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Snapchat’s Attempt to Protect Young Users From Third-Party Apps Falls Short
Kristin Snyder
Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Some Snap Kit platform developers have skirted guidelines meant to make the app safer for children.
A new report from TechCrunch released Tuesday found that some third-party apps that connect to users’ Snap accounts have not been updated according to new guidelines announced in March. The restrictions, which target anonymous messaging and friend-finding apps, are meant to increase child safety. However, the investigation found a number of apps either ignore the new regulations or falsely claim to be integrated with Snapchat.
The Santa Monica-based social media company announced the changes after facing two separate lawsuits related to teen suicide allegedly caused by the app. Over 1,500 developers integrate Snap features like the camera and Bitmojis. Snap originally claimed the update would not affect many apps.
Developers had 30 days to revise their software, but the investigation found that some apps, such as the anonymous Q&A app Sendit, were granted an extension. Others blatantly avoided the changes—the anonymous messaging app HMU, which is now meant for adult users, is still available to users "9+" in the App Store. Certain apps that have been banned from Snap, like Intext, still advertise Snapchat integration.
“First and foremost, we put the privacy and safety of our community first and expect the products built by our developer community to adhere to that standard in addition to bringing fun and positive experiences to people,” Director of Platform Partnerships Alston Cheek told TechCrunch.
The news is a blow to Snap’s recent efforts to cast itself as a responsible social media platform. The company recently announced Colleen DeCourcy would take over as the company’s new chief creative officer and CEO Evan Spiegel to recently made a a generous personal donation to graduates of Otis College of Art and Design. The social media company currently faces a lawsuit from a teenager who claims it has not done enough to protect minors from sexual exploitation. In April, 44 attorney generals sent a letter to Snap and TikTok urging the companies to strengthen parental controls. (Disclosure: Snap is an investor in dot.LA.)
Lawmakers are considering new policies that would hold social media companies accountable for the content on their platforms. One such bill would require social media companies to share data with independent researchers.
Snapchat recently rolled out augmented reality shopping features and influencer-led original content to grow its younger base of users.
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Kristin Snyder
Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
https://twitter.com/ksnyder_db
ServiceTitan Reportedly Files for IPO at a Possible $18 Billion Valuation
05:57 PM | January 25, 2022
Photo by Konstantin Evdokimov on Unsplash
ServiceTitan—which has parlayed its field service software for contractors into one of Southern California’s most valuable tech startups—has reportedly confidentially filed for an initial public offering, Business Insider reported Tuesday.
The Glendale-based firm is said to be pursuing a valuation as high as $18 billion via an IPO sometime this year—though the report cautioned that both the timing and valuation could change. At that figure, ServiceTitan would rank among the five-most valuable venture capital-backed businesses in Southern California, according to Pitchbook data.
Reuters previously reported that ServiceTitan had begun preparing for an IPO last fall.
ServiceTitan’s software offers back-office tools for a wide range of service industries, from plumbing and landscaping to pest control and HVAC. It has grown in part by gobbling up other businesses, such as landscaping software provider Aspire and pest control-focused platforms ServicePro and, earlier this month, FieldRoutes.
The startup—founded in 2012 by Armenian immigrants Ara Mahdessian and Vahe Kuzoyan—has also secured venture funding at a prolific rate. ServiceTitan has raised a total of $1.1 billion in capital to date, according to PitchBook data—most recently a $200 million Series G round that closed last June. At the time, the firm pegged its valuation at $9.5 billion.
ServiceTitan’s investors include prominent venture capital firms Tiger Global and Sequoia, as well as private equity firms Thoma Bravo and Arena Holdings. Santa Monica-based VC firm Mucker Capital is also among ServiceTitan’s backers.
Representatives for ServiceTitan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Business Insider report.
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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.
LA Venture: Arrowroot Capital’s Kareem El Sawy On Navigating Structured Equity
09:54 AM | October 13, 2022
courtesy of Arrowroot Capital
In this episode of the LA Venture podcast, Arrowroot Capital’s founding General Partner Kareem El Sawy discusses how to navigate structured equity.
Founded in 2014, Arrowroot helps enterprise software companies “that are past the VC stage not quite at [the] buyout stage” that are looking for capital to help them reach profitability. The private equity firm offers bespoke growth capital options, usually cutting checks between $10 million to $40 million. It’s now approaching $700 million in assets under management (AUM), El Sawy said.
Structured equity can assist venture capital-backed companies that have fallen off the venture path for one reason or another.
“The reality is most software companies have burned $300 million, $50 million, $10 million, $70 million—all over the place,” he said. “They're on Series G. They're on Series A. They're on Series C. They're on Series one. It's really never a straightforward path.”
Arrowroot is looking for these under-resourced “Cinderella” companies that El Sawy says exist overlooked in many venture portfolios. Arrowroot sifts through a massive pipeline to identify these companies and then offers them capital that may come with liquidation preferences, dividends, warrants or other governance that gives Arrowroot downside protection to their investment.
“A lot of our growth capital goes towards a one-time transition of some sort,” El Sawy said. “Maybe it's an old product, a new product—maybe it's an invisible transition where the market finally came.”
Unlike many private equity investors, Arrowroot is not a control investor–they often take an ownership stake of around 30% to 35%, El Sawy said. Because their term sheets are not “vanilla” term sheets, El Sawy says that their investments take some time to talk through with management. Arrowroot’s track record and references are useful for teams trying to understand how to think about what are often unique investment terms.
El Sawy says that they are seeing many more deals in their pipeline nowadays as the gap between venture capital and private equity has gotten wider. There are many companies that don’t exactly fit the model for an investment from either group and that is where Arrowroot is able to step in.
“We're the bridge,” he said. “We’re the tour guide through that bridge”.
Prior to joining Arrowroot, El Sawy was in private equity at L.A.-based OpenGate Capital. He joined founder Matthew Safaii in 2014, during Arrowroot’s first few months. Initially, he said the firm focused on providing smaller growth checks, but has grown rapidly. Arrowroot’s portfolio includes mParticle, ParkHub and SocialChorus, and it has guided companies like Evergage to big exits. Overseeing this portfolio has helped the firm gain a reputation for being able to navigate to long-term success, he said.
“We're known at this point as that kind of guide for these companies and saying, ‘Look we've done it before’,” El Sawy said. “‘We've taken it to huge exits. We're gonna do it again for you.’”
Click the link above to hear the full episode, and subscribe to LA Venture on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
This podcast is produced by L.A. Venture. The views and opinions expressed in the show are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of dot.LA or its newsroom.
dot.LA reporter Kristin Snyder contributed to this post.
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Minnie Ingersoll
Minnie Ingersoll is a partner at TenOneTen and host of the LA Venture podcast. Prior to TenOneTen, Minnie was the COO and co-founder of $100M+ Shift.com, an online marketplace for used cars. Minnie started her career as an early product manager at Google. Minnie studied Computer Science at Stanford and has an MBA from HBS. She recently moved back to L.A. after 20+ years in the Bay Area and is excited to be a part of the growing tech ecosystem of Southern California. In her space time, Minnie surfs baby waves and raises baby people.
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