Tuesday, February 10, 2009Mpex Pharmaceuticals Gains $27.5MSan Diego-based Mpex Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that the firm has raised $27.5M in a Series D financing round. The firm, which is developing antibiotics, said that the round was led by Investor Growth Capital. Other investors in the firm included RiverVest Venture Partners, SV Life Sciences, HBM BioVentures, Aberdare Ventures and Adams Street Partners. The firm said that those investors have made commitments to additional closing, which will bring the round to $40.0M. Mpex is developing a aero (More info...)
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Southwest Airlines Tests Wi-Fi, Uses Row 44Southwest Airlines has begun testing its Wi-fi service, the firm said today, tapping Westlake Village-based Row 44 for equipment. Southwest said that it has equipped one of its aircraft with Wi-Fi equipment and has three more slated to be installed by early March. The firm said that it will be testing the technology over the next few months, as it looks to allow its customers to tap into Internet access for free during the trial. The airline also said it is partnered with Yahoo! to offer an in-f (More info...)
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Zumbox Takes On Postal MailWestlake Village-based Zumbox, a new startup, said today it has launched a service which the firm said will deliver regular mail to users via an online system. Zumbox--which is headed by Maury Friedman, who has been involved with such firms as RiverOne and Academy123--said it will allow business, governments, and non-profits to send content to street addresses, online. The firm said it has created a "digital mailbox" for every street address online, where people can send electronic versions of f (More info...)
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Memeo Gains $3MAliso Viejo-based Memeo, which develops software for helping consumers manage their digital media, said today that it has scored $3M in a credit facility. The financing came from Square 1 Bank. According to Memeo, the funding will allow the company to accelerate its growth. Memeo is venture backed by G51 Capital and Foundry Group. Memeo's software is distributed through partners such as Buffalo Technology, D-Link, Seagate, and WD, and allows users to share photos and videos, synchronize and back (More info...)
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Gizmo5 Connects To SkypeSan Diego-based Gizmo5, the voice-over-IP service run by former MP3.com founder Michael Robertson, is launching a new service called OpenSky today, which the firm says will connect Skype users with the other VoIP software. According to an email from Robertson, the new service will allow users of any VoIP software, network, or phone system to make calls to Skype users. The new service essentially bridges between Gizmo5's SIP-based VoIP network into Skype, through the creation of a SIP alias for S (More info...)
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Digital Insight Targets Small Business MarketCalabasas-based Digital Insight, which develops online financial software for banks and other financial institutions, said today that it has rolled out a new product focused on the small business market. According to Digital Insight, the new product--Small Business FinanceWorks--is aimed at helping financial institutions acquire low cost, small business deposits. The new online financial management product helps small businesses manage billing and invoicing, remote deposit checks using a home sc (More info...)
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Interview with Steve Pelletier, FatTailLate last year, we had the chance to talk with Velocity Interactive's Ross Levinsohn about their investment in Woodland Hills-based FatTail (www.fattail.com). At the time, the firm was working on--but not talking about-- their next generation product, which the company announced yesterday. We spoke to Steve Pelletier, the firm's Founder and CEO, about the new product:
Tell us a little bit about your new product?
Steve Pelletier: Just as a bit of background, our company started in 2001, and (More info...)
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iRise Rolls APIEl Segundo-based iRise, which develops application visualization software used by companies to prototype and define software applications, said Tuesday that it has opened up a new application programming interface (API) focused on enabling third party development. According to the firm, its new iRise Extension API launched into a private beta, and will allow its customer and partners to more tightly integrate its software into their environments. Among the APIs the firm has added are ability to (More info...)
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Mobicip Ships Kid-Safe iPhone BrowserThousand Oaks-based Mobicip.com, announced this morning that it has shipped a new, "kid-safe" iPhone browser, which the firm said will protect children from inappropriate web content on the iPhone. According to Mobicip.com, its browser, downloadable from the iPhone App store, offers the same features as the Safari Mobile browser, but also adds three levels of filtering based on the age of a child. Mobicip said its browser is free, with a premium application in the works with more flexible config (More info...)
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ValueClick Signs Health PublishersWestlake Village-based ValueClick has added a trio of new publishers to the firm's health and wellness advertising network, the firm disclosed this morning. According to ValueClick, it has added eMedTV, HealthCastle.com, and Hearthstone Communications to the network. The three become part of the firm's AdRx Media network, which the company says reaches more than 21 million unique visitors per month. eMedTV provides articles and videos about health topics; HealthCastle.com focuses on nutrition; a (More info...)
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Zadspace Raises $1.4MEl Segundo-based Zadspace, a stealth mode firm developing advertising technology, has quietly raised $1.40 in Series A venture funding. The funding came from DFJ Frontier, Crosscut Ventures and Gideon Hixon Fund. The firm's founders declined to comment on the funding, however, the firm's venture backers told socalTECH the round closed last week. Details of the round were first disclosed in a regulatory filing, with some details reported by PEhub.com. Crosscut Ventures also participated in the fu (More info...)
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Vision Solutions Adds AdvisorIrvine-based Vision Solutions, which provides high availability and disaster recovery products, announced this morning that it has added Dr. Frank Soltis to the firm's technology advisory board. Vision Solutions, whose products are used for providing HA and DR to IBM Power computers, said that Soltis was Chief Scientist at IBM, and founded IBM's System i technology. Vision Solutions develops software used to ensure uptime for those computer systems, and is backed by private equity firm Thomas Br (More info...)
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