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💉💰 PatientFi raises $25M to scale BNPL for healthcare
Irvine-based PatientFi, a “buy now pay later” provider focused on elective medical procedures, just closed a $25M financing led by Questa Capital to scale up the business. Picture PatientFi as the Klarna of out-of-pocket treatments and procedures. Let’s say you want to get some sort of cosmetic procedure done, but it’s not covered by insurance. Up front costs can easily be in the thousands of dollars - potentially far outside the price range you can handle today. PatientFi splits this cost into more manageable chunks that you pay down over time.
🌴 LA Firms Weigh In on California's Groundbreaking VC Diversity Law
We want to acknowledge that it has been a long difficult week for many and we hope that everyone is taking care of themselves. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 54, the first U.S. law targeting diversity in venture capital. Starting March 1, 2025, VC firms operating in the state must annually report founder diversity. 📝🌍🤝
Eytan Elbaz: On the Art of Building Businesses
If you want to be featured or know folks who want to be featured, feel free to contact me on LinkedIn. This week, we talked to entrepreneur Eytan Elbaz, serial entrepreneur who has spent his career building companies in the ads, media, content, and web3 worlds. 🏃♀️ Quick hits...
PledgeLA's Venture Data Report Shows Progress but not Perfection for LA VCs
The 2023 PledgeLA Venture Data Report serves up a tech-infused reality check with a small side of optimism, like when you failed an exam but took consolation in the fact that you didn’t fail quite as hard as everyone else in the class. 🤓📊📈. Image source: Getty...
beehiiv: Solving Your Own Problems
If you subscribe to a multitude of newsletters like I do, you may have noticed a little button that has started to pop up at the bottom of many of them (including this one). In the last two years, Tyler Denk has led beehiiv (stylized with a lower-case b) on a torrid pace of growth, passing $4m of run rate revenue this spring, on pace to triple that by the end of the year. beehiiv has more than 35 million monthly unique readers and 7,500 active newsletters on the platform. Perhaps the most impressive piece of this, though, is that beehiiv did this having only raised $4m and having reached profitability before raising their $12.5m Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Transforming LA into a Biotech Hub
Skeptics once doubted the feasibility of a high-speed rail connecting LA to Las Vegas, but now it's becoming a reality. Perhaps all it takes is the right team to turn the improbable into the possible. LA County has invested millions to establish itself as a biotech hub, including funding the...
Transforming LA into a Biotech Hub
Skeptics once doubted the feasibility of a high-speed rail connecting LA to Las Vegas, but now it's becoming a reality. Perhaps all it takes is the right team to turn the improbable into the possible. LA County has invested millions to establish itself as a biotech hub, including funding the...
Test Post Headline
In the midst of Hollywood strikes, major streamers are quietly seeking AI Specialists, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Reporter calls out numerous AI postings within Amazon, Apple, Disney, and Netflix. 🎥🖥️🙋♀️. Image source: Shutterstock. The actors fear studios will replace them with AI-generated likenesses,...
Transforming LA into a Biotech Hub
Skeptics once doubted the feasibility of a high-speed rail connecting LA to Las Vegas, but now it's becoming a reality. Perhaps all it takes is the right team to turn the improbable into the possible. LA County has invested millions to establish itself as a biotech hub, including funding the...
Top Tech Journalists Shaping LA’s Tech Scene in 2024
Ben is currently a senior correspondent at Business Insider, where he covers the intersection of technology and business. Based in Los Angeles, Ben writes in depth pieces on the latest trends in the tech industry, particularly focusing on startups and venture capital. Prior to joining Business Insider, Ben worked at dot.LA and was a reporter at KPCC, Southern California's largest public radio station. Ben Bergman's insightful reporting has positioned him as a trusted authority on the swiftly evolving tech landscape, not only in Los Angeles but also on a national scale.
Top Tech Journalists Shaping LA’s Tech Scene in 2024
Ben is currently a senior correspondent at Business Insider, where he covers the intersection of technology and business. Based in Los Angeles, Ben writes in depth pieces on the latest trends in the tech industry, particularly focusing on startups and venture capital. Prior to joining Business Insider, Ben worked at dot.LA and was a reporter at KPCC, Southern California's largest public radio station. Ben Bergman's insightful reporting has positioned him as a trusted authority on the swiftly evolving tech landscape, not only in Los Angeles but also on a national scale.
☢️👗Making Fashion Nuclear: LA-Based Startup Aims to ‘Decarbonize’ Fashion
Global Nuclear Concepts is a pioneering LA-based company that aims to revolutionize the fashion industry by introducing a solution to address its staggering carbon emissions. Founded by Rickey Ruff, a visionary with extensive experience in the fashion and nuclear sectors, the company has unveiled the world's first Nuclear-Powered Carbon Offset specifically designed for the fashion industry.
🛰️💥 Apex Space and LA's Role in the Current Space Tech Boom
Mark Suster from Santa Monica-based Upfront Ventures recently interviewed the CEO and co-founder of LA-based Apex, Ian Cinnamon. The conversation shed light on Apex, a standout player in the Los Angeles space tech scene. Apex specializes in manufacturing satellite buses for space missions. The discussion touched on the expanding space...
⚽️ LA-Based Venture Capitalist Turned Pro Soccer Player
Courtney Reum boasts quite the assortment of descriptors: 45-year-old American venture capitalist, Paris Hilton’s brother- in-law, entrepreneur, best-selling author, former Goldman Sachs investment banker, and now, professional soccer player. The former D1 soccer player at Columbia University, embarked on an unlikely journey to join a soccer team, Länk FC Vilaverdense, in Portugal's second division. With the help of Corey Woolfolk, a biotech executive and ex-pro player, Reum pursued his dream of playing professional soccer, targeting clubs in Turkey, Scandinavia, and Portugal. Vilaverdense took a chance on Reum, enticed not only by his sports skills but also by a substantial loan he offered to ease the club's financial strain, along with potential future investments and access to his business network.
🌟 Highlights from the Milken Institute Global Conference and Anticipated LA Tech Gatherings
Last week’s Milken Institute Global Conference, held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, focused on “Shaping a Shared Future,” addressing major issues and the role of technology in solving challenges such as climate change. A significant theme throughout the event was the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly its potential to transform industries by automating tasks that do not add real value, thus allowing individuals to focus on higher-level activities. Panels and discussions highlighted how AI is already being utilized in various sectors, including asset management, customer service, and medicine development, with contributions from notable figures such as executives from OpenAI and Elon Musk.
🚗 Toyota Launches H2HQ in Advanced Gardena
Toyota has transformed its facility in Gardena, CA, into a hydrogen research and development center to capitalize on the expanding market for hydrogen technology in California. With three decades of experience in hydrogen-powered mobility, Toyota is aligning with California's efforts to transition to fuel cells, particularly in the trucking and stationary power sectors. The facility, now named North American Hydrogen Headquarters, will house around 50 engineers and specialists focused on advancing both vehicle and stationary power applications. The revamped office space will serve as a hub for research, development, and commercialization of hydrogen-related products and technologies. Additionally, they have plans to expand the campus with features like a flexible microgrid and sustainable education center for people to learn more about sustainability and hydrogen's role in it. Toyota's President and CEO, Ted Ogawa, emphasizes their commitment to scalable, zero-emission technology and reducing carbon emissions through real-world products like the Mirai fuel-cell car.
🤖 🏥 How Robots and Artificial Intelligence Are Saving Lives in Los Angeles Hospitals
The integration of robots and artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming healthcare in Los Angeles, with hospitals increasingly employing these technologies to enhance patient care and operational efficiency. According to a Morgan Stanley report from August 2023, 94% of healthcare companies are utilizing AI or machine learning (ML), with the industry's budget allocation for AI and ML projected to double from 5.7% in 2022 to 10.5% this year. These technologies are being used for various applications, from autonomous robots delivering medications to AI systems predicting emergency room wait times and identifying life-threatening infections like sepsis (the third most common cause of death in U.S. hospitals).
🕔😃 Tech Happy Hour Guide
Given the challenging times in the startup and venture capital world, we wanted to lift spirits (pun intended) with some of the LA tech community’s favorite happy hours on the Westside, offering a chance to take a break, network, and relax. So, without further ado, here are some top picks for happy hours on the Westside.
Cutting Edge Innovations at Disney's Imagineering Headquarters
Disney's $60 billion expansion of the parks and experiences business is being propelled by tech innovation at the Disney Imagineering unit, including the HoloTile Floor and the BDX droids from Star Wars. The HoloTile Floor, developed by Disney research fellow Lanny Smoot, enables users to move in any direction on a small patch of flooring using LiDAR technology. This tool serves as a design aid for Imagineers, allowing them to quickly visualize and navigate through models of new attractions or parks. Additionally, due to its ability to accommodate multiple movements simultaneously without collisions, Disney is exploring its use as a dance floor or stage platform.
🚨🎟️ DOJ Takes Aim at Live Nation's Ticket Prices with Antitrust Suit
Whether you're enjoying the blissful lack of traffic as festival-goers head to the desert, basking in the afterglow of Coachella weekend one, or gearing up for the second weekend, we hope you are having a fantastic Friday!. Apropos of pricey music experiences, The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly gearing...
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