Tuesday, July 14, 2009StemCyte Gains $1M In DebtCovina-based StemCyte, a venture-backed operator of an umbilical cord blood bank, has scored $1M in a debt funding round, according to debt financing firm Agility Capital. Agility said that the senior secured growth capital loan closed in June. StemCyte allows families to sore their baby's cord blood for possible future use in treating certain diseases. The firm has previously received venture funding from Sycamore Venture Capital, Asia Star IT Fund and National Technology Enterprise Co. of Kuwa (More info...)
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Sorrento Therapeutics Goes Public In Reverse MergerSan Diego-based Sorrento Therapeutics, a privately held firm which says it is developing proprietary platform technology for the generation of fully human monoclonal antibodies, announced Tuesday that it has merged with publicly traded QuikByte Software, which is traded over the country (OTC). QuickByte is a "shell" company--a firm which has public listing status, but no active operations. According to Sorrento Therapeutics, QuickByte will be renamed to integrate the Sorrento brand, and its head (More info...)
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Riot Games Announces First Online GameLos Angeles-based Riot Games, a venture-backed developer of online video games, announced Tuesday that it is will be releasing its first title--a free, online, multiplayer game called League of Legends. According to the firm, the new game will be supported by virtual currency and ability to customize and modify content within the game. Riot Games, which is venture backed by Benchmark and Firstmark, said the game will be released in September of 2009, running on Windows PCs. Riot raised $7M in fu (More info...)
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Tibesti Exits BetaLos Angeles-based Tibesti, an online social shopping site, said today that the firm has exited its beta and officially launched its site. The startup is hoping to get people to share their product recommendations with friends and others, in exchange for up to 50 percent of the commission from sales. Tibesti was co-founded by Mike Hale, who was on the founding team of Starz Entertainment. Among features of the site are both user-generated and expert product reviews, social networking features, an (More info...)
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Insights and Opinions: Top 10 Attributes of Successful VC InvestmentsFor today's Insights & Opinions section, we're sharing a brief piece that Jeff Cohn, a well known consultant to angel and venture investors in town, and currently a venture consultant to MHS Capital--and who was previously Investment Screening Director for the Tech Coast Angels--wrote about his view of Southern California's current VC investment market in his blog, which he's let us repost here.
Contrary to the common belief that Southern California "should be an easy place to raise money" (More info...)
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Advanced Telemetry Signs Restaurant OperatorSan Diego-based Advanced Telemetry, a venture backed developer of smart energy management systems, reported today that the firm has signed up a 25-location restaurant chain, Jim 'n Nick's Bar-B-Q. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Advanced Telemetry develops systems used to monitor energy and resource management, and is backed by 21Ventures. Advanced Telemtry said that Jim n' Nick's Bar-B-Q is using its products to lower electricity and natural gas consumption at its restaurants.
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Xirrus Gains Another Education CustomerThousand Oaks-based Xirrus has signed on another, education customer, the firm said this morning, and has signed on Silicon Valley's Gavilan College. According to Xirrus, the firm's devices will go to provide 802.11n access to the school's 150-acre campus. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Xirrus provides Wi-Fi arrays which integrate multiple Wi-Fi access points and switching into a single hardware device, which makes it easier for customers to manage their wireless coverage.
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Belkin Looks To Ingram Micro For CIOCompton-based Belkin International, a maker of electronics accessories, disclosed this morning that it has hired on a Chief Information Officer, Deanna Johnston. Belkin snagged Johnson from Ingram Micro, where she was Vice President of Information Technology. Belkin said that Johnston will lead the globalization of the firm's IT infrastructure and applications portfolio.
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Emergent Game Technologies Claims GrowthCalabasas-based Emergent Game Technologies, developer of the Gamebryo LightSpeed game development engine, reports today that it had a 45% increase in earnings during the first half of 2009. Actual financial details of the growth, or customer wins behind that growth, were not disclosed. Emergent claimed that it saw advances in both North America and Europe, and particularly with licensing deals in Korea. Emergent's software products are used by game developers to create titles for Playstation 3, (More info...)
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Kofax Gets Midwestern Court WinIrvine-based Kofax reports this morning that it has scored a $275,000 contract with an un-named, Midwestern state judicial system. According to Kofax, it will provide its document cpature solution for more than 100 appellate and supreme courts for the unnamed state, to handle capture of case related documents and images. Kofax is a provider of software and hardware for digitizing paper, fax, and other correspondence into electronic form.
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Autobytel Links With Kelley Blue BookIrvine-based Autobytel and Kelley Blue Book said today that the firm have linked up Autobytel's used car program with Kelley's online used car marketplace. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. According to the firms, dealers participating in Autobytel's used car program can choose to also list their automobiles at Kelley Blue BOok's online used car marketplace, which sees around 12 million users a month. The listings on Kelley Blue Book are part of Autobytel's Used Car Program, wher (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, July 14, 2009(Full story)