With the fourth annual Vator Splash LA just three days away (buy your tickets here!), we wanted to take some time to thank our sponsors who are helping us put the event together. We couldn't do it without them!
Check out our stellar agenda with Jessica Alba, Brian Lee (founders of The Honest Company), and Michael Heyward (Founder of Whisper) and so many more top-notch entrepreneurs and investors.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (@wilsonsonsin) is a provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide. Founded in 1961, it now advises more than 300 public enterprises and 3,000 private companies and represents more companies that receive venture financing than any other law firm in the United States.
WSCR has been our title sponsor in LA for two years in a row!
Events.com (@FindMoreDoMore) is a provider of cloud-based applications for event and participant management.
Founded in 2010, the company partners with organizers to improve the event management process and to enable them to better connection with attendees.
KPMG (@KPMG) is an audit, tax and advisory firm which has145,000 professionals, including more than 8,000 partners, in 152 countries.
The firm has been around, in some capacity since 1870, but has been known as KPMG since 1987, when Peat Marwick joined with Klynveld Main Goerdeler.
The firm has been a sponsor of Vator Splash events for the past four years.
Braintree (@braintree) is an e-commerce and m-commerce platform that allows for single click payments. It provides merchants with a secure payment gateway, merchant account, recurring billing and credit card storage.
Founded in 2007, Braintree raised a total of $70 million in funding before being purchased by eBay for $800 million last year.
Braintree has been a sponsor of Vator Splash sponsor for three years.
PayPal (@PayPal) is an e-commerce business, which allows payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. The company was purchased by eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002.
It is famous "PayPal Mafia," a group of entrepreneurs and angel investors who were founders or early employees of the company who went on to fuel the next-generation of startups.
They include Peter Thiel, the former CEO of PayPal, who was Facebook's first investor, and is Managing Partner at The Founders Fund. And David Sacks, founder and CEO of Yammer, which was bought by Microsoft for $1.2 billion, in cash, in 2012.
PayPal has been a sponsor of Vator Splash LA for three years.
Javelin Venture Partners is a seed- and early-stage venture firm, focused on digital media, e-commerce, mobile and healthcare IT.
Founded in 2008 by Jed Katz and Noah Doyle, it has raised three funds: $75 million in 2008, $105 million for Fund II, and $125 million for its Javelin Venture Partners Fund III last year. The firm was one of first investors in Thumbtack.com, the winner of our very first Vator startup competition and event, all the way back in October 2009.
Javelin has sponsored our Vator Splash events for four years running.
TrueCar (@TrueCar) provides customers with market information on new and used car transactions and by supplies an online communications platform, through which dealers and consumers can communicate with each other. The point is to help dealers move their cars quicker, and to get customers the best deals on said cars.
Founded in 2005, the company raised a total of $167 million in funding before going public in May.
This is the first year that TrueCar is sponsoring our event.
CBRE (@CBRE) is a commercial real estate services firm serving owners, investors and occupiers. Founded in 2006, and headquarters in LA, it has around 44,000 employees and 300 offices worldwide.
The company was ranked at 387 in the Fortune 500 in 2013, making it the highest-ranked rel estate company on the list.
This is the first year that CBRE is coming on a sponsor for Vator Splash LA.
Wavemaker Partners, formerly Siemer Ventures, is a venture capital firm that focuses on late seed stage opportunities in B2B and B2C startups.
The firm has raised three funds: an $8 million fund, a $28 million second fund raised in 2011 and a $45 million early stage venture fund called stage Wavemaker Fund III. When its third fund fully closes, it will give Wavelength a total of $81 million raised.
This is the first year that Wavemaker is sponsoring Vator Splash LA.
Next are out rosé sponsors, Scrubbed, Stratpoint Technologies, EVENT Live, AdSemble and Rackspace:
Scrubbed (@scrubbednet) is a professional accounting services company. Its serviced include accounting setup, general ledger management. financial statement preparation and analysis, dashboard reports, billing and collection management, and payroll accounting.
This the second year that Scrubbed will be a sponsor of Vator Splash LA.
Stratpoint Technologies (@stratpoint) offers web and mobile application solutions, business and IT consulting.
Founded in 1998, its services include outsourced software development, an assigned software team and software engineering service.
Stratpoint has now been a sponsor of Vator Splash for two years.
EVENT Live is a company that allows event organizers to build a custom mobile app, and provides a private social network where attendees can interact with one another. Event Live then curates and delivers these events to consumers based on their geography, interest and social influences.
Founded in 2013, and based in Tampa, Florida, the company has not raised any money and operates on current cash flow.
AdSemble (@AdSembleTweets) is an online marketplace for buying & selling advertising space.
Founded in 2007, and located in Los Gatos, California, AdSemble's name is a mix of the words "Assemble," as in assembling every digital signage screen together in one place, and "Ad" as in advertisement.
Rackspace (@Rackspace) is a hybrid cloud company, as well as the founder of OpenStack, the open-source operating system for the cloud.
The company delivers fit infrastructure for IT needs, leveraging a product portfolio that allows workloads to run where they perform best, whether on the public cloud, private cloud, dedicated servers, or a combination of platforms.
The San Antonio-based Rackspace went public in 2008.
Bixel Exchange (@BixelExchange) is a partnership with the Los Angeles Small Business Development Center Network. It was developed by the SBDC and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
It connects technology entrepreneurs with mentors and business advisers, gives gives access to L.A.'s business and political world, and offers a variety of events and workshops.
The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce (@LAAreaChamber) is an organization whose goal is to omprove the business climate and quality of life in the Los Angeles community, through advocacy, networking and business development programs.
It partnered with the Los Angeles Small Business Development Center Network to create the Bixel Network to promote entrepreunership and technology.
Bread & Butter Wines (@breadbutterwine) is a winery located in Napa Valley. It makes chardonnay, pinot noir and riesling.
The company has been a sponsor of Splash for four years.
Toro Ride (@ToroRide) is an on-demand car service that offers black cars and SUVs, as well as the luxury and exotics cars, such as Bentley, Maybach and Rolls-Royce.
It is currently available in Los Angeles, with San Diego and San Francisco coming soon.
Feel free to contact any of our sponsors on Twitter to thank them for making Vator Splash possible!
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Tara Roth
Angel group/VC
Joined Vator on
Invests in early-stage tech companies with incredible potential, managed by teams of energetic, trustworthy and capable leaders. Key focus areas include digital media, Internet commerce, mobile and healthcare IT. Javelin looks for advanced bleeding-edge innovations, where the addressable market size is substantial and strong competitive advantages exist. A typical investment is between $1 to $4 million, with reserves for follow-on investments. In addition, Javelin also considers smaller seed investments for unique companies just getting started. Located in downtown San Francisco, while invests throughout the world. Javelin is a very active investor with a long-term outlook and the objective of creating substantial value.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
EVENT Live allows event organizers to build a customized mobile community for their attendees in minutes, providing a private social network where attendees can interact with one another and event organizers as well as access up to the minute details.
Event Live then curates and delivers these events* to consumers based on their geography, interest and social influences.
* Events can be marked as public or private. Only events marked as public are listed in the Event Live directory.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Affectionately called AdSemble, the company's name is a play on the words, "Assemble" as in assembling every digital signage screen together in one place and "Ad" as in advertisement.
Today, AdSemble combines cutting-edge technology with unparalleled customer service and expert advice to seamlessly connect advertisers across the globe with instant access to outdoor advertising space on digital signage screens.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
TrueCar, Inc. is an online automotive information and communications platform focused on creating a better car buying experience for dealers and consumers. Consumers want a hassle-free car buying experience and dealers want high-quality sales velocity. TrueCar helps achieve these goals by providing unbiased market information on new car transactions and by supplying an online communications platform through which dealers and consumers can communicate with each other. TrueCar’s market-based information provides both consumers and dealers with an accurate and comprehensive understanding of what others actually paid recently for similar vehicles, both locally and nationally. TrueCar’s communications platform then allows informed, ready-to-buy consumers to communicate directly with participating dealers. Some of the nation’s largest and most well respected membership and service organizations rely on websites powered by TrueCar to help educate their members and customers who are in the automotive market. TrueCar is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, and has offices in San Francisco, CA, and Austin, TX. After experiencing dramatic growth since 2006, TrueCar is developing a suite of products and services centered on radical clarity through the comprehensive analysis of market data and information. TrueCar’s participating dealer partners have sold over 500,000 new vehicles to TrueCar users nationwide.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Events.com is a mobile-first, socially-focused suite of cloud-based applications that provides an ideal solution for event organizers and event goers alike. Organizers benefit from a dashboard that features the necessary tools to manage, market and monetize their events—including detailed analytics, robust reporting with actionable insights, integrated marketing and outreach tools, enhanced payment options, and comprehensive functionality to create interactive communities and affinity around their brands. Event goers get access and inspiration via the Events.com site—a place to explore experiences based on interests, discover aggregated social content and share the experiences that matter most to them.
Planning an event? Create and manage your event on Events.com by clicking here.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Thumbtack helps you accomplish the personal projects that are central to your life.
Whether you need to paint your home, learn a new language, or plan your daughter's birthday party, Thumbtack is the easiest and most dependable way to hire the right professional for your projects.
Get started by answering a few questions about your specific needs. Within hours, Thumbtack will introduce you to several available and qualified professionals. Compare custom quotes, reviews, and profiles and hire when you’re ready.
By connecting customers like you to the right pros, we enable independent professionals to grow their businesses and do what they love. We’re proud that many of our pros have doubled or even tripled the size of their businesses through Thumbtack.
Thumbtack is available nationwide for more than 700 project categories.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Toro Ride is your favorite on-demand car service. We are an application-based company here to supply your demand for a ride.
We offer black cars and SUVs, as well as the preferred luxury and exotics (Bentley, Maybach, Rolls-Royce). All of our cars and drivers are TCP'd which means they can drop-off and pick-up at any airport. With that being said, we also take reservation requests to and from airports which can be placed through the application.
Our application is available on the iTunes App Store and Android Google Marketplace. We are prepping for an extreme application revamp and that update should be readily available to the public by the end of this year. It's going to be a game changer in the leading industry.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Rackspace is a recognized leader in the IT hosting market. We deliver enterprise-level managed services to businesses of all sizes and kinds around the world. Serving more than 14,000 customers in eight data centers worldwide, Rackspace integrates the industry's best technologies and practices for each customer's specific need and delivers it as a service via the company's promise of Fanatical Support®. We serve as an extension of our customers' IT departments, enabling them to focus on their core business. We got started in 1998 and since then Rackspace has grown more than 50 percent a year. There are currently 2,000 Rackers around the world serving our customers.
Service provider
Joined Vator on
KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm, is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International. KPMG International's member firms have 137,000 professionals, including more than 7,600 partners, in 144 countries.
KPMG's Venture Capital (VC) Practice was created to provide the unique guidance and insights our clients in the VC community need to ensure success in the marketplace. Our services are specifically designed to help venture-backed companies navigate each stage of development—from inception to market leadership. Our seasoned VC professionals are dedicated to assisting clients through the many challenges faced in founding and growing a new venture.
Just getting started? Closing that big growth round? Contemplating an IPO? KPMG’s Venture Capital Practice can help prepare you for the opportunities as well as the obstacles that lie ahead. KPMG developed its service suites to align with the interrelated needs of growing companies on their journey to leadership. Each service suite draws on KPMG’s
knowledge, experience, networks, and commitment to quality and can help deliver significant benefits to growing companies. The Venture Capital Practice includes a large network of professionals who have experience working with new and established companies.
Joined Vator on
David has been involved in the Internet space for over a decade as an entrepreneur, executive and investor.
Joined Vator on
Jed Katz is the Managing Director of Javelin Venture Partners. One of the pioneers of online commerce, Jed has spent his 20 year career developing, advising & investing in early stage tech ventures.
Joined Vator on
Serial entrepreneur turned VC looking to support to outstanding teams building great companies.
Joined Vator on
Managing Partner, Founders Fund
