Silicon Valley’s big VC firm’s The Social+Capital Partnership, Andreessen Horowitz, Formation8, Ron Conway, and Anand Rajaraman have today launched Data Elite, to help tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges through data science.
Investment
Honestly fundraising can oftentimes feel like you’re navigating a minefield: one false step and the money blows up! That’s why you need to be clear on what you’re looking for, where to look for it, and what you need to get it.
Silicon Valley may still be the capital of technology with a mix of new (Google, Facebook) and old (Apple, HP) sprinkling the landscape. However, Silicon Valley isn’t the only place to grow technology innovators from the ground up. Los Angeles has seen its own startup scene develop with Silicon Beach, which stretches between Santa Monica and Playa Vista.
Social analytics and personalization platform GraphDive has closed $2 million in its first ever equity round from Crosslink Capital, Correlation Ventures, Plug & Play Tech Center, Start Capital and angel investors Pejman Nozad, Ullas Naik and Scott Banister.
Clean, safe and reliable natural gas company Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) has established $1 million innovation fund in partnership with Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), to speed the development of clean technologies to meet current global energy needs and become a sustainable energy source.
CoinMKT has launched in public beta to make buying and selling Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies convenient. The startup aims to take advantage of the increasing use of digital, peer-to-peer currencies that let users buy or sell online instantly. CoinMKT works simply. Open an account, deposits USD or cryptocurrency into the account. The CoinMKT then becomes their trading account so that they can begin trading cryptocurrencies.
El Segundo, CA based JumpStarter Inc., a crowd-powered platform that gives accredited investors access to exclusive deal flow and technology transfer opportunities has launched in beta its crowd-powered portal for startups, JumpStartFund. Helping solicit new business ideas and patents from individuals, federal research labs, universities and other R&D organizations countrywide.
“How can I connect with investors?” is one of the most common questions I hear from early-stage entrepreneurs. “Connect” is a good word to use. If you’re looking for funding, you don’t just want to “meet” investors, shake their hands and give them your quick pitch. You want to “connect” with them, to really make a deeper connection.
Social media aggregator RebelMouse recently raised $10.25 million in Series A funding led by Oak Investment Partners, SoftBank, Sterling Investment Partners and Michael Lazerow in a move that will help the firm power clients sites to better engage their audiences and nab in more clients.
It can be a confusing world to seek funding when you’re just starting out and Silicon Beach Fest (#SBF) was a great place to learn what investors are looking for, meet investors of all levels in a collaborative environment, network with like-minded entrepreneurs, and develop relationships to further your dream and business.
