Upfront Summit Postponed to March Over Omicron Fears

Harri Weber

Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.

Upfront Summit Postponed to March Over Omicron Fears
Sustainability on Agenda at Celebrity-studded Upfront Summit

Upfront Summit—the extravagant tech and venture capital conference known for its prominent attendees from the worlds of business and entertainment—is now the latest in-person event disrupted by the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases.


Conference organizer Upfront Ventures informed ticket holders on Tuesday that the annual summit has been postponed by five weeks, to March 1-2, due to concerns over the highly contagious omicron variant. Santa Monica-based Upfront, among the largest VC firms in Los Angeles, canceled last year’s conference due to the pandemic; in 2020, it held the Upfront Summit at the Rose Bowl in an event that featured fireworks, dance performances, steaks from Wolfgang Puck, and even a zip line.

“Based on global trends and other projections from medical experts, we feel good about coming together in two months,” Upfront said in an email sent to attendees. “But … we don’t have a crystal ball! Like all of you, we will be keeping a close eye on COVID trends and if we feel like we cannot safely gather, we will of course let you know any updated plans.”

Upfront said in December that it expected 1,200 investors, entrepreneurs, and influencers to attend the invitation-only event, which was originally slated for January 26-27 and will be held this year at Los Angeles FC’s Banc of California Stadium in Exposition Park. Scheduled speakers include entertainment figures like Natalie Portman and Scooter Braun, as well as tech investors like Alexis Ohanian and Chamath Palihapitiya.

The Upfront Summit isn’t the only major L.A. tech event to be delayed this year due to the coronavirus. Several months ago, March Capital announced that it was pushing back its annual Montgomery Summit in Santa Monica from March to May 2022, in order to “give more time for the vaccination of children and other at-risk groups,” organizers said.

The omicon variant is now responsible for more than 95% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“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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Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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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.

Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

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