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XMolly Wright
Molly Wright is an intern for dot.LA. She previously edited the London School of Economics' student newspaper in the United Kingdom, interned for The Hollywood Reporter and was the blogging editor for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Raises is dot.LA’s weekly feature highlighting venture capital funding news across Southern California’s tech and startup ecosystem. Please send fundraising news to Decerry Donato (decerrydonato@dot.la).
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Venture Capital
Thatgamecompany, a Santa Monica-based video game developer, raised $160 million in funding from TPG and Sequoia Capital.
Counterpart, an L.A.-based insurtech startup, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Vy Capital.
Emotive, an L.A.-based text marketing platform, raised $15.7 million in equity funding, according to an SEC filing.
H2U Technologies, a Chatsworth-based green hydrogen tech company, raised $11 million in Series A funding led by Jericho Energy Ventures, Freeflow Ventures, VoLo Earth Ventures, and Hess Corporation.
L.A.-based NFT platform DNABlock raised $7 million in seed funding led by Sfermion, Solana Ventures, Animoca Brands and Non-Fungible Labs.
L.A.-based Masienda, which produces non-GMO corn products, raised $6.45 million in funding, according to SEC filings.
ImmunoVec, a Santa Monica-based gene therapy startup, raised $4.3 million in funding, according to an SEC filing.
HearHere, a Santa Barbara-based road-trip storytelling app, raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Camping World.
KYX, an Encino-based sneaker rental startup, raised $3 million in seed funding led by SeventySix Capital.
L.A.-based short-term rental marketplace The Host Co. raised $1.85 million in seed funding led by HearstLab.
Funds
M13, a Santa Monica-based venture capital firm focused on consumer-tech startups, raised $400 million for its third fund.
Hawke Ventures, the venture capital arm of L.A.-based marketing consultancy Hawke Media, raised $16.4 million for its second fund, according to an SEC filing.
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You can now count TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D'Amelio among California’s newest—and almost certainly youngest—venture capitalists.
The sisters—aged 17 and 20, respectively—and their parents, Marc and Heidi D’Amelio, have launched their very own venture capital fund called 444 Capital, according to TechCrunch. (The name is meant to allude to the good fortune and positive energy associated with the number 4.) The fund aims to raise $25 million in capital and will place a focus on investments in women- and minority-led startups.
The D’Amelio family is partnering on the fund with Doug Renert of Silicon Valley venture firm Tandem Capital and Jeff Beacher of West Hollywood-based Beacher Media Group. The D’Amelios, Renert and Beacher plan to pool their networks to source deals and co-invest with top VCs in areas including fintech, health care and direct-to-consumer startups, per TechCrunch.
The D’Amelios haven’t wasted time on the new venture, with some of the fund’s $25 million target already raised and allocated. 444 Capital plans to cut checks of approximately $1 million or so per investment, with plans to close about 20 deals this year, TechCrunch noted.
Even before launching their own fund, the D’Amelios have been active in the startup investing arena. Last month, the family took an equity stake in Lightricks, which creates photo- and video-editing apps like Facetune, while Charli D’Amelio has previously backed the likes of teen-targeted banking app Step.
“Our family wants to help a new generation of female and minority entrepreneurs build great companies. We hope to play a growing role in leveling the startup playing field over time,” Charli and Dixie D’Amelio said in a joint statement. The sisters ranked as TikTok’s top-earning content creators last year with a combined $27.5 million in earnings, according to Forbes.
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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Netflix Has a New Marketing Chief, Faraday Future Continues Exec Shake-Up
Moves, our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.LA). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.
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Netflix has promoted Marian Lee to chief marketing officer, succeeding Bozoma Saint John. Lee joined Netflix in July 2021 as vice president of marketing in the U.S. and Canada.
Electric vehicle startup Faraday Future has hired Becky Roof as interim chief financial officer. Roof also serves as a managing director at consulting firm AlixPartners and succeeds Walter McBride in the role.
Food technology startup BetterBrand has appointed Steve Polonowski as president and chief commercial officer. Polonowski previously served as chief sales officer at Simple Mills.
Birch Creek Development, a solar power development company, has hired Jon Buttles as chief financial officer and Max Whitacre as executive vice president of project finance. Buttles previously served as CFO of Cypress Creek Renewables, while Whitacre previously held a similar position at Green Street Power Partners.
Richard Siklos has joined talent agency UTA as chief communications officer and partner. Siklos previously served as vice president of communications at Netflix.
Beautycounter, a clean cosmetics company, has hired Kara Trousdale as its chief commercial officer. Trousdale was most recently the chief marketing officer for Amazon Fashion.
Web3 creator platform DNABlock has hired Scott Broock as chief strategy officer. Broock was previously executive vice president of digital strategy and innovation at Illumination Entertainment.
Insurance technology company Sure has promoted Cassi Conrad as chief insurance officer. Conrad previously served as head of insurance at the company.
Biotechnology firm Terray Therapeutics has hired Feroze (Fez) Ujjainwalla as its head of business and Adam D. Hughes as its head of chemistry. Ujjainwalla previously served as director of business development and licensing at Merck, while Hughes was the executive director of medicinal chemistry at Theravance Biopharma.
Wine club Winc has hired Darren Plewes as vice president of wholesale. Plewes was previously a sales lead at Aquilini Beverage Group.
Alias Intelligence, a background investigations irm, has appointed Bill Murphy to its advisory board of directors. Murphy is currently a managing partner at Cresting Wave and was previously chief technology officer at Blackstone.
Hospitality technology firm Jurny has appointed Kevin Rohani to its board of advisors. Rohani is also on the advisory board for California State University, Fullerton’s entertainment and hospitality management program, as well as modular construction firm SG Blocks’ board of advisors.