Thursday, July 18, 2013EdgeCast Gets $54M For Content Delivery EffortsSanta Monica-based content delivery network EdgeCast has just filled up its warchest, announcing Thursday that it has raised $54M in a big funding round. The new funding was led by Performance Equity Management, and also included existing investors Menlo Ventures and Steamboat Ventures. EdgeCast said the Series D growth investment will go towards developing and launching new services. EdgeCast also said the funding included a debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank. EdgeCast explained that it is (More info...)
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Kuapay Taps Nobel Prize Winner As AdvisorSanta Monica-based startup Kuapay has tapped a Nobel prize winner as its newest advisor, the startup announced today, and has added Myron Scholes as Chairman of its Advisory Board. Scholes is the economist best known for co-creating the Black-Scholes options pricing model. Kuapay is a developer of mobile wallet software, and is led by Joaquin Ayuso. The company's mobile wallet software runs on iPhone, Android, and Blackberry.
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Lithera Brings New Funding To $27.3MSan Diego-based pharmaceuticals firm Lithera announced this morning that it has had a second close on a $27.3M, Series C funding round. According to the company, the second close adds $6.7M to the round. The funding came from RusnanoMedInvest (part of RUSNANO), as well as Mirae Asset Venture Investment and Andrea Holdings International Ltd. Lithera is developing an injectable pharmaceutical product aimed at reducing subcutaneous, abdominal fat. The company said the funds will go towards general (More info...)
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Yapert Raises $1.2M For Mobile Magazine
San Diego-based Yapert said this morning that it has raised $1.2M in a seed funding round, for its interactive mobile magazine. According to the firm, the funding was led by the Tech Coast Angels, and also included the Desert Angels, Pasadena Angels, and other independent angel investors. Yapert is led by Phil Kelly, who was formerly a VP at Motorola and President at Dell Computer Asia Pacific. According to Yapert, the new funding brings its total raised to $1.7M, including an earlier angel ro (More info...)
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Core Innovation Capital's Quest To Find Finance Innovation, With Arjan SchutteLos Angeles has recently become the hotbed for financial startups--from Green Dot, to Blackline Systems, to Wallaby and ZestCash. That increase in startups has not gone un-noticed. Thanks to that activity, a new, venture investor has moved into town, Core Innovation Capital (www.corevc.com) , to specifically take advantage of those opportunities. We spoke with Arjan Shutte about the investment firm and its interest in financial startups, and why it moved from New York.
How did you end up in (More info...)
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Tech Coast Angels Among Most Active Angel GroupsA new report today, from the Angel Resource Institute, Silicon Valley Bank, and CB Insights, has found that the Tech Coast Angels is again one of the most active angel investment groups in the country. The Tech Coast Angels were among a number of groups who invested the most per deal in the last 12 months. Other active angel groups include the Alliance Angels, Desert Angels, Golden Angels Investors, Golden Seeds, Houston Angel Network, JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network, Nashville Capital Networ (More info...)
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Quarterly Co. Gains $1M In Funding
Hollywood-based Quarterly Co., the subscription-based gift delivery service, has raised $1M in new funding, the company announced today. The company said the funding brings its total raised to $2.2M. The new funding was led by True Ventures, and also included the Collaborative Fund and VegasTechFund, the venture fund led by Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh.
According to Quarterly, the new funding will support expansion of its subscription service. Quarterly's service delivers a curated set of gift (More info...)
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The Search Agency: Google CPCs On Tablets Now Exceed DesktopsLos Angeles-based search marketing agency The Search Agency reports today that its research has found that Google's cost-per-clicks on tablets has just exceeded those of desktops, for the first time. According to the firm, average table CPCs on Google are now 1.7 percent higher than CPCs on a desktop--meaning that tablet users are worth more than desktop users to websites. The Search Agency has been publishing search marketing trend reports for the last few years, using aggregate data from its c (More info...)
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DreamHammer Plugs Drone Sofware Into DoDSanta Monica-based DreamHammer said yesterday that its drone operating system has just completed a set of demonstrations with the U.S. Department of Defense, which it says proves its software has plug-and-play support for the DoD's current and future unmanned aircraft. DreamHammer's software which helps coordinate multiple drones from multiple manufacturers through a single operating system. According to the company, it software supports the DoD's UCS (UAS Control Segment) architecture, the comm (More info...)
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Novatel Wireless Gets M2M WinSan Diego-based wireless module developer Novatel Wireless reported a design win today for its M2M modules. According to Novatel, it is providing its modules to Capstone Metering, a Texas-based technology company, to power a water meter solution. The water meter will include ability to send data over the Verizon CDMA network, for remote reading of water usage. Shipment volumes and financial impact of the win was not announced.
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