Latest news with #Torrance-based
Los Angeles Times
29-07-2025
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
In a digital age, old-fashioned watchmaking schools, including a new one from Rolex, are in demand
Ever since watches began bringing order to the ephemeral passage of time, they also started doing something else: breaking. Own one long enough and something will probably go wrong. It'll run slow. Or fast. Or stop altogether. Decades ago, watch repair shops across the country were staffed with technicians who could service almost any mechanical timepiece when its intricate innards — tiny gears, wheels and springs — failed. But when the U.S. watchmaking industry declined in the mid-20th century, the number of craftspeople who could fix or fabricate timepieces began dwindling too. There were 1,880 U.S. watch and clock repairers in 2023, down from 2,430 just three years earlier, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That 23% decline, on top of previous losses, has led some in this niche industry to label the situation a workforce crisis. It comes amid renewed interest in mechanical timepieces and a modest rebirth of the American watchmaking industry — despite the omnipresence of cellphones and their effortless timekeeping. Rolex, the Swiss behemoth, alone makes more than 1 million watches a year. Who will be able to service all of them as they age? Or make the new ones being dreamed up? A dearth of new watchmaking schools — where students learn about repairs, fabrication or both — is central to the problem. After the closure of several programs in recent decades, only four full-time, independent watchmaking schools remain in the U.S. One watch company, Torrance-based J.N. Shapiro Watches — maker of the $70,000 Resurgence model — is among the handful of U.S.-based firms that has struggled to hire watchmakers. Rolex has a solution on the repair side. In September, the Geneva-based company debuted a new watchmaking school at the Rolex Watch Training Center in Dallas. The program's 18-month curriculum is focused on training students to service watches made by the brand. The last six months of schooling include an immersion component in which students repair Rolex timekeepers under the supervision of instructors. Upon graduation, participants can work for a Rolex-affiliated jeweler or for the company itself. Most of the school's first class, which graduates next February, have already secured jobs, a Rolex spokesperson said. They can expect annual salaries starting in the range of $75,000 to $85,000, depending on location. The school is free. The company spokesperson said in a statement that the Dallas program, which welcomes just 27 students per class, represents the company's 'commitment at a larger scale to meet the industry demand.' Rolex's focus on training watchmakers to work solely on its timepieces differentiates its program from independent schools, which typically teach students how to work on all sorts of watches, turning out graduates with expertise in subjects including micro-mechanics and repairs. 'I think we need a balance of technicians and then more full-service watchmakers,' said Tony Traina, who publishes Unpolished Watches, an industry newsletter. 'The way in which the profession is evolving right now — it seems like we're headed in that direction. There are the Shapiros of the world, along with the Rolexes of the world. I think we'll reach an equilibrium.' Rolex opened a more traditional watchmaking school in the U.S. in 2001 — the Lititz Watch Technicum in Pennsylvania, but closed it after its final class graduated this month. The Rolex school in Dallas is in high demand, with 400 applicants for its inaugural class and 560 more for the second one starting in September. Among the applicants, the spokesperson said, were Texans who'd initially been surprised that fixing watches could be 'a viable career with an established educational track.' The average student age among the first two classes is 28; some have been admitted straight out of high school and others have a college degree. Students have backgrounds in areas such as engineering and accounting, and have had careers as musicians, teachers and communications professionals. As head of an independent watch company, Joshua Shapiro said it was extremely difficult to find the six watchmakers who now work for him in Torrance. 'It took a lot of networking,' said Shapiro, who added that his team was assembled over several years, and that three of his watchmakers came from the Lititz school. One of those watchmakers is Spencer Torok, 25, who graduated from Lititz three years ago. After high school, the Hilliard, Ohio, native attended Ohio Dominican University, where he took accounting classes. But Torok realized during the COVID-19 pandemic that he wanted to make a change. He'd long been interested in watches, he said, and enrolled at Lititz. Torok said that the schooling only stoked his passion — and that he would never have gotten hired by Shapiro if not for the education he received at Lititz. 'No way,' he said with a laugh. 'It takes a lot of resources to train someone.' Some American watch companies have had to go abroad to make hires. Cameron Weiss, whose eponymous watch company was founded in L.A. in 2013 and later moved to Nashville, said he had to turn to Switzerland to recruit a watchmaker. 'I'd been looking for someone with that skill level for the last 12 years,' said Weiss. This month Weiss traveled again to Switzerland to scout for workers. He hopes the Rolex program in Dallas will help invigorate watch education in the U.S. One of the last remaining full-service watchmaking schools in America is at Paris Junior College in Texas. Program coordinator Garrin Fraze, 24, graduated from it in 2019. He was enticed back last year by a former instructor, who asked him to take over. 'Because we are independent, we have a little bit of openness in the curriculum,' said Fraze, who also serves as head instructor of the program. Like the Rolex school in Dallas, the Paris program is small, accommodating about 20 students. But Fraze hopes to expand it — he knows how strong demand is for watchmakers, including those who can repair Rolexes. After his graduation from the Paris program, he got a job as the in-house watchmaker of a Fort Worth jeweler. It was an authorized Rolex dealer.
Los Angeles Times
28-07-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Hadrian Raises $260 Million to Expand Manufacturing Capabilities
Hadrian, a Torrance-based advanced manufacturing company building AI-powered factories, received $260 million in Series C financing led by existing investors Founders Fund and Lux Capital and a factory expansion loan facility arranged by Morgan Stanley. It will use the investment to expand operations in California and Arizona with new manufacturing space, expanded research and development capacity, and dedicated teams focused on shipbuilding and naval defense production. With its 'Factories-as-a-Service' model, Hadrian can rapidly scale production across key Department of Defense areas, such as munitions, shipbuilding and other high-priority programs. 'America cannot afford to lose another generation of industrial capacity,' said Chris Power, chief executive and founder of Hadrian, in a statement. 'We're building the factories that will secure American leadership in advanced manufacturing and create new jobs here in the United States.' It plans to build a large-scale production facility and software hub spanning approximately 270,000 square feet in Arizona and initiated a search for a 400,000-square-foot corporate and R&D headquarters. Both facilities are expected to come online by year-end. Cooley advised Hadrian on the funding round as well as its previous $117-million funding round in February 2024. Information for this article was sourced from Hadrian.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Venture capital investment is rising in Los Angeles — and not just for AI startups
Early this year, private equity firm Blackstone bet big on the future of artificial intelligence by investing $300 million in a Chatsworth company that's been around for more than two decades. The company, DDN, helps businesses store and manage the massive trove of data that powers AI systems — the lifeblood needed for chatbots, self-driving cars and more. DDN's high-profile customers include chipmaker Nvidia, Elon Musk's AI startup xAI, Google Cloud and Ford. DDN, short for DataDirect Networks, has roughly 1,000 employees. 'They have a trillion dollars of assets under management, and it's a company that we thought would really move the needle for us in terms of extending our reach,' said Jyothi Swaroop, DDN's chief marketing officer. The investment was among the largest this year in the Greater Los Angeles region, which remains a hot spot for investments in both old and new tech companies poised for growth. All told, venture capital investors and private equity firms poured $3.1 billion to fund 144 deals in the L.A. area in the first quarter of this year, up 15% from a year ago, according to research firm CB Insights. The area encompasses Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. While investment levels can fluctuate, funding in the greater L.A. region has steadily increased since 2023, when investment cooled following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Along with AI, investors also financed startups and established businesses in healthcare, e-commerce and defense technology, underscoring how investment in the L.A. market has diversified in recent years beyond ad tech businesses and video apps. "Today it's going into much more ambitious projects," Mark Suster, a general partner at Santa Monica-based Upfront Ventures. "It's going into satellites, alternate energy, national defense, drones, shipbuilding and pharmaceutical drug discovery. So it's a lot more exciting than it ever has been." Read more: AI startup funding hit a record in the L.A. area last quarter. Here's who got the most money Los Angeles-area companies that received the most money in the first quarter include Torrance-based defense company Epirus with $250 million; and Thousand Oaks-based Latigo Biotherapeutics, which received $150 million, according to CB Insights. Latigo Biotherapeutics develops non-opioid pain treatments, while Epirus makes technology that helps defend against attacks from drone swarms. Economic consulting firm Econic Partners raised the most funding with $438 million, according to CB Insights, which relied on a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Econic disputed the total, saying it raised nine figures in the first quarter, but the company declined to say how much. Masha Bucher, founder and general partner at Day One Ventures, said she views El Segundo as the most promising hub for 'deep tech' startups tackling complex issues, such as, helping humans live healthier and longer lives. Businesses in the L.A. area have access to a highly qualified workforce from aerospace and defense tech companies. The tech hub known as Silicon Beach also is close to the airport, making it easy for entrepreneurs to hop on a plane to raise funding in San Francisco. 'There is a power of community, and it's definitely like a power spot on the map,' Bucher said. The firm's investments include various AI startups and an eye-scanning crypto project backed by OpenAI's Sam Altman in which people verify they're human. Investors aren't interested in only AI, however. Culver City-based Whatnot raised $265 million, one of the biggest deals in the L.A. area this year. The live shopping app allows people to buy and sell items such as clothing and collectibles. Potential customers can ask questions about products in real-time, find deals and bid for products shown in live videos. Whatnot says it surpassed more than $3 billion in sales in 2024, and the company expects that figure to double this year. The startup, founded in 2019, says it isn't profitable yet, but the TikTok rival has shown investors it's growing fast. Read more: Sam Altman's eye-scanning orbs have arrived, sparking curiosity and fear 'Live and social shopping has the potential to be an absolutely monstrous market,' Whatnot Chief Executive Grant LaFontaine said. The company has roughly 750 employees across the United States and Europe. The funding will help market Whatnot to attract more users and hire people to improve the shopping experience, he said. Read more: AI is changing shopping. Will consumers buy in? Like other businesses, Whatnot uses AI for customer service and to moderate content on the platform. 'I tend to be sort of a purist, which is that consumers don't care about AI. They care about problems being solved,' LaFontaine said. Businesses have been using AI long before the rising popularity of chatbots such as ChatGPT that can generate text, images and code. But the frenzy surrounding what's known as generative AI has meant that various industries are confronting how technology will disrupt the way they live and work. Read more: There's one bright spot for San Francisco's office space market Not surprisingly, investor interest in AI drove much of the nation's venture capital commitments in the first quarter. San Francisco-based OpenAI secured the largest funding round of $40 billion, placing its valuation at $300 billion, according to CB Insights. "There's a ton of opportunity to rewrite the playing field on which people do business in everything from across verticals, across industries," said Jason Saltzman, head of insights for CB Insights. "Everyone recognizes the promise, and ... no one wants to miss out on the promise." Globally, $121 billion of venture capital was raised in the first quarter, with 20% of the deals received by AI companies — the highest amount ever, according to CB Insights. Nationally, $90.5 billion in venture capital was raised last quarter, with the bulk of the money going toward startups in Silicon Valley, which brought in $58.9 billion, the research firm said. San Francisco has experienced a surge in AI startups expanding or opening up offices, drawn to the city's swath of talent and the Bay Area's universities. AI leaders including OpenAI and Anthropic also are based there. OpenAI said it would use the money raised in the first quarter toward building its tools and investing in talent. "People understand that this is a transformative technology," said Chris Lehane, OpenAI's vice president of global affairs in an interview. "It's going to permeate virtually every aspect of life." Silicon Valley remains the far leader in venture capital AI investments, but other cities such as New York have attracted AI funding. There's also global competition from countries such as China. As legislators weigh whether to introduce laws that could regulate AI, some tech lobbying groups have raised concerns on how those bills could affect innovation in the state. Suster said he doesn't think venture capital dollars will leave California. "The opportunity set is so great here," Suster said. "Do we occasionally get backwards-looking bills that try to overregulate how industry works in California? Of course, we do. We find ways to work around them." Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Los Angeles Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Venture capital investment is rising in Los Angeles — and not just for AI startups
Early this year, private equity firm Blackstone bet big on the future of artificial intelligence by investing $300 million in a Chatsworth company that's been around for more than two decades. The company, DDN, helps businesses store and manage the massive trove of data that powers AI systems — the lifeblood needed for chatbots, self-driving cars and more. DDN's high-profile customers include chipmaker Nvidia, Elon Musk's AI startup xAI, Google Cloud and Ford. DDN, short for DataDirect Networks, has roughly 1,000 employees. 'They have a trillion dollars of assets under management, and it's a company that we thought would really move the needle for us in terms of extending our reach,' said Jyothi Swaroop, DDN's chief marketing officer. The investment was among the largest this year in the Greater Los Angeles region, which remains a hot spot for investments in both old and new tech companies poised for growth. All told, venture capital investors and private equity firms poured $3.1 billion to fund 144 deals in the L.A. area in the first quarter of this year, up 15% from a year ago, according to research firm CB Insights. The area encompasses Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. While investment levels can fluctuate, funding in the greater L.A. region has steadily increased since 2023, when investment cooled following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Along with AI, investors also financed startups and established businesses in healthcare, e-commerce and defense technology, underscoring how investment in the L.A. market has diversified in recent years beyond ad tech businesses and video apps. 'Today it's going into much more ambitious projects,' Mark Suster, a general partner at Santa Monica-based Upfront Ventures. 'It's going into satellites, alternate energy, national defense, drones, shipbuilding and pharmaceutical drug discovery. So it's a lot more exciting than it ever has been.' Los Angeles-area companies that received the most money in the first quarter include Torrance-based defense company Epirus with $250 million; and Thousand Oaks-based Latigo Biotherapeutics, which received $150 million, according to CB Insights. Latigo Biotherapeutics develops non-opioid pain treatments, while Epirus makes technology that helps defend against attacks from drone swarms. Economic consulting firm Econic Partners raised the most funding with $438 million, according to CB Insights, which relied on a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Econic disputed the total, saying it raised nine figures in the first quarter, but the company declined to say how much. Masha Bucher, founder and general partner at Day One Ventures, said she views El Segundo as the most promising hub for 'deep tech' startups tackling complex issues, such as, helping humans live healthier and longer lives. Businesses in the L.A. area have access to a highly qualified workforce from aerospace and defense tech companies. The tech hub known as Silicon Beach also is close to the airport, making it easy for entrepreneurs to hop on a plane to raise funding in San Francisco. 'There is a power of community, and it's definitely like a power spot on the map,' Bucher said. The firm's investments include various AI startups and an eye-scanning crypto project backed by OpenAI's Sam Altman in which people verify they're human. Investors aren't interested in only AI, however. Culver City-based Whatnot raised $265 million, one of the biggest deals in the L.A. area this year. The live shopping app allows people to buy and sell items such as clothing and collectibles. Potential customers can ask questions about products in real-time, find deals and bid for products shown in live videos. Whatnot says it surpassed more than $3 billion in sales in 2024, and the company expects that figure to double this year. The startup, founded in 2019, says it isn't profitable yet, but the TikTok rival has shown investors it's growing fast. 'Live and social shopping has the potential to be an absolutely monstrous market,' Whatnot Chief Executive Grant LaFontaine said. The company has roughly 750 employees across the United States and Europe. The funding will help market Whatnot to attract more users and hire people to improve the shopping experience, he said. Like other businesses, Whatnot uses AI for customer service and to moderate content on the platform. 'I tend to be sort of a purist, which is that consumers don't care about AI. They care about problems being solved,' LaFontaine said. Businesses have been using AI long before the rising popularity of chatbots such as ChatGPT that can generate text, images and code. But the frenzy surrounding what's known as generative AI has meant that various industries are confronting how technology will disrupt the way they live and work. Not surprisingly, investor interest in AI drove much of the nation's venture capital commitments in the first quarter. San Francisco-based OpenAI secured the largest funding round of $40 billion, placing its valuation at $300 billion, according to CB Insights. 'There's a ton of opportunity to rewrite the playing field on which people do business in everything from across verticals, across industries,' said Jason Saltzman, head of insights for CB Insights. 'Everyone recognizes the promise, and ... no one wants to miss out on the promise.' Globally, $121 billion of venture capital was raised in the first quarter, with 20% of the deals received by AI companies — the highest amount ever, according to CB Insights. Nationally, $90.5 billion in venture capital was raised last quarter, with the bulk of the money going toward startups in Silicon Valley, which brought in $58.9 billion, the research firm said. San Francisco has experienced a surge in AI startups expanding or opening up offices, drawn to the city's swath of talent and the Bay Area's universities. AI leaders including OpenAI and Anthropic also are based there. OpenAI said it would use the money raised in the first quarter toward building its tools and investing in talent. 'People understand that this is a transformative technology,' said Chris Lehane, OpenAI's vice president of global affairs in an interview. 'It's going to permeate virtually every aspect of life.' Silicon Valley remains the far leader in venture capital AI investments, but other cities such as New York have attracted AI funding. There's also global competition from countries such as China. As legislators weigh whether to introduce laws that could regulate AI, some tech lobbying groups have raised concerns on how those bills could affect innovation in the state. Suster said he doesn't think venture capital dollars will leave California. 'The opportunity set is so great here,' Suster said. 'Do we occasionally get backwards-looking bills that try to overregulate how industry works in California? Of course, we do. We find ways to work around them.'
Los Angeles Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Rancho Palos Verdes Apartment Complex Sells for $20.4 Million
A second major apartment complex was sold in Rancho Palos Verdes this year after four years of relative inactivity for large apartment projects in the seaside city. The 49-unit Peninsula Villas Apartments was acquired by Torrance-based Real Estate Connection, a developer and operator of apartments in the South Bay, for $20.4 million, or $408,000 per unit. The property was 92% occupied at the time of sale. Peninsula Villas Apartments is surrounded by single-family homes. The property is a unique apartment building because it is comprised of 10 different structures and 34 of the 49 units are townhome style. Bascom Group's $127-million acquisition of Highridge Apartments in Rancho Palos Verdes is the largest apartment sale of the year in Los Angeles County. Information for this article was sourced from Real Estate Connection.
