LAUNCH
UCI Applied Innovation Wayfinder startup Brevvie kicked off its pilot program last week to provide tool and product rentals to residents of high-density housing.
Brevvie allows residents to rent items like tents, coolers, and inflatable mattresses, rather than buying and storing them (see story, front page).
Brevvie’s product lockers have been installed in The George apartments in Anaheim and the Runway Apartments in Playa Vista. Company founder Kristine Smith, an Irvine Co. alum, said the company could seek funding as soon as next month.
She hopes to have Brevvie installed in 20 Orange County apartment complexes this year.
Irvine-based real estate intelligence company Alcazar began a new offering last week with Tustin-based mortgage lender Home Loan Enterprise.
Alcazar acts as a virtual real estate adviser, analyzing and providing advice on how to maximize real estate holdings, such as when to refinance or consolidate loans, when to sell and when it’s better to buy or rent.
Home Loan Enterprise uploaded home data from about 5,000 clients for the initial pilot, and Alcazar has plans to roll out the service to up to 10 additional mortgage companies this quarter.
Founder Jaideep Singh said the software can be used by mortgage companies or individuals who receive monthly emails with updates about their properties.
Alcazar has been bootstrapped by Singh and co-founder Thysy Trinh, but the company may seek outside funding next month.
SPACE
Irvine-based AI chipmaker Syntiant Corp. has moved into an office in the Irvine Business Center complex, in the Spectrum area of the city.
The company has taken 17,000 square feet of space at 7555 Irvine Center Drive, which Chief Executive Kurt Busch said will allow the company to grow to over 100 people.
Syntiant currently has 35 employees, but is expecting to grow to over 60 by the end of this year. Busch said Irvine was the best location choice for Syntiant’s collection of engineers and other staff; the company’s team includes former executives of area firms Broadcom Inc., Mindspeed Technologies Inc. and Lantronix Inc.
Last week, the company was one of five to graduate from the EvoNexus business incubator in Irvine, at UCI Research Park.
Syntiant raised $25 million in Series B funding in October in a round led by Microsoft’s M12.
NEW HIRES
Irvine-based Qmerit Inc. has brought on Mark Dalisera as their new executive vice president of sales. Dalisera was previously the national sales director for Staples Business Advantage.
The cloud-based supply chain solutions company launched in 2015 as a spinoff from an undisclosed Fortune 500 facility services company. Qmerit received $11.8 million in venture capital financing in 2018, with El Segundo-based Strandview Capital leading the investment.
“It’s exciting to be part of such a focused organization with so much talent,” said Dalisera. “Qmerit is tackling and succeeding in something no one has been able to accomplish in the past.”
PARTNERSHIPS
Orange-based technology company GrandPad has announced a venture with Omaha-based Home Instead Inc., franchiser of the Home Instead Senior Care network, the world’s largest provider of in-home senior care.
GrandPad, formed in 2014, makes easy-to-use computer tablets tailored to the needs of the senior community.
GrandPad Chief Executive Scott Lien said the partnership will allow Home Instead care providers to use GrandPad technology to enhance in-home care, through things like memory games, and video calling between friends and family with seniors and caregivers.
As part of the deal, Home Instead has invested in GrandPad, the details of which haven’t been released, but Lien called it “significant.”
Jeff Huber, president and chief executive of Home Instead, has been added to the GrandPad board of directors.
Newport-Beach based job site Beeya partnered with musician Chance the Rapper’s nonprofit SocialWorks for Taste for the Homeless, a Chicago-based event last weekend to help homeless and underemployed residents find work.
Chief Executive Ladan Davia said Beeya had agreements in place with companies such as Diamond Resorts to interview candidates. Davia said she believes the event is replicable in other places, including Orange County.
“People sometimes think [in] Orange County, everyone has so much money and is so well connected,” she said. “The truth is, there are a lot of people here that need help.”
Beeya helps aggregate job postings from other sites such as LinkedIn and ZipRecruiter at one website.
Davia said they currently have 16,000 active users, and millions of job listings.
The company raised a seed round in 2016, and is gearing up for a Series A later this year.
UCI Applied Innovation Wayfinder startup iNK Digital Networking was selected to join the Veteran Founder Lab Program, a three-month accelerator for military veteran-led startups, in partnership with the Founder Institute.
Founder and Chief Executive Jon Shower served in the U.S. Marine Corps before becoming an entrepreneur. He said after attending networking events he felt as though he wasn’t able to make real connections, and he wanted to bridge the online world with the still-widely used business card.
Shower describes iNK as “if Meetup, LinkedIn and the business card had a child.”
The app is still in beta, but he said there have been more than 8,000 connections made on the platform, and they have seen growth of roughly 30% month over month.
The goal of the Veteran Lab incubator is to get iNK funded at the end of 90 days. The Irvine-based company raised a family and friends round of $320,000 in 2017, and is seeking additional investment.
