Ever get a text message that says your prescription is ready, or a message from your favorite sandwich shop offering a discount? Well, that’s what EZ Texting does. The messaging tech company’s mobile marketing platform helps businesses reach their customers via text.
🚨 And as of August, they’ve introduced a new component to their software. 🚨
You guessed it: Emojis.
🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
“Our goal is to provide businesses with the best SMS communication platform and experience, so our product evolves as the ways people communicate with each other do,” Josh Siegel, the company’s chief product officer, said in a press release. “Today, it is clear that emojis are an important part of text communications, even for businesses.”
EZ Texting isn’t the only Los Angeles tech company that has something interesting going on. Earlier this year, GreenPark Sports, a gaming tech company that’s building a virtual fan experience for the live sports and esports industry, announced a major partnership with League of Legends Championship Series. And Tapcart, an e-commerce and marketing tech company that allows its customers to design and launch a mobile app for their Shopify stores, announced $10 million in Series A funding.
Here are a few more updates from six Los Angeles tech companies we’re featuring this month.
What they do: Tapcart is an e-commerce and marketing tech company that allows its customers to design and launch a mobile app for their Shopify stores. Currently, it’s the app provider for more than 7,000 Shopify brands, such as Fashion Nova, Urban Planet and Chubbies.
Funding + Hiring: In May, Tapcart announced that it raised $10 million in Series A funding. CEO Eric Netsch also said that the company planned on doubling its headcount in the next two years, with a focus on product, customer success and marketing professionals. “A big part of what we’re working on is really expanding our products,” Netsch told Built In. “Beyond just the mobile app side of our business, things like mobile web marketing, automation, e-commerce, personalization, really taking Tapcart from a single product offering into a suite of mobile commerce tools.”
Tech Stack: Tapcart is hiring for a number of engineering roles. Some languages used by the company include JavaScript, Kotlin and Swift. Libraries include Parse, React and RxSwift. Frameworks include Express and Node.js.
What they do: EZ Texting’s mobile marketing platform helps businesses reach their customers via text. The company has more than 160,000 customers.
Prime Location: There aren’t many offices that have an ocean in its backyard, but that’s the setup at EZ Texting’s Santa Monica location. The office is less than a 10-minute walk from Santa Monica beach. Don’t live in California? No problem. The company has a remote work program that includes monthly internet reimbursement, a home office enhancement stipend and a DoorDash subscription.
Thumbs Up Emoji: In August, EZ Texting announced that it would be adding emojis to its software. The company had conducted a survey and learned that more than two-thirds of Americans use emojis in text messages. “Our goal is to provide businesses with the best SMS communication platform and experience, so our product evolves as the ways people communicate with each other do,” Josh Siegel, the company’s chief product officer, said in a press release. “Today, it is clear that emojis are an important part of text communications, even for businesses.”
What they do: GreenPark Sports is a gaming tech company that’s building a virtual fan experience for the live sports and esports industry. The goal? Create engaging, fan-forward digital experiences for all types of fans, from the dedicated to the casual, in sports and esports.
Major Partnership: Earlier this year, GreenPark Sports announced a partnership with League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), one of the most popular esports leagues in the U.S. “The esports industry is primed for a massive amount of innovation around the fan experience, whether it’s live-game visualizations, greater community connectivity, head-to-head outcome predictions or digital-to-doorstep reward mechanisms,” Ken Martin, CEO of GreenPark Sports, said in a press release. “LCS knows how to engage the most passionate esports fans and empower their excitement for top League of Legends professional play.”
All-Star Cast: The co-founders of GreenPark Sports have quite the professional experience. Chad Hurley is the co-founder and former CEO of YouTube. Nick Swinmurn is the founder and former CEO of Zappos. And Ken Martin is the co-founder and former chief commercial officer of Blitz.
What they do: BlackLine is a fintech and software company that offers its customers a cloud software that modernizes accounting and simplifies the financial close process. The company does this by unifying data and processes, automating repetitive work and creating visibility.
Big-Time Customers: BlackLines boasts over 3,000 customers from more than 130 countries. Some of those trusted customers include Coca-Cola, eBay, Domino’s, AAA and Hyatt.
In The News: Blackline’s CFO Mark Partin recently weighed in on CFO.com’s story that questioned whether remote work is the future of finance. Partin explained that BlackLine had a partial remote work policy (every other Friday, employees had the option to work from home). But a fully remote staff amidst a pandemic was a much different test — a test that turned out well. “(It) proved we could share information, complete work tasks and collaborate just as easily if not better on a remote basis,” Partin said. “The crisis was a successful mass experiment in a hybrid workspace. It’s the path we’re on.”
What they do: Leaf Group is a digital media and e-commerce company that builds platforms across its collection of media and marketplace properties. Its portfolio focuses on the fitness, wellness, art and design categories, with brands like Livestrong and Saatchi Art.
A Fresh Office Layout: Leaf Group takes its office layout seriously. At its main Santa Monica location, it balances private nooks with open workspaces for collaboration. The walls are also lined with curated artwork that changes seasonally. And don’t forget about the outdoor patio.
DEI Commitment: Leaf Group has made a clear commitment to diversity and inclusion in its office. On the company website, it states that 42 percent of the team is Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and more than 53 percent of the workforce are women. “We celebrate diversity and inclusion within our teams,” the website says. “And we also know that we must work diligently to increase diversity, which makes for better, stronger companies.”
What they do: Who What Wear is an international fashion company known for its content sites: whowhatwear.com and whowhatwear.co.uk. It provides fashion, beauty and lifestyle stories to women everywhere, and also provides an affordable, size-inclusive line of clothing and accessories.
Be Yourself: Back in March, Brandon Chreene, VP of people at Who What Wear spoke to Built In about the conversations every manager should have with their junior employees. He said, “Many junior professionals find themselves unable to grow when they get lost in trying to be just like everybody else or produce average work. Knowing exactly who you are, who you aren’t and channeling each element of your personality to provide a unique value to your business is what will separate you from everyone else and allow you to grow.”
Tech Stack: Who What Wear uses Python and Sql, and MySQL for databases. It’s currently looking to fill jobs on both the content, developer and product side.
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