Thursday, May 1, 2008


Ticketmaster Buys Ticketing Firm
West Hollywood-basd Ticketmaster, the ticketing business of Barry Diller's IAC, said Thursday that it has acquired SLO Limited Inc, a provider of VIP ticketing services to major touring artists and special events. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. SLO provides concierge delivery of seats to event clients; the company also handles travel packaging for fans and related events. SLO Limited was headed by Shelley Lazar, who will join Ticketmaster as part of the acquisition.
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Local.com, MediaSpan Link On Local Search
Irvine-based Local.com has inked a partnership with MediaSpan, a provider of digital content management and online marketing, the firms said Thursday. According to the firms, Local.com will provide its Local Connect local search platform to more than 1,500 of MediaSpan's newspaper, TV, and radio clients. MediaSpan provides pre-press software, online marketing, and other tools to Reuters, Gannett, Scripps, Media General, and other publishers. Local.com's Local Connect product provides a private-l (More info...)
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Astute Medical Gets $6.25M For Biomarker Research
San Diego-based Astute Medical said today that it has raised $6.25M in a Series A funding round. The funding came from De Novo Ventures. According to Astute, the funding will go towards research and development. Astute Medical is focused on developing novel diagnostic tests based an identification and validation of protein biomarkers. The firm was founded by Christopher Hibberd and Paul McPherson, Ph.D., who were formerly at Biosite Incorporated. The firm said its current areas of interest are a (More info...)
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Interneer Names CTO
Los Angeles-based Interneer, a developer of software for creating browser-based, web applications, said Thursday that it has named Bob Khanpour as Chief Technology Officer. Khanpour joins the firm from Lending Dynamics, where he was CTO and Chief Architect. He has also served at Ellie Mae. Interneer is developing software for creating business applications for the enterprise, without needing to develop code. The company is backed by Groundwork Equity, and former eLabor founder Michael Edell--whi (More info...)
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Energy Innovations Rolls Out Solar Tracking Product
Pasadena-based Energy Innovations, the Idealab-backed solar concentrator startup headed by Bill Gross, announced a new solar tracking product Thursday. According to Energy Innovations, its RayTracker GC product can be used to maximize the energy yield of a photovoltaic system, and supports not only the firm's concentrators but also other available PV panel types. The company said the tracking system uses microprocessors and GPS-based controllers, and has a 25-year design life. Energy Innovations (More info...)
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DATAllegro Raises $19.6M
Aliso Viejo-based DATAllegro, which develops data warehousing appliances, said Thursday morning that it has raised $19.6M in a Series D round of funding. The round was led by an affiliate of the Hillman Company, and also included prior investors Adams Capital Management, Focus Ventures, Intel Capital, JAFCO Ventures, Palomar Ventures and Venrock Associates. The firm said the funding will go toward its sales channel. DATAllegro's appliances are used to accelerate database queries. The firm has no (More info...)
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Champion Gaming Series Appoints Execs
Los Angeles-based Championship Gaming Series, an online professional video gaming league which is backed by DIRECTV, said this week that it has appointed Rachael McLean as the firm's Vice President of Digital Media, and Jim Downs as Director of Online Media. McLean was most recently at GoTV, where she served as VP of Music Programming. McLean has also previously served at InfoSpace Mobile, MTV Networks, Columbia Records Online, and SonicNet. Downs was most recently an executive producer at G4 Me (More info...)
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SOA Software Upgrades Mainframe Support
Los Angeles-based SOA Software, a provider of service oriented architecture (SOA) software, said Wednesday that the firm has updated its Service Oriented Legacy Architecture (SOLA) software, which is used by companies to connect their mainframes into enterprise systems. SOA said the updated product helps companies make mainframe applications part of an SOA in a cost effective manner. According to SOA, the new product adds new Web 2.0-style development features, better customization and performan (More info...)
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Tamar Technology Gets NSF Grant
Newbury Park-based Tamar Technology, which is developing technology for measuring silicon wafers, said Wednesday that it has received a Phase II grant from the National Science Foundation. The firm said the funding will be focused on development and commercialization of an infrared-based sensor for measuring silicon wafers. Amount of the grant was not disclosed. Tamar Technology develops precision metrology systems for the semiconductor, hard disk drive, and medical device industries.
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