Tuesday, August 9, 2011THQ Chops Studios In RealignmentAgoura Hills-based THQ, the videogame maker, said late Tuesday that it is chopping two studios and a team, as part of a "strategic realignment" of its operations. The firm said it has closed two studios in Australia, and a development team in the firm's Phoenix location, as part of a shift away from licensed kids titles and movie entertainment properties. The firm said it is now looking to focus on social games, mobile, and tablet-based digital entertainment. The cuts affect around 200 people gl (More info...)
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Cocodot Adds Jim Davis As CEOLos Angeles-based Cocodot, the online greeting card firm founded by former MySpace exec Shawn Gold, appears to have hired on Jim Davis as its new CEO. According to both the Facebook and LinkedIn profiles for Davis, he recently joined Cocodot in the CEO positoin. Davis is an advisor at ThisNext, Ebridge, Mota, YSN, among a number of other firms. Davis has served in a wide variety of advisory roles for such companies as Miles Electrical Vehicles (now Coda Automotive), Propser Capital Partners, Peo (More info...)
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PC Mall Opens Daily Deals SiteTorrance-based PC Mall, the IT solutions provider and catalog retailer, said today that it has officially opened up its OnSale daily deals business. The firm had said in May that it would be converting OnSale into an online daily deals site. PC Mall said the new site is rolling out a beta in Chicago, Los Angels, and Seattle, offering off discounts on national brands, local restaurants, spa and salon services, and more. OnSale had previously been an electronics shopping site. PC Mall said that it (More info...)
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Demand Media Buys Two Firms, Renews Google Ad DealSanta Monica-based Demand Media, the online publishing empire run by Richard Rosenblatt, said Tuesday afternoon that it has acquired two companies, plus renewed a deal with Google. According to Demand Media, it acquired IndieClick, a Los Angeles-based online advertising company, and also acquired RSS Graffiti, another Los Angeles firm developing social media products for Facebook. Financial details of the two acquisition was not disclosed. IndieClick was headed by Peter Luttrell, and RSS Graffit (More info...)
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Cocodot Gets $4.25M MoreLos Angeles-based Cocodot, the online invitations service run by former MySpace exec Shawn Gold, has raised $4.25M out of an ongoing $6.0M funding round, according to a regulatory filing from the firm. Source of the new funding was not disclosed. The firm has previously received funding from Anthem Ventures, Mailroom Fund, and Rincon Venture Partners. Representatives from both Anthem and Rincon continue to serve on the firm's board of directors. Robert Schwartz, of Third Point Ventures in New Yo (More info...)
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Morphlabs Ties With Alchemy CommunicationsManhattan Beach-based Morphlabs, the cloud computing software firm headed by former GlueCode founder Winston Damarillo, said Tuesday that it has inked a deal with Alchemy Communications. According to the firm, Alchemy Communications will use its products to provide hosted, private cloud environments to its customers. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed. Morphlabs develops software which helps data center providers manage and run cloud computing environments.
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Spotlight Bolsters BoardCalabasas-based Spotlight, which develops software-as-a-service for managing ticket management, said Monday that it has named a new member of its board. The firm said that Edwin Miller, CEO of 9Lenses, has joined the company's board of directors. Spotlight is venture backed by Point Judith Capital, Jim Pallotta, co-owner of the Boston Celtics, and Brian Bedol, founder of sports television channels Classic Sports Network (now ESPN Classic) and CSTV (now CBS College Sports). Spotlight's software (More info...)
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MovieClips Gets $7M, Partners With YouTubeVenice, California-based MOVIECLIPS, the online provider of licensed movie clips headed by Richard Raddon and Zach James, is announcing today that it has scored $7M in a Series B funding round, and also partnered with Google to feature its clips on YouTube. The firm said that its Series B round came from MK Capital, as well as Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital, SoftTech VC, Richmond Park Partners, as well as angels, including Naval Ravikant, Jeff Kearl, Tom McInerney, and Allen DeBevoise of M (More info...)
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ValueClick Media Opens Atlanta OfficeWestlake Village-based ValueClick Media, the behavioral targeting and online advertising data arm of ValueClick, said today that it has opened up an office in Atlanta. According to the firm, the new office will help to support its clients and agencies in the region. The firm noted that major, Fortune 500 firms are headquarters in Atlanta, including Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola and UPS. The new office will be headed up by David Braswell, formerly of BlueLithium and Undertone Networks, and Andres Dav (More info...)
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SendLove.to, With Funding, Debuts Service To Share Opinions On Public FiguresLos Angeles-based SendLove.to, a new startup headed by Chris Lyman and Corey Brundage, debuted today, saying it will provide a "people-polling" platform which will allow users to rate and share their opinion on people in the news. Lyman and Brundage were most recently at Fonality. As part of the launch, SendLove.to said it has raised a $500,000 round of angel financing from a number of Southern California angels, including Jeff Stibel, CEO and Chairman of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp; John (More info...)
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ThisWeekIn Expands NetworkThisWeekIn, the Los Angeles-based, online video podcasting network co-founded by Jason Calacanis, Mark Jeffrey, and Kevin Pollak, is expanding out its lengthy list of podcasts, with a new one focused on startups out the TechStars business incubation effort. The new This Week In TechStars video podcast follows such weekly video podcasts as Mark Suster's This Week In Venture Capital and This Week In Startups from Jason Calacanis. TechStars is a business incubator with branches in Boston, Seattle, (More info...)
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iStoryTime Gets $2MSanta Barbara-based zuuka Group, the firm behind the iStoryTime line of mobile children's books, said today that it has raised $2M in a Series A investment round. According to the company, the investment came from Corporate Finance Partners (CFP). Corporate Finance Partners was an investor in Brands For Friends, the German online shopping firm that recently sold to eBay. The company said that the investment would go towards expansion into more mobile platforms, social media, and for new content (More info...)
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Platinum Equity Buys Quark, Eyes AcquisitionsLos Angeles-based private equity firm Platinum Equity has acquired Quark, the developer of page layout software, according to the firm this morning. Platinum did not disclose financial details of the buy, however, said that it is looking to expand Quark's product breadth and depth, plus create an acquisition strategy. Quark's software is used by publishers to help lay out the design of their pages; publish data in XML; automating publishing of page layout, and more. The software now also works w (More info...)
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CapLinked Powers Microsoft BizSparkthe developer of private investment and fundraising tools headed by Eric Jackson and Christopher Grey, said today that it has linked with Microsoft Bizspark, Microsoft's startup support effort. According to the firm, Microsoft BizSpark has launched Deal Rocket, a new tool to help startups enrolled in the program to help raise capital. The new tool will allow companies to submit their information to angel groups and early stage venture capital firms around the country. Financial details of the de (More info...)
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Factual Opens New APILos Angeles-based Factual, the big data startup headed by Gil Elbaz, said last night that it has launched a new API into beta. The firm said it has launched a beta of its Factual Crosswalk API, which makes it easier to translate information about places into 3rd party APIs and websites. The company said the API converts Factual's own IDs into third party identifiers and URLs, and vice versa.
For example, the API can provide the multiple ways a single place is represented across web services - (More info...)
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Websense Wins Credit Union CustomerSan Diego-based Websense, the developer of web security tools, reports today that it has been selected by Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, to safeguard data for the credit union's 38 branches. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. Websense said that Addison Avenue had actually been using the firm since 2007, but decided to roll out the solution further as part of a $4.75 billion merger between that credit union and First Tech Credit Union in the past year.
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Fallbrook Targets Bicycle MarketSan Diego-based Fallbrook Technologies, the developer of transmission technology, said today that it has launched a new product aimed at bicycles. The firm--which is better known for applying its technology to the electric car market--said its has launched a new product which seamlessly shifts bicycles, either using an automatic or manual option. The firm is aiming that the e-bike market with the new product. The new product incorporates its continuously variable transmission technology. That te (More info...)
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ServiceNow Expands In Silicon Valley, As Revenues Exceed $125MSan Diego-based ServiceNow, the venture-backed, privately backed developer of IT management software, said today that it has passed $125M in annual revenues, and has opened up a new, San Jose development center. According to the firm, it is seeing rapid growth and interest in its cloud-based service for IT management, with more than 100 percent revenue growth between June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2011. The firm said it hired 130 new employees in San Diego in the last 90 days, and now has approximat (More info...)
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PointHub Launches Travel Rewards Management ServiceSanta Monica-based PointHub, a new startup aimed at the travel industry, is announcing today that it has officially launched its travel rewards and points comparison service. The firm said it is offering up a cash versus points recommendation engine, which allows users to see side-by-side comparisons of paying for or using reward points for airlines and hotels. The new service looks to help both business and leisure travelers to optimize the use of their airline mileage and other loyalty points. (More info...)
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AC Propulsion Names CFOSan Dimas-based AC Propulsion, which develops electric drives for the electric vehicle industry, said Monday that it has named Susan Hoyle as its Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Hoyle was most recently the firm's interim CFO. Hoyle has prevoiusly served at such firms as Tatum, Haskins & Sells, KPMG, PwC, BDO, Gores Capital Partners, and the BiSys Group. Hoyle arrived at AC Propulsion via an engagement at Tatum, which provides interim CFOS to companies, to help the firm with a $35M fu (More info...)
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