Tuesday, April 24, 2012


Amgen Re-Ups On miRagen
Amgen Ventures, the venture capital arm of Thousand Oaks-based Amgen, has re-upped on an investment in a biopharmaceuticals developing microRNA-based treatments for cardiovascular and muscle disease. According to miRagen Therapeutics, it has raised $20M in a Series B, which was led by Remeditex Ventures, and also included Amgen--an existing investor sin the company--along with Atlas Venture, Boulder Ventures Ltd., and Broadview Ventures. miRagen is based in Boulder, Colorado.
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Clearstone Portfolio Firm Cetas Acquired By VMware
Santa Monica-based Clearstone Ventures has had another exit in its portfolio, this time with the acquisition of Cetas, a developer of cloud data analytics software, by VMware. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Cetas was incubated in Clearstone's Palo Alto offices by Sudhakar Muddu, a Ph.D. from UCLA. The acquisition is the third acquisition involving either EMC or VMware from Clearstone's portfolio, including Muddu's last company, Kazeon (acquired by EMC in 2009), and IT man (More info...)
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SocialAnnex Backed By Who's Who Of SoCal Angels
Los Angeles-based SocialAnnex, a startup helping online retailers to use social media to spur sales, has scored a round of funding from a who's who of Southern California technology angels, the firm said Tuesday. According to SocialAnnex, Kamran Pourzanjani of PriceGrabber.com, Brian S. Lee of Legalzoom.com and ShoeDazzle, Jody Mulkey of Shopzilla, and Lawrence Ng of Oversee.net have all invested in the site. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed. As part of the funding, the fir (More info...)
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CODA Inks EV Development Deal With Great Wall Motors
Santa Monica-based CODA Holdings, the developer of electric vehicles and battery systems, announced today that it has inked a contract with Chinese automotive producer Great Wall Motors Company, to jointly develop an all-electric vehicle for the worldwide market. CODA did not detail financials behind the deal, but said that the two will co-develop a new vehicle designed for the North American, Chinese, and European markets. The companies said the new, co-developed EV will be aimed at being the " (More info...)
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Zui.com Launches New Social Networking Features
Zui.com, the kid's website focused on providing screened content and information to kids, is expanding its services today, saying that it has launched "Facetube", which combines the best social sharing aspects of Facebook with the channels of YouTube. The new, curated environment allows kids to socialize around age-appropriate content, and is aimed at providing a more appropriate environment for kids to socialize in, instead of Facebook. Zui.com, which is based in San Diego and headed by Cliff B (More info...)
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DataPop Raises $7M
Los Angeles-based DataPop, the developer of advertising targeting technology headed byJason Lehmbeck, has raised $7M in a Series B funding round, the firm said today. The funding was led by MK Capital, and also included prior investors Rincon Ventures, IA Ventures, Momentum Ventures, and Accelerator Ventures. Lehmbeck said that the new funding round will go towards expanding its L.A. offices and doubling its staff. DataPop said it now is influencing more than $100M in ad spend for agencies and b (More info...)
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Amgen Founding CEO George Rathmann Dies
George Rathmann, the founding CEO of Thousand Oaks biotech giant Amgen, has died, the company announced late Monday evening. Rathmann served as founding CEO of Amgen from 1980 to 1988, and was Chairman of the company until 1990. Rathman helped secure Amgen's venture capital funding and guide Amgen to its IPO, as well as growing the company to one of the largest biotech firms in the world. Rathmann was 84.
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Interview with Lane Soelberg, Weplay
If you're a family with kids in sports, how do you share all those videos, photos, and other memories about your kids games? Where do you organize and share all the information about your team's games? Los Angeles-based Weplay (www.weplay.com) is hoping to be the site for all of that, and more. The firm--which is backed by such investors as Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, LeBron James, and Jennie Finch--is headed by CEO Lane Soelberg, who spoke to us a bit about what the firm's up to. First of (More info...)
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NetDNA Launches SSL Product
Los Angeles content delivery network (CDN) provider NetDNA said today that it has partnered with GlobalSign, a provider of online security products, to launch a new secure sockets layer (SSL) certification product. According to the two, the new offering provides one-stop, SSL certificates for NetDNA's content delivery network, based on a low monthly fee. The new service is aimed at providing SSL certificates for e-commerce users using NetDNA's CDN services.
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Punchcard Links With Local Marketing Group
Pasadena-based Punchcard, the developer of mobile loyalty applications which is headed by Andy Steuer, said today that it has signed an agreement with KDA Group, a local marketing agency. Punchcard said the agreement authorizes the agency--one of the largest in the U.S.--to sell, manage, and promote Punchcard's products. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. KDA helps its clients drive local leads for their brands. Punchcard develops a mobile app which rewards consumers for retu (More info...)
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Cornerstone OnDemand Expands Board
Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, the developer of cloud-based talent and human resources management software, said today that it has added Steve Singh, CEO of Concur Technologies, to its board of directors. Concur is a provider of travel and expense management software for the enterprise market. Singh also has served at Symantec. Cornerstone OnDemand is headed by Adam Miller.
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