Friday, July 9, 2010


Synthetic Genomics Inks $300M Deal With ExxonMobil
La Jolla-based Synthetic Genomics, a firm founded by DNA sequencing inventor J. Craig Venter and funded by Draper Fisher Juvetson, Meteor Group, Biotechonomy LLC and Plenus, S.A., BP plc, and ACGT Sdn Bd, said this week that it has inked a deal with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, to develop next generation biofuels using photosynthetic algae developed by the company. Synthetic Genomics said the deal is potentially worth more than $300 million, including milestone payments for certain achie (More info...)
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WaterHealth Ups Funding To $22.1M
Irvine-based WaterHealth International, a developer of water purification and disinfection systems, has upped its funding to $22.1M, as part of an ongoing $35.0M funding round, according to a regulatory filing by the firm Friday. Source of the new funding was not disclosed, however, the round involved Sail Venture Partners and The Dow Chemical Company. Other prior investors in the firm include Acumen Fund, International Finance Corporation, J&J Development Corporation, Monsanto, and Plebys Inter (More info...)
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Good News For Content Creators: $5M Available From YouTube
The good news for content creators in Hollywood and elsewhere trying to make it on the Internet: YouTube, the video sharing site owned by Google, said today that it has just launched a new program which will invest five million dollars for new content partners. According to site, its new YouTube Partner Grants program will invest in new and emerging YouTube partners for those partners to invest into their product budgets. The site said it will select partners based on video views, subscribers, g (More info...)
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Green Dot Sets Pricing Range
Monrovia-based Green Dot, the provider of prepaid debit cards, has set pricing on its IPO, saying in a filing Friday that it estimates and initial public offering price of between $32.00 and $35.00 per share. The firm is set to list on the NYSE as GDOT in the offering, which would net the firm around $154M at $35.00 per share. Green Dot filed for an IPO in February, and is backed by Sequoia Capital, TTP Fund, and the Tech Coast Angeles. The IPO is being underwritten by J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanle (More info...)
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Interview with Greg Siegel, VidMe
Last month, Glendale-based VidMe (www.vidme.com) announced that it had launched a private, video sharing service with backing from Applied Minds and Will Hearst, one of the partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. Applied Minds is the stealthy research and development outfit backed by Kleiner Perkins and also based in Glendale. To understand what opportunity the firm sees in the market, we chatted with Greg Siegel, the firm's founder and CEO. Greg, thanks for the time today. What's the (More info...)
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MeLLmo Updates Roambi
San Diego-based MeLLmo, developer of the Roambi mobile software for viewing business data and information, said today that it has updated the Roambi app for Apple's new iOS 4. The firm said the updated app includes sharing of files via SMS messaging, ability to schedule calendar meetings, support for multitasking, and more. Roambi is available for free on the App Store, and connects both into free and enterprise versions of its publishing service.
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