Thursday, October 14, 2010Report: Southern California Venture Capital Totals $464M In Q3Venture capital investments in Southern California in Q3 totaled to $464.18M, according to the latest numbers released by the PricewaterhouseCoopers/NVCA Money Tree Report this evening, based on data from Thomson Reuters. Nationwide, there was $4.8 billion invested in 780 venture capital deals for Q3. The investment totals nationwide were down 31 percent in dollars, and 19 percent in terms of the number of deals from Q2, as investment in all sectors slowed. Silicon Valley had the lion's share of (More info...)
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Pathway Genomics Raises Additional FundingSan Diego-based Pathway Genomics, a provider of genetic testing services, has raised additional funding, according to the firm's legal counsel, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. Amount, details, and source of the new funding was not disclosed. The funding was mentioned as a bullet item in a release describing recent Mintz Levin wins. Pathway Genomics has previously raised funding from The Founders Fund, Edelson Technology Partners, and Western Technology Investment. Pathway Gen (More info...)
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Kazaa Sold To AltrinsicSherman Oaks-based Brilliant Digital Entertainment, operator of the Kazaa peer-to-peer digital music service, has sold its Kazaa peer to peer network and brand, according to New York-based Altrinsic. Altrinsic said it has entered into an agreement to acquire Kazaa's assets from Brilliant Digital Entertainment Thursday afternoon. Altrinsic said it would issue 4,161,130 shares of its common stock to Brilliant Digital as part of a marketing agreement related to the deal, in addition to 7,125,665 sh (More info...)
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Geni Adds Follow FeatureTaking a clue from Twitter, North Hollywood-based Geni, the family history and tree site, said Thursday that it has added a new "Follow" feature to the site. Geni said that the new follow feature allows users to follow people and profiles on the site, allowing user sto get notification on changes or updates from those users or profiles. The move also will list users as followers of profile, which Geni said would help its users find other users also interested in the same profiles. The Geni "Foll (More info...)
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HauteLook Hires Two ExecsLos Angeles-based HauteLook, the online private fashion sales website, said Thursday that it has hired two senior executives at the firm. The company said it has added Margot Frankel as Creative Director, and Edan Portaro as vice President, Services. Frankel has served at C Magazine, Santa Barbara magazine, Town & Country, and Departures. Portaro was most recently at ReachLocal Xchange, and also has served at NameMedia, Oversee.net, Yellowpages.com, and Monster Worldwide. HauteLook is backed by (More info...)
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Verizon Bundles Novatel's MiFi With iPadSan Diego-based Novatel, the maker of the MiFi mobile hotspot product, is poised to benefit from a new bundled iPad offering from Verizon. According to Verizon, it has begun marketing a bundled Apple iPad with its MiFi Mobile Hotspot, which is supplied by Novatel Wireless. According to Verizon, it will make its bundled iPad available October 28th, with a range of memory options, starting at $629.99 for a 16GB iPad with Mi-Fi bundle; its data plans start at $20 for 1GB of data transfer. Novatel m (More info...)
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Caltech, French Research Group Team On Nanotech CommercializationPasadena-based California Institute of Technology and French research and development institution CEA-Leti said this morning that the two are teaming up on a nanotechnology commercialization effort. According to the two, they have created the NanoSystems Partnership Program (NSyP), an effort to accelerate delivery of nanosystem-based innovations to the market. The two said the alliance will enable "close collaboration" between the alliance and the private sector. Caltech's Kavli Nanoscience Inst (More info...)
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WD Boots Up In BrazilLake Forest-based WD announced today that it has opened up hard drive manufacturing operations in Brazil, partnering with Brazilian firm Digitron for those manufacturing efforts. According to WD, the new effort will help it meet customer demand in the market, and supply around $175M worth of hard drives in the first year of operation. WD also said it will add at least 50 new jobs in the region. WD said that Digitron, a local Brazilian electronics manufacturing firm, already has a high volume, no (More info...)
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Overland Storage Buys MaxiScaleSan Diego-based Overland Storage announced this morning that it has acquired MaxiScale, a developer of scalable file serving and storage products. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Overland said it would integrate Maxiscale's assets, intellectual property, and key members of its engineering team into its file storage portfolio. MaxiScale was venture backed, and located in Sunnyvale. The firm had raised $25M in venture funding from New Enterprise Associates, El Dorado Ventures, and (More info...)
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CODA Automotive Names Fleet Sales VPsSanta Monica-based electric car maker CODA Automotive continues to gear up for the release of the firm's CODA Sedan, saying today that it has hired two new VPs to head up fleet and commercial sales. CODA said it has hired Marc Search as Vice President Fleet Sales Washington D.C., and Brian Patnoe as Vice President Fleet Sales Southern California. Sears was most recently at Mercedes Benz USA, and also has served at Chrysler. Patnoe was at AeroVironment, serving in that firm's Renewable Electric (More info...)
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Interview with Richard Koffler and John Morris, The Tech CEO NetworkLooking to bridge the gap between the immense amount of technology created at local universities and the commercial market, a new group--the Tech CEO Network (www.techceonetwork.com)--has quietly been working in Los Angeles to try to help spin out new companies from institutions like UCLA, Caltech, USC, UCSB, and other colleges and universities in town. The group--which was started by Richard Koffler and John Morris, two well known investors in Los Angeles--has been trying to help connect CEOs w (More info...)
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ValueClick Expands Into Home and Garden AdsWestlake Village-based ValueClick said today that it has launched a new, vertical advertising network focused on the Home and Garden sector. ValueClick said its new Modern Living Media network will deliver targeted consumer audiences for home and garden marketers and agencies, and has a potential reach of 8.5 million unique visitors per month. According to Valueclick, its network includes adults 25 to 54 years old, who are homeowners and have household income greater than $75,000. The firm said (More info...)
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