Monday, May 10, 2010


Geni Turns Family Trees Into Posters
West Hollywood-based Geni.com, the online genealogy and family tree site, said Monday afternoon that it has rolled out a new product--one that takes the family tree from the service, and turns it into a paper poster. The firm said that the posters take five generation family trees, including family names, dates, and photos, and prints them in 16" x 20" format. Geni said it also allows users to customize "almost every aspect" of the posters before printing. Geni is venture backed by Charles River (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)

IVT Renames Itself MediaPlatform
Los Angeles-based IVT, which develops webcasting software, said Monday that it has renamed itself MediaPlatform, as the firm looks to define itself better as a provider of cloud-based media solutions. The firm said that its customers are looking for "much more than just a webcasting solution," and that the firm's offerings have evolved to serve those other needs. MediaPlatform is headed by Jim McGovern.
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)

Insights and Opinions: The Hook
For today's Insights and Opinions section, we have a piece from Aaron Fyke, who has been a clean technology insider and investor for many years. Aaron gives his take on how you should be pitching your firm--and why "the hook" is important. I wanted to talk a little about pitching for fundrising, although this applies to many sales meetings as well. When I was visited by many companies at my old firm I was amazed at how many entrepreneurs would try to cram as much as they possibly could in (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)

Row 44 Gets $27.75M More
Westlake Village-based Row 44, the developer of in-flight, wireless access systems run by John Guidon, has raised another $27.75M, as part of an ongoing $60M funding round, according to a regulatory filing from the firm today. Row 44, which has deals with Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and others to provide Wi-Fi via broadband satellite links, has not yet announced the funding round. Row 44 has previously raised funding from PAR Capital Management. Guidon's last major success was Comcore S (More info...)
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Peregrine Semiconductor Taps IBM For Foundry
San Diego-based Peregrine Semiconductor is reporting this morning that it has tapped IBM as the foundry for its next generation RF CMOS semiconductors. The firm said it will use IBM's 180-nanometer process at IBM's 200mm semiconductor manufacturing facility in Burlington, Vermont, for its future generations of its UltraCMOS, silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) process technology. Financial details of the arrangement were not disclosed. IBM said the deal marks the first use of 200mm (8-inch) wafer processi (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)

Guidance Software Buys Tableau
Pasadena-based Guidance Software, a developer of digital forensics and ediscovery software, announced today that it has acquired "substantially all" of the assets of Tableau, LLC, a developer and manufacturer of computer forensics hardware. Guidance said it paid $12.3M in cash for Tableau. Guidance said the acquisition would extend its leadership in the computer forensics area. The company said it expects the transaction to increase its 2010 revenue by $3M, and that the deal includes cash worth (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)

VMIX Rolls Out New Video Analytics Features
San Diego-based VMIX, a developer of online video hosting and management tools, said today that it has rolled out a new set of video analytics and reporting tools. According to the firm, its VMIX Analytics and Reporting suite will add such features as personalized reports, custom reporting dashboards, and new graphic and data table metrics tracking. The firm said the new analytics features will be included as a standard part of its online video management platform.
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)

AECOM Buys Spanish Firm
Los Angeles-based engineering services provider AECOM announced this morning that it has acquired INOCSA Ingenieria, S.L., a professional technical services firm based in Madrid, Spain. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. AECOM said that INOCSA has approximately 550 employees. AECOM provides technical and management services for government and commercial customers.
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)

TowerJazz Advances SiGe Technology
Newport Beach-based semiconductor foundry TowerJazz said today that it has announced a next-generation, SiGe technology which it says is aimed at high volume, consumer RF chips. The firm said its next-generation, 130nm SiGe BiCMOS technology is now available at its US and Israeli fabs, and is targeted at high volume, consumer RF applications such as wireless RF and digital TV tuner applications. The company said it already has design wins with a potential market of $50M to $100M in wafer sales u (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)

Yardi Acquires DIY Software
Santa Barbara-based Yardi, a developer of real estate and property management software, said late last week that it has acquired DIY Real Estate Solutions, a developer of residential property management software. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Yardi said DIY co-founders Don Katt, Steve Lloyd, and Alison Cavano join the firm with the acquisition. Yardi said the acquisition gives it a complete, integrated property management system for companies managing 1,000 or fewer units. Yardi (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)

Fate Therapeutics Names VP
San Diego-based Fate Therapeutics, a developer of stem cell biology technology, announced today that it has named Tom Novak as the firm's Vice President of Research and Drug Discovery. Novak was msot recently Senior Director and Head of Discovery Technologies at Roche. He has also worked at Wyeth. The firm said Novak will be responsible for drug discovery and development activities for the firm's "stem cell modulator" products. Fate Therapeutics is venture backed by OVP, Astellas Venture Managem (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010(Full story)