Wednesday, May 11, 2011mobileStorm Turns Eyes Towards HealthcareLos Angeles-based mobileStorm, the mobile and email messaging and marketing firm headed by Jared Reitzin, said Wednesday that it has launched a new, healthcare focused offering, and signed Humana as a beta client. The firm said its new "mobileStorm for Healthcare" provides HIPAA-compliant transmission of health information to members and patients, via mobile devices and smart phones. mobileStorm said the new product allows any developer or IT department to connect electronic health record and ot (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
Proximetry Hires Strategy ChiefSan Diego-based Proximetry, the developer of wireless network and performance management software for the smart energy market, said Wednesday that it has named Andres Carvallo as its EVP and Chief Strategy Officer. Carvallo was most recently Chief Information Officer at Austin Energy. He also has served at Philips Electronics, Digital Equipment, Borland, and a number of startups. Proximetry is venture backed by Munich Venture Partners, Aeris Capital, Investec and Rembrandt Venture Partners.
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
GameSalad Updates iPhone Game Creation SoftwareLos Angeles-based and Austin-based GameSalad, the startup developer of software that allows users to easily create iPhone games without programming, said today that it has released a new version of the firm's flagship software, GameSalad Creator. GameSalad said the 0.9.3 Beta version of the software includes such features as better performance and reliability, support for leaderboards in games, along with new game templates. GameSalad was founded by Michael Agustin, Dan Treiman, Tan Tran, and Jo (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
Momentum Ventures Winding Down, Says ReportLos Angeles-based Momentum Ventures, the venture acceleration and funding firm, is no longer making investments and is winding down, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. According to Andy Wilson, Managing Director and Founder of the firm, in an interview with socalTECH, the move actually had happened gradually over the last year, as the various principals at the firms became more involved and interested in running portfolio companies. Wilson has been serving as CEO of startup Grap (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
SpaceX Names CFOHawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the commercial rocket and space exploration firm headed by Elon Musk, said today that it has named Bret Johnsen as its new Chief Financial Officer. Johnsen was previously SVP and CFO of Mindspeed Technologies, and also served as VP, Corporate Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer at Broadcom. SpaceX also revealed further details of its operations, saying it is in the fourth straight year of profitability, and now has more than 1,300 (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
MySocialNightlife.com Gets Seed FundingLos Angeles-based MySocialNightLife.com, an online site focused on the nightclub scene, said Tuesday that it has landed a seed round of funding. The funding came from an un-named angel investor. The firm said it is providing a way for nightclub venues, to help promote their offerings in a social networking environment. The firm is headed by Artin Nazarian and Michael Merrill. The firm said features of the service will include automated guest list management, managing table reservations, and hand (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 (More)(Full story)
Mission Ventures Backs Ex-Greenplum ExecsSan Diego-based venture capital firm Mission Ventures has backed a team from former portfolio firm Greenplum, in a new venture round. According to San Mateo-based Alpine Data Labs, it has scored $7.5M in a Series A funding from Sierra Ventures, Mission Ventures, and Sumitomo Corporate Equity Asia. Mission's investment in Alpine Data was led by Leo Spiegel. Alpine Data Labs' founders are both from Greenplum in China; Greenplum's former co-founder, Scott Yara, also sits on Alpine's board. Greenplu (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 (More)(Full story)
Border Stylo Launches Retrollect Mobile AppLos Angeles-based startup Border Stylo said this morning it has launched a new, free mobile app called Retrollect. According to the firm, the new app allows to create a "visual mash-up" of their lives through virtual, retro-style "View-Master" style discs. The new app runs on both the iPhone and Android phones. Border Stylo said the new apps pull content from multiple social networks, and can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, or a Retrollect community. Border Stylo said the new app is powered by i (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
Interview with Elizabeth Amini, Anti-Aging GamesEarlier this week, Los Angeles-based Anti-AgingGames (www.Anti-AgingGames.com), a new online game startup, announced a new service to help users improve their memory and concentration, as well as improve brain function. The firm notably has Atari founder Nolan Bushnell as an advisor and serving as its chief game designer. We spoke with co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Amini, to hear more about what the firm is doing, how Bushnell got involved, as well as the firm's unique outlook and dedication to g (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
Marvell Announcement Matches Solarflare SaleJust three days after Irvine-based Solarflare announced that it has sold its 10 Gigabit Ethernet physical layer (PHY) business, semiconductor maker Marvell, based in Santa Clara, has announced its own line of 40nm, Quad 10GBASE-T PHYs. Solarflare did not announce the buyer of its product, and refused to acknowledge rumors that the buyer was Marvell. However, Marvell's announcement today of its Alaska X PHYs looks to match the specifications of Solarflare's PHY line to the last detail, including (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
PC Mall Expands Into Deals Of The DayTorrance-based PC Mall, the IT solutions provider and retailer, said Tuesday that it has entered into the "Deal of the Day" market via its OnSale subsidiary. PC Mall said that Onsale is launching hyper-local offers, starting in the second quarter in a number of markets, and expanding throughout the country after that. The new site goes head to head with Groupon, LivingSocial, and a slew of other imitators. OnSale said it had approximately 81 people working on the effort, and claimed that its exp (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
Sapphire Energy Links With Engineering FirmSan Diego-based Sapphire Energy, which is developing algae-based crude oil production processes, has inked a deal with gas and engineering firm The Linde Group, the companies said this morning. They two said they are in a multi-year agreement to develop a low-cost system to deliver carbon dioxide to commercial scale, open-pond, algae-to-fuel cultivation systems. Linde will supply the CO2 to Sapphire's commercial demonstration facility in Columbus, New Mexico. Financial terms of the deal were not (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
MyLife.com Launches In the UKLos Angeles-based MyLife, the operator of an online, people search site, said this morning that it has launched its site in the United Kingdom. MyLife said its new UK site will provide more than 25 million contacts. MyLife previously only served the US market. The company said the expansion into the UK is part of a next phase of expansion for the company. MyLife is headed by Jeff Tinsley.
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)
Halozyme Therapeutics In $83M Licensing DealSan Diego-based Halozyme Therapeutics, a developer of products for the insulin, cancer, dermatology and drug delivery markets, said today along with ViroPharma Incorporate that it is in a $83M licensing deal. The two said that Halozyme has received a $9M upfront payment and potential future milestone payments of $74M depending on meeting clinical and regulatory targets. The deal also includes a 10% royalty. The joint effort is focused on
treating hereditary angioedema (HAE).
posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011(Full story)