Wednesday, October 31, 2007Whyville Gets Investment From Pat SajakPasadena-based Numedeon, the company behind Whyville, the online virtual world that targets "tweeners," has received a round of funding from the Wheel of Fortune's Pat Sajak, the firm told socalTECH today. Whyville did not disclose the amount of funding. According to Whyville, the investment make Sajak a significant shareholder in the company, which is a spinout of Caltech. Numedeon has previously received other angel investments. Whyville is an online virtual world which combines both education (More info...)
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introNetworks Adds Community ToolsSanta Barbara-based introNetworks said Wednesday that the firm has created a new tool for creating online communities. The company, which raised a $2.7M round of funding in May from Adobe Ventures, develops online networking tools for companies and conferences organizers. introNetworks' new software is called Community Builder, and provides a point and click interface to allow designers to create community web sites, ability to customize graphics and colors, along with other customization functi (More info...)
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VMIX Raises $16.5MSan Diego-based VMIX, an online media sharing and social networking web site, said Wednesday that the firm has raised $16.5M in a venture round. The new funding came from JK&B Capital and ATA Ventures, along with prior investors Mission Ventures and Enterprise Partners. VMIX said that the funding will go towards the company's software platform. The firm said that it was represented by Revolution Partners in the transaction.
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Mahalo Gets Into Video PodcastsSanta Monica-based Mahalo, the human-powered search engine headed by Jason Calacanis, is launching a new video podcast. According to Calacanis, the daily podcast will feature Veronica Belmont, who most recently co-hosted Buzz Out Loud, a podcast by CNET. The podcast will feature topics broadly relating to technology, Internet culture, and the media, and will go live November 5th.
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Semtek Gets Series ASan Diego-based Semtek, a provider of a hardware devices for payment card security, announced today that it has raised a Series A round of funding. Amount of the funding was not disclosed. The funding came from RRE Ventures and Venrock, who co-led the funding, and also was supported by VeriFone Holdings, a strategic investor in the firm. Semtek is developing hardware which is targeted at combating credit card counterfeiting. Rich McGinn at RRE, Mike Brooks at Venrock, and Douglas Bergeron, Chair (More info...)
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Interview with Jim McCarthy, Goldstar EventsJim McCarthy is co-founder and CEO of Goldstar Events (www.goldstarevents.com), a successful and very interesting Internet company which connects people with local concert and other live event tickets through its online service. Goldstar runs a service which keeps people informed of upcoming live events, and offers half price tickets for last minute attendees. Jim spoke with socalTECH's Ben Kuo about how the company started, how they bootstrapped the company, and where the firm is heading now.
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Disney Launches Pirates MMOGNorth Hollywood-based Disney Online has launched the firm's Pirates of the Caribbean Online game, a massively multiplayer online game centered around the company's popular film. The game, which runs on PC and Mac platforms, provides an online world centered around creating pirates and hunting for buried treasure. According to Disney, it will be offering a portion of the game for free, with unlimited access to the game available for $4.95 for the first month, and $9.95 a month for following month (More info...)
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FastCall Adds Widgets, APILos Angeles-based FastCall411, a startup which is developing local search services and directories, said this morning that it has added a new widget and access to its products via an API. The firm said that its new application programming interface (API) is designed to allow third parties to integrate with its products. The firm's widget provides a click-to-call application which connects users to companies in its directory. FastCall411 is developing local business listings services, which conne (More info...)
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CSC Buys First Consulting Group For $365MEl Segundo-based Computer Sciences Corporation and Long Beach-based First Consulting Group said this morning that the two are in an agreement to merge the two firms. The companies said that CSC will acquire First Consulting Group in a cash deal worth approximately $365M. The deal is expected to be completed in Q1 of 2008. First Consulting Group is a provider of IT technology services and products for the health and life sciences market, and has 2,500 employees worldwide; according to the compani (More info...)
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SiliconSystems Ships Solid State Storage ProductAliso Viejo-based SiliconSystems said Tuesday that it has announced a new solid state storage product targeted at embedded storage applications. The firm said that its new SiliconDrive USB Blade provides an environmentally-rugged and ultra-small form factor devices targeted at embedded applications. The new devices supports 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB capacities, and uses the USB protocol for access. Orange County-based SiliconSystems is a provider of flash-based memory products for OEMs.
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