Wednesday, June 20, 2012


Silicon Beach Heads To The White House To Discuss Jobs, Innovation
A group of high tech executives from Los Angeles and the Silicon Beach ecosystem spent some time early this week talking with senior Obama Administration officials in Washington, D.C., to talk about job creation, the economy, and innovation. According to the group Business Forward, which connects businesses with government leaders, over fifty Southern California executives, including Miles Beckett of EQAL, Diego Berdakin of Beachmint, Paul Bricault and Oded Noy of Amplify, Jonathan Bischke of En (More info...)
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Nimble Trumpets Revenue Growth, Users
Santa Monica-based Nimble, the developer of cloud-based, customer contact management software headed by former Goldmine founder Jon Ferrara, said this week that it has been doubling its month over month revenue since launching its paid platform, and now has over 40,000 registered users. The firm--which did not disclose any actual revenue numbers--develops a cloud-based product which helps users track their business contacts, including emails, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, and other socia (More info...)
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THQ Axes Expansion Plans, Delays Saints Row Release
Agoura Hills-based videogame maker THQ is shifting its plans today to release an expansion for Saints Row: The Third. THQ said this morning that it will instead incorporate the formerly standalone expansion pack, Saints Row: The Third - Enter the Dominatrix, into a new title tentatively titled "The Next Great Sequel in the Saints Row Franchise". THQ said the move came due to a desire to "expand the fiction of the franchise." The move will, however, impact THQ's finances; the firm said it expects (More info...)
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Boingo Signs New Berlin Airport
Los Angeles-based Boingo Wireless is continuing its expansion of its airport Wi-Fi services, saying today that it has been chosen to be the exclusive wi-Fi provider for the new, Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt (BER). Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed, however, the firm said its Boingo Wi-Fi services will be available at the location when it opens on March 17th, 2013. Boingo has been expanding out the network of airports which are using the company to manage their Wi-Fi acce (More info...)
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Insights and Opinions: A Contrarians Viewpoint on the Facebook IPO
For today's Insights and Opinions section, we're sharing the opinions and views of Megan Lisa Jones, an investment banker, attorney, and author. Megan shares her view on what the Facebook IPO means--and doesn't mean. I've been reading the recent press on the Facebook IPO with an increasingly unsatisfied feeling of unease. Yes, NASDAQ botched initial trading, Morgan Stanley got aggressive on pricing and deal size and the company management was perhaps arrogant. But none of these issues, (More info...)
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Gradient X Finds $3.75M For New Mobile Ad Play
A trio of online advertising vets are heading up a new, mobile advertising firm, Gradient X, which said this morning that it has raised $3.75M in a seed financing round. GradientX, led by Brian Baumgart and co-founded by Julie Mattern and Michael Lum, said the new funding round came from Rincon Venture Partners, GRP Partners, Crosscut Ventures, Walter Kortschak, Jim Willenborg, Clark Landry, Founder Collective, Double M Capital, Siemer Ventures and Baroda Ventures. Baumgart is the former Chief S (More info...)
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Broadcom's Samueli Gets Marconi Prize
Henry Samueli, the co-founder of Irvine-based Broadcom, has been awarded a major prize for his work in growing the consumer broadband industry. Samueli has bene awarded the 2012 Marconi Society Prize and Fellowship form the Marconi Society, a group which awards a scientist or engineer an award each year for their efforts in the field of communication and information science. Samueli co-founded Broadcom in 1991 with Ph.D. student Henry Nicholas, when he was a professor at UCLA. The prize is given (More info...)
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Interview with Sam Teller, LaunchpadLA
There is a large menu of startup accelerators in the Los Angeles, but one of more established efforts in the area is LaunchpadLA (http://www.launchpad.la). The effort actually started as an informal mentoring program, but has grown and expanded to follow the accelerator model. We caught up with Sam Teller, who is directing efforts at the accelerator, to help fill entrepreneurs in on where the program fits in the world of technology and startup acceleration. For readers, LaunchpadLA is all a (More info...)
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Active Network Targets Adventure Sporting Events, Mud Runs
San Diego-based Active Network, which operates a network of sports-focused websites and services, said today that it is aiming at the growing popularity of gamified, hyper social events with a new portal. The firm said its new Mob Experience on Active.com is aimed at sporting events where participants compete and socialize by jumping over fire, crawling through mud, outrunning zombies and getting splashed with paint. Active.com said the new portal will help consumers find, prepare for, and share (More info...)
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Sonos SUB Hits The Market
Santa Barbara-based wireless music system manufacturer Sonos has begun shipping its new Sonos Sub wireless subwoofer, which connects into its wireless systems. Sonos said Tuesday the new subwoofer costs $699 in a high gloss, black lacquer finish; the firm also said it will be offering a Sonos SUB in matte black in October for $599. The new subwoofer is the latest, wireless speaker from Sonos, which makes it very easy to control a whole house full of audio equipment, stream music from a PC or the (More info...)
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GreatCall Gets $7.0M In Venture Loan
San Diego-based GreatCall has scored a $7.0M, subordinated venture loan, according to lender NXT Capital. GreatCall said the funding will go to invest in adoption of its 5Star urgent response platform. GreatCall is venture backed by Charles River Ventures, Court Square Ventures, Nauta Capital, Steelpoint Capital Partners and Sumitomo. The firm's cell phone services and handsets are aimed at the senior market.
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Quest Software Bidders Up Offer
Aliso Veijo-based Quest Software said late Tuesday that Insight Venture Partners and its affiliates have raised their offer for the firm to $25.75 per share in cash, up from their original offer of $23.00 per share in cash. The increased offer comes after a new, un-named strategic bidder offered $25.50 per share for the company last week. Quest said the new offer is a 33 percent premium to its closing stock price prior to the announcement of the Insight acquisition deal. The other strategic bidd (More info...)
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SRS Labs Wins VIZIO
Santa Ana-based SRS Labs, the developer of surround sound and other audio technology, said today that VIZIO is using its technology in its newly announced line of personal computers. SRS did not say how much the deal was worth to the company. SRS Labs develops sound processing technology which improves the quality of audio, providing surround sound to PCs. VIZIO announced its entry into the PC market last week with a all-in-one, notebook, and thin-and-light PC.
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