A weekly roundup of must-read L.A. tech investments and acquisitions.
Super League Gaming
$4.5 million
Type: Equity
Location: Santa Monica
Investor: Cinemark USA Inc. and SoftBank Group Corp.
Description: Super League Gaming runs recreational video-game league events at movie theaters. Cinemark, AMC, Regal and iPic theaters will be hosting its tournaments in 34 cities nationwide starting next month. Players pay an $80 entry fee for a season of play. For that, they get a jersey and the chance to win a piece of $15,000 in cash prizes. Super League splits ticketing revenue with theaters.
Related: Pushing Buttons
Mytable (formerly Rumr)
$1.78 million
Type: Equity
Location: Mar Vista
Investors: Undisclosed
Description: Mytable is an online marketplace and app for ordering home-cooked meals from your neighbors’ kitchens. The company recently pivoted to the model. It raised $800,000 in 2013 from investors Khosla, Google Ventures and Greycroft Partners for development of an anonymous messaging app named Rumr.
Fandango
$71 Million
Type: Acquisition
Location: West Los Angeles
Acquired Company: Ingresso.com
Description: Fandango will buy Ingresso from Brazilian e-commerce company B2W Companhia Digital, which wanted to offload its ticketing subsidiary to focus on other businesses. In addition to selling movie tickets, Ingresso sells tickets to concerts, soccer games and cultural events. The company has 6 million registered customers and does all its business in Brazil. The acquisition is subject to regulatory review and is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The purchase of Ingresso is Fandango’s first outside the United States.
Related: Fandango to Buy Brazilian Online Ticket Seller for $71 Million
AlphaDraft
Undisclosed
Type: Acquisition
Location: Venice
Buyer: FanDuel
Description: E-sports fantasy league AlphaDraft launched nine months ago and this summer began shopping itself to fantasy sports companies for as much as $25 million, making overtures to both FanDuel of New York and Boston’s DraftKings. Co-founder and Chief Executive Todd Peterson declined to comment on the terms of the acquisition, which Re/code reported came at less than asking price. The company raised a $5 million seed round in May led by Metamorphic Ventures of New York and 10 other investors, including accelerator Amplify.LA, former NBA Commissioner David Stern and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.
Related: Facing Influx of Competition, AlphaDraft Sells to FanDuel
Jukin
Undisclosed
Type: Acquisition
Location: Culver City
Acquired Company: People Are Awesome
Description: Viral video library Jukin purchased People Are Awesome, a YouTube channel that makes video compilations of people doing sensational things, often extreme sports. Jukin, which owns, manages and licenses a library of more than 20,000 viral videos, saw the acquisition of London’s People Are Awesome as a way to enhance its original content efforts.
Related: Demand Media, Jukin Buy Indie Content Creators
Demand Media
Undisclosed
Type: Acquisition
Location: Santa Monica
Acquired Company: Leaf.tv
Description: Demand’s purchase of Leaf.tv, a lifestyle video content creator, interrupts a string of spinouts over the last year. Demand has been trying to restructure itself after years of declining profits and a shrinking market capitalization. The company has struggled to boost its advertising rates. Stylized do-it-yourself content like that which Leaf.tv makes is an effort to change that.
Related: Demand Media, Jukin Buy Indie Content Creators
Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.
