Friday, September 28, 2012Beachmint Trims StaffLos Angeles-based BeachMint, the online e-commerce and celebrity startup, has quietly let go of some staff this Friday, in what an insider called a "slight trim" of the firm's employee base. News of the layoffs first hit began circulating right before noon. BeachMint has not commented on the moves, which is believed to have hit around a dozen employees. BeachMint operates a number of celebrity driven e-commerce sites, which combine selling products--often on subscription--with celebrity endorsem (More info...)
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Quest Software Now Part Of DellAliso Viejo-based Quest Software is now officially part of Dell, Dell said today, after the two firms completed their $2.4 billion acquisition deal. The acquisition of Quest is a significant part of bolstering Dell's software ambitions, with Dell saying that the acquisition will add 100,000 customers, 5,000 channel partners, 1,500 software sales and marketing experts, and 1,300 software developers to the Dell Software Group. Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software develops a wide portfolio of IT manage (More info...)
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GRP Partners Gets IPO At QualysLos Angeles-based venture capital firm GRP Partners has just chalked up an IPO for its portfolio, with the IPO this morning of Redwood City-based Qualys. Qualys priced its IPO last night at $12.00 per share, and was slightly up in morning trading. The firm priced in the midrange of its initial estimate IPO range, which was $11.00 to $13.00 per share. GRP Partners owns 8.3% of Qualys after the IPO, and had initially held a 10.67% stake in the company before the public offering. GRP's investment i (More info...)
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Few SoCal Investors In List Of VCs Using Social MediaKred, a company which it tabulating social media influence, released its list of top venture capitalists this week, with only a single representative from Southern California: Mark Suster of GRP Ventures. Suster was the sole Southern California venture capitalist on the list of top 50 influencers and outreachers, taking sixth place on both rankings. Kred creates its rankings based on how frequently a person is retweeted, replied, mentioned and followed on Twitter. A majority of venture capitalis (More info...)
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Vital Therapies Raises $16MSan Diego-based Vital Therapies, a biotechnology firm focused on treatments for acute liver failure, said Thursday that it has raised $16M, part of a $76M mult-stage commitment to the firm by its investors. The firm said the funding will go towards funding three, phase 3 trails of the company's liver therapy, which is aimed at treating acute liver failure. The trials are being held in the US, EU, and Australia/New Zealand. The firm did not say which of its existing investors are participating in (More info...)
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Viddy: Last Day For Contest SubmissionsToday (Friday) is the last day for contest submissions for Los Angeles-based mobile video sharing site Viddy, the company said last night, as part of its "Rule the Beach: Hack Your Way into Viddy" contest. Viddy is dangling $10,000 and a trip to Los Angeles to interview for a position at the company, which it looking to do for mobile videos what Instagram did for photos. Viddy--which has been running its contest for the last two months--said that submissions are due on or before midnight.
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Contour Energy Targets Use In Medical DevicesAzusa-based Contour Energy Systems, the venture backed developers of advanced battery systems, said today that it is targeting the medical device market with its products. The firm said its Li/CFx battery cells are particularly well-suited for medical applications, due to a flat discharge profile, low internal resistance, and light weight. The firm said it hopes that manufacturers of drug infusion pumps, neurostimulators, pacemakers, bone-growth stimulators, glucose monitors, defibrillators and (More info...)
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Delivery.com Expands Into Los AngelesDelivery.com, which provides online ordering and delivery from restaurants, grocery stores, and other local stores, said Thursday that it has expanded into the Los Angeles area. The New York company said it will provide its delivery services in such areas as Central Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. Delivery.com's service lets users search for nearby restaurants, and browse prices and menus of items for delivery. The service also lists minimum order prices and adds a delivery charge for (More info...)
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Cytori Gets $106M Contract AwardSan Diego-based Cytori Therapeutics, a developer of cell therapy products aimed at treating cardiovascular disease and repairing soft tissue, said today that it has been awarded a contact worth up to $106M. The contract came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Cytori said the contract covers preclinical and clinical development of treatments for thermal burns combined with radiation injury--a new use of its techn (More info...)
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