What hot ideas are getting cash in Orange County this year?
Investing by cellphone. New coolant air conditioners. Oh, sure, gaming, cybersecurity, heart health and curing cancer
Did I mention, gourmet cottage cheese?
Ten fledgling companies exploring this array of innovation raised a combined $237 million in the year’s first quarter, according to Dow Jones VentureSource …
1. Acorns Advisers of Irvine — investment app for phones — raised $105 million in 8th-round venture capital financing from TPG Growth LLC; NBCUniversal; MSD Capital LP; DST Global; Comcast Ventures; BlackRock Alternative Investors; and Bain Capital LLC.
2. Second Dinner Studios of Tustin — video gaming — raised $30 million in 1st-round venture capital financing from Netease Capital.
— bladder cancer cure — raised $22 million in 3rd-round venture capital financing from Perseverance Capital Management and ORI Capital Investment Advisory (Hong Kong) Ltd.
4. Obsidian Security of Newport Beach — cyber-security — raised $20 million in 1st-round venture capital financing from Wing Venture Partners LP; GV; and Greylock Management.
5. Newlight Technologies of Huntington Beach — “green” plastics — raised $19 million in “other equity” financing from undisclosed investors.
6. BookingPal of Irvine — vacation rentals — raised $12 million in 4th-round venture capital from Valor Capital Group LLC; Thayer Ventures; Plug and Play Tech Center; PAR Capital Management Inc.; Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd.; Altabix; and others.
7. Bitcentral of Newport Beach — news-video software– raised $10 million in 2nd-round venture capital from Virgo Investment Group LP.
8. Good Culture of Irvine — gourmet cottage cheese — raised $8 million in third-round venture capital from CAVU Venture Partners; Almanac Investments; and 301 Inc.
9. Adagio Medical of Laguna Hills — heart surgery — raised $7 million in “other equity” financing from undisclosed investors.
10. Bluon Energy of Irvine — air conditioning/refrigerants — raised $4 million in “growth equity” financing from The Ecosystem Integrity Fund.
All told, 18 Orange County companies got $270 million in venture funds in 2019’s first three months vs. 25 deals worth $329 million a year earlier. Since 1992, 1,474 venture deals have raised $18.53 billion locally.
This content was originally published here.
