Techstars Aerospace Alums Gather for a Day of Partnership and Project Reveals
Tami Abdollah
Tami Abdollah is dot.LA's senior technology reporter. She was previously a national security and cybersecurity reporter for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. She's been a reporter for the AP in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times and for L.A.'s NPR affiliate KPCC. Abdollah spent nearly a year in Iraq as a U.S. government contractor. A native Angeleno, she's traveled the world on $5 a day, taught trad climbing safety classes and is an avid mountaineer. Follow her on Twitter.
Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator's latest class announced partnerships with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Maxar Technologies and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) North America, among others, at Wednesday's long-awaited showcase. It was the culmination of months of focused and sometimes grueling remote work.
The program aims to help companies achieve several years of commercial growth within three months, with mentorship from the accelerator's partners, including the U.S. Air Force, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Lockheed Martin, Israel Aerospace Industries North American (IAI), SAIC and Maxar Technology.
The class of 10 companies come from Los Angeles, Toronto, Poland and states across the U.S. Among them is a company that provides a user-friendly AR/VR platform for use in education and training, a developer of an advanced AI system for data scientists as well as an air contamination and quality monitoring system.
"This is cutting edge development, and we need it for space exploration," said Tom Cwik, who manages the space technology office at JPL.
Because of the pandemic, Wednesday's Demo Day was held over YouTube, rather than in-person at the California Science Center. "It's kind of like the first day of the rest of your life," said the program's managing director Matt Kozlov.
Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator - Demo Day 2020 (Updated) www.youtube.com
Here are some of today's key announcements:
Prewitt Ridge Partners with JPL
Los Angeles-based Prewitt Ridge co-founder and CEO Steve Massey joined forces with his co-founder, Zeke Brechtel, both formerly with SpaceX to build an integrated software platform that aims to remove data duplication, lower the likelihood of error and let companies work faster.
Prewitt Ridge announced that JPL will be its first major external user in the aerospace and robotics space, which is a target market for the company. Massey said the company has been able to gain a deeper understanding of JPL's needs, approaches and challenges through the accelerator program. The company will help with a small research and development project, building the robotic arm for the lunar lander payload — which helps deploy equipment onto the moon's surface.
Urban Sky's Stratospheric Balloon Gets PreSeed Investment
In less than a year, Urban Sky co-founder and CEO Andrew Antonio said the company has "designed, built and flown the first-ever reusable high altitude balloon and collected sample aerial imagery from the stratosphere."
Its microballoon is reusable and reduces the cost of high-resolution remote sensing and weather-related data capture from its stratospheric vantage point.
Antonio announced that Urban Sky oversubscribed its pre-seed round with investments from New Stack, L.A.-based VC firm TenOneTen, Catapult and Techstars. The company also won a $250,000 cash grant from the state of Colorado as a top startup in the state and a small business innovation research contract from JPL to further develop its tech for wildlife monitoring applications. Antonio also said that Maxar has stated its interest in partnering with Urban Sky as an imaging subcontractor. Lastly, Atonio announced the company's first commercial customer and partner, Arturo, to conduct its one-year imaging pilot program over Colorado.
vRotors Gets a Slew of Partnerships
L.A.-based vRotors, which provides a platform that aims to make it easier to control a remote robotic device from a PC, Mac, mobile phone or VR headset, from anywhere in the world.
Co-founder and CEO Neil Malhotra announced vRotors' first partnerships with Dish Network to help with remote tower inspections; with Maxar Technologies to do real-time, high-resolution 3-D map applications; and Honeywell to do remote supervision of its autonomous air taxi fleets. vRotors is also working with IAI to automate the landing process for their next moon mission.
Lux Semiconductors Gets Federal Backing
Co-founder and CEO Shane McMahon announced that Lux, which has developed a flexible silicon wafer to help miniaturize electronics, has raised more than $200 million from major federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.
The company has been collaborating with Oak Ridge National Laboratory on technical matters and is also working on several cooperative research agreements with strategic defense agencies focused on advanced microelectronics. McMahon said the company has received support from five of the top aerospace and defense firms and is partnering with two of them on "joint proposals to embed our electronics into their systems."
Bifrost Will Generate Martian Landscape
Charles Wong, the CEO and co-founder of Bifrost, which helps AI developers generate labelled datasets faster, announced Wednesday that it will be working with JPL to generate synthetic Martian terrain with the aim of helping to achieve the dream of safely landing a helicopter on Mars. Wong said the company is also in talks with Rolls Royce to enable new capabilities in aerospace.
Holos Will Bring Its Virtual Reality Training to the Air Force, IAI
The Madison, Wisconsin-based company Holos aims to "give people agency over the virtual experience" so that they can create immersive education and training environments without having to outsource to a firm.
The company received a $750,000 small business innovation grant from the U.S. Air Force to work on developing a virtual maintenance and repair training system for the F-35 out of Southern California's Edwards Air Force base. It's also contracted to develop a prototype to integrate the command and control of space, air and cyber assets for the U.S. Air Force. Holos also announced that it will be working with IAI to explore developing a next generation multi-domain command and control system powered through AR and VR that can be used for training.
___
Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter @latams. You can also email me at tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my contact on Signal, for more secure and private communications.
From Your Site Articles
- Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator Demo Day is Wednesday ... ›
- Here is Techstars' Starburst Space Accelerator Class - dot.LA ›
- Zwift's Raises $450M to Build Fitness Hardware - dot.LA ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.
It's never been a better time to "murder your thirst."
Seven months after raising more than $9 million in Series A funding, Santa Monica-based canned water startup Liquid Death has raised $23 million in Series B funding.
The round was led by an unnamed consumer-focused family office and participated in by Convivialité Ventures, Fat Mike (NOFX), Pat McAfee, existing investor in Velvet Sea Ventures and others.
<p>Co-founded by a former Netflix-linked creative director Mike Cessario, the Science Inc.-backed company said in a statement that it is going through a high-growth period and "setting online records every month" after rolling out to more than 1,700 new stores, including Whole Foods Markets, since its last raise. Cessario said that "the funding will go to fuel that growth."</p><p>Their water that sells for $15.99 for a 12 pack is carried in thousands of stores nationally, including bars, tattoo parlors, cafes, liquor stores and more than 1,000 7-Elevens in Southern California. A company representative said their canned tallboys are the fastest growing water brand in Whole Foods and it has broken its own record on overall sales monthly since March.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzOTk5MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDMzMjA4NH0.dmPPTdwLqWgXtMo4n2RuxAOJ_8WdzV3lNGvAPPPiYxY/image.jpg?width=980" id="cf1eb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0b7e5d045f61a05a5c8dab7f01dc790e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
</p><p>Liquid Death has positioned its tallboys of still and sparkling canned water as an environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic water bottles — with a bad-boy panache. Along those lines, as part of its #DeathToPlastics initiative, the company gives 10% of profits on every can sold to nonprofits helping to fight plastic pollution and bring clean drinking water to people in need.<br/></p><p>Liquid Death has also upped the ante on its infamous "murder your thirst" tagline, <a href="https://dot.la/liquid-death-metal-album-2645888623.html" target="_self">releasing a heavy metal album of hateful comments</a> its product has received, and giving people the chance to <a href="https://liquiddeath.com/pages/sell-your-soul" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sell their soul</a> "for real. Legally binding for eternity" to join its Liquid Death Country Club. It touts more than 5,000 recurring monthly subscribers. The company uses dark humor and an irreverency to drive marketing -—for example, by offering a "fuck Corona special."</p><p>The Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows the company aimed to raise $23 million but was shy $1.9 million. A company spokeswoman said the last two wires didn't come through until after the filing.</p><p><span></span>__</p><p><em>Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/latams" target="_blank"><em>Twitter @latams</em></a><em>. You can also email me, or ask for my Signal.</em></p>
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read more
Show less
More than a year ago, Darius Kemp, then a community manager at cannabis delivery app Eaze, realized the platform didn't have any Black-owned products on their menu.
Today he is Eaze's head of equity and change, spearheading a program for change and to prevent that from ever happening again.
<p>
"Eaze is the largest legal marketplace for cannabis and because of that, it's our responsibility to help correct the governmental and societal problems created by the war on drugs and the over incarceration of Black & brown bodies," Kemp said in an interview with dot.LA. "It's how you fight racism in the long run, (you) create communities that are self-sustaining, that don't depend on the oppressor."
</p><p>
As a continuation of that effort, the San Francisco-based company announced Wednesday that it is expanding its social equity program menu into Los Angeles, featuring local cannabis brand products owned by Black people and people of color.
</p><p>
<a href="https://www.eaze.com/menu" target="_blank">Eaze's platform</a> could go a long way to evening the playing field, essentially putting a "small Black soda company next to Pepsi and Coca-Cola," Kemp said.
</p><p>
Localities across California have worked on criteria for social equity licenses, aiming to prioritize people underrepresented in the industry for cannabis-related opportunities. The rules for each locality are different, but all social equity brands that take part in Eaze's program must have a social equity license or be actively engaged in the application process.
</p><p>
Eaze's Social Equity Partners Program provides social equity brands with "wraparound" financial and operational support to help them scale and become sustainable, including financing and payment structuring, discounted partner portal data analytics, access to Eaze's supply chain, and marketing and PR support. Since last fall, social equity brands have sold nearly $1 million in products on Eaze's platform.
</p><p>
The social equity partners menu already includes Northern California brands Cloud 9, KGB Reserve and SF Roots, which debut in Los Angeles Wednesday along with new L.A.-based brands dreamt and Blaqstar Farms, plus Bay Area-based James Henry SF and Oakland Extracts.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzYwMjYyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODg1MTI2NX0.IYyFqcYs4E9qz_-qcs1Hbgk2MMVZZuR8MoqKjb4M3YI/image.jpg?width=980" id="2dbaa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ef8cb55fef662d41fd4b399c2c0fd3d7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Bryant Mitchell is the founder of L.A.-based Blaqstar Farms.</small>
</p><p>
L.A.-based <a href="https://www.blaqstarfarms.com/" target="_blank">Blaqstar Farms</a> was founded in 2012 by Bryant Mitchell when only medical marijuana was allowed locally. They worked to provide a medical-grade, non-pesticide flower. Mitchell was raised "with a foot grounded very deep in social injustices" during the war on drugs, he said. He watched family members go to jail. His father was the first Black police officer in Orange, Texas, another factor in making him who he is today.
</p><p>
"I always tell people, 'I'm a social equity candidate, but I want to be the guy known to bring one of the best experiences in cannabis', and that's what we strived to do," Mitchell said.
</p><p>
Eaze's platform has handled over 6 million deliveries and boasts over 600,000 users. It is a very large stage for what are often smaller companies.
</p><p>
"People are hesitant to deal with smaller brands," Mitchell said. "We're not looked at as prudent; we're looked at maybe more of a risk to deal with, as opposed to a benefit. (But) when a company like Eaze cosigns and does what Eaze has done with Blaqstar, it does validate the company in many ways."
</p><p>
Mitchell said Blaqstar has never raised funds and so doesn't have the deep pockets usually necessary for the exposure, marketing and backing that Eaze brings.
</p><p>
"I can't make light of the amount of people, the amount of resources, the amount of money, the amount of marketing, that I've personally seen Eaze put in," Mitchell said.
</p><p>
Blaqstar is selling some of its homegrown flower and pre-roll products on the app primarily in Southern California until it can scale up for larger distribution.
</p><p>
"A lot of people see social equity and they're all approaching it in different ways, and no one is doing it exactly right yet, but you appreciate the companies like Eaze that are trying to get it right and making the sort of effort to do it," Mitchell said.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzYwMjYyOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTQ1OTYzMn0._rTW2QUubmgzwMR5n0heZF25DJ81mdxTPCmQqmAGc4w/image.jpg?width=980" id="0805c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6ca657bad0004700e0135157e97b74df" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">dreamt's founder first started using cannabis as a sleep aid while studying for her PhD at the University of Southern California, but found it ineffective.</small>
</p><p>
As most large banks continue to shy away from cannabis — it's still illegal on the federal level — access to capital is even more of a challenge for entrepreneurs who want to work in the industry. That's why Eaze last September also launched Momentum, a business accelerator focused on helping underrepresented cannabis business founders.
</p><p>
Carolina Vazquez Mitchell's (no relation) company was in its first cohort, and her brand <a href="https://youdreamt.com/" target="_blank">dreamt</a> is part of the new social equity partner menu unveiled Wednesday. Vazquez Mitchell first started using cannabis as a sleep aid while studying for her PhD at the University of Southern California, but found it negatively impacted her breathing or was ineffective.
</p><p>
Years later, in 2019, she would go on to found dreamt, a cannabis product dedicated to improving sleep with science. It's the first brand-line for L.A.-based Ciencia Labs, a company co-founded by Vazquez Mitchell, who also serves as its chief scientific officer.
</p><p>
"As you can tell from my accent, I'm not from here, I came here 10 years ago, I don't have an MBA, I didn't start a business before, and my background is in science," said Vazquez Mitchell, who hails from Guadalajara, Mexico, and originally worked in the world of genetics and pharmacology.
</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzYwMjYzMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDkwMDY0NH0.LdhrIifLR4maFExWBKGKaLaLrG1yO6PG64ugBk7jBZs/image.jpg?width=980" id="37536" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="84728f7ea342b939c0924926bcac8b5f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Carolina Vazquez Mitchell's company dreamt is part of Eaze's new social equity partner menu.
<p>Vazquez Mitchell said she is trying to use science to make cannabis products better, even if that means disrupting existing cannabis culture by making a pharmaceutical-like product to help with sleep.</p><p>"Cannabis helps, but it's not perfect," Vazquez Mitchell said. For example, it impacts REM sleep, which is essential for memory, learning and creating new synapses for a healthy brain and a healthy sleep cycle, she said. dreamt added additional ingredients to synergize with the cannabis to improve upon sleep without the negative drawbacks. The company's vape pen, and tincture are available on the menu; it's also created a drinkable shot and is working on a gummy.</p><p>"I'm an immigrant, I'm a woman, I look very Mexican," Vazquez Mitchell said. When she arrived as a researcher at the University of Southern California, her "first challenge" was understanding English. "Not a lot of people believe that a Mexican, with broken English, will be successful in science or any other industry."<br></p>
<p>
<span style="background-color: initial;">But she worked hard to prove them wrong. She went on to create products for Pepsi, Quaker, Taco Bell and Gatorade as a food scientist and has developed more than 50 cannabis products, including dreamt. Last November, she landed a $50,000 grant in November from Eaze as part of its Momentum program.</span>
</p><p>
Momentum is announcing applications for its second cohort this fall, said Eaze spokeswoman Elizabeth Ashford.
</p><p>
"I'll throw the gauntlet out to MedMen, Harvest, Caliva and everyone," said Eaze's Kemp, calling out other major cannabis companies. "Give me a call or go out and do your own thing (for social equity). There's no secret sauce here. There's basic business and real social impact."
</p><p>
___
</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 tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my contact on Signal, for more secure and private communications.</em>
</p>From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read more
Show less
RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS