Loom started off in a Los Angeles storefront along Pico Boulevard offering education and events around women's health issues like fertility, periods, menopause, sex and postpartum depression.
Created by Erica Chidi and Quin Lundberg in 2016, the wellbeing startup moved online a few months ago as the pandemic shut down business and this week announced a $3 million raise led by Slow Ventures to roll out its digital health education platform.
<p>The raise makes Chidi one of 35 Black female founders who have raised more than $1 million in venture capital, according to the company. In the last decade, Black female founders have raised only 0.06% of the venture capital dollars invested, with the average funding raised being $42,000.</p><p>"It was a natural evolution for Loom to expand beyond brick and mortar to an inclusive, empathetic, science-backed digital platform," Chidi said in announcing the raise. "It is our hope that by extending access to our classes we will support a greater number of women throughout all stages of their sexual and reproductive wellbeing journey."</p><p>Over the two years that Loom operated, Chidi, a doula, became known for her period coaching and sex-ed classes that advocated for sex positivity and reproductive empowerment.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-4x3">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyNzA1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTIwNzA4NH0.CoujCAjOtCRHwC-IT21sCa6_R5m2_oXH2BIlqerrhmE/image.jpg?width=2000&coordinates=0%2C2351%2C0%2C1008&height=1500" id="51278" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9bab8cf4bd63bd1299a7f7a19af34e2d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="loom" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Loom CEO Erica Chidi</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Karen Hernandez</small></p><p>The wellbeing company has plans to unveil its online platform this fall, but wouldn't release details of what that will include. Its website said Loom promises to bring a new approach to online learning offering "empowered education on everything from periods and sex to pregnancy and menopause."<br/></p><p>The raise, which closed in February, was backed by Precursor Ventures, GSV, Moxie Ventures, General Catalyst and Maveron. </p><p>Chidi intentionally went after diverse venture capital and angel investors, a move she hopes will reinforce their efforts to create an inclusive sexual and reproductive health platform. </p>
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LA Tech Updates: Spotify Misses Revenue Mark, Snap Releases Diversity Report, TikTok Jabs Facebook
Jul 29 2020
Here are the latest updates on news affecting Los Angeles' startup and tech communities. Sign up for our newsletter and follow dot.LA on Twitter for more.
Today:
- Spotify has more listeners, but ad revenue drops
- 'We Must Do More': Snap Releases Dismal Diversity Report
- TikTok CEO Promises More Transparency, Jabs Facebook for 'Copycat Product'
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul>
TikTok CEO Promises More Transparency, Jabs Facebook for 'Copycat Product'
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDg3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODA0ODc0OH0.jiz5wtUGbDqa6Nqtj3gKbMLjYkzqIGqiBnGf2fv7PUE/img.jpg?width=980" id="d1531" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9ac06176200f28c1822bd6629a661b1b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />LA Tech Updates: TikTok Says it Will Pay Creators — and Universal Music Group<p>TikTok is promising more transparency.</p><p>The Culver City-based social media platform will release its algorithms and content moderation policies, CEO Kevin Mayer wrote in an <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/fair-competition-and-transparency-benefits-us-all" target="_blank">open letter</a> Wednesday. Owned by China's ByteDance, the company has been facing pressure as speculation grows that its content is being shared with Beijing. </p><p>"We accept this and embrace the challenge of giving peace of mind through greater transparency and accountability," Mayer wrote. "We believe it is essential to show users, advertisers, creators, and regulators that we are responsible and committed members of the American community that follows US laws." </p><p>Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was "looking at" <a href="https://dot.la/could-u-s-ban-chinese-owned-tiktok-2646359784.html" target="_self">banning the app</a> over those concerns. Then last week, the House prohibited U.S. federal employees from downloading the app on government-issued devices. </p><p>It's also notable that his letter was published the same day Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg as well as the CEOs of Twitter, Google and Apple testified before Congress on antitrust law. In the letter, Mayer takes a swipe at Zuckerberg for this upcoming Reels product. </p><p>What you need to know:</p><ul><li>Calling it the Transparency and Accountability Center, TikTok will let experts view the company's data practices and algorithms.</li><li>Investors of parent company ByteDance are now valuing the app at $50 billion — surpassing the projected 2020 revenue by 50 times. Some are pushing for ownership over the platform.</li><li>Mayer took jabs at the other tech giants in the letter: <ul><li>"This puts us a step ahead of the industry, and we encourage others to follow suit."</li><li>"At TikTok we welcome competition. We think fair competition makes all of us better. To those who wish to launch competitive products, we say bring it on."</li><li>Then he hit Facebook's forthcoming Reels feature, calling it a "copycat product."</li></ul></li></ul>'We Must Do More': Snap Releases Dismal Diversity Report
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM4Nzg0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjUxNzU3OH0.yuCuThd1JyTliiCmF2kTWGB3IhMCAzaut_K4pfSBjRw/img.jpg?width=980" id="0c38e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e7873bf68758bba94b848c406a3a48a6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Snap's Accelerator Program Expands with 'Yellow Collabs'<p>While much of the tech world was fixated on a blockbuster congressional hearing of four executives from top tech companies, Snap Inc. quietly released its first report on diversity since the company was founded in 2011 and the numbers were dismal. </p><p>Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap, which<a href="https://mashable.com/article/ex-employees-accuse-snapchat-bias/" target="_blank"> has faced allegations</a> of a racist and sexist workplace, as recently as last month <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/11/21288491/snap-ceo-spiegel-diversity-report-numbers-release-publicly" target="_blank">told employees</a> he wouldn't release the numbers publicly. The company has good reason to try to bury the news. </p><p>Blacks only represent 4.1% of Snap's U.S. workforce while Hispanic/Latinx makeup 6.8%, far below their numbers in the general population. At the top, 2.6% of leadership roles are held by Blacks while seven percent are held by Hispanic/Latinx. Women make up 32.9% of Snap's global workforce but only 16.1% of tech teams and just 6.7% of tech teams' leadership.</p><p> "To date, our DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) outcomes simply have not been good enough," the company said in the report. "We must do more." Snap has set a goal of doubling the number of women in tech roles by 2023 and doubling the number of underrepresented minorities at the company by 2025. </p><p>While its diversity numbers are low, Snap is not much worse than other tech giants, though most of those companies have released their numbers for years. </p><p>Last month, Snap was <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2020-06-19/snapchat-pulls-insensitive-juneteenth-filter-after-backlash" target="_blank">forced to remove a Juneteenth filter</a> that prompted users to <a href="https://twitter.com/marksluckie/status/1273938129129529345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1273938129129529345&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2020%2F6%2F19%2F21296713%2Fsnapchat-juneteenth-filter-smile-chains-controversial" target="_blank">smile in order to break a series of chains</a>, and that was <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=bob+marley+snap&oq=bob+marley+snap&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.2955j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">not the first time the company was criticized for an offensive filter. </a></p><p>"We deeply apologize for the offensive Juneteenth Lens," the company said in a tweet.</p><p>Snap outlined a number of steps to improve its numbers, including changes to recruiting, setting representation goals for underrepresented groups, and instituting a $70,000 minimum living wage for employees working at its Santa Monica headquarters.<br></p>Spotify Has More Listeners, but Ad Revenue Drops
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjY1OTE2Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzM5MzkwNX0.r90DRnE3UFTB07VJDqefqOFUPVUriT1wuJTlhmyh6Jc/img.jpg?width=980" id="c28ef" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f523904d32b223a39171b3253b6ba1c1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Spotify Earnings: The Music Streaming War Is Heating Upfarm5.staticflickr.com<p>Spotify's second quarter earnings, released today, show listening and podcast streaming up even as revenue missed the mark with the pandemic hurting ad sales. </p><p>The Swedish music streaming service acknowledged slower business in April and May across emerging regions. Still, Spotify said its strength in North America offsets the setback, noting that it turned a corner in June.</p><p>"We believe the improved momentum we saw in the back half of the quarter has continued into Q3 and we expect to hit our full year targets," the company told shareholders. </p><p>What you need to know:</p><ul><li><strong>Ad revenue</strong>, which makes up less than 10% of total revenue, <strong>is down 21% from last year</strong>, a nod to dropping sales brought on by the pandemic. </li><li>The <strong>average revenue per Spotify Premium user</strong> (ARPU) is also <strong>down 9%</strong> as a fewer percentage of users pay the standard $9.99/month rate. More are opting in for family and student plans. Users in some countries also pay a lower price for subscriptions. </li><li><strong>13 million new monthly active members</strong> brings Spotify's total to an all-time high of 299 million. Plus, 8 million new subscribers brings the total of ad-free premium customers to 138 million. </li><li>Overall <strong>listening times have returned to pre-pandemic levels </strong>in all regions except Latin America.</li><li>More users are listening on at-home smart speakers and smart TVs.</li><li>In an effort to diversify Spotify content and move away from music, podcast options are expanding — including exclusive deals with big names like Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian, DC Franchise, the Obamas and TikTok star Addison Rae. </li><li>Since the start of 2019, overall podcast listening has doubled since. One fifth of monthly active members are tuning in.</li></ul>From Your Site Articles
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A new survey of the Los Angeles venture capital and tech community released Wednesday has found that white employees have a leg up on jobs through their personal networks and female tech employees continue to earn less than the national average, at 71 cents to their male counterparts' $1, among other findings.
The results were provided as part of the second annual survey by PledgeLA, an initiative created by the Annenberg Foundation and the mayor of Los Angeles to promote civic engagement and diversity within the tech community.
<p>
<a href="https://www.pledgela.org/" target="_blank">PledgeLA has 222 signatories from L.A.'s venture capital and tech community</a>, including Beyond Meat, Honey, Fernish, FabFitFun, Snap, Soylent and Sweetgreen, who have pledged to "increase our community engagement by supporting organizations that are making a difference throughout Los Angeles," "actively and continuously improve equity, diversity, and inclusion at all levels of our organizations and in our investment decisions," and "hold ourselves accountable by measuring and transparently reporting on our progress and impact on these outcomes." (Note: dot.LA is a PledgeLA signatory.)
</p><p>
On the diversity front, "PledgeLA VCs fail to reflect the diversity of Los Angeles both within firms and in their investments," the report found, noting that Latinx, Black and women founders were among the most underrepresented groups.
</p><p>
"We still have much work to do, but know that our driven coalition of leaders from tech, venture capital, city government, and philanthropy are committed to helping bring ever more Angelenos into high-paying jobs and most importantly, to the decision-making table," said Cinny Kennard, executive director of the Annenberg Foundation.</p><p>
Key findings from participating firms include:
</p><ul class="ee-ul">
<li><a href="https://dot.la/tech-diversity-2646148355/austin-clements-partner-at-opv-and-managing-director-of-grid110-south-la" target="_blank">White employees overwhelmingly get their jobs through referrals and personal networks</a> while people of color typically apply through LinkedIn or a company website.</li>
<li>PledgeLA participating companies are more racially diverse than Silicon Valley, with a larger share of under-represented minorities at employee and manager levels</li>
<li>PledgeLA participating companies are twice as likely to back female founders, but women still make up only 18% of their investments.</li>
<li>There is virtual gender parity among employees and managers, especially compared to the more male-dominated Silicon Valley, even as pay lags. Women from under-represented minority groups only make up 5% of the workforce.</li>
<li>While 74% of L.A. County is nonwhite, 44% of participating VC firms are nonwhite. That's roughly similar to the 45% from last year's survey.</li>
<li>Firms are still more white and male among their senior leaders and executives, with men making up 58% of all leadership and white VCs making up 52%.</li>
<li>Most VCs, especially non-white VCs, are "unsure" of how fair raises and promotions are.</li>
<li>Women VCs earn about $18,000 less than their male peers, or roughly 82 cents per a man's $1.</li>
<li>8% of VCs reported experiencing misconduct, including sexual harassment, at the job or a work-related event.</li>
</ul><div>Many of the 186 tech companies and VC firms that were signatories at the time annual survey was conducted did not fill it out, despite their pledge to do such reporting on their progress. In all, 460 individuals representing 76 tech companies and 46 VC firms across the L.A. ecosystem took the 20-minute anonymous survey between November 2019 to March 2020, according to PledgeLA.</div><p>Austin Clements, the chair of PledgeLA, said that "the goal is that we would eventually get to 100% participation" but in general he's "very happy" with the level of participation and general engagement on the issue this year.</p><p>The anonymous survey results are individually available to each company as well as their employees at the discretion of the company. PledgeLA committed to each signatory that it would not release individual company data publicly. The survey results are aggregated and anonymized. The initiative is planning to build out a leaderboard to highlight best practices and exemplars among L.A.'s firms and companies.</p><p>"We found that most companies just do not track these things," said Jasmine Hill, PledgeLA's Scholar-in-Residence. "The L.A. tech sector is a growing one and most of the time companies get very large and then as an add-on (or) from public outrage have to respond — and then say 'we're going to prioritize diversity'."</p><h2>New Fund for Black and Latino Founders</h2><div>PledgeLA and AnnenbergTech also announced Wednesday the launch of a fund for South L.A. founders, in response to the survey's findings. The fund is a $500,000 pool of non-equity funding for early-stage Black and Latinx founders in South L.A who might not qualify for traditional investment capital. Applications are expected to be opened online in August. Interested founders can participate in a virtual pitch week this fall. Twenty companies will be selected to receive $25,000. The Annenberg Foundation will provide each company with training and support from Grid110, a nonprofit accelerator program.<span class="redactor-invisible-space"></span></div><p>"We love the idea that we can get in on the ground floor of supporting early stage Black and Latinx founders in South Los Angeles...to be able to say, 'Come on, everyone should have a seat at the table. What can we do to make that happen?" Kennard said in an interview with dot.LA.</p><p>Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement that "as we confront COVID-19 and begin the long road to economic recovery in its wake, our city will keep equity at the core of everything we do and keep the promise of Pledge LA -- to bring a more diverse chorus of voices into the heart of our dynamic tech sector."<br></p><div><span class="redactor-invisible-space"></span></div><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ1OTk0Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTg2NzU4N30.2gKjYNSC8SyyIXGGX7GEwgCz0y_qlkxpb_yznIyLIV4/image.png?width=980" id="5350b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="88df09c557ce923ef13239794756d621" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Image courtesy of PledgeLA</small></p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ1OTk0My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODI1MzIyOH0.i3I8qSMa0M7uLfJhZsSmB83nXfYdx8YNr9vABc9b_hA/image.png?width=980" id="c37a2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="959d572f84c21c6cd1b5adb7cce18d8a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Image courtesy of PledgeLA</small></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ1OTk0NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0Nzk4Mjc5Nn0.-24OoAg8Ef1Lv-jcJ1yfk8hps1ecn_ANsQBNMBwM3m8/image.png?width=980" id="6b39e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="767d25bb1244e3cb03027f4e056e83a5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Image courtesy of PledgeLA</small></p><p>__<br></p><p>
<em>Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/latams" target="_blank"><em>@latams</em></a><em>. You can also email me at </em><em>tami(at)dot.la</em><em>, or ask for my contact on Signal, for more secure and private communications.</em>
</p>
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