Several Orange County startups have recently launched crowdfunding campaigns. Here are a few of them:
• Irvine-based Flower and Petal Inc. started a campaign on Indiegogo for its product, “The Flower,” with a goal of raising $50,000 to fund the first-production run. The flower-shaped product’s five petals each have a compartment for on-the-go products, such as lip balm. They can be used while still attached to the flower or taken off to be used on their own. Victoria Brodsky created the company. She said she was inspired to organize all of the products she uses on the go.
• A Newport Beach-based company that provides early-stage entrepreneurs with online mentor-driven content launched a second crowdfunding campaign, this time on Indiegogo. Youngry LLC, an amalgam of “young” and “hungry,” originally launched a Title III crowdfunding campaign on Republic, an offshoot of San Francisco-based AngelList, an equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors that’s owned and operated by New York City-based OpenDeal Inc. Title III is equity crowdfunding for unaccredited investors, individuals with net worths of less than $1 million.
Youngry’s recent campaign is for its first e-commerce product, the Youngry Box, which is a “curated package” designed to help entrepreneurs execute more expediently and efficiently, Chief Executive Ash Kumra said. Items include productivity tools; performance food and drinks, such as high-octane coffee; digital “mastermind sessions” with members of Youngry’s mentor network; and inspirational gear, such as shirts, posters and hats. Donors will get a physical version for $149 or an annual pass to the website for $79.
Youngry prelaunched last summer and “amassed a large national following” before its January website launch, Kumra said. The website’s generated more than 500 pieces of mentorship content and an email list in the hundreds of thousands, and more than 10,000 people have attended Youngry’s events in total, he added. The next step was creating a product to help its audience take “inspired” action on the Youngry content.Â
Kumra said he chose Indiegogo because it “seems to make the most sense for new product launch campaigns.” It’s a limited-edition campaign, so donors will get their boxes before an anticipated fall launch in the marketplace.Â
• Irvine-based Joker Greeting launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter with a $5,000 goal for its “Messy Card” product. That’s a card prefilled with a pack of confetti. The purchaser writes a greeting inside the card, and the recipient gets a “joke” of a mess to clean up when they open it.
New Co-Working Player
A new co-working brand opened its first location in a 20,000-square-foot building in the Jeffrey Business Park in Irvine.
Modi Offices plans to ultimately open offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle and San Diego, as well as in Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul.
Irvine-based Pacific Capital Properties LLC created and manages the Modi Offices brand. The co-working location encompasses 20,000 square feet in Pacific Capital’s headquarters at 930 Roosevelt.
Scott Orrantia, president and chief executive of Pacific Capital, said he chose Irvine for the first Modi space because he wanted to create a brand in the executive office and co-working realms that caters to people doing business in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Irvine is a multicultural, global, vibrant community and represents a gateway city to the Asia-Pacific economy,” he said. “It is also my home. Irvine is the future.”
The co-working building features day offices, “hot desks” and virtual offices, as well as executive offices and a multipurpose event room. Hot desking is an office system where multiple people use a single work area during different time periods.
Modi also offers extended office hours, translation and accounting services, audio and video conferencing facilities and event coordination. It has staffers who are fluent in English, Korean, Mandarin and Japanese.
Rents at Modi start at $250 per month for virtual offices and can exceed $900 for private executive offices.
Bits & Pieces
San Diego-based startup GoShare expanded into Orange County. It connects pickup truck and cargo van drivers with people and businesses who need help moving and delivering large items on demand. Its OC office is at the EvoNexus incubator in Irvine. … Michael Artinger has been named managing director of the Research Translation Group for Applied Innovation, the University of California-Irvine’s innovation institute. The group serves as a liaison for faculty and staff across all UCI departments to develop alliances with industry and ensure that investment in UCI research has “the greatest possible global impact.”
