Wednesday, March 2, 2011Cornerstone OnDemand Sets IPO Offering RangeSanta Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, which develops online learning and talent management software, said Wednesday morning that it expects its IPO to price between $9.00 and $11.00 per share. The firm is looking to list on the NASDAQ Global Market as CSOD. Cornerstone OnDemand is selling 10.5 million shares of its stock, raising around $105M in the offering. Cornerstone OnDemand is headed by Adam Miller, and is venture backed by Bay Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Meritech Capital.
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Technology Conference Outbreak Linked to Legionella BacteriaAccording to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, it has identified Legionella bacteria--the bacteria which causes Legionnaire's Disease--at a water source at the Playboy Mansion, the site of the DomainFest Global conference in February, which resulted in an outbreak of illness in attendees. According to the LA Times, the department is still investigating possible causes of the illness outbreak. The technology conference, held for the domain name industry every year in Los Angeles (More info...)
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Energy Cache Eyes Smart Grid, With Backing Of IdealabLos Angeles-based Energy Cache, a new startup backed by Idealab, is eyeing the energy storage and smart grid market with its technology. The firm, which is headed by Aaron Fyke, recently scored one of the top prizes at the recent Tech Coast Angels Fast Pitch in Los Angeles. The firm beat out around 170 other entrants to gain the title of "Best Investment Opportunity". Fyke, who has previously served as a venture capitalist in the clean technology industry in Australia, said that the firm is buil (More info...)
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Calacanis Drops TechCrunch50 LawsuitJason Calacanis, the CEO of Santa Monica-based Mahalo.com, and organizer of the recent Launch conference, has dropped his lawsuit against TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, according to Arrington himself in a news story. Calling the lawsuit a "PR stunt/blatant shakedown that so many tech journalists fell for," Arrington said that Arrington filed a court document asking for dismissal of the lawsuit. Calacanis had sued Arrington in November, over his sale of TechCrunch to AOL, claiming that he (More info...)
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Broadcom Eyes ProvigentIrvine-based Broadcom is in talks to acquire Israeli semiconductor firm Provigent, a maker of systems-on-a-chip for broadband wireless, according to Israeli business publication Globes. Citing un-named sources, Globes said that Broadcom is looking to pay between $300M and $400M for the company. No details on the rumored deal have been announced by either company.
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Aggregage Launches Two New SitesLos Angeles-based Aggregage, the content aggregation and publishing startup headed by Robert Flynn, has launched two new sites, the firm said this week. Aggregage said that it has launched Leadership Digital, a new site focused on leadership and management, and Working Smarter Daily. Aggregage aggregates the posts of multiple blog owners into a single, topic-specific site, which is then sponsored by companies. The new Leadership Digital site is being sponsored by Enlightened Leadership Solutions (More info...)
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Mahalo Chops Headcount, Says ReportSanta Monica-based Mahalo, the online human-curated news and search site headed by Jason Calacanis, has cut 10 percent of its staff, according to reports. According to a report by CenterNetworks, the changes were a reaction to the search algorithm and quality changes made by Google last week. Google said last week that it had made significant changes to its algorithm to downgrade what it considered low-quality pages, which was expected to hit "content farms". Citing an email sent to Mahalo's "Gu (More info...)
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Interview with John Ellis, PurePhotoFor this morning's interview, we talked with Westlake Village-based PurePhoto (www.purephoto.com), which is looking to help photographers market and sell their photographs. John Ellis, the CEO and co-founder of the firm, is the former COO and CMO of NextMedium, was a VP at ValueClick, and has also served at Fastclick, Yahoo/Overture, and Earthlink, among other firms. He told us all about what the company's trying to do.
What's the story behind PurePhoto?
John Ellis: PurePhoto is a social c (More info...)
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EcoATM Scores Recognition At DEMOSan Diego's EcoATM, the developer of kiosk-based buyback of consumer electronics, has scored one of the top prizes at the DEMO conference in Palm Springs. The firm was named a DEMOgod winner, one of the top seven firms to pitch at the launch event. ecoATM is headed by Tom Tullie, and is backed by Coinstar and Claremont Creek. The firm is fresh off of a $14.4M fundraising it announced in February.
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D2 Technologies Buys Webia TechnologiesSanta Barbara-based D2 Technologies, which develops embedded IP communications software, reports today that it has acquired Webia Technologies, a developer of products for the Google Android OS platform. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Webia is based in Taipei, Taiwan. D2 said the acquisition would deepend its industry expertise in embedded multimedia communications applications. Webia's CEO, John Wu, joins D2 as Vice President of Products for its Mobile and Personal Communication (More info...)
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Guidance Software Lands RetailerPasadena-based Guidance Software, the developer of electronic discovery and investigation software, announced today that it has signed an un-named, multi-billion dollar retailer as a customer. According to Guidance Software, the firm will help the retailer build an "e-discovery center of excellence". Financial terms of the win were not disclosed.
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AquaHydrate Slurps Up $10MColton, California-based AquaHydrate, a bottled water brand focused on fortified, purified water, reported Tuesday that it has received $10M in a funding round. The round came from The Yucaipa Companies. According to AquaHydrate, the funding will go towards financing rollout of its sports drink. Other investors include New York construction and real estate family The Fisher family, Emerald Partners, and actor Mark Wahlberg. AquaHydrate is headed by Steven Fisher.
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