Monday, July 6, 2009


Newport Closes Sale Of Division
Irvine-based Newport Corporation has completed its sale of its high power diode laser manufacturing business to Oclaro, as part of the firms' earlier business swap from June. According to Oclaro, the firms closed their transaction, which was announced in June, where Newport acquired Oclaro's New Focus business, and Oclaro acquired Newport's Spectra Physics high power laser diode business.
posted on Monday, July 6, 2009(Full story)

PriceGrabber.com Links With Retrevo
Los Angeles-based PriceGrabber.com, a provider of online comparison shopping services, said Monday that it has linked with Retrevo, a provider of electronics reviews, product manuals, and other information, to feature Retrevo's product reviews on PriceGrabber.com. As part of the deal, Retrevo will feature comprison shopping from PriceGrabber. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. PriceGrabber is part of Experian Interactive.
posted on Monday, July 6, 2009(Full story)

Miles Electrical Vehicles Gains More Funding
Santa Monica-based Miles Electrical Vehicles--now known as Coda Automotive--has raised around $11M in additional funding in an ongoing, $40M funding round, according to a regulatory filing from the firm today. In the filing, the firm said it has now sold $24M in equity out of a $40.3M raise, up from $13.5M the firm had raised as of March. Source of the new funding has not been released. Coda Automotive is developing fully electric, plug-in electrical vehicles. Miles Electrical Vehicles launched (More info...)
posted on Monday, July 6, 2009(Full story)

CalAmp Scores New Orders
Oxnard-based CalAmp, a developer of wireless communications products, reported today that the firm has received orders worth more than $7.5M for the firm's mobile resource management business. Names of the customers involved in the orders was not announced by the firm; the company claimed that the orders were higher than any prior two month period from the firm, and included wins in school bus management, fleet management, vehicle finance, stolen vehicle recovery, and mobile Internet application (More info...)
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Geni Among Firms Hit By Data Center Fire
Los Angeles-based Geni was one of the firms hit by a fire in Seattle, which took down the firm's payment processor, Authorize.net on Friday. According to Geni, due to the issue with Authorize.net, it was unable to process payments for the firm's virtual gifts and subscriptions on due to the downtime. The firm was back up on Friday afternoon. Authorize.net apparently was unable to switch over to a backup site when the fire at Seattle's Fisher Plaza occurred. Geni was just one of thousands of comp (More info...)
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Interview with Jonno Wells, Surfline
As part of our interview with local companies and executives, we always like to talk with interesting local companies. One local firm, which every surfer would be familiar with, is Huntington Beach-based Surfline/Wavetrak (www.surfline.com) -- which is the source for wave forecasts. We recently caught up with CEO Jonno Wells to talk about the firm and its expanding network of web sites. First off, tell us about your network of sites? Jonno Wells: Surfline/Wavetrak has three primary website (More info...)
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Insights & Opinions: Why Saying No Is So Hard For Angel Investors
In this morning's Insights & Opinions section, where we feature insights from local thought leaders, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, and others, we have an article from Joe Platnick of the Pasadena Angels, talks about getting a quick "yes or no" from angel investors. In the world of startup investing, Angels invariably come across a lot of great entrepreneurs that they get to know on a personal level and think the world of. Unfortunately they sometimes have to say "no" (More info...)
posted on Monday, July 6, 2009(Full story)

SAIC Buys Seattle Firm
San Diego-based Science Applications International Corporation said Monday that the firm has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Seattle-based business and technical consulting provider R.W. Beck Group. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. R.W. Beck, founded in 1942, provides business consultants in the area of engineering, energy, and infrastructure. SAIC is a major provider of business consulting to the government, including the U.S. Department of Defense and other gover (More info...)
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Nextwave Wireless Gets Investment From DOCOMO
San Diego-based NextWave Wireless, a developer of embedded multimedia software for the mobile market, said this morning that DOCOMO has acquired 35 percent of the firm's PacketVideo subsidiary, for $45.5M. In addition, NextWave Wireless said that it has received $15M in funding, in the form of Senior-Subordinated Secured Second Lien Notes from Avenue Capital Management II. NextWave Wireless said that DOCOMO has also received certain rights around future transfers of PacketVideo stock, issuance o (More info...)
posted on Monday, July 6, 2009(Full story)