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- 🌴 The LA Grind: Week of October 27th
🌴 The LA Grind: Week of October 27th
Upcoming events, venture deals, LA opportunities, and more in Los Angeles this week.
Justin Gordon
October 27, 2025
👋 I’m Justin. I run The LA Grind 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.
Last week, The LA Grind passed 6,000 subscribers. After a massive LA Tech Week and dozens of events over the past few months, it’s clear there’s real momentum in LA right now.
I’ve been thinking about adding a short weekly “LA Startup News” edition that goes beyond funding rounds and covers product launches, big hires, acquisitions, and the stories shaping the local scene.
Would you actually read a short, curated LA startup news roundup each week? |
Quick heads-up: I’m raising the price for the LA Grind Club soon. This is the final week to join at $29/month before it goes up.
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.
⭐️ Featured Event ⭐️
Want your event featured here with a longer blurb? Sign up here.
🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴
🗓️ October 28: Seed to Series B Founder Dinner. Thanks to Kind Heart, Trinet, and Clarify for sponsoring!
🗓️ November 5: Members Coffee Meetup. Santa Monica. 8 - 9:30 am.
🗓️ November 11: Startup Community Mixer. Thanks to Weinberger & Logan PC and JP Consulting Group 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! Room for one more sponsor.
🗓️ November 22: LA Startup Community Hike. Hollywood. 8 - 9:30 am.
🗓️ December 11: Startup Community Holiday Party. Taking place at a beautiful private residence in West Hollywood, this will be one of our biggest events of the year!
👋 This Week 👋
🗓️ October 27: Orbital Edge Reception. Manhattan Beach. 5 - 7 pm.
🗓️ October 27: An Evening of Influence: Power, Pleasure & Possibility. Beverly Hills. 5:30 - 7:30 pm.
🗓️ October 27: AI-Powered Business Strategy: Scaling Growth and Creating Competitive Advantages. Irvine. 5 - 8 pm.
🗓️ October 28: LA Health Tech Hang. Sawtelle. 6:30 - 8:30 pm.
🗓️ October 29: Startup Cafe: Building Craveable Brands with Lawrence Longo. Venice. 8:45 - 10:30
🗓️ October 30: ComfyUI Official LA October Meet-Up. Venice. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ October 30: Pitch & Run LA: Run Club for Founders, Investors, and Tech. Beverly Hills. 7 - 8 am.
🗓️ October 31: 2025 Hackaday Superconference. Pasadena. 10 am.
🗓️ November 1: Entrepreneurship in the Emerging AI Economy: Creative Innovation + AI Governance. Pasadena. 10 am - 12:30 pm.
🗓️ November 1: The StartupStarter Forum. Agoura Hills. 9 am - 6 pm.
Want to submit an event for consideration in the next edition? Fill out this form.
Top 5 LA Startup & VC Firm Jobs
Senior Account Manager @ GOAT Group
Product Designer @ Whatnot
Staff Data Software Engineer @ Relativity Space
Executive Assistant @ Climate-Focused VC Firm
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 6,000+ 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!
Arbor Energy, a clean-energy company developing zero-emission, fuel-flexible turbines, raised a $55M Series A co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Voyager Ventures.
GammaTime, a premium mobile platform for short-form scripted dramas, raised a $14M seed round led by vgames and Pitango.
Wolf Games, a generative-AI gaming studio creating interactive worlds from NBCU IP, raised a $9M Series A led by Main Street Advisors.
Dialogue AI, a research platform that uses live conversational AI interviewers to generate customer insights, raised a $6M seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Send any fundraising news for LA-based companies or funds, including your own, to [email protected].
Featured Location
Kassi. Located on the rooftop at Hotel Irwin in Venice Beach, this is a restaurant I’ve wanted to host an event at for quite some time.
Featured Company
Outer. Shoutout to Outer, the Santa Monica-based startup making outdoor furniture you actually want to spend time on. I had co-founder Jiake Liu on my podcast a few years ago and loved hearing how Outer was built. If looking for high-quality outdoor furniture, I highly recommend them.
Fun Events
See you next week,
Justin
P.S. Want to connect?
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