Tuesday, February 23, 2010Platinum Equity Merges Two Portfolio FirmsLos Angeles-based private equity firm Platinum Equity said Tuesday that it is merging two of its portfolio firms, Pomeroy IT Solutions Inc. and OAO Technology Solutions. Platinum acquired Pomeroy in November of 2009, and acquired OAO Technology Solutions in January of 2010. The firm said the combination will increase the scale and reach of its offerings. The new business will be headquartered out of Pomeroy's existing facilities in Kentucky. Pomeroy and OAO Technology Solutions both provide mana (More info...)
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Docstoc Launches Marketplace, Rev Share EffortSanta Monica-based Docstoc, the online document sharing site run by Jason Nazar, is launching a new marketplace this morning which will allow users to sell their own content on the firm's site. According to the firm, its new Docstore will allow users to sell their professional documents from the site, splitting revenues with Docstoc. Docstoc said users will initially get 100 percent of revenue of sales of documents for the first 60 days, and then an even split of revenues between the seller and (More info...)
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Broadcom Links With $3.5B Intel Jobs EffortIrvine-based Broadcom is backing a $3.5 billion effort by microprocessor giant Intel, to invest in U.S. companies and spur new hiring at local companies. According to Intel, it has created a new group--the Invest in America Alliance which will look to invest $3.5 billion in startups in the next two years, and also help increase the number of jobs for new graduates. Broadcom is one of 17 companies who collectively are looking to increase their hiring goals to create 10,500 new jobs for college gr (More info...)
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Hulu To Debut Online Show From American Idol CreatorLos Angeles-based Hulu, the online video streaming site, announced today that it has linked up with 19 Entertainment, the firm that created Pop Idol, American Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance, to premier a new, weekly show which will launch on the Hulu site. Hulu said the new show--If I Can Dream--will follow the lives of five "aspiring young artists" in Hollywood. The show will be available on Hulu and the show's on web site. Financial arrangements behind the debut were not announced.
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Iomega Wins U.S. Ski TeamSan Diego-based Iomega, the data storage firm which is now a subsidiary of EMC, revealed this morning that the firm is powering the network attached storage (NAS) devices for the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), the parent organization for the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding. The firm said its network attached storage is being used at the group's training facility in Park City, Utah. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed, however, Iomega said more than a dozen of i (More info...)
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Biddees.com Claims Success In Grocery DiscountsSanta Monica-based gift card auction startup Biddees.com is claiming today that consumers using the site are saving an average of 10 percent on gift cards on the site, including grocery gift cards from retailers Vons/Safeway and Whole Foods. The site, which operates a reverse auction service for brand name gift cards, said it is seeing lots of demand for the grocery store gift cards on its service. Biddees is run by the former team behind Shoes.com, and combines bidding on gift cards with microd (More info...)
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RPost, Goodmail Settle Patent Suit, Roll Joint ServiceLos Angeles-based RPost, a developer of email encryption and electronic signature services, and competitor Goodmail Systems said Tuesday morning that the two have settled a patent suit and legal issues between the firms, and are now in a strategic partnership. The firm said that they will provide RPost's proof-of-delivery products as an upgrade to senders of Goodmail's CertifiedEmail product. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed. The firms said they will also continue to offer (More info...)
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AeroVironment Gets $37.9M In OrdersMonrovia-based AeroVironment has scored $37.9M in orders for the firm's unmanned aircraft systems, the firm announced today. According to AeroVironment, the deal covers both aircraft, retrofit, and support services for the unmanned aircraft, for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The firm said the order is part of a $121M appropriation for its RQ-11 Raven in the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. AeroVironment's Raven is a 4.2 pound, hand-launched unmanned aircraft system being used for (More info...)
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Qualcomm Ventures Into Smart Phone FirmSan Diego-based Qualcomm Ventures, the venture capital arm of Qualcomm, is the lead investor in a Bay Area smart phone firm, Visage Mobile. Visage is announcing today that it has raised $4.5M in a Series B financing. Other investors in the round include Worldview Technology Partners, ATA Ventures, Vesbrige Partners, and Emergence Capital Partners. Qualcomm Ventures invests strategically in startup ventures, usually in mobile application and technology firms with a link or use of Qualcomm technol (More info...)
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AudioMicro Links With FlixtimeLos Angeles-based AudioMicro, the online marketplace for stock music and sound effects, has linked with online video and slideshow site Flixtime, the firms said Monday. AudioMicro, which is headed by Ryan Born, is providing music for Flixtime's video service. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Flixtime launched a free site Monday to automatically create high resolution, photo slideshows. Audiomicro is providing tracks, sounds effects, and stock music which ban be included in those (More info...)
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DTS Backs USC Entertainment Technology CenterLos Angeles-based DTS, which develops surround sound technology, said today that it has signed on as an Executive Sponsor of USC's Entertainment Technology Center, an effort at the school to link entertainment, technology, and consumer electronics firms. The center and DTS said the deal will allow DTS to participate in a number of its research, project, meetings, and other activities. Financial details were not disclosed. The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC is part of the USC School of Cin (More info...)
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Kijubi.com Launches Weekly Deal FeatureLaguna Beach-based Kijubi.com, the online activity booking engine run by Billy Fried, said today that it has launched a new "Deal of the Week" feature on the travel site. According to Kijubi, the deal will provide a more than 50 percent discount on travel activities from one of its suppliers, once a certain minimum number of reservations is reached on the site. The firm said the weekly deals can be used within a year of purchase.
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FastSoft Partners With Brazilian FirmPasadena-based FastSoft, the developer of Internet acceleration appliances based on research out of Caltech, said today that the firm has partnered with Brazilian firm Allier Technology. According to the firm, the partnership will focus on Internet-based viewing of world-class sporting events, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2016 Olympics, and 2011 Military World Games. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed. FastSoft's appliances use an optimized version of the TCP protocol (More info...)
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Toshiba America Medical Names Marketing VPTustin-based Toshiba America Medical Systems, a manufacturer of diagnostic imaging systems for the healthcare market, said today that it has named Doug Ryan as Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Development, heading up the firm's strategic marketing and U.S. product lines. Ryan has been at Toshiba since 2001, and was most recently senior director of the firm's CT Business Unit. Toshiba America Medical is a manufacturer of CT, MR, ultrasound, and X-Ray vascular equipment, and is a unit of To (More info...)
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Inphi Snags AdvisorsWestlake Village-based Inphi, a developer of high speed analog semiconductors, announced today that it has added Fred Weber and Randy Wilhelm to its technical advisory panel. Weber currently sits on the boards of SeaMicro and Glasspoint Solar, and was co-founder of MetaRAM, in addition to serving at Nexgen and AMD. Wilhelm is a Senior Advisor at Micron Technologies, and also served in a variety of GM and VP roles at Intel, including heading up Intel's NAND Flash organization.
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iRise Signs CallidusEl Segundo-based iRise, a developer of visualization software, reported Monday that Callidus Software is using the firm's software. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Callidus is a developer of sales performance management software. iRise's software is used by companies to prototype and visualize their internal corporate applications, without requiring software development. The firm is backed by Morgan Stanley Venture Partners and Deutsche Bank.
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