Tuesday, October 16, 2012Report: Fisker Delays Plug-In Sedan Until 2014Irvine-based Fisker Automotive has delayed the release of its plug-in hybrid car, the Fisker Atlantic, until at least 2014, according to Green Car Reports. News of the delay came at a news conference Monday. Fisker had originally said it would start shipping the Atlantic (formerly Project Nina) in 2012. Fisker has raised more than $1.2 billion for its efforts to kickstart its own automobile firm; the firm's backers include such notable companies as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enter (More info...)
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ThinkNear Among SoCal's First Accelerator ExitsThe acquisition Tuesday of ThinkNear, the mobile advertising firm headed by Eli Portnoy, looks to be among the first accelerator-incubated companies in Southern California. The catch? ThinkNear was accelerated via TechStars New York, and moved here after participating in that program on the East Coast--and not from one of the many local accelerators that have cropped up lately. TeleNav said it would pay $22.5M for ThinkNear Tuesday morning, and make the company part of its mobile, local advertis (More info...)
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Fisker Battery Supplier A123 Files For BankruptcyA123 Systems, the electric battery supplier for Irvine-based electric auto firm Fisker Automotive, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as A123's woes finally took down the company, and a failed rescue by a Chinese firm fell through. Fisker Automotive was the flagship customer for A123. Both firms suffered a huge black eye last year after defective cells in A123's batteries resulted in a huge recall on Fisker's Karma sedan. A123--which is based in Waltham, Mass.--said in a statement that the mov (More info...)
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Goldstar Integrates With Apple's PassbookUsers of Apple's new iPhone 5 and iOS 6 have another vendor supporting Apple's new wallet feature, Passbook today, as Goldstar, the Pasadena-based provider of half price live entertainment tickets announced integration with the feature. Goldstar, which offers last-minute bargains on live events like concerts, theater, comedy, sports, and other entertainment, said that Goldstar's mobile website and "will call" purchase confirmations are now Passbook compatible. Details on tickets purchase through (More info...)
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SoCal's Cloud Dreams Surface At OpenStack SummitA conference being held this week by the OpenStack cloud software group has surfaced what looks to be a surge in cloud-based companies in Southern California, including a number of startups. OpenStack is a new group which is focusing on establishing a standard set of applications and configurations for allowing enterprises and developers to run their cloud-based apps in a standard way across different ISPs, based on open source software spun out of Rackspace.
Among the area companies showing (More info...)
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Inktank In Two PartnershipsInktank, the developer of the the Ceph open source, distributed storage software, said today that it has inked two partnerships. In two separate announcements, the firm said that it has linked with Canonical, the developer of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, and also partnered with Pasadena-based Metacloud, the startup developing a fully managed, private cloud service. In the Ubuntu link, Inktank said that the deal will expand integration of Ceph into Ubuntu. Ceph will provide the object and block (More info...)
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HireRight Launches Outplacement Service Powered By CareerArcIrvine-based HireRight has launched a new outplacement service and "career transition" product, which is powered by Los Angeles-based CareerArc Group, the developer of TweetMyJobs and Internships.com. HireRight said its new HireRight CareerBeam product helps match employees to new jobs, using social networks for referrals, and applying job-matching algorithms. HireRight is looking to offer the service to companies for helping in outplacement and in restructuring efforts. CareerArc Group is head (More info...)
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ThinkNear Acquired By TeleNavLos Angeles-based ThinkNear, the developer of hyper-local mobile advertising technology headed by Eli Portnoy, has been acquired by TeleNav, TeleNav said this morning. TeleNav said it would pay $22.5M, consisting of $18.5M in cash plus restricted stock and assumed options for ThinkNear. All of ThinkNear's twelve employees are joining TeleNav's mobile local advertising group. ThinkNear was venture backed by IA Ventures, Google Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Metamorphic Ventures, Real Ventures, ff V (More info...)
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textPlus Lands $18M, Buys JarvustextPlus, the maker of the popular texting application by the same name, said today that it has raised $18M in a new funding round, led by The Raine Group. Prior investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Matrix Partners and GRP Partners also participated in the funding. In addition to the new funding, the company also said it has acquired Los Angeles-based Jarvus, which develops an app to people capture and share experiences, events and moments together. textPlus, which is based in Marina Del Re (More info...)
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Media Temple Launches OpenStack CloudLos Angeles-based web hosting firm Media Temple, which is led by Demian Sellfors, has launched a new cloud service around the OpenStack cloud standard, the firm said this morning. Media Temple said its new Helix private cloud service--powered by Morphlabs and Dell--lets businesses run their own private clouds. OpenStack is an emerging standard which provides a standard way to deploy cloud applications, making it easier for companies to move their apps between private and public clouds, and betwe (More info...)
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Catching Up With Jeffrey Stibel of D&B CredibilityJeffrey Stibel has been quietly building a technology powerhouse in Malibu, leveraging the D&B brand at D&B Credibility Corp. (www.dandb.com) and applying what he's learned over the years running Internet companies to the venerable brand. The firm is backed by more than $100M in funding from private equity firm Great Hill Partners. Stibel is also very active in supporting the Los Angeles startup ecosystem as an angel investor. We thought we'd catch up with Stibel to hear how the firm has been g (More info...)
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Ingram Micro Completes BrightPoint BuySanta Ana-based Ingram Micro said Monday that it has acquired BrightPoint, a distributor of products for the wireless market. Ingram said it is paying $9.00 per share in cash for BrightPoint. The deal is worth approximately $840M. The deal had originally been announced in July. Ingram Micro said the combined revenues of the two firms is now more than $41 billion.
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Patagonia Invests In AeonClad CoatingsVentura, California-based outdoor clothing manufacturer Patagonia said Monday that it has made an investment in Teas-based AeonClad Coatings, a developer of water-repellent coatings and other specialty coatings technology. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed, however, Patagonia said it now has a 15 percent equity stake in AeonClad Coatings. Patagonia is using AeonClad's technology as part of a water-repellent down filling being used in its products. AeonClad's technology provi (More info...)
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Nimble Names VP EngineeringLos Angeles-based Nimble, the developer of cloud-based, customer relationship management (CRM) and contact management tools, has hired a new VP of Engineering, the company said today. Nimble said it has hired Brandon Vallade, former Vice President of Technology at Fox Digital Media to the position. Nimble said that Vallade had headed up the 40-plus digital media team building websites and mobile apps for FOXSports.com, FOX.com, AmericanIdol.com and other Fox Network Group digital properties. Nim (More info...)
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Cinedigm Deploys In The CaribbeanLos Angeles-based Cinedigm, a developer of digital cinema products, said today that it has deployed its products in the Caribbean. The firm said the deal is its first large scale deployment outside the continental US and Canada. Cinedigm said that Caribbean Cinemas will deploy up to 290 screens using its technology. No financial details of the win were announced. Cinedigm provides software, hardware, and services around digital distribution of movies.
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