The sharing economy is making the concept of ownership obsolete for many categories. Rachelle Snyder and her cofounder had to go through the difficult process of deciding which of their belongings to take with them during a cross country move and their outdoor gear just couldn’t be accommodated. The experience of trying to obtain gear once in LA led to the foundation for launching Arrive Outdoors, the rental company for premium, outdoor equipment that can deliver an assortment of outdoor gear straight to a consumer’s door. Rachelle shares some insight about how the company makes the exploration of the outdoors more accessible and the company’s recent seed funding round from investors that include Freestyle Capital Science Inc., AVG Basecamp Fund, Corigin Ventures, Pine5 Ventures, and James Reinhart and John Voris.
Techs and the City
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.
ettitude Raises $1.6M to for its Super Soft Line of Bedding Essentials Made with Bamboo
ettitude is a sustainable lifestyle brand offering home essentials that are soft on your skin and gentle on our planet using its proprietary CleanBamboo fabric. Cofounders Phoebe Yu and Kat Dey share their experience on raising capital in the midst of the pandemic, the company’s future plans, and direct-to-consumer offering.
Robin Games Raises $7M to Fuse Lifestyle Content with Gaming
“I’ve been circling around this idea for quite some time because I’ve wanted to play the games we’ll be making but couldn’t find them in the current market. I’ve always designed products for myself first and foremost, which allows me to deeply connect with what the end-user really wants, since the end-user is me!”
TANAB is the Digital Community to Help Women Navigate Their Professional and Personal Lives
Highly regarded author, Joan Didion, is praised for her reflective writing style, and one of her famous quotes, “Life changes fast. Life changes in an instant” is the best way to begin explaining the purpose of TANAB – the digital publication for women 25-35 who want to understand the “whys” and “hows” of the stage of […]
The 11 Largest Female-Founded LA Startup Funding Rounds of 2019
In The Spirit Of Ada Lovelace: Female Entrepreneurs Build Next Generation Robots
Near the end of World War II, Adm. William “Bull” Halsey of the famed Third Fleet steered directly into a typhoon, losing 790 crewmen and 146 aircraft in the Pacific. Dr. Eric Daimler, formerly an innovation fellow with the Obama White House, shared this story with me in 2017 as an illustration of the importance of trusting data. It […]
5 Priceless Lessons From One Successful Entrepreneur’s Mother
I often think about how my mother raised me to become the person I am today. Not only was she a single parent, she was also an immigrant new to the country. Through her drive and dedication, my mother had the biggest impact on how I chose to spend my time. From a young age, […]
This LA Startup Just Raised Another $25M for its Vitamin Subscription Service for Women
Despite a move towards personalization in almost everything in our lives, the vitamin industry has traditionally offered a few generic solutions that often do not address the needs of women. Operating in a highly competitive market, most vitamin companies are also unable to clearly distinguish themselves in the crowded pack with very little brand affinity. […]
Why Women in Business Need To Network With More Men
Throughout my career, I’ve attended dozens of women’s networking events, including lunches, happy hour meet-and-greets and more. In a professional culture where women are routinely left out of March Madness pools and are also denied the same choice of employment as men or a seat at the Vice President’s table, women-only networking groups have often […]
As Workplace Norms Continue to Evolve, Can Sales Shed the Bro-Culture Label?
Learn how to set the tone for how sales team should interact with one another to prevent the typical bro culture all too often found.