FINANCING
Cybersecurity membership platform Cyvatar of Irvine has raised an additional $9 million, bringing its total Series A round to $12 million.
The latest tranche was led by ATX Venture Partners with participation from existing customer Cortec and previous investor Bill Wood Ventures.
The funding comes at a time of heightened awareness around security risks due to increasing ransomware and phishing attacks in addition to more remote employees using personal devices for work purposes, the company said.
Cyvatar’s platform was designed to help small and mid-sized businesses manage, implement and maintain the right cybersecurity tools for their organization. Subscription plans start at $25 per employee per month.
“After implementing just three Cyvatar solutions, our security confidence is a lot stronger than it was before and our company as a whole is far more secure,” Brent Fanguy, vice president of technology at Cortec, said in a statement.
“We applaud Cyvatar for pricing by employee count because it’s so easy to calculate and fit into our budget—no counting servers or workstations, which is a nightmare. Cyvatar has delivered consistent value from our security spend, and we look forward to continuing to grow our partnership with them.”
Cyvatar was founded in 2019 by Corey White, the former chief experience officer of BlackBerry Cylance, and Craig Goodwin, the previous chief trust and risk officer at Fujitsu.
Los Sundays Tequila recently raised $3.5 million in a Series A round of financing with participation from CircleUp Growth Partners and existing investors Ketch Ventures and Room9.
The Costa Mesa brand hit stores across California in 2018. It began working with beverage distributor Southern Glazer’s at the beginning of 2021, and quickly expanded to 29 additional states. It sells through more than 900 retail locations.
This summer, the company plans to add tequila seltzers to its main line of tequila, made from 100% Blue Weber Agave, in Coconut, Blanco and Reposado expressions.
The brand was founded in 2017 with the aim to attract a younger female demographic through modern digital marketing and playful merchandise, according to Chief Executive Mitchell Hayes.
“The tequila industry has been traditionally dominated with more serious, mature, and masculine advertising, and we felt that there was an opportunity to introduce a high-quality brand with a more inclusive and relatable approach to the category and its growing consumer base,” Hayes said.
Hayes, the founder of Vacancy Coffee Bar in Newport Beach, was previously marketing director of surf apparel company Rusty North America.
LAUNCH
Orange-based Everything Food Inc. this month unveiled its FoodFarmacy software and meal service for hospitals and health institutions.
The platform was designed to help health providers improve patient health through better nutrition; the service provides chef-prepared meals to patients supported by Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance or community service programs.
“The Everything Food team has been on a multi-year journey to develop the most comprehensive and customizable food platform on the market to improve overall health and wellbeing,” Chief Executive Peter Balsells said.
“As we dove deeper, we realized our technology could help on multiple levels—not just from a medical standpoint with the healthcare industry, but also from an educational and community perspective. Our vision is to include local businesses like hospitals, restaurants and produce distributors as part of the solution to improve community health.”
The company also developed the EverythingFood.io database, which provides facts on ingredients and nutrition levels, as well as how food was raised, grown or processed.
The database goes hand in hand with a newly launched shopping tool, available at Mapmycart.com, that helps consumers navigate foods while grocery shopping.
Balsells and Chief Technology Officer Dan Doble founded Everything Food in 2012. Balsells was previously the chief executive of Foothill Ranch-based Bal Seal Engineering, maker of an electrical connector used in implantable medical devices, in addition to founder of auto shop software maker EnterpriseDNA.
Black Yeti Beverage of Walnut, is partnering with Hunt- ington Beach’s only distillery, Surf City Still Works, to bottle its cola-bourbon beverage.
The canned cocktail, called Grisly’s Cosmic Black, is made from gourmet cola and 2-year-aged bourbon, has zero sugar and is only 120 calories per can.
It will hit stores in July and will be distributed throughout California by Miami-based Park Street.
“We’re really approaching this from an elevated cola perspective,” said co-founder Eric Trueheart.
“A lot of people are trying to recreate the $18 bar cocktail experience in a can, but we knew the can is part of the experience of a ‘canned cocktail.’ It’s welcoming and friendly and delicious.”
Trueheart, a former writer for Nickelodeon cartoon “Invader Zim,” and Samantha Franklin, bassist of punk rock band The Holograms, developed the canned cocktail while experimenting in their kitchen during the pandemic and sought to find a distillery partner to make their passion project a reality.
Surf City Still Works, founded in 2017, has its own line of hard seltzers and canned cocktails in addition to original spirits. The fast-growing brand has made its way into over 350 retail doors and restaurants.
NEW HIRES
Syxsense Inc., an Aliso Viejo-based security software maker, recently named Dave Taylor as chief marketing officer.
Taylor was previously vice president of marketing at WatchGuard Technologies and served as a founding member of LANDesk Software, now part of Ivanti.
He joins Syxsense following a $6 million round of financing last month. The round brings the company’s total funds to about $8 million since its 2012 launch; backers include Oquirrh Ventures, Origami Capital Partners and Signal Peak.
“Our already strong team and our simple, powerful solution have driven our growth to this point. We’re excited to accelerate going forward,” Chief Executive Ashley Leonard said.
Syxsense is ramping marketing as part of efforts to scale its software, which helps customers reduce infrastructure management costs by combining IT operations management, patch management and security vulnerability management into a single cloud-based tool.
Energy management platform Zen Ecosystems of Newport Beach this month named Wannie Park as chief executive.
Park was most recently vice president of corporate business development at Inspire Energy. He also served as a senior vice president of business development at CEIVA Energy.
Park’s “passionate focus on sustainability is driving the partnerships that support Zen’s mission of providing businesses with the tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Chairman Gerd Goette, who is a managing partner of Lupine Growth Advisors and who previously spent 18 years at Siemens Venture Capital.
Zen Ecosystems is the developer of cloud-based platform Zen HQ, which manages HVAC, lighting and energy consumption across multi-site business operations. It has also created a consumer-facing device, called Zen Thermometer.
