Launch House Raises $12 Million to Expand into the Metaverse
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.
Live-in startup accelerator Launch House has unveiled a $12 million Series A funding round as it looks to expand to more cities and launch a new “metaverse location.”
After expanding to New York last fall, the accelerator—which started out of a Beverly Hills mansion in 2020 and helped spawn a wave of trendy live-in incubators—plans to take its residency program to additional cities and also launch “the first space for the startup world in the metaverse,” it said Tuesday. It also plans to roll out new verticals like Hack House, which it bills as a Launch House for engineers.
Andreessen Horowitz general partner Andrew Chen led the Series A and was joined by Creative Artists Agency co-founder Michael Ovitz, Electric Ant (led by Ovitz’s son Chris), 6th Man Ventures and Bankless co-founder Ryan Sean Adams. News of the funding comes after a January regulatory filing indicated that Launch House was looking to raise $10 million in capital.
Launch House members pay up to $5,500 for a spot in the live-in accelerator program, which is usually limited to around 25 individuals. The virtual “metaverse” program is meant to alleviate those constraints by accepting anywhere from 50 to 100 applicants for a smaller fee.
“The point is to make Launch House more accessible to folks that can't come in, give up their lives and live in a house for a month,” Launch House co-founder Brett Goldstein told dot.LA.
While the accelerator has earned a reputation for catering to young, Gen Z and millennial founders, Goldstein noted that Launch House will accept applicants from any age group. “We have people in their 40s joining,” he said.
After receiving criticism last year for throwing parties that flouted COVID-19 safety protocols, Goldstein said Launch House has made efforts to ensure that it abides by public health guidelines—with members joining the program needing to be fully vaccinated and boosted.- Meet the LA Startup Houses Building Companies Through Co-Living ›
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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.
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