The LA Grind: Week of August 11th

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

Author

Justin Gordon
August 11, 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.

A few things before we get started this week:

  • Join the LA Grind Club. Get access to members-only events as well as other perks. I’ll be accepting the first members this week (Thank you to everyone who already applied).

  • Clubhouse Waitlist. Be the first in line for our future physical space to connect, work, and host events with other founders, operators, and investors in LA.

  • Founder Q&A. Want to be featured? Apply here to share your story in The LA Grind newsletter.

Let’s get to it.

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Upcoming Events

🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴 

🗓️ August 15: Members Coffee Meetup. ​Super casual, just an opportunity to grab a coffee and meet some other members of the LA Grind Club.

🗓️ August 16: Startup Community Hike. ​Take a break from your screen for a few hours, exercise outside, and meet some great people.

🗓️ August 17: Members Rooftop Co-Working. ​Work from my rooftop in West Hollywood, meet some interesting people, and have a productive start to the day. Available for LA Grind Club members.

🗓️ August 19: Dawn Patrol. A morning founder event series focused on bringing together people and ideas that support startups on their journeys to raising capital. Thank you Prospera Law, BX Studio, and Keen for sponsoring!

🗓️ August 24: Startup Community Padel. ​This is a chance to learn the game, play a bit, and meet some startup folks. Co-hosting with Mike DeVerna and MACROFIT.

🗓️ August 26: Startup Community Mixer. We sold out all 60 tickets last month and we’re running it back! Thanks to our sponsors HPL Intellectual Property Law, Weinberger & Logan PC, and Keen!

🗓️ September 11: Rooftop Sunset Soirée. ​Join us for sunset drinks on a Venice rooftop with a curated group of founders, CEOs, investors, and media. Co-hosting with CapV and looking for a few sponsors too.

🗓️ September 23: Startup Community Mixer. Early-bird pricing is available. Thanks to our sponsors HPL Intellectual Property Law and A.J. Dorn.

This Week

🗓️ August 11: GenAI Meetup. Pasadena. 5-7 pm.

🗓️ August 12: WeAreLATech: LA Tech Community Beach Walk 🌊🚶. Santa Monica. 6-7 pm.

🗓️ August 13: Startup Cafe: The Consumer CFO. Venice. 8:45-10:30 am.

🗓️ August 13: AI Workshop. Venice. 6-9 pm.

🗓️ August 15: 805 Startups VIP Lunch # 72. Thousand Oaks. 12-2 pm.

🗓️ August 16: Founders Running Club. Santa Monica. 7-9 am.

🗓️ August 16: Venture Social Club | The Pool Party. West Hollywood. 1-6 pm.

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

Lauren Makler is the cofounder and CEO of Cofertility, an LA-based fertility startup making egg freezing more accessible through its Split program, where you freeze your eggs for free when you donate half to a family that needs them.

Cofertility raised a $7.25 million Series A in April, bringing total funding to $16 million as the team scales its donor database, clinic partnerships, and matching platform from its Los Angeles base.

Lauren’s background includes building Uber Health in the early days at Uber, and that operator DNA shows up in Cofertility’s human-first approach. Alongside Split, the company offers a Keep option for people who want to freeze and keep all their eggs with discounted pricing and ongoing support.

LA Tech Walks are here!

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

beatBread, a music financing platform providing upfront advances to independent artists in exchange for a portion of future streaming revenue, raised $124M in a mix of equity and credit, with equity from Deciens Capital, Mucker Capital, and Advantage Capital, and a credit facility led by Citi.

Orbital Operations, a Long Beach-based startup building high‑thrust orbital vehicles for in‑space maneuvering and satellite defense, raised an $8.8M seed round led by Initialized Capital.

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

Top 5 LA Startup & Investment Jobs

Director of Hardware @ GrayMatter Robotics

👋 Hiring? Message me about featuring your role in this newsletter.

💼 Looking for a job? Job board coming soon!

Investment Opportunities

Know a founder or investor in Los Angeles who is raising capital? Reply to this email with more details that I could share in this newsletter for 3,500+ founders, investors, and operators.

Featured Location

République. This is such a unique spot with one of the most interesting interiors I’ve seen in a restaurant in Los Angeles. Last time I went, there was a line out the door, but it was well worth it.

Fun Events

See you next week,

Justin

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