The LA Grind: Week of October 13th

Upcoming events, venture deals, LA opportunities, and more in Los Angeles this week.

Author

Justin Gordon
October 13, 2025

👋 I’m Justin. I run The LA Grind, host the Just Go Grind podcast, and scout for Headline. I’ve lived in LA since 2018, earned my MBA from USC (✌️), and I’m probably out running when I’m not writing this.

Before we dive, I wanted to share the new self-serve ad portal for:

  • Featured events

  • Job postings

  • Classifieds

I’m still lining up annual sponsors for 2026 and handling primary ad placements through my sponsorship interest form, but this new ad portal will allow you to more easily get in front of the 5,600+ subscribers of The LA Grind newsletter. Check it out!

Also, because today is the start of LA Tech Week, I’m curious to know…

How many LA Tech Week events are you planning to attend?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Let’s get to it.

Safeguard Your Startup’s IP Now.

I’ve gotten to know Marc Hankin from HPL Law in the past few months and can say he is one of the most genuine, supportive people you will meet. While I have not worked with him as my attorney yet, I have seen firsthand how much he cares about helping founders protect what they are building.

Marc and his team at HPL Law advise inventors, startups, and growth-stage companies on patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and licensing across California, the US, and beyond.

Their IP Check-Up helps you:

  • Confirm ownership is in your company’s name

  • Make sure assignments are signed and recorded

  • Stay on top of renewals and maintenance fees

  • Get one clear dashboard of assets, numbers, evidence, and owners

Before your next fundraise, launch, or M&A conversation, know exactly where you stand.

Email Marc E. Hankin at [email protected] to get started. Learn more at HPL’s website.

Upcoming Events

⭐️ Featured Event ⭐️

Want your event featured here with a longer blurb? Sign up here.

🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴 

🗓️ October 21: Members Breakfast. Santa Monica. 9 - 10:30 am. Become a member to attend.

🗓️ October 22: Members Coffee Meetup. San Marino. 8 - 9:30 am. Become a member to attend.

🗓️ October 28: Seed to Series B Founder Dinner. Thank you to Kind Heart, Trinet, and Clarify for sponsoring!

🗓️ November 12: Seed to Series B Founder Dinner. Reach out of you’d like to sponsor this dinner.

🗓️ November 16: Founders LA Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks Game. Thanks to Weinberger and Logan PC for sponsoring! We’ll have a curated group of founders who get a free ticket to the game thanks to our sponsor!

🗓️ December 11: The LA Grind: Startup Community Holiday Party. Early bird tickets available until tomorrow! Taking place at a beautiful private residence in West Hollywood.

👋 This Week 👋 

🗓️ October 13 - 19: LA TECH WEEK. Check out the official LA Tech Week Schedule for 100s of events all week long!

🗓️ October 14: Founder Mode. Santa Monica. 5:30 - 8 pm. 20% off with code LAGRIND.

🗓️ October 14: AI LA Salon w/ PostHog. Marina del Rey. 6 - 8:30 pm.

🗓️ October 14: Startup Arena. Santa Monica. 4 - 8 pm.

🗓️ October 15: The Best of Live @ LA TechWeek. Santa Monica. 11 am - 6 pm.

🗓️ October 16: Paw'ffice Hours - #LATechWeek. Century City. 6 - 8 pm.

🗓️ October 17: The Closing Party | #LATechWeek. Venice. 8:30pm - 2 am.

👀 Coming Soon 👀 

🗓️ November 7: League of Originals Summit. DTLA. 11 am - 6 pm.

Want to submit an event for consideration in the next edition? Fill out this form.

*This is sponsored content.

Top 5 LA Startup & VC Firm Jobs

Senior Manager, Software Engineering @ Metropolis Technologies

Investment Analyst @ Techstars

💼 Looking for a job? Job board coming soon!

Community Resources

Need an accounting team? I’ve partnered with Pilot to get you a discount on their services.

Need cutting edge AI tech built? AE Studio has been building AI for ten years, working with companies like Salesforce, Berkshire Hathaway, Dapper Labs, and more.

$50/hour off legal services with Weinberger & Logan PC, who offer legal support for small businesses, start-ups, and investors. (LA Grind Club members only).

15% discount on engineering design services with Austin Allen. Austin offers by-the-hour hardware prototyping services for entrepreneurs and startups, specializing in electrical + mechanical design, and firmware development. (LA Grind Club members only).

3 months free with an annual subscription to CloudGo.ai, your AI-powered backend engineer, giving you fully customizable infrastructure from the start. (LA Grind Club members only).

Investment Opportunity

Know a founder or investor in Los Angeles who is raising capital or searching for a co-founder? Reply to this email with more details that I could share in this newsletter for 5,600+ founders, investors, and operators.

The LA Grind’s first Community Partner is Marc Hankin of HPL Law!

Marc advises inventors and high-growth teams on patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and licensing. Before your next fundraise, launch, or M&A chat, know where you stand by talking with Marc, who you can reach at [email protected].

Marc can often be found at startup events in LA and has been one of the biggest supporters of The LA Grind since its inception!

TORL BioTherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing antibody-based immunotherapies in oncology, raised a $96M Series C.

Quilter, a startup using physics-driven AI to fully automate printed circuit board (PCB) layout, raised a $25M Series B, led by Index Ventures.

Everyset, a platform that streamlines onboarding, payments, and operations for background performers in film & TV productions, raised $9M in funding led by Crosslink Capital and Haven Ventures.

375ai, an edge data intelligence company converting raw real-world data streams into structured insights for AI models and urban systems, raised $5M in additional capital led by Delphi Ventures, Strobe Capital and HackVC.

Steric, a beverage technology company that uses an electromagnetic process to enhance wine and spirits without additives or filtration, raised a $3.5M Seed Round led by a private equity group.

Send any fundraising news for LA-based companies or funds, including your own, to [email protected].

Featured Location

Esperanza. Someone recommended this Manhattan Beach Mexican restaurant to me a couple of months ago and I’m sharing this with you as a reminder to myself so I finally go. It looks way too good not to.

Fun Events

See you next week,

Justin

P.S. Want to connect?

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