Venture capital investment to L.A. region falls again; Internet Brands to acquire lawyer search website Avvo; and SpaceX delays commercial crew test flights to latter half of 2018.

Venture Capital Investment to L.A. Region Falls Again

For the second year in a row, the amount of venture capital dollars invested into L.A.-area companies fell, dropping 8.6 percent to $3.2 billion from the year prior, according to a report by Dow Jones VentureSource. The drop in investment comes after a high point in venture capital funding to the region in 2015 when companies raised $4.17 billion, the Business Journal reports

Internet Brands to Acquire Lawyer Search Website Avvo

Internet Brands has reached an agreement to acquire Avvo Inc., an online directory of law firms and legal services, for an undisclosed amount, the Business Journal reports. Internet Brands will add the Seattle-based brand to several legal services search websites it already owns including Lawyers.com and AllLaw.com. The deal is expected to close soon.

SpaceX Delays Commercial Crew Test Flights to Latter Half of 2018

SpaceX has delayed its two commercial crew test flights by four months, according to a new NASA schedule released Jan. 11, raising questions about whether it or Boeing will be able to send astronauts to the International Space Station by the end of the year as previously planned, SpaceNews reports. The updated schedule, which NASA said represents “the most recent publicly releasable dates” for the two companies, lists an uncrewed test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft in August 2018, followed by a crewed test flight in December.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.