SpringboardAuto, an Irvine-based online direct lender that connects customers with auto lenders, has doubled its office size and now plans to double its employee count to 100 by the end of the year.
The company wants to hire employees skilled in engineering, product management and quality control, Chief Executive Jim Landy said.
The company said its funded loans tripled in January from the same period a year earlier.
SpringboardAuto provides financing for purchases from dealers or private parties and for refinancing existing loans. The company’s clients are banks and credit unions that want to provide customers with a way to quickly obtain car loans via their cellphones without having to enter branch locations.
It moved this month into a 12,000-square-foot office at the Discovery Business Center in Irvine.
The company, started in 2014, was seeded by management, and in 2016 received Series A funding from Cuna Mutual Group, which works with credit unions, Landy said. Last year, Deutsche Bank provided an $85 million line of credit.
Irvine-based AutoGravity, which provides auto financing through smartphones, has also been growing.
Many entrepreneurial companies in the auto financial space are being seeded here, Landy said.
“Orange County has a lot of innovation with respects to auto lending. There’s a nice base of talent to draw from.”
— Peter J. Brennan
Mini Cam
Costa Mesa tech firm Opkix Inc. is gearing up for the prelaunch of its miniature wearable camera, which can be attached to the side of a pair of sunglasses or even mounted on a surfboard.
The waterproof Opkix One accessory will be available online in April.
The device, aimed at millennials, allows customers to share high-definition videos and photos across social media.
Co-founder and Chief Executive C. Lawrence Greaves said the product will help the next generation share experiences in the moment.
“We are confident that we have hit on the exact social sharing device and platform needed in today’s market,” he said in a statement.
Users can also take advantage of the Opkix mobile app to edit footage and add emojis, special graphics, filters and music before sharing it on platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
Shoppers can choose from various colors, including rose gold, black, gray and red.
Opkix was founded in 2016 and has a 16-member staff.
It raised $5.4 million in a Series A round in September, in addition to the $675,000 it took in during its 2016 seed round, according to the company.
Investors include Quiksilver founder Bob McKnight; Steven Silverstein, owner of Spencer Gifts LLC; Twitter Inc. Managing Director Jennifer Price; and Philadelphia Eagles running back LeGarrette Blount.
— Subrina Hudson
Funding Your Startup
Veteran investor Fred Haney released a new book, “The Fundable Startup: How Disruptive Companies Attract Capital.” It contains eight personal interviews with entrepreneurs, explaining strategies that include how to create initial value in a product or prototype and recruit management to help raise capital.
Haney co-founded and serves as chairman and board member at several startups. He was one of 10 original co-founders of Tech Coast Angels and a founder of Monday Club.
In conjunction with the book launch, Haney developed an event at UCI Cove last week that included a panel of successful entrepreneurs, who discussed dos and don’ts of building a company, plus a fireside chat by Haney.
Panelists were Parcel Pending Inc. Chief Executive Lori Torres, Green Road Capital LLC Chief Executive Vahan Saakian, and Jack Edwards, founder of NovaDigm Therapeutics Inc.
Sponsors included human resources service provider TriNet Group Inc., Square 1 Bank, real estate firm Hughes Marino and law firm Bryan Cave.
— Sherry Hsieh
