Powerplant Ventures closes fund dedicated to plant-based tech
Powerplant Ventures announced the closing of a $42 million fund aimed at contributing to startups looking to improve the global food system. Specifically, the group will be investing in emerging plant-centric companies. The VC's team includes the Mark Rampolla, founder of ZICO Coconut Water, Kevin Boylan and T.K. Pillan, co-founders of Veggie Grill, the largest vegetarian restaurant chain in the United States and Dan Beldy, former managing director of Steamboat Ventures. [Press Release]
Ride N Share partners with Lyft for senior transportation
Santa Monica-based Ride N Share announced a deal this week with Lyft to help seniors and their families receive better flexibility in scheduling safe, reliable transportation. While healthcare facilities will still have the option healthcare to use Ride N Care’s platform for pre-scheduled transportation, the deal will allow individual passengers access to a more standard ridesharing experience. [Press Release]
NYC-based Industrious to launch first LA location
NYC-based flexible workspace startup Industrious announced plans to open its first West Coast location at 600 Wilshire in Downtown LA. The coworking space will join a bustling DTLA coworking community that features Cross Campus and WeWork locations. [Industrious]
GoGuardian adds new feature
GoGuardian, the El Segundo-based company that develops Chromebook management tools for K-12 schools has announced the addition of a feature that many had for some time. Moving forward, the company's GoGuardian Teacher product, which is used by over three million in the US, will have the ability for teachers and students to chat in the program. [Press Release]
Gipper launches highlight app
Gipper announced this week the launch of its highlight-making app, aimed at helping amateur athletes organize and share their highlights. Believe it or not, the company started out as a high school entrepreneurial project, but now the company has backing from Pandora co-founder and Jon Kraft and former Stamps.com Chief Software Architect Girish Venkat. [SoCal Tech]
Fundings of the Week
Investors: Norwest Venture Partners, Greycroft Partners, Sweet Capital, NHN, Draper Associates and other existing investors
Venice-based Sensay, a an AI- and chat bot-focused tech startup, announced a $4.5 million round of funding this week. The company builds a peer-to-peer chat bot platform that facilitates instant conversations between two people across messaging platforms such as SMS, Slack and Facebook Messenger. The company plans to use the funds to launch to additional messaging platforms, as well as new markets.[Press Release]
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