on LA Startups & Tech
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is notorious for its long Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines and major traffic jams. Now LAX has technology in place to help decrease delays and wait times and has implemented technology to support a contactless experience.
A few days ago, I was finally able to use the tech that rolled out within the last couple of years. I was at LAX for my first international flight in over 10 years. As an Angeleno, I made sure I left early to give myself time to check in my bag.
Once I entered the terminal, I was instantly greeted by the taxi cab-colored kiosks that line Spirit Airlines’ check-in station–the self bag drop. I went to an available kiosk and proceeded to tap the screen. After scanning my boarding pass, I answered a series of questions regarding my flight–all of them were questions an airline attendant would normally ask while checking in.
As with any international flight, a passport is required to board. The kiosk required that I scan my passport to move forward with my checked luggage. Once all of those steps were complete, I received a printed luggage tag along with a paper copy of my boarding pass.
The second station is where you drop off your luggage. I placed my suitcase on the conveyor belt and tapped another screen, scanned my passport once more, and the camera on top of the screen quickly scanned my face to verify that it was my passport.
In under five minutes I was able to check my bag with no hiccups. But if travelers need assistance, there are a few agents nearby that can help with the process.
luggage station at LAXImage courtesy of Decerry Donato
My day was looking bright, but I was dreading the TSA line that came next. As the TSA worker directed me to line up, I saw passengers in the TSA Precheck line and they were going through twice as fast as the line I was in.
I watched as the Precheck passengers inserted their photo ID into a device called the next-generation credential authentication technology (CAT). The unit was introduced earlier this year. While there are concerns around photo documentation and how law enforcement agencies have used that data, everyone seemed relieved to be moving through the line.
The camera on top of an iPad-like screen captured the passenger’s photo and seconds later the passenger walked right through without having to exchange any physical documents. This was in contrast to my line, where we had to hand over boarding passes and passports to the TSA officer who inspected and thoroughly read the documents.
TSA CAT device Image courtesy of Decerry Donato
According to the TSA, 1,968,902 passengers walked through security checkpoints the day I traveled versus 1,455,913 people the same day last year.
Other airports in Southern California with CAT units installed include Hollywood Burbank, John Wayne, San Diego International, Ontario International and Palm Springs International.
With two hours to spare, I was in no rush to get to my gate. I did see other guests running to get to theirs, and they were stopped by one of the agents driving a golf cart. The agent offered them a lift and zoomed off. This service seemed popular among the elderly crowd as I saw a few more golf carts pass carrying guests making their way to the gate.
Just like that, guests can check in, drop off their bags and go through security in under 15 minutes. While I didn’t see the automated people mover that is still under construction, LAX has definitely found ways to decrease delays and wait times with its self bag drop system and CAT unit.
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
When avatar startup Genies raised $150 million in April, the company released an unusual message to the public: “Farewell.”
The Marina del Rey-based unicorn, which makes cartoon-like avatars for celebrities and aims to “build an avatar for every single person on Earth,” didn’t go under. Rather, Genies announced it would stay quiet for a while to focus on building avatar-creation products.
Genies representatives told dot.LA that the firm is now seeking more creators to try its creation tools for 3D avatars, digital fashion items and virtual experiences. On Thursday, the startup launched a three-week program called DIY Collective, which will mentor and financially support up-and-coming creatives.
Similar programs are common in the startup world and in the creator economy. For example, social media companies can use accelerator programs not only to support rising stars but to lure those creators—and their audiences—to the company’s platforms. Genies believes avatars will be a crucial part of the internet’s future and is similarly using its program to encourage creators to launch brands using Genies’ platform.
“I think us being able to work hands on with this next era—this next generation of designers and entrepreneurs—not only gets us a chance to understand how people want to use our platform and tools, but also allows us to nurture those types of creators that are going to exist and continue to build within our ecosystem,” said Allison Sturges, Genies’ head of strategic partnerships.
DIY Collective’s initial cohort will include roughly 15 people, Sturges said. They will spend three weeks at the Genies headquarters, participating in workshops and hearing from CEOs, fashion designers, tattoo artists and speakers from other industries, she added. Genies will provide creatives with funding to build brands and audiences, though Sturges declined to share how much. By the end of the program, participants will be able to sell digital goods through the company’s NFT marketplace, The Warehouse. There, people can buy, sell and trade avatar creations, such as wearable items.
Genies will accept applications for the debut program until Aug. 1. It will kick off on Aug. 8, and previous experience in digital fashion and 3D art development is not required.
Sturges said that the program will teach people “about the tools and capabilities that they will have” through Genies’ platform, as well as “how to think about building their own avatar ecosystem brands and even their own audience.”
Founded in 2017, Genies established itself by making avatars for celebrities from Rihanna to Russell Westbrook, who have used the online lookalikes for social media and sponsorship opportunities. The 150-person company, which has raised at least $250 million to date, has secured partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to make avatars for each music label’s entire roster of artists. Former Disney boss Bob Iger joined the company’s board in March.
The company wants to extend avatars to everyone else. Avatars—digital figures that represent an individual—may be the way people interact with each other in the 3D virtual worlds of the metaverse, the much-hyped iteration of the internet where users may one day work, shop and socialize. A company spokesperson previously told dot.LA that Genies has been beta testing avatar creator tools with invite-only users and gives creators “full ownership and commercialization rights” over their creations collecting a 5% transaction fee each time an avatar NFT is sold.
“It's an opportunity for people to build their most expressive and authentic self within this digital era,” Sturges said of avatars.
The company’s call for creators could be a sign that Genies is close to rolling out the Warehouse and its tools publicly. Asked what these avatar tools might look like, the startup went somewhat quiet again.
Allison Sturges said, “I think that's probably something that I'll hold off on sharing. We will be rolling some of this out soon.”
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
LA Tech Week—a weeklong showcase of the region’s growing startup ecosystem—is coming this August.
The seven-day series of events, from Aug. 15 through Aug. 21, is a chance for the Los Angeles startup community to network, share insights and pitch themselves to investors. It comes a year after hundreds of people gathered for a similar event that allowed the L.A. tech community—often in the shadow of Silicon Valley—to flex its muscles.
From fireside chats with prominent founders to a panel on aerospace, here are some highlights from the roughly 30 events happening during LA Tech Week, including one hosted by dot.LA.
DoorDash’s Founding Story: Stanley Tang, a cofounder and chief product officer of delivery giant DoorDash, speaks with Pear VC's founding managing partner, Pejman Nozad. They'll discuss how to grow a tech company from seed stage all the way to an initial public offering. Aug. 19 at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Santa Monica.
The Founders Guide to LA: A presentation from dot.LA cofounder and executive chairman Spencer Rascoff, who co-founded Zillow and served as the real estate marketplace firm’s CEO. Aug. 16 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Brentwood.
Time To Build: Los Angeles: Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) hosts a discussion on how L.A. can maintain its momentum as one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in the U.S. Featured speakers include a16z general partners Connie Chan and Andrew Chen, as well as Grant Lafontaine, the cofounder and CEO of shopping marketplace Whatnot. Aug. 19 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Santa Monica.
How to Build Successful Startups in Difficult Industries: Leaders from Southern California’s healthcare and aerospace startups gather for panels and networking opportunities. Hosted by TechStars, the event includes speakers from the U.S. Space Force, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Applied VR and University of California Irvine. Aug. 15 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Culver City.
LA Tech Week Demo Day: Early stage startups from the L.A. area pitch a panel of judges including a16z’s Andrew Chen and Nikita Bier, who co-founded the Facebook-acquired social media app tbh. Inside a room of 100 tech leaders in a Beverly Hills mansion, the pitch contest is run by demo day events platform Stonks and live-in accelerator Launch House. Aug. 17 from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Beverly Hills.
Registration information and a full list of LA Tech Week events can be found here.
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.
Viracta Therapeutics, a precision oncology company, appointed Mark Rothera as president and chief executive officer. Rothera previously served as president and CEO of Silence Therapeutics.
Software and data company VideoAmp tapped CTO Tony Fagan to expand his responsibilities to oversight and evolution of VideoAmp’s product, engineering and research and development (R&D) departments.
Short-term rentals platform AvantStay welcomed Ankur Jain as chief financial officer. Jain recently served as BPF’s CFO.
SimplePractice, a health and wellness management platform, added Ian Knox as chief product officer. Knox most recently served as the head of mobile product at Compass and was previously vice president of product for Expedia.
Dan Serrano joined COPE Health Solutions as principal and senior vice president. Prior to this role, Serrano was SVP of finance at CareAbout.
Fintech digital operations software company Docupace hired Nouman Jan as director of information technology (IT) and site reliability engineering (SRE). Jan served as an executive director for the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).
Golden State Foods, a supplier to the food service and retail industries promoted senior director, operations Shane Blanchette to group vice president, continuous improvement, quality custom distribution (QCD).
Peter Roussak joined electronics manufacturing company Interlink Electronics as vice president and general counsel. Roussak has served as general counsel and co-founder of several companies, including Exhibit Consortium LLC and Xanadu Entertainment Partners LLC and Mandeville Partners, LLC.
HyperDraft, an AI-powered legal automation platform, added LegalZoom security executive Steven Singer to its advisory board.
Energy marketplace platform VECKTA Corporation welcomed Leading Lotus founder Uma Gopaldass as its newest board member.
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
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