Thursday, July 9, 2009Southern California Deals Total Around $932M For Q2A recent analysis by socalTECH, of our detailed tracking of venture capital investment activity in Southern California, finds that there was around $932M in funding raised in the area in Q2, a rise from roughly $700M in Q1. Surprisingly, the numbers--based on information gleaned from funding announcements, regulatory filings, and other sources--are approximately the same as numbers in Q2 of 2008, which total around $955M, according to our own data. PwC/NVCA officialy reported $950M invested in Q (More info...)
posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009(Full story)
Emergent Game Technologies Adds $1.9MCalabasas-based Emergent Game Technologies, developer of the popular Gamebryo video game development engine, has added another $1.9M in funding to the firm's earlier announced funding round, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today. According to that filing, the firm has now raised $14,389,604 in funding as part of a round it commenced in December of 2008. The firm had said in February that it had raised $12.5M from Hopewell Ventures, Worldview Technology Partners, Jerusalem Venture Pa (More info...)
posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009 (More)(Full story)
Broadcom Drops Emulex Acquisition EffortsIrvine-based Broadcom said today that it will drop all of its efforts to acquire Emulex, after today's rejection by Emulex to enter into "friendly discussions" on an acquisition. Broadcom gave an ultimatum, saying that its $11-per-share offer to acquire Emulex, which it had announced on June 29th, would expire at midnight Eastern Time on July 14th. Broadcom had bumped its offer to Emulex to $11 per share, up from $9.25 per share, on June 29th, saying at that time that the proposal was its "best (More info...)
posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009(Full story)
TravBuddy Trumpets Travel Photo NumbersRedondo Beach-based TravBuddy, the online travel site founded by Eric and David Bjorndahl, said today that the firm has hit the 2 million photos mark on its web site. The site, which helps people find travel companions and research their travel plans, said those photos are organized by location and cover 20,000 unique travel destinations around the world. TravBuddy also offers hotel reviews, community forums, maps, games, and other travel-themed information.
posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009(Full story)
Zag Links With USAA, Mercedes-Benz On PromotionSanta Monica-based Zag.com, the online automotive buying firm headed by Scott Painter, announced Thursday that the company has reached an agreement with Mercedes-Benz USA to offer an additional $5000 off pricing of new Mercedes-Benz cars to members of USAA, one of the affinity groups using Zag's auto pricing and purchasing services. The firm said the additional offer comes on top of special member prices, rebates, and dealer incentives available to members. Zag provides a white-label version of (More info...)
posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009(Full story)
Geni Adds Free TrialLos Angeles-based Geni rolled out a number of enhancements to the site, plus told its users late Wednesday evening that it will now allow all of its users a 14 day, free trial of the firm's premium offering, Geni Pro. According to Geni, the new features include a bookmark feature which allows users to bookmark any information in the system, including profiles, photos and videos; plus an additional tool which helps its users merge and find similar profiles already added by others. Geni operates a (More info...)
posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009(Full story)
USC Spinout Gains From $3.5M AwardA spinout of the University of Southern California, Pivotal Biosciences, is benefiting from the approval of a $3.5M drug development project that was just approved by the National Cancer Institute, for developing a treatment for metastatic melanoma and metastatic renal cell carcinoma. According to USC, Alan Epstein, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the firm's Department of Pathology at the USC Keck School of Medicine of USC, just received the $3.5M award from the National Cancer Institute. The techn (More info...)
posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009(Full story)
Intellikine Raises $51MLa Jolla-based Intellikine, a developer of small molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases, said Wednesday that it has raised $51M in a financing round for the firm. The round was led by Novartis Bioventures, and also included U.S. Venture Partners, Biogen Idec, and FinTech Global Capital. Prior investors Abingworth, CMEA Capital, and Sofinnova Ventures also participated. Markus Goebel from Novartis Venture Funds will join Intellikine's board along with th (More info...)
posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009 (More)(Full story)
GumGum Confirms Investment RoundSanta Monica-based GumGum, the online startup headed by Ophir Tanz which licenses photos on a CPM basis to online publishers, confirmed it had raised $2.6M in a venture round Wednesday, telling socalTECH that the Series A-1 round was led by GRP Partners, with participation by First Round Capital. Tanz said that GRP's Mark Suster will be joining the firm's board along with the funding. Other board members at the firm are Michael Jones, COO of MySpace; Howard Morgan of First Round Capital; and Bri (More info...)
posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009(Full story)