- The LA Grind
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- The LA Grind
Curated events and standout stories for LA’s most ambitious founders, builders, and investors.
👋 I’m Justin. I run The LA Grind and Newsletter Founder, host the Just Go Grind podcast with 350+ founder and investor interviews, 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.
Want to connect?
What I’ve got for you this week:
📅 Events (Including my favorite LA run club)
💡 Founder spotlight on David Daneshgar
💰 Recent LA startup funding announcements
👋 LA career & investment opportunities
☕️ My favorite weekend work spot
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Let’s get to it.
This Week
🗓️ May 20: Tools for Builders. An interactive workshop at UCLA by Notion and Figma for developers, designers, and product builders.
🗓️ May 21: London Climate Tech Comes to Los Angeles. A reception to meet top sustainability companies from London and celebrate cross-Atlantic innovation.
🗓️ May 21: Startup Cafe: Travel Talk with Nick Monica. A fireside chat with the founder of Gnarwhal Coffee on building community through coffee and travel.
🗓️ May 21: ShitPitch Live Event. As seen on CNBC, watch founders pitch creatively to top investors in a fun, fast-paced format.
🗓️ May 22: Pitch & Run LA: Run Club for Founders, Investors, and Tech. A founder-friendly Thursday morning run (with coffee after) I personally recommend and attend most weeks.
🗓️ May 22: Meet the Latest SpaceTech Innovators. A happy hour in El Segundo featuring rapid pitches from 10 cutting-edge spacetech startups.
🗓️ May 23: The Bitcoin Summit @ UCLA. UCLA’s flagship Bitcoin event with panels exploring its impact on finance, energy, and society.
🗓️ May 24: The Caltech Longevity Hackathon. A weekend hackathon using AI to tackle health and longevity.
📅 May 24: Founders Running Club :: LA. A 5k run followed by coffee in Santa Monica.
Coming Soon
🗓️ May 27: WeAreLATech: LA Tech Community Beach Walk. A relaxed beach walk and sunset social hour to connect with LA’s tech and startup community.
🗓️ May 28-30: AI on the Lot 2025. The biggest AI and film event, bringing 1,000+ creatives, execs, and founders together in LA.
🗓️ June 3: The Information's The Future of Influence. Top execs from tech, media, and entertainment explore how influencers are reshaping business.
Want to submit an event for consideration in the next edition? Fill out this form.
Ready to actually know the LA tech community, beyond LinkedIn profiles and Zoom calls?
Join the WeAreLATech ‘Experience’ Club, where every month brings 4 unique, in-person adventures—surf lessons, beer tastings, rooftop dinners, horseback rides and more.
Each experience is curated to connect 8–15 like-minded people who live and breathe tech right here in Los Angeles.
This isn’t another networking event. It’s a club for real connection.
No fluff. No selling. Just good people, good vibes, and real community.
Spots are limited. Membership is quarterly.
To see photos and apply go to wearelatech.club
David Daneshgar, co-founder and CEO of Whippy, is building the operating system for customer communication, combining shared inboxes, AI-powered workflows, SMS, and automation to help businesses respond faster and grow smarter.
A few weeks back, David joined me on the Just Go Grind podcast to talk about bootstrapping Whippy to $4M+ ARR and his wild journey from poker champion to founder.
Connect with David on LinkedIn and tell him The LA Grind sent you.
Know a founder worth spotlighting? Submit yourself or a friend here.
Notable LA Startup Deals the Last Few Weeks
Moonvalley raised a $53M round of funding from a group of investors.
Rainmaker raised a $25M Series A led by Lowercarbon Capital.
SimpleClosure raised a $15M Series A led by TTV Capital.
Akido raised a $60M Series B led by Oak HC/FT.
Reflect Orbital raised a $20M Series A led by Lux Capital.
Rolli raised capital from the NYU Impact Investment Fund (NIIF).
True Classic raised a strategic investment from 1686 Partners.
Replenysh raised an $8M Series A led by M13.
Chaos Industries raised a $275M Series C led by Accel and NEA.
Apex raised a $200M Series C led by Point72 Ventures and 8VC.
Deferred raised a $3.6M seed round led by B Capital and Fika Ventures.
Please send any fundraising news for LA-based companies or funds to [email protected].
Career Opportunities
Chapter Lead - Los Angeles @ Hampton
Capital Formation Associate @ B Capital // $100-$120K
Membership Lead @ Calm Ventures
Chief of Staff @ Share Ventures
Director, AI & Operations @ Bonfire Ventures
Also, here’s a list of 81 YC-backed LA startups to join.
Investment Opportunities
An LA-based founder friend of mine raised a $1M pre-seed for her startup a year ago, a platform transforming the way Gen Z shops online, and is now raising a seed round. Email me at [email protected] if you want to know more.
Two LA-based investors I know are raising their first funds. If you’re an accredited investors and interested in learning more, email me.
Are you hiring? Looking for a co-founder? Raising capital? We’d love to help you. Fill out this form to get started.
Bodega Wine Bar. It’s one of my favorite places in LA. Great atmosphere, day or night, and tremendously versatile, whether that’s grabbing a drink in the evening or working for a few hours during the day. I might move to Santa Monica just to be closer to it.
LA Sparks. The WNBA has exploded in popularity since last year when Caitlin Clark came onto the scene and since the season is back, it’s a great outlet for a little entertainment when you’re not on the grind.
Wags & Walks. A great way to give back: Wags & Walks is a nonprofit where you can adopt, foster, or volunteer to help save dogs in LA’s shelters.
Wildfire Relief. With fire season heating up, local organizations like the LAFD Foundation and California Fire Foundation need your help. Donate or get involved to support firefighters and communities affected.
May 23: Grand National Tour: Kendrick Lamar and SZA. Kendrick and SZA are bringing the Grand National Tour to SoFi Stadium, joined by special guests.
May 24: The Big Lebowski at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Organized by Cinespia, this is one of a few outdoor films taking place in LA over the coming weeks.
May 25: Coffee & Chill. I haven’t been yet, but have a friend who has, and it’s a laid-back way to connect with new people after hours.
Is there a cool place or fun event we should know about? Email me at [email protected]
What did you think of this edition? |
Thank you so much for reading! I really want to help connect ambitious people in LA and provide them with opportunities. I want this to be the best place for founders, builders, and investors to get plugged in.
Reach out by email ([email protected]) if there’s anything we can do for you or you have ideas for how we could better support the LA startup ecosystem.
Please share The LA Grind to help more people!
See you next week,
-Justin
P.S. Want to partner? Send me an email 😊
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