Wednesday, June 19, 2013Leads360 Becomes VelocifySales automation software developer Leads360 said Wednesday that it has renamed the firm to Velocify, saying the new name better reflects its focus on "high-velocity" sales environments. The firm, which is headed by Nick Hedges, develops cloud-bsaed, sales automation and lead scoring sytsems, used to help sales organizations better prioritize leads in an automated manner. The firm said its product is being used by companies such as Allstate, Royal Bank of Scotland, USAA, Nationstar Mortgage and (More info...)
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Gobbler Gains $500,000 MoreLos Angeles-based Gobbler, the operator of an online backup and file storage service for creative projects, has raised $500,000 in a new round of funding, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today.
Details on the funding have not yet been announced by the company. Gobbler is led by Chris Kantrowitz, and had raised $1.5M in a funding round in January. The filing indicates the fundraising is part of an ongoing, $1.0M fundraising effort by the company, with this first close occuring on (More info...)
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Fab.com Investment, Faith In Team, Pays Off For BarodaBeing a seed investor is a tough job--being early to a company doesn't necessarily mean you'll see a return--and it's usually a long road to see any reward. But, it looks like being a seed investor has paid off for at least one local investor, Baroda Ventures, the venture capital investment fund owned by GeoCities founder David Bohnett. Baroda was a very early investor in Fab.com, which just today raised $150M in funding at a $1 billion valuation. That funding is just the first part of a Series (More info...)
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Dun & Bradstreet Credibility's Stibel Among Ernst & Young Award WinnersErnst & Young has announced the Los Angeles winners of its Entrepreneur of the Year awards, naming at least one technology exec to the winner's list, Dun & Bradstreet Credibility CEO Jeff Stibel to one of seven awards. E&Y's list this year included a number of finalists from the LA technology sector, including Dinesh Ravishanker of Callfire; Demian Sellfors of Media Temple; Rick Stollmeyer of MINDBODY; Tim Cadogan of OpenX; Loren Bendele of Savings.com; Walter Driver of Scopely, and Jeff Green o (More info...)
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Marlin Equity Partners Combines Sycamore Networks, CoriantLos Angeles-based private equity investor Marlin Equity Partners is combining portfolio firms Sycamore Networks with Coriant, the company said this morning. Sycamore was acquired by Marlin in January, and Coriant--formerly a unit of Nokia--had been acquired by Marlin in May. Marlin Equity Partners said it will rename Sycamore Networks as Coriant America Inc. The new company will remain headquartered in Chelmsford, Mass. Sycamore Networks is a developer of optical trnsport products, including opt (More info...)
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DreamHost Launches Conference, DreamConIt's a rite of passage for most technology companies--getting to the size where you have enough users, revenues, and market presence that you can launch your own conference. Los Angeles-based hosting provider DreamHost is the latest local company to hit that milestone, telling its users last night that it has just booted up its own, user conference, DreamCon, where it will provide presentations to software developers, entrepreneurs, and more. The conference will include a keynote from WordPress (More info...)
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Playsino Debuts Bingo World On NookThe next time you see someone absorbed reading an e-book on that Barnes & Noble NOOK--look again. They might just be playing a bingo game from Santa Monica-based Playsino. Playsino has further extended its device footprint, saying today that it has launched "Bingo World", one of its popular cross platform games, on the family of NOOK products. The firm's game connects into a social gaming environment, including playing with players on Facebook and other devices, in addition to other NOOK users. (More info...)
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Vertos Medical Gets $23M for Spinal TreatmentsAliso Viejo-based Vertos Medical said today that it has raised $23M in a Series E financing round, to fund the company's expansion in the U.S. and launch in European markets. The firm, which develops a outpatient procedure for helping lumar spinal stenosis (LSS) patients, said the funding was leds by Pitango Venture Capital, and also included ONSET Ventures, CHL Medical Partners, Foundation Medical Partners, Mercury Fund and Aweida Venture Partners. Pitango's Ittai Harel has joined the company's (More info...)
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Silicon Beach Fest Kicks Off Today
It's all Silicon Beach, all the time, for all of the rest of the week--starting today--as Silicon Beach Fest, the combination conference, networking session, party started by Kevin Winston, kicks off at noon. The event is harnessing the startup energy in Santa Monica, and features all across town, at ROC, Cross Campus, the Viceroy, Santa Monica Place, and elsewhere.
The event--the third iteration of Silicon Beach Fest, which had its debut in June of last year--is a celebration of the tech (More info...)
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Combat Gent Scores $1.84M For Men's Fashion StartupNeed a good suit, and don't know where to go? A new, Los Angeles startup--Combat Gent--has just raised $1.84M to make finding a new suit as easy as a mouse click. The new startup said today that the funding came from MHS Capital, VegasTechFund, Naxuri Capital, Greycroft Partners, Blazer Ventures and Jake Bornstein of Flint & Tinder. The new startup is an outspin of the Fashion Tech Accelerator program. As part of the funding, the company said it has named Enrico Beltramini--formerly of Gucci--as (More info...)
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ThousandEyes, Spawned At UCLA, Raises Funding From SequoiaA new startup, which was created at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has just raised a first funding round from Sequoia Capital. ThousandEyes, created by two UCLA computer science Ph.D.'s, said it raised $5.5M today for its software for monitoring cloud-based applications in enterprises. ThousandEyes was founded by Mohit Lad, who received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA; his co-founder is Ricardo Oliveira, who also received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA. Both m (More info...)
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A Conversation with Ben Satterfield, Burstly
Ben Satterfield is the co-founder of TestFlight, an immensely popular piece of software for iOS (and now Android) which lets developers distribute beta copies of their apps to their users. TestFlight recently joined forces with Burstly (www.burstly.com) to create a suite of apps for mobile developers and publishers. We spoke with Ben about how Burstly is now creating a company to help mobile developers create, develop, distribute, and monetize their apps. Burstly is headed by Evan Rifkin, and (More info...)
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ReachLocal Targets Healthcare, Wellness ProvidersWoodland Hills-based ReachLocal, the provider of online marketing services aimed at small and medium sized businesses, said late last night that it has launched a new, dedicated team aimed at healthcare and wellness providers. ReachLocal said its new team is aimed at helping those providers attract new patients, offering up tailored online marketing strategies for that segment. ReachLocal helps small and medium sized businesses place online advertising and develop an Internet presence, as well a (More info...)
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ViaSat Ties With Boeing On High Speed WirelessCarlsbad-based Viasat, the satellite communications operator which is deploying high speed, in-flight wireless Internet in planes, has inked a deal with Boeing, the firm announced this morning. ViaSat the deal with Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) will make its in-flight, Ka-band satellite Internet a new option for Boeing's commercial aircraft. Viasat said the deal means that airlines will be able to receive their Boeing aircraft pre-installed with ViaSat's equipment. The in-factory installati (More info...)
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Card Scanning Solutions Finds FundingCulver City-based Card Scanning Solutions (CSSN), said today that it has raised a round of equity funding, from Insight Venture Partners, Red Oak Growth Partners, and Egis Capital Partners. Size of the funding round was not announced by the company. Card Scanning Solutions develops software which extracts information from official identification documents, such as driver's licenses, passports, and ID cards. The company said the funding will go towards product development efforts. Card Scanning S (More info...)
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Infinitely Virtual Targets Business File SharingLos Angeles-based cloud computing provider Infinitely Virtual announced this morning that it has launched a new, cloud-based file sharing application aimed at small and midsize businesses. The company said its new InfiniteVault software lets users share their files from any desktop or server, and works on Windows, Mac, Android, iPad and iPhone. The firm said the service starts at $19.99 per month.
posted on Wednesday, June 19, 2013(Full story)