FUNDING
Irvine-based baby product subscription box 123 Baby Box has opened a $1 million Series C round.
The fundraising comes after the company partnered with a breast pump distributor, which is expected to increase its potential customer base to nearly 1 million, officials believe.
In February, the company was accepted into the consumer products accelerator, XRC Labs of New York, according to 123 Baby Box founder and CEO Zarina Bahadur.
“The funding will help us take care of the new customers and allow us to scale,” Bahadur told the Business Journal. “It will also help us develop our own baby products down the line.”
Bahadur’s parents immigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan. A University of California, Irvine graduate, she is the first in her family to attend college and earn a master’s degree.
The idea for 123 Baby Box was born in 2020 after Bahadur watched a mother of two infants struggle to buy products in a supermarket.
“I thought, ‘We’re living in the 21st century. Why can’t these products be packed in a box and delivered?’” she said.
Since winning first place in UCI’s New Venture Competition in 2020, 123 Baby Box has grown to five employees and reported sales growth of 30% month-over-month.
Postcard Game Studio, a new video game developer in Irvine, announced March 8 closing a $3.5 million seed round from South Korean video game company Smilegate.
Postcard Game Studio was incorporated in January by Ray Almaden, previously of Sony PlayStation (NYSE: SONY) and Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA), officials said.
The studio, a new tenant of the Irvine Co.’s Innovation Office Park, is developing an “open world, first-person shooter” role-playing game.
Its team includes developers Ariadna Martinez, previously of Guerrilla Games and Glen Darroch from Rockstar Games (Nasdaq: TTWO) and Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), which has substantial operations in Irvine.
“Setting up an independent games studio has been a dream project for some time, providing our incredibly talented team with full creative freedom to design an ambitious video game,” Almaden said in a statement. “Knowing the game we’re going to make alongside the studio and culture we’re building, this will provide us with an opportunity to take our years of experience to the next level, especially with the support of Smilegate, who is helping to achieve our vision.”
Postcard Game Studio marks the second U.S. studio Smilegate has invested in; the first was Los Angeles’ That’s No Moon Entertainment Inc.
HIRING
Huckleberry Labs, developer of an AI-powered parenting app in Irvine, is hiring for a variety of marketing and full-stack development roles.
“The team has been growing a lot, and it’s on track to grow even more as we expand into other categories,” Huckleberry co-founder and CEO Jessica Toh told the Business Journal, adding that the team has recently brought on a director of talent acquisition to assist with the hiring process.
The startup’s growth push is facilitated by its $12.5 million Series A, which closed last November and was led by Morningside Ventures alongside existing investors Spero Ventures and Tamarisc VC.
Toh and her husband, Seng Toh, co-founded Huckleberry as parents in 2017; its team has since grown to 20 U.S. workers and 15 global contract workers.
The app leverages artificial intelligence, combined with the knowledge of pediatric sleep experts and other child development professionals, to “provide guidance as children develop and grow,” Toh said.
Its first product is a sleep tracker for young infants, which has garnered over 1.5 million users around the globe.
The new hires will help the platform expand to new modules, including potty training, positive parenting modules and language, according to Toh.
PRODUCTS
Bluon Inc., an Irvine-based support platform for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning technicians (HVAC), reported that over 30% of all HVAC technicians in the U.S.—nearly 100,000 people—have joined its mobile app as of March.
“This is a pivotal moment in the HVAC-R industry, as technicians have chosen to come together to form a collective voice through Bluon’s platform,” company COO Danica Bunnett said in a statement. “For the first time, technicians have a support system that truly understands them and their needs, resulting in practical tools and resources that positively impact their lives.”
Bluon, founded in 2011, says it launched the first mobile app to aggregate the technical information of over 300,000 HVAC models. It’s part of a larger cluster of HVAC businesses in Orange County, including CoolSys and Service Champions Plumbing, Heating & AC, both in Brea.
In January, Bluon closed a $37 million Series B round led by its existing primary capital partner, the Ecosystem Integrity Fund, and included participation from Canadian growth equity firm MacKinnon, Bennett & Company.
Orange-based pet medication developer Nanoflex reported March 8 that its topical gel to help joint function in animals has been proven effective on humans as well.
Nanoflex, which is marketed in the U.S. as a topical product for horses, hounds and cats, is sold online by California-based horse supplement vendor Grand Meadows for $100.
The gel contains “ultra-deformable sequessome vesicles (UDSV),” which lubricate the cartilage in joints by penetrating several layers of derma, according to the company.
The technology has been clinically proven to help joint tissues in humans in the U.K. and is available as an over-the-counter topical gel in England and Europe under a different brand name.
“I’m not surprised that this is taking off in the U.S.,” Grant Meadows President Nick Hartog said in a statement. “Our company is a resource for horse trainers, and I wanted the U.S. rights to be able to market the product to our audience—mainly horse trainers and large animal veterinarians. However, the trainers and vets are discovering that this product has benefits to humans as well.”
Officials say it has no dangerous side effects.
PARTNERSHIPS
The Ecology Center, an organic farm and education center in San Juan Capistrano, and Santa Ana-based Avana, which says it is the first canned cocktail brand to use USDA-certified organic tequila, partnered this month to benefit the Ecology Center’s Nourishing Neighbors program.
Avana is a new canned cocktail brand founded by Brad Ledford and Austin Fisher, both recent graduates of Chapman University. The company, which crafts “better-for-you alcohol,” started as a research project in Ledford’s molecular biology classes. Its products are sold in various retail stores throughout the county, including Mother’s Market and Total Wine.
“Guided by the belief that we are only healthy when we are all healthy,” Avana is donating $0.50 for each case purchased, Ledford said in a statement.
According to officials, the Nourishing Neighbors program provides local food-insecure families with weekly meals, crafted from the produce grown on its 28-acre regenerative, organic farm. It also helps to stock local food banks, and supports meal distribution at local schools. It was launched in October 2020.
For more on the Ecology Center’s base of notable users, see page 1.
