The world of Hollywood and tech innovation collided last week with a new development from a tech investment firm spearheaded by a movie star. This news and other announcements made headlines last week across Hollywood and the local tech scene. Check out the latest from Los Angeles tech with the Built In LA Weekly Refresh.
Sound Ventures closed a $240M fund. The venture capital firm spearheaded by actor Ashton Kutcher and talent manager Guy Oseary closed its oversubscribed Sound Ventures AI Fund at a hefty sum of $240 million. The firm plans to invest its latest fund into artificial intelligence businesses working on foundation models. This fund furthers Sound Ventures’ decade-long record of AI investments. It already has names like OpenAI and Anthropic in its portfolio. [Variety]
Marble raised $4.2M. Marble is a digital wallet solution that allows users to shop for insurance, compare and optimize plans and earn rewards on their policy. The company announced a round of seed plus funding led by Distributed Ventures that’ll go toward launching new platform features. To date, Marble has raised a total of $6.7 million in venture capital. [Insurance Innovation Reporter]
LA Tech Quote of the Week
“We are thrilled to launch Gigs and offer a new solution to help connect companies and job seekers in their neighborhoods. By enhancing transparency in the job market, Gigs makes it easier and faster for companies and job seekers to find what works for them. We believe that Gigs will transform the way people find hourly jobs in their community.” — Allen Narcisse, founder and CEO of Gigs
Gigs secured $2.7M. The startup wants to help businesses in retail, hospitality, food and beverage and similar spaces connect to local job seekers looking for hourly work nearby. The hiring platform announced its launch alongside a pre-seed funding round from lead investor Slauson & Co. The new capital will go toward Gigs’ product, engineering, marketing and sales resources. [Business Wire]
BayWa r.e. pulled in $115M. The Irvine-based company develops utility-scale solar and storage projects. It announced a new credit facility from Nomura to fuel the development of these large-scale projects as it continues to scale its U.S. footprint in the clean energy space. BayWa r.e.’s projects currently total more than 9 gigawatts across the country. [PR Newswire]
