Thursday, November 6, 2008Alelo Gets Voice of America ContractLos Angeles-based Alelo, the USC spinout which is developing "serious" games to teach languages and cultures, has scored a contract with the Voice of America. Alelo said Wednesday afternoon that its wholly owned subsidiary, Alelo TLT LLC, has been contracted to develop an interactive, Web-based learning portal for learners of English as a second language. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Alelo said the contract calls for using automated speech recognition and artifical intelligence (More info...)
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008(Full story)
GetBack Media Snags $1.7MLos Angeles-based GetBack Media, an online community focused on pop culture, said Thursday that it has raised $1.7M in a Series A funding. The firm said the funding was led by Beringea, along with high net worth individuals and entertainment leaders. GetBack features audio and video content, including music, movie clips, music videos, movie trailers, and other entertainment focused content. The company said that it was founded by the founders of Rhino Records, Shout! Factory and others from IFIL (More info...)
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008 (More)(Full story)
RealD Inks Deal With LEGOLANDBeverly Hills-based RealD, a developer of 3D projection technology for the movie industry, said today that it has inked an agreement with LEGOLAND California for a new feature. RealD said the agreement calls for LEGOLAND to present presentations at the park's Spellbreaker 4D and Lego Racers 4D attractions, powered by RealdD's PRO technology. The attractions will include 3D technology combined with environmental elements like wind and water, along with a new film. Financial impact of the deal was (More info...)
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008(Full story)
Miles Electrical Vehicles Gets $13M, Looks For $40MSanta Monica-based Miles Electrical Vehicles is reportedly seeking $40M in a venture financing round. According to a report from PeHub.com, Miles Electrical Vehicles has raised $13M so far in the round. The funding apparently is coming from Angeleno Group. Miles Electrical Vehicles is developing plug-in, electric vehicles and sedans.
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008 (More)(Full story)
CrownPeak Signs Medicare.comLos Angeles-based CrownPeak, which develops software-as-a-service for content management, said Thursday that it has signed on Medicare.com as a customer. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Medicare.com is an online site owned by Medx Publishing, inc., providing information about the Medicare system, including basic coverage facts, Part D drug plans, drug coverage, services, and more.
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008(Full story)
Veoh Cuts 20 PercentLos Angeles- and San Diego-based Veoh, an online video sharing site, has laid off 20 people, or roughly 18-20 percent of the firm's employees. A spokesperson for Veoh told socalTECH that the changes affected every group in the firm, and was because the firm wanted to make smart choices early on in the game given a possible internet advertising slowdown. Veoh said that the firm, although doing well financially, could not predict how soft the online advertising market will become, given the econom (More info...)
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008(Full story)
Demand Media Launches Content WidgetSanta Monica-based Demand Media, the media firm run by Richard Rosenblatt, former Chairman of MySpace, said Wednesday that it has launched a new service which automatically pulls up and links to related content on web pages. According to Demand Media, the new, self-serve widget reads content on a page and adds links to related articles and videos. The new service, Pluck On Demand, comes as a result of Demand Media's acquisition of Pluck in March of this year. Pluck was a developer of social medi (More info...)
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008(Full story)
YouMail Adds Human TranscriptionIrvine-based YouMail said Thursday that it has expanded its voicemail services, to include a new human voicemail transcription option. According to YouMail, the new service will provide human or automatically transcribed voicemail, delivered via SMS or email. YouMail--which is venture backed by Vantage Point Venture Partners and the Tech Coast Angels--operates an enhanced voice mail service for mobile phones, with features such as customized greetings depending on caller and email delivery of me (More info...)
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008(Full story)
Interview with James Citron, MogreetThis morning, Los Angeles-based Mogreet (www.mogreet.com) announced it had raised a Series B funding round for the firm's mobile greeting services. We caught up with James to hear more about the company, how he managed to get funding even in this economy, and his view on the mobile market.
For those who haven't tried your service, tell us the story behind the site and how you started it?
James Citron: We started the company a little over two years ago. The thing that got us into this, was (More info...)
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008(Full story)
Machinima.com Raises $3.85MLos Angeles-based Machinima.com, an online web site focused on video games and entertainment, has raised $3.85M in a round of venture capital, the firm said today. Machinima said the round came from MK Capital and other private investors, and will go to fund business expansion. Machinima.com features news, articles, interviews, and more about animation and video game technology, filmmaking, and other related areas. In a related move, the firm said it has added Yair Landau, formerly head of Sony (More info...)
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008 (More)(Full story)
Mogreet Rings Up $5MVenice, California-based Mogreet, which operates a service to send video greetings via SMS and MMS, announced today that it has raised $5M in a Series B funding round. The funding came from Ascend Ventures, Black Diamond Ventures, and Spyglass Ventures, along with prior investor DFJ Frontier. Chris Lucas of Black Diamond Ventures and Sharon Graves of Ascend Ventures join the board along with the funding. Mogreet's service allows mobile phone users to select and send short video greetings directl (More info...)
posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008 (More)(Full story)