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XUS Space Force Establishes Tech and Acquisition Arm in Los Angeles
Favot is an award-winning journalist and adjunct instructor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She previously was an investigative and data reporter at national education news site The 74 and local news site LA School Report. She's also worked at the Los Angeles Daily News. She was a Livingston Award finalist in 2011 and holds a Master's degree in journalism from Boston University and BA from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.

In a major win for Southern California's aerospace industry, the U.S. Space Force will establish its acquisitions and technology division in the Los Angeles area this summer.
The move, observers said, cements the region – home to SpaceX and Virgin Orbit – as a major force while raising the profile for a myriad of local startups, as the government looks to private industry to bolster the next generation of space travel.
"Southern California — and South Bay in particular — is experiencing its biggest tech renaissance since the Cold War, with record-setting venture investments generating hundreds of new businesses, with over 25 aerospace unicorns operating today," said Van Espahbodi, the co-founder and managing partner of Starburst Aerospace, an accelerator that partners with Raytheon and other big players in the industry. "It's no surprise the formal standing up of Space Systems Command acknowledges the strength and leadership of our region."
The Los Angeles Air Force Base's Space and Missile Systems Center in El Segundo will become the headquarters of the planned division called the Space Systems Command. The center will be responsible for identifying, prototyping and fielding innovative, space-based solutions to support and meet the demands of the National Defense Strategy, according to the Space Force.
"The heart of technology innovation within the space industry takes place right here in El Segundo, so it comes as no surprise that Space Systems Command has selected our community as its headquarters," said Melanie Stricklan, co-founder and CEO of El Segundo-based Slingshot Aerospace, in a statement.
Slingshot Aerospace has worked closely with the Space and Missiles System Center over the last several years to create technologies that promote space sustainability in order to protect our way of life, she said. Other local companies like SpaceX — which has several contracts with the agency — also have standing relationships.
Los Angeles' aerospace history stretches back to the 1920s, with its peak around World War II. Today, more than 25 aerospace companies — including Rocket Lab, Slingshot Aerospace, Relativity and Virgin Orbit — have established headquarters in the Los Angeles region.
The Space Systems Command is one of three major commands under the U.S. Space Force. It will generate additional missions for the base, including oversight for launch operations out of Vandenberg Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral. It will oversee efforts to develop, acquire, launch and sustain military space systems.
U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who co-chairs the California Aerospace Caucus, said the Pentagon's decision reaffirms Southern California's role as an aerospace hub.
"Southern California was already leading the way on aerospace and space innovation, and establishing the Space Systems Command at L.A. AFB will position our region for further growth," LIeu said.
Lieu said he, along with California Republican Congressman Ken Calvert, had requested the Pentagon to consider Los Angeles for the Space Systems Command's home.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said his administration also pushed for the new command center.
"This is a critical investment in California's vital aerospace and defense industries, and it represents a slew of new good-paying jobs as we continue to rebuild our economy better than before," Newsom said in a statement.
In 2003, Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space and Missile Systems Center narrowly escaped closure during a round of military base realignment and closures. The base was spared after a group of politicians and business leaders lobbied to save it.
Judy Kruger, senior director of strategic initiatives at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, said it's too early to tell what the move will mean as far as jobs or procurement opportunities for the region.
"But right now whenever we can position ourselves as leaders in the area of aerospace, it presents us well. It focuses on our core ecosystem here in Los Angeles, our history of space and aerospace," she said. And it's about good paying jobs of the future, she said.
Before the base's Space and Missile Systems Center will be re-designated, Biden will nominate a U.S. Space Force three-star general officer of the SSC, who must be confirmed by the Senate.
In 2019, the Trump administration created the Space Force, the newest branch of the armed services since 1947. It is one of the most visible Trump-era actions that is supported by President Joe Biden.
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Favot is an award-winning journalist and adjunct instructor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She previously was an investigative and data reporter at national education news site The 74 and local news site LA School Report. She's also worked at the Los Angeles Daily News. She was a Livingston Award finalist in 2011 and holds a Master's degree in journalism from Boston University and BA from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.
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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.”
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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.
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.
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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.
The Big Ten's $8B Mega Media Deal Kicks Off a New Era in Sports Streaming
Hot on the heels of the shock announcement that both UCLA and USC will be exiting the Pac-12 and joining the Big Ten athletic conference, a fleet of big money media and broadcasting deals have been set.
It’s no secret that access to the lucrative Southern California ad market was a big part of the rationale behind bringing in Los Angeles’ two largest college athletic programs in the fold. With the addition of USC and UCLA, the Big Ten now has teams playing in New York, Chicago and L.A.: all three of the nation’s top media markets. (Further expansions have already been hinted at as well.)
CBS, NBC and Fox have signed on as the Big Ten’s three broadcast partners. They’ll broadcast the various football games on TV, while some will also go to cable’s FS1 and Big Ten networks. The three networks will also take turns airing the season-ending Big Ten championship game. Fox will televise a total of four of these games, while CBS and NBC landed just one each. Most of these NBC broadcasts will also be available to stream on Peacock, while CBS matches will go to Paramount Plus. It’s not a huge change for CBS and Fox, where Big Ten games have lived for years. Newcomer NBC Sports also licenses Notre Dame football games, which handles its own media contracts.
In total, the Big Ten will get nearly $8 billion for football streams and broadcasts through the close of the 2029-2030 season. (And they don’t even have to share any of that with the players!) They’ve also left the Pac-12 in an increasingly precarious situation, as it’s now forced to make its own rights deals at a considerable discount. The conference’s highest-profile teams at this point are now the Arizona Wildcats, the Oregon Ducks and the Stanford Cardinals.
Overall, it’s a transitional moment for live sports broadcasting, as more and more U.S. viewers depart from traditional cable and TV packages in favor of an all-streaming, all-the-time approach. (According to Nielsen, streaming viewership surpassed both cable and traditional broadcasting for the very first time in July 2022, with a record 34.8% share of all TV viewing in the U.S.) Live sports have been one of the final offerings that tie U.S. households to their old-school cable subscriptions, but even these broadcasts have started to move online.
Next month, Sinclair will launch Bally Sports Plus, a new streaming platform bringing together 19 regional sports cable networks from across the U.S. For $19.99/month or $189.99 for a year, subscribers get access to a wide variety of Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL games from major markets across the U.S., along with local college and prep matches and events. Sinclair acquired these regional sports networks – known as RSNs – from Fox in 2019. They were previously available as a package from DirecTV, but it remains to be seen whether they will have appeal for subscribers as a standalone entity. Nonetheless, the era of broadcast TV’s total dominance on sports content appears to be at an end.