Thursday, January 10, 2013Planana Heads To DreamIt VenturesLos Angeles-based online event promotion service Planana, the startup founded by Anna Sergeeva and Fei Xiao, said Thursday that the company has been accepted to the DreamIt Ventures Winter 2013 class in Austin, Texas. The startup said that it will be demonstrating its products at SXSW at March 8th, at the conclusion of the program. DreamIt Ventures is one of the many accelerator programs around the country focused on getting early stage startups off the group. Planana was formerly known as trueR (More info...)
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HID Global Buys CodebenchIrvine-based identification technology developer HID Global has acquired CodeBench, a provider of physical security identity management products for the governent sector, the firm said this week. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Codebench is based in Coconut Creek, Florida, where it will remain. HID Global said the buy will help it offer up solutions for its federal agency and contractor customers, plus also help position it to serve emerging government and commercial markets.
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Competition Gets Fierce For ParkMe, As Streetline Finds FundingIt looks like competition is heating up in the smart parking market--and for local parking technology firm Parkme, which is based in Santa Monica--as yet another company announced Thursday more funding for giving consumers real-time information about available parking spaces. Competitor Streetline, which is based in the Bay Area, just announced a big, $25M Series C funding from True Ventures, Citi, and Qualcomm, which will go towards its "smart parking" products and applications. The funding com (More info...)
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Beats Electronics Steals Topspin's Ian Rogers For New Music ServiceSanta Monica-based Beats Electronics, the headphone and audio equipment maker co-founded by Dr. Dre and Interscope Geffen's Jimmy Iovine, has snagged high profile CEO Ian Rogers away from Topspin Media. Beats said today that it has named Ian Rogers as CEO of a new music service it calls project "Daisy". Daisy is based on MOG, the streaming music services that Beats acquired last year. Beats said that Rogers will head up Daisy as it sets to launch in late 2013, as a stand alone company. Rogers wa (More info...)
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YieldMetrics Harvests $1.7M For Ad AnalyticsOnline advertising firm YieldMetrics said Thursday morning that it has raised $1.7M in funding, which was led by GRP Partners, and also included Baroda Ventures, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Daher Capital, Double M Capital, Karlin Ventures, Launchpad LA, as well as angels. The firm's founders as Gabe Gottlieb and Tom Lorimor. YieldMetrics tool is aimed at publishers, advertisers, and advertising technology providers, to provide better analytics on advertisers.
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Goodbye Buy.com, Hello Rakuten.com ShoppingIt looks like it's goodbye to Aliso Viejo-based Buy.com, and hello to Rakuten.com Shopping. The Buy.com brand name, which had helped to define Southern California's place in the e-commerce world, is officially gone, as Japanese shopping firm Rakuten said that it will be renaming the site to Rakuten.com Shopping. Buy.com was acquired in May of 2010 by Rakuten. According to Rakuten, the new brand and site will launch on January 31st, and comes after a "gradual, successful transition" to becoming p (More info...)
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Amazon's New AutoRip Converts CDs To MP3, Echoes AnywhereCD
Online e-commerce giant Amazon.com just announced a new service this morning, which looks to be one of the biggest moves the company has made in digital music recently: it is now automatically providing MP3 format tracks for CDs sold on its site, including every single CD a user has purchased since 1998. Amazon said its new AutoRip service will automatically load a MP3 version of CDs purchase on the site, for immediate streaming or download by users. Plus, Amazon said it will dig into its arch (More info...)
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Lynda.com Hires New CFOCarpinteria-based Lynda.com, the online video education site, looks to be continuing its growth trajectory, and has hired a new CFO. The company said it has named Elaine Kitagawa as Chief Financial Officer, after recently hiring former PopCap CTO Frits Habermann as its new Chief Technology Officer. Kitagawa was previously CFO at Saba Software, and also served at Gaia Online. Lynda.com has been one of Southern California's unsung growth stories in recent years, going from a bootstrapped project o (More info...)
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The Honest Company Partners With ZulilyThe Honest Company, the online brand offering up natural products for babies and families founded by Jessica Alba, has teamed up with daily deals site Zulily, the two said Wednesday afternoon. According to the two, they are in an exclusive partnership where Zulily will offer up things such as diapers and wipes to its users alongside its daily deals. Financia link between the companies were not disclosed. The two said that Zulily will offer up The Honest Company shop, every day, for members, wher (More info...)
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Nirvanix Offers Direct Links At CoreSiteNirvanix, the provider of enterprise-class, cloud storage services, reported yesterday that it has linked with CoreSite Realty Corporation, to provide direct connects to its cloud storage at CoreSite's One Wilshire data center campus in downtown Los Angeles. The firm said the move will give users improved throughput, network performance, security, and reduced costs. Nirvanix said that CoreSite customers can connect directly to the Nirvanix cloud storage services via a standard, single-mode fiber (More info...)
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Sorteo Games Gets InvestmentSan Diego-based Sorteo Games, which develops electronic lottery systems and services, said this morning that it has received an investment round from Carolwood Games, an affiliate of Brener Group. Size of the funding was not disclosed. Brener Group is an investment firm which focuses on the Hispanic market. Sorteo's systems are being used in Latin America, including in Mexico, where the company's products are being used to modernize and automate the Loteria Nacional. Sorteo said the new funds wi (More info...)
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Independa Rolls Out On Samsung Galaxy TabletsSan Diego-based Independa, the developer of software tools to help seniors live longer on their own, said Wednesday that it has rolled out its Independa Angela social engagement product on the Samsung Mobile Galaxy Tab 2. The firm, which is headed by Kian Saneii, develops the tool to help the elderly communicate, track things like medication and appointments, and more. Independa is backed by City Hill Ventures, LG Electronics, and Miramar Venture Partners.
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DocuSource Acquired By Konica MinoltaCerritos-based DocuSource, a provider of document management systems and equipment, has been acquired by Konica Minolta Business Solutions, Konica said Wednesday. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Minolta said that the buy will increase its document management systems, solutions and services in the southern California region. DocuSource was founded in 1990.
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