Tuesday, April 29, 2008Gemstar-TV Guide Gets Stockholder Approval For MergerLos Angeles-based Gemstar-TV Guide International said Tuesday afternoon that the firm's stockholders have approved the company's merger with Macrovision. According to the firm, the merger is expected to complete on May 2nd. Gemstar and Macrovision originally announced the merger in December; the deal is worth approximately $2.8 billion in cash and stock. Macrovision is based in Santa Clara, and sells DRM, software installation, software licensing and other software.
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Appfolio Raises $22MSanta Barbara-based AppFolio has raised $22M in a Series B funding for the new software-as-a-service firm, initially focused on property management software, socalTECH has learned. The company's CEO, Brian Donahoo, said that the round was led by BV Capital, and also included Cisco, the Investment Group of Santa Barbara, and other corporate and individual investors. Andreas von Blottnitz of BV Capital and Tim Bliss of the Investment Group of Santa Barbara have been added to the firm's board as p (More info...)
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Fonality Bolsters Interop EffortsLos Angeles-based Fonality, a developer of open source, PBX software and phone systems, said Tuesday that the firm has created a new interoperability program to certify third party products for the firm's products. According to the firm, the new program--Fonality Authorized Certified Ecosystem (FACE)--already includes IP phone manufacturers Aastra and Polycom, along with Bandwidth.com and hardware firm Sangoma. Fonality's software--which is based on the open source Asterisk code base--is used to (More info...)
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CinemaNow Taps Firm For WAP ServicesMarina Del Rey-based CinemaNow, a provider of Internet, video-on-demand services, said today that it has integrated technology from uVuMobile to provide wireless application protocol (WAP) movie previews and downloads from its site. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to CinemaNow, its WAP service combines uVuMobile's Media Distribution Platform product with its own proprietary distribution technology. The new WAP service gives previews of trailers and full length movie pur (More info...)
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MySpace Launches Karaoke SiteLos Angeles-based social networking site MySpace has launched a new web site, focused on karoake and allowing users to express themselves online, the firm said Tuesday. The new site, which is powered by kSolo, a provider of online karoake tools and services, allows MySpace members to sing, record, and share their favorite songs with their friends. According to MySpace, the service only requires a microphone and internet connection, and will allow members to save up to ten songs on their MySpace (More info...)
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DocStoc Raises $3.25MBeverly Hills-based DocStoc, the Web 2.0 startup focused on sharing professional documents, said Tuesday that it has raised $3.25M in a venture capital round from Rustic Canyon Partners. DocStoc maintains a service which allows anyone to upload and share legal, business, and other documents. The company has previously raised angel funding from Scott Walchek, Matt Coffin (LowermyBills), Brett Brewer (Intermix/MySpace), Robin Richards (MP3.com), and Crosscut Ventures.
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Interview with David Hughes, The Search AgencyThe Search Agency (www.thesearchagency.com), a Los Angeles-provider of search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) services and technology, announced yesterday that it has raised a round of private equity funding for the firm. We sat down with David Hughes, the firm's CEO, Friday to talk about the company.
Tell us a bit about what you do?
David Hughes: We offer SEM - search engine marketing and SEO - search engine optimization, and what's called CPO - conversion path (More info...)
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Conexant Sells Broadband Media Lines For $145MNewport Beach-based Conexant said Tuesday morning that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Broadband Media Processing product lines to NXP Semiconductors. The deal is worth up to $145M, in a combination of $110M in cash plus up to $35M in future earn-out. Conexant's Broadband Media Processing business provides chipsets for satellite, cable, terrestrial, and IPTV set-top box applications. According to Conexant, the move is part of a continuing effort to restructure the company's busi (More info...)
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The Search Agency Gets Private Equity InvestmentSanta Monica-based The Search Agency, a provider of search engine marketing and search engine optimization, said yesterday that it has received a strategic investment from private equity firm JMI Equity. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Peter Arrowsmith, a General Partner at JMI, has joined the firm's board of directors alongside the investment. The Search Agency provides SEM and SEO services to online advertisers. The firm said it will use the investment to expand its sales and m (More info...)
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OptionEase Hires ExecSan Juan Capistrano-based OptionEase, a provider of software-as-a-service tools for accounting for stock options, said yesterday that it has hired on Pam Washburn as Executive Vice President of Business Development. Washburn joins the firm from eProsper, where she was Vice President of Business Development. Washburn has also served at Hewlett-Packard. OptionEase provides software-as-a-service for tracking FAS123R compliance and accounting for stock options. The firm is angel backed by the Tech C (More info...)
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iRise Adds iPhone Simulation SupportEl Segundo-based iRise, a provider of software for simulating enterprise applications, is announcing today that it has added new simulation support for Apple's iPhone. The firm said its new simulation templates will allow developers to experience e-commerce mobile applications prior to any development. iRise is tapping OneSpring, a firm based in Atlanta, for the capability. According to iRise, the new capability allows business analysts and others a way to prototype the look, feel, and behavior (More info...)
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