Rocket Lab USA Inc. went public on Wednesday via a reverse merger that was approved last week.
Fellow Long Beach aerospace firm Virgin Orbit and electric truck maker Rivian revealed plans this week to follow suit.
Rocket Lab combined with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Vector Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: VACQ), which is backed by San Francisco-based Vector Capital. When the deal closed, Vector changed its name to Rocket Lab USA Inc., and the combined company started trading on the Nasdaq under the tickers “RKLB” and “RKLBW” on Wednesday.
Shares opened on Aug. 25, the first day of trading, at $11.58 and closed down more than 10% at $10.35 on Friday.
Undeterred, Virgin Orbit also aims to go public by merging with SPAC NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: NGCA) in a deal that values the company at $3.2 billion. The transaction, expected to close around the end of the year, is expected to generate up to $483 million in cash proceeds.
The spinoff from Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic venture launches payloads into space not with rocket liftoffs from the ground but by air-launching its LauncherOne rocket from the Cosmic Girl Boeing 747-400 aircraft at high altitude. The company has performed two successful mission so far.
Then on Friday, Bloomberg reported that Irvine-based Rivian has filed for an initial public offering at an $80 billion valuation. The company said it would like to go public around Thanksgiving.
Here’s what else Los Angeles-area tech companies got up to this week:
Funding
- Los Angeles seed fund Fika Ventures has raised a $160 million core fund and $35 million opportunity fund for a total of $195 million in capital.
- Glendale-based consumer insights platform Disqo Inc. has closed an $85 million Series B growth round led by Sageview Capital.
- Coco has secured a $36 million Series A led by Sam Altman, Silicon Valley Bank and Founders Fund, bringing the Santa Monica delivery robot startup’s total funding to more than $40 million.
- Involve.ai, a Los Angeles customer intelligence platform, has closed a $16 million Series A financing round led by Sapphire Ventures.
- Bright, the Santa Monica live video platform that lets fans engage in live conversations with their favorite creators and celebrities via Zoom, has raised $15 million led by Sound Ventures, whose co-founder Guy Oseary also founded Bright with Michael Powers.
- AllVoices, the Santa Monica-based employee feedback management platform with anonymous two-way communication, a whistleblower hotline, pulse surveys and a case management system, has raised $9.6 million in an oversubscribed Series A round led by Silverton Partners.
- Tango, the Los Angeles workflow intelligence platform that streamlines the process of creating documentation, has raised $5.7 million in seed funding.
- Los Angeles-based Infinite Canvas has raised $2.8 million for its user-generated, creator-led games.
- Sugar, the Los Angeles prop-tech company that aims to build community and transform the residential experience by integrating with technology stacks that power modern buildings, has closed a $2.5 million seed funding round.
- Santa Monica-based Greenfly Inc., the digital media flow management software that empowers sports organizations to generate more revenue from their digital media IP, has added NBA star Chris Paul as a strategic investor and partner as part a strategic growth round.
Acquisitions, launches and partnerships
- San Francisco-based Ginger.io Inc. and Santa Monica’s Headspace Inc., two leading digital health companies focused on mental health, have agreed to merge to create a $3 billion combined company known as Headspace Health.
- Traject, an ASG-backed suite of innovative digital marketing tools out of Bellevue, Washington, has acquired L.A.-based Loomly, a brand success platform that empowers marketing teams to manage every aspect of their social media communication.
- Mindset, a Los Angeles-based audio platform that aims to deliver exclusive, intimate audio collections of stars’ personal stories and life lessons, has officially launched after a successful beta with $8.7 million in seed funding led by Union Square Ventures.
- With $8 million raised to date, Los Angeles entertainment technology startup Invisible Universe has made its official debut, revealing it is the company behind some of the most popular, celebrity-backed animated characters on social media.
- Santa Monica-based Piestro, the robotic pizzeria for high-quality artisan pizza, is partnering with chef Anthony Carron’s 800 Degrees Pizza on an authentic, custom pizza recipe designed for Piestro's unique cooking technology.
