Tuesday, October 8, 2013Dollar Shave Club Gets $12.0M MoreSanta Monica-based Dollar Shave Club, the company that hit the scene with a viral launch video for its subscription razor e-commerce business, has $12.0M more in the bank, the company disclosed Tuesday. The firm's Series B funding round came from Venrock, Comcast Ventures, New World Ventures and Battery Ventures. Dollar Shave Club most recently expanded its line of products into the flushable wipe business, and apparently is planning further product expansion. The firm did not say if prior inve (More info...)
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Break Media, Alloy Digital To MergeLos Angeles-based online content publisher Break Media and Alloy Digital said Tuesday that the two are merging to form a new, Internet video company called Defy Media. Financial terms of the merger were not announced. Variety said that the combined company will have more than $100M in revenues. Break Media founder and CEO Keith Richman will become President of the new company, with Alloy CEO Matt Diamond becoming CEO, according to reports.
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Pheebo Launches Video Sharing, Streaming App For iOSWish you had a better way to view your favorite online videos on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV? A new, Los Angeles startup, Pheebo--started by two former Apple Store employees--said that it has launched a brand new app which looks to let users access their favorite videos from such sites as YouTube, Reddit, Vimeo, and other sites, all from a single place. The new app was created by former Apple retail employees Arthur Matiossian and Monte Flagg, who met while working at Apple store at The Grove (More info...)
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Docstoc Swizzles Site, Sharpens Focus On Premium ContentIn a move to make things easier to find on the site, Santa Monica-based Docstoc launched a major redesign Tuesday, swizzling the navigation of the site to better highlight the company's move to provide premium business documents and information to small and medium sized businesses. The move comes after the startup--led by Jason Nazar--has increasingly focused its efforts on small and medium sized business owners, and providing tools, content, and more via subscription to those business owners. T (More info...)
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Shopzilla Launches New Coupon Site, TadaLos Angeles-based comparison shopping site Shopzilla is expanding into the world of online coupon codes, with the launch of a new site called Tada, the company said Tuesday. Shopzilla said the new coupon site consolidates a number of coupon offerings into a single brand. According to the company, it offers over 50,000 coupons from more than 6,400 stores, and includes features to make sure that the codes listed on the site work, by tapping into a network of verified buyers who have successfully u (More info...)
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CapLinked Adds Advisor From Deal Room BusinessCapLinked, the developer of the cloud-based, deal room and business transactions service, said Tuesday that it has added a new advisor from virtual data room provider IntraLinks. CapLinked said that it has named Dave Curran as an advisor to its executive team, to help provide insight into the virtual data room area. Curran had been EVP Business and Legal Affairs at IntraLinks. According to Los Angeles-based CapLinked, Curran was involved in the technology when the technology was invented in the (More info...)
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UTA Targets Early Stage Investments With New HireThe United Talent Agency is ramping up its outreach to early stage, digital media companies, with a new hire from the Los Angeles technology industry. According to the United Talent Agency, it has hired Robyn Ward as part of its Digital Media practice, to work closely with its existing portfolio of early stage companies and help identify new investment, incubation and representation opportunities. The UTA has already been very active in approaching the startup commmunity, most recently backing t (More info...)
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socalTECH: Nominate The 100 Up-And-Comers In Southern California's Tech IndustryWho are the top 100 up-and-coming individuals in Southern California's technology industry? We're looking to identify the individuals here in the technology industry, across all sectors, who are most likely to create the next big thing, produce the next big exit or to influence the industry in a significant way. If you'd like to nominate an individual (not company) for this award, we've just started collecting your nominations online. Nominations will close on Friday, November 1st.
Intere (More info...)
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Adly Gets New InvestorLos Angeles-based social advertising technology developer Adly announced today that it has added a new investor, with ties to professional athletes and celebrities. According to Adly, it has partnered with Legacy Growth Partners as its first celebrity investor, and will be working with the firm to reach out to professional athletes and celebrities. Financial details of the investment were not announced. Legacy Growth Partners says it helps professional athletes become successful entrepreneurs. (More info...)
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iolo Acquired By Phoenix TechnologiesLos Angeles-based Iolo, the developer of performance optimization software for PCs and mobile devices, has been acquired by Phoenix Technologies Ltd., the companies said yesterday. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. The two companies said the acquisition will expand the global distribution channels for iolo's products, plus bolster Phoenix's portfolio of products. Phoenix is a major provider of embedded BIOS and other products for the PC and tablet market. iolo was founded by Noah Ro (More info...)
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SlimSurveys Launches New ProductSlimSurveys, the new startup headed by former TweetPhoto founder Sean Callahan, has launched a new product, aimed at collecting data from website visitors. According to the company, its new Customer Insights product lets website owners add a widget to their website, to help collect real-time, customer insights. The new product lets marketers and website owners run surveys in-line with their websites, without requiring developers to constantly interact with the website. The company's widgets show (More info...)
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Tandem Diabetes Care Files For IPOSan Diego-based Tandem Diabetes Care, a medical device manufacturer which makes touchscreen-enabled insulin pumps, has filed for an IPO. Tandem said it is looking to raise up to $100.0M in an IPO on the NASDAQ Global Market, trading as TNDM. The firm's IPO is being underwritten by BofA Merrill Lynch, Piper Jaffray, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Stifel. Tandem Diabetes Care is venture backed by Delphi Ventures, Domain Associates, TPG Biotechnology, HLM Venture Partners, Kearny Venture Partners, a (More info...)
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Vista Equity Partners Launches Tender Offer For ACTIVESan Diego-based sports and activity registration provider ACTIVE Network said this morning that private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has launched its tender offer for all of its outstanding shares, offering up $14.50 per share in cash to take the company private. The two had announced the go-private deal on September 30th. ACTIVE Network's board has already approved the deal. The deal is worth $1.05 billion.
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Nimble Claims Record GrowthSanta Monica-based Nimble is claiming it has seen record growth this quarter, for the company's customer relationship management tools. According to Nimble, it saw a 2.5-times, year-over-year growth in revenues between Q3 2012 and Q3 2012, a 5x increase in users, and signups from over 150 countries. Actual financials were not released by the startup. Nimble develops software used to track customer contacts and relationships, tracking everything from email messages and phone calls to social outre (More info...)
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CheckAlt Launches New ProductLos Angeles-based CheckAlt, the Check 21 payments service headed by Shai Stern, said Monday that it has launched a new product aimed at credit unions and community banks. According to the company, it has launched a new payments reporting solution to process Check 21 files from multiple origination points, including ATMs, mobile, branch, merchant, and teller transactions. Check 21 is the industry standard which converts paper checks into electronically handled information, which cuts down on the (More info...)
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PharmAkea Raises $45M For Small Molecule DrugsSan Diego-based biopharmaceuticals developer PharmAkea Therapeutics has raised $45M in funding for development of its small molecule drugs, aimed at trating cancer and fibrotic diseases. The funding included $35M from Celgene Corporation in a strategic alliance deal, plus $10M in a Series A funding from Bay City Capital. As part of the deal, Celgene said it has retained an exclusive option to acquire the company. PharmAkea was originally seeded by Celgene. The company's founders originally came (More info...)
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