Wednesday, May 30, 2012Virgin Galactic Gets FAA Launch PermitIn another, big step this week for Southern California's startup space vehicle industry, Virgin Galactic, the Sir Richard Branson-backed effort to commercialize sub-orbital flight vehicles for space tourism, said Wednesday that it has been granted an experimental launch permit from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Virgin Galactic said that Mojave-based Scaled Composites was granted the permit from the FAA to launch its suborbital spacecraft, SpaceshiptTwo, from its custom WhiteKnightTw (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2012(Full story)
StartEngine Aligns With NeohireLos Angeles-based StartEngine, the venture accelerator run by former Activision founder Howard Marks, has aligned with recruiting firm Neohire, Neohire has announced. According to Neohire, it is in an exclusive partnership with StartEngine to provide portfolio companies with unlimited access to its database of resumes and candidates. Neohire also said it iwll be advising StartEngine's startups on hiring key personnel. Neohire's founders are brothers Josh and Jason Stomel.
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BeachMint Powers New Lingerie Line From Brooke BurkeLos Angeles-based BeachMint, the celebrity-meets-ecommerce startup which already has a impressive lineup of celebrity-linked ecommerce sites, is launching a new site--this time, with celebrity Brooke Burke-Charvet. The firm is getting set to launch site intiMINT, which InStyle reported Wednesday will feature a line of lingerie from Burke, including a "mix of comfy and cute bras, bottoms, loungewear, and sleepwear". The new site will be the fifth in a series of sites launched by BeachMint, includ (More info...)
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Stocktwits Ties Into PR NewswireSan Diego-based micro-messaging service StockTwits, which is headed by Howard Lindzon and focuses on stocks and financial information, has inked a deal to tie its service into PR Newswire, the company said Wednesday afternoon. According to StockTwits, it is providing its StockTwits Enterprise Service for Investor Relations as part of PR Newswire's Capital Markets Visibility 365 program. The company said the move will help PR Newswire's clients gain insight into social media conversations about a (More info...)
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Platinum Equity's Quark Buys Mobile Publishing FirmA firm owned by Los Angeles private equity firm Platinum Equity, desktop publishing tools maker Quark, has acquired a UK-based firm developing cloud-based, tablet and mobile publishing software. Quark, which was acquired by Platinum Equity in August of 2011, said it has acquired Mobile IQ, the maker of the Pressrun cloud based, mobile publishing tool. Pressrun is used by publishers to create and publish tablet magazines, newspapers, catalogs, and other publications. Financial terms of the acquis (More info...)
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ParkMe Launches In AustinSanta Monica-based ParkMe, the mobile apps startup founded by Sam Friedman and Alex Israel, has launched its coverage of parking in Austin, Texas, the company said Wednesday morning. The firm said its free, iPhone app allows users in Austin to now find real-time availability of garage and street parking. The company said Austin is the first market where it's launching its real-time application. ParkMe's apps pull data from parking garages, street sensors, and other sources to help people find op (More info...)
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Punchcard Partners With Marketing Agency, Ad NetworkPasadena-based Punchcard, the Idealab startup working on mobile loyalty applications, reported this morning that it is in a joint partnership with KDA Group, a local marketing agency, and mobile-local ad network xAd. According to the company, the three will offer up businesses with "comprehensive consumer acquisition strategies" for acquiring new customers. The deal will link xAd's local advertising network for mobile sites, which will drive usage of Punchcard's loyalty applications. Financial d (More info...)
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Interview with Wil Schroter, FundableIf you're a startup business owner, how do you get to the next step, and build your first product? One way is getting funding from your potential customers. That's the idea behind a new startup, Fundable, headed by serial entrepreneur Wil Schroter, which allows you to use rewards -- product, company schwag, an even equity -- as a tool to get your startup to the next stage. Wil--who has previously been involved in such starutps as Affordit, GotCast, GoBig Network, and several others--sat down wit (More info...)
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MeLLmo Unveils New Roambi Publishing ToolSan Diego-based MeLLmo, the developer of the Roambi mobile software to create enterprise business intelligence reports, is unveiling a new feature today to allow users to create and publish their own visualizations to the Apple iOS App store. The new feature, called Roambi ESX, will allow companies to publish interactive charts and graphs directly to the iPad. The company looks to be aiming at publishing and research firms with the new feature. The published iPad apps will be sold like tradition (More info...)
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THQ Plans Next WWE InstallmentAgoura Hills-based THQ announced the next installment of its WWE focused videogames, WWE '13 this morning, saying that it plans to release the latest WWE title on October 30th. The game, currently under development, will run on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the Nintendo Wii. THQ said the new title will include WWE Live, an audio and presentation system which will feature the atmosphere of a live WWE event, a flashback to WWE's "Monday Night Wars" and the era of Stone Cold Steve Austin; and new an (More info...)
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Quantum Delivers Plug-In-Hybrid F-150Irvine-based Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies, the developer of vehicle propulsion systems and other alternative fuel vehicle technology, reported today that it has delivered a pilot version of a Ford F-150, featuring a plug-in-hybrid electric (PHEV) drive system. The company said the vehicle was delivered to Florida Power & Light Company, in a collaboration with lithium-ion battery system supplier Dow Kokam. Quantum Fuel Systems did not say if Florida Power & Light would be taking delivery of (More info...)
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Quality Systems Adds Rosenzweig To BoardIrvine-based Quality Systems, the publicly held provider of electronic health record and practice management software for the medical and dental market, said today that it has appointed Lance Rosenzweig to its board of directors. Rosenzweig is the founder and CEO of 24/7 Card, a provider of pre-paid debit cards, and also founded PeopleSupport, which he founded in 1998, took public and eventually sold in 2008, and which was one of the successful companies out of Southern California's own Dot Com (More info...)
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