Peter Pham Is Not Afraid to Die. How One of LA's Preeminent VCs Became Obsessed with COVID

Ben Bergman

Ben Bergman is the newsroom's senior finance reporter. Previously he was a senior business reporter and host at KPCC, a senior producer at Gimlet Media, a producer at NPR's Morning Edition, and produced two investigative documentaries for KCET. He has been a frequent on-air contributor to business coverage on NPR and Marketplace and has written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review. Ben was a 2017-2018 Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economic and Business Journalism at Columbia Business School. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, playing poker, and cheering on The Seattle Seahawks.

Peter Pham Is Not Afraid to Die. How One of LA's Preeminent VCs Became Obsessed with COVID

As Thanksgiving approached, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti implored residents to stay home and halt all nonessential travel as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed.

But on Thanksgiving Day, Peter Pham, one of L.A.'s most prominent early-stage investors and the co-founder of Science Inc, a Santa Monica startup studio and early-stage venture fund that manages over $100 million and recently launched a $310.5 million SPAC, posted a selfie of himself atop Las Vegas' High Roller ferris wheel.

He was clutching a can of Liquid Death, the bad boy-themed canned water brand that has improbably become Science's buzziest startup. Pham guzzles six cans a day, because he says he does not trust municipal tap water.

"I'm not afraid of dying," Pham told me recently. "There's risk for everything and COVID is a risk that I feel very confident in my ability to deal with. I could be wrong and that's OK. I am OK if I fucked up and I die from it."


Pham has been transfixed by COVID since March, often tweeting dozens of times a day and sometimes much more – about his aversion to lockdowns and school closures, blockbuster treatments the government is allegedly ignoring, and the rocky vaccine rollout. He has also made it his mission to help distribute millions of PPE to medical workers.

"I like to go deep on things, like OCD-type deep," he said. "I like to learn and I like to fix things. I can get obsessed."

Pham stands out from most, but certainly not all VCs – who strive to remain as bland and non-controversial as possible, according to Tom Nicholas, a Harvard Business School professor who wrote the book, VC: An American History.

"Being neutral makes sense in an industry where investments are frequently syndicated," said Nicholas. "There's a lot of downside to being a contrarian and very little upside."

Pham says he does not care about being liked or offending others.

"It's opt-in, dude," he said. "If you don't like it, don't fucking follow me."

Pham says his tweets are a perfect reflection of his personality, which he admits can be scattered. But it is more than worth it, he says, because he is intensely loyal and "goes to the mat" for friends, colleagues, and founders that Science is backing.

"You know what you're going to get with me," he said. "You're going to get an erratic person who's passionate beyond belief."

Pham has scored the sort of exits that give him the license to speak his mind in the elite venture world, none bigger than the Dollar Shave Club, the direct-to-consumer razors and grooming startup that put Science on the map when it was bought by Unliever for $1 billion in 2016.

Peter PhamPeter Pham is one of L.A.'s most prominent early-stage investors and the co-founder of Santa Monica venture fund Science Inc.

"Peter is definitely wired differently than most VCs I've met," said Michael Dubin, founder of Dollar Shave Club, "I think of Peter as an expert networker and fundraiser. He's highly social. He loves people. He's the first one on the dance floor, as he says on his Twitter bio."

Dubin says Pham is not the sort of investor to labor over the details of a company. Instead, Pham stands out for two qualities – he is a gifted "hype man," which is very useful when you're trying to build any company but especially consumer brands. And most of all, he possesses probably the most valuable skill in tech: The ability to quickly raise vast sums of capital.

"He is incredible at raising money," Dubin said. "When you're a VC looking to invest in companies and Peter Pham calls you, you definitely pick up the phone and listen to what he says. It doesn't mean you believe him, but you definitely pick up the call."

To Dubin, it makes sense that Pham has been consumed with trying to find light at the end of the COVID tunnel.

"The way Peter's brain is wired, it doesn't surprise me he is on the leading edge of trying to find helpful interpretations," Dubin said, before pausing to add: "It doesn't make him right. He's not Dr. Fauci."

'The Biggest Scandal in the History of COVID'

Pham talks frequently about his "research" and the hours he devotes to pouring over scientific papers even though his scientific training is limited to majoring in biology and pre-medicine during his undergraduate years at the University of California, Irvine. He planned to be a doctor but changed his mind junior year when he decided it required too much structure.

"I was premed, so I actually understand science," he said.

Pham has been especially vocal about the antiparasitic drug Ivermectin, which he went so far as to give to his housekeeper's ailing 80-year-old friend, which he shared on Twitter.

"It's a cheap drug that clearly is helping," Pham said. "That's been my crusade for the last couple of months."

A recent paper in the Journal Lancet found "limited evidence" that Ivermectin was effective in treating COVID patients. The FDA has warned people not to take the drug because it has not been tested outside of the lab.

Pham has no such patience, posting frequently that the drug needs to be widely distributed immediately.

"That will go down as the biggest scandal in the history of COVID," he declared.

Last month, amidst the chaotic vaccine rollout in L.A. County, Pham shared that he devoted a day to visiting five vaccination sites and more than 30 hours researching and talking to friends in health care.

Asked how he has so much time to devote to COVID, Pham said that he stays up until 3:30 a.m. every morning and only sleeps four hours a night.

"My partners are amazing and they know that I like to help people," Pham said. "Making money is not my goal in life, but I'm not neglecting my startups and my company."

Michael Jones, the former MySpace CEO who recruited Pham to work at Science Inc. in 2011, says he has no concerns about Pham's work habits.

"Peter has his own unique style of working, Jones said. "He complements our firm in a really unique and special way that I think benefits a lot from our investors."

'Sit This One Out;' Other Prominent Investors Push Back

In early March, Pham hosted his exclusive annual gathering of top VCs at Gjelina, a tony restaurant in Venice. The guests of honor were the suddenly very wealthy founders of Honey, an L.A. startup that sold to Paypal for $4 billion at the end of 2019. Pham hoped that the conversation would stay focused on the dinner's purpose – raising money – rather than the mysterious virus that by then was consuming people's attention.

In the early days of the crisis, Pham repeatedly played down the seriousness of COVID, arguing that it only affected the old and sick, something Balaji S. Srinivasan, an angel investor and entrepreneur and former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, pushed back against.

Pham now freely admits he underestimated the threat of COVID and he is certainly not the only one to do so, but he says the important thing is to learn from new information when it becomes available.

"I didn't think it would be that bad in March and obviously I was wrong," Pham said. "I'm not dogmatic in anything."

To Pham's credit, in March he also started raising money in the tech community to buy and distribute badly needed PPE as a founding member of C19 Coalition, which has delivered more than one billion units of masks, face shields, and other equipment.

But those early overly rosy assessments have not deterred Pham from continuing to downplay the risk from COVID, advocate for herd immunity, and accuse the media of hyping up the threat.

In August, he tweeted that the worst of the pandemic was over, when U.S. case numbers were a third what they were this month. In November, he said hospitals "will continue to be fine," a month before ICU capacity in Southern California plummeted to zero percent.

Chris Sacca, a venture investor best known for being a judge on Shark Tank who is a limited partner in Science, shot back around the time ICU was hitting 0% capacity, telling Pham to "sit this one out."

Pham says he can't recall what he was tweeting about. He deleted the original tweets that Sacca and Srinivasan were referencing.

"I should autodelete my tweets, to be honest, but I use it for search because my memory is so bad," Pham said. "I have ADHD with the memory capacity of the bottom 16th percentile of the population."

Pham does not appear to be exaggerating. Two weeks after we spoke for over an hour on two Zoom video calls, Pham had no memory of us ever talking.

"My memory is horrible," he said.

Pham says his lack of memory is one of the reasons he is perpetually upbeat.

"I'm always optimistic because I forgot what happened yesterday," he tweeted last month.

He says his lack of memory is also why he is so blunt and unfiltered.

"People are trying to create this persona online, which is weird and a lot of work and I think you have to have a good memory, and I don't have that," Pham said. "I don't care. I just say it."

The one thing Pham never talks about is family, which he says he avoids doing for privacy reasons, especially as he has gotten more involved with the sometimes shadowy world of cryptocurrency. He also won't reveal his age or the city where he grew up for "security reasons."

Pham may not fear COVID, but he lives in constant fear of being hacked.

The Embodiment of the American Dream

Pham often says he has lived the embodiment of the American dream and it is not hard to see why.

His father served as a fleet commander for the South Vietnamese Navy during the Vietnam War and in 1975, weeks after the fall of Saigon, the U.S. Navy evacuated Pham's parents and four older siblings to California.

Pham was born in a refugee camp about a month later.

The family grew up poor in a cramped one-bedroom apartment, the reason he says he has been dismayed many public schools have closed their doors during the pandemic. His parents both became social workers while the siblings took on odd jobs to put food on the table.

Pham was a straight-A student in high school and applied to only one college, the University of California, Irvine, which he picked because it was close to home.

He put himself through college, waiting tables at Red Lobster, selling computers at Circuit City and helping people install Windows operating software on their computers.

Pham found he was much more interested in tech than being a doctor and after adding a business management minor to his biology major, he bounced around 13 enterprise software and hardware startups for the first nine years of his career in business development.

Biz dev, as it is known, is largely sales and marketing. Above all, it requires hustle and building and maintaining big networks of individuals who can help your company – things Pham discovered he could do with ease.

His first major success came in 2005 when his friend Alex Welch recruited him to do biz dev at Photobucket, an early digital photo sharing platform that is now mostly forgotten. Pham was hired as the fifth employee and three years later News Corp. acquired the company for $300 million.

Pham went on to start BillShrink, a website to help consumers save on cell phone bills, credit cards, and gas. It was eventually bought by Mastercard.

After those exits, Pham had the credibility to raise major sums of capital from top Sand Hill Road firms — and that is exactly what he did in 2010 when he teamed with serial entrepreneur Bill Nguyen to start Color – named for their love of the Apple logo — the photo-sharing app.

"He's probably the best sales person I've ever met in my life, which is saying a lot because people think I'm a pretty good salesperson," Pham said. "He can convince you of anything."

Pham and Nguyen quickly amassed $41 million from Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital and Silicon Valley Bank before they ever launched a product. That was far more than Instagram, which was founded the same year with just half a million in seed funding, or about what Color spent just on acquiring the domain names color.com and colour.com.

Color also rented a cavernous office with a hand-built skateboard ramp in Palo Alto with room for 160 employees even though they had fewer than 40.

The New York Times featured the company as a prime example of another bubble in start-up investing. (It also warned about Airbnb in the same article, which had a much better fate.)

Unlike Instagram, which was built around users seeing photos of accounts they chose to follow, Color users viewed photos by location. But it turned out that was not what users wanted at all and the 2011 launch was a dud. Nyugen fired Pham three months later. Pham said he quit.

Apple bought Color in 2012 for $7 million amidst bizarre allegations of an abusive work environment, which was not only far less than the $167 million valuation Color had raised at in 2010 but also a long ways away from the $200 million Google had offered to buy the company in early 2011, according to Techcrunch.

Reflecting on his Color tenure now, which is omitted from his official bio, Pham says he barely knew Nyugen before they started the company – a mistake he would never make again – and describes their partnership as a "shotgun marriage."

"It wasn't a marriage that lasted," he said. "We were different people."

Pham defends the premise of Color as ahead of its time, pointing out that Snap launched a map feature two years ago that emulated what Color was trying to do.

"We were just early, and of course execution of this thing," Pham said. "Shit happens. Startups fail. It just didn't work."

But it did not take Pham long to get another job offer. Three months after his departure, Pham bumped into his old friend Jones at the Lobby Conference, an invitation-only consumer and enterprise tech gathering held annually in Maui.

They had been kicking around the idea for years of creating a Santa Monica version of Bill Gross' longtime startup studio, Idealab, which is in Pasadena.

"I wanted to do Idealab, but on the west side of town, because I like the beach," Pham said.

Up to that point, Pham and Jones had been consumed with other startups, but now they were both jobless and Pham wanted to move back to L.A., where he grew up and his family lived.

"Most people thought it was insane to leave the gold rush in the valley at that time," Pham said. "But what we wanted to do is be closer to building the business, not just writing the check."

Jones says he had no reservations about teaming with Pham, despite him only being a few months removed from being fired from Color.

"I wasn't at Color and I don't really know any of the background of Color," Jones said. "What I knew is that I knew Peter for a very long time."

Jones also recruited his longtime attorney Greg Gilman and former Myspace colleague Tom Dare to round out the founding team. Science Inc. launched with $10 million in venture backing from investors including Google CEO Eric Schmidt and another $30 million from the Hearst Corporation.

The now defunct Gawker tech gossip spinoff, Valleywag, marvelled at how quickly Pham was able to escape the Color fiasco.

"Why the hell are people still giving this guy money?" reporter Sam Biddle asked. "In just a couple short years, Pham has failed upwards, meteorically, from industry laughingstock to managing hundreds of millions of dollars."

But Pham soon proved the doubters wrong.

In its first year, Science had the sort of breakout success that it has never been able to top in the decade since.

Science incubated a small startup that sold razors and grooming supplies direct to consumers with quirky marketing campaigns with a $100,000 check. The next year, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led a $1 million seed round. In 2016, Unilever acquired Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion and yielded its founder, Dubin, a reported $200 million payday.

"Peter was instrumental in helping us fundraise," Dubin said. "He knows the art and science of raising money. He's extremely connected. We just would not have raised the money we did if it had not been for him."

Science has also scored big wins with DogVacay, which merged with its larger competitor Rover in 2018, and FameBit, an influencer marketing platform that was acquired by Google in 2016 before being shut down last year.

These days the firm's buzziest startup is decidedly low tech. Liquid Death, featuring the slogan "Murder Your Thirst," packages Austrian mountain water in aluminum cans. Pham says he was drawn to Liquid Death after a friend showed him the brand's edgy Facebook page.

Science incubated the brand in 2019 and led the $2.26 million seed round at a pre-money valuation of $5 million. In September, Liquid Death raised another $23 million Series B funding at a pre-money valuation at $82 million.

Science Inc.-backed Liquid Death packages Austrian mountain water in aluminum cans with bad boy-themed marketing.

Mike Cessario, the creative director turned founder and CEO of Liquid Death says the first time he met Pham at Science's offices he struck him as "a really smart guy who talks a million miles a minute."

"Peter has stepped up with us to make sure we can get the best deals we can get where we are not being taken advantage of by other investors," Cessario said.

Pham is rarely seen without a tall can of Liquid Death by his side. He says he consumes six a day because is worried about drinking the tap water where he lives.

"I don't trust the water in Manhattan Beach," Pham said. "It's got PFAS in it – plastics forever. If you don't know what that is, Google it. It's going to blow your mind."

Unlike with Nyugen, in Jones Pham says he has found someone who he will be friends with for life. Pham says he has finally found the role that perfectly suits his unique personality. At Science, he is in-charge of business development. Crucially, he has no direct reports.

"I don't like managing people," Pham said. "I was CEO once. It's not my thing."

Last month, Science Inc. announced that it was launching a $270 million SPAC to focus on direct-to-consumer, mobile and entertainment companies.

'It's All Over in 60 Days'

These days Pham has been traveling to Miami, which comes with the dual advantages of being a place unencumbered by the lockdowns he hates and also home to a rapidly growing startup scene that he says reminds him of L.A. 10 years ago. Ever the networker and promoter, Pham hosted a sunset cruise there this month for tech founders and investors where they sipped on Liquid Death.

Pham continues to advocate for Ivermectin and has also been pushing the yet-to-be-approved Novavax Vaccine. He enrolled in the vaccine's phase III trial and says it is his "favorite" vaccine because it is easier to store and can be used on immunocompromised patients.

Far from a distraction, Pham says his passion about COVID and helping secure PPE has brought the unintended effect of further expanding his professional network.

"It opened up a whole new network of entrepreneurs and spaces and industries that we're now looking into investing in," Pham said. "It all comes full circle. It turns out if you do good things in life, you get rewarded."

While so many Americans are relentlessly dreary after nearly a year of the pandemic, Pham is more sanguine than ever.

"I still am optimistic it's all over in 60 days," he tweeted this month.

"We will all be having easter dinner with family," he added last week.

Lead image by Eduardo Ramón Trejo.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with Science's closing amount for its SPAC and a clarification from Pham on Color.

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VC Giants Back LA Defense Tech Startup

🔦 Spotlight

Hello Los Angeles, and happy Friday!

Memorial Day Weekend is finally here, and it seems even PCH got the memo, just in time for those coastal drives to kick off summer, traffic jams included. Speaking of navigation, El Segundo based startup CX2 has charted its own impressive course this week, securing $31 million in a Series A round led by Point72 Ventures, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, and Pax Ventures, to boost its mission in electronic warfare.

Electronic warfare (EW), for those of us who aren't regulars at the Pentagon, involves the tactical use of electromagnetic energy to control the spectrum, essentially jamming or confusing enemy communications and radar systems. CX2 was founded by a diverse and experienced group: Nathan Mintz, who brings deep expertise in defense technology from previous ventures such as Epirus and Spartan; Mark Trefgarne, a software entrepreneur known for a successful acquisition by Meta; Lee Thompson, an expert RF engineer previously with SpaceX; and Porter Smith, whose practical insights stem from his background as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and subsequent experience as an investor.

The new funds will help CX2 scale its team and accelerate the development of advanced tools, including autonomous drones and specialized signals-intelligence systems. These innovations promise precision interference without collateral disruptions, addressing critical defense capability gaps identified by industry experts.

With tensions escalating globally, there's big demand for next-gen defense solutions, and CX2’s technology positions them as a major player in shaping future electronic battlespaces.

Dive deeper into the details and check out this week's roundup of LA’s venture deals and acquisitions below.

Here's to a weekend filled with sunshine, clear roads (fingers crossed), and tech that keeps pushing boundaries!

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Axle Health, founded by former Uber execs, raised $10M in Gaa Series A round led by F-Prime Capital to expand its AI-powered logistics platform for home healthcare. The software streamlines scheduling, routing, and patient engagement, and is now used by major health systems and agencies across all 50 states. The company has seen 10x revenue growth over the past year. - learn more
  • Promise, a generative AI studio based in Venice, California, has secured a strategic investment from Google's AI Futures Fund, alongside contributions from The North Road Company, and others. This funding will support Promise's integration of advanced AI technologies into its proprietary production platform, MUSE, and facilitate collaborations with Google's DeepMind researchers to push the boundaries of AI-driven storytelling. The studio plans to commence production on its first feature-length film this year, marking a significant step in its mission to blend human creativity with cutting-edge AI tools in filmmaking. - learn more
  • Final Boss Sour, a Los Angeles-based snack brand blending gaming nostalgia with sour fruit treats, raised $4M in a Seed 2 round. The funds will go toward expanding distribution, product innovation, and creator partnerships. The company also launched a new tropical sampler box featuring real fruit flavors like mango, pineapple, and kiwi. - learn more
  • VUZ, a UAE-based immersive media platform, raised $12M in a pre-Series C round led by the International Finance Corporation with participation from CrossWork.us, among others, to fuel global expansion and enhance its AI-powered streaming experiences. The funding brings its total raised to over $35M and will support growth across the U.S., Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. VUZ, now EBITDA positive, hosts 30,000+ hours of immersive content and has exclusive deals with leagues like LaLiga and Serie A. - learn more

      LA Venture Funds

      • B Capital co-led Data Sutram's $9M Series A funding round, supporting the company's expansion of its AI-driven fraud detection platform into sectors like cryptocurrency, gaming, and insurance. The investment will also aid in strengthening Data Sutram's AI capabilities and facilitating its international growth into markets such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia. - learn more
      • Upfront Ventures led Clair's $23.2M Series B funding round, reinforcing its commitment to the fintech startup it initially backed during the seed stage. Clair provides embedded earned wage access (EWA) solutions, allowing employees to access their earnings instantly through integrations with payroll and workforce management platforms like Gusto and TriNet. The new funding will support Clair's expansion across more than 29,000 business locations and enhance its partnerships with additional HR and payroll providers. - learn more
      • Rebel Fund participated in Keep's recent C$108M funding round, supporting the Toronto-based fintech's mission to modernize small business banking in Canada. Keep offers an all-in-one financial platform tailored to Canadian small businesses, addressing challenges like outdated systems and limited access to credit. The funding will help Keep expand its services, which include business credit cards, expense tracking, and multi-currency accounts, to more entrepreneurs across the country. - learn more
      • MarcyPen Capital Partners participated in SparkCharge's $30.5M funding round, supporting the expansion of its mobile, off-grid EV charging services across North America. This investment will help SparkCharge scale its Charging-as-a-Service model, enabling fleets to adopt electric vehicles without the need for permanent infrastructure. - learn more
      • Matter Venture Partners participated in Biostate AI's $12M Series A funding round, supporting the Houston-based startup's mission to revolutionize molecular diagnostics through affordable RNA sequencing and generative AI. Biostate AI aims to build a comprehensive RNA sequencing dataset to train AI models capable of predicting disease progression and treatment responses, thereby advancing precision medicine. - learn more
      • Prototype Capital participated in Sensmore's €6.5M funding round, supporting the German robotics startup's mission to retrofit heavy machinery with AI-driven automation. Sensmore's technology enables real-time automation of complex tasks in industries like construction and mining. The investment will help expand Sensmore's Physical AI platform, enhancing productivity and safety in industrial operations. - learn more

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            Forget Traffic: Air Taxis Are Coming to LA28

            🔦 Spotlight

            Hello Los Angeles,

            The future just got a flight plan, and it includes skipping traffic for the 2028 Olympics.

            Image Source: Archer

            This week, Santa Clara-based Archer Aviation made headlines (and history) by being named the official air taxi provider for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA. Yes, that means electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will be soaring above the gridlocked freeways, whisking athletes, officials, and perhaps a few lucky spectators through LA’s famously congested skies.

            This isn’t just a flashy PR stunt (although, let’s be honest, it is peak LA). It’s a strategic move to redefine how we move around the city, especially during one of the largest global events ever to hit Southern California. In partnership with the LA28 Organizing Committee, Archer plans to deploy its Midnight aircraft, an all-electric air taxi that promises ultra-quiet, zero-emission rides from point A to point OMG-I’m-not-in-traffic.

            While Archer is headquartered in Santa Clara, it has deep ties to the LA tech ecosystem. United Airlines, one of its major partners, has previously announced plans to establish eVTOL routes between downtown and LAX. Pair that with this new Olympic milestone and we’re looking at LA as ground zero for what could become the world’s first large-scale urban air mobility network.

            Of course, there are still regulatory hurdles, infrastructure needs, and airspace coordination issues to iron out before we can book our sky ride to the Coliseum. But make no mistake, this announcement is a moonshot moment for LA tech, mobility, and the future of Olympic-scale transportation.

            We’ll be keeping our feet on the ground (for now), but we’ll definitely be watching the skies.

            Catch you next week ✈️✨

            🤝 Venture Deals

            LA Companies

            • Akido, a Los Angeles-based health tech company, has raised $60M in Series B funding led by Oak HC/FT to expand the reach of its AI-powered clinical tool, ScopeAI. The platform assists physicians by generating clinical questions, documenting patient responses, and drafting care plans in real time. The funding will help Akido scale its technology across its provider network and expand into new markets like New York City. - learn more
            • Reflect Orbital, a startup developing satellite-based sunlight delivery systems, has raised $20M in a Series A round led by Lux Capital. The company plans to use the funding to expand its team, scale operations, and prepare for its first satellite launch in Spring 2026. Reflect Orbital’s technology aims to reflect sunlight from space to Earth, enabling nighttime illumination for energy, remote operations, and civil infrastructure. - learn more
            • Rolli, an AI-powered platform designed to support fact-based journalism, has received an investment from the NYU Impact Investment Fund (NIIF). This marks NIIF's first investment in a media company, underscoring its commitment to backing ventures that enhance democratic institutions through innovation. Rolli's platform connects journalists with a diverse range of vetted experts, aiming to streamline news production and promote equitable representation in media. The funding will help Rolli expand its reach and further develop tools that empower journalists to produce accurate and impactful reporting. - learn more

              LA Venture Funds

              • CIV and Wonder Ventures participated in The Nuclear Company’s $46.3M Series A round to support its plan to develop large-scale nuclear reactor sites across the U.S. CIV co-founder Patrick Maloney also co-founded the company, which is taking a “design-once, build-many” approach to modernize nuclear construction. The funding will help meet rising energy demands from sectors like AI and data centers. - learn more
              • WndrCo participated in Cartwheel's recent $10M funding round. Cartwheel is an AI-driven 3D animation startup that enables creators to generate rigged animations from text prompts and videos. The funding will support Cartwheel's efforts to simplify and democratize 3D animation production. - learn more
              • Crosscut Ventures participated in Solestial's $17M Series A funding round, which aims to scale the company's production of radiation-hardened, self-healing silicon solar panels for space applications. Solestial plans to increase its manufacturing capacity to 1 megawatt per year, matching the combined annual output of all U.S. and EU III-V space solar companies. This investment supports the growing demand for cost-effective, high-performance power systems in the expanding space industry. - learn more
              • Upfront Ventures participated in Tern's $13M Series A funding round, adding to its earlier $4M seed investment in the travel tech startup. Tern offers an all-in-one platform for travel advisors, streamlining itinerary building, CRM, and commission tracking. The new funding will help Tern enhance its product offerings and expand support for its growing user base. - learn more
              • Dangerous Ventures participated in Verdi's $6.5M seed funding round, supporting the Vancouver-based agtech startup's mission to modernize farm irrigation systems through AI-powered automation. Verdi's technology retrofits existing infrastructure, enabling precise, row-level control of irrigation, which helps farmers reduce water usage and labor costs. The investment aligns with Dangerous Ventures' focus on climate resilience and sustainable food systems. - learn more
              • Pinegrove Capital Partners participated in Saildrone's recent $60M funding round, supporting the company's expansion of its autonomous maritime surveillance technology into Europe. The investment will aid in deploying Saildrone's uncrewed surface vehicles for enhanced maritime security and defense applications across European waters. - learn more
              • Starburst Ventures participated in a €2 million seed funding round for French defense tech startup Alta Ares, which specializes in embedded AI and MLOps solutions for military applications. Alta Ares' technologies, including the Gamma platform for real-time video analysis and the Ulixes platform for managing operational data lifecycles, operate autonomously without the need for internet or cloud connectivity. This funding will support the industrialization of these solutions and expand their deployment across European armed forces and NATO allies. - learn more
              • Nomad Ventures participated in Stackpack’s recent $6.3M seed funding round, supporting the company's mission to streamline vendor management for modern businesses. Stackpack offers an AI-driven platform that provides finance and IT teams with a centralized system to oversee third-party vendors, manage renewals, and mitigate compliance risks. The investment will enable Stackpack to expand its operations, enhance its platform, and introduce new features like the "Requests & Approvals" tool, aimed at simplifying vendor onboarding and procurement processes. - learn more
              • Tachyon Ventures participated in Stylus Medicine's $85M Series A funding round, supporting the biotech company's development of in vivo genetic medicines. Stylus aims to simplify gene editing by enabling precise, durable CAR-T therapies delivered directly inside the body, potentially transforming treatment for various diseases. - learn more
              • Up.Partners led a $28M Series A funding round for WakeCap, a construction tech startup that uses sensor-powered platforms to deliver real-time workforce visibility and site intelligence. WakeCap’s system tracks labor hours, safety, and productivity across large-scale projects, with over 150 million labor hours already monitored. The new funding will help the company expand globally, enhance product features, and grow its engineering and customer success teams. - learn more


                LA Exits

                • MediaPlatform, a leading provider of enterprise video solutions, has been acquired by Brandlive, a company renowned for bringing the magic of television to business communications. This strategic acquisition aims to enhance Brandlive's capabilities in delivering high-scale, reliable CEO town halls and global corporate broadcasts. By integrating MediaPlatform's robust infrastructure with Brandlive's creative video tools and production services, the combined entity seeks to offer more engaging and authentic internal content experiences for enterprise clients. - learn more
                • RHQ Creative, a studio renowned for its competitive Fortnite training maps, has been acquired by JOGO, the game development company founded by popular creator Typical Gamer (Andre Rebelo). This acquisition aims to bolster JOGO's expansion into the competitive gaming arena by integrating RHQ's expertise in skill-building and training map design. RHQ Creative, co-founded by Fortnite pro Quinn Gannon (RichHomieQuinn) and Sean Lugo, has achieved over 20 million map visits and 200 million hours of playtime. The deal includes full ownership of RHQ's map catalog and the addition of its team to JOGO, enhancing the company's capabilities in developing high-quality, competitive gaming experiences. - learn more

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                    This LA Startup Wants to Make It Rain and Just Raised $25M to Do It

                    🔦 Spotlight

                    Hello LA!

                    While most tech headlines are busy chasing AI chatbots and flying taxis, one startup in El Segundo is aiming a little higher. Literally.

                    Rainmaker just secured$25 million in Series A funding to expand its cloud-seeding drone technology. The round was led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Starship Ventures, 1517 Fund, Long Journey Ventures, Naval Ravikant, and others.

                    Their idea is simple but urgent. Instead of relying on old-school aircraft to spray rain-making particles across the sky, Rainmaker uses AI-powered drones that find and seed clouds with pinpoint accuracy. It is faster, more affordable, and could reshape how regions fight back against droughts.

                    California's ongoing water struggles have made it clear that simply "saving" water is not enough. Cities and entire economies need new tools to create it. Rainmaker plans to use the funding to grow its fleet, invest in atmospheric science, and expand commercial partnerships with utilities and governments searching for solutions.

                    Bigger picture, Rainmaker is part of a growing shift in LA's tech ecosystem. While software remains dominant, more investors and founders are quietly betting on "hard tech" that addresses real-world problems like water, energy, and infrastructure.

                    It is not just about apps anymore. It is about survival tech.

                    With the skies getting hotter and the reservoirs getting lower, the next great tech export out of LA might not be entertainment or social media. It could be rain.

                    Stay tuned…

                    🤝 Venture Deals

                    LA Companies

                      • SimpleClosure, a Santa Monica-based startup that automates the business shutdown process, has raised a $15M Series A funding round led by TTV Capital. The company, which launched publicly in late 2023, helps startups and businesses navigate legal, regulatory, and compliance hurdles when closing down, using AI to streamline paperwork and communications. The new funding will support SimpleClosure’s platform growth and product expansion, as rising economic pressures create heightened demand for efficient dissolution solutions. - learn more

                        LA Venture Funds

                        • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in Haya Therapeutics’ $65M Series A funding round. Haya Therapeutics, which is developing precision RNA-guided medicines for chronic and age-related diseases, will use the capital to advance its lead therapeutic programs targeting heart failure and fibrosis. The company plans to expand its pipeline, invest in its discovery platform, and grow its team to accelerate clinical development. - learn more
                        • Griffin Gaming Partners led a $7M funding round for Fuse Games, a gaming studio focused on developing new original IP. Fuse Games, founded by industry veterans with experience at major gaming companies, plans to use the funds to accelerate production of its first title and expand its team as it builds ambitious new gaming experiences. - learn more
                        • Shamrock Capital has made a strategic growth investment in Neocol, a leading consulting platform that specializes in sales and AI-driven software solutions for subscription businesses. Neocol, which helps companies optimize revenue operations and digital transformations, plans to use the investment to accelerate its growth, expand its services, and further strengthen its leadership position in the Salesforce ecosystem. - learn more
                        • Trust Fund participated in a $7.2M seed funding round for Agree.com, an all-in-one platform that combines e-signature and integrated payments, aiming to streamline and speed up service agreements. The company plans to use the new capital to grow its engineering team, expand integrations, and enhance payment capabilities to help service providers close deals faster. - learn more
                        • Hyperlink Ventures participated in Orca AI’s $72.5M funding round. Orca AI, headquartered in London, develops AI-based navigation and collision-avoidance solutions to improve safety and efficiency for commercial shipping fleets. The funding will help Orca AI scale its autonomous shipping technologies, expand its team, and support global growth efforts. - learn more


                        LA Exits

                        • StoryFire, a social storytelling and video platform with over 2.5M users, has been acquired by Flashy Finance to launch a new platform called Flashy Social. The move aims to merge content creation with blockchain-powered financial tools, allowing creators to monetize through token incentives, streaming features, and community engagement. This acquisition supports Flashy Finance’s broader vision of building a cultural, creator-led financial ecosystem. - learn more
                        • Jaanuu, Inc., a Los Angeles-based medical apparel brand known for its stylish and functional scrubs, has been acquired in an asset sale by VentureOn Management, LLC. The acquisition includes substantially all of Jaanuu's assets, encompassing its intellectual property, inventory, and customer relationships. VentureOn Management plans to continue Jaanuu's operations, focusing on delivering high-quality medical apparel to healthcare professionals. - learn more
                        • Skechers has agreed to be acquired by 3G Capital in a deal valued at approximately $9.4 billion. Shareholders will receive either $63 per share in cash or $57 plus an equity unit in a new private parent company. Following the acquisition, Skechers will become privately held, maintain its Manhattan Beach headquarters, and continue to be led by its current management team. - learn more

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