After kicking off 2018 by raising $826 million in January, local tech companies had raised $1.3 billion by April's end, outpacing the same period of 2017 by an astonishing 113 percent. If the first few days of May are any indicator, expect more of the same.
In the past week, five local tech companies collectively raised $151 million. Here’s who is celebrating.
Los Angeles is home to globally recognized consumer electronic brands like Beats and Belkin International, but it was West Hollywood-based Muzik that stole headlines last week with a $70 million funding from a star-studded list of investors. The company broke onto the scene in 2016, when its limited-edition run of Muzik One headphones — smart headphones that allow users to share music via Twitter and Spotify — sold out after winning several awards at CES. To help take the company to the next level, founder and CEO Jason Hardi tapped Francois-Henri Pinault, Michael Jordan, Ndamukong Suh, Drake, Kevin Hart and Tony Robbins as brand ambassadors and investors. The funding brings Muzik’s total amount raised to $87.3 million. [Forbes]
On-demand massage startup Soothe revealed some major news late last week, closing a $31 million Series C led by The Riverside Company. Additionally, the company announced that Merlin Kauffman would be stepping down from his position as CEO, to be replaced by CFO Simon Heyrick. As a part of the deal, the company will be moving its headquarters to Las Vegas but will maintain a presence in Los Angeles. [TechCrunch]
Playa Vista-based ticketing startup Rival emerged from stealth on Monday morning with a $30 million round of funding and some big-name backers. Founded by former Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard, the company tapped Andreessen Horowitz and Upfront Ventures to lead the round, which also saw participation from Slack CPO April Underwood, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison. As a part of the deal, Andreessen Horowitz's Alex Rampell and Upfront's Greg Bettinelli joined the company’s board. [ReCode]
mPulse Mobile, a healthtech company that offers health plans, providers and pharmacies a mobile engagement software, closed an $11 million Series B this morning, pushing the company's total fundraising efforts over the $24 million mark. Headquartered in Encino, the company chose SJF Ventures to lead the round, which also saw participation from HLM Venture Partners, EchoHealth Ventures, OCA Ventures and Bonfire Ventures. [Press Release]
Casetabs, a Santa Monica-based startup that offers a cloud-based coordination platform for medical practices, announced a $6 million round of funding to help scale its product. The funding will allow the company, founded in 2016, to ramp up its marketing efforts and offer new medical record integrations. Health care-centric Nueterra Capital and Evolution Financial Group led the funding. [LA Biz Journal]
