LA tech roundup: Prevoty raises $8M, Snapchat wants the NCAA Final Four, Pando's Carney leaving for Upfront, and more

Prevoty, an online applications cyber security startup, has just raised an $8 million Series A round, led by USVP. The company has developed runtime application software it claims helps to prevent hacks to websites and online applications. Investor interest in Prevoty comes from a rising tide of cyber security threats and a limited ability for businesses to protect themselves. Prevoty’s platform pre-processes application inputs milliseconds before it hits the Internet browser, stopping malicious content before it ever gets going. The company also claims to automate much of the cyber-security process, thus freeing up developers. [Built In LA]

 

 

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Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Los Angeles would join President Obama’s nationwide TechHire Initiative, a program designed to boost wages by training disadvantaged Americans for jobs in the tech industry. According to a statement from the White House, about 5 million job positions are open in the United States, over half of which are in information technology fields. The average salary for these jobs is 50 percent higher than the average job in the American private sector. In order to boost the number of tech savvy workers, TechHire will provide grants to local tech training programs. [Built In LA]

 

 

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Silicon Beach be damned, tech companies are expanding to downtown Los Angeles. Companies, like augmented reality firm Daqri and community organizing SaaS firm NationBuilder, are calling downtown Los Angeles home, making it a more legitimate spot for other startups to plant. Downtown Los Angeles’ reasonable rents and central location are also making the previously vacant section of the city more attractive. The neighborhood’s "same vibe and feel" as the Meatpacking District in Manhattan or SOMA in San Francisco, is appreciated as well, said Dana Settle a venture capitalist with Greycroft Partners. [Tech scene takes hold in revitalized downtown L.A.: Los Angeles Times]

 

 

Snapchat’s product expansion will continue with the launch of live sports broadcasting, according to reports. The company is working on deals with NCAA and Turner Broadcasting to feature live coverage of the Final Four via its “Our Story” feature. Our Story is a stream of spliced Snapchat photos and videos from users within a certain location. The company used the feature during the 2014 World Cup final. Snapchat wants to sell brand sponsorships for these stories and plans to split ad revenue among the sports leagues, the broadcasters and itself, according to one executive involved in negotiations. [Coming to Snapchat: live sports broadcasting: Digiday]

 

Why aim for an initial public offering, suffer the scrutiny and hassle of the SEC, when you can force private investors to buy common stock? According to one of PandoDaily’s sources that is exactly what Snapchat is asking of its next round of investors. Rumored to be raising around $500 million at a $19 billion valuation, Snapchat’s sale of common stock to venture capitalist and other institutional investors signals either profound hubris or big negotiating power writes PandoDaily’s Michael Carney. [Peak hubris? Source says Snapchat is asking its next round of investors to buy common stock: PandoDaily]

 

 

After three years reporting on Los Angeles tech companies for PandoDaily, West Coast Editor Michael Carney will be leaving to join venture capital firm Upfront Ventures. Publishing 1,500 blog posts (which he estimates to be more than 1.35 million words) Carney is a staple of Los Angeles tech news enthusiasts. Before PandoDaily Carney was a merchant banker and now he will join Upfront as an associate. Upfront is a Southern California focused venture capital firm, so Carney’s local tech knowledge, as well as banking background, was clearly attractive. He will start with Upfront in about a month. [New beginnings, new challenges: PandoDaily]

 

 

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