Los Angeles-based Triptrotting, the online site which helps connects travelers with other like-minded, local hosts, has boosted its funding round to $1.5M, and added angel investment group Golden Seeds. The firm, which announced the first close of its Series A in March, said co-investors include Google Ventures, Idealab, LaunchpadLA, 500 Startups, WI Harper Group and individual angels. Triptrotting was founded by Aigerim Shorman and Shana Zheng. The firm is part of the LaunchpadLA accelerator. Triptrotting said the new funding goes to further development of its platform, and for marketing.

Santa Ana-based CoreLogic, the Orange County provider of real estate, mortgage, and other related databases and information services, has sued Internet real estate broker Redfin, over patents related to home price valuation. CoreLogic's lawsuit says that Redfin is infringing on its patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,361,201, covering real estate appraisal using predictive modeling. The lawsuit, CoreLogic Solutions, LLC v. Redfin Corporation, was filed last night in the Texas Eastern District Court, a popular location for patent infringement lawsuits. The suit was first noted by Geekwire. Redfin is based in Seattle.

Los Angeles-based ShareSquare, the developer of mobile marketing services founded by Matthias Galica, said today that it is targeting the restaurant industry with a new service called TacoGrid. The firm said that TacoGrid will automatically general mobile site for restaurants, aimed at restaurants in the top 50 cities in the U.S., which will feature menus from SinglePlatform, and tips and specials from Foursquare. ShareSquare said the new site will be completely free to restaurants, but will also allow restaurants to enhance their sites with information feeds, special contests, advertising, and more. The new TacoGrid service allows restaurants to "claim" their site using just their business phone number.

Monrovia, California-based unmanned aircraft maker Aerovironment said today that it is looking to demonstrate the use of its small, unmanned aircraft for use in post-disaster communications, for the Federal Communications Commission. The UAV maker, which currently sells its aircraft to the military, said the demonstration is for the FCC’s Deployable Aerial Communications Architecture (DACA) Notice of Inquiry (NOI) proceedings, which is aimed at finding aerial platforms to help bring communications back to areas after a natural or man-made disaster, when existing communications networks are unusable. Aerovironment said it will use one of its hand-launched, small UAS as a airborne communications relay; those unmanned aircraft currently can fly between 45 minutes and two hours.

Two of the newest startups to emerge out of Southern California's technology and accelerator scene, Lifecrowd, and Eventup, are partnering, to join Lifecrowd's social activities site with Eventup's service to help people book exclusive private residences and locations for their events. According to the two, they will showcase "distinctive" Eventup locations with Lifecrowd's activities, through a series of events. Lifecrowd the first startup out of Erik Rannala's MuckerLab accelerator program, and Eventup was one of the first companies to launch out of Mike Jones' Science, Inc. technology studio. The two said they will start with a sushi making event at Geisha Studios. In addition to the events, the two said they will make it easy for activity hosts to create an activity on Lifecrowd, and at the same time click through to Eventup to find and book unique venue spaces. Lifecrowd's service helps people find events and activities to do with others, to find new friends and meet new people. Eventup is making it easier to find and rent things like private residences, mansions, and beachside bungalows for private parties. Lifecrowd is headed by Bong Koh, and Eventup is the startup run by Tony Adam.

The historic mission to the International Space Station by Hawthorne-based SpaceX progressed further Wednesday, after NASA reported that SpaceX successfully completed an approach to the ISS. The SpaceX Dragon passed directly below the ISS, 2.5 km from the space station, part of testing before a closer approach which will lead to the docking of the SpaceX Dragon with the station on Friday. NASA reported this morning that SpaceX's Dragon capsule is now departing the vicinity of the International Space Station, and is beginning a new trajectory to re-approach the station for grapple and berthing attempts on Friday. The Dragon will attempt to dock with the ISS, the first time a commercially launched vehicle has docked with the ISS. SpaceX is venture backed and headed by technology mogul Elon Musk, and arguably has become one of the highest profile startups to ever emerge out of Southern California.

Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures is extending out distribution of its movies with a new deal with Amazon.com, Amazon said Wednesday. Amazon said that it will bring hundreds of movies from Paramount to its Prime Instant Video service, its subscription, video on demand service. Financial details of the licensing deal were not disclosed. The deal covers such popular titles as Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Mission Impossible 3, Clueless, Nacho Libre, and others. Amazon's streaming video service now includes more than 17,000 titles, including both movie and television shows.

Zebit, a microlending and financial transactions platform in the UK which is owned by San Diego-based Global Analytics Holdings, said it has raised $25M in a Series D funding round this morning. According to the firm, the round was led by Mohr Davidow, and also included Crosslink Capital, Leapfrog Ventures, QED Investors, and a number of private strategic advisors. Zebit operates a service which allows users in the UK to borrow small amounts of money for a short period of time, and uses data analytics software to assess the risk of lending to borrowers. Global Analytics said it was advised by Victory Park Securities in the funding.

Los Angeles-based videogame rental service GameFly said Wednesday that it is planning to start publishing its own, mobile games for Apple iOS and Android, and will also open up a store for third party, Android games. As part of the effort, GameFly said it has created a new game development fund, and will be working with mobile developers to help them publish and promote their titles. The company said it hopes to publish its first title this summer.

Monrovia-based Green Dot, the provider of prepaid credit cards, which allows people who are unlikely to qualify for a credit card or bank accounts to load up their credit cards with money, might be seeing more regulation soon, according to reports Wednesday. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering more regulations on cards like those provided by Green Dot, to better protect consumers. Green Dot is one of the most successful, venture backed startups to emerge from Southern California in recent years, and is now the largest provider nationwide of prepaid credit cards. Green Dot has its IPO in 2010, resulting in the best return ever for local investors like the Tech Coast Angels, along with its venture backers.

A new Los Angeles startup, MergeLocal, launched this week, releasing an iPhone app which pays users to check into their favorite places around town. The app--created by Michael Wong, Steven Elliott and Rusty Jenkins--allows users to check into restaurants, bars, spas, and alons, and receive points for checking into those locations. Those points can be exchanged for cash payments through PayPal. According to the firm, its free app is available in the Apple App store.

San Diego-based StockTwits, the micro messaging site focused on stocks and stock trading run by Howard Lindzon, is tapping into its big database of messages today with a new feature. The site said that it has added two, Social Stock Signals which show what stocks and people are gaining popularity on the site. The tools highlight those stocks seeing the most discussion volume on the site, as well as which members are getting new followers on the site. StockTwits said that its Social Stock Signals highlights which tickers and industries are gaining or losing momentum over different time periods, which can help people discovery which stocks and industries are being discussed most on the service. The similar Social People Signals feature helps users find the other users who people are watching the most by popularity of their posts. StockTwits operates a micro-messaging service, similar to Twitter, but very focused on stock tips and discussion.

A new startup, headed by entrepreneur Wil Schroter, has launched this week, looking to make it easier for startups to raise funding. Santa Monica- and Columbus, Ohio-based Fundable said that it is looking to provide a crowdfunding platform for "serious startups". The site allow early stage startups to gain capital from anyone, using the new JOBS Act to raise money from anyone interested in a startup, and not just professional investors and banks. The site allows startups to list a description of their company and product, detail their team, and collect pledges from potential backers, and reward those backers with special incentives--T-shirts, thank you notes, posters, products, and more--for different contribution levels.

Although the site is currently limiting itself to accredited investors, the startup said it will open to a wider audience once the new JOBS Act legislatoin is reviewed by the SEC. Schroter said Fundable is an outgrowth of his incubator, Virtucon Ventures, and has angel investors, 500 Startups Founder Dave McClure, Startup Weekend CEO Marc Nager, Second Market founding team executive Phil Reicherz, as well as venture capitalist Mark Goines of Morganthaler Ventures. on its advisory team. Schroter is a repeat entrepreneur, who founded such companies as Go Big Network, and has involvement with a number of local startups in Los Angeles.

In what is a huge blow to Silicon Beach, Santa Monica-based BetterWorks, the software-and-technology-meets-employee-perks startup run by Paige Craig, told its users today that it is sunsetting its site on May 31st. According to an email from Craig, the company decided to close down the BettterWorks perk platform, and will not longer be active after next Thursday. Craig said that the shutdown came as a result of not being able to sustain a large enough market, relative to the high cost of customer acquisition. BetterWorks--and Paige Craig--have been one of the companies driving the growth in Santa Monica's Silicon Beach. BetterWorks had raised $10M in funding from Redpoint Ventures.

Santa Monica-based Docstoc, the business document sharing and online small business site run by Jason Nazar, has gone app happy, saying today that it has launched 30, free iPhone and iPad apps aimed at the small business and entrepreneur market. The apps--which range from advice on how to get a job interview or venture capital, to sales techniques and HR advice--cover a wide range of small business topics. Docstoc said it actually quietly launched the various apps into the App store about three weeks ago. Docstoc is tapping its extensive library of documents, as well as its recent video efforts, to bolster the content in the wide range of free iPhone and iPad apps.

Torrance-based Intelligent Optical Systems, a developer of optical fiber sensors, has scored a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA said this week, to help support the firm's research to help protect groundwater resources. Amount of the grant was not disclosed, however, the EPA said the funding came from $2M it gave to 25 companies nationwide focused on technology development toward sustainable solutions for the environment. The EPA said that the funding for Intelligent Optical Systems will go to a sensor for for detecting carbon emissions from deep storage sequestration reservoirs.

Los Angeles-based RocketFrog, a new startup developing casino games on Facebook, launched Tuesday, saying that it has raised $2M in angel funding, and also added MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson as an advisor. The startup, headed by Brett Calapp, allows Facebook users to play casino games like Blackjack and slots, and win real prizes. VentureWire reports that RocketFrog's investors include Brody Jenner, the son of Olympian Bruce Jenner.

Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment said today that its launch of Diablo III, its newest gaming title, has set a new record for the fastest selling, PC game, with 3.5 million copies sold in its first 24 hours. Blizzard said that 4.7 million gamers launched with the new title, which also include 1.2 million players who received Diablo III as part of its World of Warcraft Annual Pass promotion, and that the number has already grown to more than 6.3 million as of the first week of availability. Diablo III launched on May 15th.

Los Angeles-based Wi-Fi network provider Boingo Wireless is continuing to extend out its network of Wi-Fi access points in airports, reporting this morning that it has launched its managed Wi-Fi services at Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). Boingo said the deal, through and agreement with Newbridge Technologies, will allow it to broadcast its Boing_Hotspot SSID and control the user experience at the airport. Financial details of the deal with the airport were not disclosed. Boingo's Asia Pacific plans and Global plans will work at the airport, as will hourly and day pass options. Boingo also said the deal gives access to its various roaming providers, including Korea Telecom, LGU+, Orange France and Skype, with wholesale Wi-Fi access at the airport.

Once high-flying security software firm CyberDefender, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, looks to be taking the axe to its employees, according to a regulatory filing by the firm. In a filing with the state, CyberDefender says it is laying off 307 employees on June 1st. CyberDefender provided Internet security software and remote technical services, and said in February that it had filed for Chapter 11 and would be sold to GR Match, LLC., one of its investors. CyberDefender had briefly been one of the fastest growing companies in the Los Angeles area in the last few years, but apparently had been unable to sustain that growth or reach profitability.

Heavily backed, concentrating solar photovoltaic technology developer Amonix, which is based in Seal Beach, is set to lay off 76 workers across its offices in California, according to regulatory filings with the state. The notices--which comes thank you to California's WARN laws--says that the Seal Beach company expects to lay off the 76 workers on June 30th. Amonix is heavily backed by Kleiner Perkins, Westly Group, and Angeleno Group, raising a huge, $129.4M round in 2010. The company also had received a $90M Department of Energy loan guarantee. It's unclear on the reasons behind the layoffs, however, the solar power industry in the United States has been seeing some serious retrenchment, due to low cost modules from China, and decreased funding for solar projects from the DOE.

Los Angeles-based Fandango and AOL's Moviefone, both of which provides movie information and tickets, announced today that the two are in a deal which will make Fandango the exclusive ticketing partner for Moviefone. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. AOL said that the deal will give Moviefone users an "upgraded experience", by allowing them to buy tickets from twice as many theaters. Moviefone also said the deal will make it easier to make ticket purchases online and through mobile devices. Moviefone offers tickets via telephone, mobile and tablet apps, and its own website.

How do a bunch of German moviemakers end up in Los Angeles, running a site helping studios to market and promote their films via their venture backed startup? That's the story we got from Tobi Bauckhage, the co-founder and CEO of Moviepilot (www.moviepilot.com), a German firm which is setting up shop in Los Angeles. Moviepilot is starting to bring its movie recommendations and discovery site to the U.S., and has set up shop here to connect with the local entertainment industry. Bauckhage talks about the firm's recent funding from DFJ Espirit, T-Venture, Grazia Equity, and others, and how the company has been helping studios like Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Disney and Paramount market their upcoming releases.

What is the idea behind Moviepilot?

Tobi Bauckhage: We are a movie recommendation and discovery platform. We started about four or five years ago. Our platform is all about connecting early fans and early audiences with new and upcoming movies, months before a movie comes out. Our hypothesis is that fans have no place where, even six months before a movie, they have a place to connect with upcoming movies. We keep track of movies from first rumor to theatrical release, and make it so that you don't miss any information that is important to you as a fan. We create a page which starts at first rumor, and engages and supports those projects. On the back side, we're collecting data and understanding and gaining feedback from really early fans for upcoming movies....

Los Angeles-based Rubicon Project, the online advertising optimization company run by Frank Addante, has made another acquisition this morning. The firm said it has acquired Mobsmith, a provider of mobile advertising products. Details and size of the acquisition were not announced. Mobsmith was based in San Francisco, where Rubicon Project said it will add an office. The buy is the fourth ad technology acquisition by Rubicon Project in the past three years. Rubicon provides an online marketplace for buying and selling of online advertising, and uses that marketplace to automatically optimize for the best ads to display for its publishers.

Sony Online Entertainment, the San Diego-based online and multiplayer game development arm of Sony, said today that it is launching a new, free-to-play, first-person-shooter game called Bullet Run. The new game focuses on team-based, multiplayer play where contestants are pitted in a virtual reality TV game show against each other. The theme--which is reminiscent of the "Hunger Games"--also revolves around characters' "style and attitude". Sony said the title will be available later this summer for the PC, and was developed for the firm by ACONY Games.

Los Angeles-based RealD announced this morning that it has signed a Chinese film distributor, Bona Film Group Limited. The provider of 3D movie projection technology said that Bona Film Group will install its 3D technology at 100 cinema screens across China. Financial terms of the deal were not announced. RealD said it currently has approximately 650 cinema screens in China, with commitments totaling approximately 1,400 screens in the territory. RealD develops 3D movie projection technology, which is installed at theaters to support 3D movie releases. The firm said it now has 20,200 screens deployed worldwide.

Los Angeles-based Xfire is continuing its expansion into Southeast Asia with a new partnership, the firm said today, with Southeast Asian games publisher SEA Gaming. According to the two, SEA Gaming will integrate Xfire's online gaming utility into its massively multiplayer online games offerings. Financial details of the deal were not announced. Xfire develops chat and communications tools which allow videogame players to talk with their friends, take screenshots and capture videos, and more. The deal extends Xfire's reach into the Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand markets. Xfire is in a major Asian push, bolstered by a recent funding round from Asian investor IDM Venture Capital.

Are you a fan of VH1's "Pop Up Videos"--the music video series which is known for popping up fun facts and information in the midst of a video? Well, a Santa Monica-based service, Mixin, is looking to bring that same pop-up bubble concept to online videos and video sites. Mixin said today that it has launched its service, which allows users to add their own personal comments to online videos. The result is essentially, web-video-meets-pop-up-video, with user's comments popping up into a video in bubble boxes. Mixin said its video commenting and sharing capabilities can be added to video content owners' existing players. As part of the launch, Mixin explained that it has launched with content partner AnyClip, which is adding Mixin's commenting to its service. Mixin is headed by Jon Goldman, and its technology was developed in Jerusalem, Israel. The service is part of Qlipso, which is backed by Jerusalem Venture Partners.

The successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket this morning, and the Dragon capsule, is set to make history with a docking of the International Space Station. It's also finally delivered the ashes of actor James Doohan, who played Scotty in the 1960's television series and subsequent "Star Trek" movies. Apparently, Doohan's ashes were delivered to space as part of a payload agreement with SpaceX and Celestis, which sells delivery of the deceased into space. Doohan apparently is orbiting the earth now as part of the second stage of the Falcon 9, which will eventually re-enter and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. The successful delivery of Doohan's ashes to space help bring the effort to a close, after an earlier failure in August of 2008, when one of SpaceX's early launches failed with a portion of James Doohan's ashes on board. SpaceX successfully launched at 3:44 a.m. ET this morning. (Video below: SpaceX launches James Doohan's ashes into space).

One of the newest accelerator and incubators to open in the Los Angeles area, io/LA, is planning to invest $500,000 in local startups as part of its efforts to incubate 25 companies in its new space in Hollywood. The accelerator, which was founded by producer and actor Donovan Leitch, MySpace co-founder Aber Whitcomb, and actor Chris Gartin, detailed the plans in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Io/LA launched its accelerator last month, saying it will invest $25,000 and offer up office space to firms in Hollywood.

Irvine-based HDTV maker Vizio has been sued in federal court by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, claiming that the electronics maker violated patents owned by MIT. According to the lawsuit, Massachusetts Institute of Technology v. Vizio Inc., which was filed Friday in the Massachusetts District Court, MIT claims that Vizio refused to pay licensing fees for patents related to high definition television owned by MIT. Vizio has not provided any comment on the lawsuit. MIT's suit said that the patents it created are being violated in nearly 150 Vizio models.

The City of Los Angeles is rolling out a new system which will help motorists find parking in real time, and will also change the price of parking meters depending on demand, and has tapped Los Angeles-based ParkMe for its database of parking garages and lots, ParkMe said today. Details of the deal were not disclosed. ParkMe said its data is being used to help drivers locate the closest meters, and also find parking and compare prices for off-street facilities in downtown. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation's program uses ground sensors in 6,000 parking meter spots, and 7,500 city-owned parking lots spaces to adjust pricing for high demand hours, transmitting that information to mobile apps like those from ParkMe. ParkMe was formerly known as Parking In Motion, and is headed by Sam Friedman. ( Photo via Bigstock.com )

Santa Barbara-based music system manufacturer Sonos said today that it has launched a new, subwoofer product to complement its whole house music systems. Sonos said its new Sonos Sub will ship on June 19th, although the firm is now taking pre-orders on its website. The new Sonos Sub retails for $699. Sonos is known for its user-friendly music systems, which allow users to control music in multiple rooms from either wireless controllers, or their smart phone. The firm's systems also connect directly into a wide range of streaming Internet music services.

For our Insights and Opinions section this morning, we share the wisdom of Stanley Holt, President and COO of OnGreen, a marketplace for clean technology investment opportunities. Stan, who is now splitting his time between Shenzhen, China and Pasadena, California, talks about what he's learned doing business in China.



China's the new frontier for U.S. companies.  There's nothing like a
sprawling, goldmine market with a Wild West feel to get Yankee adrenalin
pumping. 


Our company, OnGreen, entered China in 2010.  We are a Los Angeles-based online-offline network connecting cleantech innovation
with investors and partners.  Our own series A capital came from China, and our investors encouraged us to expand here.  With 325 clean technology companies
and $US2.5B in funding opportunities on our online marketplace, we felt we were
ready to head West and stake our claim.


Since arriving in China, we've made mistakes but also progress.  Drawing from both, here are our top five
tips for Newbies in China.



Don't Skimp on Research



China
is not only huge (1.4 billion population with a GDP second only to the U.S.), it is also complex.  Regions vary wildly in terms of demographics and development. 
Industries run the gamut from state of ruin to state of the art.  And yet many
companies dive into the country with no more preparation than they'd put into a
new U.S. market....