Silicon Beach is the Westside region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area that is home to more than 500 technology companies, including startups. It is particularly applied to the coastal strip from Los Angeles International Airport north to the Santa Monica Mountains, but the term may be applied loosely or colloquially to most anywhere in the Los Angeles Basin. Startups seeded here include Snapchat and Tinder. Major technology companies that opened offices in the region including Google, Yahoo!, YouTube, BuzzFeed, Facebook, Salesforce, AOL, Electronic Arts, Roku, Sony, EdgeCast Networks, MySpace, Amazon.com, Apple, Inc., and Netflix. By some 2012 metrics, the region was the second or third-most prominent technology hub in the world. In the first six months of 2013, 94 new start-ups in Silicon Beach raised over $500 million in funding, and there were nine acquisitions.
The area offers relatively easy access to Los Angeles International Airport, the biggest and most connected airport in western North America.
As in the San Francisco Bay Area, the influx of technology companies has boosted home and office rents and real estate prices in Playa Vista, Playa Del Rey, Westchester, Santa Monica, and Venice, already high previously due to beachfront location. The effects are also spilling over into Marina del Rey and Hermosa Beach.Logan, Tim (January 2, 2015) "Buoyed by Silicon Beach, Westchester enjoys a housing surge" Los Angeles Times
Start-up pockets have also emerged in nearby Culver City, West L.A., and El Segundo. Other pockets include Downtown Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Glendale, and the San Fernando Valley. The tendency of companies to congregate in these centrally located, high income areas has raised concerns about the feasibility of racial minorities joining the workforce, as they tend to live in further outlying areas.
Silicon Beach is also home to start-up incubators and accelerators, such as Amplify.LA, Science, Disney Accelerator, TechStars, and Cedars Sinai.
The Los Angeles metro area was home to 88,000 engineers in 2021, the highest number of any metro area in the United States. Higher education institutions in Los Angeles County graduate 6,600 engineering majors a year, the highest of any county in the United States.
Higher education institutions headquartered in Silicon Beach include Loyola Marymount University and Otis College of Art and Design. Other higher education institutions in the nearby Southern California region or with satellite campuses in/nearby Silicon Beach include: Pepperdine University, Santa Monica College, Art Center College of Design, California Institute of Technology, University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Occidental College, Cal State L. A., Cal State Northridge, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona, and the Claremont Colleges.
List of technology companies based in Silicon Beach Company Year founded Industry ValuationAbstract2020GovtechAdColony2011AdtechAcquired by Opera for $350 millionAge of Learning2007Education Bitium 2012 Cloud ComputingAcquired by Google for an unknown amountBranded Online2010Ecommerce & Online Marketing AgencyCornerstone OnDemand1992CloudDistillery 2008 Mobile Application Development, UX/UIDollar Shave Club 2011Consumer packaged goods Acquired by Unilever for $1 billionEaze2014CannabisEnplug 2012Software $2.5 millionFair2016Automotive, FintechFalcon Computing Solutions2014High Performance Computing, FPGA acceleration - tools and solutionsFlexport2013Digital Freight ForwardingFloQast2013Accounting SoftwareFlustr2019Consumer Tech, EntertainmentFullscreen 2011 Digital MediaGnarbox2014Consumer electronicsGOAT2015e-commerce, Fashion (sneakers)Headspace2010HealthHelenHealth (ZB Technologies, Inc.)2016Digital HealthThe Honest Company2012e-commerce Honey 2012 Cashback website, online coupons Acquired by PayPal in 2020 for $4 billion Hulu 2007 Television Streaming Services $15.8 billionHyperloop One2014TransportationLegalZoom1999LegalLibermans Co2021Investments$400 millionMatchCraft1998Digital Marketing Platform Technology & Servicesmayk.it2020AI Music TechnologyMetropolis Technologies2017Parking and artificial intelligence companyMuteSix2014Performance Marketing AgencyNasty Gal 2006Retail Unknown - Chapter 11 Oculus VR 2012 Virtual reality Acquired by Facebook, Inc. in 2014 for $2 billionOnestop Internet2004Full Service Ecommerce Agency Ring 2012 Home Security Devices Acquired by Amazon for $1 billionRiot Games2006Video GamesScience 372014Medical technology Scopely2011Video Games $1.7 billion ServiceTitan2012Software technology platform $8.3 billionSnail Games2000Video Games Snap Inc. 2011 Social media $23 billion Swagbucks 2007 Digital Rewards & Cash BackTala2011FintechThrive Market2013e-commerce TI Health 2010 Data and Analytics, Healthcare Digital Marketing TigerConnect 2010 Messaging, Text Analytics, Communications Infrastructure $625 millionTinder2012Social Media TrueCar 2005 Automotive websites $1.65 billionWag2014PetsWebJoint2014CannabisWhisper2012Social mediaWpromote2001Digital Marketing Agency .xyz 2014 Internet Domain Registry ZestFinance2009FintechZipRecruiter2010Hiring
Other uses
1983: PC Magazine reported that "some people are starting to call" Boca Raton, Florida—where IBM had developed its Personal Computer, and other technology companies had facilities—"Silicon Beach, in deference to the great valley of the West". 1984: Silicon Beach Software was formed in San Diego, California.Hill, Ryan (February 4, 2016) [www.triton.news/2016/02/813/ "San Diego is bringing back Silicon Beach"] [The Triton] 2008: Silicon Beach Australia was used to describe the country's tech industry, including startup hubs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth.
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