L. A. is getting a star turn, with the most iconic of its local startups — Snap — on the cusp of going public. Locals expect much more than an endless string of headlines about its IPO performance, too. “The initial performance of the stock will be almost irrelevant,” says Paul Bricault, cofounder of the L. A.-based accelerator and seed-stage venture fund Amplify . “The IPO will shine a bigger spotlight on L. A. tech, and it will likely spin out more Snap execs as founders of new startups over time — as well as likely inject more capital into angel funding of startups in L. A.”
Bricault has reason for optimism. Five-year-old Amplify just closed its third fund with $10 million, and it could use new, promising startups to fund, as well as more capital sloshing around L. A. for follow-on funding. Investing $12.6 million across its first two funds, Amplify has already invested in 50 startups. Fourteen have raised a Series A round, five have raised a Series B round, and ten have subsequently been shut down.
Amplify has nurtured almost all of them at its campus in Venice, Ca.
