Launch Beach

Technology and Innovation Fuel the Future of Long Beach

Following Mayor Rex Richardson’s call in his State of the City address for 100 new diverse startups to be brought to the City of Long Beach, a local coalition representing the public, private, and nonprofit sectors announced their answer to his directive through the signing of an agreement that signals the start of the “Launch Beach” coalition. Leaders from local organizations Sunstone Management, Sunstone Community Fund, the LongBeach Accelerator, the Long Beach Economic Partnership, the Long Beach Center for Economic Inclusion, City of Long Beach Economic Development Department, CSULB Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Imprint Venture Lab signed their agreement to form the Launch Beach 100 Startups Campaign on January 23 with the mayor on hand.

“Attracting new and diverse businesses that will push the boundaries on innovation while boosting our local economy is a focal point of my administration’s Grow Long Beach Initiative and our Opportunity Beach Agenda,” said Mayor Richardson. “I applaud the Long Beach Coalition for believing in and supporting our mission to unleash the potential of the city’s emerging industries and provide good-paying jobs of the future for our residents.”

LBEP is working collaboratively with the Launch Beach coalition in attracting and retaining tech start-ups to the city. The Partnership has formed a task force to work with the coalition members and accelerator alumni in understanding how to grow the startup ecosystem and build a tech corridor in the city of Long Beach.

Advanced technology and innovation aligns with multiple goals of the City as it moves into the future and proceeds with new infrastructure and planning objectives. 

Creating competitive startups, vastly accelerating go-to-market and expansion, and, ultimately, maximizing economic opportunities and employment in the City of Long Beach and the greater Southern California region.

  • Over the last two years, 37 companies have graduated from the LBA program who have since raised over $20M, have generated over $10M in revenue, and have hired over 120 new full-time employees (FTEs).
  • By the end of the 3-year grant period, we expect the Long Beach Accelerator ScaleUp Program to expand the number of minority- and women- led high-tech startups that go through their program.

“The Launch Beach initiative is an important part of the future, and we’re happy to partner with Sunstone Management (and others) on the effort. And Imprint Venture Lab is leading the way, managing the first $5 million to support creative startups. I visited their space recently and it is very impressive.”

Mayor Richardson

Sunstone Management and its associated donor-advised fund, the Sunstone Community Fund, are participating in the 100 Startups Campaign. Sunstone Management will be responsible for development, registration, and management of the Long Beach Venture Fund. The anticipated $25 million fund will be open to accredited venture capital investors and will be invested over time into100 early-stage technology startups who meet the requirements. In addition, SunstoneManagement will provide financial, administrative, and compliance services to support Coalition Activities, consistent with regulatory requirements.

The non-profit Sunstone Community Fund will be responsible for securing grant funding to support non-profit Coalition partners to assist with the implementation of the campaign. To date, SunstoneManagement has committed to securing $100,000 per year, or $500,000 total, in charitable grants to the Coalition partners over the 5-year period. This includes grant funding already committed by the Sunstone Community Fund, as well as matching funds to be identified by the City of LongBeach and other non-governmental partners.

The money the mayor spoke of is part of the Long Beach Venture Fund, which is a private investment fund with plans to raise up to $25 million from accredited investors to support and invest in early-stage businesses going through the Long Beach Accelerator as part of Launch Beach. 

Sunstone Management CEO John Keisler has recently announced that the Long Beach Venture Fund had received its initial capital investment – 3% of the goal from Sunstone Management and Imprint Venture Lab.

“We’ve begun with Sunstone and Imprint Venture Lab as general partners,” Keisler said. “In addition to the capital (we will raise), we will be providing technical and other support.”

“Well now you know you’re not alone,” Keisler said of tech start-ups. Then he announced that Sunstone Management has opened a Long Beach office on the eighth floor of the World Trade Center. “We’ll be here to help.”

LBEP is proud to partner with Sunstone Management in this effort. Not only will the Launch Beach coalition support growth of the tech sector in Long Beach, but the partnership between LBEP and Sunstone will grow overall business attraction to the city. 

Sunstone Management is a diversified private capital management firm with headquarters in Southern California that provides a range of early-stage venture capital, real estate, and fixed income funds to qualified and accredited investors. The firm delivers new and exciting options for economic growth through innovative public-private partnerships, making use of its unique experience across government, education, and private sectors. Identified by Financial Times as one of America’s Fastest Growing Companies three years in a row. In the second quarter of 2023, PitchBook ranked Sunstone the seventh most active early-stage venture capital firm in the country, and 18th overall.

The Launch Beach Partners

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