Monday, October 18, 2010Steamboat Invests in Chinese Web Analytics FirmLos Angeles-based Steamboat Ventures, the venture capital arm of The Walt Disney Company, has invested in a Chinese startup which provides web, video, and search analytics, Gridsum Technology. According to Gridsum, Steamboat led its Series A. Size of the funding round was not disclosed. As part of the funding, Steamboat's Perry Chui and Alex Hartigan join Gridsum's board. Gridsum's web analytics software is used to track online marketing campaigns; the firm said its customers include Microsoft, (More info...)
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SAIL Venture Partners Boosts Ice EnergyCosta Mesa-based clean technology investor SAIL Venture Partners has boosted a maker of energy storage technology, as part of a big round for Ice Energy. According to Ice Energy, a Colorado maker of equipment which uses equipment which shifts energy produced at off-peak hours to peak power demand times, SAIL was one of a number of investors in a $24M, first close of a Series C funding round. SAIL joined TIAA-CREF, Energy Capital Partners, Good Energies, and Second Avenue Partners in the funding (More info...)
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Open Angel Forum Expands To SeattleThe Open Angel Forum, the angel investment group started by Jason Calacanis, the CEO of Santa Monica-based Mahalo, is expanding into Seattle with a new event in November. According to Andy Sack, who heads up the TechStars business incubation effort in Seattle, Calacanis and other angel investors are holding their first Seattle chapter meeting on November 10th. Calacanis--who has been holding his angel meetings across the country--started his group in response to the many "pay-to-pitch" angel gro (More info...)
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Los Angeles Set To Get WiMAX From Clearwire, SprintLos Angeles is set to get WiMAX 4G wireless service later this year, as Clearwire and Sprint said today that they will begin offering up 4G in the area, starting December 1st. According to Clearwire, both will offer its 4G wireless services under their own brands. The firm will be opening up both retail locations and network expansion in Los Angeles for its service, which is a wireless service which offers high speed Internet service over a much longer range. Clearwire--which has been rolling ou (More info...)
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FindTheBest Takes On Product ComparisonsLooking to take on comparisons between products, services, and other information, a new startup, FindTheBest.com, has emerged in Santa Barbara. The startup--which bills itself a "comparison engine"--is headed by DoubleClick founder Kevin O'Connor, an active technology investor and industry notable. FindTheBest.com offers up all kinds of comparisons, such as comparisons of the features of the Amazon Kindle vs. Barnes and Noble Nook, the top Ski Resorts in North America, and other varied topics, a (More info...)
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Specific Media Buys Video Ad Firm BBEIrvine-based Specific Media, which operates its own Internet advertising network, said this morning that it has acquired Broadband Enterprise (BBE), an online video advertising company. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. BBE works with Fortune 100 brands, and allows those brands to serve up and track those video ads. Specific Media said BBE serves more then 300 premium brand advertisers, reaching a network of more than 2,400 sites. Specific Media explained that it will integrate BBE' (More info...)
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CLRS Technology Acquired By Solta MedicalCosta Mesa-based CLRS Technology, a developer of personal care products for treating acne, has been acquired. According to acquiring firm Solta Medical, it is acquiring CLRS for the payment of approximately $1.1M of debt, plus potential future payments based on revenue and operating income through 2011. CLRS develops a device, CLAR, which uses light and heat to treat acne. CLRS was founded by Richard Oberreiter, James Kraushaar, and Richard Clement.
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CapLinked Opens Up Public BetaManhattan Beach-based CapLinked, which develops online, software-as-a-service to help entrepreneurs connect with and keep their investors updated, is opening up its public beta today. According to the firm, which is headed by Eric M. Jackson, who was one of the very early employees at PayPal, the site is now taking signups for the service. The site had previously been by invitation only. Jacksons said the service provides a single, centralized platform which helps companies to keep their investo (More info...)
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Demand Media Snags Jeff DossettJeff Dossett, the former CEO of adventure travel site AdventureLink and former SVP at Yahoo, has reportedly joined Demand Media as SVP of Content Partnership Development. According to a report from the WSJ's AllThingsD, which first reported the move, Dossett will focus on content distribution. Dossett had left AdventureLink sometime in September, as the firm was being sold by its lenders. Aside from his professional experience, Dossett is known for summiting Mount Everest twice.
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MaestroDev Names PresidentManhattan Beach-based MaestroDev, the developer of private cloud computing software, has officially named Doug Dennington as the firm's new President. Dennington was most recently Director, Open Source Sales at Progress Software and IONA Technologies, and was also a member of the founding team at Simula Labs, LogicBlaze, and Gluecode. MaestroDev develops software used to automate building and deploying applications to the private cloud, and is the latest startup of Winston Damarillo, the founder (More info...)
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Conexant Rolls Out New Audio CodecNewport Beach-based chip maker Conexant Systems announced this morning that it has rolled out a new chip, an audio codec targeted at the consumer electronics market. The firm said its new CX20745 codec provides audio decoding for compact mobile devices, and is targeted at mobile Internet devices, smartbooks, and web tablets. The chips is shipping now in sample quantities.
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Mindspeed Links On LTE BasestationsNewport Beach-based semiconductor maker Mindspeed Technologies said today that it has linked with ArrayComm LLC and Continuous Computing Corporation, to help enable LTE (Long Term Evolution) picocells. According to Mindspeed, the three are working together to create a solutions for LTE-frequency division duplex (LTE-FDD) and LTE-Time Division Duplex (LTE-TDD) mobile networks. The collaboration includes Mindspeed's Transcede 3G/4G/LTE baseband processor, along with Continuous Computing's Trilliu (More info...)
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