Monday, June 6, 2011eSolar Gets Investment From GE EnergyPasadena-based eSolar, the developer of solar thermal power generation plants backed by Idealab, has scored a strategic investment from GE Energy, GE said Monday. Size of the new investment was not disclosed. According to GE, the deal also calls for GE to license and incorporate eSolar's technology into its own solar thermal power plant offerings. GE said it will also deploy eSolar's technology to customer worldwide. Along with GE, Turkish investor and power plant developer MetCap Energy Investm (More info...)
posted on Monday, June 6, 2011(Full story)
SoCal's Next Big Online Publisher: Breitbart.com?Southern California is already establishing a reputation as the home of one of the biggest online publishers, Demand Media. However, what will Southern California's next big, online publishing empire be? Based on events in recent days, it might be Los Angeles-based Breitbart.com, the controversial online publishing venture of Andrew Brietbart. Breitbart.com runs the site Big Government, which broke the story of U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner last week, and forced Weiner today to admit that t (More info...)
posted on Monday, June 6, 2011(Full story)
StarGreetz Launches Celebrity-Powered, Personalized Message ServiceLos Angeles-based StarGreetz, a new online service for sending personalized, celebrity video messages and electronic greeting cards, said today that it has launched a service which will allow marketers and consumers to send personalized videos and audio which incorporate a user's name and other information within the message. The firm's consumer service allows users to pick messages and electronic greeting cards from various celebrities, adding such personal information as names, which are incor (More info...)
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Gaikai Boosts UI ChopsLos Angeles-based cloud streaming firm Gaikai has bolstered its creative side, saying today that it has hired Brendan Iribe as its Chief Creative Officer and Senior Vice President of User Experience. Iribe was previously the co-founder, President, and CEO of Scaleform, a video game user interface technology developer. Gaikai said it is tapping Iribe to help it deal with a "very complex user interface challenge", which the firm faces because its technology runs on a variety of devices and display (More info...)
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Gogii's textPlus Hits Message MilestoneLos Angeles-based GOGII, the developer of text messaging applications headed by three of the founders of JAMDAT Mobile, reported late last week that it has sent over 10 billion text messages from its textPlus texting app. The firm, which is headed by Scott Lahman and backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Matrix Partners and GRP Partners, said the number of messages are since its launch on the iTunes App Store in June of 2009. The firm said that 1.3 billion of those messages were sent in Ma (More info...)
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Magento Acquired By eBayLos Angeles-based Magento, the developer of e-commerce software headed by Roy Rubin, has been acquired by eBay, eBay said this morning. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. eBay already had a minority stake in Magento, which it acquired last year. Magento's open-source, e-commerce software will become part of X.Commerce, eBay's newly created integrated open commerce platform group. Magento had more than 290 employees.
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TopSpin Ties For Facebook EcommerceLos Angeles-based TopSpin Media has inked a deal with Facebook music page application provider RootMusic, to offer up an e-commerce app for musicians on the popular social networking site. According to the two, the deal will allow artists to sell downloads, merchandise, and tickets directly from Facebook. Financial details of the link between the two companies was not disclosed. TopSpin's current clients using the software include the Beastie Boys, The Pixies, Kid Rock, Trey Songz, The Civil War (More info...)
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Quest Buys Software FirmAliso Viejo-based Quest Software announced this morning that it has acquired Symlabs, a developer of virtual directory and identity management software. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Quest said the acquisition will add strong middleware technology capabilities to its software portfolio. Symlabs was based in Chicago.
posted on Monday, June 6, 2011(Full story)
Interview Dan Dato and Bruce Brown, Upstart.LA
Although Los Angeles has become a hub for the high tech startup world, Surprisingly, one of the things which hasn't happened in the Los Angeles area is any huge, successful venture acceleration programs. Those programs--epitomized by YCombinator in the Bay Area, and TechStars in Boulder, Colorado--attract newly minted entrepreneurs with a mixture of cash and mentoring, and a program which rapidly takes ideas and turns them into viable, executing businesses. To try to change that, two entrepren (More info...)
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eHow Launches Food Channel With Rachael RaySanta Monica-based eHow, the online information and answers site run by Demand Media, announced this morning that it has officially launched its eHow Food Channel with celebrity Rachael Ray. eHow said its visitors will have access to a new series, videos, articles, and blog posts from Ray and others on its food channel. The effort also includes how-to videos from "buddies" selected by Rachael Ray, who will share tips and tricks around food. eHow said the channel launches with more than 20 how-to (More info...)
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Vitesse Rolls Out Gigabit Ethernet CoresCamarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor, the developer of high speed networking semiconductors, said today that it has rolled out a line of Gigabit Ethernet intellectual property (IP) cores. The firm said the cores are aimed at providing 10/100/1000BASE-T functionality for consumer electronics, broadband access, network security, printer, smart grid, storage, and other applications. Pricing on the cores was not disclosed.
posted on Monday, June 6, 2011(Full story)
Kofax Ties With CRM ProviderIrvine-based Kofax, which develops business process and document automation systems, reported today that it has inked a technology and marketing alliance with Pegasystems, a provider of CRM applications in the document and information capture market. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
posted on Monday, June 6, 2011(Full story)