Thursday, February 3, 2005Epson, QUALCOMM Ships LCD Controller ChipSan Diego-based Qualcomm has teamed with Seiko Epson to ship a high performance MDDI display interface LCD controller chip for CDMA2000 and WCDMA phones. According to the companies, Epson has developed a LCD controller chip which integrates Qualcomm's Mobile Display Digital Interface (MDDI) technology, which allows for high speed direct connection to LCD panels and camera modules in Qualcomm's chipsets. The combination allows for highly integrated wireless phone design, and reduces design requir (More info...)
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IT Service Provider Buys eBuiltUS Technology Resources LLC announced this morning that it has purchased Aliso Viejo-based eBuilt, a application developer. eBuilt designs and builds enterprise applicaitons for entertainment, media, financial services and other industries. Terms were not disclosed. Aliso Viejo-based US Technology Resources is a provider of business process outsourcing, and maintains facilities in the US and India. US Technology's offshore development centers are located in Kerala India and employs over 1800 of (More info...)
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CarsDirect Buys Mortgage Website PropertiesLos Angeles-based CarsDirect has acquired two website properties, BestRate.com and LoanApp.com, from Myers Internet. Terms were not disclosed. CarsDirect.com said that it would combine the Myers advanced mortgage lead technology platform and its web sites with CarsDirect's mortgage business and LoanStore.com and CheckInterestRates.com web sites. CarsDirect branched out into the mortgage business last year, as it looked to leverage its technology into other vertical industries. All of the company (More info...)
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Valeant Buys Xcel For $280MSan Diego-based Xcel Pharmaceuticals was acquired yesterday by Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $280M, in an all cash deal. Xcel has a number of products for the treatment of epilepsy and acute migraine headaches. The deal also calls for Valeant to retire $44M in Xcel debt. Valeant said that it would use Xcel to boost its North American business and neurology offerings.
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DexCom Files For IPOSan Diego-based Dexcom, a medical device developer, announced yesterday that it has filed for an IPO. Dexcom is looking to raise up to $70M for its implantable glucose sensors for diabetes. The company's sensors are intended for long term use for continuous monitoring of glucose levels. DexCom is backed by Canaan Partners, Federated Kaufman Fund, Fog City Fund, Invesco, RWI Group, St. Paul Venture Capital, Warburg Pincus, and Windamere Venture Partners. The company is pre-revenue and lost $17M i (More info...)
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Favrille Prices IPOSan Diego-based biotech firm Favrille announced yesterday that it has priced its IPO at $7.00 per share. It is offering 6M shares of its stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol FVRL. Favrille is developing biopharmaceuticals that target treatment of non-Hodkin's lymphoma, and also has candidate pharmaceuticals for treating T-cell lymphoma. Favrille has raised more than $60M in venture capital from Alloy Ventures, Avtech, Boston Life Sciences, DeNovo, Forward Ventures, Needham Capital Partners, Sand (More info...)
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Napster Rolls Out Portable Music ServiceLos Angeles-based Napster announced this morning that it is rolling out a portable music subscription service. The new service, Napster To Go, lets users download an unlimited number of songs from the Napster MP3 catalog for a monthly fee of $14.95 to portable devices. The service challenges Apple's iTunes and others, which generally charge per-album or per-track for downloads. Napster also said that it was investing in a $30M marketing campaign to promote the new service, and would include a Su (More info...)
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Venture Capital Fundraising On the UpswingAccording to a recent report by the National Venture Capital Association, venture funds have had their most active year since 2001, raising $17.6B for 170 new venture funds. The amount of funding was $3.4B more than the previous two years combined. The upswing by VCs included not only early stage funds but also buyout and mezzanine funds, which recorded 103 funds with $45.8B in committed capital. According to the study, early and seed-stage funds dominated fourth quarter fundraising, and include (More info...)
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