LAUNCH
San Juan Capistrano entrepreneur Kevin Strom and business partner Ryu Kawamura have launched an app that helps users make friends and romantic acquaintances across the globe.
WeWorld allows users to filter their search by age range, gender and geographic location and pairs members that swipe right on each other, like the dating app Tinder.
While many users seek international friendships, pen pals and foreign language study partners, a growing number are interested in finding romantic partners, according to Strom.
He added that many countries have a disproportionate number of single men to women, so WeWorld “levels the playing field” in these countries and provides members with more potential matches.
WeWorld has a nearly equal ratio of male to female users and has more than 200,000 downloads.
For 2020, Strom and Kawamura said they are focused on adding a video chat component for face-to-face interactions, and a roulette-style meeting feature for users when they first match.
The team also plans to incorporate an instant translation feature; the app is currently available in English.
Strom is the founder of instant translation company GlobeChat, while Kawamura is the owner of the Fresh Fruit Factory restaurant in Cambodia, which brings travelers together through food.
Computer vision firm DeepSight AI Labs has developed a software platform that uses artificial intelligence, deep learning and proprietary algorithms to improve the surveillance performance of closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) and cameras.
The SuperSecure product can be retrofitted onto existing CCTV systems, and includes features for automation, object detection and tamper resistance, among others.
The software sends five-way alerts via visual, audio, text messaging, email and interactive voice response systems to prevent incidents at a variety of locations.
The company said its product is being piloted in the banking, education, energy, public transportation and law enforcement sectors, and has crowd counting capabilities for use in retail and hospitality environments.
Chief Executive Satya Tadimeti, Chief Business Officer Rakesh Channaiah and Chief Technology Officer Nishant Veer took the product through the Axilor Accelerator in India and Zeroth.ai accelerator in Japan before launch.
The company in late 2018 raised an undisclosed pre-seed round of funding from Animoca Brands Corp. in China and Australia’s Artesian VC.
DeepSight AI is based in Irvine near the Market Place shopping center and has development offices in India.
PERSONNEL MOVES
University Lab Partners in Irvine has added Joshua Britton to its board of advisors.
Britton is chief executive of San Diego-based Debut Biotechnology, a company that has developed a cell-free, continuous manufacturing method that aims to revolutionize the way high-value molecules are created.
Britton studied the way chemicals are created in nature by using enzymes as a visiting scientist at the University of the California-Irvine before launching Debut Biotechnology in 2019.
Since then, the company has raised a $2.6 million seed round led by KdT Ventures, with participation from Better Ventures, FTW Ventures, Springtide Ventures and a local angel investor.
Britton is an Orange County native, but said it was necessary to move his company to San Diego to tap into its talent pool.
Britton plans to give lectures and offer internships through ULP to boost the biotech scene and workforce in Orange County.
Kadenwood LLC, a Newport Beach-based company that plans to create a variety of CBD or cannabidiol-based consumer product lines, has named Cristina Weekes president of its new pet products division.
Weekes previously served as general manager at Central Garden & Pet based in Walnut Creek, and has more than a decade of experience in the pet industry.
Weekes said it was natural to tackle the pet category next, because humans and dogs have a similar endocannabinoid system, which means they interact with CBD in a comparable manner. She added the pet category seems “recession proof” and has grown 3% to 5% overall in the last five years.Â
Kadenwood Pet plans to reveal its first product line for cats and dogs in mid-2020.Â
Kadenwood launched in summer 2019 with its first product line, an assortment of CBD-based performance sports creams, and an oversubscribed $10 million Series A round. The round was led by Todd Davis, board chairman and the founder and former CEO of LifeLock Inc., now NortonLifeLock (Nasdaq: NLOK).Â
The company was profiled in the Sept. 16 print edition of the Business Journal.
FINANCING
Tech Coast Angels’ Orange County chapter has launched its first angel fund, earmarked for $2 million in funding that will be distributed between 8 to 20 companies in 2020.
TCA believes the fund will help area entrepreneurs raise dollars in less time; increase diversification on ROI for participating investors; and allow full-time professionals to participate in investment activities, according to angel investor and fund administrator Jim Pickell.
The TCA OC Fund 2020 is open to all chapter members, and participants will vote on all deals.
“Mobile members” or remote investors can participate in the fund, too. The mobile member category was approved at the beginning of the year and designed for TCA members in need of a flexible schedule due to professional or familial priorities.
Though the mobile member category was created to bring more investors into the fund, it also gives investors the opportunity to participate in screening, due diligence, investments and even sidecar (individual) investments.
TCA counts five chapters in Southern California and has more than 400 members.
The Beall Family Foundation has received a $3 million grant, to be matched with $3 million in local funds, from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.
The capital will be used to purchase scientific lab equipment and create jobs at the new University Lab Partners wet lab incubator, co-located with UCI Beall Applied Innovation at UCI Research Park.
The biotech incubator is the first of its kind in Orange County, and provides members with access to a tissue culture lab for growing animal and plant cells in a climate-controlled environment; a freezer farm for long-term research sample storage; and a microscopy and spectroscopy (radiation) area, among others uses.
UCI-spinoff Aracari Biosciences; Novoheart Holdings, a publicly traded biotech company in Canada; and Stan Rowe’s NXT Biomedical incubator are the first residents at ULP.
Another 10 or so companies are expected to move in the next few months. The incubator has room to accommodate up to 30 companies.
ULP is also leading a workforce development program to bridge the gap between highly trained workers and the ever-growing demand for workers in the life sciences and biotech industries in Orange County.
ULP was detailed in the Dec. 23 print edition of the Business Journal. It plans to host a grand opening celebration on Feb. 27.
