Thanks to mobile commerce, the app market will be worth $6 trillion in five years
According to a report by app usage measurement company App Annie, the app market is set to explode over the next five years, and we can thank mobile commerce for the boom. Over that period of time, the company expects global app usage to double to 6.3 billion people. They also predict that time spent in apps will more than double. [Recode]
Elon Musk's The Boring Company breaks ground in LA
Prolific entrepreneur Elon Musk is back at it again, and as was the case with another particularly well-known company, SpaceX, LA is the headquarters for the new venture's operations. The Boring Company, which was founded at the end of 2016, plans to build its first tunnel from LAX to Culver City, and, eventually, from LAX to other major cities. [Teslerati]
Upfront Ventures announces new $400M fund
Santa Monica-based Upfront Ventures announced this week it has closed its sixth fund, worth $400 million. According to the fund's managing partner, Mark Suster, the fund took only two-and-a-half months to raise. [TechCrunch]
4 LA fintech startups make CB Insights’ Fintech 250
Four local startups were named to NYC-based CB Insights' prestigious Fintech 250 recently, offering continued proof that LA's tech ecosystem is diversifying. Irvine-based Acorns, Santa Monica's Tala made the cut, as did ZestFinance and PeerStreet. [Built In LA]
Kairos Venture Partners raises $74.6M for new fund
Kairos Venture Partners, which makes strategic investments in companies focused on using science and technology, announced it had raised $74.6 million as a part of the VC's ongoing fundraising effort for its second ever fund. [SoCal Tech]
Fundings of the week
Headspace, $36.7 million
Investors: Spectrum Equity
LA-based Headspace, a meditation app, reported right before the Fourth of July that the company had closed its Series B funding. The news comes just a few weeks after the company after the startup announced personnel changes. [VentureBeat]
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