Monday, August 10, 2009Domain Associates Raises $500M Venture FundVenture capital firm Domain Associates, which is based in San Diego and New Jersey, said Monday that it has closed a $500M fund focused on the life sciences industry. The firm said the fund, Domain Partners VIII, L.P., will continue to focus on early stage companies in the drug and device sectors. The new fund brings the company's lifetime funds under management to $2.7 billion. Domain was founded in 1985, and has invested in over 210 life sciences companies.
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Report: eCommerce Sales Still FlatA report released today by online measurement service comScore is reporting that U.S. online retail spending was roughly flat from last year, totaling $30.2 billion, down about 1 percent versus the same quarter last year. The results were about the same as Q1, when ecommerce sales were also approximately the same as Q1 of 2008, but were better than the 3 percent drop online sites saw in Q4 of 2008. The results seem to suggest that--despite optimism that the economy is recovering--online retail s (More info...)
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MyShape Relaunches SitePasadena-based MyShape.com, the women's fashion web site, has completely relaunched the firm's web site, the company said this morning. MyShape, which is headed by Louise Wannier, offers a web site which recommends women's fashion clothing depending on a woman's measurements and body type. The firm has re-tooled its measurement system, simplifying the system so that women do not have to enter all of their measurements to start using its system--instead, customers can just enter a few key measure (More info...)
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EntComm Sells DivisionGardena-based EntComm, a developer of software-as-a-service products, has sold its product division to a Indian software firm, TAKE Solutions. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Texas-based TAKE Supply Chain, which is owned by Indian software provider TAKE Solutions, based in Chennai, said it would buy EntComm's product division, which develops software-as-a-service used for supply chain collaboration in the oil and gas, aerospace and defense, and manufacturing industry. TAKE is als (More info...)
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AeroVironment Receives Electric Vehicle PatentMonrovia-based AeroVironment disclosed today that the firm has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. AeroVironment said the patent covers charging technology for battery packs and electric vehicles. AeroVironment's products include fast charge systems for electric vehicles. According to the USPTO, the patent was actually granted back in October of last year, and was filed in October of 2004. The patent names Blake Dickinson, Lisa Lei Horiuchi, and Nathaniel Jordan Ramer (More info...)
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X1 Eyes eDiscovery MarketPasadena-based X1 Technologies, the desktop search tools software firm backed by Idealab, said this morning that it has shipped a new enterprise product, X1 eDiscovery Search Suite. The firm said the new product is focused on information management and identification for the eDiscovery market. X1 explained that the new product is based on its X1 enterprise search tools, but is instead specifically targeted for use by law firms and legal departments for finding and tagging data related to legal m (More info...)
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Interview with Babette Pepaj, BakeSpaceOur interview this morning is with Babette Pepaj, CEO and founder of BakeSpace (www.bakespace.com), a local Los Angeles startup focused on social networking around food. We caught up with Babette to get the story behind the site, and how the site helped her escape from the world of reality television.
What is BakeSpace?
Babette Pepaj: BakeSpace is a food social network and recipe swap. You come for the food, and stay for the conversation. The base of the site a recipe swap, but it's more a (More info...)
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Bid4Spots Claims Revenue GainsEncino-based Bid4Spots, which operates a number of online reverse auction marketplaces for radio and cable television advertising, claims today that the firm has been seeing a huge amount of growth this year. The firm reported this morning that it has more than doubled its revenues this year, despite the economy. Actual financials and revenue were not disclosed. Bid4Spots said that radio revenue has "increased dramatically" for the firm, saying that the growth came from both existing advertising (More info...)
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ParAccel Gets Win At OfficeMaxSan Diego-based ParAccel, a developer of high speed query appliances for the data warehousing market, announced today that the firm's product has been selected by OfficeMax. According to ParAccel, OfficeMax is using the firm's ParAccel Analytic Database as part of a data warehousing effort, using the product for market basket analysis and for improving OfficeMax's merchandising capabilities, promotions, shelf space, and product placement efforts. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Pa (More info...)
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Masher Media Gains Angel FundingCalabasas-based Masher Media, which is developing the online virtual world MyMiniPeeps.com for children, has received a round of angel funding from the Tech Coast Angels. According to the TCA, Masher Media has received $300,000 from the angel group in a round, which is open for a total of $500K in investments. MyMiniPeeps.com is targeted at kids 6 to 13. Masher Media is headed by Sherry Gunther, a veteran of the entertainment industry who produced The Simpsons, Rugrats, Family Guy, and the Power (More info...)
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Conexant Names New DistributorNewport Beach-based Conexant, a developer of a wide range of semiconductors, said this morning that it has tapped Nu Horizons as the firm's exclusive distributor in North America and Mexico. Conexant said Nu Horizons will distribute its entire line of imaging, audio, video, and embedded modem devices. The two firms also said that they are planning to develop a series of evaluation kits based on Conexant's products, including digital photo frames, interactive display appliances, and audio periphe (More info...)
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SmartAction Signs CustomerPlaya Del Rey-based Smart Action Company, a provider of artificial intelligence-powered, self-service, interactive voice response (IVR) technology, said last week that it has been selected by Motional Fulfillment and Logistics SErvices. Financial impact of the deal were not disclosed. SmartAction said Motiviational is using the firm's artificial-intelligence engines to power its self-service, interactive voice response systems. SmartAction is headed by Richard Koffler.
posted on Monday, August 10, 2009(Full story)