A diverse array of tech industry news washed up on the West Coast last week. With new funding, office expansions and more, find out what the next moves are for these companies. This is the Built In LA weekly refresh.
Motional opens new West Coast locations. Specializing in driverless tech for robotaxis, Boston-based Motional is expanding its California footprint. As it works toward the mass commercialization of its product, Motional is growing its West Coast presence beyond LA into SoCal and the Bay Area. It’s also doubling the size of its team with 45 roles open now in engineering, data and more. [Built In LA]
Snipfeed raised $5.5M. The company provides creators on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and the like with a monetization solution via their link-in-bio space. Snipfeed helps users sell digital goods and offers a tipping tool, ensuring followers have an easy-to-find way of supporting the creator’s content. With its new funding, it’s planning to develop its e-commerce tools and provide educational content for its users. [Built In LA]
LA Tech Quote of the Week
HopSkipDrive pulled in $25M. Its platform provides students with a safe rideshare service to help them get to school. After pulling in its latest round of funding, the company wants to add more electric vehicles to its ride-sharing network and expand into 30 additional markets. Energy Impact Partners led the Series C round. [Built In LA]
GumGum acquired JustPremium. With their combined capabilities, the companies are offering a solution for brands to incorporate ad creatives within contextually relevant digital environments. GumGum is continuing to fuel its worldwide growth with the acquisition of the European company. The deal enables the company to double its brands and publishers’ U.K. presence and expand into eight new markets. [GumGum]
CEO of Cie recognized by E&Y. Newly named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 in the Pacific Southwest – Orange County area, Anderee Berengian was recognized for leading a high-growth company. Berengian’s company Cie is a venture studio that functions as an innovation lab and startup accelerator. [EIN Presswire]
