Wednesday, July 1, 2009Schwarzenegger Gets Into Affiliate Tax BattleGovernor Arnold Schwarzenegger has stepped into an Internet tax battle which has been brewing between online retailers Amazon.com, Overstock.com, and a number of states which have been mulling Internet taxes. The states have been working on legislation, targeted at Internet retailers which have affiliate advertisers in their state, to make them subject to local taxes. According to the Office of the Governor, Schwarzenegger said he promised to veto a tax on affiliate advertising, after Overstock. (More info...)
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Done Right Acquired By N.C. FirmPasadena-based Done Right, a provider of an online, pay-per-performance directory of home improvement professionals, has been acquired by a North Carolina firm. According to Charlotte, North Carolina-based Tree.com, it has acquired certain assets of Done Right, and will offer Done Right as its newest service offering. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Done Right--formerly known as PerformLocal--was founded in 2005, and has received venture funding from August Capital, Glynn (More info...)
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Entropic Communications Shuffles CTOSan Diego-basd Entropic Communications, a manufacturer of semiconductors for the home entertainment networking market, announced Wednesday that it has hired on a new Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Tom Lookabaugh. Lookabaugh has served as CEO of PolyCipher--a joint venture owned by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications--and also was on the faculty of the Computer Science Department at the University of Colorado. In addition, he's served at Harmonic and C-Cube Microsystems. Entropic sa (More info...)
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CoreObjects Scores $2M In Venture FundingLos Angeles-based CoreObjects, a provider of outsourced product development services to the venture-backed technology community, has raised $2.0M in a equity funding round, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today. Details on the funding have not yet been released by the company. According to the filing, Palomar Ventures--a prior investor in the firm--still holds two board seats, with Jim Gauer and Scott Walters sitting on the firm's board of directors.
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WebVisible: Business Is ThrivingIrvine-based WebVisible, the local online advertising startup backed by Redpoint Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures, says that it has "thrived," in the first half of the year, despite the current economy. The firm said today that it has "nearly tripled" its sales from 2008 during the first six months of the year, and is expected to post an almost 155 percent year-over-year revenue growth. The firm did not disclose actual financials to back up those numbers. WebVisible helps local businesses place (More info...)
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TrueCar Taps Edmunds.com For VPSanta Monica-based TrueCar announced today that it has snagged an executive from Edmunds.com for its new Vice President of Product Management. TrueCar said that Damon Cleckler has joined the firm in the position, after serving as executive director of product management at Edmunds.com, where he helped develops Edmunds "True Market Value" and "New Car Finder" products. The company said Cleckler will work on aiding in development of car pricing tools on the site. Cleckler has also served at Stamps (More info...)
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VMIX Eyes Maven Networks' CustomersSan Diego-based VMIX is eyeing customers of Maven Networks, a provider of video hosting owned by Yahoo, saying Wednesday that it will help customers of Maven to migrate to VMIX. VMIX said it is offering to migrate hosting and delivery of media to former Maven Networks customers to VMIX, without any transfer or setup fees. Yahoo said earlier this week that it would discontinue the services offered by Maven Networks, which it acquired back in February of 2008. VMIX offers its own white-label softw (More info...)
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Saban Capital Hires Managing DirectorLos Angeles-based Saban Capital, the investment group of Haim Saban, disclosed this morning that it has hired on Elie Dekel as a Managing Director at the firm. Saban is an investor in media, entertainment, and communications companies, and also maintains a venture capital arm called Saban Ventures. Dekel was previously head of Licensing and Merchandising for 20th Century Fox. The firm said that Dekel will focus on licensing, merchandising, and intellectual property efforts. Saban is an investor (More info...)
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Vangard Voice Signs Enterprise Application FirmIrvine-based Vangard Voice Systems, which develops technology used for voice-enabled applications, reported this week that it has partnered with Stratix Corporation, a developer of mobile enterprise applications. According to Vangard, Stratix will use the firm's voice technology in developing voice-driven applications for its enterprise customers. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Vangard is venture backed by Berkshire Ventures, along with angel investors. The firm's technology is (More info...)
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Report: Six Year Low For Venture-Backed Liquidity, Despite IPOsDow Jones VentureSource is reporting today that Q2 of this year was "one of the worst" ever for venture capital backed firms, in terms of liquidity, since early 2003. According to Dow Jones, there was only $2.8 billion in exits for the quarter, including both mergers and acquisitions and IPOs, down 57% from last year's numbers. Dow Jones said there was $2.57 billion in mergers and acquisitions of 67 companies in Q2, down from $6.48B and 89 transactions in Q2 of 2008. The three venture-backed IPO (More info...)
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AeroVironment Hits Milestone In DARPA ProjectMonrovia, California-based AeroVironment, a developer of energy products and unmanned aerial vehicles, disclosed this morning that it has achieved a milestone as part of a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), and as a result, has been granted a contract extension on the program. According to Aerovironment, it has demonstrated controlled hovering flight of an air vehicle system using two flapping wings--part of a DARPA goal to create "nano" air vehicles. DARPA is look (More info...)
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Altura Buys Voice and Data ProviderAltura Communication Solutions, a Fullerton-based provider of voice and data communication services, announced Tuesday that it has acquired NetVersant Solutions LLC's Avaya business unit. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Headquartered in Everett, Wash., NetVersant offers sales, support and consulting services to enterprise customers in the area of unified communications and business voice-over-IP services, throughout the United States. Its Avaya business unit provides unified comm (More info...)
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