LA’s tech scene is gearing up for a hot — and busy — summer.
According to a recent Built In LA report, the city’s largest tech funding rounds in April totaled more than $443 million, driving growth across a wide range of sectors, including finance, biotech and social commerce.
Yet it’s not just fresh capital that’s keeping the City of Angels’ tech frontrunners afloat. Empowering cultures, a wide range of technologies, acquisitions and AI advancements play as much of a role in the success of these LA-based companies. Read on to learn why these four organizations have been named our featured companies of the month.
Crunchyroll offers all things related to anime and manga, from streaming content and mobile games to merchandise and in-person events.
The perks: The company offers a broad range of perks, such as adoption assistance, 401(k) matching, relocation assistance and unlimited PTO.
In it for the long haul: In an interview with Built In earlier this year, Senior Director of Audience Development Siobhan Sullivan shared why she has remained at the company for nearly seven years, owing much of her reason for staying to the people she works with. “I’ve learned so much from my colleagues and have felt extremely gratified by seeing my team develop into some of the most inspiring marketers and creatives in the global social media space,” she said.
Machina Labs’ platform enables manufacturers to leverage robotics and AI to accelerate their design and engineering efforts.
Tech stack: Engineers at the company rely on various technologies, such as Kubernetes, Docker, SQL, TensorFlow and Pandas.
In the news: Late last year, Built In LA reported that the company raised $32 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total capital raised to $45 million. The organization plans to put its latest round of funding toward meeting customers’ demands and supporting research initiatives.
Grindr is a dating and social meetup app for LGBTQ+ people. Grindr has 13.5 million monthly active users around the world.
The perks: When a new teammate joins Grindr, they can expect perks like transgender health care benefits, a documented equal pay policy, bereavement leave benefits, and a promote-from-within culture.
AI News: Grindr is deep in development mode for upcoming AI chatbot features within the app. In December, Grindr announced a partnership with Ex-human, a startup known for creating “digital human” AI models. To address recent privacy concerns, the company noted that it is working on “ethical guidelines and an oversight structure to monitor AI performance and interactions, and carefully designing our approach to testing these new features.”
FabFitFun’s lifestyle subscription connects women with a curated collection of products related to fashion, wellness, beauty, fitness and more.
The Perks: The company’s perks include Pet insurance, 401K matching, coordinated fitness/social activities, and virtual lunch + learn workshops.
In the news: Earlier this year, the company announced its acquisition of PupBox, a monthly subscription box for dog owners. In a statement regarding the acquisition, Co-CEO Daniel Broukhim shared, “In the coming months, we plan to bring our expertise and unique touch to PupBox’s current subscribers as well as expand reach to our audience with a pet offering on FabFitFun’s platform.”
