Monday, October 1, 2012Two Socal Firms Make Windows Azure Accelerator ProgramTwo, Southern California companies are on the list of the next class for Microsoft's startup accelerator, the Microsoft Accelerator for Windows Azure, according to Microsoft Monday. Microsoft said it had ten finalists who will be included in the three month program--powered by TechStars--to help accelerate companies using Windows Azure. The two Southern California companies were Embarke, a San Diego firm which helps develops integrate with email, text messaging, Twitter, and Facebook through a s (More info...)
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EQAL Acquisition By Everyday Health Included $12.5M In StockA recent regulatory filing by Everyday Health, the digital media publisher, shows that its acquisition of Los Angeles-based EQAL included both cash and stock, with the stock portion worth $12.5M. The filing did not reveal the full price for EQAL, the media and content developer founded by Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried. Financial terms of the acquisition haven't been announced by either company. EQAL came onto the scene with its Youtube hit, lonelygirl15, and has since been involved in a lengt (More info...)
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Wheelz Expands In Los AngelesPeer-to-peer car sharing service Wheelz has expanded into the Los Angeles, saying that it has added four college campuses in Los Angeles to its list of local schools where it lets students share their cars with others. According to Wheelz, it has added the Claremont Colleges, Loyola marymount, Caltech, and Occidental to its list of local schools, which already includes USC and UCLA. Wheelz lets people offer up their cars for rent, via a special in-car box and integrated smartphone apps. Wheelz i (More info...)
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Viewdle Being Acquired By Google, Says ReportViewdle, a developer of computer vision technology which is venture backed by Anthem Ventures and Qualcomm, among others, is in the midst of an acquisition by Google, according to reports today. The original report came via Forbes, with followup from TechCrunch. TechCrunch said the acquisition is worth around $30M. Viewdle, which was originally backed by Santa Monica based venture firm Anthem Venture Partners, was originally founded in Kiev, and now has operations sprinkled around the globe. V (More info...)
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Playsino Buys Two Social Gaming FirmsLos Angeles-based Playsino, which develops social casino games, said today that it has acquired two social gaming firms, including Popover Games and Foghorn Games. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Popover Games develops social casino games such as Popover Poker. Foghorn Games is a developer of Popover's social casino game Bingo Around the World. Popover was founded in October of 2010; Playsino is headed by Brock Pierce. Playsino is backed by such investors as IDM Venture Capital, P (More info...)
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Fandango Names Yanover PresidentFandango, the online and mobile movie ticketing provider based in Los Angeles, has hired former Disney Online executive Paul Yanover as President, the company said today. Yanover was formerly xecutive vice-president and managing director of Disney Online, and also worked on Disney's family sites, including Family.com, FamilyFun.com, Kaboose.com, and Babyzone.com. Yanover had also previously served at Disney Parks & Resorts Online, as well as co-founded and headed by digital picture frame firm Ce (More info...)
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Factual Bolsters Advisory BoardFactual, the Los Angeles-based data startup headed by Gil Elbaz, said today that it has added two new members to its advisory board. Factual said that it has added Clare Hart and Jason Rosenthal to its list of advisors; Hart was most recently President and CEO of Infogroup, and also served at Dow Jones & Company, Dow
Jones Enterprise Media Group, and was CEO of Factiva. Rosenthal was most recently EVP of Products at Glam Media, and was CEO of Ning; he also has served at AOL, Netscape, Loudcloud (More info...)
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Actv8 Gets $3.2MBeverly Hills-based Actv8, a developer of mobile applications for Hollywood and the television industry, has raised $3.2M in a funding round, according to a recent regulatory filing by the firm. Source of the funding and details have not been announced. Actv8's apps work with live television, and are being used by such shows as So You Think You Can Dance, MasterChef, The Celebrity Apprentice, and more; the company has deals with Virgin Produced, Fox, Oxygen, and others.
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Transphorm Gets $35M MoreGoleta-based Transphorm, the developer of power conversion technology being aimed at motors, power supplies, and solar power inverters, announced today that it has raised $35M in a Series E funding round. The round was led by Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) and Nihon Inter Electronics Company (NIEC), and also included prior investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Foundation Capital, Google Ventures, Quantum Strategic Partners, Lux Capital, and Bright Capital. According to Tra (More info...)
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JAKKS Pacific, NantWorks In Toy Joint VentureLos Angeles-based NantWorks, the technology incubation and investment firm run by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, and Malibu-based toy firm JAKKS Pacific announced this morning that the two are in a join venture to create anew company, DreamPlay Toys. The two said the joint venture will develop, market, and sell toys and consumer products using image recognition technology from Nantworks. Financial details of the joint venture were not announced. The two said the deal will create toys which wil (More info...)
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Eventful Ties With Billboard On Concert AwardsSan Diego-based local events site Eventful is powering a big concert award with music publication and brand Billboard. According to the two, they have launched the fifth annual Eventful Fans' Choice Award, which will allow music fans and concert goers to vote for their favorite concert tour, via Eventful's platform. The companies said that nominees for the Eventful 2012 Fans' Choice Award will come ia a combination of Billboard's Boxscore chart and Eventful's fan Demands; those awards will be pr (More info...)
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Mahalo's New Name, Pivot: Inside.com?Is Santa Monica-based Mahalo, the startup headed by Jason Calacanis, just about to reveal a new pivot and new corporate name? According to a story from TechCrunch this morning, yes. The story says that many signs point to a rebranding of Mahalo.com, the online information and advice site started by Calacanis originally as a "human powered search engine" is now pivoting to create a new "knowledge community, focused on creating high-quality videos, apps, iBooks and written courses"--called Inside. (More info...)
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FreedomPop Launches Free Wireless Internet ServiceLos Angeles-based FreedomPop, a new startup backed by Mangrove Capital, DCM, and Atomico, said this morning that it has launched a beta of a free, wireless Internet service based off of Clearwire's 4G wireless network. The firm said it will offer up up to 500MB of data each month for free, via both a hotspot device and a USB stick for laptops and PCs. The company also said it will be shipping iPhone and iPod sleeves which connect into its network. FreedomPop is also offering up premium subscript (More info...)
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Universal Electronics Settles Patent Lawsuit With LogitechSanta Ana-based Universal Electronics, a developer of wireless remote control technology, and consumer electronics firm Logitech said this morning that the two have settled a patent infringement lawsuit that had been filed by Universal against Logitech. Financial terms and details of the settlement were not announced. The lawsuit had been filed by Universal Electronics in July of 2011, claiming infringement on seventeen of Universal's patents by Logitech. The patent lawsuit stemmed from a fallin (More info...)
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