🧬 XPRIZE's $100M+ Competition to Revolutionize Human Aging

Christian Hetrick

Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.

🧬 XPRIZE's $100M+ Competition to Revolutionize Human Aging
Image Source: EINPresswire


🔦 Spotlight

Culver City-based XPRIZE, an organization known for orchestrating large-scale incentive competitions aimed at resolving humanity's most significant challenges, just launched a new 7-year global competition, XPRIZE Healthspan. The prize comprises a total of $111 million, including both the prize purse ($101M) and a bonus award. 🕰️🧬🏆

The monumental $101M Healthspan competition aims to transform aging by incentivizing teams to develop therapies that restore muscle, cognition, and immune function by a minimum of 10 years in individuals aged 65-80 within just one year.

This is the Mt. Everest of XPRIZE competitions, fueled by the pressing need to bridge the gap between increasing life expectancy and the quality of health as we age. With global life expectancy rising but healthy years not keeping pace, the competition targets aging with a focus on proactive, accessible treatments utilizing exponential technologies like AI, gene therapy, and cellular medicine. The goal is to democratize health and create a future where healthy aging is accessible to everyone, making us all forever young.

The competition, supported by Co-Title Sponsors Hevolution Foundation and SOLVE FSHD, seeks to revolutionize aging treatments by shifting focus from traditional reactive medicine to proactive therapeutics targeting biological aging.

Think you have what it takes to win $111M? You can register on the XPRIZE website here. Good luck!💰🔬🚀

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Startups

  • Mozaic, a startup that helps creators such as musicians, YouTubers, and Twitch streamers manage payments and split revenue among collaborators for different projects, raised a $20M Series A led by Volition Capital. - learn more
  • HeyGen, a generative AI avatar creation app, raised a $5.6M funding round led by Conviction Partners. - learn more

Built for founders, by founders: Rho, the consolidated finance automation platform designed to help you scale.

Founders, we know how much you are handling at once. Operating multiple platforms for each facet of your finances should not be getting in the way of running your business.

Leave managing your finances to Rho, so that you can focus on growing your business. Whether you have just raised your first round of funding and need help managing your funds, or you are a start-up looking to diversify your capital, Rho is the only finance automation platform that lets organizations manage all spend and cash in a single system.

Rho is your trusted and reliable financial support that can help you diversify and manage your cash efficiently. Manage all your cash and spending in one system:

  • Cash Management: Enterprise-grade banking where you can streamline your finances and manage multiple entities from one platform. With Rho’s sophisticated treasury management, put your idle cash to work and keep your cash secure with FDIC-insurance up to $75 million.
  • Spend Management: Control spend before it happens with Rho corporate cards. Streamline post send reporting by digitizing your expense policy and eliminating expense reports. Pay all your vendors in one workflow.
  • Accounting Automation: Reduce time-to-close and reconcile seamlessly. Integrate directly with your ERP.

“Rho has made it their mission to help companies like ours. By giving us the ability to loop corporate cards and expense management into one place…we’ve been able to close our book smooch faster each month and automate our spend from end to end.” - Dr. Squatch.

Join other startups like Dr. Squatch, Sundae, Canvas, and Runway that are making finance frictionless with Rho.

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✨Featured Event ✨

It’s that time of year again!

Our friends at AILA are hosting the third annual #LongLA Holiday Party on Tuesday, December 12th from 6-11pm at the Pluto Penthouse on Wilshire.

The #LongLA Holiday Party is supported by a syndicate of LA-based organizations to celebrate the holidays and give back to the local community. Besides an epic party with tacos, drinks, and groovy tunes, we also host a food, toy, clothing, and gas gift card drive, benefiting LA Regional Food Bank, Children’s Hospital LA, Midnight Mission, and Safe Parking LA.

Earlybird tickets are on sale now!

https://lu.ma/LONGLA23

Want your event featured? Shoot us an email!

📅 LA Tech Calendar

Tuesday, December 5th

Wednesday, December 6th

  • Startup Arena - Join Startup Coil and other investors and founders for on-stage pitches, an investor panel and presentation, and networking in Santa Monica.
  • Techstars LA & Space VIP Investor Showcase and Expo - Join Techstars LA at 4pm PT on Wednesday, December 6th to meet and speak with their 23 amazing companies at the Petersen Automotive Museum! This reception is a direct follow-up of their virtual Demo Day hosted by Kernal the morning of December 6th.

Thursday, December 7th

  • Amazon Ads Festive Fête: A Holiday Mixer - Amazon invites local marketing & agency leaders in the LA area to a festive gathering at TopGolf. Enjoy an afternoon of networking, food & drinks, and lively discussions to ring out the year. Secure your spot now as space is limited!

Have an awesome event coming up? Reach out to be featured on next week’s Newsletter!

📙 What We’re Reading

How to Navigate LA Tech Week 2026

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday, Los Angeles.

Next week, hundreds of tech events will take over the city, bringing founders, investors, engineers and creators together from October 12 through 18.

Calling LA Tech Week a conference does not quite capture the experience.

Presented by Andreessen Horowitz, Tech Week is a decentralized collection of panels, workshops, demonstrations and gatherings hosted independently by startups, venture firms and technology companies. There is no convention center or central stage. The programming stretches from Santa Monica and Venice to Culver City, Downtown, El Segundo and beyond.

In other words, the city is the venue.

AI remains the dominant theme for 2026, appearing across enterprise software, healthcare, finance, media and the creator economy. The schedule also reflects industries where Los Angeles has built a particular advantage, including aerospace, defense, robotics, advanced manufacturing, entertainment and consumer technology.

That range is what makes LA Tech Week distinct. It brings together the software companies shaping what comes next with the industries that already define Southern California.

The challenge is deciding where to show up.

Our advice: apply early and organize your schedule by neighborhood. Crossing from Santa Monica to Downtown may look manageable on a calendar created by someone who has never driven in Los Angeles.

To help you spend more time meeting people and less time crossing the city, we have organized each day’s events by location:

You can also browse the complete official LA Tech Week calendar.

Plan carefully, but do not fill every minute. The best conversation of the week may be the one that was never on your calendar.

More from this week’s LA startup and venture scene below.

🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • El Segundo-based Gallatin AI raised a $50M Series A from new and existing investors including 8VC and Silent Ventures, bringing its total funding to $70M. The defense technology startup will expand its engineering team and advance Navigator, an AI platform that helps U.S. military units coordinate vehicle readiness, supplies, medical logistics and other mission-support operations. - learn more
    • Pasadena-based quantum computing startup Oratomic raised a $475M Series B at a $5.4B valuation, just three months after its Series A. ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital, Khosla Ventures, Index Ventures, General Catalyst and Bezos Expeditions co-led the round, bringing Oratomic’s total funding to $775M as it works toward a commercially viable, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2030. - learn more
    • Torrance-based Fortastra raised a $30M Series A led by First In, with participation from Upfront Ventures, Space Capital, Rsquared, Side Door Ventures, ATX Ventures and existing investors. The company will use the capital to develop its next-generation maneuverable spacecraft, expand its engineering and operations teams and scale production of systems designed to protect critical assets in orbit. - learn more
    • Parallel Systems raised a $100M Series C led by AVP, with participation from Hillspire, Agility Global, Cobalt Capital, Anthos Capital, Congruent Ventures, Riot Ventures and Collaborative Fund. Founded by former SpaceX engineers, the company will use the funding to scale production and commercial deployment of its autonomous, battery-electric Panther rail vehicles, which are designed to make short-haul freight more competitive with trucking. - learn more
    • Gaming studio Gardens Interactive secured more than $35M in a Series B led by Lightspeed, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Accel, Innovation Endeavors, Zenith Capital and other investors. The company will use the funding to launch and operate its debut social role-playing “strandbox” game, an evolving multiplayer world shaped by players’ actions and interactions. - learn more
    • Outer Spaces raised an $8M pre-seed round led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from Unlock Venture Partners, Mucker Capital and Genius Ventures. The startup is developing outdoor furnishings with integrated solar panels and batteries, turning backyards into sources of clean energy and backup power. - learn more
    • Furientis raised a $25M seed round led by Benchmark at a reported $125M valuation, following a $5M pre-seed announced in May. The defense startup will use the capital to scale production of lower-cost missile interceptors designed to be assembled quickly with readily available components, with a long-term goal of producing 1,000 systems annually at each factory. - learn more
    • Hiyo raised a $20.8M Series B led by Constellation Brands, with returning investor Live Nation also participating. The nonalcoholic beverage company will use the funding to expand its adaptogen- and nootropic-infused social tonics across more than 13,000 retail locations while growing its presence at hospitality venues and live events. - learn more
    LA Venture Funds
    • Navitas Capital participated in Vesta’s $30M Series B, which was led by Conversion Capital and included backing from several major mortgage lenders and financial institutions. The company will use the funding to scale its AI agents across mortgage origination, automating tasks such as application reviews, underwriting decisions and closing-document checks. - learn more
    • MTech Capital led Nettle’s oversubscribed $4.8M seed round, with participation from Project A Ventures, Sure Valley Ventures, Portfolio Ventures and Ventures Together. The insurtech startup will use the funding to expand across the U.S. and Europe while growing its AI platform, which helps commercial insurers identify property risks, accelerate inspections and generate reports. - learn more
    • Bonfire Ventures doubled down on Santé by participating in the company’s $15M Series A, which was led by FINTOP and included other returning investors. The New York startup will use the funding to expand its AI-powered operating system for independent wine and liquor stores, which combines point-of-sale, e-commerce, payments, inventory and marketing tools in one platform. - learn more

    LA Exits

    • Winnow Solutions was acquired by Marina del Rey-based Spring Labs, with financial terms undisclosed. Winnow’s attorney-built library of more than 100,000 state and federal regulatory requirements will become a core part of SpringGRC, helping financial institutions connect changing laws directly to their compliance policies, controls and workflows. - learn more

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      LA Tech Week 2026: Sunday’s Event Lineup

      🔦 Spotlight

      LA Tech Week 2026 closes Sunday with one final day of events across Los Angeles. We have organized the remaining lineup by neighborhood so you can finish the week with a few last conversations before everyone returns to their regularly scheduled inboxes.

      ARTS DISTRICT

      12:00 PM

      CARSON

      12:00 PM

      CULVER CITY

      9:00 AM

      • Women in Cleantech & Sustainability Hike and Network: See Details Here
        Women in Cleantech & Sustainability

      6:00 PM

      • Founders pitch competition: See Details Here
        Biomorphix solutions, Nightingale regenerative

      HOLLYWOOD

      10:00 AM

      4:00 PM

      • AI International: Film, Music Video & Micro-Drama: See Details Here
        AI International Film Festivals

      MID CITY

      1:00 PM

      OTHER

      12:00 PM

      • ORGANIC LIFE LABS™ PRESENTS THE ALIGNMENT LAB: The Science of human performance: See Details Here
        The Blue Room Collective

      SANTA MONICA

      8:00 AM

      1:00 PM

      6:00 PM

      SOUTH LA

      2:00 PM

      • Future Builders : Family STEM Day: See Details Here
        Black L.A. Tech Week (Community Collective)

      VENICE

      10:00 AM

      12:00 PM

      • How to Raise Funds to Fund Any Business Using Digital Products.: See Details Here
        DN Events

      VIRTUAL

      5:00 PM

      WEST HOLLYWOOD

      3:00 PM

      Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

      Download the dot.LA App

      LA Tech Week 2026: Saturday’s Event Lineup

      🔦 Spotlight

      LA Tech Week 2026 heads into the weekend Saturday with more opportunities to learn, meet fellow builders and explore what is being created across the region. Browse the day’s events by neighborhood below and find the gatherings worth leaving the house for.

      ARTS DISTRICT

      5:30 PM

      BEL AIR

      5:00 PM

      CULVER CITY

      10:00 AM

      1:00 PM

      4:00 PM

      DOWNTOWN

      11:00 AM

      2:00 PM

      • South Asians in Space, Physical AI: See Details Here
        american south asian network

      5:00 PM

      7:00 PM

      HOLLYWOOD

      8:00 PM

      INGLEWOOD

      10:00 PM

      LONG BEACH

      10:00 AM

      12:00 PM

      LOS FELIZ

      8:30 AM

      • Griffith Observatory Hike with Longevity Cities & Don't Die LA: See Details Here
        Longevity Cities

      MALIBU

      5:00 PM

      MARINA DEL RAY

      9:30 AM

      • The Brazen Capital Walk: Connecting Women, Capital & Opportunity: See Details Here
        BrazenEra

      6:00 PM

      • Build an AI workflow editor, natively in Angular: See Details Here
        Workflow Builder

      SANTA MONICA

      7:00 AM

      • Founders Running Club Run in Santa Monica: See Details Here
        Founders Running Club, MongoDb

      9:00 AM

      • MOLTEN - Spatial hackathon (ElevenLabs, AssemblyAI, Rokoko, Datafeel...): See Details Here
        Field Lab

      2:00 PM

      3:30 PM

      6:00 PM

      7:00 PM

      SOUTH LA

      7:00 PM

      THE VALLEY

      7:30 PM

      UCLA

      11:00 AM

      USC

      9:00 AM

      10:00 AM

      10:30 AM

      VENICE

      8:00 AM

      • Open Air Health Tech: See Details Here
        Open Air Health Tech, Bowshock, Govitamins App

      10:00 AM

      10:30 AM

      11:00 AM

      12:00 PM

      6:00 PM

      • Bots, Bytes & Bubbles Benefit: See Details Here
        Distinguished Minds Institute dba thinqueBytes®

      VIRTUAL

      9:00 AM

      • Ask a VP of Sales: Live GTM Office Hours for Early-Stage B2B Founders: See Details Here
        Kat Rucker Consulting Group

      11:00 AM

      WEST HOLLYWOOD

      11:00 AM

      • The 10x Engineer Showed Up. The 10x Organization Didn't.: See Details Here
        Workflow Builder, Tentaro

      3:00 PM

      WESTSIDE

      11:00 AM

      2:00 PM

      • Graphic Design & Digital Printing Meetup: See Details Here
        Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More of West LA

      7:00 PM

      WESTWOOD

      12:00 PM

      Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

      Download the dot.LA App

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