🌴 The LA Grind: Week of November 15th

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

Author

Justin Gordon
December 15, 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.

Quick note: I’m opening up a few sponsor slots across The LA Grind.

For context, the LA audience is now 7,300+ subscribers, with a 60% open rate and ~6% CTR, made up of 56% founders, 10% operators, and 7.3% investors.

I’ve also recently launched The SF Grind, and I can put together LA + SF package deals for partners who want both immediate reach in LA and early access in SF across newsletters and events.

Also, last chance to sponsor Poker Night this Thursday (Dec 18). If you want that slot, reply “POKER” and I’ll send details.

Finally, a quick question:

Would you ever consider sponsoring The LA Grind?

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Let’s get to it.

LA Grind Club

Weekly events. Curated groups. Real relationships for founders, operators, and investors in Los Angeles.

You will meet people like:

  • A venture-backed founder who just raised a multi-million dollar seed round

  • A bootstrapped founder doing hundreds of thousands in revenue and another doing millions

  • An investor who has made 100+ investments into athletes, creators, and entrepreneurs

  • Operators and executives with experience at public companies and high-growth startups

More than 50 members and growing. Join us!

Upcoming Events

⭐️ Featured Event ⭐️

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

🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴 

🗓️ December 17: Members Coffee Meetup. Santa Monica. 8 - 9:30 am.

🗓️ December 18: Members Poker Night ♣️ 🃏. Hollywood. 6 - 11 pm.

🗓️ February 2026: Curated Temecula Founder Retreat. Looking for 1 or 2 sponsors. Reply to this email if interested.

👋 This Week 👋 

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

Top 5 LA Startup & VC Firm Jobs

Sales & Growth Lead @ Olympian Motors

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 7,000+ 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!

Sybil Health, an AI-based precision medicine platform for women's hormonal health, has started a rolling round fundraising before their pre-seed round in Q1.

Stic, a provider of a technology-enabled platform that connects brands with everyday drivers to power measurable out-of-home (OOH) advertising, raised a $10M Bridge funding in a round led by Accretion Capital.

K2 Space, a Torrance-based startup building large, high-power satellite platforms, raised a $250M Series C at a $3B valuation in a round led by Redpoint.

Haven Energy, an energy tech company, raised $40M in funding. The round consisted of an equity led by Giant Ventures.

Saviynt, an identity security company, raised $700M in Series B Growth Equity Financing at a valuation of approximately $3 billion. Funds managed by KKR led the round.

AnySignal, a provider of a vertically integrated platform for wireless connectivity, sensing, and national security infrastructure, raised $24M in Series A funding in a round led by Upfront Ventures.

Diald AI, a provider of an AI-powered platform for real estate due diligence and underwriting, raised $3.75M in funding. Backers included Feedback Ventures with participation from The Invention LAB.

Hot Smart Rich, Maggie Sellers Reum’s “female ambition” media brand, has secured a seven figure strategic investment from Steven Bartlett’s media and investment company FlightStory.

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

Featured Location

Dune. With locations in Atwater Village and Downtown LA, is a Mediterranean eatery offering fresh, Levant-inspired dishes such as falafel, hummus, and grilled meats.

Fun Events

See you next week,

Justin

P.S. Want to connect?

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