Silicon Valley

Ah, the Northern California/Southern California "war" has taken a new twist; VC funding and smart people. The LA area is fast becoming the next Silicon Valley (Silicon Beach actually) with venture funding rapidly catching up with the established "North". Who knew so many engineers lived in the beach zone and the entrepreneurial spirit was so prevalent? Maybe California IS big enough for both beach and valley. Go LA.

(Bill Taylor/CEO)

"When Snapchat parent company Snap went public in a $3.4 billion IPO offering in March, it proved yet again what a growing number of venture capitalists have been betting on for months: Los Angeles, the land of Hollywood movie stars and sunkissed beaches, had become a launching pad for start-ups after decades of being a poor relation to Silicon Valley.

Last year venture capitalists plunked down an estimated $4.2 billion to back 213 LA-area tech companies, according to Built in LA, which tracks entrepreneurial activity. This is a 38 percent hike from the amount raised in 2015 and nearly fivefold the $871 million for 100 or so area companies raised in 2012.

For venture capitalists used to seeing a steady stream of Silicon Valley start-up stars with names like Facebook and Netflix, LA now boasts homegrown start-ups, such as home security company Ring and online car-shopping service TrueCar. Others have already rewarded their backers with riches, such as online razor distributor Dollar Shave Club, which was bought last year by Unilever for $1 billion.

"For years the investment activity was mostly in Silicon Valley, because there was a period in which the infrastructure needed to be built for the internet and other technology," says Mark Suster, the managing partner for Santa Monica-based Upfront Ventures. "A lot of that infrastructure now exists, and there's a need for content, commerce and communications for it. And LA is perfectly positioned for all of those."...

Full Story at CNBC