Tuesday, July 27, 2010Xirrus Gets Behind MMAThousand Oaks-based Xirrus, a manufacturer of switching wireless access point hardware, is apparently sponsoring a mixed martial arts event. According to Richard Steele Promotions, Xirrus is sponsoring its "Steele Cage 3" event. The promoter of professional MMA said Tuesday that the event includes nine fights plus an appear and tribute to UFC Hall of Famer & Legend, Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. It's unclear how Xirrus -- which has been selling heavily into the education and schools market in the (More info...)
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Qualcomm Enables Electric Vehicle Charging StationsSan Diego-based Qualcomm said Tuesday that it has inked a deal with electric car charging firm ECOtality, to provide cellular connectivity into that firm's electric charging stations. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Qualcomm and ECOtality said that the use of Qualcomm's technology will allow ECOtality to use a commercial cellular network to manage its Blink brand charging station operations, including collection of usage data, publishing availability to electric vehicle drivers, (More info...)
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Illumina Buys HelixisSan Diego-based Illumina said today it has launched a new, real-time PCR system for the genetic analysis market, and also revealed that it acquired Carlsbad-based Helixis, a developer of those real-time PCR systems. The deal was worth $70M in cash and up to $35M in contingent payouts. Illumina said the acquisition actually occured on April 30th, with Helixis CEO Alex Dickinson becoming Senior Vice President PCR Solutions. Helixis was venture backed by Domain Associates and Okapi Venture Capital, (More info...)
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Broadcom Sees Record Second Quarter On Broadband, Mobile, WirelessIrvine-based semiconductor maker Broadcom reported its second quarter 2010 results Tuesday, saying that it had record second quarter revenues and earnings, driven by strong product demand from its Broadband and Mobile & Wireless segments. Broadcom said it had revenues of $1.604 billion, and net income of $278M, compared with $1.040 billion in revenues in Q2 of last year and net income of $13M in that same quarter last year. The firm said it anticipates "increasing demand" for communications prod (More info...)
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ReachLocal Sees Growth In Q2Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal, the publicly held provider of online marketing for small and medium sized businesses, released its first quarterly results since its May IPO, saying that its Q2 revenues rose to $70.4M. According to the firm, it lost $2.3M on those revenues, compared with a loss of $1.0M on revenues of $47.97M in Q2 of last year. The revenue numbers represented a growth of 47 percent for the firm, year to year. ReachLocal also said it had boosted both the number of active adverti (More info...)
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Disney Acquires PlaydomBurbank-based Walt Disney Company said today that it has acquired social gaming firm Playdom, in a deal worth $563.2M, plus earn-out of up to $200M. Playdom develops games such as Social City, Sorority Life, Market Street and Bola. Disney said the acquisition will strengthen its digital gaming portfolio, and also give it access to a "first-rate" management team. Playdom will remain headquartered in Mountain View, with CEO John Pleasants becoming an Executive Vice President of the Disney Interact (More info...)
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Huge Wind Energy Project Opens In Southern CaliforniaA new, major wind energy project in Mojave--backed by about $1.2 billion in financing--officially broke ground today, as part of an effort to generate around 1,550 megawatts of renewable energy for Southern California. According to Terra-Gen Power, the wind project will be the world's largest, and is nearly double the capacity of the largest, existing wind energy project. The project is expected to supply enough power to supply 1.1 million people, or around 275,000 homes. The new project is expe (More info...)
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Break Media Goes 3DLos Angeles-based Break Media, the online entertainment site run by Keith Richman, said today that it has launched a new, 3D video channel--and will also produce its own, original 3D series. Break said the channel, which will roll out over the next two weeks, includes 3D mini shows and action sports video. The channel will also feature other, 3D videos from across the web. Among the 3D shows being debuted through break are X3D, focused on extreme sports; Scare3D, a horror series; and Life in 3D, (More info...)
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Boingo Wires Krispy Kreme In SoCalDonut junkies in Southern California will have one more reason to visit Krispy Kreme stores here in the area: wireless access. According to Los Angeles-based wireless provider Boingo Wireless, it has extended its Wi-Fi services to Krispy Kreme franchise stores in Southern California. The nine locations here now support access via Boingo's various monthly and hourly access plans. Boingo said the addition of the locations is a part of an "aggressive expansion" beyond airport networks into consumer (More info...)
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Carbon Micro Battery Becomes EnovateIrvine-based Enovate Corporation, which is backed by Mission Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, said today that it has renamed itself from Carbon Micro Battery. The firm, which is developing rechargeable battery technology aimed at the smartphone market, said the name "better reflects" the firm's growth strategy in the energy storage space. Enovate is a spinout of the University of California, Irvine, and has raised $5.3M in venture financing from such firms as Mission Ventures and Draper Fis (More info...)
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SAIL Co-Leads Investment In Energy Storage Firm Xtreme PowerCosta Mesa-based clean technology venture investor SAIL Venture Partners is one of the firm co-leading in investment in energy storage firm Xtreme Power, which announced today that it has raised $29.5M. According to Xtreme Power, SAIL Venture Partners, an existing investor in the firm, co-led the new investment along with Bessemer Venture Partners and The Dow Chemical Company. Xtreme Power, which is based in Kyle, Texas, develops energy storage technology used for large-scale, utility renewable (More info...)
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Stroome Powers Comedy Film FestivalLos Angeles-based Stroome said today that it is powering an online competition for the 2010 Friars Club Comedy Film Festival. Stroome operates an online service which allows users to collaboratively mix and edit videos. According to Stroome and the comedy club, it will give free submission to the top 3 short videos entered on Stroome's site, for consideration to include at the festival. Stroome was founded by Tom Grasty and Nonny de La Pena.
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Parallax Capital Partners Buys SaaS Firm DaptivLaguna Hills-based Parallax Capital Partners, an investment group which acquires and operates software companies, said today that it has acquired Seattle-based Daptiv, a provider of online software-as-a-service for project and portfolio management. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Parallax said that Daptiv operates a profitable business with recurring revenues of nearly $20M. Daptiv's customers include BASF, Chase Paymentech, Harvard University, Honeywell, La Poste and Virg (More info...)
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Steamboat Ventures Backs Elemental TechnologiesLos Angeles-based Steamboat Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Walt Disney Company, has backed a firm developing massively parallel video processing technology, Elemental Technologies. According to Elemental, which is based in Portland, Steamboat was a new investor in its $7.5M, Series B funding round. Other investors in the round included General Catalyst and Voyager Capital. Elemental is developing technology which uses off-the-shelf, graphical processing units (GPUs) to implement massiv (More info...)
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Finalists Named In Automotive X PRIZENine vehicles from seven teams have been named finalists in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, the competition for super fuel efficient vehicles being run by Playa Vista-based X PRIZE Foundation this morning. According to the group, which is dangling $10M to the teams competing in the competition, the nine vehicles come from a field of 136 vehicles from 111 teams initially participating in the competition. The finalists include two vehicles from Edison2, based in Charlotesville, VA; t (More info...)
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Citysearch Relases New BlackBerry AppLos Angeles-based Citysearch, the online local business guide site owned by IAC, said Monday that it has released a new, redesigned application for the BlackBerry. Citysearch said it has simplified browsing in the app, adding GPS enhancements, and upgraded features such as connections to Twitter, reviews, and more. The firm said the upgraded app is free on the site, and can also be downloaded from BlackBerry's AppWorld. The firm said the new app transforms what was previously a "browser-like" ex (More info...)
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D2 Technologies Ships With TrendChipSanta Barbara-based D2 Technologies, a developer of software for the embedded market, reported today that it is shipping its software for chips from TrendChip Technologies. The firm, which develops voice-over-IP (VoIP) software, said the support comes for TrendChip's TC3182 ADSL2+ processor. The support is aimed at OEMs who are looking to implement VoIP across ADSL2+ devices. D2 is supplying its software stack to a number of OEMs, who use the software to more quickly implement various voice-over (More info...)
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VMIX Wins NASASan Diego-based VMIX, which develops online video management tools and software, announced today that its platform is being used by NASA. VMIX said that NASA is using its online video platform to power multimedia content on the www.nasa.gov web site. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. VMIX said the win came from work with NASA prime contractor eTouch Systems. VMIX's products are being used to manage video content submitted to the site from various divisions across NASA.
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Quantum Technologies Raises $10.9M In PIPEIrvine-based Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, which develops hybrid propulsion systems and renewable energy projects, which is publicly held, said Monday that it has raised $10.9M in a private placement. The firm said the funding came from un-named, accredited investors. The private placement was run by JP Turner & Company, LLC. Quantum Fuel Systems is a provider of hybrid electric drive systems and related products for the electric car market, along with a variety of other energy-r (More info...)
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InfoSonics Names LoForti CFOSan Diego-based InfoSonics, a distributor of wireless handsets to the Latin American and other markets, said today that it has named former Overland Storage CEO Vern LoForti as its Chief Financial Officer. LoForti was most recently President, CEO, and a member of the board at Overland, and has also served at Priority Pharmacy, InterMark, and Price Waterhouse.
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