Thursday, December 4, 2008


Sambazon Gets Funding For Acai Beverages
San Clemente-based Sambazon, which markets food and beverages using the Brazilian fruit acai, said Thursday that it has raised a round of private equity funding. The funding came from Verlinvest, a Belgian private equity group. Sambazon said the funding will go towards distribution and marketing of its products. Bradmer Foods and RSF Social Finance also participated in the funding, and Sambazon was advised by Partnership Capital Growth in the funding.
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ElephantDrive Targets Xdrive Users
Los Angeles-based ElephantDrive is targeting users of AOL's Xdrive service, the online data storage service that AOL said it is closing in January. According to ElephantDrive CEO Michael Fisher, the company will provide free file transfer from Xdrive to ElephantDrive for users, as well as a 30-day free trial account. ElephantDrive provides an online data backup and storage service which users can to subscribe to for $9.95 a month. America Online announced in October that it was shuttering Xdrive (More info...)
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MP3tunes Steps Up Battle Against EMI
San Diego-based MP3tunes, the online music storage service headed by former MP3.com founder Michael Robertson, is stepping up its legal battle against EMI. In an email, Robertson said this morning that it has submitted a legal response in the lawsuit filed against his firm by EMI. EMI claims that the service--which allows users to store music online and stream them to their PC, cell phones, and other devices--violated copyrights. Robertson claims that MP3tunes' services are protected by the DMCA (More info...)
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Broadcom Fires VP After Resume Flap
Irvine-based Broadcom has fired a Vice President at the firm, after a shareholder activist raised questions about the executive's college degree. According to a SEC filing by Broadcom Wednesday, the employment of Vahid Manian, the firm's Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing Operations, was terminated, and a search launched to find his successor. Reason for the firing was not given, however UC Irvine said yesterday that Manian--who said he had a BSEE and MBA at UC Irvine--did not earn ei (More info...)
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Cogi Launches New Phone Transcription Service
A new Santa Barbara-based startup, Cogi, said today that it has launched a new service focused on helping consumers and professionals take notes on their phone calls or meetings. The firm--which was founded by Robert Dolan of Callwave, Mark Cromack of CrystalVoice, and Palmer Jackson of Ideocore--allows users to record important phone calls and in-person meetings, and transcribes "key points" of those meetings into digital form. The firm said it is using a combination of signal processing, speec (More info...)
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CalPERS Sells Palomar Ventures Stake
CalPERS, the California pension fund which is a major limited partner in venture capital funds here, apparently sold its stake in Palomar Ventures III, L.P. sometime earlier this year. CalPERS has been selling funds on the secondary market as it seeks to pare down its holdings. A partner at Palomar Ventures declined to comment, saying that the firm has a "hard and fast" policy of not commenting on matters related to LPs. A spokesperson at CalPERS said it is not identifying funds sold in its sale (More info...)
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DivX Loses CTO
San Diego-based DivX said late Wednesday that the firm's Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Markus Moenig, has resigned from the firm. According to DivX, Moenig, who joined the firm when it acquired MainConcept in November of 2007, is returning overseas to "explore new entrepreneurial opportunities." DivX said that Jim Reesman, the firm's Vice President of Engineering, will now lead its global engineering organization. DivX is a developer of codec technology used for encoding di (More info...)
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ClipBlast Gets Win With KickApps
Los Angeles-based ClipBlast, a developer of video search tools and software, said Wednesday that KickApps will integrate the firm's video search products into its platform. According to ClipBlast, users of KickApps' video player and widget software can use its technology to search and embed videos from other video sharing sites onto their blogs, message board posts, and member-to-member messages. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. ClipBlast indexes and allows users to search for an (More info...)
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Murano Software Takes On Google Android
Agoura Hills-based Murano Software, a provider of outsourced software development, is branching out into Google Android application development. According to the firm, it has created G1MobileSoft, an offshore development company devoted solely to creating mobhile applications. The firm said it will create both iPhone and Android applications for its clients. Murano Software maintains four offshore development centers in Russia. Murano is headed by Dimitri Nikouline, who was previously Chief Tech (More info...)
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