Dec 29, 2021

Minnie Ingersoll is a partner at TenOneTen and host of the LA Venture podcast. Prior to TenOneTen, Minnie was the COO and co-founder of $100M+ Shift.com, an online marketplace for used cars. Minnie started her career as an early product manager at Google. Minnie studied Computer Science at Stanford and has an MBA from HBS. She recently moved back to L.A. after 20+ years in the Bay Area and is excited to be a part of the growing tech ecosystem of Southern California. In her space time, Minnie surfs baby waves and raises baby people. Dec 02 2021 On this episode of LA Venture, Kairos Ventures Chief Research and Development Officer Alex Andrianopoulos talks about his firm’s strategy of investing in the world-changing research coming out of the nation’s top-tier universities. Kairos was founded about six years ago out of the belief that innovation that begins in academia has the power to reshape medicine, climate and the world we live in -- though much of it never sees its full potential realized in the business world. "So, we here at Kairos decided that we need to create a venture fund that invests exclusively on innovation emanating out of research labs in the nation, scientific innovation — both in the physical sciences and the life sciences domain," said Andrianopoulos. Originally focused on the research coming out of Caltech, Pasadena-based Kairos has since spread its focus — and its approximately $300-million investment fund — to a dozen other top educational systems. "If you were to look at our standard of living, even a short 60, 70 years ago, it was nowhere near to what it is today. And that is due to the scientific inventions coming out of research labs [at] universities," said Andrianopoulos. He sees his mission as a VC to invest in big ideas that can most impact the world for the better. His hope is that Kairos’ success can encourage other venture capital firms to steer away from a focus on, say, disrupting the food delivery space or developing an app for dog walking — which can be profitable but not particularly impactful — and toward the world-changing ideas emanating from academia. "Despite the fact that we are talking about mind-blowing scientific inventions — inventions that will definitely change the path of humanity for the better [...] not that many VCs are willing to take a pitch from [these teams]." said Andrianopoulos. In this episode, hear why Andrianopoulos believes VCs should take bigger chances, how he sees research and development being done today and how the peer-review process fits into Kairos’ investment strategy. dot.LA Engagement Intern Joshua Letona contributed to this post. Hear the full episode by clicking on the playhead above, and listen to LA Venture on Apple Podcasts , Stitcher , Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. From Your Site Articles Minnie Ingersoll is a partner at TenOneTen and host of the LA Venture podcast. Prior to TenOneTen, Minnie was the COO and co-founder of $100M+ Shift.com, an online marketplace for used cars. Minnie started her career as an early product manager at Google. Minnie studied Computer Science at Stanford and has an MBA from HBS. She recently moved back to L.A. after 20+ years in the Bay Area and is excited to be a part of the growing tech ecosystem of Southern California. In her space time, Minnie surfs baby waves and raises baby people. Dec 29 2021 Two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis joins this mini-episode of the LA Venture podcast about how he approaches investing, how he uses his social media presence to get involved and why he sees investing as crucial for underrepresented communities. Davis sees social media platforms as the place to have conversations and do research. Investing, he said, has become a way for him to dive deeper into the industries he’s interested in, including video games. "Earlier last year I was like, 'Hey I love gaming. I play video games. I want to start investing in thevideo game space.' Then people start reaching out" and giving him advice, said Davis. "I usually let people pitch their company to me on Twitter and they DM me and I look at the deck, and get back. But sometimes I DM companies and say, ‘hey, I want to get involved’." Davis said he's interested in working with entrepreneurs of color, women and the LBGTQ community, to make sure more people like him – "underdogs" – are represented in the industries they support with their purchases. Davis founded Business Inside the Game (BIG), a management company and global community that brings sports tech and media people together through the summits and panels they host. The venture came out of his experience watching young entrepreneurs struggle to find partners and connections. "For me, it's really about putting your money where your mouth is," he said. Davis said he wants to show people of color can shape big deals for the big brands their communities have embraced–he and business partner Master P bid for ownership of iconic footwear brand Reebok. "If these big corporations are not putting money in the community, but the community is buying all their products, then, that's unfair," said Davis. "I think for us to start having that seat at the table, it allows us to now have the pressure and responsibility to take care of our own." dot.LA Engagement Intern Joshua Letona contributed to this post. Listen to L.A. Venture on Apple Podcasts , Stitcher , Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Read moreShow less Karen Borchgrevink is founder and executive director of LA Tech4Good, a nonprofit at the intersection of social impact and technology. Ther, she creates space for people to engage in big questions around tech's place in society, and to move the needle on tech as a force for social change in an age of big data. Her career has spanned digital transformations in publishing and printing -- from Hollywood to the nonprofit world -- and now focuses on expanding the breadth and depth of using “tech for good.” Dec 29 2021 2022 will be a year of growth and momentum around tech equity and ethics. Independent efforts for racial and gender equity through tech flourished in 2021. Many of us chafe at using the term “DEI” (which stands for “diversity, equity and inclusion”) as it’s become a marketing slogan for some. Instead, we’re designing ways to do things differently so that we can better tackle the ways that tech can be used to enforce inequalities. Already there are some shining examples of efforts underway. Researchers, activists and journalists are looking into how they can use big data and AI to aid in these efforts. For instance, Dr Timnit Gebru, fired from leadership of Google’s ethics in AI team, has launched the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) as a space for independent, community-rooted AI research free from Big Tech’s pervasive influence. DAIR produces Artificial Intelligence (AI) research grounded in eliminating risk and harm from data. They believe in a bottoms-up approach to research, and they make their findings available to and understood by impacted communities, not just a select few. The Data Science for All (DS4A) program at data literacy tech company Correlation One is training 10,000 new data professionals from underrepresented communities within three years and mentors them into positions in the industry. There’s also reason for optimism in the public sector. The city of Los Angeles' data team shares data, including dashboards, maps and graphics, with community groups. The goal, says Community Data Manager Preston Mills, is to“let folks in” – that is, give them a voice in thinking, for example, how city data could better support racial equity. We here at LA Tech4Good are also tapping into a desire among data practitioners for actionable equity, ethics and AI tools. Our Data Equity + Ethics workshop series trains leaders on practical tools, empowering them to propagate fair data practices in their workplaces. These examples offer only a snapshot of what’s in store. As we head into the new year, 2022 promises to be the year we increase equity and ethics in and through technology. Let’s make this the year we work together to create new ways to do that. From Your Site Articles Dec 29 2021 For better or worse (probably worse), Los Angeles is a car city, so it’s perhaps not surprising that most of the innovation in cleantech from the region comes out of the electric vehicle space. But there’s more going on in L.A. beyond EVs. Companies are innovating in everything from construction, to upcycling, to the consumer energy grid to cut carbon and make the future more sustainable. Here’s a quick list of some of the companies we thought made the biggest moves in 2021. Eve Energy Ventures Inc (Xeal) Eve Energy Ventures is an electric vehicle charging company. Also known as “Xeal,” the Venice-based corporation provides charging stations for apartments and workplaces. In October this year, the company announced that it raised $14 million to install upwards of 10,000 new charging stations across the United States. What sets Xeal apart from other charging tech is that their chargers do not require Wi-Fi connectivity between the vehicle and the charger. Instead, the company relies on another emerging technology: blockchain. Users download the app and receive a cryptographic token that shows the location of all Xeal chargers, and then the chargers themselves can authenticate the token without the need for Wi-Fi, which can be hard to come by in concrete parking structures. Enervee Enervee is a company that rates appliances and products based on their energy efficiency. Retailers can then sell products in Enervee’s store where scores appear next to products to try to help consumers make more efficient purchases. The Venice-based software company allows retailers to sell products at discounted rates that are made possible by applying Energy Saving Instant Rebates at the time of purchase. The ultimate idea is to help consumers find the most energy efficient products and buy them at the lowest cost possible, from washing machines to automobiles. This year, Enervee announced a financing partnership with San Francisco-based fintech company One that allows consumers expanded financing options for their energy efficient purchases, mostly focused on lowering monthly payments. The State of California and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) are also participating in the financing program. EVgo Another EV charging company, EVgo made headlines over and over this year for building strategic partnerships with giants like General Motors, Uber, Tesla, and BMW. The company also won grants and funding from various state governments, including California, to expand their charging station offerings. The Los Angeles-based company boasts that 80% of all Californians live within 10 miles of one of their fast chargers, and the company has more than 800 stations nationally across 34 states. Last week, the company announced that their PlugShare app surpassed 1 million downloads in 2021. With electric vehicles forecasted to make up half of all vehicles by the end of the decade, EVgo’s could wind up on this list several more times in coming years. Heliogen Heliogen Inc. makes a concentrated solar energy system that uses a series of mirrors to concentrate sunlight into a small area and produce steam. In addition to heat and power, this year the Pasadena-based company announced a partnership with Bloom Energy Corporation to use their technology to produce green hydrogen energy as well. If that wasn’t enough, Heliogen also unveiled an autonomous robot that helps install and maintain concentrated solar energy plants. With backing from Bill Gates, the company is reportedly planning to go public via a 2-billion-dollar SPAC deal with Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. Connect Homes Connect Homes specializes in prefabricated home building. Unlike traditional construction practices, prefabs offer easier installation and drastically reduce the carbon needed to complete a build. dotLA has previously covered Plant Prefab , but Connect Homes takes the spot on this list for its grand aspirations to actually replace traditional construction techniques. With a former Apple exec, Greg Leung CEO, the Los Angeles-based prefab company is growing at record levels and can now complete an entire house in less than a month. Combined with a focus on cutting edge insulation and energy efficiency, Connect Homes is building houses that cost less carbon up front and save energy after installation as well. From Your Site Articles