2020 is almost over, and while it was a perilous year economically for millions of unemployed Americans, many tech companies were doing just fine. In fact, they were doing better than ever.
Several industries shifted to adopt more tech-heavy practices this year, and, as a result, the tech companies building these solutions prospered. Many of these companies raised new funding in order to grow and keep up with demand.
This new funding is a good indicator of the companies that have big plans for growth this year. That’s why Built In has collected the ten LA tech companies that raised the most funding over the course of 2020.
#10. $133 million, September 22
Beyond Limits was born from AI technology that was designed for NASA space missions at CalTech’s Jet Propulsion Lab. Now, Beyond Limits uses that AI technology to help businesses fill in gaps of knowledge based on their available data sources. This practical application of AI is what earned Beyond Limits $133 million in Series C funding back in September. The company plans to use the new money to expand its global presence, investing in a new regional headquarters in Singapore.
#9. $140.7 million, February 12 and June 11
Meditation and mindfulness app Headspace has brought peace to a lot of people during this hectic year. That might be why the company raised an additional $47.7 million in funding, after its $93 million Series C round in February — bringing the year’s total funding to $140.7 million. In addition to raising a lot of funding, Headspace had several major partnerships this year, providing its paid content for free to unemployed individuals and healthcare workers.
#8. $150 million, April 30
Procore Technologies reportedly raised more than $150 million in funding this year, according to Bloomberg. The funding, which valued Procore at $5 billion, came at a time when the company was mulling over an IPO — it even filed regulatory IPO paperwork with the SEC. Despite the change of plans, the construction management software company is currently growing, with over 100 open roles across the board.
#7. $200 million, July 1
Anduril raised $200 million in Series C funding in July, which brought the company’s valuation to $1.9 billion. Anduril’s mission is to bring the advancements of the tech industry — like AI, automation and sensor tech — to the defense industry. The company was founded by well-known entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, who is most famous for founding Oculus VR and designing the Oculus Rift headset.
#6. $250 million, May 26
Apeel Sciences has created a method to extend produce’s shelf life by taking a page out of Mother Nature’s book. It uses plant byproducts — like pulp and seeds — to create a protective “peel” that coats fruits and vegetables to slow down their degradation. This technology helps reduce food waste, and saves money for food retailers and supply chains. In May, Apeel raised $250 million in new funding, which brought the company’s valuation to over $1 billion.
#5. $450 million, September 16
2020 brought a lot of trends, but one of the most notable was the at-home fitness craze. With gyms closed across the country, people were turning empty floor space into gyms, and fitness tech company Zwift was able to take advantage of that. The Long Beach-based company creates connected fitness gear, including treadmills and stationary bikes that make working out feel like playing a video game. In September, the company raised $450 million in funding and achieved a valuation of more than $1 billion.
#4. $500 million, November 24
Space may be the final frontier, but humanity isn’t at the point yet where we’re able to send settlers out there. However, there is a decent number of space tech companies that are building rockets now in order to send payloads into orbit. One of these companies is Relativity Space. The Long Beach-based company uses an automated process to 3D print parts to build rockets. Because of this automated process, the company was able to safely operate in 2020 and continue growing. Relativity Space also raised a $500 million Series D funding round this year, and completed its 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
#3. $540 million, March 19 and October 28
A lot of people turned to video games to keep us entertained in 2020, and mobile games — video games built for smartphones and tablets — were no exception. Video game company Scopely raised $200 million in March, and then another $340 million in October. Scopely has several popular mobile games in its portfolio. This includes Star Trek: Fleet Command, which generated $100 million in revenue in less than a year on the market. Meanwhile, its Scrabble Go became the No. 1 most downloaded word game in the world when it released this March.
#2. $1.15 billion, January 8 and March 5
The story of Quibi is a little bit different than the other companies on this list. The company began generating hype in 2019 as a short-form video streaming platform that would take on the likes of Netflix and Hulu. The company promised bite-sized TV content that tapped top-tier Hollywood talent. It raised $400 million in January, then $750 million in March before launching the platform in April. But just a few months later, co-founders Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman announced that the company was shutting down. Quibi just wasn’t able to catch on at the scale it hoped to, but at least, for a brief moment in time, we had Murder House Flip.
#1. $1.9 billion, August 18
There’s a lot of money in space (maybe not literally though). In addition to Relativity Space taking the No. 4 spot in this year’s ranking, the No. 1 spot goes to another space company — Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The company raised a massive $1.9 billion funding round this summer, which brought the company’s valuation to an even more massive $46 billion. SpaceX has had several high-profile rocket launches this year, pushing the boundaries in its reusable rocket tech. The company also made progress on its Starlink mission, which aims to bring internet access to remote regions of the globe through a network of low-orbit satellites. However, this funding will also help the company with its longterm mission: sending humans to Mars.
Funding data is compiled from SEC filings, press releases, confirmed news reports and other public databases. Funding includes venture capital and private equity announced during 2020, but excludes acquisitions and debt financing in most cases.
