Tuesday, August 24, 2010MySpace Buys ThreadboxLos Angeles-based social networking site MySpace has acquired Threadbox, a developer of email messaging software, according to Threadbox. Financial details of the buy were not disclosed. According to Threadbox, it sold certain assets of the firm to MySpace, and key members of the firm's team have moved over to MySpace's team. According to Michael Cerda, the firm's co-founder and CEO, the team will be applying the firm's technology at MySpace. Threadbox was formerly known as CC:Betty, and was bas (More info...)
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GoodSearch Gets PatentLos Angeles-based GoodSearch.com, the online search engine which shares its advertising revenues with charities, said Tuesday that it has received a patent on its technology. According to the firm, it has received patent number 7,769,738 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. The patent application lists Kenneth Craig Ramberg as inventor. The patent was granted on August 3rd, and was first file in August of 2006. GoodSearch uses Yahoo's search technology but redirects 50 percent of its reven (More info...)
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Clicker Launches iPhone AppLos Angeles-based Clicker, the online video viewing guide firm backed by Benchmark Capital, JAFCO American Ventures, and Redpoint Ventures, said Tuesday that its iPhone application is now available on the Apple App Store. The new app allows users to search the firm's database of online programming, "check in" to TV shows, movies, and Web series, rate shows and movies, and other functions. The firm said it is also working on an iPad version of its app, which it expects to launch in early October.
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EMN8 Gets $3.1M MoreSan Diego-based EMN8, a developer of automated order taking kiosks for the fast food and retail industry, has raised another $3.1M in funding, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today. No details have been announced yet by the company. The filing indicates the round target is $3.5M, an includes equity, debt, and warrants. It appears that Sid R. Bass & Associates and Allegis Capital participated in this funding round, and continue to have representatives on the firm's board; the firm ha (More info...)
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SoCal Firms Make Inc 500Business magazine Inc. has released its annual Inc. 500/5000 list, highlighting a number of Southern California, technology related firms in its listing. Among the many local companies listed, ranked by their 3 year growth rates, were Carlsbad-based MaxLinear, ranked at 17 with 8,784 percent growth and annual revenues of $51.4M; Santa Barbara-based FastSpring, at 41 (5,319 percent growth, $11.7M); Irvine's Future Ads, at 56 (3,943 percent growth, $50.5M); Solana Beach-based Service-now.com at 69 (More info...)
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GreatCall Expands Into Medication RemindersLooking to capitalize on the firm's customer demographics, San Diego-based GreatCall, the operator of the Jitterbug easy-to-use cell phone, said today that it has rolled out a new "Medication Reminder" service. The company, which is venture backed by Court Square Ventures, Steelpoint Capital, Charles River Ventures, and Nauta Capital, said the new service will help its customers manage their overall well-being via their cell phone or through the Internet. The service, which costs $10 per day, in (More info...)
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Zumbox Partners With GovDeliveryWestlake Village-based Zumbox, the startup developing an online mail delivery service based on street addresses, said today that it has partnered with GovDelivery, a provider of a communications platform for goverment-to-citizen communications. According to the two, they are in a partnership which will allow GovDelivery clients to electronically send postal mail to a specific address, without sending paper mail. Financial details of the deal between the firm was not announced. The two said they (More info...)
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Interview with Marc Averitt and Sharon Stevenson, Okapi VenturesIt's been a good summer for Laguna Beach-based venture capital firm Okapi Ventures (www.okapivc.com), which recently saw its first portfolio firm exit last month in Carlsbad-based Helixis, which was acquired by Illumina for $105M. In light of the recent success, we sat down with Marc Averitt and Sharon Stevenson to talk about the recent exit, where they are with their fund nowadays, and what advice they have for entrepreneurs.
Nice chatting with you today! Let's talk about the exit…
Shar (More info...)
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Brand Affinity Technologies Gets $20MIrvine-based Brand Affinity Technologies, the latest startup headed by Ryan and Chad Steelberg, announced today that it has raised $20M in a Series C funding round. The round was led by Miramar Venture Partners, and also included prior investors Newport Coast Investments, RimLight Capital, Fulcrum Venture Capital, and ad pepper media International. Other investors also include the CGI Opportunity Fund II, the investment vehicle of the Ueberroth Family. BAT operates a celebrity endorsement and ma (More info...)
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Experian Connects To Salesforce.comCosta Mesa-based Experian, which provides credit data on consumers to businesses, said today that it has connected its business data to Salesforce.com. According to Experian, it has joined with Forseva LLC to allow users to pull its credit data directly into Salesforce.com. Experian said the capability allows users to perform credit decisioning, portfolio monitoring, and collections management through Salesforce.com. Experian said the capability provided by the Forseva application for Salesforce (More info...)
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MySpace Swallows Fox Audience NetworkLos Angeles-based social networking site MySpace, which is a unit of News Corporation, said late Monday that it is integrating the Fox Audience Network (FAN) directly with MySpace. Fox Audience Network is News Corp's ad serving unit. The move comes as FAN President, Adam Bain, is leaving the firm. The Fox Audience Network was created in 2007 as a spinout of MySpace. Mike Jones, President of MySpace, said in a statement that the move would put it in a "great position" to leverage FAN's technology (More info...)
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DivX Certifies First Android PhoneSan Diego-based DivX, the developer of video encoding and decoding software, said today that it has certified its first Android mobile phone for its video format. According to DivX it has certified Samsung's Galaxy S mobile phones for DivX HD. DivX said the certification is the first of an Android mobile phone, and only the second mobile phone to get certification. The other phone to receive DivX certification is another Samsung phone, the Wave. Samsung's Galaxy S allows users to load standard d (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, August 24, 2010(Full story)