The Strand 🌴 - July 22, 2019
100 Thieves gets a $35 million investment from Artist Capital Management, Fifth Wall Ventures raises new $503M fund focused on proptech, and Bird is seeking more money.
Welcome to the thirty-sixth edition of The Strand, a weekly-ish newsletter covering venture capital, private equity, and general business news from around the Los Angeles area. My name is Brendan Boken, a native of Southern California. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, send deals/news to brendanboken@gmail.com.
Venture Capital Funding
Berbix, a San Francisco, California-based provider of hosted user verifications for online platforms, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Investors include Y Combinator, Initialized Capital, Los Angeles-based Fika Ventures, Dream Machine, and Liquid 2 Ventures. PE Hub
DEARhealth, a Los Angeles, California-based AI health tech startup, has raised $6.8 million in funding. Investors include Philips Health Technology Ventures, Vesalius Biocapital III and Health Innovations. PR Newswire
Jane Technologies, Inc., a Santa Cruz, California-based retail software company that created an online cannabis marketplace, has raised $21 million in Series B funding. Investors include Arcadia, Queens Court Venture Partners, and Tran Ventures. Forbes
Mahmee, a Los Angeles, California-based provider of personalized, ongoing postpartum support to new moms, has raised $3 million in seed funding. Investors include Mark Cuban and Serena Williams. Forbes
Ready, Set, Food!, a Los Angeles, California-based developer of a food allergy prevention system, has raised $2.2 million in pre-seed funding. Investors include Los Angeles-based Amplify.LA and Los Angeles-based PLG Ventures. LA Tech Watch
Tökr, a Marina Del Rey, California-based cannabis e-commerce and recommendation platform, has raised $1 million in funding. Merida Capital Partners led the round. PE Hub
100 Thieves, a Los Angeles, California-based lifestyle brand e-sports company, has raised $35 million in Series B funding. Artist Capital Management led the round. PE Hub
Private Equity Funding
Healthcare Financial Resources, which is backed by Housatonic Partners, acquired PARA Healthcare Financial Services, an Anaheim, California-based provider of market-based pricing tools, analytic products, and consulting services for healthcare organizations. Financial terms were not disclosed. Crunchbase
Liquidity / Exits / M&A
Los Angeles, California-based Colony Capital, is considering a sale of warehouse unit Colony Industrial, which could fetch over $5 billion, per Bloomberg. Los Angeles Times
New Funds
Fifth Wall Ventures, a Venice, California-based venture capital firm, has raised a $503 million fund that the firm plans to invest in real estate technology, or “proptech” companies. The fund is more than double the size of the three-year-old venture capital firm’s first fund, which closed at $212 million in 2017. Fortune
IPOs
No Los Angeles-based companies filed for public offerings or went public this past week.
On The Move
No Los Angeles-based companies gained notable new employees this past week.
Featured Jobs
Medely, the largest and fastest growing on demand platform for healthcare professionals, is hiring an Enterprise Sales Representative in the company’s Santa Monica office.
Snap Inc., a camera company reinventing the way people live and communicate, is hiring a Head of US Head of Ads Partnerships in the company’s greater LA office.
News, Resources, & Required Reading
A surge in seed capital - the Q2 2019 Los Angeles Seed Deal Report. Medium - Amplify LA
Beyond the headset: Headspace’s VP of customer experience on building customer devotion and more. Built in LA
Dry powder in the private equity industry has reached all-time highs. I recently wrote a piece on the state of PE and why the middle market buyout space can be an attractive place for limited partners to allocate their capital. Penn Mutual Asset Management
Los Angeles-based e-scooter company Bird is targeting $250 million for its Series D funding, per multiple sources. The Information
Los Angeles has the third largest pool of tech workers on the West Coast, and the average tech worker in LA earns a salary of $104,000. Curbed LA
Netflix tanks after whiffing on global paid subscriber numbers. CNBC
Techstars has launched two new programs in Los Angeles: the third Techstars Los Angeles Accelerator and the inaugural Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator. Los Angeles Business Journal
Weekly refresh: Drake and Serena Williams contribute to the growing LA tech scene. Built in LA
WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann has cashed out at least $700 million via sales and loans ahead of the company’s IPO. Wall Street Journal
Take a Break
Better than a PGA win? Owning Jack Nicklaus’s Gold Rolex. Bloomberg Pursuits
‘Lion King’ delivers for Disney with $191.8 million opening weekend. Bloomberg Pursuits
The most (and least) popular spots for U.S. vacation homes. Bloomberg Pursuits