Friday, October 19, 2012


AnyMeeting Integrates With Zimbra
Huntington Beach-based AnyMeeting, the provider of free web conferencing and online meeting software, said this week that it has integrated its products with VMware's Zimbra Collaboration Software. AnyMeeting said its new AnyMeeting Zimlet product allows Zimbra users to schedule, launch, and manage AnyMeeting online meetings from within Zimbra. Zimbra is an email and collaboration software product which acquired by VMware in 2010. AnyMeeting is venture backed by the Pasadena Angels and Tech Coas (More info...)
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Quest Software Founders Next Move? Energy Independence
Vinny Smith, the co-founder, chairman, and former CEO of Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software, has donated $1M in an effort to spur energy independence in the U.S., Smith said this week. Smith said he is making a $1M donation to the Fuel Freedom Foundation, which says it is a non-partisan nonprofit dedicated to "breaking America's oil addiction". The group says it is striving to remove barriers to competition from such fuels as natural gas, methanol, ethanol and electricity. The group was co-founded (More info...)
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Hulu Investor Gets Big Gain As It Sells Stake Back To Hulu
Private equity firm Providence Equity Partners has sold its 10 percent stake in Hulu, the firm said Friday morning, getting a nice return on its investment in the online video streaming site. Providence Equity Partners had invested $100M in Hulu in 2007, and reportedly sold back its stake for $200M to the company this week. In a statement, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar called Providence an "ideal partner" over the past five years. Providence had helped fund the initial efforts to start Hulu.
posted on Friday, October 19, 2012(Full story)

ACTV8 Launches Pro Football App
Los Angeles-based ACTV8, which develops mobile applications for the television market, said today that it has launched a new, mobile football app. The firm said its new "In The Huddle" app is designed to provide a second screen experience during nationally televised, pro football games on Sunday and Monday nights. The app allows fans to make real time game predictions, to win points and bragging rights. The new app runs on Apple iOS, with Android support expected in the middle of next month. ACT (More info...)
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SmartDrive Names Marketing VP
San Diego-based SmartDrive Systems, the developer of technology for tracking the driving performance in corporate fleets, said today that it has namd Choo Kim-Isgitt as its new VP of Marketing. Kim-Isgitt joins the firm from M86 Security, where she was responsible for corporate marketing. She also has served at Websense and IBM. SmartDrvie develops video-based monitoring systems used to track the driving in public and private fleets.
posted on Friday, October 19, 2012(Full story)

Southern California Firms Get $694M In Q3 2012 Venture Funding
The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report finds that companies here in Southern California raised $695.4M in funding in Q3, up in terms of dollars from Q3 of last year, when $670.9M was raised. In terms of deals, the quarter was actually down from last year, with 79 deals completed in Q3 of this year, versus 91 in Q3 of 2011. Quarter to quarter, both dollars and deals were down, although Q2 to Q3 numbers have consistently been lowe (More info...)
posted on Friday, October 19, 2012(Full story)