Thursday, October 18, 2012Row 44 Signs Another Russian AirlineWestlake Village-based in-flight wireless and entertainment hardware provider Row 44 has signed up its second Russian airline customer, the firm said this week. Row 44 said that it has added UTair Aviation, which it called a "leading airline" in Russia, as a customer for its high-speed Internet access and entertainment service. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed, and Row 44 did not say how many planes UTair plans to install with its systems. Row 44's inflight Wi-Fi services are powere (More info...)
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Qualcomm Keeps The Faith With Validity Sensors InvestmentQualcomm Ventures, the venture capital arm of Qualcomm, is keeping the faith in one of its portfolio companies, Validity Sensors, a developer of fingerprint sensors for the PC, mobile, and tablet market. Qualcomm was one of the return investors in a $20M, Series E funding round for Validity, along with TeleSoft Partners, Crosslink Capital, Panorama Capital, and Venture Tech Associates. Qualcomm has been an investor in Validity since at least 2006. The new round was announced Thursday.
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Avalon Ventures Backs Selectable MediaSan Diego-based venture investor Avalon Ventures has backed a developer of video advertising products, Selectable Media, to the tune of $2M. Selectable Media, which is based in New York, lets users opt into branded video advertising in exchange for free access to content on web and mobile apps. The funding round actually closed on September 5th, according to regulatory details released last month, and Selectable Media has been listed on Avalon's site since last month; more details on the funding (More info...)
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Cebix Gains $30.9M For Diabetes TreatmentsLa Jolla-based Cebix, a biopharmaceutcials company that is developing treatments for complications due to diabetes, said this week that it has raised $30.9M in a Series B investment round. The funding came from its existing investors, which include InterWest, Sofinnova Ventures and Thomas, McNerney & Partners. Cebix said the funding comes after the completion of a Phase 1/2 trial of its lead drug for treating peripheral neuropathy. The firm is now planning to launch a Phase 2b trial in early Q2 (More info...)
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Burner Lands Angel RoundAd Hoc Labs, the developer behind the Burner mobile app, has just scored a round of angel funding. Size of the round was not disclosed. Burner is a mobile app which allows users to create disposable phone numbers, which they can hand out to people for one-time or temporary use. The funding came from 500 Startups, David Cohen, Ted Rheingold, Robert Goldberg, Kevin Slavin, Ric Calvillo, and others. Ad Hoc Labs is headed by Greg Cohn, said the funding will go towards buildling out new features for (More info...)
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GraphEffect Launches New Social Marketing, Collaboration PlatformSanta Monica-based GraphEffect has launched a new product effort today, saying it has launched SHIFT.com, a new platform which connects people across and within organizations. GraphEffect said its new platform also includes and API and connections into third party app provider, including Lettuce, Gradient X, HYFN, Kenshoo, and The Resumator. GraphEffect said that SHIFT helps develops make business software applications more collaborative, and includes such features as single sign in using OAuth (More info...)
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The Guts, The Glory, and The (Virtual) Gold of Bragstr, with Jon KnarreborgSports fans: how do you prove you're the master of sports knowledge and sports predictions? What's the best way to claim your position among your friends as tops in the world of everything sports? How about an online game? We spoke with Jon Knarreborg, co-founder of Bragstr (www.bragstr.com), a new Los Angeles startup, about how the company's new social game lets you prove your sports knowledge and prediction skills by challenging your friends in a virtual fantasy league, revolving around wageri (More info...)
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Helix Medical Buys MedVenture TechnologyCarpinteria-based Helix Medical, a manufacturer for the medical device and healthcare industry, has acquired MedVenture Technology Corp., a medical device design, development, and manufacturing company. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. MedVenture is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, and has offices in Indiana and Minnesota. MedVenture was owned by private equity firm Ampersand Capital Partners. Helix said the buy will enhance its ability to offer product design, development, a (More info...)
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Factual Goes Real-Time On UpdatesFactual, the Los Angeles provider of a huge dataset of location information and other data available via API, said last night that the firm has just turned on real time updates on the service. The company--which serves up location-based information and other huge, common datasets to mobile and other software developers--said that it has extended its data sets to now include real-time updating and assimilation of information into its Factual Places data. Real-time updates and corrections to data (More info...)
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HARDATA Sets Up Shop In Thousand OaksHARDATA, a developer of workflow management software for the broadcast and entertainment industry, has set up shop in Thousand Oaks, and hired a new President and CEO. The Argentina-based software developer said it has named Philip B. Cox as President and CEO, and opened up its world headquarters in the United States. Cox has previously served at such firms as CalAmp, Signal Technology COrp. M/A/Com, Inc., and 360 Systems. HARDATA's software is used by radio stations to manage digital content di (More info...)
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