Narativ

The Top 40 Startups in Santa Monica

Anyone that has ever been to L.A. knows that the beaches are the best part of town. Silicon Beach is currently the third largest tech hub in the world, behind only Manhattan and Silicon Valley. Year round perfect weather with a constant funnel of talented alumni coming from USC, UCLA, LMU, and Pepperdine. It's no surprise that some of the smartest entrepreneurs are choosing Santa Monica to launch their startups. Here are the top 40.

#40 ParkMe

ParkMe is the leading provider of parking information and reservations. ParkMe has built the world's most comprehensive parking database, including more than 30,000 worldwide locations, 1,800 cities, 40 countries and seven continents. Consumers can access ParkMe via GPS and in-car navigation systems, online widgets, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android apps.

ParkMe helps you find the closest, cheapest parking nearby and compare rates to get the best deal. The ParkMe engine takes a user’s location and determines the best parking options based on price, proximity, and the user’s preferences.

For more info or to download the app visit parkme.com

#39 TigerText

TigerText simplifies and secures enterprise communications. Built for the enterprise, TigerText lets you send secure, encrypted text messages and files that permanently disappear from phone company servers and devices so company information remains safe.

With TigerText, you’re in control. Know exactly when your messages have been read, forward text messages to others, and recall a message at any time. You can also securely message colleagues who don’t have the TigerText app.

TigerText not only keeps your communications safe and secure, it helps you transform your workflow for maximum productivity, all while remaining compliant with industry regulations such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX).

In a world where every email, every SMS and every data bit we ever created lives on forever in some computer server, owned by some unknown company, in some unknown location they believe impermanence should be an inalienable right. It’s why they created TigerText to allow individuals and organizations to take back control of their communications.

Today, individuals and organizations alike rely on TigerText to send millions of messages every day. And to sleep well at night knowing their messages are safe.

For more info visit tigertext.com

#38 Cult Cosmetics

Cult Cosmetics was created with a rebellious spirit and a big idea: take the hottest looks in nail art and makeup and make them accessible enough for everyday wear, at an everyday price.

It’s working. They host Facebook's largest Nail Art community and were recognized by Fast Company as among the top-10 most innovative companies in style. Soon Cult Cosmetics will expand into makeup kits and other beauty lines. 

Why the cult-like following? Unlike what is found at retail stores, Cult products contain everything needed to get the latest cosmetic looks, whether your tastes are for runway fashions or timeless classics. Their popular YouTube tutorials break it down into easy steps. Cult girls, who identify themselves with #cultlovenails on Instagram, feel not just pretty, but empowered, expressive, and on-point.

Visit their website at cultcosmetics.com

#37 Tastemade

Tastemade is building a global food community for food lovers. They create video programming in the food and lifestyle category for the web, mobile, connected TV's and YouTube. Their technology allows anyone to create an amazing high quality, professionally produced video on the places and dishes they love in a matter of minutes all from their phone.

Some of the most unifying and special moments of our life center around a meal, the place where people come together. Tastemakers from around the world are already creating amazing content, communities and engaging on the Tastemade website and social media channels.

Check out tastemade.com for more info.

#36 GoodRx

In America, prescription drugs cost too much. Up to 45% of Americans have trouble paying for the prescriptions they require and 26% of Americans simply don't fill prescriptions because they simply can't afford it. The #1 reason Americans don’t take their medications as prescribed is cost.

Even if you can afford to pay, you (or a combination of you, your insurance company, your employer and/or the government) are likely paying too much for your prescriptions. It can cost less than $0.01 to manufacture a pill, so why do we pay $10, $100 or even $1,000 for meds? Even a $10 insurance co-pay can often be 2-3 times what the fair price of a medicine should be.

Every week GoodRx collects millions of prices and discounts from pharmacies, drug manufacturers and other sources. Here's how you can use it to save:

Use GoodRx's drug price search to compare prices (just like you do for travel or electronics on other sites) for your prescription at pharmacies near you. GoodRx doesn't sell the medications, they tell you where you can get the best deals on them.

GoodRx will show you prices, coupons, discounts and savings tips for your prescription at pharmacies near you.

GoodRx is free for consumers, and they require no personal information to search drugs and receive discounts. They do not sell your personal health information to anyone. They make money from advertisements on their site and referral fees. This revenue enables them to continue to make the best, free product to help Americans afford the prescriptions they need.

Find the lowest price on prescriptions at goodrx.com

#35 The Black Tux

The Black Tux was launched with one simple idea: to offer an elevated tuxedo rental experience focused on quality, convenience, and most of all, style.

They partnered directly with one of the world's finest suit-makers to create the greatest rental tux ever designed. They've cut out the middleman, and are passing the savings to you. They ship anywhere in the US, and your order arrives a full week before your event date. Just send it back when you are done. Free shipping, both ways.

Visit their website at theblacktux.com

#34 Campus Explorer

Campus Explorer is a free service that helps all types of students find the schools which best match their higher education needs. Campus Explorer provides pricing transparency, scholarship information, college rankings as well as numerous other key details on over 8,500 US colleges, universities and trade schools. They help students personalize their searches and connect directly to schools online. Campus Explorer serves more than 30 million high school, college and adult students every year with college planning and college search.

Start your college planning at campusexplorer.com

#33 ProspectWise

ProspectWise aims to modernize and empower local small businesses. They are passionate about working with companies that share this vision by providing them with unprecedented high-quality data unique to this fragmented and offline industry.

Their team hails from startups (like LivingSocial & Belly) that exclusively target local small businesses. They have personally experienced the satisfaction and reward of enabling small businesses, but also understand the pain and inefficiencies in the merchant acquisition process.

ProspectWise gathers small business information directly from the physical location, not from online sources where accurate small business data is unavailable due to their limited digital footprint. Their massive crowdsourced workforce canvases streets and neighborhoods to collect and verify valuable business intelligence such as:

-Decision maker's business card 
-Storefront photos 
-POS system brand 
-And much more "offline" information

Enterprise and startup clients benefit from their exclusively held and highly accurate information that cannot be acquired anywhere else.

Request leads at prospectwise.com

#32 Vonjour

Vonjour provides a seamless, free, and lightweight solution for an entire company to connect to its customers, while providing an unparalleled view of what customers are saying.

Allow your customers to reach your sales, support, and other departments with a professional virtual receptionist. Direct callers with your own custom greetings and business hours. Vonjour allows you to reach customers at the right time and connect them to agents through chat based text message support. Manage all inbound customer queries in a team inbox with all the context you need to write personalized replies and provide timely support.

For more info visit vonjour.com

#31 Adomic

Adomic AdRoutes is a powerful analytics tool that enables publishers, advertisers, and advertising technology providers to optimize their operations by providing real-time, actionable insights. Using PathSource technology, Adomic AdRoutes offers critical information about what services a publisher is using, where advertisers are buying their inventory, how user data is being collected, and more.

Go to adomic.com for more info.

#30 Affordit

Affordit.com serves the market of over 18 million online consumers in the U.S. who have little to no credit history but have significant unrealized purchasing power. The company is building a platform to allow consumers to purchase items using convenient and responsible weekly payments.

Visit their website for more info at affordit.com

#29 Bridg

Using proprietary data science, their platform listens to your customer behaviors in real-time and recommends undiscovered segments, campaigns and offers, daily. Why? So you can focus on what drives sales. With Bridg, all campaigns are tied to actual sales results. Test, iterate and monitor them in real-time, and measure sales impact immediately. Learn new information about your customers and reveal segments and behaviors that you didn’t even know existed. So you can drive revenue by tailoring offers to the most unique customer tastes.

See how easy it is at bridg.com

#28 Workpop

Workpop is changing the way that employers hire for hourly employment. In a world that is still driven by walk-ins, paper applications, job boards, and outdated applicant tracking systems -- they believe there is a better way to pair employers and job seekers. Workpop is building a community marketplace that simplifies the application process for job seekers while providing employers with the data and tools they need to hire better applicants faster.

Start hiring at workpop.com

#27 Cojoin

Through Cojoin’s highly-visual, customizable dashboards, sharing data with colleagues has never been easier, making data-driven decision-making more meaningful and efficient.

Even with the power of “big data,” an incomplete analysis often leads to incorrect assumptions about what to do. By automatically joining and synthesizing data from multiple sources, and providing master data sets, Cojoin helps marketers gain the ultimate perspective on their campaigns.

Learn more at cojoin.com

#26 expresscoin

expresscoin is a financial technology platform focused on helping people get access to digital currency. They are the global bridge to digital currencies from any point of service from banks, payment gateways, ATM networks and more. 

Their team of developersdesigners, and marketers are passionate and dedicated to making Bitcoin and other digital currencies easy, safe, and convenient.

Register and start buying at expresscoin.com

#25 Porter

Porter is your 1-stop-shop for booking and managing recurring in-home services. Today, Porter supports house cleaning, dry cleaning, laundry home delivery, and daily dog walking. Under the hood, Porter is a connection engine that powers and manages relationships between home owners/renters and local professional service providers.

Sign up for free at useporter.com

#24 HipSwap

HipSwap is a mobile and web marketplace that enables you to shop the most fabulous closets, homes and shops in your neighborhood - or any neighborhood across America.

HipSwap also enables any person, merchant, stylist, artist or designer to quickly and easily sell products to friends, customers, fans or neighbors.

HipSwap is the place to shop for millions of fashion items. With over 4 million
pieces from over 50 marketplaces and one simple search, it’s shopping made easy.

Search millions of fashion items at hipswap.com

#23 The Mobile Majority 

The Mobile Majority helps brands realize the full potential of mobile.

They build powerful technology to address what clients have identified as the biggest issues in mobile advertising today.

  • They integrate with the top exchanges, websites, and apps for maximum exposure.
  • They score every ad placement individually before they bid to verify each impression.
  • They can lower your CPM by up to 60% by ensuring the ads you pay for are seen by humans.

Learn more at The Mobile Majority

#22 Vokle

Vokle lets you create your own embeddable live video Q&A auditorium that enables you to broadcast to a virtual auditorium & take live text & video questions from the audience. Making the internet a more human place by allowing people to create insightful & sometimes funny moments that can be shared.

Vokle v.2 has launched. Try it now at vokle.com

#21 CARD.com

CARD.com creates fair, fashionable and fun online prepaid card solutions. CARD.com is safer than cash. All loaded funds are FDIC-insured through The Bancorp Bank; Member FDIC. You can load money in many convenient ways, including with cash at Western Union and through direct deposit from your employer or federal benefits. You can transfer funds from card to card. You can use ATMs and shop near home and around the world -- wherever Visa debit cards are accepted.

Get started by visiting the card gallery, and picking your favorite design today at card.com

#20 GumGum

GumGum is a new kind of display advertising platform, built on the fundamental belief that to be effective, ads must be relevant, engaging and viewable. Known best for its invention of in-image advertising, GumGum's products have since grown to include several display, mobile and video solutions to help brands tell their stories and publishers unlock new sources of revenue.

For more info about their high impact advertising visit gumgum.com

#19 Revenue.com

Revenue.com is on a mission to free the world from annoying ads, by replacing them with relevant and consumable content. They go to sleep every night dreaming of a world in which ads don't suck, and each day they get closer with every click.

Revenue.com is a native advertising technology that helps brands amplify the reach of their content via in-stream ads that blend seamlessly into a website experience to entertain and inform the right audience at the right time.

Unlike banner ads, Revenue.com's in-stream ads are automatically designed to fit to any screen size, creating a unified user experience and allowing you to monetize visitors browsing from laptops, tablets, and Smartphones alike. It’s the most native mobile ad on the web.

For more info visit revenue.com

#18 Klutch

A private social network for local friends to stay in touch and organize meet upsKlutch makes it fast and easy to figure out when and where to meet up with friends. As a chat-based platform, you and your friends can easily group message and create specific plans. Once you pick the best plan - it'll sync back to your calendar.

Download for iPhone at getklutch.com

#17 FieldLevel

FieldLevel is where teams identify, evaluate, and recruit athletes more effectively and efficiently through coach recommendations. For athletes, they provide the first online platform to migrate from high school to college and pro sports. It’s the new standard for teams to find and attract the best talent in the world.

FieldLevel makes it easy for recruiting coaches and pro scouts to find players who fit their needs. The exclusive network empowers junior colleges, high schools, and other promoting coaches to guide their players to ideal playing opportunities. For athletes, FieldLevel provides the first online gateway to successfully migrate from high school to college and even into professional sports. Unlike recruiting services, FieldLevel offers a free and objective way for an athlete to successfully navigate their athletic careers.

Join the FieldLevel network at fieldlevel.com

#16 This Week In

An online niche TV talk show network. Led by This Week In Startups, Entrepreneur Jason Calacanis and a rotating group of guest experts bring you a bi-weekly take on the best, worst, most outrageous and interesting stories from the world of Web companies. Calacanis, a podcasting pioneer, gives you an insider’s look at what’s happening in the tech industry with his trademark blunt style and good humor.

View more information about their shows at thisweekin.com

#15 Playsino

Playsino aims to become the world's leading publisher of social casino games. Playsino solely publishes and develops social casino games playable across the web such as Facebook and mobile platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile. Their games are all built with a passion for pixel-perfect design and superior performance with an emphasis on privacy and support. Their platform eliminates language barriers and connects players through a localized gaming experience. 

Visit their website at playsino.com

#14 MomentFeed

MomentFeed enables brands to meet the consumer expectations of the mobile era with authentic and locally relevant marketing at scale.

The platform captures all the information and content that forms the Digital Place Identity of any given business location, giving brands the ability to connect with consumers in the most meaningful ways, at the local level.

See how it works at momentfeed.com

#13 NearWoo

NearWoo allows any business, agency or brand to create hyper-targeted mobile campaigns in ten minutes or less. Their self-serve dashboard is unique to the industry and their automated rich media ad creator generates high-performance ads and implements optimization in real-time. NearWoo’s analytics are both transparent and informative. Their results platform produces a complete breakdown of engagement by demographic and neighborhood. Their analytics API makes it simple to incorporate NearWoo’s performance data into any unique reporting a client may require. Today’s sophisticated, digital orientated agencies require unique data to win new business and execute on big ideas and creative visions.

For more on mobile audience targeting, visit nearwoo.appspot.com

#12 Naritiv

The first marketing and analytics platform for Snapchat. Connecting your brand to Snapchat through talent and tech. Naritiv helps your brand thrive on Snapchat by pairing you with talent that speaks to your audience. Maybe it’s a skateboarder, a worldwide traveler or a Fashionista, whoever it is, they know how to tell stories with short content better than anyone.

Contact them to learn more about their influencers at naritiv.com

#11 Panjo

The Panjo marketplace delivers joy to auto, sport, and hobby enthusiasts by helping them discover, buy, and sell rare and high-quality goods. The Panjo marketplace increases security, reduces administrative overhead, eliminates hassle, and creates an aggregated collection of the world's most desirable goods for enthusiasts.

Join expert communities worldwide at panjo.com

#10 FameBit

The #1 marketplace where Brands and YouTuber influencers collaborate on their own terms. YouTube Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. Brands can set their own per video budgets which starts at $100 per video. FameBit allows Brands to select the best stars for their brand, view their proposals, profiles, and channel stats prior to hiring. From product reviews to hauls to tutorials, FameBit allows Brands to get videos that drive views, engage the viewers and spread passion.

Find, hire and collaborate with Youtube influencers at famebit.com

#9 Washio

Premium dry-cleaning & laundry delivered on demand with a 24 hour turnaround. Available for Web, iOS and Android. It’s simple. Select your pick up and drop off times and start planning how you’ll spend your newfound free time. A ninja armed with sustainable bags will arrive at your door to pick up your dry cleaning and laundry. Your order will arrive ready-to-put-away the very next day. Your account will be charged automatically upon delivery.

Get started at getwashio.com

#8 Ellie

Creating unique, stylish apparel to complement every part of your routine. 

At Ellie, they are driven by their love for fashion and fitness to create high quality activewear for the modern woman. They launch limited edition collections every month so that the Ellie woman is always staying inspired and on-trend.

They create unique, stylish pieces that you can wear when you’re working out or out on the town. Ellie apparel is designed to complement every part of your routine. Whether it’s a unique top for pre and post workout, moisture wicking pieces for intense routines, or accessories to accent your outfit, they have you covered at Ellie.

You can expect only top-quality materials and technology in Ellie gear. They have a range of fabrics that are moisture wicking, 4- way stretch, UV protected, and breathable. Their industry recognized designers spend hours creating activewear that is high quality and fashion forward.

Experience and enjoy at ellie.com

#7 Surf Air

All-You-Can-Fly Membership Airline. Save time commuting, Spend time living. No Lines. Personal concierges. Enriching community. Save up to 4 hrs/round-trip. You'll be met by their Concierge Representative and be guided onto your aircraft in minutes. Complimentary parking. Instant check-in. No hassles. Instead of struggling through congested commercial airports, enjoy the ease and service at well-appointed private air terminals. There's even free Wi-Fi.

Learn more at surfair.com

#6 Retention Science

The best way to target, engage, and retain customers. Their data-driven platform predicts customer behavior to deliver targeted communications. Their mission is to give marketing teams access to advanced data science to target, engage and retain customers. 

Existing customers spend more and are worth more than newly acquired customers. As founders of multiple eCommerce companies, they discovered firsthand that nurturing and strengthening customer relationships allowed them to tap into higher revenue they would otherwise not have access to. From that, Retention Science was born. They found that by focusing on retention marketing, they were able to deliver relevant, highly targeted campaigns in a timely manner that drove customer spending and brand loyalty. They empower marketers to increase their revenue, not only by retaining existing customers, but by building loyal advocates. 

Switch to the scientific way of retaining customers at retentionscience.com

#5 DogVacay

Find an awesome dog sitter near you. Forget the kennel! They have thousands of trusted and insured dog lovers across the country ready to watch your dog like a member of their family. Simply browse Hosts in your area, schedule and book online. All reservations include free pet insurance, 24/7 customer support, and daily photo updates.

Host quality is their #1 priority. They have a comprehensive review process for their hosts, which involves a detailed online application, phone interview, reference checks, background checks, and online training (only 1/3 of host applicants are accepted). Their customers can also read reviews of each host and even schedule a "meet-and-greet" at no cost to determine if the pet-sitter is a good fit for their fur baby. Also, to ensure both hosts and guests have the ultimate peace of mind, all bookings made on DogVacay include complimentary insurance and amazing customer support!

Find a loving dog sitter at dogvacay.com

#4 MD Insider 

MD Insider is a technology healthcare company that uses the power of big data to significantly reduce healthcare costs for self-insured employers. Their mission is to provide physician performance transparency in the areas of experience, quality and cost. They bring employers an easy to use, integrated healthcare solution that empowers their employees with the critical facts they need to make truly informed decisions about doctors. Using their solution, employers are able to provide the best quality and most cost effective physicians for their employees.

They have created a proprietary database with performance data on over 1.2 million physicians, allowing them to provide critical performance details that employers and employees want to know about physicians, including the number of procedures each physician has done over the past 36 months, the total cost per procedure/treatment, procedure outcomes, and more. 

Their solution provides each client with their own company-branded MD Insider web portal, where employees can search physicians, by health plan. In a matter of seconds they have access to never-before-seen physician performance stats allowing them to select the highest performing and most cost-effective physicians. 

Connect with them at mdinsider.com

#3 Nimble

Their smart relationship manager helps you turn your contacts into customers for life. Nimble combines your contacts, email, social, activities & follow-ups in one place, providing insights & organization for your business relationships.

Why does Nimble put such an emphasis on this single view? They believe that contact management is not really about contacts... It's about relationships. Nimble’s contact management style is to bring them to life—from a 2D name in a data field to a richly-detailed 3D person.

What you want is to know your contacts. Knowing them better and communicating with them in a genuine way builds trust. To that end, it helps to know how you’ve interacted over time, know when you last talked to them, when you’re next meeting them. It helps to be able to see what they’re talking about on their social networks, too, so you can pick the right times to step in and offer relevant, meaningful information or advice.

Nimble's software easily imports all of the basic contact information from Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype, Google+, phone, email, and more. But then Nimble goes above and beyond. The Nimble Contact Management solution goes to another level, augmenting each Contact Record with richly detailed information across social channels. You gain insights about the people in your network—to drive deeper social media relationships and more profitable campaigns. If you and your team aren't using Nimble then you're simply not as, well, nimble.

Try Nimble free at nimble.com

#2 Tradesy

Turn your closet into cash by selling on Tradesy.com. It's 100% hassle-free, and you get paid more than a consignment or resale. Sell anything from designer bags to fast fashion, and let Tradesy take care of shipping, returns, and payment.

You'll also find brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and J. Crew at up to 90% off -- authenticity and easy returns guaranteed by Tradesy.

Join millions of women at tradesy.com today.

#1 Dollar Shave Club

Amazing razors & grooming supplies delivered for a few bucks a month. Select one of their great blades, pay only for the cost of your blades, and they send ’em right to your door every month. No more over-paying for a fancy brand name shave tech. No more forgetting to buy your blades. You’re free to change razor plans anytime. If you do, the new handle is free. No fees, no commitment, cancel anytime. Satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.

Join for a few bucks a month at dollarshaveclub.com

Join Our Online Community

Connect globally with startup teams, entrepreneurs & business owners.