Wednesday, March 4, 2009Qualcomm Names Paul Jacobs As ChairmanSan Diego-based Qualcomm said Tuesday that it has named Paul E. Jacobs, the firm's CEO, as chairman of the board. Jacobs replaces his father, Qualcomm co-founder and former CEO, Irwin Jacobs. Irwin Jacobs remains on the board of directors. Paul Jacobs was appointed CEO of Qualcomm in 2005, succeeding his father, and has been at the company since 1990. Irwin Jacobs is 75, and has been transitioning the firm to son Paul for the last five years.
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
RazorGator Gains $7.5MLos Angeles-based RazorGator, which provides an online ticketing service, has reportedly raised at least $7.5M in a venture funding round. No details on the funding have been released by the company, however, regulatory filings for the firm show that a funding event occurred around February 13th. The firm and its venture backers had not returned further information on the funding as of press time. However, venture firm Steamboat Ventures now lists RazorGator as a portfolio firm. RazorGator has p (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
SpaceX Hires Bizdev VPHawthorne-based SpaceX, the space launch vehicle startup funded by PayPal founder Elon Musk, said Wednesday afternoon that it has hired on a new Vice President of Business Development. According to SpaceX, it has appointed Rob Peckham, former President and General Manager of Sea Launch, to the position. SpaceX said that Peckham will be responsible for development and expansion of SpaceX's customer base. Peckham has also worked at Hughes Space and Communications and McDonnell Douglas. The firm sa (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
CircleUp Launches Online Payment ServiceNewport Beach-based CircleUp, a startup developing group communications tools, is setting its eyes on online payments, saying today that it has launched a new service to collect money via email for teams and groups. According to CircleUp, the new service--called SmartPay--will allow teams and groups to collect money via credit or debit cards. CircleUp said that the service is targeted at groups where funds are regularly pooled for events and activity expenses, including things like gifts for coa (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
Panasonic Avionics Wins Swedish AirlineLake Forest-based Panasonic Avionics, a developer of in-flight entertainment systems, said Wednesday that it has signed on TUIfly Nordic, a charter airline based in Stockholm, Sweden, as a customer. Financial impact of the customer win was not disclosed. Panasonic Avionics said TUIfly will install its in-flight entertainment systems on 3, Boeing 767 aircraft. Panasonic Avionics is a subsidiary of Panasonic North America.
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
LeisureLink Signs Vast.comPasadena-based LeisureLink is reporting today that it has partnered with vertical search provider Vast.com. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. According to LeisureLink, its clients' properties will be carried in Vast.com's travel search site, and will also be distributed through sites like iExplore.com, Away.com, and LATimes.com, all of which offer travel search sections powered by Vast. LeisureLink operates a marketplace for vacation rentals.
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
LeadPoint Launches Lead Filtering ToolLos Angeles-based LeadPoint said today that the firm has launched a product which will help its customers filter out leads by a "quality score," which will help its lead buyers find the types of leads and quality that they are looking for. The firm, which operates a marketplace for leads on such areas as consumer loans, credit cards, education, and automotive sales, said the new offering will be used to price leads according to their performance. The firm said the filters will be initially avail (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
MySpace Execs Leave To New FirmLos Angeles-based MySpace is reportedly losing three of its executives to a new startup, according to reports from a number of sources. Amit Kapur, the firm's Chief Operating Officer; Jim Benedetto, SVP of Engineering; and Steve Pearman, SVP of Product Strategy are all involved in the new venture. No details of that new company have been released. A widely leaked memo from MySpace's Chris Dewolfe said that Kapur, Benedetto, and Pearman will remain at the firm "for the next few weeks" to ensure a (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
Sendio Revamps Partner ProgramIrvine-based Sendio, which develops email security appliances, said today that the firm is restructuring its partner program in an attempt to expand its channel. The firm said it has switched over to a tiered program, which will reward its top partners with dedicated engineering support, deployment support, quarterly onsite visits, and a seat on the firm's advisory board. Sendio develops email appliances which require human confirmation--sender verification--before delivering an email from a new (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
Steamboat Invests In Celebrity SiteLos Angeles-based Steamboat Ventures has set its sights on the celebrity web space, and is the lead investor in a new round of funding for Fanzter, which operates the celebrity products site Coolspotters.com. According to Connecticut-based Fanzter, Steamboat's Dan Beldy joins the firm's board of directors. Coolspotters is a web site which highlights which products celebrities are buying and wearing. The move is somewhat unusual for Steamboat, which usually does not invest in content businesses, (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
Interview with Mark Cromack, CogiSanta Barbara-based Cogi (www.cogi.com) recently launched a phone-based service which allows users to transcribe conference calls and meetings. The firm's founders are all experienced entrepreneurs, and come from Callwave, CrystalVoice, and Ideocore. We sat down with president and co-founder, Mark Cromack, to hear more about the company.
For readers who haven't heard of Cogi, can you explain what your service does?
Mark Cromack: First and foremost, the concept behind Cogi is brought out i (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009(Full story)
Regulus Therapeutics Raises $20MCarlsbad-based Regulus Therapeutics, a biopharmaceuticals firm focused on microRNA-based therapeutics, announced this morning that it has raised $20M in a Series A funding round. The investment came from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Isis Pharmaceuticals, which created Regulus in a joint venture in September of 2007. According to Regulus, the new funding will provide it with cash to operate through 2011. In a related move, the firm said that it has reorganized from an LLC to a C-corporation, as a (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 (More)(Full story)