Thursday, July 1, 2010TweetUp Funding Worth $3.5MThe April funding of newest Idealab startup TweetUp was worth $3.5M, according to regulatory filings from the firm released Thursday. The amount of the funding, which came from Index Ventures, betaworks, Revolution LLC, First Round Capital, Jason Calacanis, and Jeff Jarvis, had not been announced in April. According to the filing, the funding included both equity and warrants, and included a total of 11 investors. TweetUp operates a bid-based marketplace which allows Twitter users to bid on bett (More info...)
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Disney Buys TapulousBurbank-based Walt Disney Company said Thursday afternoon that it has acquired Tapulous, a Silicon Valley maker of music games for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Disney said that Tapulous will become a wholly owned subsidiary, reporting into Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG). Disney also said it will add Tapulous founders Bart Decrem and Andrew Lacy, and the Tapulous development team in Palo Alto, to the company's mobile content group.
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Razorgator Names Technology VPLos Angeles-based Razorgator, which provides secondary sports and entertainment tickets online, said today that it has named Ismail Elshareef as the firm's new Vice President of Technology. According to the firm, he was most recently at Edmunds, where he was Director of Front-End Engineering. The firm said that Elshareef will provide oversight of the firm's technology group. Razorgator is backed by
Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Oak Investment Partners, and Steamboat Ventures.
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MySpace Inks Advertising Deal With OrangeLos Angeles-based social networking site MySpace said today along with French firm Orange that they are in an advertising and content partnership. According to the companies, Orange Advertising Network will manage both premium and performance advertising sales for MySpace in France. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The companies also said the partnership would give Orange the exclusive, French license for MySpace's trademarks and logos for online and offline communication, spons (More info...)
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Los Angeles Firm To Sell Sex.comA Los Angeles firm, Escom LLC, has inked a deal with domain marketplace firm Sedo to sell domain name Sex.com, Sedo said today, in the latest chapter in a long drama over the domain. Sedo said it is now the exclusive brokerage firm representing the domain. The sale comes after a bankruptcy and court battle between three creditors and lender DOM Partners LLC, who had sought to force an auction of the domain through a different domain broker. Escom had purchased Sex.com in 2006, reportedly paying (More info...)
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Eucalyptus Gets $20M MoreSanta Barbara-based Eucalyptus Systems, a developer of private cloud management software, said this morning that it has raised $20M in new funding. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates, and also included current investors Benchmark Capital and BV Capital. Eucalyptus said the funding will go to scale development, marketing, and sales of its commercial open source private cloud management software. The firm's software is used to manage the deployment of cloud computing systems, and works (More info...)
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Blizzard Launches Beta of World of Warcraft CataclysmIrvine-based Blizzard Entertainment said last night that it has launched a closed beta test of its new expansion for World of Warcraft, Cataclysm. The firm said the invite-only beta will provide the firm with feedback, find bugs, and address other issues. The company said it plans to launch the expansion later this year, which will be the third for the firm. Blizzard said its last two expansions to World of Warcraft "shattered" PC game sales records on release.
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WD Completes Hoya Magnetic Media BuyLake Forest-based disk drive maker Western Digital said today that it has completed its acquisition of Hoya's magnetic media sputtering operations. The deal was worth approximately $233M. According to WD, the acquisition will support anticipated growth in hard drive demand, and includes facilities, equipment, intellectual property, and working capital at Hoya's media sputtering operations in Tuas, Singapore, and related equipment in Nagasaka, Japan. WD had originally announced the buy in April. (More info...)
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VMIX Releases SDK For iPad, iPhoneSan Diego-based VMIX, which provides an online video publishing platform, said this morning that it has released a new software development kit. According to the firm, the new SDK makes it easier for developers to integrate video into mobile applications for Apple's iPad and iPhone, as well as other devices. VMIX said the SDK includes sample applications for both the iPad and iPhone that supports streaming of video to those applications from VMIX; the firm also says it plans a Google Android ver (More info...)
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imFORZA Spins Out of The Design PeopleEl Segundo-based imFORZA, an online Internet marketing agency, said today that it has been acquired and spun off from parent company The Design People. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. imFORZA provides search engine optimization, paid search advertising, social media marketing, and other related services. The firm said its is now owned and managed by Vinny La Barbera, who was previously President of imFORZA under The Design People.
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Local.com Buys OCTANE360, Gets Credit LineIrvine-based local search firm Local.com said this morning it has acquired the assets of Los Angeles-based OCTANE360, a provider of local domain advertising products. The deal was worth $5M in cash and stock, and earnout of up to $5.9M based on performance. According to Local.com, OCTANE360 will become a wholly owned division of the firm. OCTANE360 CEO Adam Rioux becomes a Vice President at Local.com, and will continue to lead the OCTANE360 division. OCTANE360's advertising products are used by (More info...)
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