Wednesday, January 19, 2011


Gevo Sets Range For IPO
Gevo, the biofuels startup spawned out of technology from the University of California, Los Angeles and Caltech, has set an offering range for its IPO. Gevo, which started in Pasadena but is now located in Englewood, Colorado, said it is looking to sell 7,150,000 shares of its common stock at between $13.00 and $15.00 per share. Gevo had filed for an IPO in August. Gevo is venture backed by Khosla Ventures, Virgin Green Fund, Total Energy Ventures, Burrill Life Sciences Capital Fund, Malaysian L (More info...)
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TheWrap Buys Itsonthegrid.com
Santa Monica-based The Wrap News, an online news site covering entertainment and media, said this week that it has acquire ItsontheGrid.com, an online, subscription service providing information on ongoing movie projects. Financial terms of the cash and stock deal were not disclosed. ItsontheGrid.com was founded by Jason Scoggins, who becomes Chief Product Officer and general manager of ItsontheGrid.com for TheWrap. TheWrap is headed by Sharon Waxman, a former New York Times reporter, and is ven (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2011(Full story)

Qualcomm Boosts ChaCha
San Diego-based Qualcomm has made an investment in Indianapolis question and answer site ChaCha, ChaCha said Wednesday afternoon. According to ChaCha, it raised $3M in total funding, including $900,000 in outstanding warrants from Qualcomm Ventures, the venture capital arm of Qualcomm. ChaCha offers up an online question and answer site, which allows users to ask any question via the web or mobile SMS. The new investment from Qualcomm comes on top of a recent, October 2010 funding by vantagePoin (More info...)
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mygameIQ Ties With Women in Games International
mygameIQ, the digital distribution and content management platform for gaming firms developed by Westlake Village-based Pragmatic Solutions, said today that it is in a promotion with Women In Games International. According to Pragmatic Solutions, mygameIQ is looking to find games produced by and for women to become part of a special WIGI channel on the site, which helps users find both online and downloadable games. Details of the partnership were not disclosed. Pragmatic launched mygameIQ in Ju (More info...)
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Insights and Opinions: Response to 3 Things to Avoid When Fundraising in LA
For our Insights and Opinions section today, we have a response to yesterday's (very controversial) piece in this section from Ryan Born, expressing his opinion about his experiences raising money in Los Angeles. The response is from Tom Tierney, an angel investor from the Tech Coast Angels San Diego. Tom--who responded originally to this in comments signed "Brontosaurus with Velociraptor tendencies" gives his 3 things to avoid: 1. DON'T DITCH YOUR "REP" FOR RE-TWEETS It's enticing in (More info...)
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3ality Links With UK Partner
Burbank-based 3ality Digital, which provides technology used for 3D movie production, said today that it has linked with UK-based ARRI Media in a partnership. According to 3ality, the deal allows ARRI Media to supply its 3D systems to TV, commercial, and feature film customers. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. 3ality develops 3D camera rigs and other equipment used in filming 3D television, commercial, feature film, and other productions. The firm said it has already been supply (More info...)
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Green Jobs Growth Surges In California, Says Report
New jobs data released today by nonpartisan research foundation Next 10, finds that green job growth surged in California over the lsat few years, despite the economic crisis. According to data released by the group, job employment in the green sector grew three times faster than total employment in California, accounting for 174,000 jobs. The report, based on data from January 2008 to 2009, found the Los Angeles Area had 23 percent of green employment in the state, and 22 percent of green busin (More info...)
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Buy.com Launches Into Gift Card Sales
Aliso Viejo-based Buy.com announced this morning that it has launched itself into the online gift card sales area. According to the online e-commerce provider, it has started offering gift cards from such brands as Sephora, Marriott, Regal Entertainment Group, Applebee's, The Home Depot and more. Buy.com said it now has "hundreds" of popular gift card brands on the site, searchable by category, brand, and denomination. The gift cards are for both online and retail locations.
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Pose Finds $1.6M
Santa Monica-based Pose, a developer of mobile, social shopping applications, said last week that it has raised $1.6M in a funding round. Pose is headed by Dustin Rosen, formerly an associate at Los Angeles-based venture capital firm The Mail Room Fund. The funding came from GRP Partners, True Ventures, and Founder Collective, along with angel investors Dave Morin and Shawn Fanning. GRP's Mark Suster and True's Jon Callaghan join the firm's board as part of the funding. Pose develops an iPhone a (More info...)
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Demand Media Updates Pluck Reviews
Santa Monica-based Demand Media said today that it has enhanced the firm's Pluck Reviews product, which power online ratings and reviews for brand websites. Demand Media said that it has added a new set of capabilities called "Trust Filters", which sorts reviews from Facebook friends and community friends on top of other reviews. Demand said the new feature also pulls information noted reviewers and "product experts" above the "clutter" of generic online reviews. Demand Media said the new featur (More info...)
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eHarmony CEO Waldorf Leaves Firm
Santa Monica-based eHarmony, the online relationship matching service, said late Tuesday that CEO Greg Waldorf has stepped down as CEO and board member of the firm. eHarmony said that Waldorf has served for more than 11 total years for the company, five years as CEO. Waldorf also was the founding investor in eHarmony. eHarmony said that President and COO Greg Steiner takes over Waldorf's responsibilities and will lead the firm, which the company's board conducts a CEO search. In a steatement. Ne (More info...)
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Sorenson Media Names Sales VP
San Diego-based Sorenson MEdia, which develops video encoding and decoding software and online video services, announced this morning that it has added John Greene as Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Greene has previously served at DivX/Sonic Solutions, most recently serving as General Manager for Content Services. Greene also served at Akamai, Tritech Software Systems, and Court TV.
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Illumina Expands in Latin America
San Diego-based Illumina, which manufactures genetic sequencing tools for the life sciences industry, said late Tuesday that it has opened up a new office in Sao Paolo, Brazil, to focus on business across Latin America. Illumina said the office will make it easier to connect wiht researchers in the Latin American region. Illumina said the office will open on February 1st.
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Amgen Sells Fremont Facility
Thousand Oaks-based Amgen said Tuesday afternoon along with Boehringer Ingelheim, that the firm has agreed to sell rights in and substantially all of the assets of its Fremont, Calfiornia development and manufacturing facility. According to Amgen, it currently has 360 employees and 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space in the facility. The facility and employees will become part of Boehringer Ingelheim and its contract manufacturing business. Financial details of the sale were not announced (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2011(Full story)