🌴 The LA Grind: Week of May 11th

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

Author

Justin Gordon
May 11, 2026

👋 I’m Justin. I run The LA Grind and The SF Grind and scout for Headline.

Happy Monday! A big focus of mine the next 4+ months is Ambition, the startup summit I’m hosting on September 24th, 2026 in Santa Monica. I just announced a 3rd speaker recently, with more coming soon! Apply to join. 

Let’s get to it.

Turn your ambitious concepts into reality at Silicon Beach Maker Space, Los Angeles’ premier destination for creators, engineers, and hardware startups.

Whether you need professional-grade prototyping tools or a dedicated workbench, our state-of-the-art facility has everything you need to build and innovate without limits.

Join us for our official Launch Party on June 7th at 12 PM! Enjoy food, drinks, music, and free exclusive t-shirts while touring the space.

Limited Time Offer: Get 20% OFF your membership for an entire year. Offer ends June 8th.

Upcoming Events

🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴  

🗓️ May 27: The LA Grind: Members-Led Learning Session. Hollywood. 10:30 - 12 pm.

🗓️ May 29: The LA Grind One-Year Party. Hollywood. 6 - 11:30 pm.

🗓️ June 10: The LA Grind Dinner Club. Venice. 7 - 10 pm.

👋 This Week 👋  

🗓️ May 13: Design & Drafts. Santa Monica. 6:30 - 8:30 pm.

🗓️ May 14: Demo Day LA. Venice. 4:30 - 9 pm.

🗓️ May 15: Long Beach Pycon Party. Long Beach. 5:30 - 8 pm.

👀 Events Coming Soon 👀 

Talk Shop Media is an LA-based tech PR agency that helps brands at any stage break through the noise and earn the coverage that actually moves the needle. From emerging startups to established names, they build and execute media strategies that get you in front of the right people, press, influencers, and beyond. If you're ready to turn your story into momentum, let's talk: talkshopmedia.com 

Marc Hankin of HPL Law 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!

Top 5 LA Startup Jobs

Product Engineer @ Karat Financial

Additional Opportunities

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 10,000+ founders, investors, and operators.

LA Grind Club

Interested in joining The LA Grind Club?

The LA Grind Club is where the LA startup community comes to life. We’re a community of 75+ founders, investors, and operators in LA who gather multiple times per month through basketball runs, poker nights, coffee meetups, dinners, and other member-only events.

Here’s what Will, an investor in over 100 companies, had to say about the club:

“The LA Grind Club has some of the most genuine people in LA's startup ecosystem. Every event I've been to, from the holiday party to the basketball runs, I've walked away having met people I actually keep in touch with.“

District, a provider of an AI commerce platform, raised a $14.7M Seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kindred Ventures.

MOSH, a brain health nutrition brand, raised a $13M Series A led by Main Street Advisors.

Village, a health system provider for specialty pediatrics, raised a $9.5M round led by Upfront Ventures.

Spring Labs, a company is building AI agents that automate complaint handling, dispute resolution, and other compliance workflows, raised a $5M round led by BankTech Ventures and Haymaker Ventures.

Chance Studios, an app for TCG (trading card game) collectors, raised a $3.2M round co-led by Makers Fund and Hashed.

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

Featured Location

Meteora. One of the most visually unique restaurants in LA; earthy, sculptural, almost cave-like design with fire and natural textures. Meteora’s food is experimental, fire-driven, and very ingredient-focused.

Fun Events

See you next week,

Justin

P.S. Want to connect?

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