Monday, November 13, 2006Interview with Beau Laskey, EDF VenturesBeau Laskey is a General Partner at EDF Ventures (www.edfvc.com), a venture firm that just opened an office in San Diego. Michigan-based EDF has backed companies in the area including Intralase, Therox, and Zyray Wireless. We spoke with Beau about the new office, why the firm decided on Southern California, and their positive outlook on the Southern California market.
Ben Kuo: Why did you decide to open an office in Southern California?
Beau Laskey: Southern California got started for us i (More info...)
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Illumina Acquires SolexaSan Diego-based Illumina, a provider of scientific instruments for genetic analysis, and Hayward-based Solexa, a developer of genetic anaylsis systems, said today that the firms have agreed to a merger where Illumina will acquire Solexa. The stock-for-stock merger is worth approximately $650M. Solexa develops genetic analysis sytems used for microRNA analysis. Illumina said the acquisition would expand its genetic analysis product offerings.
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MySpace Launches Service AwardLos Angeles-based MySpace announced this morning that it will start awarding individuals and organizations with the "Impact Awards". The awards will honor those that the social networking web site says are "making a difference in the world through MySpace". MySpace said that the monthly awards will recognize impact-makers in community-building, health and safety, social justice, poverty relief, environmentalism and international development.
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Streamload Gets Win At C-SPANSan Diego-based Streamload has scored a win at C-SPAN for its online storage and digital media services, the firm said today. C-SPAN will use Streamload's technology for "Viewfinder," a video uploading service that will be incorporated into the cable channel's programming. The video upload service is an extension of C-SPAN's call-in programming and emails, and allows anyone to upload videos of campaign activities and other political activities. Streamload is a venture-backed provider of online s (More info...)
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SyncVoice Names CEOCosta Mesa-based SyncVoice Communications, which is developing software for managing voice communications systems, said today it has named Stephen Rizzone as CEO. Current CEO and Founder Kerry Shih will become Chief Strategist. Rizzone has previously served at KimaLink, Innovent, and Ortel. SyncVoice is backed by Clearstone Venture Partners and Hummer Winblad.
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Fonality Adds VPLos Angeles-based Fonality has appointed a new executive, saying today that it has added Arnold Waldstein as Senior Vice President of Marketing. Waldstein has served at Creative Labs, Atari, and other firms, and accoridng to Fonality has most recently been working with startups and other companies to raise funds, building brands, and to executive distribution strategies. Fonality is a provider of low-cost, software-based PBX switches based on the Asterix open-source PBX platform.
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Qualcomm, Motorola Collaborate On UMTS HandsetsSan Diego-based Qualcomm and Motorola said today that the two are expanding their existing relationship, and will collaborate on UMTS handsets. Motorola will use Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chipsets into its future UMTS handset designs. Motorola currently uses Qualcomm chipsets in the CDMA2000 market.
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