Wednesday, July 20, 2011Microsemi In Hostile Bid For Canadian FirmIrvine-based semiconductor firm Microsemi said Wednesday that it has made an unsolicited proposal to buy a Canadian semiconductor firm, Zarlink Semiconductor, in a deal worth $548.7M. Microsemi said it has proposed to acquired Zarlink for $3.35 Canadian in cash. Zarlink has so far rejected earlier, private proposals made by Microsemi to acquire the firm, according to Microsemi. Zarlink is a maker of communications and medical semiconductors, including telephony, packet processing and voice proce (More info...)
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BetterWorks Launches Recruitment BountyIn another attempt by a Southern California company to attract talent, Santa Monica-based BetterWorks just became the latest firm to dangle a cash bounty to people for product or engineering hires. According to BetterWorks, it wil pay $5000 to people if the firm hires someone for one of its
product or engineering positions -- plus provide one free year of Betterworks services to that person's company or organization. The competition for technical talent in Southern California -- and particular (More info...)
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Cornerstone OnDemand Plans Secondary OfferingSanta Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, the developer of software-as-a-service for human resources and employee talent management, is planning a secondary offering of its stock, six months after the firm's successful IPO. According to a new, S-1 filing by the firm on Wednesday, it is looking to offer up 9,775,000 shares of its common stock on the markets, to raise up to $171.65M more for the firm. Cornerstone OnDemand has its IPO in March, debuting at $13.00 per share. The firm is now trading a (More info...)
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Gaikai Get $30M For Cloud GamingLos Angeles-based Gaikai announced Wednesday that it has raised $30M in a Series C funding round. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates, and also included Qualcomm, Benchmark Capital, Rustic Canyon, and Intel Capital. Gaikai is developing a cloud-based, game streaming service which allows users to play games without having to install software. The firm is headed by David Perry. Gaikai said the new funding will go towards accelerating growth and adoption of its products.
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FindTheBest Gets $4M MoreSanta Barbara-based FindTheBest, the online comparison engine site run by former DoubleClick founder Kevin O'Connor, has raised another $4M in funding, the firm said today. The round came from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the company's existing investor. FindTheBest offers up a web site which compares different products, services, and other items, via lists which can be sorted and filtered.
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Interview with Jennifer Sargent, HitFixEarlier this month, Los Angeles-based HitFix (www.hitfix.com) an online news site focused on entertainment, announced it had raised $2M in a funding round. The firm's CEO and co-founder, Jennifer Sargent, has an interesting background, most recently serving as an executive at Variety/Reed Business Information. She also has served at DoubleClick, had a stint as an investment banker at JPMorgan, been a venture capitalist at Bertelsmann Ventures, and started with an Electrical Engineering degree b (More info...)
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Sonos Launches New ProductSanta Barbara-based Sonos, the developer of wireless music systems, has launched a new product this morning, called the PLAY:3. The firm said its new player, which debuts today for $299, includes 3 integrated speakers and amplifiers, either horizontal or vertical orientation, multi-room support, and stereo pairing if you put two units in the same room. Along with the new device, Sonos also said it has dropped the price on its Sonos BRIDGE product, which connects to your Internet router to stream (More info...)
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Angeleno Group Backs Glass Recycling Tech FirmLos Angeles-based Angeleno Group has re-upped its investment in a developer of glass recycling technology, eCullet, as part of a $38M funding round. eCullet announced its new funding round Tuesday, which included both Angeleno Group and DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund L.P. eCullet develops technology which helps processing of recycled glass into color-sorted, contaminant-free cullet, used in the glass container manufacturing industry. eCullet was advised by GCA Savvian in the deal.
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iRise Rolls Professional Services OfferingsEl Segundo-based iRise, the developer of enterprise visualization software, has launched a set of professional services offerings, the firm said Tuesday. The firm said the new services will help its customers accelerate their business projects, with a team which can help clients augment their existing project staff, create visualizations for specific projects, and more. The firm said it has already been engaging customers, including an electronic manufacturing services provider, a healthcare com (More info...)
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Awarepoint Claims Record QuarterSan Diego-based Awarepoint Corporation, the developer of real-time location systems for the hospital market, claimed today that it had a record quarter, booking over forty-six hospitals and health systems. The firm said the number of bookings in Q2 exceeded all of 2010. Actual financial details of those wins were not disclosed. The firm said its systems are now being used in 153 hospitals.
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