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X Meet the 10 Startups in Techstars' 2021 Space Accelerator Class
Samson Amore
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
Techstars' Space Accelerator took off this week with its third class of space-related companies that make everything from AI-powered smart cameras to technology that can anticipate celestial collisions.
The 10 startups selected for the competitive four-month program are based across the U.S. and Australia and will work with Techstars on a mostly remote basis.
All are developing technology with multiple uses in space and will receive a $120,000 investment in addition to access to Techstars' expanding network of mentors.
That network includes aerospace experts at the Pasadena-based NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Participating companies include Lockheed Martin, Arrow Electronics, SAIC and Israel Aerospace Industries.
"Alumni from our previous cohorts are launching space systems and infrastructure, raising tens of millions of dollars in venture capital as well as receiving lucrative contracts from both government and commercial customers," said Jonathan Fentzke, the program's managing director.
The program will culminate in a demo day on Sept. 2 where the startups will show off their work in hopes of winning potential investors or clients.
Fentzke noted that while no companies in this year's cohort are based in LA, Techstars still has partners mentors and investors based here.
"As it turns out the four companies in California out of 10 are not based in L.A. today, but will likely have a presence over time," Fentzke told dot.LA.
Here's a look at the 10 companies selected for this year's Techstars Space Accelerator.
Hyperkelp
LOCATION: San Clemente, Ca.
CEO: Graeme Rae
Founded by maritime engineer Dr. Graeme Rae, Hyperkelp is building buoys that aren't your average fishing bobber. Its tech can collect and transmit data about the surrounding ocean and incoming payloads from space. The company says its goal is to create a network of the buoys around the ocean to help aerospace launch companies stream data from anywhere around the world.
Hyperspec.ai
LOCATION: San Francisco, CA. and Tel Aviv, Israel
CEO: Ohad Levi
Hyperspec.ai makes smart cameras that run on artificial intelligence. The company's CEO Sravan Puttagunta previously worked in HP's engineering department. In a nutshell, Hyperspec's cameras are made to create accurate mapping and object tracking in real time, with the goal of being used on self-driving cars and other autonomous vehicles.
Nicslab
LOCATION: Sydney, Australia
CEO: Dr. Andri Mahendra
Nicslab develops technology called the "source measurement system" that uses quantum computing to help organizations optimize their internet speeds and make them faster. Its current clients include the University of Oxford, HP Labs and Mitsubishi Electric.
Pierce Aerospace
LOCATION: Indianapolis, In.
CEO: Aaron Pierce
Pierce Aerospace makes software that helps autonomous drones identify objects and payloads. It argues that this software is critical to the development of the drone industry -- after all, it can be pretty scary if a drone goes rogue because it can't see where it's going. In 2019 the company received a roughly $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to continue work on its flagship product, the Flight Portal ID system, which the DoD wants to use on its Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
Pixspan
LOCATION: Rockville, MD.
CEO: Michael Rowny
Pixspan develops a system that lets large files be transferred from different storage locations (like hardware or the cloud) at rapid speeds -- sometimes up to 5 times faster than average, it reports. It's compatible with several app programming interfaces, the main one being Amazon Web Services.
QuSecure
LOCATION: San Mateo, Ca.
CEO: Dave Krauthamer
QuSecure is a security company that focuses on protecting government and corporate systems from hacks. Specifically, its software works to keep encrypted data from being stolen and decrypted by quantum computers, which can steal and read valuable information at rapid speed. Its customers include Google and Amazon.
SCOUT
LOCATION: Alexandria, Va.
CEO: Eric Ingram
Scout -- also known as Scout Space -- develops software that helps spacefaring companies visualize what's going on in the great beyond and avoid casualties, like crashes with other spacecraft, satellites or debris. The company was founded in 2019 and says its name is an acronym for helping Spacecraft Observe and Understand Things around them.
SeaSatellites
LOCATION: San Diego, CA.
CEO: Mike Flanigan
As the name suggests, SeaSatellites is building unmanned vessels that work as satellites for the ocean and have a wide array of potential uses, from environmental data collection to communications. Similar to their skyward counterparts, SeaSatellites' tech can be controlled from anywhere and are designed to carry payloads on long missions.
Xairos
LOCATION: Denver, CO.
CEO: David Mitlyng
This company's name is Greek to us -- literally. A nod to the Greek god of opportune time, Kairos, is an appropriate name for this startup using quantum mechanics to bring GPS-type technology to areas of the globe without internet access.
Thermexit
LOCATION: Boston, MA.
CEO: Katie Willgoos
Thermexit is the only company in this year's Space Accelerator cohort that's led by a woman. CEO Katie Willgoos joined the company in March and helps the company create and sell its main product, Theremexit Pads, which are tiny thermal sensing sticky pads that can be placed on circuit boards and inside computers.
Correction: An earlier version of this post stated this is Techstars' second space accelerator cohort. It's the accelerator's third such class. It also, misnamed the CEO of Hyperspec.ai.
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Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la
Snap Rolls Out Cameo Partnership, New Ad Feature and Original Programming
06:25 PM | May 03, 2022
Snap, Inc.
After a “challenging” first quarter, Snap is hoping that new celebrity partnerships and original influencer content can help it grow its young user base and generate more advertising revenue.
The Santa Monica-based social media firm announced several new initiatives at its NewFronts showcase on Tuesday—including a partnership with video-sharing app Cameo, a new ad format called Snap Promote and new original programming efforts. As presenters ranging from “Queer Eye” star Karamo Brown to singer Loren Gray highlighted some of the company’s recently announced features, Snap executives spotlighted how its Gen Z audience interacts with its advertisers.
The company's collaboration with Cameo, the Snap x Cameo Advertiser Program, will connect Snap’s video advertisers with the Cameo’s roster of celebrity creators, with the goal of producing short-form, custom video endorsements. Snap revealed it beta-tested the feature with Mattress Firm, which partnered with figures like sports commentator Erin Andrews and saw an increase in its ad awareness.
Snap vice president of sales Peter Naylor introduced Snap Promote, which will allow media partners featured in Snapchat’s Discover feature to expand their reach through in-app ads. The company said testing with the National Football League yielded a 7x-increase in users engaging with the NFL's Snapchat Stories. Snap Promote builds on Snap’s expansion last month of media partnerships through its Dynamic Stories feature.
If Snap’s initiatives seemed targeted toward competing with one particular social media, the unveiling of its new programming left little room for doubt about its TikTok-ian aspirations. One of TikTok’s biggest dancing stars, Addison Rae, took the stage Tuesday to promote her Snap original show “Addison Rae Goes Home,” before fellow TikTok influencers Charli and Dixie D'Amelio joined via video to announce the second season of their own Snap show, “Charli vs. Dixie.”
Snap co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel made a brief appearance onstage with Olympic gymnast Simone Biles to announce her upcoming original show, “Daring Simone Biles,” which will feature 10 episodes of the gold medalist facing challenges and fears—including one of her biggest foes, the bee. Further bolstering its sports presence, Snap also expanded content deals with the NFL, NBA and WNBA.
Head of original programing Vanessa Guthri also announced Reclaim(ed), Snap’s first Canadian original show, which will follow hosts Marika Sila and Kairyn Potts as they delve into social issues impacting indigenous populations. Guthri also discussed Snap’s Equity Partnership Pledge, which sets a three-year goal of having 50% of individuals involved in the production of Snap Originals to be women or members of historically underrepresented backgrounds.
With Snap revealing that 80% of its 600 million users are under 18, it’s no wonder that the company paraded social media influencers like makeup artist Manny MUA and TikTok star La’Ron across the stage. Whether its augmented reality ads and celebrity roster can help it compete with TikTok’s massive ad revenue advantage remains to be seen.
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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
Evotrex
🔦 Spotlight
Hello Los Angeles,
The RV has not changed much in decades: tow it, park it, plug it in and hope the campground has enough power. Evotrex is betting the next version should act less like a trailer and more like a mobile energy system.
Los Angeles-based Evotrex raised a $30M Series A, bringing its total funding to $46M, to accelerate production of its Evotrex-PG5 electric RV trailer. The round included participation from GSR United Capital, Forebright Concerto Capital, Unique Capital, Pegasus Capital, TTGG Ventures, ChunJia Capital, Thundersoft and other investors.
The PG5 is designed as both an RV and a mobile power platform, combining onboard power generation, energy storage and intelligent energy management in one off-grid trailer. In other words, Evotrex is not just selling a place to sleep outdoors. It is building a rolling power system for camping, remote work, events, mobile businesses and backup energy.
The timing lines up with a few bigger trends at once: EV adoption, off-grid travel, distributed energy and consumers treating vehicles as extensions of the home. That puts Evotrex at the intersection of several hard categories: vehicles, energy storage, consumer hardware and outdoor lifestyle.
The company plans to use the funding for final product development, automotive-standard testing and validation, and production preparation ahead of planned customer deliveries in 2027. Starting in Q4 2026, Evotrex expects to begin testing across towing, range, braking, lateral stability, structural durability, water exposure and regulatory compliance.
That testing phase matters. It is one thing to create a sleek prototype. It is another to build something that can be towed, powered, lived in and trusted far from a charging station or service center.
Evotrex says roughly 90% of its order book is for the fully loaded Premium trim, priced at $159,990, which it plans to prioritize for initial deliveries. That suggests early buyers are treating the PG5 less like a basic camper and more like a high-end mobile living product.
Now Evotrex has to prove the hardest thing in hardware: that the product works as well on the road as it does in the renderings.
More from this week’s LA startup and venture scene below.
🤝 Venture Deals
LA Companies
- Poetic raised a $50M Series A led by Kleiner Perkins to scale its enterprise AI automation platform. Formerly known as Forge, the company builds software that “learns like AI but runs like code,” helping automate complex, high-stakes business processes across areas like financial services, insurance, healthcare and other regulated industries. The funding will support product development, hiring and broader customer deployment. - learn more
- Leaf Agriculture raised a $13M Series B led by Leaps by Bayer and a group of industry strategic investors. The agtech company helps agriculture businesses clean, structure and manage farm data from machinery, soil labs, weather stations, satellites and farm management systems so they can build AI tools and analytics on top of it. The funding will support Leaf’s push to become a core data infrastructure layer for agribusiness.. - learn more
LA Venture Funds
- UP.Partners participated in Coram AI’s $35M Series B, which was co-led by Ansa Capital and Battery Ventures, with additional backing from 8VC and Mosaic Ventures. Sunnyvale-based Coram AI turns existing security infrastructure, including cameras, badge readers, visitor logs and emergency systems, into an AI-powered physical security platform that helps organizations detect incidents, investigate footage and respond faster. The company has now raised $66M total and is deployed across more than 1,500 sites in North America. - learn more
- Smash Capital participated in Digital Asset’s $355M funding round, which was led by a16z crypto and included backing from major financial institutions and investors including ADIA, Apollo Funds, BNP Paribas, Citadel Securities, Coinbase Ventures, HSBC, Polychain, SoFi, Tradeweb and others. Digital Asset is the creator of Canton, a public layer-one blockchain built for regulated financial markets, and will use the funding to expand Canton’s ecosystem across tokenization, settlement, payments, collateral mobility and other institutional finance workflows. - learn more
- Alexandria Venture Investments participated in SonoThera’s oversubscribed $125M Series B, which was led by Vida Ventures and included backing from ARK Invest, CureDuchenne Ventures, Leaps by Bayer, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, UCB Ventures, Vivo Capital, ARCH Venture Partners, RA Capital and others. SonoThera is developing ultrasound-mediated, nonviral genetic medicines designed to deliver DNA and RNA payloads without traditional viral vectors, with the funding going toward advancing its lead programs in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease into the clinic. - learn more
- Wavemaker 360 participated in Lium’s $5.5M seed round, alongside SJF Ventures, Reach Capital and GC&H Investments. Formerly known as Astromind, Dallas-based Lium is building an “agentic harness” that helps large language models work with complex scientific and industrial datasets, including satellite imagery, seismic surveys and electromagnetic spectrum analysis. The platform is designed to make messy, non-text data easier for scientists, engineers and industrial teams to query and analyze with AI. - learn more
- Riot Ventures participated in Endurance Energy’s $54M Series A, which was led by Founders Fund with additional backing from Ascend, Construct Capital, Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital, Point72 Ventures and Voyager Ventures. Founded by former SpaceX engineer Andrew Redd, Endurance is developing subsea geothermal power plants designed to tap volcanic heat deep in the ocean and provide 24/7 clean energy for rising demand from AI data centers, EVs and heavy industry. The funding will support development of its power plant plans as the company grows its team. - learn more
- Wavemaker 360 participated in 01Health’s $15M Series A, which was led by Gresham House Ventures, with follow-on backing from Balderton Capital and Eka Ventures. 01Health is building a healthtech platform that brings specialist care into local clinics through clinical protocols, specialist oversight, AI tools, patient communication and monitoring systems, with the funding supporting its UK rollout and U.S. market expansion. - learn more
- Calibrate Ventures led Flux’s $5M funding round, with participation from existing investors True Ventures and Glasswing Ventures. Boston-based Flux is building a code-first engineering intelligence platform that analyzes code changes to give engineering leaders visibility into quality, security, technical debt and team dynamics as AI reshapes software development. The funding will support product development and go-to-market growth. - learn more
- Village Global led MNX’s $6.4M pre-seed round, with participation from Finality Capital Partners, Cambrian, North Island Ventures, Relay Digital and angel investors. MNX is building a MegaETH-based decentralized futures exchange for the AI economy, with planned markets tied to AI company valuations, GPU compute prices, electricity costs, AI benchmarks and prediction markets. The company was valued at $40M in the round and plans to launch mainnet this summer. - learn more
- Mantis Venture Capital participated in Sandstone’s $30M Series A, which was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with additional backing from SV Angel, Operator Partners, Kearny Jackson, Daybreak Ventures and Litquidity Ventures. Sandstone is building AI-powered workflow automation for in-house legal teams, helping companies manage legal requests from tools like Slack, email and Jira while automating intake, triage, drafting, review and analysis. The round brings Sandstone’s total funding to $40M. - learn more
- WndrCo participated in Idilio’s $5.5M seed round, alongside a16z Speedrun, Goodwater Capital, Precursor Ventures and other investors. Idilio is building an AI-powered microdrama platform for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking audiences, producing short-form drama series at the intersection of telenovelas and vertical mobile video. The funding will support platform development, expanded content offerings and the launch of its Idilio Creators program. - learn more
- Mantis Venture Capital and Village Global participated in Pogo’s $32M in funding to date, alongside investors including Josh Buckley’s Buckley Ventures, 20VC, Lenny Rachitsky and the founders of Honey. Pogo is launching an AI-powered consumer research platform built around purchase-verified buyers, helping brands run surveys, AI-moderated interviews and behavioral research using verified transaction, receipt, app usage and location data from its opted-in consumer network. The company says its app has more than 3M users and visibility into more than $470B in transaction value. - learn more
- Mantis Venture Capital participated in EDGE Markets’ $29.2M Series A, which was led by CoinFund with backing from Indicator Ventures, Stepstone Group and Bullpen Capital. EDGE Markets builds financial infrastructure for gaming, crypto and prediction markets, and will use the funding to launch EDGE Pro, a banking platform for market makers, and EDGE Connect, a purpose-built payment rail for regulated gaming and prediction market operators. - learn more
- MTech Capital participated in Finovox’s €8.2M Series A, which was led by TX Ventures and included backing from Auriga Cyber Ventures II, Start Ventures, Force Over Mass and FDJ UNITED Ventures. Paris-based Finovox builds AI-powered document fraud detection software for financial services, insurance and other regulated industries, and will use the funding to expand across Europe, strengthen its technology and grow its team. The company says it now serves more than 70 organizations across 15 countries. - learn more
LA Exits
- RiskFront AI was acquired by K2 Integrity, bringing its agentic AI platform for financial crime compliance and risk operations into K2’s broader risk, compliance, investigations and monitoring business. RiskFront AI’s platform, Airos, automates research, transaction analysis and document processing to reduce manual work across financial crime and compliance workflows. Financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
- LevPro was acquired by Octus, bringing its front-office software for CLO, broadly syndicated loan and private credit managers into Octus’ credit intelligence platform. LevPro will join Sky Road to help create an integrated AI-powered platform spanning market intelligence, investment analytics, trade workflows, portfolio management and monitoring. Financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
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