Thursday, April 17, 2008Buzznet Gets Investment From Universal Music GroupLos Angeles-based social media site Buzznet has received an investment from Universal Music Group, the firms said today. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to the companies, the investment was made as part of a partnership with Universal Music Group. The firms said that UMG will be involved in developing editorial programming for Buzznet, and that both firms would share in the revenue. Content from Universal will include music and videos from its artists, as well as guest (More info...)
posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008(Full story)
MaxxAthlete Debuts Youth Sports SiteEvent marketing and digital media management firm MaxxAthlete officially launched a youth sports-oriented Web site today. The Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based company already operates four other sites—JoxxStop.com, MaxxScoreCard.com, MaxxInsight.com and GrassRootsTV.com. MaxxAthlete said its new Web service caters to anything associated with youth sports and includes live and on-demand broadband video coverage, integrated rosters, statistics and player profiles. MaxxAthlete said the site will ini (More info...)
posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008(Full story)
Dataprose Acquired By CSG SystemsOxnard, California-based Dataprose, a provider of billing statement services, has been acquired by Colorado firm CSG Systems, CSG said Thursday. CSG said it would pay $39M in cash for the firm, which was founded by Xerox veteran Glenn Carter and Kinko's founder Paul Orfalea. CSG Systems provides outsourced customer support services for telecommunications and cable providers. According to CSG, Dataprose is expected to add $15M in revenue for the remainder of 2008 to the firm's bottom line. DataPr (More info...)
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EQAL Raises $5MLos Angeles-based EQAL, the firm behind YouTube sensation lonelygirl15 and Internet drama KateModern, said Thursday that it has raised $5M in a Series A funding. The round was led by Spark Capital. Other investors in the firm included angels Conrad Riggs, Ron Conway, Marc Andreessen, and Georges Harik. According to EQAL, it will use the funding to launch new interactive shows and to build online communities. The firm was formerly known as LG15 Studios/Telegraph Ave. Productions. lonelygirl15, a (More info...)
posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008(Full story)
Geni Rolls New FeaturesLos Angeles-based, Web 2.0 geneaology website Geni has rolled out a number of new features to the firm's web site, the company told its users Thursday. Geni said it has added features to allow people to identify people in photos, create custom invitation templates, show family history timelines, merge family tree nodes, created a new "Family Forest" feature, and more. The "Family Forest" feature allows users to view not only blood relatives, but also spouses and partners. The firm's new "Family (More info...)
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Funny or Die At One Year Old, Releases Traffic NumbersFunny or Die, the Los Angeles- and Palo Alto-based comedy video website founded by Will Ferrell, said Thursday that the firm has turned one, and released new numbers on its traffic. According to Funny or Die, it has had over 200 million video views, over 30 thousand videos uploaded, and averages 3.2 million unique visitors per month. The firm, which is venture backed by Sequoia Capital, said that it is planning on making changes to the site's design and content over the next few months to add ne (More info...)
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Interview with Roman Tsunder, Access 360 MediaAccess 360 Media (www.access360media.com) is a Bessemer Ventures-backed startup which operates an in-store, entertainment and advertising networks, and is one of a number of cross Los Angeles-New York firms in the ad business. The firm has its West Coast offices in Venice. We spoke with Roman Tsunder, the firm's founder, on the company.
What's the idea behind Access 360 Media?
Roman Tsunder: We are a media company, focused on young adults, which we define as 12 to 34 year olds. By 2010, it (More info...)
posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008(Full story)