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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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You’ve Got a Friend in Birds of a Feather App

A Newport Beach-based startup recently launched an app called Birds of a Feather that enables people to find others with similar interests to join in activities.

Omar Nazel of Next Man Up developed the app in honor of his mother, Dean Nazel, who was looking to connect with people with common interests, he said. The app enables anyone to post a planned activity, such as a trip to the movies or a baseball game, and see who in the same geographic area spontaneously wants to join them.

It’s up to the initiator of the activity to decide who to pick to join them. Afterward, both parties can rate each other and the enjoyment of the experience.

Nazel is quick to point out that the app isn’t for dating but for people to find friends who enjoy similar activities.

“When it comes down to it, from a phone, we can order food or a car or a hotel,” he said. “Now with my app, you can order a friend.”

Future plans include adding a verification program that would allow users to pay about $20 to verify themselves in order to enhance safety. Ads are also an option down the road, Nazel said.

He’s invested $55,000 so far and is looking for a strategic partner who specializes in online security and scaling tech startups. Specifically, he’s looking for a $97,000 investment for 38% of the company and a $100,000 line of credit.  

Youngry Tour Closes

Entrepreneur Ash Kumra closed out an eight-city tour on Sept. 26 at The Cove to promote Youngry, a startup he co-founded.

Youngry is a media platform scheduled to launch in November with news, content and e-commerce that celebrates the entrepreneurial lifestyle and spirit.

The event included several of Kumra’s investors and advisers, including Los Angeles-based ViSalus Chief Executive, entrepreneur and author Ryan Blair, whom Kumra calls his top mentor, and investor and entrepreneur Kumar Arora, who’s on CNBC entrepreneurial show “Cleveland Hustles.”

“Youngry is creating a platform that doesn’t exist today,” Arora said. “I hope Youngry will become a national outlet for young entrepreneurs to have a place to go.”

Kumra created a Title III equity crowd-funding campaign for unaccredited investors with net worths of less than $1 million to buy stakes in startups.

The campaign will end on Oct. 14. He’s raised more than $33,000 of his $50,000 goal.

Youngry was founded in June by Kumra and Ankur Garg, a fitness entrepreneur who’s currently chief strategy officer of Jersey City-based supplement marketer Shredz. Kumra is a serial entrepreneur who’s twice been recognized by the White House as an entrepreneur who’s making an impact.

Kumra also launched a new KUCI radio show on Sept. 29 called “Entrepreneur Nation” that airs at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays.

New Cove Resident

A developer of technology for managing diabetes has moved into The Cove, the physical space of the University of California-Irvine’s innovation institute.

Capillary Biomedical Inc. is a spin out of the Artificial Pancreas Center at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. It’s based in Irvine for a few reasons, including that President and Chief Executive Paul Strasma lives there.

“Orange County is a great place to build a medical device company,” Strasma said. “The engineers I wanted to work with are all based here, as well, so it makes logistical sense for us.”

Capillary is collaborating with the medical college in its research, supported by more than $1.8 million from New York City-based JDRF, a global organization funding Type 1 diabetes research, and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

More than 500,000 people with diabetes in the U.S. who use what’s known as CSII pump therapy are required to change their insulin infusion catheters every two to three days. Capillary has licensed technology from Thomas Jefferson University and, working with the school, is developing catheters that improve the predictability of insulin dosing, which would enable patients to use one catheter for seven or more days. The ultimate goal is to develop a fully implantable, automated insulin delivery system.

Bits & Pieces

Also new to The Cove is Executive Next Practices Institute, which is exploring new ways of creating “intrapreneurship” at mid- to large-cap companies, given the accelerating pace of disruption in the marketplace, said President and Chief Executive Scott Hamilton. … Costa Mesa-based IOC Ventures has invested a confidential amount in The Cove-based Datavia Systems, according to IOC founder Evan Jafa. The money will be used for development of Datavia’s “high-performance” computing system, said Chief Technology Officer Sheldon Smilo. Datavia is developing hardware control platforms for big data management. … SetSchedule has expanded into Nevada, Utah and Texas, bringing its reach to six states. It’s a tech-based marketing firm that connects real estate agents with homeowners, buyers and investors.

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