A weekly roundup of must-read L.A. tech investments and acquisitions.
Snapchat
$175 million
Type: Equity
Location: Venice
Investors: Fidelity Investments
Description: Snapchat of Venice has raised $175 million from Boston’s Fidelity Investments at a $16 billion valuation, the same valuation the company raised money at last year, according to a source cited by the Wall Street Journal. This latest Fidelity investment was technically considered part of the company’s initial investment, because Fidelity had been authorized to buy additional shares as part of that earlier purchase. Fidelity, a mutual fund and financial services firm, previously invested in Snapchat in March 2015. The company marked down the value of its previously purchased Snapchat shares by 25 percent in November.
Oro
$12 million
Type: Equity
Location: Beverly Grove
Investor: Highland Europe
Description: Oro will spend its cash infusion on further product development, international sales efforts and adding software partners. This is the company’s first financing event to date. Customer relationship management software is typically used to track communication between prospective customers or existing customers, and sales representatives. Oro’s software is open-sourced, which the company claims gives flexibility and customizability to businesses. The software can either be hosted in the cloud or on client servers.
Eagle Crest Energy
$7.4 million
Type: Equity
Location: Santa Monica
Investors: Undisclosed
Description: Eagle Crest Energy’s funding round was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has a $2 billion plan to turn the abandoned surface mine into an energy storage facility. The mine pits will hold water for downstream electrical power generation during peak electrical demand hours. During low-demand hours the mine will be pumped with water using energy from nearby wind and solar power generators.
Pathmatics
$3 million
Type: Equity
Location: Santa Monica
Investors: Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments led the Series A round with participations from Upfront Ventures, Karlin Ventures, Baroda Ventures, Double M Partners, Daher Capital, Wavemaker Partners and Manatt Venture Fund
Description: Pathmatics makes software that tracks where specific online advertisements are running across various publishing platforms and how brands are spending their online advertising budget.
Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.
