Tuesday, September 20, 2011Blizzard Boots Up Beta For Diablo IIIIrvine-based Blizzard Entertainment reported Tuesday that it has begun closed beta testing for Diablo III, the sequel to its Diablo role playing game series. Blizzard did not say how many users will be added to the beta. The firm said the closed beta is an "important milestone" on the way to final development of the new title. Blizzard is known for its massively multiplayer online games, including World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo.
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Nukona Scores FundingSan Diego-based Nukona, a developer of mobile application management software for the enterprise, said Tuesday that it has closed a funding round. Size of the round was not announced. According to Nukona, the funding came from the Startup Accelerator program at Citrix Systems, as well as angel investors. Nukona is led by Chris Perret, who was previously at Wind River. The firm's CTO, Jeff Enderwick, was co-founder of Allegro Systems, which was acquired by Cisco. According to the company, it will (More info...)
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Funny or Die Debuts Blake GriffinIn a funny sendup of the "human interest" segments of sports channels, LA Clipper Blake Griffin made his Funny or Die debut today in a spoof, 24/7 Blake Griffin: NBA Star Turned Intern. Griffin had said in August--in the wake of the NBA lockout--that he would intern, for free, at the Los Angeles online comedy site. Funny or Die is the comedy site started by Will Ferrell and backed by Sequoia Capital.
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CODA Holdings Closes $147M FundingLos Angeles-based CODA Holdings, the developer of electric vehicles and battery systems, said late Monday evening that it has completed a $147M, Series D funding round. The firm said the new funding brings its total raised to more than $300M. The new funding came from New World Strategic Investment Limited, Indus Capital, Och-Ziff, AERIS Capital, Angeleno Group, Harbinger Capital Partners, Riverstone Holdings, as well as other un-named, high net worth individuals. The firm said the funding will (More info...)
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MobileCause Ups Funding By $3.2M, Hires VPLos Angeles-based MobileCause, which operates mobile fundraising, CRM, and communications services for non-profits, revealed today that it has recently raised $3.2M in funding. According to MobileCause, the funding came through "several rounds" of additional funding, from super-angel and micro venture capitalists. Names of those investors were not disclosed, nor was the exact timing of the funding. The details on the funding came via the announcement of the hiring of a Jeff Kuligowski, a new Sen (More info...)
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Data Center Provider Opens New Data Center In The OCA colocation and cloud services provider, Latisys, said today that it is planning a big expansion in Orange County, with the opening of a new, 22,000 square foot data center in Irvine. Latisys, which owns the former operations of InteleNet in Irvine, said the space is the first part of a 93,000 square foot data center being built in the location. The company already owns a 50,000 square foot data center in Irvine, which it has run since 1994. Latisys said the new facility will make it the larges (More info...)
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Emulex Expands In TexasCosta Mesa-based Emulex, the developer of Fibre Channel host bus adapters, network adapters, switches, and other networking products, announced today that it is holding a grand opening of new offices in Austin, Texas, next week. Emulex said it is opening up new offices and engineering labs in the location, but did not say how big of an operation it plans in the location.
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TrustYou Raises $5M For Social Sentiment AnalysisTrustYou, a provider of social media monitoring technology and services to businesses which has its U.S. headquarters in Manhattan Beach, said today that it has raised $5M in a Series A funding, and acquired Dallas-based ReviewAnalyst. TrustYou said the funding was led by Credit Agricole Private Equity. Financial terms of the acquisition of ReviewAnalyst was not announced. TrustYou's international headquarters are in Munich, Germany; the firm's CEO is Benjamin Jost.
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SOA Software Names VPLos Angeles-based SOA Software, the developer of enterprise SOA software, announced today that it has tapped IBM vet Corey Scobie as its new Vice President Technology. Scobie was previously Chief Strategist for IBM's Appliance and Application Optimization businesses, and also has served at DataPower, before its acquisition by IBM. SOA said that Scobie will join its senior technology development group.
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Interview with Anna Sergeeva and Fei Xiao, trueRSVPFaced with their own issue of "flaky" people who were responding with an RSVP for their volunteer projects, but not actually showing up, the founders of trueRSVP (www.truersvp.com) decided to take things into their own hands, and create a service to provide better feedback to event organizers. The firm was one of the recent startups to launch at the DEMO Fall 2011 conference last week, and has the backing of OrganicStartup, the startup acceleration effort of local angel investor Scott Sangster. (More info...)
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Spotlight Names Marketing ChiefCalabasas-based Spotlight, the developer of ticket management software-as-a-service, said today that it has appointed Richard Dym as its Chief Marketing Officer. Dym has previously been CMO of OpSource, and also served at AXIS-One, SiteSmith, Tribal Voice and ParcPlace Systems. Spotlight is led by Tony Knopp, who, along with his co-founders, was previously at Stubhub. The company is backed by POint Judith Capital. Spotlight said its customers now include Comcast, MetLife, Nike, Oracle, Time Warn (More info...)
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MediaTrust Names Cohn CEOLos Angeles-based MediaTrust, the operator of a performance-based marketing and online advertising exchange, said this morning that it has named Keith Cohn as its new Chief Executive Officer. Cohn was most recently President and member of the firm's board. Current CEO Peter Bordes will continue to be involved with the company. Cohn was previously Founder and CEO of Bardon Advisors, and also served as President and CEO of Vendare Media, the Idealab-backed Internet advertising and marketing firm. (More info...)
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Sometrics Acquired By American Express, Says ReportEl Segundo-based Sometrics, the in-game virtual currency and monetization startup headed by Ian Swanson, has reportedly been acquired by American Express. The value of the deal was $30M, according to the report from TechCrunch. Sometrics had raised over $5.25M in funding from Big Sky Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Mailroom Fund, and Steamboat Ventures.
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THQ Selects Crytek For New Homefront TitleAgoura Hills-based videogames firm THQ said this morning that it has linked with gaming developer Crytek, to develop its next title in its Homefront franchise. Financial details of the arrangement were not disclosed, however, THQ said it expects the new title to be released in its fiscal 2014, on console and PC platforms. Homefront is THQ's post-apocalyptic, first-person-shooter (FPS) action game, which involves North Korea invading the United States. THQ's first Homefront title was released in (More info...)
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SRS Labs Wins Rockwell CollinsSanta Ana-based SRS Labs, a developer of surround sound and other audio technology, reported this morning that it has been selected by Rockwell Collins. SRS said that Rockwell is integrating its SRS WOW HD technology in its dPAVES airline in-flight entertainment systems. Financial impact of the win were not disclosed.
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