MiLA Capital

MiLA Capital is a high-touch Venture Capital firm based in Los Angeles, CA. The team believes that (1) hardware can be brought to market more frugally than in the past and that (2) Los Angeles has the expertise and best resources to support founders who play in the physical world. Since 2015, MiLA Capital has seen a gap in SoCal’s startup hard tech ecosystem; talent was incredible but fragmented while capital was plentiful except for seed stage hardware founders. We addressed that by raising an early stage venture fund, building an innovation lab known as Toolbox LA, recruiting a values-driven community of founders and mentors, and connecting hundreds of talented founders with the resources they need to impact the world. We also operate the Make in LA accelerator to find, nurture, and invest in promising hardware companies at the earliest stages. We believe that undiscovered hardware founders are too often overlooked, and we are the right team to fund them at the significant inflection point of pre-manufacturing.

Shaun Arora

Managing Partner

Noramay Cadena

Managing Partner

Carmen Palafox

Partner

24 past transactions

3D-SensIR

Seed Round in 2016
3D-SensIR Inc., a sensor hardware startup company based in the greater Los Angeles area, incorporated in Delaware, in January 2016. The company’s core expertise is in designing and manufacturing of 3D laser scanners. We build mobile 3D camera systems that transform reality into photorealistic, 3D-models directly on-site in real time for architecture, engineering, and construction market.

Flip Technologies

Seed Round in 2015
Flip Technologies provides a wide array of products ranging from navigation for fleet management services, routing and demand-supply heatmaps for ride-sharing platforms & enroute EV charging optimization & scheduling to build an inter-car communication network for the future self driving cars

Force Impact Technologies

Seed Round in 2015
Force Impact Technologies L.L.C manufactures a mouth guard that indicates force for the detection and the safety of athletes when they are returning to play. It also offers mobile application software that allows parents, coaches, and leagues to follow normal concussion protocols. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Gilbert, Arizona.

Gaszen

Seed Round in 2017
We provide moments of warmth for everyone, everywhere. We are the bridge that connects people to a more reliable and comfortable energy consumption experience. We created an IoT gas management platform, starting with propane that empowers people to have a better and fairest consumption experience. There are 3B people around the world who use propane as their main source of energy (cooking, hot showers and heating). The propane gas industry was worth 122B in 2015. Our go to market strategy is Mexico (the biggest propane consumer per capita in America), representing an 8B industry. There are 6 million stationary tanks within residential users and SMBs. Our device connects stationary propane tanks to the internet. Our platform connects the three main stakeholders; on one hand to the end user (Residential and SMB’s), later to the gas company and finally to the dispatchers. We have a device for the stationary tank, an application for the end user, a control dashboard for the SMB’s and a management dashboard for gas suppliers.

Rufus Labs

Seed Round in 2016
Rufus Lab is a startup technology company that offers wearable devices to enhance user experience without disruption. The company was founded by Gabe Grifoni, Travis LaBerge, Paula Odysseos-Panayiotou, and Matt Goldman in 2013 and is based in Los Angeles, California.

Hava Health

Pre Seed Round in 2019
HAVA HEALTH, INC. manufactures a smoking cessation device for people with nicotine addiction. The company's products includes a connected vape pen which pairs with smartphone application, Hale. HAVA HEALTH, INC. is based in the United States.

Farcast

Seed Round in 2020
Dash Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and deploys one way delivery drones for commercial airdrop customers. The company uses mapping software solutions to evaluate suitable drop points. Its drones are mounted to commercial aircraft, helicopters, or UAVs to enable the delivery of packages in remote areas. Dash Systems, Inc. was founded in 2017 and is based in Hawthorne, California.

Feel Therapeutics

Seed Round in 2016
Sentio Solutions is developing digital biomarkers and therapeutics to change the way we diagnose, monitor, and care for Mental Health. Our first product, Feel, is an emotion-sensing wristband and app, that provides continuous monitoring and real-time personalized interventions for individuals that suffer from anxiety and depression. Feel consists of 4 parts: Feel Emotion Sensor, Feel App, Feel Therapist and Educational Program. Sentio’s solution for Augmented Mental Health uses a combination of evidence-based behavioral techniques (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, Positive psychology) and Feel, the company’s emotion recognition technology. With the Augmented Mental Health solution, Sentio aims to solve major problems related to Mental Health management.

Farcast

Private Placement in 2020
Dash Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and deploys one way delivery drones for commercial airdrop customers. The company uses mapping software solutions to evaluate suitable drop points. Its drones are mounted to commercial aircraft, helicopters, or UAVs to enable the delivery of packages in remote areas. Dash Systems, Inc. was founded in 2017 and is based in Hawthorne, California.

Feel Therapeutics

Pre Seed Round in 2015
Sentio Solutions is developing digital biomarkers and therapeutics to change the way we diagnose, monitor, and care for Mental Health. Our first product, Feel, is an emotion-sensing wristband and app, that provides continuous monitoring and real-time personalized interventions for individuals that suffer from anxiety and depression. Feel consists of 4 parts: Feel Emotion Sensor, Feel App, Feel Therapist and Educational Program. Sentio’s solution for Augmented Mental Health uses a combination of evidence-based behavioral techniques (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, Positive psychology) and Feel, the company’s emotion recognition technology. With the Augmented Mental Health solution, Sentio aims to solve major problems related to Mental Health management.

Vector Launch

Series A in 2017
Vector was founded by several members of the original SpaceX team and is a disruptive innovator that connects space startups with affordable and frequent launch and platforms to enable space capabilities at a speed and price point never before possible. Vector has a big vision to reshape the 400 billion dollar space market by combining dedicated low-cost micro satellite launch and software defined satellites (Galactic Sky) to dramatically increase access and speed to orbit.

Thesis Couture

Seed Round in 2017
Thesis Couture is a global fashion footwear company that focuses on reinventing the stiletto. The company uses structural engineering principles, advanced material science, and a keen focus on human factors in creating internal architecture of its products. Thesis Couture’s team includes professionals and luminaries across fashion, technology, and anatomy to create new standards in women’s high heels. The design and materials used in its products improve load distribution across the foot, impact shock, and kinematics. Thesis Couture was founded in 2013 by Dolly Singh and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Amped Innovation

Seed Round in 2016
Amped Innovation PBC designs and manufactures solar appliances. The company primarily focuses on energy, water, and medical fields. It offers solar home systems, lanterns, power point trackers, and charge controllers; electrochlorinators for solar water irrigation for small-plot farmers; and lighting equipment for phototherapy treatment. The company’s product line includes BioLite TEG stoves, husk power metering systems, D-Rev Brilliance photo devices, community water purifiers, and infant warmers. Amped Innovation PBC was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Palo Alto, California.

Caban Systems

Seed Round in 2018
CABAN SYSTEMS manufactures lithium-ion energy storage systems for telecommunication companies and MNOs. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in San Mateo, California.

Vector Launch

Seed Round in 2016
Vector was founded by several members of the original SpaceX team and is a disruptive innovator that connects space startups with affordable and frequent launch and platforms to enable space capabilities at a speed and price point never before possible. Vector has a big vision to reshape the 400 billion dollar space market by combining dedicated low-cost micro satellite launch and software defined satellites (Galactic Sky) to dramatically increase access and speed to orbit.

Lily Grey

Seed Round in 2016
Lily Grey is a modern jewelry brand giving girls a cool new way to tell their story.

PathSpot

Seed Round in 2018
PathSpot Technologies, Inc. develops and manufactures a system controlled by a software that protects restaurants and their customers from the threat of food-borne illness. It utilizes a unique algorithm for filtering, processing, and analyzing fluorescent light to scans an employee's hands to detect pathogens that cause food borne illness. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in New York City, New York.

Canviz

Seed Round in 2016
Canviz is a digital canvas for displaying art and photography. It's also a site for collecting, discovering and sharing great content. It's beautifully wood-framed and wirelessly controlled with our app. Canviz is connected to popular social media platforms, like Tumblr, and soon our online marketplace. Canviz opens a window into a world of living images and brings your art to life.

Flip Technologies

Seed Round in 2015
Flip Technologies provides a wide array of products ranging from navigation for fleet management services, routing and demand-supply heatmaps for ride-sharing platforms & enroute EV charging optimization & scheduling to build an inter-car communication network for the future self driving cars

Flip Technologies

Seed Round in 2016
Flip Technologies provides a wide array of products ranging from navigation for fleet management services, routing and demand-supply heatmaps for ride-sharing platforms & enroute EV charging optimization & scheduling to build an inter-car communication network for the future self driving cars

Farcast

Angel Round in 2017
Dash Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and deploys one way delivery drones for commercial airdrop customers. The company uses mapping software solutions to evaluate suitable drop points. Its drones are mounted to commercial aircraft, helicopters, or UAVs to enable the delivery of packages in remote areas. Dash Systems, Inc. was founded in 2017 and is based in Hawthorne, California.

Amogy

Funding Round in 2021
Amogy is a start-up, located in Brooklyn, New York and is working on a novel carbon-free energy storage system using ammonia as a fuel.

Emerge

Pre Seed Round in 2016
Emerge is creating a new standard for shared digital experiences that enable real connections to who and what matters to you. Our first step towards this vision is touch, with a product that allows users to feel, interact, and share XR content with their bare hands. Based in Los Angeles, the founders and team are former entrepreneurs and executives awarded by MIT, WEF, and Forbes, and have brought consumer electronics and XR products to market.