The aerospace, defense, and automobile industries have long been reliant on obsolete processes for hardware design and manufacturing that do not fully encapsulate the potential of technology. First Resonance is the manufacturing intelligence platform that allows next-gen hardware companies to innovate, iterate, and get products to market faster with unprecedented real-time visibility into production status. Replacing spreadsheets, documents, and costly legacy manufacturing processes, First Resonance’s ion Factory Operating System leverages data science, API integration, and machine learning to provides flexibility and collaboration between knowledge teams in established manufacturing workflows. Founded by former SpaceX engineers, the platform was able to gain 12+ new customers in 2020 despite the pandemic to help advance the future of climate change, space travel, planetary exploration, and sustainable agriculture. LA TechWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Karan Talati to learn more about First Resonance, the platform’s impact on manufacturing, progress made since launching out of stealth last fall, the company’s latest funding round led by Blue Bear Capital.
Funding News
Metropolis Raises $41M to Modernize the Experience of Parking in Cities with Technology
So much attention has been paid to improving urban mobility, starting with ride-sharing, shared scooters, bicycle lines but not much has been paid to improving the accessibility and availability of parking. Metropolis is on a mission to change that. It’s a sophisticated parking management system, powered by computer vision, that leverages technology to improve the experience of parking for both consumers and parking garage operators. With a single app, consumers can find convenient parking options and pay without having to worry about availability, payments, tips, and the like. For operators, in addition to cost savings, they are finally able to gain valuable data on capacity, utilization, and customer behavior while having their locations staffed by dedicated teams from Metropolis. LA TechWatch caught up with CEO, Cofounder, and repeat founder Alex Israel (ParkMe acquire by Inrix) to learn more about the state of the parking industry, the company’s expansion plans, latest round of funding from investors that include Starwood Capital, 01 Advisors (Dick Costolo and Adam Bain), Dragoneer, Slow Ventures, Zigg Capital, DivcoWest, RXR (Scott Rechler), Dan Doctoroff, Baron Davis, Halogen Ventures (Jesse Draper), and Gideon Hixon.
Albert Raises $100M to Help Manage Your Finances with a Blend of Automation and Expert Human Guidance
Goal setting is one of the most powerful processes to build your future. When it comes to your finances, adding in expert advice accelerates achieving those goals in a sustainable and measurable way. Albert is the personal financial advice platform that leverages technology and access to financial experts to address any aspect of your financial situation. At its core, the platform provides mobile banking complete with automated savings, equity investing, tracking, budgeting, and access to cash advances if necessary. LA TechWatch caught up with CEO Yinon Ravid to learn more about the gap that Albert fills in the consumer finance space, the company’s future plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include General Atlantic, CapitalG, Portag3, and QED Investors.
Envoy Raises $11M to Make Electric Vehicle Sharing a Building Amenity
In 2010, there were 17,000 electric cars on the road. By the end of the decade there were over 7.2M. This increase has been largely attributable to improvements in affordability and accessibility. Culver City-based Envoy is bringing electric cars to residential buildings, offices, hotels with its electric vehicle sharing service. Largely focused on the residential housing market, the company partners with building owners to offer access to its fleet of electric cars as a basic building amenity like a pool or clubhouse. LA TechWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Aric Ohana to learn more about Envoy’s focus on make mobility an amenity, the company’s future plans, and recent round of funding from investors that include Shell Ventures, Building Ventures, DENSO, Goodyear Ventures, GroundBreak Ventures, and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator Impact Fund.
StarNews Mobile Raises $1.8M for its Africa-Focused Mobile Content Platform
Mobile phone usage is exploding in Africa and the continent is the world’s fastest growing mobile market. StarNews Mobile is a mobile video network that’s partnered with the largest telecom operators to provide video content to this burgeoning base of consumers. The company allows entertainers and brands to reach their audiences while allowing content creators to monetize their content. LA TechWatch caught up with Founder and CEO Guy Kamgaing to learn more about the market opportunity in Africa for content providers, the company’s future plans, and recent funding round from I&P and Expert Dojo.
ConsejoSano Pulls in Another $17M for its Multichannel Patient Engagement Platform Built for Traditionally Underserved and Vulnerable Populations
Providers are turning to patient engagement to steer results in value-based care models, leading to better outcomes for both patients and physicians. Yet many of these engagement programs focus on providing a one-size-fits-all approach that does not truly engage patients due to cultural and socio-economic differences. ConsejoSano is a multicultural patient engagement platform that leverages 2M+ cultural data points to provide a tailored approach in a patient’s native language, leading to improved outcomes. Launched in 2017, the company is already working with four of the top five managed care plans in the US.
LA TechWatch caught up with Founder and CEO Abner Mason to learn more about his experience in Mexico sparked the launch of ConsejoSano, the company’s plans to scale its platform, and latest round of funding from investors that include Magnetic Ventures, The American Heart Association/Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund, DaVita Venture Group, Salesforce Ventures, NBA All-Star Victor Oladipo, 7wireVentures, Impact Engine, Tufts Health Plan, and Wanxiang America.
ForeVR Raises $1.5M to Bring Popular Real Life Games to VR
The virtual reality gaming market is expected to reach $45B/yr by 2027. The increased affordability of VR sets like Oculus’s Quest 2 will contribute to this massive growth. ForeVR, founded by two ex-Zynga employees, is seeking to capitalize on this trend with its VR-focused gaming studio. Emerging recently from stealth, the company’s first title, launching in early 2021, is focused on bowling and ForeVR plans to build new games that are based on popular games in real life. LA TechWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Marcus Segal to learn more about the genesis of the company, its future product pipeline, first institutional round of funding from investors that include Galaxy Interactive Fund, Presence Capital, Emmett Shear, Justin Kan, Mark Pincus, and Justin Waldron.
Finli Raises Another $1M to be the Payment Solution for Neighborhood Schools and Studios
Small businesses have been devastated by the pandemic and neighborhood schools and studios are no different. There has been a wave of innovation that empowers these small businesses to rapidly digitize to address changing customer preferences. Finli is the small business management platform and payment solution for these family-centric businesses that have been traditionally reliant on paper and pencil models. On the platform, parents and caretakers connect their bank accounts or credits to schedule and process payments for their children’s education, while schools and studios can invoice, streamline payments, and service their customer bases. LA TechWatch caught up with CEO and Founder Lori Shao to learn more about the critical service the platform provides to family businesses, the company’s future plans, and recent seed extension round from investors that include MaC Venture Capital, TechStars Los Angeles, Core Innovation Capital, and Muse Capital.
Boulevard Raises Another $27M for its Spa and Salon Management Platform
Boulevard is a spa and salon management platform designed specifically to address the needs of the industry. The platform’s functionality is robust and allows facilities to manage all facets of their operations, ranging from bookings, marketing, payment, and reporting.
LA TechWatch caught up with Cofounder & CEO Matt Danna to learn more about the company’s future plans, experience working with partners during the pandemic, and latest funding round from investors that that include Index Ventures, Toba Capital, VMG Partners, Bonfire Ventures, Ludlow Ventures, and BoxGroup.
The 6 Largest LA Tech Startup Funding Rounds of November 2020
Shred Raises $4M for its Social Digital Fitness Platform
More often than not, hiding behind the paywalls of many fitness apps is premium content such as virtual fitness classes led by celebrity trainers that require additional spending in order to access. Shred, the digital fitness app, goes against the grain by offering a constantly growing library of high-quality workouts within its subscription and provides the opportunity to make your workouts social by including your friends. Since the company’s founding in 2018, more than 3M workouts and 76M exercises have been completed on the platform. LA TechWatch caught up with CEO Adam Weinstein to learn more about the company’s experience growing during COVID, future plans to roll out new products including video-based social workouts, and Shred’s recent funding round.