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XLA Tech Updates: XPrize Offers Up $1.8M for Rapid Covid-19 Detection with CT Scans
Leslie Ignacio is dot.LA's editorial intern. She is a recent California State University, Northridge graduate and previously worked for El Nuevo Sol, Telemundo and NBC and was named a Chips Quinn Scholar in 2019. As a bilingual journalist, she focuses on covering diversity in news. She's a Los Angeles native who enjoys trips to Disneyland in her free time.

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- XPRIZE offers $1.5 grand prize to find better way to detect Covid-19 using CT scans
XPRIZE offers $1.5 million for rapid Covid-19 detection via CT Scan
XPRIZE is offering a $1.5 million prize for the researchers that can provide the best protocol to rapidly detect COVID-19 with a CT scan, even in asymptomatic patients.
The contest is part of the Culver-City based foundation's Pandemic Alliance created to hold competitions to fight coronavirus including one that called for fast and cheap Covid testing.
CT scans - which provide a more detailed image inside the body than X-rays - are used to detect and monitor disease. The group hopes that it will provide a faster way to find early and even asymptomatic cases of the virus.
"We can accelerate critical response efforts and identify breakthrough solutions using CT scans for earlier detection," said Amir Banifatemi, chief innovation and growth officer at XPRIZE in a statement. "Facing the COVID-19 crisis is proving to be one of the world's most critical challenges, as we currently rely on slow and invasive testing methods."
The prize is offered in partnership with the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI).
The teams wanting to participate will have until November 1st to sign up and have until November 15th as part of phase two to make any improvements after feedback. They will be tested on their COVID-19 detection, diagnosis, prediction and management of the treatment and will be selected based on which team has the greatest impact.
"We need aggressive and bold actions to reduce transmission of COVID-19 to get ahead of the outbreak so that it is stopped. It will take the global community to accelerate how we meet these challenges," said Yaneer Bar-Yam, president and founder of the New England Complex Systems Institute in the announcing the contest.
The judging phase and winners of the grand prize will be announced in January of 2021 with an additional $300,000 in bonus prizes. The total purse is $1.8 million.
Although radiology protocols often take years to develop the collaborative hopes this competition will help radiologists have rapid results.
Leslie Ignacio is dot.LA's editorial intern. She is a recent California State University, Northridge graduate and previously worked for El Nuevo Sol, Telemundo and NBC and was named a Chips Quinn Scholar in 2019. As a bilingual journalist, she focuses on covering diversity in news. She's a Los Angeles native who enjoys trips to Disneyland in her free time.
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Genies Wants To Help Creators Build ‘Avatar Ecosystems’
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.
When avatar startup Genies raised $150 million in April, the company released an unusual message to the public: “Farewell.”
The Marina del Rey-based unicorn, which makes cartoon-like avatars for celebrities and aims to “build an avatar for every single person on Earth,” didn’t go under. Rather, Genies announced it would stay quiet for a while to focus on building avatar-creation products.
Genies representatives told dot.LA that the firm is now seeking more creators to try its creation tools for 3D avatars, digital fashion items and virtual experiences. On Thursday, the startup launched a three-week program called DIY Collective, which will mentor and financially support up-and-coming creatives.
Similar programs are common in the startup world and in the creator economy. For example, social media companies can use accelerator programs not only to support rising stars but to lure those creators—and their audiences—to the company’s platforms. Genies believes avatars will be a crucial part of the internet’s future and is similarly using its program to encourage creators to launch brands using Genies’ platform.
“I think us being able to work hands on with this next era—this next generation of designers and entrepreneurs—not only gets us a chance to understand how people want to use our platform and tools, but also allows us to nurture those types of creators that are going to exist and continue to build within our ecosystem,” said Allison Sturges, Genies’ head of strategic partnerships.
DIY Collective’s initial cohort will include roughly 15 people, Sturges said. They will spend three weeks at the Genies headquarters, participating in workshops and hearing from CEOs, fashion designers, tattoo artists and speakers from other industries, she added. Genies will provide creatives with funding to build brands and audiences, though Sturges declined to share how much. By the end of the program, participants will be able to sell digital goods through the company’s NFT marketplace, The Warehouse. There, people can buy, sell and trade avatar creations, such as wearable items.
Genies will accept applications for the debut program until Aug. 1. It will kick off on Aug. 8, and previous experience in digital fashion and 3D art development is not required.
Sturges said that the program will teach people “about the tools and capabilities that they will have” through Genies’ platform, as well as “how to think about building their own avatar ecosystem brands and even their own audience.”
Image courtesy of Genies
Founded in 2017, Genies established itself by making avatars for celebrities from Rihanna to Russell Westbrook, who have used the online lookalikes for social media and sponsorship opportunities. The 150-person company, which has raised at least $250 million to date, has secured partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to make avatars for each music label’s entire roster of artists. Former Disney boss Bob Iger joined the company’s board in March.
The company wants to extend avatars to everyone else. Avatars—digital figures that represent an individual—may be the way people interact with each other in the 3D virtual worlds of the metaverse, the much-hyped iteration of the internet where users may one day work, shop and socialize. A company spokesperson previously told dot.LA that Genies has been beta testing avatar creator tools with invite-only users and gives creators “full ownership and commercialization rights” over their creations collecting a 5% transaction fee each time an avatar NFT is sold.
“It's an opportunity for people to build their most expressive and authentic self within this digital era,” Sturges said of avatars.
The company’s call for creators could be a sign that Genies is close to rolling out the Warehouse and its tools publicly. Asked what these avatar tools might look like, the startup went somewhat quiet again.
Allison Sturges said, “I think that's probably something that I'll hold off on sharing. We will be rolling some of this out soon.”
- Bob Iger, Former Disney CEO, Joins Avatar Startup Genies - dot.LA ›
- Genies Raises $150 Million To Make Avatars For The Metaverse ... ›
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.
Netflix’s Gaming Ambitions Aren’t Paying Off Just Yet
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him
Netflix’s early efforts to create a business out of mobile gaming are hitting a rough patch.
The company began offering mobile games based on its hit shows like “Stranger Things” or “The Queen’s Gambit” last November. Since then it’s had a difficult time getting its subscriber base to play the 26 titles currently available.
Less than 1% of Netflix’s subscribers are playing its games, according to an Aug. 6 report from CNBC. That’s based on data from Apptopia, a third-party site which tracks the usage and growth of mobile apps. According to Apptopia, Netflix games average 1.7 million daily active users. That might not sound shabby, but compared to the streamer’s 221 million-strong subscriber base across the globe, it’s peanuts.
Netflix didn’t immediately respond to dot.LA’s request for comment and to verify its daily active user count. According to mobile app tracking database Sensor Tower, Netflix’s top two downloaded games are, predictably, both based on “Stranger Things.”
“NETFLIX Stranger Things: 1984” had 600,000 downloads last month, Sensor Tower reports, while “Stranger Things 3: O Jogo” was downloaded a half million times. Sensor Tower reports Netflix’s games saw 12 million downloads overall last month, but estimated most of those downloads only generated less than $5,000 in revenue.
Sensor Tower reported Netflix’s mobile app revenue last month was $22 million; though it’s crucial to note that includes its flagship Netflix streaming app, which likely accounts for the bulk of its app-based profits.
A large gap is noticeable when comparing Netflix’s recent stats to some of the top local mobile game publishers that have been putting out games for over a decade, like Culver City’s Jam City games or Scopely. Per Sensor Tower, all of Jam City’s games were downloaded a total of 2 million times last month, but the company squeezed $21 million in revenue out of them. Scopely, meanwhile, had only 800,000 downloads in July—yet those brought in revenues of $54 million.
Perhaps the moral of the story for Netflix is less is more: Instead of pushing ahead with a wide-ranging slate of mobile games that can’t capture audiences – crucially, audiences willing to pay for microtransactions that generate revenue from otherwise free phone games – it might find more success with a breakout hit or two that it can iterate on for generations, like Scopely’s “Marvel Strike Force,” which launched in 2018 and raked in an estimated $9 million alone in June thanks to its play-to-win mechanics.
That said, Netflix’s vice president of games Mike Verdu said during a panel discussion in May that he plans to continue adding more games as part of the streamer’s monthly subscription. Under Verdu’s watch, Netflix will likely keep buying up gaming studios to acquire their content and development teams to push out more “original'' games that will then drive players back to the streamer’s shows in-app.
As Verdu said at the same discussion, “We're not trying to convert you, we're not trying to monetize you—we're trying to give you joy and delight to create an experience that will get you to come back.”
(Disclosure: Jam City and co-founder Josh Yguado are investors in dot.LA).
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him
Here's What To Expect At LA Tech Week
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.
LA Tech Week—a weeklong showcase of the region’s growing startup ecosystem—is coming this August.
The seven-day series of events, from Aug. 15 through Aug. 21, is a chance for the Los Angeles startup community to network, share insights and pitch themselves to investors. It comes a year after hundreds of people gathered for a similar event that allowed the L.A. tech community—often in the shadow of Silicon Valley—to flex its muscles.
From fireside chats with prominent founders to a panel on aerospace, here are some highlights from the roughly 30 events happening during LA Tech Week, including one hosted by dot.LA.
DoorDash’s Founding Story: Stanley Tang, a cofounder and chief product officer of delivery giant DoorDash, speaks with Pear VC's founding managing partner, Pejman Nozad. They'll discuss how to grow a tech company from seed stage all the way to an initial public offering. Aug. 19 at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Santa Monica.
The Founders Guide to LA: A presentation from dot.LA cofounder and executive chairman Spencer Rascoff, who co-founded Zillow and served as the real estate marketplace firm’s CEO. Aug. 16 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Brentwood.
Time To Build: Los Angeles: Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) hosts a discussion on how L.A. can maintain its momentum as one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in the U.S. Featured speakers include a16z general partners Connie Chan and Andrew Chen, as well as Grant Lafontaine, the cofounder and CEO of shopping marketplace Whatnot. Aug. 19 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Santa Monica.
How to Build Successful Startups in Difficult Industries: Leaders from Southern California’s healthcare and aerospace startups gather for panels and networking opportunities. Hosted by TechStars, the event includes speakers from the U.S. Space Force, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Applied VR and University of California Irvine. Aug. 15 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Culver City.
LA Tech Week Demo Day: Early stage startups from the L.A. area pitch a panel of judges including a16z’s Andrew Chen and Nikita Bier, who co-founded the Facebook-acquired social media app tbh. Inside a room of 100 tech leaders in a Beverly Hills mansion, the pitch contest is run by demo day events platform Stonks and live-in accelerator Launch House. Aug. 17 from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Beverly Hills.
Registration information and a full list of LA Tech Week events can be found here.
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.