Thursday, July 19, 2007Campus Explorer Adds InvestorLos Angeles-based Campus Explorer, a firm which is developing an online information site focused on helping students, parents, and counselors, has quietly received venture capital backing, socalTECH.com has learned. Santa Barbara-based venture capital firm Rincon Venture Partners now lists Campus Explorer as a portfolio firm; no details of the funding have been released. Campus Explorer provides an online site which allows students to search for information on colleges and universities, by field (More info...)
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Transpera Gains FundingSanta Monica-based Transpera, a firm that is developing mobile video products, has quietly landed backing from a number of venture firms, socalTECH.com has learned. Transpera is now listed as a portfolio firm on Intel Capital and First Round Capital's web sites; Intel has an initial investment date of June 7 listed on Transpera's profile. No further details of the funding have been released. The firm is headed by Frank Barbieri, former President and COO of Viva Vision, who has also served at Inf (More info...)
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Local.com Acquires PremierGuideIrvine-based Local.com said Thursday morning that it is acquiring PremierGuide, a provider of online business directories. The deal is worth approximately $2M in cash. PremierGuide provides its directories to regional media publishers, including newspapers, TV, radio stations, and city portals. Local.com said that PremierGuide will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Local.com. PremierGuide's CEO, Malcolm Lewis, will become a Vice President at Local.com. Local.com reported that PremierGuide had (More info...)
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Gevo Gets Series B Venture RoundPasadena-based Gevo, a company developing technology to convert biomass into biofuels, said today that it has raised a Series B venture round. Amount of the round was not disclosed. The round came from new investor Virgin Fuels, and also included prior investor Khosla Ventures. Gevo said that Virgin Fuels will join the company's board as part of the funding. Virgin Fuels is the renewable energy investment firm formed by Sir Richard Branson. The company also said that it has appointed Patrick Gru (More info...)
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Symwave Raises $12MSan Diego-based Symwave, a company which is designing high-performance, analog and mixed signal integrated circuits, said Wednesday evening that it has raised $12M in a Series C financing round. The round was led by Kodiak Venture Partners, and also included CMEA Ventures, JAFCO Ventures, Revolution Ventures and RPM Ventures. Symwave is developing PHY and analog front end ICs, used for the IEEE 1394 digital interface standard. The firm was founded in 2001.
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j2 Global Acquires Irish Messaging FirmLos Angeles-based j2 Global Communications, a provider of online FAX and voice messaging services, said today that it has acquired YAC Limited, a provider of messaging services based in Ireland. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to j2 Global, YAC Limited provides its services to customers in the United Kingdom, including hosted messaging and communications, FAX to email, audio conferencing, and other services. j2 said the financial impact of the acquisition to the firm wa (More info...)
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Smith Micro Buys Australian Software CompanyAliso Viejo-based Smith Micro Software announced this morning that it has acquired the assets of busineSMS Software, a Melbourne, Australia-based firm. busineSMS develops software used to allow users to share their multimedia content between their mobile phone and their PC, or between mobile phones. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Smith Micro said that it will now be able to include the technology from busineSMS in its existing products. Smith Micro Software is a developer (More info...)
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Helio Rolls Updated MySpace AppLos Angeles-based mobile operator Helio said today that it has launched an enhanced version of its application for MySpace on its wireless service. The firm said that the new application, which was designed from the ground up by Helio, is five times faster than the firm's original MySpace service, and is available free to its subscribers. The application is one of several, web-linked applications offered by Helio, and was designed for use with Helio's Ocean cell phone. According to Helio the new (More info...)
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LAX Caters To Mobile TravelersSamsung Mobile, a division of Samsung Telecommunications America, and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), which operates LAX and other area airports, said Wednesday that they are rolling out new, free charging stations targeted at travelers at Los Angeles International Airport. The charging stations are being installed by JCDecaux, the airport's advertising contractor, and are being sponsored by Samsung as part of an advertising initiative. The charging stations include fifty-one, pole-like stati (More info...)
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