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....Continue →

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....Continue →

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....Continue →

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....Continue →

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....Continue →

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....Continue →

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....Continue →

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....Continue →

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.Continue →

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....Continue →

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....Continue →