A range of new innovations are live on the LA tech scene, from food-delivering robots to a mobile app featuring celebrity life stories. Check out what’s new on the West Coast. This is the Built In LA weekly refresh.
DISQO secured $85M. Providing a tech platform to help brands engage with their customers throughout their customer journey, DISQO closed on a Series B funding round led by Sageview Capital. With the cash, the Glendale-based company is looking to accelerate its product roadmap and create new features for its platform. It’s also hiring across several departments including engineering, product, marketing, sales and finance. [Built In LA]
Coco pulled in $36M. Working to help innovate the food industry, Coco developed a fleet of food-delivery robots that are piloted remotely by humans. The teleoperated devices are able to quickly and safely navigate dense city environments. The company just raised a Series A round of capital that it plans to put toward improving its tech and launching its product into new markets. [Built In LA]
LA Tech Quote of the Week
Mindset got $8.7M. Operating a mobile-based audio platform, Mindset was created to empower listeners with personal stories told by their favorite artists. Currently featuring content by a handful of K-pop artists, Mindset is expanding to include more celebrities, including Western artists, on its platform. The platform launched with a round of seed funding led by Union Square Ventures. In addition to growing its platform, Mindset is also investing in building out its team. [Built In LA]
Moment House raised $12M. Forerunner Ventures led the Series A funding round for the buzzy live-streaming platform. The platform helps artists host pay-per-view livestreams, and high-profile artists like Tame Impala, Halsey, St. Vincent, Kygo and Kaytranada have already put it to use. Investors in the round include UTA Ventures, IDEO, Halsey, comedian Whitney Cummings and many more. The company previously raised a $1.5 million seed round last October. [Pollstar]
Bright pulled in $15M. The live video platform connects fans with creators and celebrities, and just brought in new funding from well-known names like its co-founder Guy Oseary and Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures, Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures, Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson and Shawn Mendes. Bright launched in May and was co-founded by Madonna. [TechCrunch]
Headspace and Ginger join forces. The companies just announced a merger that will combine their respective meditation and healthcare solutions. Together, the new entity will be named Headspace Health and will offer a comprehensive platform for digital mental health and well-being. The company is aiming to serve 100 million customers across over 190 countries. [Built In LA]
Blavity held an AfroTech Executive conference on diversity. More companies are taking initiative with revamped DEI policies and are in search of Black tech talent, as found by media and lifestyle brand Blavity. Michele Ghee, CEO of Jet and Ebony, and Detavio Samuels, CEO of REVOLT, were among those gathered to discuss ways to address diversity across the tech industry and the venture capital world. [Built In LA]
Greenfly secured $8.4M. Created on the premise that word-of-mouth endorsement is one of the best forms of advertising, Greenfly’s platform works to simplify the process of collecting, organizing and distributing digital media and help clients find promotional partners. It closed on a new round of funding led by Verance Capital to invest in product R&D as it scales its business. [Built In LA]
Tango pulled in $5.7M. The company has developed a workflow intelligence platform that integrates with a user’s current tools to transcribe their actions onto a document in real time. Tango raised a seed funding round raised by Wing Venture Capital that will allow it to build out its platform and expand its team ahead of its official launch. It currently lists positions available across engineering, growth, marketing and product. [Built In LA]
involve.ai raised $16M. With the cash from its Series A round led by Sapphire Ventures, customer intelligence company involve.ai is looking to expand its product, engineering and AI teams. The company is working to meet increased demand for its platform that uses artificial intelligence to help businesses prevent customer churn and accelerate revenue growth. [Business Wire]
