Thursday, April 12, 2012H.Bloom, Backed By Brian Lee, Gets More FundingNew York-based online subscription flower delivery service H.Bloom, whose backers include Los Angeles entrepreneur Brian Lee, who founded ShoeDazzle and LegalZoom, has scored another round of funding, the firm said Thursday. H.Bloom raised $10M in a Series B round, which included Shasta Ventures, Battery Ventures, as well as Lee, and angels Thomas Lehrman (Gerson Lehrman Group), and Peter Lehrman (axialMarkets). Lee was an existing angel investor in the company.
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Factual Releases Chinese Places DatasetLos Angeles-based data startup Factual expanded its database of business locations in a big way this week, saying that it has added the entire country of China to its cloud-based data service. Factual said it has released China Places, which covers the mainland of the People's Republic of China, with over 9.5 million records. Factual supplies geocoded data which is being used by mobile apps providers and others to locate local businesses, based on a user's location. Factual said the new dataset (More info...)
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Givit: FlipShare Deadline ApproachesDo you have a Flip video camera? Storing all of your videos on FlipShare and want to move them elsewhere for safety? San Diego-based Givit has one word for you: hurry. Givit, which inked a deal last month to help users migrate their videos from FlipShare over to its own, video sharing and storage service, says that--despite Cisco's plans to shut down FlipShare until December 31, 2013--a change coming to FlipShare on tax day will likely result in stored videos being deleted much earlier. Givit ex (More info...)
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SkuRun Gets SeededLos Angeles-based SkuRun, a startup developer of mobile software used to manage sales, marketing, and other collateral, said Thursday that it has raised a seed round of funding. Size of the round was not announced. The firm said the funding was led by Luke Weil, along with other private investors. SkuRun is led by Ralph Acosta.
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Inogen Secures $20M For Oxygen Therapy DevicesSanta Barbara-based Inogen, a provider of oxygen therapy equipment and services, said Thursday that it has scored a $20M, equity funding round. The round was led by Novo A/S. Inogen, which is led by Raymond Huggenberger, said the new funds will go to support growth. Inogen is a developer of oxygen therapy products, including home oxygen generators, which are supplied to patients with pulmonary diseases such as COPD. The firm's equipment helps reduce the reliance and difficulty of oxygen canister (More info...)
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Tioga Pharmaceuticals Gets $10MSan Diego-based Tioga Pharmaceuticals, a developer of biopharmaceuticals for treating irritable bowel syndrome, said today that it has raised $10M in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Thomas, McNerney & Partners, which also included Genesys Capital Partners. Tioga said Thomas, NcNerney & Partners' Jason Brown takes a seat on its board with the funding. Tioga will use the new funding round for Phase 3 clinical development of its compound for treating irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS).
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Boingo Wireless Powers WiFi At U.S. Cellular FieldLos Angeles-based Boingo Wireless is heading to the U.S. Cellular Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox, the company announced today, after signing a deal to manage and operate that field's public Wi-Fi service. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Boingo said the deal includes both complimentary Internet access for White Sox fans, as well as a higher bandwidth, premium service which can be purchased using Boingo Wi-Fi credits. Boingo said its network has already been deployed th (More info...)
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Report: Los Angeles Ranks Sixth In Active Startup EcosystemsA new report this week from the Startup Genome Project has ranked Los Angeles as number six in a list of the world's most active startup ecosystems. The report, which used data from the Startup Genome's benchmarking tool to rank startup performance, found that Silicon Valley topped the list, followed by New York City, London, Toronto, and Tel Aviv. Los Angeles beat other startup hubs such as Seattle, Boston, and Mumbai in the rankings. The report ranked the cities by "startup throughput"--the nu (More info...)
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PayDragon Takes On Mobile PaymentsLooking to make it easier to pay for local items using their mobile phone, Los Angeles-based PayDragon said today that it has launched its mobile purchasing app in Los Angeles. The startup--headed by Hamilton Chan, and the team behind Paperlinks--said that LA food trucks The Bun Truck, CambalaCHE's, Auntie's Fry Bread, Chunk n Chip, The Grill Sergeant, The Wien, and Rounds Premium Burgers, along with dessert and sweets chain Beard Papa, are now using the firm's app to allow users to pay for the (More info...)
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Interview with Neel Grover, Buy.comIt's been almost two years since Aliso Viejo-based Buy.com was acquired by Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten. How has that affected the company--both in culture, as well as a business? We caught up with Neel Grover, CEO and President of the firm, to hear a bit more about life and changes under Rakuten.
How has life under Rakuten been?
Neel Grover: It's been great. We were acquired in June of 2010, and it's been 21 months now, almost two years. There have been some changes, the vast amount o (More info...)
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Spokeo Names Chief Strategy OfficerPasadena-based Spokeo, an online people search engine, said today that it has named Emanuel Pleitez as its Chief Strategy Officer. Pleitez joins the firm from McKinsey & Company, and also has served as Special Assistant to Chairman Paul Volcker and the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) under President Barack Obama. Pleitez has also been at Goldman Sachs, worked as a special assistant to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and has also worked on various political campaigns (More info...)
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Mention Mobile Gets More Funding From Mark CubanLos Angeles-based mobile games developer Mention Mobile, a developer of social gaming applications, reported today that it has scored a second round of funding from Mark Cuban. Size of the new investment in the company was not announced. Mention Mobile said the new investment will go to develop new titles from the company. Mention Mobile's current title include Trivia Friends, Doodley, Zombie Bash: Christmas Attack, and Get 2 The Nest. The firm's titles currently run on the iPhone, and the firm (More info...)
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Cornerstone OnDemand Partners With Analytics ProviderSanta Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, the developer of cloud-based, HR and talent management software, reported today that it has entered into a strategic relationship with Visier, a provider of cloud-based analytics and planning software. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Visier develops software which helps companies understand metrics such as employee turnover, retention, and employee productivity. Cornerstone OnDemand's software is used by companies to manage recruiting, e (More info...)
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