Thursday, June 28, 2012


ServiceNow Prices IPO, To Hit Market Friday
San Diego-based ServiceNow priced its IPO on Thursday, at $18.00 per share, above its estimated initial offering range of $15.00 to $17.00. The firm is set to trade as NOW on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. ServiceNow is venture backed by JMI Equity, Sequoia Capital, and Greylock Partners. The firm's IPO performance is being closely watched, as it is the first, technology IPO to hit the markets since the Facebook IPO debacle.
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Kuapay Gets $4M
Santa Monica-based Kuapay, a developer of mobile wallet software for the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, said Thursday that it has raised $4M in a funding round. Name of the investor in the company was not announced. KuaPay, which is headed by Joaquin Ayuso de Paul, said the funding will go towards expansion in New York, Europe, and Asia. Kuapay did not say if the funding announced by the firm includes the $2M disclosed by the company in April. Kuapay's software allows people to pay for merchan (More info...)
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Hulu In Deal With HBO On Japanese Distribution
Los Angeles-based Hulu said Thursday that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with HBO, to distribute American TV programming to Japan. Hulu said the deal will make select HBO shows available to Hulu subscribers in Japan, including "Sex And The City" and "The Sopranos". Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Hulu said it now has over 800 films and nearly 6,900 TV show episodes available in the country. Hulu launched its Japanese service in September of 2011.
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Getty Expands Google Goggles Coverage
Are you a frequent visitor to the Getty Center or Getty Villa, the prominent Los Angeles museums run by the J. Paul Getty Trust? If so, you might make sure you have Google Goggles, the free Android and iPhone app from Google, loaded on your phone. According to the Getty, it has now increased its Google Googles coverage to 60 percent of the objects on display at the museum, making it easier for visitors to identify artwork, pull additional related information, and audio related to those objects. (More info...)
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Maker Studio Tops One Billion Monthly Views
What kind of audience can you possibly get with posting content to YouTube? Apparently, a very, very large one. Los Angeles-based Maker Studios, which produces content for publishing on YouTube, reports today that is has just reached more than one billion monthly view for the month of June, 2012. Maker Studios says it is producing and distributing content for 1,000 channels. Maker takes up-and-coming YouTube talent, helping them to create their own brands and produce content. Maker Studios is he (More info...)
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LEHR Extending Into Boat Motors
Los Angeles-based LEHR, the startup developing environmentally friendly, propane-powered lawn and garden trimmers and other products, is branching out into the boat industry, with a new propane-powered boat motor. LEHR's new engines, which have been making the rounds of trade show for the last few months, use propane--instead of gasoline--as an alternative fuel. LEHR is known for its propane-powered lawn trimmers, lawn mowers, and leaf blowers, which use those standard green propane tanks--typi (More info...)
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IOGEAR Tackles 2D-to-3D Conversion
Foothill Ranch-based IOGEAR is looking to encourage adoption of 3D televisions this week, saying that it has launched a new, 2D-to-3D device called 3D Complete+. According to IOGEAR, its new product is a 4-port, HDMI switcher which upscales standard 2D digital videos and photos into high definition content, and provides user-defined 3D effects for any content. IOGEAR said its device can be used with any 3D TV, and adds "depth" and "pop" to any digital content. The new device acts much like audio (More info...)
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OneRoof Energy Hires General Counsel
San Diego-based OneRoof Energy, the provider of solar leasing and financing, said this morning that it has named Dalton Sprinkle as the firm's Vice President of Corporate Development and General Counsel. Sprinkle was previously EVP and Chief Legal Officer for Carbon Motors, and also has served at Applied Solar. OneRoof--which is Hanwha International and Black Coral Capital--provides solar leases (PPAs), which are used to help homeowners install solar energy systems at little or no upfront cost, (More info...)
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MaintenanceNet Adds Technology VP, Expands HQ
Carlsbad-based software-as-a-service provider MaintenanceNet has expanded both its executive team and headquarters, this firm said today. The company, which is led by Scott Herron, said it has named Curt Baldwin as its new Vice President of Technology, and has doubled its existing office space in Carlsbad. The firm said the headquarters expansion will allow it to handle new hires and a new development center at the company. MaintenanceNet is a provider of software used for managing service contr (More info...)
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Tech Coast Angels Backs Influenza Treatment Developer
The Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel investment group in Southern California, has backed a developer of treatments for the flu., According to Gemmus Pharma, it raised an angel funding round led by the Life Science Angels, and also including the Tech Coast Angels, BlueTree Allied Angels, Wilmington Investor Network and The Angels Forum. Size of the round was not announced, but a regulatory filing says the firm recently raised $1.45M in a $1.8M funding round. Gemmus Pharma is based in San Fran (More info...)
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Interview with Matthew Goldman, Wallaby
Do you have a wallet full of rewards credit cards, but don't have any idea how to best earn enough points to take advantage of those rewards? A few days ago, Wallaby (http://www.walla.by) the latest startup out of Los Angeles technology incubator MuckerLab unveiled itself, to solve just that problem. We spoke with founder Matthew Goldman about the startup. What is Wallaby? Matthew Goldman: We're helping people to simplify the decision they make when they pay for products. We're bringing (More info...)
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Rubicon: We're Second In Online Advertising Audience
Los Angeles-based Rubicon Project, the online advertising optimization technology firm headed by Frank Addante, said that it has been ranked second in terms of unique visitors in online advertising reach, second only to Google. Rubicon said the ranking was released in the comScore Media Metrix monthly ranking of Ad Focus properties for May 2012. Rubicon said it is now reaching 200 million unique visitors in the United States and 650 million global unique visitors. Rubicon Project's online advert (More info...)
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MuckerLab Teams With Mozilla, Opens Fall Apps
Los Angeles-based startup accelerator MuckerLab announced this morning that it has teamed with Mozilla and its WebFWD program, to create a new, joint acceleration program aimed at open source entrepreneurs. According to MuckerLab, the new, joint program will offer open source entrepreneurs to create their new ventures at the group's Los Angeles offices, with a goal of transforming open source projects into business. Mozilla's WebFWD is a three month accelerator program aimed at open source entep (More info...)
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FindTheBest Makes Chart Embedding Easier
Santa Barbara-based FindTheBest, the comparison site headed by former DoubleClick founder Kevin O'Connor, has started making its various comparison charts embeddable in other websites, the firm said today. The firm is making it easy for web publishers to create their own, embeddable comparison charts, for embedding into a web page. The move is part of an expansion the firm is making to encourage distribution of its data to other web sites. The firm had previously been going through one-off, cust (More info...)
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DogVacay Adds Andreessen Horowitz As Investor
Los Angeles-based Dogvacay, the online marketplace which helps dog owners find people to pet sit their dogs, is announcing this morning that it has added Andreessen Horowitz as an investor at the company. Size of the investment was not disclosed. According to DogVacay, Andreessen Horowitz joins existing investors First Round Capital, Science Inc., Ben Ling, Ted Rheingold, Quest Venture Partners, and Baroda Ventures, which invested in a round of funding for the firm in March. DogVacay, led by Aar (More info...)
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Novatel Wireless Wins Italian Firm
San Diego-based Novatel Wireless reported this morning that it has scored a design win for its wireless modules, at TIESSE SpA, an Italian telemetry device manufacturer. Novatel said its M2M Enabler modules are being integrated into routers being developed by the firm for an Italian utility. Shipment volumes and financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Novatel's modules are being used to transmit electricity meter data over communications networks.
posted on Thursday, June 28, 2012(Full story)