Tuesday, July 31, 2012


Viddy Rolls Out API, Dangles 10K And Trip To LA
Los Angeles-based Viddy, the developer of mobile apps which allow users to share snippets of video with one another, said this week that it has rolled out its public API, and is offering $10,000 in cash and a trip to Silicon Beach for the best app built using the product. Viddy--which has been compared to Instagram, except for video--opened up an application programming interface which allows developers to access videos out of its public stream, organized by tag, on Monday evening. The firm said (More info...)
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GoPro Plans IPO, Says Report
GoPro, the maker of the popular, wearable, waterproof, sports action cameras for consumers, is planning an IPO, says a report Tuesday afternoon from Reuters. The report--citing sources near to the company--said that GoPro has hired JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Barclays Plc to manage the offering. GoPro--although based in the Bay Area--has a number of Southern California ties, including staff in San Diego, an investment from Burbank-based Steamboat Ventures, plus a group in San Diego it acquire (More info...)
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Avalon Ventures Backs Pingup
Avalon Ventures, the La Jolla- and Cambridge-based venture capital firm, has backed a new startup, Pingup, which lets consumers text nightclubs for reservations and information. According to Pingup Tuesday, it raised $1M in a seed funding round from Avalon Ventures, led by Brady Bohrmann. Pingup is based in Boston, and currently lets users in Boston and Miami's South Beach area text restaurants and nighclubs for reservations and questions.
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StockTwits: Twitter Hijacked Our Idea
San Diego-based Stocktwits, the online, finance focused micro-messaging site run by Howard Lindzon, has a problem: Twitter just made stock tickers on the site clickable, replicating a major feature of Stocktwits. Stocktwits, which allows users to trade short messages around finance topics, has made its business to build a rich set of data and integrations around those stock symbols ($TICKER, ie $AAPL). According to Lindzon in a blog post, Twitter has "hijacked our creation of $TICKER", despite t (More info...)
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NetDNA Snags UberTags
Los Angeles-based content delivery network (CDN) provider NetDNA reported today that it has been selected by online tag management company Ubertags. NetDNA said the customer deployment and co-marketing agreement will allow UberTags to distribute its site content via its network to reduce page load times. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. The firms also said that NetDNA will use UberTags' on its own website. UberTags' cloud-based service is used to manage third party "tags"--those s (More info...)
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Boingo Scores Another Shopping Mall Deal
Los Angeles-based Wi-Fi network operator Boingo Wireless has inked another deal to provide Wi-Fi for a shopping mall operator, the firm reported this morning. Boingo said it has reached an agreement with Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), a developer of "open-air lifestyle centers" in the New York metropolitan area, to provide Wi-Fi at Westchester's Ridge Hill. Westchetsr's Ridge Hill is a 1.3 million square foot mixed use center, which includes Whole Foods, REI, Dick's Sport Goods, and other (More info...)
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LegalZoom IPO Expected Friday
One of the most anticipated IPOs of a Southern California technology firm, LegalZoom is expected to hit the markets Friday, with pricing expected Thursday evening. The firm--which recently set its expected IPO pricing range of $10 to $12 per share--is one of two IPOs expected this week by technology companies. The company is aiming at the New York Stock Exchange, hoping to trade under the symbol LGZ. It's been a long road for the firm, which was founded in 1999, and has raised funding from such (More info...)
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Hulu Plus Heads To Apple TV
Los Angeles-based Hulu said this morning that its Hulu Plus service just debuted on the Apple TV. Hulu said that users of the Apple TV can now start watching Hulu Plus shows via the device. The service requires users to be a current member, or sign up for, the premium Hulu Plus service. Hulu Plus gives users streaming access to Hulu's shows on a variety of devices, in addition to access to episodes and content which are not available on Hulu's free service, including archive and back season epis (More info...)
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Instacanvas Raises $1.7M
Los Angeles-based Instacanvas, the MuckerLab startup which allows any Instagram user to print photos from their stream to a real, canvas print, revealed today that it has raised $1.7M in a funding round. The round came from Founders Fund, First Round Capital, Bullpen Capital, as well as angels. The startup, headed by Matt Munson, allows anyone on Instagram to set up their own photo gallery, and sell their prints to other users on the web, in the form of canvas prints and desktop art. Instacanvas (More info...)
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BlackLine Reports Record Revenues, New Clients
Los Angeles-based BLackLine Systems, the developer of financial accounting software used for automating account reconciliation and financial close, reported this morning that it had record revenues in Q2, and a slate of well known clients. The company said it had 56 percent growth over the comparable quarter a year ago, with revenue up more than 50 percent for the first half of 2012. Actual financial results were not announced by the company. In addition, the firm said it has added such clients (More info...)
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HipGeo Adds Video Support To Mobile App
Fullerton-based HipGeo, the location-based application developer co-founded by Scott Daniel, Jeff Kunzleman and Richard Rygg, has debuted a new mobile app, the company said this morning, which now supports video in its location-based streams. The firm said its new app helps users combine photos, videos, and text, and turns them into "virtual journals" which can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. new app, which runs on the Apple iPhone and other platforms, automatically pulls photos, (More info...)
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Borrego Solar Creates New Solar Energy Fund
San Diego-based Borrego Solar Systems, the venture-backed financier and installer of solar power systems, announced this morning that it has close a new, $64.4M solar financing fund. Borrego said the new fund came from U.S. Bank (Minneapolis) and National Cooperative Bank (Washington, DC), and will go to finance solar energy projects for corporate, education, and municipal customers. Borrego Solar provides power purchase agreements (PPAs), which are used to help financing grid-tied, solar photov (More info...)
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uSamp Adds Gould, Moriarty To Board
Encino-based uSamp, which provides technology and services for market research and surveying, said this morning that it has added Alan Gould and Sean Moriarty to its board of directors. Gould is a Venture Partner with Greycroft Partners, and Moriarty is the former President and CEO of Ticketmaster. Gould, who formerly founded IAG Reserach (acquired by Nielsen), also was on the board of VIZU, which was acquired by Nielsen Company in July, and also serves on the boards of Harris Interactive, among (More info...)
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iRise Strengthens Ties With SAP
El Segundo-based iRise, the developer of visualization software for the enterprise market, has strengthened its links of its products to SAP, the company said this morning. iRise said its software is now being offered as a business add-on to SAP's ASAP methodology, and is being resold by SAP as SAP Application Visualization software by iRise. Details of the business deal between iRise and SAP were not announced. iRise is an existing SAP partner. The comapny develops application visualization sof (More info...)
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