With a collective $681 million raised in the month of September, the fundraising bar was set high for the first month of the final quarter of the year.
Still, Los Angeles tech companies did not disappoint in October, collectively raising $1.4 billion thanks in large part to fintech startup Fair, which raised $1 billion in debt capital just a few short months after launching out of stealth. Here were the big winners for the month of October.
5. $20 million, October 24
Bio: ChowNow, a platform that helps restaurants with their online ordering and marketing efforts, closed a $20 million Series B and announced that it had surpassed 8,000 restaurant clients. The company revealed that it is on pace to help its restaurants process $400 million in orders over the next year.
4. $25 million, October 25
Bio: LA-based esports organization Cloud9 leveled up earlier this month by scoring a $25 million Series A from a star-studded cast of new investors. Leading the charge were the WWE, the Beverly Hills Sports Council, Monumental Sports & Entertainment co-owner Raul Fernandez, Creative Artists Agency co-founder Michael Ovitz, Founders Fund, and a joint investment from tech investors David Sacks and Bill Lee. Also participating in the round were San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence — who will join the company's board as an observer — and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, among others.
3. $67.8 million, October 12
Bio: LA e-commerce company The Honest Company surpassed the $200 million funding mark earlier this month after closing a $67.8 million Series E. The most recent round was raised at a lower valuation than the $1 billion figure that allowed the company to close its $100 million Series D in 2015.
2. $150 million, October 3
Bio: MACRO, an LA-based media company that creates content for a multicultural market, raised $150 million at the beginning of October to allow the company to embark on new film projects. The funding was led by Emerson Collective and included participation from The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Libra Foundation and Ford Foundation.
1. $1 billion, October 20
Bio: Fair, a fintech startup that provides users a new, flexible way to finance their car purchases, raised nearly $1 billion in debt capital, as well as an undisclosed round of venture capital-led funding. The cash will allow the company — which emerged from stealth only recently — to scale operations, grow its presence in LA and the rest of California, and launch in new markets come 2018.
Images via social media and Shutterstock.
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