Tuesday, January 17, 2012Newport Corporation Completes ILX Lightwave BuyIrvine-based Newport Corporation said Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of ILX Lightwave. The deal had been announced in December. Newport said it paid $9.3M in cash for ILX, which had 2011 revenues of approximately $8M. ILX Lightwave is a developer of test and measurement equipment used for laser diodes and other photonic components.
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Chill Shifts To Social DiscoveryIn another shift of focus, Los Angeles-based Chill, the startup headed by Brian Norgard and Dan Gould, has recast the site as a social video discovery site, and away from its live chat and video hangout focus. The site now highlights videos shared by members, aggregating those videos and allowing users to comment on them. The site had earlier been focused on creating group chat rooms where users could chat in real time on livestreamed events. The new focus is one of several iterations made by Ch (More info...)
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Insights and Opinions: 5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make While Raising CapitalWhat are some of the more common mistakes entrepreneurs make when raising capital? Eric M. Jackson, the CEO and co-founder of Manhattan Beach-based CapLinked, shares his top five for our Insights and Opinions section.
Raising capital can be a challenging process, especially in an economic environment marked by so much uncertainty and risk. But entrepreneurs often make the process harder on themselves by committing several common mistakes. Regardless of your industry or the size of your ra (More info...)
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MalibuIQ, HRL Team On Commercialization EffortMalibu-based MalibuIQ and HRL Laboratories, the former research and development arm of Hughes Aircraft which was previously known as Hughes Research Laboratories, said Tuesday that they have tied together to commercialize inventions and IP from HRL. According to the two, they will look to commercialize HRL's advancements in the areas of electronics, energy, life sciences, networking and communications. The new effort is being funded by Winn Interests, Manti Ventures, Bravo Ventures, TomorrowVent (More info...)
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RPost Claims Patent ProgressLos Angeles-based RPost, which operates a service to encrypt email and electronically capture documents and electronic signatures, said today that one of its patents was validated by a California Federal Court, a move it says will help it in a number of lawsuits it has filed against Adobe-Echosign, DocuSign, Swiss Post, Canada Post, Zix Corporation, RightSignature, Farmers Insurance, Telarix, Trustifi, among others. The firm claimed the granting of a motion for summary judgement in the US Federa (More info...)
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SpaceX Delays LaunchTorrance-based SpaceX, the commercial rocket firm run by Elon Musk, has delayed its February launch flight to the International Space Station. According to the firm, the move comes as it addresses engineering tests on the firm's Dragon capsule. A new launch date has not been set. SpaceX had originally scheduled to launch its Falcon rocket and Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) on February 7th, in what would have been the first docking of a commercially developed spacecraft w (More info...)
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Convertro Taps Avedissian As COOSanta Monica-based Convertro, the venture backed, advertising analytics and optimization firm run by Jeff Zwelling, said today that it has hired Armen Avedissian as its Chief Operating Officer. Avedissian was most recently Chief Revenue Officer at MyLife. Zwelling said that Avedissian is "the biggest hitter" in the area of attribution and media optimization. Avedissian also was at eHarmony. Convertro's offers up technology to track marketing conversions, helping companies to optimize their marke (More info...)
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SG Biofuels Raises $17MSan Diego-based SG Biofuels, a developer of hybrid seeds of Jatropha for the biofuels and specialty chemicals business, said that it has raised $17M in a Series B funding. The funding was led by Thomas, McNerney & Partners, and also included Finistere Ventures, Flint Hills Resources, and Life Technologies Corporation. SG Biofuels is developing hybrid seeds of the Jatropha plant, which yields a high oil content and can be grown on marginal land. The crop is being used to produce biodiesel, bio je (More info...)
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SpotlightTMS Rolls Out On AppExchangeCalabasas-based SpotlightTMS, the developer of luxury suite and corporate ticket management software, announced today that it has rolled out its software on Salesforce.com's AppExchange. The company, whose software is used to track ticket allocation by corporate luxury suite owners, said the addition of support for AppExchange will allow Salesforce CRM users to measure the impact of sports and entertainment assets on revenue. The company said its tool can be used to work with leads or contacts i (More info...)
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Verdezyne Gains PatentCarlsbad-based Verdezyne, the venture backed developer of biofuels technology, said today that it has been granted a United States Patent. The firm said the patent, No. 8,093,037, covers its engineered microorganisms used to enable yest to ferment sugar in cellulosic feedstocks. The organisms are used in converting its feedstocks into ethanol and other products. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, inventors on the patent are Stephen Picataggio, the firm's Chief Scientific Officer; (More info...)
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Contour Energy Scores Funding From In-Q-TelAzusa-based Contour Energy Systems, which is developing next generation battery systems, is announcing today that it has scored a strategic investment from In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies. Amount of the investment was not disclosed. Contour Energy said that the strategic investment and technology development agreement will go to advance its portable power solutions for various terrestrial and emerging applications. In-Q-Tel is known for investing in t (More info...)
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