Nasty Gal CEO Sophia Amoruso may launch media company
Amoruso may use the popularity of her best-selling book #GirlBoss to develop a media site. The book's website has recently shifted toward becoming a platform to promote female empowerment. She has taken to Twitter to gauge interest and find bloggers. Her current company, NastyGal, was founded in 2006 and is backed by more than $65 million in capital. [Nasty Gal’s Sophia Amoruso Might Launch GirlBoss Media Company: LA Business Journal]
YouTube partners with local media companies for "YouTube Red"
In order to increase their original content brand, YouTube has partnered with Maker Studios, Fine Brothers Entertainment, and Fullscreen Inc. to produce content for the site's new subscription content model, Youtube Red. The new paid service will allow users to avoid ads, download content, and receive access to specialized content. [YouTube Partners With L.A. Media Companies on Subscription Service: LA Business Journal]
Peerstreet launches real estate loan marketplace, unveils $6.1M round
Former Google Analytics founder Brett Crosby and real estate veteran Brew Johnson launched their site Peerstreet this week, a crowdfunded marketplace for real estate backed loans. The site launched in public beta back in April and has closed over $40 million in investments on nearly 70 properties to-date. [The mind behind Google Analytics has launched a real estate marketplace: Built In]
4 LA companies listed among Fortune's best places to work
Fortune 100 released their yearly list of Great Places to Work last week and four of LA's most notable tech companies received mention. Riot Games (#13) and Activision Blizzard (#96) were ranked within the Top 100 companies to work for. The Honest Company and Dun & Bradstreet received mention as two of the best medium-sized companies. [4 LA companies named among the nation's Greatest Places to Work: Built In]
Fundings of the Week
Clutter, $9 million
Investors: Sequoia Capital
This is the on-demand storage company's third round of funding after raising a combined $3.3 million in seed rounds this summer. With the investment, Sequoia partner Omar Hamoui, who led the round, will join the Clutter board. [Clutter, The On-Demand Storage Service, Raises $9M Series A From Sequoia: TechCrunch]
Two Bit Circus, $6.5 million
Investors: Techstars Ventures, Foundry Group, and Intel Capital.
This is Two Bit Circus' first round of funding. The company focuses on creating entertaining educational content, highlighted by their STEAM Carnival for kids which will now be turned in to a national brand.
"LA has been the perfect place to build and grow Two Bit Circus and our first big production, STEAM Carnival," said CEO Brent Bushnell. "We’ve received so much great support from the startup and business community here, allowing us to expand into a industry leader at the intersection of tech and entertainment"
Petnet, $4 million
Investors: Black River Ventures, Aspiration Growth, iRobot and Amazon Alexa Fund.
Petnet offers a pet analytics platform to analyze fundamental problems in petcare. The funding will be used to further develop their automatic pet feeders and expand their product's reach. [Petnet Picks Up $4M For Pet Feeding Gadget: SoCal Tech]
