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added: Tue, 28th March 2006 | 1390 views | 0x in favourites
feed url: http://www.socaltech.com/news/news.rss
High tech news and information focused on venture capital and startups in Southern California
Encino-based Urbaniacs, an online virtual world focused on comic book heros, said today that it has inked an agreement with the L.A. Derby Dolls, a Los Angeles-based roller derby league for women. According to the firm, Urbaniacs will provide avatars based on the Derby Dolls to its online web site. In addition, Urbaniacs said it would co-sponsor the L.A. Derby Dolls summer camp for teenage girls. Urbaniacs provides an online web site focused entirely on comic-strip style avatars, and is focused on kids 9-16. The L.A. Derby Dolls is a roller derby which plays at a track in downtown LA. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed.
Los Angeles-based Twistbox Entertainment, a venture funded developer of mobile applications, has inked a partnership with a provider of self-help content. According to Twistbox, it will work with The Learning Annex, which produces self-help edutainment seminars, lectures, classes, and workshops, to bring the company's celebrities and content to mobile phones. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Twistbox said it will provide self-help programming from The Learning Annex, ranging from health and wealth related topics--including financial advice from former boxing champion George Foreman--to relationships and psychic services--including daily horoscopes from Sylvia Browne.... (more)
Los Angeles-based Sometrics, a firm developing applications for gathering analytics about social networking applications, has raised a round of funding from The Mail Room Fund and Greycroft Partners. The firm's CEO, Ian Swanson, said the firm is looking to use the new funding round to hire and scale out its services. Swanson told socalTECH that he is looking to scale out the firm's back end infrastructure. The firm's product currently works with Facebook, MySpace, and all other open social networks. The investment follows a small seed investment the firm received in January from Big Sky Ventures. Swanson was previously a Business Development Manager at Userplane/AOL.
Lexico Publishing Group, a Long Beach-based firm that operates the Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and Reference.com web sites, has been acquired by search provider Ask.com, in an all-cash deal. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Ask.com said that Lexico helps expand the firm's monthly unique visitors by 15.6M. Ask said that Lexico is profitbale, and has been seeing high double digit growth for the past two years. Lexico was founded in 1995 by Brian Kariger and Daniel Fierro. Ask.com is an operating unit of IAC.
Irvine-based semiconductor firm Broadcom Corporation said late Wednesday, that Dr. Henry Samueli, one of the firm's founders and current Chief Technology Officer and Chairman; and David A. Dull, the firm's Senior Vice President and General Counsel, have both taken a leave of absence due to a civil complaint filed against the firm by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC filed suit against Broadcom yesterday over its stock option grant practices, saying that four of the firm's officers were involved in a five-year, systematic scheme to backdate stock options. The suit also named former CFO William J. Ruehle and co-founder Henry T. Nicholas as co-defendants.... (more)
Los Angeles-based j2 Global Communications, a provider of Internet fax, voice mail, and other services, said this morning that it has acquired Phone People Holdings Corporation, a San Diego-based provider of enhanced voice services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. j2 Global said the financial impact of the acquisition is not expected to be material to the firm. Phone People offers toll free numbers and outsourced voice mail services via a monthly subscription. Phone People's services are similar to j2's eVoice, jConnect, and Onebox services.
SK Telecom, the South Korean mobile phone firm behind Santa Monica-based MVNO Helio, and Virgin Mobile USA said Wednesday that the firms are talking about "strategic opportunities" for Helio. No details on the negotiations were released, however, both Virgin Mobile and SK Telecom said in terse, released statements that they were in preliminary discussions on the strategic opportunities for Helio. SK Telecom owns 69 percent of Helio, which is co-owned by Earthlink Inc. Helio operates a youth-focused mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), marketing its wireless voice and data services in the United States. Helio is headed by Earthlink founder Sky Dayton.
West Hollywood-based SocialVibe said Wednesday afternoon that the firm has launched a new social media site focused on allowing people to promote, distribute, and support brands and charities via social networks, blogs, and personal websites. The firm also disclosed that it has raised $4.2M in a Series A funding from Redpoint Ventures. Redpoint's Greg Martin has joined the firm's board of directors along with the funding, which actually closed in December of last year. SocialVibe allows users to select brands for sponsorship on their web sites; the site then accumulates points for users based on how many people view those sponsorships.... (more)
Los Angele-based SheKnows.com, the online women's destination site owned by AtomicOnline, said Wednesday afternoon that it has acquired PregnancyandBaby.com, an online community for pregnant women. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. PregnancyandBaby offers online articles, a message board, and other features focused on women in preconception through pregnancy. According to SheKnows, the acquisition is one of several planning to strengthen the site's pregnancy channel.
Jeffrey Stiefler, who was most recently chairman and CEO of Calabasas-based Digital Insight, has joined a Silicon Valley venture capital firm as a venture partner. According to San Mateo-based Emergence Capital Partners, Stiefler has joined the firm to help it expand its team and network. Stiefler was head of Digital Insight when it was sold to Intuit last year for $1.4 billion. A spokesperson for Emergence Capital Partners told socalTECH that the Stiefler will remain in Southern California, where the firm currently has 3 investments. Stiefler has also previously served as President of American Express, and CEO of IDS Financial Services.... (more)
Irvine-based iQ4bis Software, a provider of business intelligence and reporting software, announced today that the firm has inked an OEM partnership with Miles 33, a provider of software for the newspaper publishing industry. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. iQ4bis said that Miles 33 will offer its software suite to publishers. The software will be used to help publishers track advertising revenues, accounts receivable, and circulation data.
Today, BushLeague.TV (www.bushleague.tv), is launching its online site video and web site for "dudes." The site is backed by DECA, an online entertainment studio which is venture funded by Mayfield, General Catalyst, and Atomico. The new site is the latest for DECA, which is also behind the video podcasts for the popular BoingBoing blog site, CNET's Dog and Pony Show, and other video podcasts and blogs. We spoke with Allison Kingsley, the site's General Manager and former Executive Director of the Groundlings Theater comedy club, along with DECA's Michael Wayne . Thanks for the interview.... (more)
Los Angeles-based Passenger has raised $8M in a Series C funding, the firm announced this morning. The funding was led by StarVest Partners and included prior investors Shelter Capital Partners and Steamboat Ventures. Passenger, which develops software and consulting services for engaging customers of brands, said that the funding brings the firm's total raised to $20.5M. Passenger's software-as-a-service provides online customer communities and social networking features for brands to conduct focus groups and better connect with their customers.
Santa Monica-based DECA, a venture funded entertainment studio, said today that it has launched BushLeague.tv, a new web site focused on creating original video and blog posts for guys. According to the firm, the site will offer irreverant commentary and topical daily information and news focused on 18-34 year old men. The new site is being hosted and produced by Allison Kingsley, former Groundlings Executive Director, and Matt Kirsh, who is a comedy writer. Other people involved in producing segments include Jim Patton, John Walsh (G4), Joe Borden, Michael Dugan, T.... (more)
Aliso Viejo-based Smith Micro Software said today that it is collaborating with BT iNet on development of "secure mobile connectivity solutions." According to the firms, they will offer a combined offering which will provide secure communications between mobile PDAs and enterprise networks. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed. BT iNet is a unit of telecommunications giant BT plc, which provides Cisco-based LAN and other IT services to customers. Smith Micro Software is a publisher of a number of software titles, including software for the wireless market.
Irvine-based Boost Mobile, the youth lifestyle mobile phone brand owned by Sprint, said today that it has named Matt Carter as Senior Vice President and General Manager. Carter joins the firm from Sprint, where he was SVP Base Management. Carter has previously served at Bristol Myers, Coca-Cola, Leap Wireless, and BellSouth. Carter will be responsible for Boost's marketing, sales and distribution, product development, finance, and customer service.
Lake Forest-based Fisker Automotive and its partner Quantum Technologies said Tuesday that the firm is targeting full production of its hybrid Fisker Karma automobiles by the end of 2010. Fisker, which is venture backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Palo Alto Investors, said it is gearing up to deliver its first vehicles by fourth quarter of 2009, with monthly production of its hybrid electric cars of 1,250 per month by the end of 2010. According to a recent CNET News.com report, the firm is in the midst of a Series C funding round worth $65M.... (more)
Los Angeles-based Language Weaver, a provider of software for computer translation of languages, said today that it has inked a strategic partnership with a German enterprise search software firm. According to the firm, it is in an agreement with empolis, which develops enterprise content and knowledge management software, to incorporate Language Weaver's automated translation software for a cross-lingual, enterprise search application. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed.... (more)
Carlsbad-based BrightQube has raised $650,000 in a convertible note financing for its software for finding stock photography, according to the Tech Coast Angels. The Tech Coast Angels said that its San Diego chapter led the funding of BrightQube with a $200,000 investment, which also included the Pasadena Angels and unnamed insiders. BrightQube is targeting the online stock photography market with its online tool for searching for stock images; the firm's software allows users to pan and scroll quickly through images to find the right one. The company also said it will be developing its own collection of content.... (more)
Santa Monica-based The Search Agency, a provider of search engine marketing and search engine optimization, said Monday that it has named Barbara Palmer as President. Palmer joins the firm from 2 Degrees Ventures, an entertainment professional services agency. Palmer has also served as VP at Ameriquest Mortgage Company, United Online, Paramount Pictures, Planet HOllywood, and Universal Studios Hollywood. The Search Agency provides search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) services to businesses, and is backed by private equity firm JMI Equity.
Santa Monica-based CampusExplorer is set to launch an expanded web site tomorrow, adding new features that help users find college that best fit them and other personalized features. The firm, which is backed by Rincon Venture Partners and O'Connor Ventures is looking to help prospective students find the right schools that fit their interests, finances, and grades. According to Campus Explorer, it will offer side-by-side comparisons, active advice on finding best college choices, admissions chance analysis, and tools to allow users to rate and save schools by their interest. The new site launches Wednesday. O'Connor Ventures is the venture firm run by DoubleClick founder Kevin O'Connor.
San Diego-based DivX, a provider of video encoding and decoding tools, said today that its technology is now available on the Sony Playstation 3. According to DivX, the technology is targeted at PS3 game developers who want to be able to take advantage of its compression for high quality video playback. DivX said that it is currently working on certifying the PS3 as part of its video playback certification process.
San Diego-based ParAccel, a developer of database management software, said Monday that it has entered into an OEM relationship with IBM, where it will embed IBM's InfoSphere Change Data Capture tool within its database. ParAccel said the addition will give its customers access to real-time upates from IBM DB2, as well as Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. ParAccel develops DBMS acceleration software used to increase the speed of queries to databases.
Costa Mesa-based Emulex has hired a new Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, the company announced Monday. The firm, which develops storage networking products, said that Jeff Benck will oversee the firm's engineering, marketing, operations, and sales organizations. Benck joins the firm from IBM, where he was Vice President of xServices Servers, BladeCenter, and Retail Store Solutions. Benck served at IBM for over 18 years. Emulex is a developer of components for the data storage market, including host bus adapters and switching chips.
Beverly Hills-based OVGuide.com, the online video and TV guide website backed by former GeoCities founder David Bohnett, said Monday that it has hired a new VP of Sales and Business Development. The company also said it has selected DoubleClick for its third party ad server. OVGuide.com said that Stephen Scott joins the firm from Zeta Interactive, and has also served at online marketing firm Synergy Consulting. The firm also said it is using DoubleClick's DART for Publishers for its third party ad server, but did not disclose any financial details behind the deal. OVGuide offers an online guide to videos, TV shows, movies, and video games on the Web.... (more)
Los Angeles-based SOA Software said Monday morning that it has acquired LogicLibrary, a provider of software tools for the service oriented architecture market. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SOA Software is a developer of enterprise software middleware and tools, which are used by companies to connect together different enterprise applications using software oriented architecture (SOA). The firm is venture backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Mellon Ventures, Paladin Capital Partners Fund, Palisades Ventures and Redpoint Ventures.
Los Angeles-based ProElite.com announced today that it has rolled out its social networking and entertainment web site, focused on mixed martial arts. According to ProElite, it will feature high quality streaming and video on demand of mixed martial art events and fights. The video will be offered on a fight-by-fight, event, or unlimited basis, with some footage of up and coming competitors offered free of charge. The firm is headed by Douglas DeLuca; the firm's management team includes Kelly Perdew, who is also managing director of Angel Venture Partners and a former winner of The Apprentice.
Epicor, an Irvine-based provider of enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management software, has been selected by a new customer in Venezuela, the company announced today. Epicor said that textile manufacturer Alfombras y Fieltros Iberia CA (Alfica) will use the firm's iScala software for manging its finance, manufacturing, and uspply chain. Terms of the win were not disclosed. Alfica manufacturer carpet, upholstery fabrics and felts, among plus woven polypropylene bags.
Aliso Viejo-based Networks In Motion, a provider of location based services, said this morning that it has been issued a patent for its technology. The firm said it received U.S. Patent No 7,333,820, titled "Position Determination System," which covers the firm's technology for social networking applications using GPS-enabled mobile devices. According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, the patent was actually granted February 19th; the firm had filed the patent in July of 2002. Inventors on the patent are Michael Sheha, Stephen Petilli, and Angie Sheha. Networks In Motion powers the AAA Mobile, Verizon VZNavigator, TELUS Navigator, YellowPages.... (more)
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