Tuesday, March 20, 2012MyPetHabit.com Acquired By CoupawLos Angeles-based MyPetHabit.com, an online, daily deals site focused on pet care items, has been acquired by New York-based Coupaw.com, Coupaw said today. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Both sites are modeled after popular daily deals sites like LivingSocial and Groupon, but are specifically focused on pet owners.
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Aggregage Inks Vertical Site Deal With Sales GroupLos Angeles-based Aggregage, the online content aggregation and publishing startup headed by Robert Flynn, has announced a deal with professional society The Sales Association, to run a targeted vertical site called SalesProCentral aimed at sales and business development professionals. Aggregage has developed software which automatically aggregates and curate content from bloggers and sites, creating content relevant to different verticals. The firm has been developing a stable of sponsored, ver (More info...)
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Factual Partners with EMC GreenplumLos Angeles-based Factual has inked a partnership with EMC, as part of EMC's new Grenplus Chorus toolset for data scientist collaboration. According to Factual, its data is available through the Greenplum corus platfor, which will allow data scientists to use data from Factual as part of their own, existing data. Factual operates an online data service, targeted at application developers, to retrieve live data on business locations, restaurants, and other verticals. The firm is venture backed by (More info...)
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Sonos Rolls New Mac, PC AppsSanta Barbara-based Sonos, the developer of easy to use, wireless, whole-house music systems, said this morning that it has updated its controller apps for the Mac and PC. The software--which is a free upgrade to all of its current customers--includes new features to let users control music from a "mini controller" app, a way to control volume across rooms with a single volume control; expanded language support; and better Android support. Sonos develops wireless sound systems which can play dig (More info...)
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FindTheBest Takes On Car ClassifiedsLooking to take on the classifieds market, FindTheBest, the online comparisons site run by former DoubleClick founder Kevin O'Connor, said today that it has launched a new "cars for sale" tool. The Santa Barbara startup said the entry into the classified market allows users to shop for cars by type, make, model, year, mileage, and color. The new functionality applies the easy filtering and sorting tools developed by FindTheBest.com to help users find local used autos. The startup is tapping list (More info...)
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Broadcom Set To Acquired Broadlight, Says ReportIrvine-based Broadcom is getting set to announced a $200M acquisition of Israeli communications chip developer Broadlight, according to multiple reports this morning. Broadlight is based in Herzliya, Israel, and develops fiber optic communications chips. The firm is venture backed by Benchmark Capital, Israel Seed Partners, Star Ventures, Delta Ventures, Azure Capital Partners, Cipio Ventures, and Motorola Ventures, along with Broadcom itself, plus strategic investors Telllabs and Siemens Ventu (More info...)
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Dog Vacay Announces Funding RoundSanta Monica-based Dog Vacay, the online person-to-person marketplace for dog boarding, has formally announced new investors in the firm, who are joining in its $1M seed funding round. The company--which had already disclosed the investment round in an interview with socalTECH earlier this month--said investors in the seed funding were First Round Capital, Ben Ling, Brian Lee, Ted Rheingold, Tom McInerney, Dennis Phelps, Thomas Ryan, Quest Venture Partners and Baroda Ventures. DogVacay helps dog (More info...)
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Gridtest Systems Gets SeededLos Angeles-based Gridtest Systems, a developer of measurement tools for the electric vehicle (EV) market, said this morning that it has raised a seed round of funding from the Pasadena Angels and the Tech Coast Angels. Financial terms of the investment were not announced. Gridtest Systems develops testing tools aimed at the R&D labs of major EV charging system manufacturers and product suppliers. The firm, which was founded by Neal Roche, said the funds go to accelerate launch of its first prod (More info...)
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Virgin Galactic Signs 500th CustomerMojave-based Virgin Galactic, the commercial spaceflight firm backed by Sir Richard Branson, has signed its 500th customer: actor and angel investor Ashton Kutcher. The company--which has yet to launch its first customer into space--has been developing a custom spaceship designed to send "space tourists" into space from a commercial spaceport in New Mexico. Virgin Galactic just hired its first pilot in October, and is in the midst of building and testing its vehicles before commencing operations (More info...)
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Mogreet Targets Hispanic MarketLos Angeles-based Mogreet, the provider of a mobile video marketing product which is headed by James Citron, said yesterday that it has been targeting the Hispanic market with its services, and now counts a number of large customers in that category. The firm said Entravision Communications and impreMedia, two large Hispanic media firms, as customers of the company. Mogreet explained that it has launched a number of mobile marketing campaigns with leading Spanish-language broadcast and media com (More info...)
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Active Network Powers San Diego Parks and RecreationActive Network, the San Diego provider of software-as-a-service for recreation and registration management, said today that it has partnered with its hometown, the City of San Diego, to help the city manage its park and recreation assets. Active Network said the city is automating everything from facility reservations, park permitting, payment processing, and e-commerce with its products, replacing a paper based system. Financial impact of the win was not announced. Active Network has been offer (More info...)
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Cornerstone OnDemand Adds Volunteer ManagementSanta Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, the developer of software-as-a-service for human resources and talent management, announced a new product today, to help both companies and nonprofits to manage volunteers. The firm said its new Cornerstone Volunteer Management solution will be integrated into its learning, performance, and talent management software suite. The new software tracks volunteer skill sets, helps assign volunteers to positions based on compatibility, timing, and desire; helps (More info...)
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WD Ships Portable 2TB Hard DriveIrvine-based disk drive maker Western Digital said today that it has shipped a 2TB, portable hard drive, which it says is the first portable drive with that amount of capacity. The new drive, part of its My Passport line of portable hard drives, is aimed at consumers. The firm now offers portable hard drives ranging from 500GB to 2TB. The new drive uses a USB 3.0 interface, and costs $249.99.
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