Everybody has a network: Your boss, colleagues, mentors, lawyers, investors, accountants, classmates, startup friends… Could you please forward this newsletter to them with a quick invitation to subscribe for free? We could use your help expanding the reach of the work the OC Startup Council does to support local entrepreneurs and deal flow for our community. Twice every week the... Read more →

Corent Technology brings Microsoft Windows Migration-as-a-Service capabilities to growing HPE GreenLake ecosystem Collaboration helps customers streamline hybrid cloud migration of Microsoft Windows workloads Aliso Viejo, Calif. -- Corent Technology, a technology leader in automated cloud migration, modernization, and management today announced the addition of Corent’s best-in-class MaaSTM (Migration-as-a-Service) platform to the HPE GreenLake Cloud Services ecosystem. With Corent’s migration tools... Read more →

New Southern California Growth Stage Venture Firm Ankona Capital Raises $66M for its First Fund The Orange County-based venture firm, founded by experienced software founders and investors, is funding high-growth B2B SaaS companies NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., June 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ankona Capital (“Ankona”), a new southern California-based growth-stage venture firm, officially closed its first fund at over $66... Read more →

Syxsense Raises $6 Million Investment to Further accelerate its growth in Intelligent Automation of IT, Patch Management, Security Vulnerability Scans ALISO VIEJO, Calif., May 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Syxsense, a global leader in IT and security management solutions is excited to announce its $6 million round of funding, led by Oquirrh Ventures and Origami Capital Partners, joining existing investor Signal... Read more →

Introducing AXON Networks - dedicated to helping internet service providers innovate faster, strengthen their brands, and deliver a total networking experience Former Greenwave Systems business unit secures $27M in funding, will empower global companies to innovate quickly, scale to any size, and future proof their business strategies IRVINE, Calif., COPENHAGEN, Denmark and SINGAPORE, April 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AXON Networks,... Read more →

SWARM Engineering Raises $2.7 Million in Seed Funding Led by S2G Ventures and Serra Ventures IRVINE, Calif., April 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SWARM Engineering, Inc, the next generation of cognitive software for the food supply chain, announced today it has closed funding for a $2.7 million seed round. SWARM Engineering is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform specifically for the food supply... Read more →

$2.3 Million Seed Deal: Awkward Essentials Rounds Second Base With Unorthodox Ventures After-Sex-Brand's Seed Round Will Support Brand Innovation And Expansion COSTA MESA, Calif., March 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Awkward Essentials, a personal hygiene company with the first after-sex clean up product of its kind, the dripstick, announced the close of a $2.3 million seed round by capital partner Unorthodox... Read more →

Tech Coast Angels Orange County Reports Successful 2020 Even in Uncertain Economic Climate; Looks Ahead to its 2021 Fund with Optimism One OC Fund 20 company has already generated a 3.5x return and 250% IRR to investors Tech Coast Angels Orange County (TCA OC) today announced that its inaugural annual fund, TCA OC Fund 20, exceeded expectations even in the... Read more →

Longève Brands Raises $5M Seed Round Led by Wavemaker Partners and Springboard, to Expand Their Plant-Based Protein Product Line IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 13, 2021: Longève Brands raises a $5M seed round led by Wavemaker Partners and Springboard, with participation from RezVen Partners and Alumni Ventures Group Longève Brands is the first to create shelf-stable, pea protein-based products for people who... Read more →

Cosemi Secures $8M in Strategic Funding Round Led by Technology and Solutions Partner Nitto Denko Corporation, Investment Underscores Continued Growth Trajectory Cosemi Technologies Inc., a global leader in innovative, high-speed connectivity solutions, today announced that it has closed an $8 million strategic funding round, led by Nitto Denko Corporation (OTCMKTS: NDEKY), an Osaka-based diversified materials manufacturer and Cosemi technology and... Read more →

Are you listed in the OC Startups Directory yet? Where's your startup? Or is your accounting firm, design agency, software development team, law firm, or venture capital fund listed in the OC Startup Ecosystem Directory? How about the school, incubator, non-profit, or community group you work with that helps early stage founders? WHAT? Not listed yet? Why not?? The OCSC... Read more →

Cie’s Orange County venture studio leads another portfolio company to an accelerated exit as Titan School Solutions is acquired by LINQ to bolster its educational SaaS business. IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 10, 2020 – LINQ, a K-12 school management software provider, acquired Titan School Solutions (TITAN) for $75 million. TITAN has been a part of Cie’s venture studio for the past... Read more →

ThinkIQ, Digital Manufacturing Pioneer, Raises $11.6 Million Funding to Expand Company, Accelerating Growth of SaaS Manufacturing Platform, Delivering Material Traceability and Data Insights on Quality, Safety and Compliance ALISO VIEJO, Calif., -- ThinkIQ, a pioneer of digital manufacturing transformation SaaS, today announced that it has raised $11.6 million Series A round led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF). Participating investors include... Read more →

ZUUM Transportation Raises $12.58 Million in Seed Funding to Launch First Logistics Super Platform ZUUM announces the recent close of a 2nd round of seed funding at $8.58 million for a total raise of $12.58 million to date. The funding accelerates critical technology innovation in the fragmented logistics industry. IRVINE, Calif., August 18, 2020 (Newswire.com) -ZUUM automates freight for shippers,... Read more →

AI Chip Company Syntiant Surpasses 1 Million Units Shipped; Raises $35 Million in Series C Funding Led by M12 and Applied Ventures Continues to Execute on Strategy, Fulfilling Growing Customer Demand for its Ultra-Low-Power, Deep Learning Voice Solution at the Edge IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Syntiant, a deep learning tech company providing AI voice and sensor... Read more →

Prodoscore Closes Series A Funding Round Led by Troy Carter Serial entrepreneur and early-stage investor in Uber, Lyft, Dropbox, Spotify, Warby Parker, Slack and others invests in employee productivity and visibility leader IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prodoscore, a leader in employee visibility software, today announced that it has closed a Series A funding round led by serial entrepreneur and venture capital investor... Read more →

Performa Labs Raises $3 Million Seed Round for First Responders Led by Wavemaker Partners Southern California-based startup Performa Labs launches software to accelerate training IRVINE, Calif., May 12, 2020 -- Cie, a venture studio, today announced that it has helped Performa Labs, one of its portfolio companies in semi-stealth mode, raise $3 million in seed funding. The funding round is... Read more →

Welcome to these new Members of the OC Startup Council: Academy For International Culture and Professional Education, Invysta Technology Group, Quantum Computing Report Academy For International Culture and Professional Education s a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization with tax exempt status in the state of California with the team of Instructors and researchers with the mission to enhance social understanding... Read more →

Could your startup use thousands of $$$ of FREE service credits for Amazon Web Services? We’ve now got LOTS of AWS to share exclusively with OC Startup Council Members! Thanks to so many of you who completed our quick “Do you use AWS?” survey recently. You gave us the info we needed to go back to AWS and negotiate a... Read more →

Welcome to these new Members of the OC Startup Council: Business Sales Accelerator Academy, NeighborING, ReadySetConnect Business Sales Accelerator Academy train direct sales people, entrepreneurs and small business owners to become more effective at generating new business so they increase their bottom line profits & improve their local economy. Business Sales Accelerator Academies initial target audience are the millions of... Read more →

NGD Systems Raises $20 Million in Series C Funding to Accelerate the Deployment of the World’s First NVMe Computational Storage Drive The latest round includes new investments from MIG Capital and Western Digital Capital Global, Ltd, that enables artificial intelligence, machine learning and edge computing within computational storage Irvine-based NGD Systems, the leader and pioneer in Computational Storage, today announced... Read more →

Alliance Bank Improves Customer Experience with Ephesoft's Intelligent Capture Solution IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Ephesoft, Inc., an industry leader in enterprise content capture and data discovery solutions, and Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, a bank well known for serving Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), today announced that the bank has implemented Ephesoft Transact for intelligent capture automation... Read more →

Curogram Closes $1.8M Series Seed Round to Lead Evolution of Two-Way Messaging for the Healthcare Industry Round includes Zuora Founder, Chairman and CEO Tien Tzuo and Over 80 Medical Professionals Recently praised by Google Health and Samsung Health for modernizing healthcare communications, Curogram, the leading patient-centric universal healthcare messaging platform, announced it has closed an over-subscribed $1.8M series seed round.... Read more →

Kajabi Receives Minority Growth Investment From Spectrum Equity Funding is Kajabi's first institutional financing since 2010 launch IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kajabi, an industry-leading all-in-one platform helping individuals and small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) create and monetize online courses, training materials, and other content, announced today that it received a minority growth investment from Spectrum Equity, a... Read more →

Restaurant365 Receives $88M In Funding Led By ICONIQ Capital Series C funding from Silicon Valley growth equity firm allows Restaurant365 to expand its software capabilities, increase teams. IRVINE, Calif., June 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Restaurant365®, the only cloud-based restaurant accounting software boasting an all-in-one restaurant management solution, has successfully closed an $88 million minority investment led by ICONIQ Capital, a... Read more →