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The LA Grind: Week of July 21st

The LA Grind: Week of July 21st

Upcoming events, founder spotlight, venture deals, investment opportunities, and more.

Justin Gordon
July 21, 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.

Last week, I announced The LA Grind Community Partners, a new initiative that highlights companies supporting the LA startup ecosystem, in the newsletter and at my events, and I’m very optimistic about what this will become long-term.

I’ll be featuring Community Partners in every edition of this newsletter, through quarterly events, and on social media. 12-month commitments. Limited spots. Category exclusive. If interested in becoming one, reply to this newsletter.

Separately, I’m exploring creating an LA Grind Membership that gets you invites to 2-3 member-only events each month, early access to other events, partner perks and discounts, and a private WhatsApp. Your vote helps decide if I launch it.

Would you be interested in a curated LA events membership?

Let’s get to it.

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🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴

🗓️ July 29: LA Startup Community Mixer. This event is made possible thanks to our partners, AE Studio and Weinberger & Logan PC. We sold out the last one and are already getting close to selling out of this one too!

🗓️ August 1: Founder Poker Night. I'm bringing together ~30 of LA's most ambitious founders for a fun night of poker in the Hollywood Hills! AE Studio is also sponsoring this event (Thank you!) and I have room for 2 more sponsors.

🗓️ August 9: Startup Community Basketball. Basketball with LA founders, operators, and investors. Amazing indoor court in DTLA. 20 spots available. Full-court 5 on 5 games.

🗓️ August 19: Dawn Patrol. I’m excited to co-host with Jason Yeh! Dawn Patrol is a morning founder event series focused on bringing together people and ideas that support startups on their journeys to raising capital.

This Week

🗓️ July 22: AI CFO Showcase | Los Angeles Edition. No fluffy slides. No generic panels. Just straight-up, real-world AI in action—built for finance teams, by finance pros.

🗓️ July 23: WeAreLATech: LA Tech Community Walk 🚶 Glendale Edition. WeAreLATech has been hosting LA tech beach walks for two years and now they're expanding beyond the beach!

🗓️ July 23: WeAreLATech: LA Tech Community Walk 🌊🚶 Redondo Beach Edition. Hosted by Tiffany Woo, a seasoned communications strategist with 10+ years of experience driving visibility for startups, tech brands, and creators.

🗓️ July 23: Klay Media x Nucleus Padel Tournament. Join for an energizing evening on the court with a lively padel tournament crafted for founders, leaders, investors, and friends.

🗓️ July 23: Startup Cafe: Travel Talk. Join renowned adventure photographer and entrepreneur Laura Grier, who shares the powerful story of how one transformative travel experience became the spark that launched her business Andeana Hats.

🗓️ July 23: Agent AI Automation for SMBs: HypeUp LA88 Kickoff. Get hands-on strategies for putting AI to work in your small or local business.

🗓️ July 24: Aerospace Meetup. A night in El Segundo with aerospace professionals, space dreamers, and anyone fascinated by flight!

🗓️ July 24: Pitch & Run LA: Run Club for Founders, Investors, and Tech. My favorite run club, filled with great people.

🗓️ July 25: LA Tech Meetup: Long Beach. An evening to socialize, learn, and share experiences.

🗓️ July 26: LA Tech BBQ. LA Tech Happy Hour is turning 14 years old and celebrating with their annual BBQ!

🗓️ July 26: Founders Running Club :: LA. Bringing founders, investors, tech, creative people and startup enthusiasts together for weekly easy runs and networking.

🗓️ July 26: Venture Social Club | Pool Party. Join for a pool party at one of LA's prime rooftop pools with other members of Venture Social Club.

🗓️ July 26: Venice Pizza Club: Community Event for founders, marketers & creative minds. Join for a night on an iconic rooftop alongside founders, executives, and creative minds.

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

Zach Rash is the founder of Coco Robotics, the world’s largest fleet of self driving delivery vehicles. I’m sure you’ve seen them around LA.

Zach started building sidewalk robots while studying computer science at UCLA, then turned the prototype into Coco. Today the Venice‑based company has built more than 1,000 cooler‑sized bots that have logged over one million miles, using LA’s unpredictable curbs, construction zones, and weather to sharpen their computer‑vision models while remote pilots keep an eye on every trip.

The concept has attracted major backing: Sam and Max Altman joined Pelion and Offline in a June 2025 round that brought in $80 million, pushing Coco’s total funding past $110 million. Commercial traction is growing, too with Coco now supplying last‑mile runs for Uber Eats and an expanded DoorDash deal that rolled out robot delivery to merchants in Los Angeles and Chicago after clearing 100,000 orders in pilot programs.

Connect with Zach on LinkedIn, check out Coco Robotics, and tell him The LA Grind sent you!

Submit yourself or another founder here for the Founder Spotlight.

LA Tech Walks are here!

Presenting the 2025 Summer Series powered by WeAreLATech.

A curated community of tech professionals exploring LA's most stunning landscapes while building meaningful connections.

Walks span across all areas of Los Angeles, north to south and east to west.

Learn more and sign up here.

Hadrian, an AI powered aerospace and defense parts manufacturer, raised a $260M Series C led by Lux Capital and Founders Fund.

Boulevard, a client experience platform for salons and other self care businesses, raised an $80M Series D led by JMI Equity.

Rwazi, an AI decision intelligence platform delivering real time market insights, raised a $12M Series A led by Bonfire Ventures.

Bidbus, a consumer‑to‑dealer marketplace that lets car owners get competing offers from hundreds of dealers online, raised a $3.3M seed round led by Mucker Capital.

Lexington Bakes, a modern bakery brand known for chilled oat bars and premium brownies, raised a $1M seed round led by Rainfall Ventures.

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

Top 5 LA Startup & VC Jobs

Senior Software Engineer, Backend @ Machina Labs

Product Manager @ Apex

GTM Operations Associate @ Plots

Associate, Venture Capital @ Cerity Partners 

Director of Fundraising @ Crosscut Ventures

👋 Hiring? Job board coming soon!

💼 Looking for a job? I’ll be curating more LA-based roles soon.

Investment Opportunities

I know of a few founders who are raising capital right now and I’m always meeting more. If you’re an investor, let me know what type of deals fit your thesis, your check size, and stage you invest in. Simply reply to this email.

If you’re a startup founder raising capital, fill out this form to get started.

Featured Location

Esme Culver City. I’ve only ever been for coffee, but this cute little cafe has much more to offer and it’s located in one of my favorite neighborhoods in LA. The founders, Ivan and Gabby, started it after moving from NYC and I think they’ve done a phenomenal job. Check it out!

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