Acorns Grow Inc. ranks No. 11 among the area’s software companies by local employee count, sprouting 20% in the past year to 240 at its decked-out new HQ near UCI—its emergence is one of several notable trends in this week’s tech-focused edition (see our Special Report beginning on page 19).
In terms of influencers, Acorns might be No. 1.
A Wall Street Journal feature last week on the company, whose app rounds up spare change from customers and places the money in an investment account, noted that two more celebs had bought a stake in the $860M-valued fintech, Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez.
They join “an investor base that includes Ashton Kutcher, Bono, and Kevin Durant,” noted the WSJ story, whose details echoed much of an OCBJ feature from June on the Walter and Jeff Cruttenden-founded firm.
Acorns is using the big-name backers to gain an edge in marketing over other emerging fintech competitors, and it’s also “talking to some of them about designing financial products tailored to their interests,” the feature noted.
Some other big-name investors of Acorns: BlackRock, PayPal, and NBCUniversal, which were part of a $105 million fundraising effort in January. Regulatory filings at the time of that deal said the company could still raise an additional $70 million or so as part of its latest funding round.
A-Rod and J-Lo’s investment in the company last week wasn’t disclosed.
Semiconductor makers (see page 4 for a new milestone in emerging chipmaker Syntiant) and a variety of equipment makers dominate much of the employment ranks in OC’s tech community; software companies not so much—just two firms here with more than 1,000 local workers (see page 1).
How to make OC more appealing to software and other upstart tech firms, and the typically younger worker base they attract?
Simple. Make the area “less boring,” said FivePoint Chairman and CEO Emile Haddad, who, along with Gensler co-CEO Andy Cohen and City of Hope President and CEO Robert Stone were part of an OC Forum panel last week: “Future Cities: Essential Elements for Building and Maintaining a World-Class Quality of Life.”
Haddad has said housing sales at his Great Park Neighborhoods continue to defy national trends and remains strong. Expect more than just homes in the near future, as well. FivePoint officials at last week’s event told Business Journal Publisher Richard Reisman the company is working on new elements at the Irvine development that are anything but boring.
Always anything but boring: this month’s annual Bocce Invitational at II Fornaio; the Aug. 15 event benefited the OC chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.
Our Carol Fox chaired the event for the eighth year running; this year it raised close to $60,000, with nearly 200 attendees and a competitive batch of corporate teams.
Rutan & Tucker LLC took top marks at the event this year.
