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Rivian Stock Roller Coaster Continues as Amazon Van Delivery Faces Delays
David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
Rivian’s stock lost 7% yesterday on the back of news that the company could face delays in fulfilling Amazon’s order for a fleet of electric delivery vans due to legal issues with a supplier. The electric vehicle maker is suing Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG) over a pricing dispute related to the seats that the supplier promised, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The legal issue could mean that Amazon may not receive their electric vans on time. The dispute hinges on whether or not Commercial Vehicle Group is allowed to raise the prices of its seats after Rivian made engineering and design changes to the original version. Rivian says the price hike from CVG violates the supply contract. CVG denies the claim.
Regardless, the dispute could hamper Rivian’s ability to deliver electric vans to Amazon on time. The ecommerce/streaming/cloud computing/AI megacorporation controls an 18% stake in Rivian as one of the company’s largest early investors. Amazon has previously said it hopes to buy 100,000 delivery vehicles from Rivian by 2030.
The stock plunge marked another wild turn for the EV manufacturer. Last week, Rivian shares dropped 21% on Monday after Ford, another early investor, announced its intent to sell 8 million shares. The next few days saw even further declines as virtually the entire market saw massive losses, but then Rivian rallied partially on the back of their earnings report on Wednesday, gaining 28% back by Friday. Then came yesterday’s 7% slide. Today the stock is up another 10%.
Hold on tight, who knows where we’re going next.
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David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
Techstars LA Alum ComplYant Wants to Ease Small Businesses’ Tax Pains
07:00 AM | February 08, 2022
Image courtesy of ComplYant
ComplYant, a fintech startup that rose out of accelerator Techstars’ Los Angeles program, has raised a $5.5 million seed funding round, the company told dot.LA.
While San Francisco-based venture capital firm Craft Ventures led the round, two notable L.A.-based VCs, Mucker Capital and Slauson and Co., also participated. Techstars—which helped launch ComplYant through its L.A. accelerator program last year—also chipped in.

ComplYant founder Shiloh Johnson.
Image courtesy of ComplYant
ComplYant sells software that helps small businesses manage taxes, licensing fees and annual reports. The L.A.-based startup, which was founded in 2019 by former accountant Shiloh Johnson, claims it already helps thousands of customers avoid more than $4 million in late fees and penalties annually.
Johnson initially bootstrapped ComplYant while running a tax practice during the daytime, the founder and CEO told dot.LA. As an accountant with no previous tech background, Johnson initially turned to coding instruction platform Codecademy to design ComplYant herself, before eventually recruiting a contractor to write the code.
“Solo founding is rough, I will be honest,” Johnson said. “What I lacked in engineering awareness, I made up for in subject matter expertise, so I could get away with hiring people to step in.”
In addition to Techstars, ComplYant also worked its way through L.A.-based accelerator Grid110’s inaugural South L.A. cohort in 2020. Johnson is one of the few Black women startup founders who raised more than $1 million in venture capital funding last year, according to Business Insider.
“Especially in L.A., I find that founders tend to come from the industry that they’re solving problems for,” Craft partner Michael Tam told dot.LA. “Shiloh is the epitome of that.”
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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.
‘Pixar of the Internet’ Invisible Universe Raises $12M
06:00 AM | August 11, 2022
Photo courtesy of Invisible Universe
Invisible Universe, a self-described “Pixar of the internet,” has raised $12 million in Series A funding to build out its animated franchises.
Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, led the fundraising round. Cosmic Venture Partners, Dapper Labs and Spencer Rascoff’s 75 & Sunny participated in the raise, too. (Disclosure: Rascoff is co-founder and executive chairman of dot.LA.)
L.A.-based Invisible Universe partners with high-profile celebrities to create original animated characters that live on social media. Examples include Squeaky & Roy—the apparent long-lost toys of TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D’Amelio—as well as Qai Qai, a living doll that belongs to tennis legend Serena Williams’ daughter (Williams is married to Ohanian).
The animation studio posts videos of its characters on social platforms like TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Invisible Universe said it has more than 8.5 million followers across its accounts and an engagement rate above 10%.
By distributing intellectual property (IP) on social media, Invisible Universe aims to popularize its franchises on free platforms before commercializing them. The approach also allows the startup to share new content more frequently, instead of making fans wait months or years between new seasons or film installments, CEO Tricia Biggio told dot.LA.
When Invisible Universe does pitch its IP to streamers or toy companies, the startup can point to established fan bases to make its case, she said. After Qai Qai became a hit online, for example, the studio used the character’s IP to sell NFTs and develop a forthcoming children’s book authored by Williams, called “The Adventures of Qai Qai.” Invisible Universe is in the midst of shopping a series to streamers, but hasn’t closed a deal yet, she said.
“Most interestingly, we have tested the creative,” Biggio said. “I think for a studio or publisher—anyone that's agreeing to make an investment in your IP—for them to know that you've taken the time to test it and you've really built affinity through that, I think is a really powerful value proposition.”
Invisible Universe plans to use the fresh funds to launch more animated IP, expand to new platforms and further monetize its existing franchises. The company is also interested in delving into the world of Web3, a decentralized vision for the internet based on blockchain technology. This fall, Invisible Universe will launch a parody reality series on social media dubbed “The R3al Metaverse,” using characters based on popular NFT collections. The startup bought three NFTs and secured licenses for two more that fit well with the story, Biggio previously told dot.LA.
Seven Seven Six Co-founder Katelin Holloway, a former Reddit exec, likened Invisible Universe to Disney’s Pixar, where she served as a script supervisor. Holloway, an Invisible Universe board member, noted that popular IP is driving growth, audience retention and franchise expansions for entertainment companies.
“I saw the Pixar magic up close,” she said in a statement. “And [Invisible Universe] is building the same kind of unforgettable IP with an innovative approach that reduces both time and capital while embracing audience feedback.”
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Christian Hetrick
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
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