Thursday, June 17, 2010Gen-Probe Invests $50M In Pacific BiosciencesSan Diego-based scientific instruments maker Gen-Probe has invested $50M in a Northern California firm developing DNA sequencing technology, Pacific Biosciences. According to the two firms, Gen-Probe made the investment as part of a larger Series F funding round for Pacific Biosciences. The two also said they will collaborate on developing new integrated clinical diagnostics systems based on Pacific Biosciences' Single Molecule Real Time (SMRT) platform.
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MySpace Loses Hirschhorn, Jones To Take OverMySpace co-president Jason Hirschhorn is leaving the firm, according to the firm, and fellow co-president Mike Jones is taking over the helm, remaining as President. MySpace, which confirmed earlier rumors of the move Thursday afternoon, said that Hirschhorn is returning to New York, and that "we fully respect" Jason's decision to leave. No details on why Hirschorn is leaving was given by the company. In a statement, Jon Miller, Chief Digital Officer of News Corporation, said that "Mike Jones ha (More info...)
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Insights and Opinions: When the CEO Gets in the WayFor today's Insights and Opinions section, Nicole Jordan, who has been instrumental in bringing together the Los Angeles technology industry over the last few years, talks about the issues that come when a CEO is out of sync with their target market and the media, and how PR pros deal with it.
An industry peer and I got to chatting about developments with a new start-up client at her agency. They are several months into the retainer and have worked closely with the CEO to develop their prod (More info...)
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SpaceX Gets $492M Contract From IridiumHawthorne-based SpaceX, the commercial space launch venture of Elon Musk, has signed a $492M contract with satellite firm Iridium Communications. The firms said this week that the contract is the largest commercial launch deal ever signed. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will provide launch services for Iridium NEXT, Iridium's next generation satellites. The firms said the satellites are expected to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base between 2015 and 2017. The contract comes on the heels of the succ (More info...)
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Bebo's Surprise Buyer: LA's Criterion Capital PartnersStudio City-based private equity firm Criterion Capital Partners is the buyer of AOL's distressed Bebo social networking site, AOL confirmed today, after widespread reports that AOL would be selling the firm. The deal is reportedly worth less than $10M, and comes only two years after AOL paid $850M for Bebo. Criterion Capital Partners is headed by Adam Levin. Criterion said the acquisition and financing was led by Levin, in partnership with Paul Abramowitz and Richard Hecker.
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Advanced Telemetry Gets ResellerSan Diego-based Advanced Telemetry, the designer of smart energy management systems backed by Quercus Trust and 21Ventures, has signed up a new reseller for the firm, Comm-Works LLC. Comm-Works, which is based in Minneapolis, is a technology provider for corporations and U.S. government agencies, and provides services to over 200,000 customer sites. Advanced Telemetry's EcoView products provide remote monitoring and control of thermostats, lighting, heating and cooling, and other systems.
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Gaikai In Licensing Deal With EALos Angeles-based cloud-based videogame streaming firm Gaikai said Thursday that it has inked a multi-year, licensing deal with Electronic Arts. The venture backed firm, which is funded by Benchmark Capital, TriplePoint Capital, and Rustic Canyon Partners, said that the agreement will enable streaming of EA's PC-based video games to any web browser. The games included in the deal include The Sims, The Battlefield: Bad Company Series, Dragon Age Series, Mass Effect Series, Medal of Honor and Need (More info...)
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Alelo Wins Australian Defence ForceLos Angeles-based Alelo, the USC spinout which uses computer game technology to teach foreign languages, said this week that the firm has been awarded a contract from the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The firm said that the ADF has acquired 200 Gold license of its PC-based, Operational Language and Culture serious games. Financial impact of the win were not disclosed. Alelo's games--which are based on a first person shooter platform--are being used by the U.S. military in training troops on la (More info...)
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Southern California Firms Queue Up For The Public MarketThe long list of Southern California high tech companies lined up for the public markets just got a little longer this morning, with the addition of Inphi Corp., which said it is looking to list on the NYSE in a $115M IPO. The addition of Inphi now means that there are nine companies in the IPO queue from Southern California, including Los Angeles-based RealD, Pasadena-based Green Dot, Pasadena-based Genmark Diagnostics, San Diego-based Fallbrook Technologies, Los Angeles-based GameFly, San Die (More info...)
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Ace Metrix Gets Investment From WPPLos Angeles-based Ace Metrix, which operates an online service which helps television advertisers gauge the effectiveness of their ads, has scored an investment from advertising giant WPP, the firms announced this morning. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. According to the two, the deal comes as part of a strategic partnership, where Ace Metrix will work with WPP companies to syndicate its products to clients of WPP. Ace Metrix helps television advertisers measure the effecti (More info...)
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Inphi Files For IPOIn the latest Southern California firm to target the public markets, Inphi Corp., a developer of high speed, analog semiconductors, has filed for an IPO, saying late Wednesday evening in a filing with the SEC it is looking to raise up to $115M in an IPO on the NYSE. Inphi--which lists its headquarters as Sunnyvale, but has most of its operations in Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks--is looking to list on the NYSE and IPHI. The IPO is being underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securitie (More info...)
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LIVESTRONG.COM, RadioShack In iPhone App PartnershipSanta Monica-based LIVESTRONG.COM, the online health and fitness site run by Demand Media in a partnership with Lance Armstrong, said today that it has partnered with RadioShack Corporation for an iPhone app. According to the two, they have released Team RadioShack, a free mobile iPhone app which allows users to get information about Lance Armstrong and Team RadioShack. The firms said the iPhone app will give users instant access to updates and news, exclusive content and photos, video blogs fro (More info...)
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Xirrus Wins Texas School DistrictThousand Oaks-based wireless networking equipment firm Xirrus said today that it has deployed its products at the Coppell Independent School District in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area. According to Xirrus, its products are being used across Coppell's fifteen campuses, covering nine elementary schools, three middle schools, two high schools, and an alternative campus, serving 1200 employees and 10,000 students. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. Xirrus develops wireless arrays, w (More info...)
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Cyntellect Names CEOSan Diego-based Cyntellect, a life sciences firm developing stem cell and other biopharmaceuticals products, said today that it has named Saiid Zarrabian as the firm's CEO. Zarrabian replaces Fred Koller, who becomes Chief Technology Officer for the firm. Zarrabian was most recently President and COO of Synomyx, and also has been at Pharmacopeia and Molecular Simulations. He sits on the boards of Ambit Biosciences and eMolecules.
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