Wednesday, December 15, 2010Inphi Trumpets ShipmentsInphi Corporation, the maker of high speed, analog semiconductors with major operations in Westlake Village, said Wednesday that it has shipped more than 100 milllion of its products to customers. The firm--which recently completed an IPO on the NYSE--said the shipment numbers reflect "continued demand" for its solutions across multiple market segments. Inphi has been shipping products since 2000. Inphi, which has its headquarters in Santa Clara, debuted on the NYSE as IPHI on November 11th. The (More info...)
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Kelley Blue Book Sale ClosesIrvine-based Kelley Blue Book, the provider of new and used car sales information and pricing, is now officially part of automotive site AutoTrader.com, AutoTrader said Wednesday. The deal was originally announced in October. Financial terms of the sale have not been announced. AutoTrader.com said that Kelley Blue Book is now a subsidiary of AutoTrader.com. Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com is venture backed by Providence Equity Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
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SolarReserve Gets California Approval On ProjectSanta Monica-based SolarReserve, the developer of utility scale power plant projects, said Wednesday afternoon that it has received a final approval from the California Energy Commission (CEC), for construction of its 150 megawatt plant in Blythe, California. The firm said the permit gives it approval for both construction and operation of the Rice Solar Energy Project, which is expected to power up to 68,000 homes. SolarReserve has a 25-year power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric (More info...)
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Geni Rolls Out APIWest Hollywood-based Geni, the online family tree and history site, said Wednesday afternoon that it has rolled out a new, application programming interface for the site. According to Geni, the new API is aimed at allowing users to develop third-party tools and application. Geni said the new API will allow those tools to pull data from its profiles and projects, and also includes an example Ruby application for reference. The firm said the API is posted on its developer's site.
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Meteor Games Adds To BoardBeverly Hills-based Meteor Games, the developer of Facebook games headed by Zac Brandenberg, announced today that it has named Michael Walrath to its board of directors. Walrath is co-founder of WGI Group, and former CEO of Right Media, which he founded and headed until he sold it to Yahoo in July of 2007 for $850M. Walrath also co-founded documentary film firm Atlas Films. WGI is an investor in Meteor Games, and made an investment in the firm earlier this year. Meteor Games was founded by Adam (More info...)
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Clicker Connects To Facebook PersonalizationLos Angeles-based Clicker, the Internet TV guide run by Jim Lanzone, said this morning that it has launched an update to its service, which includes such features as site-wide integration with Facebook and personalized recommendations. Clicker said its update includes Clicker Predict, a service which gives personal recommendations on shows and movies that it believes user will enjoy watching, based on both a user's behavior and those of friends on the site; a personalized real time feed of new s (More info...)
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IPO Market Surpasses 2008, 2009, According to ReportA new report today released by PwC finds that the market for initial public offerings (IPOs) has jumped significantly in 2010, with volumes exceeding both 2008 and 2009 levels. PwC tallied up 154 IPOs completed this year so far, raising $37.5 billion for companies, which is 123 percent increase in volume and a 49 percent increase in volume compared with numbers last year. In particular, PwC said there was a surge in fourth quarter activity, with 55 IPOs completed in the quarter, worth $23.5 bill (More info...)
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Morphlabs Gets $1.0M From Strategic PartnerManhattan Beach-based Morphlabs, the provider of software for managing private and public cloud infrastructure, has raised $1M in funding from a strategic partner, the firm said this week. According to Morphlabs, the investment came from BroadBand Tower, a provider of Internet services, hosting, and other services in Japan. Morphlabs said that BroadBand Tower has been using its platform since late 2009. Morphlabs is headed by serial entrepreneur Winston Damarillo. The two companies said the inve (More info...)
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Fisker Automotive Inks Chinese Distribution DealIrvine-based Fisker Automotive, the developer of electric vehicles, said today that it has inked a distribution deal for its cars in China. According to the company, it has partnered with China Grand Automotive Group, which is says is the number one passenger car trader in China, to distribute, market, and service its vehicles in the region. Fisker said China Grand Auto has more than 200 retail stores in China, with sales of RMB 50B ($7.5 billion US) in 2010. Fisker is planning on a debut of is (More info...)
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Tanner Expands Sales Efforts In ChinaMonrovia-baesd Tanner EDA, the developer of mixed signal electronic design automation software, said today that it has expanded its presence in the Chinese market, and has signed up a new sales and support partner. Tanner said that it has appointed NewPlus Systems and Technologies Ltd. to provide sales and support for all of its products in China. The firm said NewPlus will be the first line of contact for local customers. NewPlus also represents firms such as Synopsys, Atrenta, and others in th (More info...)
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Interview with Tim Cadogan, OpenXAmong one of the fastest growing industries--despite what has been a stagnant economy--is Internet advertising, which has continued to grow strongly over the past two years. One of the firms poised to take advantage of that growth is Pasadena-based OpenX (www.openx.org), which develops one of the most widely used ad serving solutions available. For today's interview, we spoke with Tim Cadogan, CEO of OpenX, to hear more about the firm's growth on the strength of Internet advertising, and what th (More info...)
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ShoeDazzle Names Chief Marketing OfficerLos Angeles-based ShoeDazzle, the online personalized shopping site headed by Brian Lee, said today that it has named Hope W. Neiman as Chief Marketing Officer. Neiman was most recently at Beachbody, where she was Vice PResident of Online and eCommerce. Neiman has also served at P90X, Disney, and Right Start. ShoeDazzle offers personalized shoe, handbag, and jewelry recommendations to consumers, and was co-founded by Kim Kardashian. The firm's business team includes Robert Shapiro and Brian Lee, (More info...)
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Mogreet Signs ChaChaLos Angeles-based mobile marketing firm Mogreet, which is headed by James Citron, said today that it has signed on ChaCha, the online question and answer service, as a customer, as part of a new mobile ad serving service. According to Mogreet, ChaCha is using its new Multimedia Messaging (MMS) ad serving capabilities, which allows brand advertisers to deliver videos and pictures to mobile phones. Financial details of the deal were not disclose. Mogreet said ChaCha is using its platform to incorp (More info...)
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Conexant Gets $20M In Credit FacilityNewport Beach-based Conexant Systems announced today that it has received a $20M credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank. Conexant said the credit line replaces an expiring, one-year $15M accounts receivable credit facility. Conexant said the new line provides it with lower interest rates than its prior facility. Conexant is a developer of a variety of semiconductor products.
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Cypress Bioscience Acquired For $255MSan Diego-based Cypress Bioscience, a biopharmaceuticals firm focused on developing treatments for disorders of the central nervous system, has been acquired. According to Cypress, it is in a definitive merger agreement with Ramius V&O Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Ramius LLC and affilaites of Royalty Pharma, in a deal worth approximately $255M in cash. Ramius will pay $6.50 per share in cash for Cypress. The offer is above an earlier, $4.00 per share offer from Ramius in July.
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