Monday, September 22, 2008


GumGum Inks Deal With Newscom
Santa Monica-based GumGum, a venture-backed firm which develops technology for licensing content and images online, said Monday that it has partnered with photo provider Newscom. According to GumGum, it will enable publishers to license content from Newscom via pay-per-use and ad-supported licensing. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Newscom is an aggregator of editorial and creative photos, graphics, and illustrations, used in newspapers, magazines, and other publications. GumGum (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008(Full story)

Pentadyne Gains $22M
Chatsworth-based Pentadyne Power said Monday that it has raised $22M in a financing round. The firm, which develops flywheel energy storage systems, said the funding will go to fuel expansion of the firm into new markets. The company said the funding came from existing investors in the firm, although specific investors in the funding round were not disclosed; the company has previously scored funding from Nth Power, DTE Energy, Energy Innovation Portfolio, Semptra Energy, Rustic Canyon Partners, (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 (More)(Full story)

Qualcomm Inks Satellite Communications Deal
San Diego-based Qualcomm has inked a deal with a number of firms to integrate satellite communications into its chipsets, the firm said Monday, allowing its mobile baseband chips to connect to satellite networks. According to an announcement by Mobile Satellite Ventures LP, a subsidiary of SkyTerra Comunications, ICO Global Communications Limited, and Qualcomm, Qualcomm will integrate both satellite and cellular communications into its chips, which will enable mass-market wireless handsets to co (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008(Full story)

OVGuide.com Rolls Out New Video Search Engine
Los Angeles-based OVGuide.com, an online guide to video sites on the Internet, said Monday that it has unveiled a new search engine on its site. The firm said it the new search engine provides prioritized information about video sites, based on category, editorial ranking, user statistics, and other information. The firm previously used Google's search engine for its back end video site search. The company said the new site uses a technology it is calling "Relevis." OVGuide.com is backed by form (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008(Full story)

Tech Coast Angels Invests In Biopharmaceuticals Firm
The Tech Coast Angels said this morning that the group has made an investment in Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, a drug development firm developing small molecule drugs. According to the Tech Coast Angels, it invested $289,000 in a Series A round for Amplyx, which also scored $492,000 in funding from the Life Science Angels. The TCA's investment was led by San Diego Tech Coast Angel Jack Florio. Amplyx is based in the Bay Area. The Tech Coast Angels is the largest angel investment group in Southern Cali (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 (More)(Full story)

Local VCs Assess Wall Street, Technology Investment Climate
How is the instability on Wall Street affecting local venture capitalists? According to some local Southern California venture investors, it absolutely is affecting how they are thinking about the investment environment. John Babcock, a Managing Director at Rustic Canyon, told us that "while panics are a regular part of free markets, we are definitely into uncharted territory here in terms of the size and speed of the government response to prevent systemic market failure. " He explains, "O (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008(Full story)

Freedom Meditech Gets Investment
Freedom Meditech, a firm developing proprietary non-invasive ocular glucose measurement device for people with diabetes, has scored $380,000 in a equity investment. The round was disclosed by JumpStartup, an early stage venture acceleration fund focused on Northeast Ohio firms. Freedom Meditech has corporate and engineering operations in San Diego, but also maintains R&D operations across Ohio.University of Toledo. According to JumpStartup, the funding was part of an undisclosed Series A investm (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 (More)(Full story)

X1 Gains Patent
Pasadena-based X1 Technologies, which develops enterprise search software, said Monday that it has received a patent for technology in its products. According to the firm, it received U.S Patent 7,424,510, entitled "Methods and Systems for Web Based Incremental Searches," covering its method of displaying search results. The patent names Idealab's Bill Gross and Steven Lee Colwell as inventors, and was originally filed by the firm in September of 2003. The patent is behind X1's incremental searc (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008(Full story)

Kotura Expands Board
Monterey Park-based Kotura, a developer of photonic components, has added a new board member, the firm said today. Kotura said that Dr. Geral J. Fine, President and CEO of SCHOTT North America, has joined its board. Fine has also served at Corning. Kotura develops silicon photonics used for optical interconnects; the firm's products are used in the optical communications, computing, and for sensors.
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008(Full story)

Endologix Hires VP
Irvine-based Endologix, which develops medical devices for the minimally invasive treatment of aneurysms, said this morning that it has hired Gary I. Sorsher as the firm's Vice President of Quality. According to Endologix, Sorsher joins the firm from Bard Peripheral Vascular, and has also served at Cordis. Endologix develops a endovascular stent graft used for treating abdominal aortic aneurysms.
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008(Full story)

Vitesse Gets Chip Win
Camarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor said Monday that its products have been selected by ECI Telecom, a manufacturer of networking infrastructure and optical communications systems. According to Vitesse, ECI Telecom will use the firm's Carrier Ethernet chipset, for an MPLS solution. Financial impact of the customer win was not disclosed. Vitesse develops PHY and MAC chips for the Ethernet and other markets. Israel-based ECI Telecom develops telecommunications hardware.
posted on Monday, September 22, 2008(Full story)