LA Tech news for the week ending 7/3 including the LA startup fundings, exits, and events including news for Elementary Robotics, Scalefast, and much, much more.
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The LA TechWatch June 2020 LA Venture Capital Funding Report
The 6 Largest LA Tech Startup Funding Rounds of June 2020
Scalefast Raises $22M to be the Shopify for Brands
The most common mistake brands make is believing that running an online store simply equals having an e-commerce platform. However, successful brands know that building, operating, and scaling a direct-to-consumer channel requires so much more than that. Multiple departments need to align with the right infrastructure, expertise, tools, and operations – something that, traditionally, retailers were bringing to the table, not brands. Scalefast is the all-in-one e-commerce solution that enables brands to launch, manage, and maintain their own direct-to-consumer platform. CEO Nicolas Stehle walks us through the company’s inspiration, traction, and funding round from investors that include FJ Labs, Xplorer Capital, Benhamou Global Ventures, Stereo Capital, and Adara Ventures
LA Tech Week in Review: 6/21/20-6/27/20
Outer Raises $4.3M to Bring Style and Sustainability to Outdoor Furniture
With COVID-19 spreading rapidly throughout the nation, summer travel plans have been halted and people are planning to spend more time at home and in their backyards. The demand for outdoor furniture, grills, and patio heaters is surging. Outer is an innovative direct-to-consumer outdoor furniture brand that’s meeting this demand. CEO and Cofounder Jiake Liu walks us through how the brand is adapting to the pandemic, the company’s plan to expand its line, and latest funding round from prominent LA investors and operators that include Mucker Capital, Wavemaker, George Ruan, Eddy Lu, Nick Green, Ariel Kaye, and Mark Geller.
UNest Raises Another $9M to Make 529s and College Savings Accessible to the Masses
While working at the largest 529 provider in the United States, Ksenia Yudina saw firsthand the inefficiencies with the process of setting up college savings plans. She launched UNest to make it more accessible for parents to start saving for college without complex paperwork and exorbitant cost. With UNest, parents can set up 529 plans in less than 5 minutes and it only costs $3M per month. Yudina shares more about the UNest’s mission, the company’s impressive growth, and recent funding round from investors that include Anthos Capital, Baron Davis, Northwestern Mutual Ventures, Artemis Fund, Draper Dragon, and Unlock Ventures.
Cake Raises $1.435M for Its All-Inclusive Sexual Wellness Brand
Cake, a direct-to-consumer startup, is taking on the sexual wellness product. Its first product, a line of lubricants, is available for delivery straight to your door, eliminating the awkwardness of visiting the drug store to get confusing, outdated, and intimidating products that in no way are designed for modern sexuality. CEO and Cofounder Hunter Morris shares more on the company’s inspiration, future plans, and recent funding round from investors that include Brand Foundry Ventures, Finn Capital, and several notable angels.
Open Raven Raises $15M for its Data Security Platform Built for the Cloud
50 years of combined security experience between the cofounders and they still couldn’t find a security company they admired. Existing data privacy solutions weren’t built for today’s cloud-based infrastructure and the volume, velocity, and variety of data that enterprises are using. Recognizing this disconnect, Dave Cole and Mark Curphey built Open Raven, a modern data security platform that empowers security teams to understand and track where their company’s data is in the cloud and prevent any security incidents before a breach. Cole shares more about Open Raven’s future plans and recent funding round led by Kleiner Perkins.
Whatifi Raises $10M to Bring Interactive Movies to Your Phone
Through what it calls “storyhacking”, Whatifi offers numerous plotlines, character arcs, and endings, and even critical points where the watch party is faced with a problem and the movie cannot continue until everyone unanimously decides what decision to make. Using methodology from interactive theater, Cofounders Hardi Meybaum and Jaanus Juss are putting social audiences in the Director’s seat from their phones. The duo shared some insight into the company’s engaging platform for developing movies, future plans, and recent funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Kippo Raises $2M for its Dating App for Gamers
Cofounded by one of the early team members at Raya (the highly-exclusive dating app), Kippo is a dating app designed specifically for gamers. Kippo CEO and Cofounder David Park walks us through why there is a need for a dating app for gamers, the company’s future plans, and recent funding round.