Thursday, February 11, 2010Veoh's Shapiro Confirms Bankruptcy FilingDmitry Shapiro, in a post on his personal web site, confirmed the Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing of San Diego- and Los Angeles-based Veoh Networks Thursday afternoon. In the post, Shapiro said in his post that "The distraction of the legal battles, and the challenges of the broader macro-economic climate" led to the bankruptcy filing. Veoh had raised over $70M in funding.
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Newegg Disputes Lawsuit From Former EmployeesCity of Industry-based Newegg has pre-emptively issued a statement saying that it denies all of the claims filed by two former employees and a former consultant in a lawsuit filed Monday. The firms said the former employees and consultant are "have neither merit nor basis in fact" and that it would defend itself "vigorously and thoroughly" against the lawsuit. The firm did not release details on the lawsuit, which was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
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Report: Veoh Files For BankruptcySan Diego- and Los Angeles-based video sharing site veoh Networks has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to web site Mashable. Dmitry Shapiro, CEO of Veoh, did not respond to emails requesting comment, the PR firm listed on the firm's site said it no longer represents the company, and socalTECH was unable to reach anyone via phone at the company. Veoh had raised over $67.5M in funding from such firms as Goldman Sachs, Intel Capital, Shelter Capital Partners, Spark Capital, The Tornante Co (More info...)
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Novatel Deploys MiFi In ThailandSan Diego-based Novatel Wireless, maker of the MiFi mobile hotspot device, which turns a 3G mobile connection into a personal Wi-Fi hotspot, said it is deploying its devices in Thailand with CAT, which operates a CDMA network in that country. According to Novatel, CAT will make the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2220 Intelligent Mobile Hospot available in February. The firm did not say what kinds of volumes it expects from the deal. Novatel supplies wireless data cards and its new MiFi device to Verizon, (More info...)
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Mogreet Inks Deal With American GreetingsLos Angeles-based Mogreet, the mobile marketing and greeting card firm run by James Citron, said today that it has inked a partnership with greeting cards firm American Greetings, via the card firm's online division, AG Interactive. According to the two, AmericanGreetings.com will offer MMS greeting cards using Mogreet's mobile video marketing platform. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. The two firms said that the greetings will include premium, American Greeting content, linked wi (More info...)
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Apriso Claims Record 2009 RevenuesLong Beach-based Apriso, a developer of planning and control software for the manufacturing industry, reported Thursday that the firm had record revenues in 2009. The privately held firm did not disclose actual financials. According to Apriso, the record revenue came due to growth from had software license revenue, which it said increased 26 percent year to year. The firm said that its fourth quarter was even better, with a 35 percent, year to year increases in revenue for software licenses. The (More info...)
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Mobile Messenger Names, Promotes VPsLos Angeles-based Mobile Messenger, the mobile marketing firm majority owned by Silver Lake Partners, said earlier this week that it has named Larry Robiner as its VP of CRM Channel Sales. Robiner joins the firm from Epsilon, where he was VP of Business Development. In a related move, the firm said it has promoted Amy Dudman at Senior Vice President of Strategic Operations at the company.
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Break Media Buys FileFrontLos Angeles-based Break Media announced this morning that it has acquired FileFront, an online site focused on gaming news and downloads. According to Break Media, it will be investing "significantly" in the editorial on FileFront, and will use the acquisition to add additional premium gaming content to its site. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Break Media said that FileFront has over 9 million monthly unique visitors, and runs more than 75 game-specific sites; the company (More info...)
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WebVisible Scores $20MIrvine-based WebVisible, which helps local businesses place online advertising, has scored $20M in a new funding round, according to a recent regulatory filing from the firm. The round was led by Adams Street Partners, and also included Sutter Hill Ventures and Redpoint Ventures. No details on the funding have been released by the company. WebVisible is headed by Kristen Mangers. The new funding brings the company's total raised to around $37M.
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MySpace Names Jones, Hirschorn As Co-Presidents, as Van Natta LeavesLos Angeles-based social networking site MySpace said late Wednesday that CEO Owen Van Natta is stepping down from his position, and will be replaced by co-presidents Mike Jones and Jason Hirschorn. Reasons for Van Natta's departure were not given. Jones was most recently COO at MySpace, and is best known in the Los Angeles area for founding Userplane, which he sold to AOL in 2006. Hirschorn was most recently president of Sling Media, and also had served as Chief Digital Officer at MTV Networks.
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Quality Systems Buys Opus Healthcare SolutionsIrvine-based Quality Systems, which develops healthcare information systems, said today that it is in an agreement to acquire Opus Healthcare Solutions, a provider of web-based, clinical information systems. Financial details of the buy were not disclosed. According to Quality Systems, it will combine Opus Healthcare Solutions with Sphere Health Systems, which it acquired in August of 2009, as part of its NextGen Healthcare Information Systems subsidiary. Opus provides electronic health record ( (More info...)
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SpaceX Delivers Falcon 9 To Cape CanaveralHawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies, the commercial rocket venture of Paypal mogul Elon Musk, reported this morning that it has delivered its Falcon 9 vehicle to Cape Canaveral, in preparation for the new rocket's first launch. SpaceX said it is expecting it will be able to launch the vehicle between one to three months after it has fully integrated the various parts of the rocket together. SpaceX's Falcon 9 is aimed at fulfilling a COTS contract with NASA, to be able to deliver suppl (More info...)
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Netlist Ramps Up Patent Suit Against InphiIrvine-based Netlist, a developer of memory subsystems for server market, said this morning that it has added another patent to its lawsuit against Westlake Village-based Inphi Corporation. The two firms are battling in court over a number of patents covering various memory interface technologies. Netlist said that its patent suit now includes newly issues U.S. patents 7,636,274 and 7,619,912, in addition to the original patent named in its suit. Netlist originally sued Inphi in September of 200 (More info...)
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