Thursday, June 11, 2009DTT Surveillance Gets $7MLos Angeles-based DTT Surveillance, a supplier of equipment used for digital surveillance of restaurants, announced this week that it has raised $7M in a growth equity funding round. The funding was led by Post Capital Partners, and also included Gemini Investors. The firm said the funding will go towards growth capital. DTT Surveillance makes equipment used to monitor point of sale (POS) cash registers, to make sure that employees are accurately ringing up transactions. The firm's equipment int (More info...)
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eSolar In Deal For New Mexico Power PlantPasadena-based eSolar, the solar thermal energy technology backed by Idealab, has inked a deal to develop a 92 megawatt, concentrating solar power plant in southern New Mexico. According to El Paso Electric, the energy plant is being developed by NRG Energy and eSolar, and is part of NRG and eSolar's plans to develop up to 500 MW of solar thermal energy across the Southwest US. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. El Paso Electric will purchase the power via a power purchase agreement (More info...)
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CarsDirect Targets Former Chrysler, GM DealersEl Segundo-based CarsDirect, the online automotive shopping and information site owned by Internet Brands, said Thursday that the firm will offer free online used car inventory listings to the unfortunate Chrysler and General Motors franchise dealers who were recently terminated by those auto brands. According to CarsDirect, the firm hopes to help those dealers drive sales during the transition period, explaining that a number of those dealerships are shifting to used cars. CarsDirect said it wi (More info...)
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SodaHead.com Morphs Towards Social NewsLos Angeles-based SodaHead.com, the social question-and-answer and polling startup headed by former MySpace VP of Operations Jason Feffer, is morphing its focus towards the social news area, saying last night that the company is looking to become a "social newspaper." According to SodaHead.com, the site is looking to create a forum to discuss breaking news and "hot topics" which are important to users on the site. The site--which originally started as a question-and-answer site along the lines o (More info...)
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Protabit, Monsanto Launch StartupPasadena-based Protabit, a brand new startup based on research from Caltech, and chemical giant Monsanto disclosed this morning that the two firms have entered into a two-year collaboration, to develop new tools for protein design and optimization. Protabit, founded by Caltech professor Stephen Mayo, and Duke University professor Homme Hellinga, said the firm's software tools will be used to shorten the product discovery process for Monsanto. Monsanto will use the technology to more quickly iden (More info...)
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QPC Lasers AcquiredSylmar-based Quintessence Photonics Corporation, or QPC Lasers, a manufacturer of high power laser diodes, has been acquired by a New York-based investment group. According to New York-based private equity firm DMC Capital Funding, it led a group acquiring Quintessence Photonics, which is the operating subsidiary of QPC Lasers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. QPC will become Laser Operations LLC, which has acquired all of the assets of Quintessence Photonics. The firms said that (More info...)
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CyberDefender Gains $2M From Guthy-RenkerLos Angeles-based CyberDefender, a developer of PC security and antivirus software, announced Thursday that the firm has raised $2.0M in equity from marketing firm Guthy-Renker. According to the firm--which is traded OTC--the restricted common stock investment by Guthy-Renker also came with an extension of an agreement the two companies have until June 2011. CyberDefender said $400K of that investment will actually go back to Guthy-Renker for production of television commercials for the firm, wi (More info...)
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VMIX Gets Win With ScionSan Diego-based VMIX, a provider of software for managing online video, said this morning that the firm has signed on automotive brand Scion. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. VMIX said that Scion will launch a new web site, www.ScionAV.com, using the firm's media management and delivery tools. VMIX is venture backed by JK&B Capital and ATA Ventures, Mission Ventures and Enterprise Partners.
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