8% of global emissions arising from human activity comes from the cement industry. Cement along with sand and gravel are the primary components of concrete. Most concrete formulations have been overdesigned with excess cement for their intended applications. Concrete-AI uses data science machine learning to help cement and concrete manufacturers develop the ideal formulations, leading to cost efficiencies and improvement in carbon emissions. The company is already in pilot with some of the largest companies in the space and initial results have shown cost savings of up to 10% and carbon footprint reductions of up to 50%. Offered as a SaaS solution, Concrete-AI targets the $652B global cement and concrete market that’s expected to exceed $1T by 2030. LA TechWatch caught up with Concrete-AI CEO Alex Hall to learn more about the concrete and cement industry and its impact on the environment, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more…
RFC-la
Jaanuu Raises $75M for its Medical Apparel Brand That’s Modernized Scrubs
For years, the medical apparel market consisted of sterile, ill-fitting scrubs that lack any hint of style. Over the last ten years, a number of new entrants prioritized fashion, aesthetics, and form-fitting apparel for this market. Jaanuu is a direct-to-consumer and manufacturer of performance-oriented, premium scrubs. Founded by a brother and sister duo consisting of a former private equity investor and a physician, Jaanuu offers a line of functional, form-fitting, and comfortable medical apparel and accessories that healthcare professionals are raving about. They’re not the only ones; President Obama was photographed sporting a Jaanuu mask. LA TechWatch caught up with Jaanuu CEO and Cofounder Shaan Sethi to learn more about the company’s start, impressive growth, latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $97.6M, and much, much more.
Fan Controlled Football Raises $40M to Transform the Fan Experience Like Never Before
Back in 2007, 50,000+ soccer enthusiasts, organized by the startup MyFootballClub, banded together to purchase an English football club, which ended up being Ebbsfleet United FC. The community was responsible for all decisions related to the club. Last fall, an internet collective come together to raise $40M to buy a copy of the US Constitution through a DAO. Advancements in decentralized and streaming technology are fostering a new wave of innovation and engagement based on collective control that was previously not possible. Fan Controlled Football is a professional football league that allows fans to be involved in the gameplay and management of their favorite teams. Fans have a say in branding, personnel decisions, and even play-calling in real-time as if they are playing a real-life video game. The league plays all its games in a state-of-the-art arena based in Atlanta using modified rules that drive interest, excitement, and action with games broadcasted live on Twitch. Fan Controlled Football quickly recognized the concept was ideal for Web3 and blockchain and is now making integrating 4 new NFT-powered teams into the league, doubling the number of teams to eight for the upcoming season (the league’s second) that will start in mid-April. LA TechWatch caught up with Fan Controlled Football Cofounder and Chief Growth Officer Grant Cohen to learn more about how FCF blends technology, sports, gaming, and decentralization into a professional sports league, the company’s strategic plans, upcoming season, latest round of funding from investors that include Animoca Brands and Delphi Digital, Gemini Frontier Fund, 6th Man Ventures, Jump Crypto, Red Beard Ventures, Spartan Capital, NGC Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Talis Capital, Verizon Ventures, Correlation Ventures, and Basecamp Fund.
HeyRenee Raises Another $4.4M for its Digital Platform for Care Coordination
Care coordination is one of the pillars of establishing a healthcare model that’s increasingly moving towards value-based care. The market is poised for digital adoption and large-scale innovation; the digital care coordination software market alone is expected to top $3.1B in 2022. Challenges remain in the market as there’s traditionally been a lack of interoperability between payers and providers as well as confusion when care transitions from team to team and across institutions. HeyRenee is a digital healthcare concierge platform that’s focused on centralizing all aspects of a patient’s care into a single platform that’s easy to use and navigate. There are 100M+ Americans that suffer from 2 or more chronic conditions and the startup plans to focus on this segment, allowing them to interact through voice, text, and touch. The platform focuses on all aspects of the healthcare journey from diagnosis to ongoing monitoring to post-care follow up aligning the interest of payers, providers, and patients to ensure better outcomes for patients. LA TechWatch caught up with Founder, serial entrepreneur, and CEO Nick Desai (cofounded Heal) to learn more about the care coordination market and the benefits it brings in an era of increasing costs, how the founding team’s experience dealing with a parent’s illness led to the inspiration for the business, the company’s future plans, recent round of funding from investors that include Quiet Capital, City Light Capital, Fika Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Mucker Capital, SaaS Ventures, and Tau Ventures.
The 17 Largest LA Tech Startup Funding Rounds of Q4 2021
Everything you need to need to know about the largest Los Angeles startup funding rounds of Q4 2021; broken down by industry, stage, investors, and more…
The LA Tech December 2021 Venture Capital Funding Report
Another strong month for LA tech with over $700M in new funding; up 381% YOY in December 2021. Aggregate statistics for all LA funding deals by stage of funding (Early, Series A, Series B, & Late) including mention of notable rounds for December 2021.
The 7 Largest LA Tech Startup Funding Rounds of December 2021
Everything you need to need to know about the largest Los Angeles startup funding rounds of December 2021; broken down by industry, stage, investors, and more…
The 23 Largest LA Tech Startup Funding Rounds of 2021
Everything you need to need to know about the largest Los Angeles startup funding rounds of 2021; broken down by industry, stage, investors, and more…
Sensible Weather Raises $4M So That Travelers Can Hedge Against Weather Risk
Crop insurance has been available to farmers since the 1930s to protect the agriculture industry against the effects of adverse weather events. The impact of climate change has led to a rapid acceleration in the popularity of these products in recent years and the effects of climate change are beginning to be felt in other industries including travel. Sensible Weather is a climate data and risk analytics platform that seeks to understand and quantify how weather events can impact everyday life. The company’s first product is a “Weather Guarantee” product that protects travelers against adverse weather conditions whether for whole trips or specific parts of the vacation like excursions or events. Travelers are automatically reimbursed rapidly, without filing onerous claims, when weather impacts parts of their trip. The product is distributed through travel and related partners. Founded by a hedge fund quant, the Weather Guarantee relies on the company’s proprietary climate risk platform that offers dynamic pricing options in real-time to add incremental revenue to travel suppliers. LA TechWatch caught up with Sensible Weather Founder and CEO Nick Cavanaugh to learn more about quantifying the impacts of weather to improve consumer experiences, how his passion for skiing and background using climate data led to the genesis of this business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding led by Wonder Ventures and Walkabout Ventures, and much, much more…
First Resonance $14M for its Operating System for Factories That’s Helping Ease Supply Chain Woes
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 provide flexibility and collaboration between knowledge teams in established manufacturing workflows. Founded by former SpaceX engineers, the company is presently a team of 20 with plans to expand to 65 to help advance the future of climate change, space travel, planetary exploration, and sustainable agriculture. LA TechWatch caught up with First Resonance CEO and Cofounder Karan Talati to learn more about how technology is modernizing manufacturing, the company’s strategic plans, latest funding from investors that include, Craft Ventures, Blue Bear Capital, Fika Ventures, Stage VP, and Wavemaker, and much, much more…
Groundswell Raises $10M for its Philanthropy-as-a-Service Platform that Decentralizes Employee and Employer Giving
For years, individuals, and sometimes corporate teams, have participated in charity runs and walks to raise funding and awareness for causes they believe in. In most cases, the organizers of these events (large and small) have taken on the administrative and infrastructural onus of setting up the philanthropic portions that allow individuals to set up their own fundraising initiatives. What if a SaaS platform could facilitate individuals to partake and structure charitable giving, without relying on other parties, at the employer/employee level? Enter Groundswell, a recently launched philanthropy-as-a-Service platform that provides charitable fundraising tools and administrative solutions as an employee benefit. Employees are able to create and contribute to the pool of their choice (donor-advised funds), for causes that resonate with them, with employers providing tax-advantaged matching/gifting funds. Traditionally, corporate social responsibility and charitable endeavors have been concentrated on a handful of opportunities that are selected at the highest levels within the company. Groundswell’s innovative approach decentralizes corporate giving, creating enhanced engagement among employees and stakeholders. LA TechWatch caught up with Groundswell Chief Product Officer Tammy Hahn to learn more about the company’s launch, strategic plans, latest funding round from investors that include GV, Human Ventures, Moonshots Capital, Felicis, and Core Innovation Capital, and much, much more…