Monday, August 31, 2009


Medsphere Raises $12M
Carlsbad-based Medsphere Systems, a developer of electronic health record software, announced Monday afternoon that the firm has raised $12M in a financing round. The round came from Azure Capital Partners, Epic Ventures, Thomas Weisel Venture Partners, Western Technology Investment, and private investors. Medsphere develops OpenVista, an electronic health record product based on software originally developed for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Desktop Factory Assets Go To 3D Systems
South Carolina-based 3D Systems Corporation, a developer of rapid prototyping systems, said Monday afternoon that it has acquired certain assets of Pasadena-based Desktop Factory, the Idealab startup which was developing low cost, 3-D printers. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Desktop Factory had said two weeks ago that it was in the process of looking for a buyer for the firm, after failing to raise a new round of funding. Desktop Factory was developing sub-$3,000 3D print (More info...)
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Leads360 Claims 4000th Client, Profitability
Los Angeles-based Leads360, which provides web-based, leads management software, announced Monday afternoon that the firm has signed its 4000th client, Jones International University. No details on the financial impact of the new client were released. According to Leads360, it had more than 50% year-over-year growth between July 2008 and July 2009, and had "record profitability", although the firm did not reveal any details on its finances. Leads360 is backed by Rustic Canyon Partners.
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QLogic Gets EMC Qual
Aliso Viejo-based QLogic, a maker of network adapters for the storage area networking market, said Monday that the firm has qualified its 8100 Series converged network adapters (CNA) with EMC. The firm said the qualification now means that customers can connect its adapters to EMC's popular Symmetrix V-MAx, DMX, CLARiiON CX4, and Celerra NS storage systems. QLogic's adapters are also being made available through EMC's EMC Select program. The new adapters provide Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE (More info...)
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Interview with Hamet Watt, True Ventures
For today's interview, we thought we'd catch up with Hamet Watt, who was most recently founder of NextMedium, and is now an EIR at True Ventures (www.trueventures.com). Hamet is now helping True Ventures look at investments in Southern California, and we thought it would be worthwhile to talk to him about the firm's new interest here, his role, plus his insights into where the advertising industry is now. Tell us what you're doing for True Ventures? Hamet Watt: I'm looking at opportunities (More info...)
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Insights & Opinions: No, Magazines Aren't Dying
For today's Insights & Opinions piece, we have an article from Emrah Kovacoglu, founder and CEO of Total Beauty Media, which operates an online site focused on beauty products and user generated reviews. For decades, consumer magazines were pretty much the only way for CPG companies to reach a large audience of women making purchase decisions in a contextually relevant way. But then came 2009's "Black September" -- where nearly every magazine's revenues shrunk, during a month when magazin (More info...)
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Occam Nabs New Customer
Santa Barbara-based Occam Networks reported last week that it has signed on Farmers Telephone Cooperative (FTC) as a customer. FTC serves Turbeville, Lynchburg, Bishopville, and Greeleyville, South Carolina. Size of the customer win was not disclosed. According to Occam, FTC will deploy its products to build out its broadband networks and IPTV services. Occam's equipment is being used by broadband service providers for voice, data, and video service.
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Broadcom Claims 10 Gigabit Ethernet Dominance
Irvine-based Broadcom is claiming today that it now has nearly 70 percent of the market share for 10 Gigabit Ethernet controllers. According to Broadcom, it reached 69.3 percent market share in shipments of 10 Gigabit Ethernet controllers in the second quarter, according to numbers from market research firm Del 'Oro Group. Broadcom said that was up from 44 percent from Q1 of 2009. The company also claimed that its 10 GbE controller technology is now being used by all of the major server OEMs.
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MyShape Launches Fashion Guide
Pasadena-based MyShape, the venture backed, online clothing retailer focused on matching women to clothing based on body shape and measurements, said today it has launched a new feature focused on providing fashion advice. According to the site, its new section--Style Me--will offer fashion tips, stories, and information on the latest fashion trends. MyShape is venture backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, the Pasadena Angels, and the Tech Coast Angels.
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Xirrus Signs Microsoft Events
Thousand Oaks-based Xirrus, a developer of Wi-Fi networing equipment, reported this morning that it has signed on Microsoft CMG Events & Studios as a customer. Microsoft CMG Events & Studios is the arm of Microsoft running its Professional Developers Conferences, partners events, TechEd, and other events. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Xirrus develops wireless arrays which can handle both high bandwidth and high density wireless coverage.
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