LAUNCH
Newport Beach’s credit sharing fintech Float has launched a marketplace that aims to provide users access to flexible personal loan products, such as student loan refinancing and debt consolidation offerings.
Last October, Float launched its iOS app that helps users track their credit scores and share their scores with friends, family and those given permission to view the information. An Android app is available now.
The newly revealed marketplace allows the company to keep the platform free for all users, according to founder Max Ukropina.
Prior to launching Float, Ukropina was a director of business development at Irvine’s Acorns for four years. He also built the platform with Tustin-based web development team UpTech Works.
Float is funded by a handful of fintech veterans, including Acorns co-founders Jeff Cruttenden and Walter Cruttenden and Mike Gleason of Consumer Brands LLC.
Float is also working with Carey Ransom’s newly unveiled OC4 Venture Studio in Costa Mesa.
Intelitics Inc. in Irvine has released its iGaming data analytics platform to help advertisers and publishers attract users to online sports betting, poker, casino and other gambling sites.
The platform offers real-time reporting and tracking on advertising campaigns and products across media channels such as organic search, email marketing and affiliates to help users reduce costs and spend intelligently.
Manually collecting and sorting data can result in delays on average between three weeks and three months before operators of online gambling sites can make solid decisions about the best advertising channels, the company said.
Chief Executive Allan Stone launched the company in 2015, after departing from Costa Mesa-based advertising firm adQuadrant. The company is based at the Industrious coworking space at Park Place.
Stone said after working with operators to deliver player acquisition and constantly facing into the same challenges “in existing tech and data, we realized we were uniquely positioned with the best incentive to bring to market disruptive technology to help our partners grow their businesses.”
Stone leads the firm with Chief Technology Officer Darren Holt.
AdQuadrant’s Chief Executive Warren Jolly and Arjun Jolly, vice president of operations, sit on the board of directors.
Irvine-based semiconductor firm InPlay Technologies unveiled its wireless communication technology last week.
It expects to launch several additional wireless chipset products in June.
The company said its SMULL technology, which stands for Synchronized Multi-node Ultra Low-Latency, offers one-tenth of the latency compared to traditional connectivity technologies such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Latency refers to the time between an action and a result and manifests as lag or wait time between devices. For example, a gamer experiencing high latency might press a button on their controller, but miss their target because the action isn’t communicated in time to the computer running the game.
The technology applies to numerous applications such as controllers, audio and virtual reality headsets and robotic systems, the company said.
“We want developers to rely on the convenience and low latency feature of SMULL technology to deliver truly innovative and competitive wireless products and services to the market,” said Chief Executive Jason Wu.
Three-year-old InPlay was launched by a group from Atmel Corp., a Lake Forest-based publicly traded semiconductor firm that was acquired by Microchip Technology Inc. in 2016.
CORONAVIRUS INNOVATION
Orange-based Replenysh Inc. is offering its routing software to hospitals and other healthcare providers looking to move and track critical materials or personal protective equipment throughout COVID-19.
Replenysh is a marketplace that aims to connect recycling hubs with mills that create products from recycled materials. It also works with large beverage companies, coffee chains and other firms looking to improve recycling efforts, as well as individuals looking to recycle.
The company aims to bring trading activities online to increase profitability for individuals, businesses and recycling centers, while finding the most cost-effective routes for moving materials for all parties involved.
The company also provides a material recovery service for companies. It says it has recovered about 164 million pounds of waste to date.
Other coronavirus-related efforts it has made include purchasing $1 million of PET plastic (recyclable plastic used to package food and other goods) from communities in need and passing it along to buyers, with the best rate and payment terms available.
It is also sending personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer to collection facilities and recycling centers.
Mark Armen founded Replenysh in 2016. The company is backed by Floodgate in Palo Alto and San Francisco’s Kindred Ventures and 122 West Ventures.
What happens when work from home becomes the new normal?
New data from upstart workforce productivity software firm Prodoscore, formed in 2016 and with two rounds funding announced to date, suggests that employees continue to work and, in fact, can boost productivity up to 47% at home.
The Irvine-based firm analyzed 100 million data points from 30,000 active users in the U.S. between March and April and learned that at-home employees tend to favor communication apps, while document access and calendaring apps saw about 20% declines in usage.
Other insights show:
• Telephone calling was up 230%
• CRM system activity was up 176%
• Email activity was up 57%
• Chat messages were up 9%
The survey also revealed most employees continue to work from about 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and productivity spikes a few hours into the work day. The most productive window was between 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on average.
“The common assumption is that remote workers are less productive than those who are in a traditional office. But our ability to capture, integrate, and analyze workplace data shows otherwise,” said Crisantos Hajibrahim, chief product officer at Prodoscore.
He added, the company’s software can “help companies challenge conventional wisdom and optimize for a more efficient future.”
Prodoscore previously stated it would raise a Series A round this fall; an undisclosed round closed mid-May due to high demand for the company’s remote management software.
NEW HIRE
J Allard, co-founder of Xbox, has been named global managing director of Irvine’s Intellivision Entertainment LLC.
Intellivision—short for intelligent television—was a home video game console released in 1979 and sold through 1990. The game console competed with the Atari 2600 system and sold over 3 million consoles.
The new startup launched in late 2018, after acquiring the name and original intellectual property from some of the original company’s employees. It plans to launch a revamped version of the game console, called Amico, this October. It is available for pre-order now.
Allard was recruited to Microsoft in 1991. He served as chief experience and chief technology officer for Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division and delivered more than 40 products including Xbox, Xbox Live and Xbox 360. He holds about 50 patents issued or pending.
Allard said, “Amico’s vision speaks to me, not just because I grew up with Intellivision, but because I grew up playing with my family and friends. Playing together is a timeless concept that I feel the video game industry has largely forgotten. The Intellivision team is deeply committed to bringing back shared fun and affordable gaming for everyone.”
The company raised $2.1 million in 2018, and has another funding deal in the works.
