AQUISITION
Irvine-based aviation group purchasing company Aviaa has bought another purchasing business based in Europe, Convolus. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.
With the announcement, Aviaa is adding over 150 new aircraft to its membership, bringing the total to nearly 500. It will also add a European office in Munich, Germany, bringing the total to four, including its Irvine headquarters.
Company Chief Executive Gillian Hayes said the two organizations were very similar, but Convolus was focused on the European market, while Aviaa operates globally.
“We just thought, if we’re going to really build out the European part of our network as quickly as possible it makes much more sense to buy them than to compete with them,” said Hayes, who is also a professor of informatics at University of California-Irvine.
Irena Deville, co-founder and chief executive of Convolus, will become the managing director, Europe and Middle East for Aviaa.
Aviaa launched in 2017, and operated out of UCI Applied Innovation’s The Cove before moving into a 3,600-square-foot office in Irvine’s Park Place last year (see story, page 1).
INCUBATORS
Business accelerator OCTANe has released its 2018 Impact Report. Last year, out of 380 applicants, 44 startups completed OCTANe’s LaunchPad SBDC process. On average, 86% of LaunchPad companies received funding, and program alumni collectively raised $297 million in capital in 2018.
JC Ruffalo, director of LaunchPad SBDC and investor relations, said the number of applicants and companies to complete LaunchPad increased from the previous year, and the amount of capital raised by program alumni increased significantly, up from $225 million in 2017.
“For 2019, we’re trying to increase the number of applicants because we’re seeing more tech expansion happening in SoCal,” he said. “We’re expanding internally to be able to accommodate seeing more companies.”
OCTANe is currently seeking new technology and life sciences companies for the program.
Last month, OCTANe announced that its LaunchPad accelerator is moving to the Five Point Gateway office campus in Irvine in the next few months. Details of the move are still being finalized. OCTANe’s main office will remain based in Aliso Viejo.
LAUNCH
Costa-Mesa based startup Opkix Inc. this week began sales of OpkixOne, a wireless, wearable video camera.
OpkixOne includes a pair of cameras and a small microcomputer to store, charge and transfer footage. The cameras can be mounted on wearables such as glasses or rings and pair with a phone-based video editing app.
Chief Executive C. Lawrence Greaves said he and his co-founders were unhappy with the bulky and time consuming wearable cameras available which were causing “an emotional barrier between them and the subject.”
“We were spending most of our time recording events instead of being engaged,” he said. “We wanted to have something that was a complex piece of technology from its abilities, but we wanted to make it as easy to use as possible.”
The company started in 2016, and has raised $11.8 million, including a $5.7 million Series B round last August from private investors including Bob McKnight, founder and former chief executive of Quiksilver, and Travis Brasher and John Kruger, founders of golf-focused apparel company TravisMathew, which was acquired by Callaway Golf Co. in 2017 for $125 million.
Opkix is currently raising a Series C round.
OpkixOne is available on the company’s website, and is priced starting at $295.
Gaming fintech startup Blast announced last week that gamers on its platform have completed over a million missions and earned more than $500,000 in payouts since it began in August.
Players use the Blast game discovery platform to play games such as “Words with Friends” or “Pocket Gem” and complete missions with a payout of $.50 and $1.00 each.
Walter Cruttenden, Blast founder and chief executive, said 70% of Americans don’t have enough money saved to cover a $400 emergency, which leaves them vulnerable to unexpected financial burdens.
Blast was founded by the team behind Irvine microinvesting app Acorns Grow Inc., which earlier this month raised an additional $105 million in funding.
Cruttenden is also the founder and former chief executive of what is now Newport Beach-based Roth Capital Partners LLC.
“Blast, Acorns, all the companies we’ve been involved with, we’re trying to develop sources of micro-income that can help people build that balance,” he said. “You can preach to people all you want [about saving], but what they really need is a little extra income.”
Blast raised $12 million last year in two rounds, and is looking to complete another round this spring.
PARTNERSHIPS
Irvine-based Cie Digital Labs this week announced a partnership with Los Angeles-based early-stage venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners. The companies will work to help fund and accelerate startups, with Cie providing strategic and operational expertise, and Wavemaker providing funding.
Cie Chief Executive Anderee Berengian said the two companies had mutual goals and would work together collaboratively.
“Wavemaker invests in early-stage companies and has had a great track record of doing so,” he said in an email. “They previously invested in our companies and we had a great relationship with them.”
Wavemaker, part of the Draper Venture Network, has previously invested in Cie-backed startups, most recently leading a $5.2 million Series A round for Titan School Solutions, a child nutrition services provider for K-12 school districts.
Wavemaker has also invested in other Cie portfolio startups, including native advertising platform Nativo Inc., and mobile tire-installation company ASAP Tire.
Dana Point-based digital asset management platform Edlore is working with Philadelphia-based Internet of Things solutions provider NextHelm. Edlore’s technology enables organizations to transform PDF files into a 3D format accessible to field technicians and engineers from any device.
Javid Vahid, Edlore founder and president, said technicians can simply scan a QR code and see a 3D version of a machine or device, including manuals and notes on when a part was last repaired or replaced. Users can also order new parts, chat with experts, watch maintenance videos and use a troubleshooting wizard to diagnose likely issues using the application.
With the NextHelm partnership, Edlore’s 3D platform will be accessible via wearable tech such as smart glasses and voice-enabled headsets, as well as smartphones and laptops.
Edlore, which has been self-funded to this point, started in 2016 and has had contracts with Hermanson Construction and the city of San Diego, Vahid said.
