The pandemic has shown that telehealth is the gateway to the future of medicine. 23.6% of all healthcare interactions were via telehealth during the first four months of the pandemic, up from just .3% for the same period in 2019. Despite having one of the most expensive and sophisticated healthcare systems in the world, the US still has poor access to prenatal care for many expecting mothers; 10M+ women live in areas where obstetricians are limited and they must travel significant distances to see practitioners. Ruth Health is a telehealth platform for expecting and recent mothers to ensure they are able to receive reliable and continuous access to care during prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum stages. The platform works to complement visits to your obstetricians by providing support focused on pelvic floor training and recovery, lactation, and C-section recovery through exercises, one-on-one counseling, and health screening all without having to leave home. Traditional prenatal care models require at least 14 visits during an average pregnancy. For those with potentially high-risk pregnancies, telehealth allows for remote patient monitoring to detect any complications early. LA TechWatch caught up with Ruth Health CEO and Cofounder Alison Greenberg to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, and much, much more…
Funding News
Impulse Space Propulsion Raises $20M to Bring Last-Mile Delivery to Space
Halfway through the Obama Administration, findings from the Augustine Commission led to public-private partnerships for orbital transportation, marking a significant policy change. As a result, the falling costs of launches have created a thriving space economy. Much of the focus has been on commercial launch providers that are enabling smaller satellites and more rocket missions […]
tvScientific Raises $20M for its End-to-End Solution for OTT Performance Marketing
While cord-cutting has reduced traditional cable providers’ dominance in the TV advertising market, it has opened up new advertising channels for brands seeking to capitalize on the growth of streaming services. It’s estimated that the number of online video subscriptions in the US was 353.2M in 2021. Connected TVs, also known as over-the-top (OTT) devices, are able to provide programmatic targeted ads based on user behavior and data, unlike the ads shown by static cable providers. tvScientific is an ad measurement, buying, optimization, and distribution platform for Connected TVs. The platform connects with 95% of streaming apps that are available today across devices that include computers/mobile/tablet streaming, OTT, and internet-connected televisions. Television advertising has traditionally served as a conduit for awareness-based campaigns but with tvScientific’s ad-buying platform, brands can make data-driven decisions to increase lift and engagement to make TV a more valuable channel in the marketing mix. LA TechWatch caught up with tvScientific CEO and Cofounder Jason Fairchild to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, and much, much more…
WeeCare Raises Another $12M for its Marketplace for Childcare and Employer Sponsored Childcare Benefits Platform
The pandemic brought the importance of childcare to the forefront and on the national stage. As providers scaled backed operations and shuttered, access to reliable and affordable childcare options became critical. WeeCare is the largest childcare network that serves as a tech-enabled, modern marketplace that connects various types childcare providers (daycare, nannies, babysitters) with parents. The company also operates an employer-sponsored childcare benefits program that’s instrumental in boosting employer productivity by ensuring their employees do not have to worry about securing and paying for childcare. A look at WeeCare’s site indicates that they have ~90K providers available right now in the markets they are currently active in – Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and the West Coast. As national sentiment transitions from viewing childcare as a nice-to-have to an essential portion of our economy, Weecare is poised to serve the millions of parents with options. LA TechWatch caught up with WeeCare CEO and Cofounder Jessica Chang to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, and much, much more…
Welcome Tech Raises Another $30M for its Digital Banking and Services Platform for Immigrants
One of the biggest challenges for immigrants new to the country is getting established in their new home countries. Often, because of language barriers, getting local services proves difficult. Welcome Tech is a digital services platform that connects immigrants with a host of tools and offerings in order for them to access key services. At its core, the company offers a digital banking and mobile wallet solution that improves access to banking services with no maintenance fees. Through its consumer hub, SABEResPODER, which translates to “Knowledge is Power”, Welcome Tech also offers discounted healthcare options, automobile insurance, and prescription benefits. The company is seeing impressive user growth with over 1M downloads for the banking app, providing resources for close to 4M individuals, an increase of a million users since the company’s Series B last year. LA TechWatch caught up with Welcome Tech Cofounder, CEO, and President Amir Hemmat to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, and much, much more…
Trust Raises Another $5M for its Network and Financing Solutions for Digitally-Native Brands
Digital has reshaped the commerce landscape and introduced a new set of KPIs and metrics to manage and monitor in order to scale effectively. The direct brand economy cultivates a relationship with consumers, driven primarily through digital footprints without any middlemen. Managing distribution, cash flow, and operations are critical for emerging brands to ensure positive customer experiences. Trust is a dedicated network and financing solution for digitally-native brands to access industry-specific analytics as well as extended payment terms. The embedded network provides a sounding board for emerging brands as well as curated resources that are highly relevant to a brand’s focus in addition to anonymized spend analytics derived from 650K+ transactions. Through the firm’s virtual card and spend solution, brands have flexible access to capital for ads, software, or inventory for 45 days. The entire platform is currently 100% free for businesses with Trust earning the interchange fee from spending on its virtual card. With large brands and platforms dominating the ad spend universe, Trust is leveling the playing field by providing access to real-world performance data at scale for digital brands that are navigating their growth journey.
Snappt Raises $100M for its Fraud Detection Platform for Rental Applications
85% of all landlords have experienced rental application fraud in the last year; 1/8 of applicants submit rental applications with some fraudulent aspect. Detecting these instances can save landlords hundreds of millions of dollars before embarking on a long-term relationship with a less than credible tenant. Snappt is a fraud detection platform for property managers that screens financial documents submitted by potential tenants. Analyzing pay stubs and bank statements, the company’s proprietary technology automatically flags documents that appear to have been altered in order for tenants to qualify for apartments. As the pandemic has increased the time and therefore associated cost for evictions, Snappt is providing property managers with the confidence to originate leases quickly without sacrificing tenant quality. The company, founded in 2017 by two real estate veterans, has embedded its technology into the existing leasing workflows of 4 out of the 5 of the country’s largest property managers. LA TechWatch caught up with Snappt CEO and Cofounder Daniel Berlind to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the company’s strategic plans, how he went through 200 VC rejections when first launching the business, and latest round of funding from investors that include Insight Partners, and Inertia Ventures.
Jointly Raises $5M for its Purposeful Cannabis Wellness App That Enhances the Consumption Experience
The cannabis industry is rapidly growing and expected to reach $33.6B in sales by 2025 as more states are added to the list where recreational use is permitted. With this growing interest, rich data has been collected and the consumer data reflects that different demographic groups seek specific benefits from their consumption and their preferences on ingestion (vapes, flowers, edibles, etc) also widely vary. Jointly is a platform that serves as a guide and experience tracking mechanism for purposeful cannabis consumption. Users initially select the type of experience they are seeking from a set of choices that vary from enjoying social experiences to enhancing intimacy, then are shown a number of products that meet their criterion based on the company’s proprietary engine, and users track their experience using fifteen factors, creating a dynamic and accurate database of goal-specific product effectiveness. As more and more individuals enter the cannabis consumer lifecycle, the platform hopes to navigate them through the various and growing number of options available, which can be daunting, so that they are able to enhance their personal experience and elevate wellness. The platform has tracked 200K+ experiences since its launch in 2020. LA TechWatch caught up with Jointly CEO and Cofounder David Kooi to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $7.5M, and much, much more…
Workorder Raises $1.1M for its Construction Estimation Platform That Saves Valuable Time From the Onset of a Project
Estimating is one of the most important aspects of the first phase of any construction project. Takeoffs is the process of quantifying all the materials needed for a project by analyzing the set of drawings. This key function has traditionally largely been done manually. Workorder is a construction estimation platform that uses image recognition, deep learning, and OCR to automate this process. The company’s proprietary technology allows construction cost estimators to estimate jobs up to 10x faster than before. Workorder is helping companies like Performance Contracting Inc, TIS Construction Services, DPR Construction, and others streamline the takeoff process. The company has been in private beta and just launched publicly this week. LA TechWatch caught up with Workorder CEO Marty Cornish to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more…
Zitti Raises $4M for its Payments Platform for Restaurants That Streamlines Managing Back of the House
The pandemic has reshaped the way the restaurants look at technology in their operations but most of the attention has been on customer-focused solutions like QR codes for menus, digital ordering, and contactless customer payments. However, just as important is the restaurant’s “back of the house” operations, especially critical functions like inventory management and vendor/supplier management. Zitti is a fintech platform that is focused on providing restaurants with the tools needed to manage supplier payments, analytics, invoices, credit, and payment terms. Built by a restaurant insider, the platform is designed to provide small and medium-sized restuarants, typically family-owned establishments, with the tools and flexibility that are available to larger, more well-capitalized chains. It’s estimated that 110K restaurants closed in 2020, leading to job losses in the millions. To ensure that restaurants adopt the platform without much friction, there are no onerous monthly or recurring fees; instead, Zitti takes a small portion of every payment processed on the platform. Zitti is currently in beta with plans to launch publicly later this year. LA TechWatch caught up with Zitti CEO and Founder Dante DiCicco to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the process of building a remote team, the company’s strategic plans, first institutional round of funding, and much, much more…
Warp $2.4M for its Middle-Mile Delivery Marketplace
While innovation in technology has paid much attention to last-mile delivery, the middle-mile has routinely been overlooked This is the segment of the supply chain that focuses on the delivery of products from factories or seaports to fulfillment and distribution centers. Optimizing the middle-mile provides the opportunity to eliminate the massive backlogs that we’ve seen at the ports since the start of the pandemic. Warp is a middle-mile delivery marketplace that connects shipping, carriers, and facilities in order to get shipments where they need to be quickly and efficiently. By pooling demand and consolidation points, the platform provides unprecedented transparency, tracking, and cost savings. The company recently emerged from stealth and is initially focused on the less than truckload (LTL) market, providing flexibility to smaller shippers in California, New York, and Texas that may be focused on high-volume consumables. LA TechWatch caught up with Warp Cofounder and CEO Daniel Sokolovsky to learn more about the inspiration for the business to modernize the supply chain with technology, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding from investors that include Bee Investors and Amplify.