Here's a roundup of recent L.A. startups news you need to know:
RAISES
HEALTHCARE: Maximus has raised $10 million in a Series A round, bringing its total fundraising to $15 million. The company provides at-home lab testing and doctor-prescribed protocols to optimize men’s health and hormone function. The round was led by Keith Rabois at Founders Fund. Other investors include 8VC and Abstract Ventures.
FOOD: Everytable raised $55 million in a Series C Round. Creadev, Desert Bloom Food Ventures and Gullspång Re:food led the round. Everytable runs stores that sell meals priced according to each zip code's median income. It also offers a meal subscription service and tech-enabled vending machines with healthy options at locations including businesses and college campuses.
DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT: Invisible Universe raised $12 million in a Series A round. It will enable the company to launch more animated IP across social media and web3, expand to new platforms and continue to monetize its current portfolio. Seven Seven Six led the round, with participation from other VC’s, including Cosmic Venture Partners and Dapper Labs.
SPORTS BETTING: WagerWire closed on a $3 million seed funding round. It’s a marketplace where bettors can buy and sell previously-placed sports bets. The round was led by Roger Ehrenberg, co-owner of the Miami Marlins, as a part of his venture funds, IA Sports Ventures and Eberg Capital.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Niche closed its $1.8 million pre-seed round. Niche created an ad-free, decentralized social media platform, comprised of user-owned communities, where members can own and sell their own content. MetaWeb led the round, with follow-on from Alumni Ventures Group and a grant from the NEAR Foundation.
PHOTOSHARING: Locket has raised a total of $12.5 million in two rounds. It’s an app for sharing photos directly to family and friends’ home screens. The company raised $2.5 million in early 2022. Then, it raised $10 million in seed funding in late April in a round led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
NFTs: Based raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding. It’s a communication platform built around NFTs. Progression Fund, a consumer fund focused on generational shifts, led the round.
LAYOFFS
GAMING: According to Venture Beat, Game City has laid off 17% off its workforce. Game City is a mobile game developer.
LAUNCHES/RELEASES
FINTECH: Sunbit has issued a next-gen credit card offering flexibility and a personalized APR for every approved consumer. Cardholders can choose to pay in full or select a three-, six- or twevle-month payment plan.
HEALTH CARE: Ember Technologies has launched a new health care vertical, Ember LifeSciences. The spinoff targets the healthcare industry, specifically pharma, using the parent company’s proprietary temperature control technologies. The life sciences company will focus on how to best get temperature-sensitive medicines and vaccines to where they need to go, on a global basis. It received its first investment from Cardinal Health.
