other autoimmune conditions. - learn more

                                      LA Venture Funds

                                        • Bonfire Ventures participated in Topline Pro’s $27M Series B funding round to help the company scale its AI driven platform for local home service businesses. Topline Pro provides tools for plumbers, landscapers, painters, and other service providers to manage websites, marketing, CRM, payments, and more, enabling them to operate as scalable, autonomous enterprises. The new funding will be used to enhance its AI agent suite and expand onboarding, customer success, and product development capabilities to deliver greater ROI for small businesses. - learn more
                                        • B Capital participated in Isaac Health’s $10.5M Series A funding round, backing the company’s mission to expand access to brain health and dementia care. Isaac Health provides virtual and in-home services nationwide and will use the funds to enhance its AI-driven screening tools, strengthen its technology platform, and grow partnerships with health systems and payers. - learn more
                                        • Bold Capital Partners joined a $44M Series C financing round for Gameto, a clinical stage biotech company developing stem cell derived reproductive therapies. The new funding, which brings Gameto’s total capital raised to approximately $127M, will support completion of its pivotal Phase 3 trial of Fertilo, an iPSC derived egg maturation therapy, and the company’s global regulatory filings and commercialization efforts. - learn more
                                        • M13 led a seed round that raised $8.5M for Mako, a New York based AI startup focused on automating GPU code optimization. Mako’s platform lets developers write in familiar high level languages while its AI intelligently generates and continuously tunes low level GPU kernels, yielding faster performance, cost savings, and compatibility across hardware like NVIDIA, AMD, and Tenstorrent. The fresh funding will be used to expand the engineering team, deepen hardware support, and bring Mako’s performance tools to a broader audience in AI, graphics, simulation, and scientific computing. - learn more
                                        • Rebel Fund participated in a $9M Series A round for Chowdeck, a profitable Nigerian food delivery startup aiming to build Africa’s next super app for food, groceries, and essentials. With this capital, Chowdeck plans to roll out its quick commerce strategy, powered by a network of dark stores and hyper local logistics, to speed up delivery across Nigeria and Ghana. - learn more
                                          LA Exits
                                          • Mayweather Boxing + Fitness has been acquired by Giant Ideas, LLC, alongside KickHouse, and will be combined with the company’s flagship brand Legends Boxing to form the largest skill based boutique fitness network with more than 70 studios worldwide. Rather than focusing solely on rapid expansion, the unified brands will prioritize operational excellence, franchisee success, and community driven skill development. - learn more

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