Thursday, August 11, 2011Geni Tilts Toward Pro UsersLos Angeles-based Geni, the family tree and genealogy site, looks to be further tilting its efforts towards its paid, Pro users, by swizzling access to the various features of the site. Geni said Thursday evening that it would give users full permission to add, edit, and merge historical profiles on the site, but will now restrict non-pro user from adding or merging those profiles. In addition, Geni said that only pro users will have the ability to search through the site's 110 million profiles (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 11, 2011(Full story)
KidZui Catches $2M, Launches New ServiceSan Diego-based KidZui, the developer of a kid-friendly Internet browser, said this week that it has raised another $2M in funding, and launched a new effort called ZUI.com. The firm said the funding included Mission Ventures, Maveron, and Emergence Capital. Zui.com is a new, search engine focused on kids aged 3 to 12 years old.
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Elevator Labs Lands $20MLos Angeles-based Elevator Labs, a new startup headed by ex-Virgin Digital execs Brendon Cassidy and Zack Zalon, said Thursday that it has raised $20M in an initial funding round. The round came from KGC Capital. According to the firm, it is looking to incubate new companies in the Los Angeles area. The firm's current portfolio of companies includes Hello Music, Wilshire Media Group, and Fat Cloud. Elevator Labs said it wants to build a "community of
innovation with existing Los Angeles techno (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 11, 2011(Full story)
Interview with Eli Portnoy, ThinkNear
Towards the end of last month, Culver City-based ThinkNear (www.thinknear.com) announced a seed round of funding for its location-based mobile advertising service, with notable inclusion of such firms as IA Ventures, Google Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and others. To hear more about where exactly the firm fits in a crowded space, we spoke with Eli Portnoy, the firm's founder.
Thanks for the time today. To start, why don't you describe how your mobile ads work?
Eli Portnoy: ThinkNear is a (More info...)
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eHarmony Taps Zynga Vet As New CEOSanta Monica-based eHarmony, the online dating and matchmaking site, announced this morning that it has named Jeremy Verba as its new Chief Executive Officer. Verba joins the firm from Zynga, where he was founding General Manager of that firm's Treasure Isle title. Verba had previously served as President and CEO of teen community site Piczo, as well as AOL, E! Online, and CNET. The site said that Verba will help the firm as its expands its markets internationally and via mobile.
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Boingo Inks Deal With Krispy Kreme FranchiseLos Angeles-based Boingo Wireless said Wednesday that the firm has extended its deal with the Krispy Kreme donut stores, and will offer Wi-Fi service at Krispy Kreme stores in Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Wisconsin. The Wi-Fi deal is with operator Westward Dough Operating Company, LLC. Boingo was already offering up Wi-Fi in Southern California at Krispy Kreme stores operated by Great Circle Family Foods, LLC. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Westward Dough Operating Compa (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 11, 2011(Full story)