Stepping out of the elevator onto the sixth floor of the Manhattan Beach Tower building on Rosecrans Avenue is like stepping into a hospital operating room.
The elevator landing is blindingly bright.
“The light is intended to shock the visitor,” explained Digital Ventures partner Walter Delph, whose company occupies the sixth floor.
From the elevator area, visitors are led into a dark, tunnel-like room with a wall of video monitors. The monitors display Digital Venture clients, who range from IBM and Lego to Kaishi, a company co-founded by Digital Ventures and a corporate partner to manufacture pink, mouse-like fetal monitors for expectant mothers.
The tunnel’s low light has a calming effect that facilitates discussion, Delph said.
Delph was leading tours of his company’s offices Wednesday evening, following a presentation from Manhattan Beach Mayor Mark Burton, welcoming the company to Manhattan.
The one year old company describes itself as a “corporate investment and incubation firm.”
“We bring the tech world together with large corporations that though successful, are not necessarily innovative,” Delph said.
The goal, he said, is to create technology-based start-up companies using corporate investment. Unlike its parent company Boston Consulting Group, Digital Ventures doesn’t advise its clients. It partners with them in assembling teams of designers and engineers to develop new products and services.
The company has nearly 100 employees and plans to expand to over 300 in the near future.
Delph said his company chose to locate in the Los Angeles area because of its large creative and technology communities. It chose Manhattan Beach, he said, because the community’s lifestyle helps his company attract employees and corporate partners. ER
