Thursday, February 6, 2014


Conversant Acquires SET Media For Digital Video Ad Tech
Westlake Village-based Conversant--the online advertising company which until a few days ago was known as ValueClick--said it has acquired Set Media, a digital video technology advertising company. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Conversant said it will use the buy to strengthen its technology stack and portfolio. SET Media has offices in San Franciso and New York, and was founded in 2007.
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Voxox Buys PokeTALK
San Diego-based cloud communications service developer Voxox said Thursday that it has acquired PokeTALK, an international calling service, rom E-Mobile. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Voxox said the move would elp expand its global fotprint. Voxox operates both consumer and business communications services; PokeTALK provides international phone call applications for iOS and Android, as well as via OEM desktop software. Voxox explained that 600,000 existing users of PokeT (More info...)
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Airpush Snags Google Veteran As Chief Revenue Officer
Airpush, the mobile advertising firm headed by Asher Delug, is significantly bolstering its executive ranks, saying this week that it has added Matt Shaw, former Global Head of Mobile Display at Google, as its new Chief Revenue Officer. According to Airpush, Shaw also served at AdMob, YouTube, and Yahoo! Airpush offers up mobile advertising and targeting technology, aimed at mobile apps. The company said it now has approximately 230 employees. Shaw will head up driving global advertising revenue (More info...)
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Typo Fights Back Against BlackBerry
Typo, the Los Angeles startup backed by Ryan Seacrest which is developing a BlackBerry-like keyboard for the iPhone, has struck back against the patent lawsuit filed against the firm by BlackBerry. According to reports, Typo has submitted arguments to a California court against an injunction preventing sales of its keyboard. BlackBerry filed suit on January 3rd in the California Northern District Court, asking for a preliminary injunction on the products from Typo. Typo's products add a physical (More info...)
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MicroPower Turns To Financing To Spur Demand
San Diego-based wireless video surveillance developer MicroPower Technologies--which was part of the EvoNexus business incubator--said this week that it has started up a financing program, to spur demand for its surveillance systems. The startup said it will provide installment purchases and financing for its products, which use solar power and lower power technology to make it easy to deploy outdoor and perimeter surveillance cameras. MicroPower is backed by Karmel Capital, Motorola, and the Te (More info...)
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TakeLessons Buys Betterfly
San Diego-based TakeLessons, the online marketplace for instructors which is run by Steve Cox, has acquired another, online lessons marketplace provider, Betterfly. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Betterfly, which was based in Chicago, provided a database of students and teachers, helping to connect them with each other. TakeLessons said the move will make it the largest, online marketplace for lessons. TakeLessons helps connect people with instructors across a wide range (More info...)
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Double Helix Games Acquired By Amazon.com
Irvine-based videogame developer Double Helix Games has been acquired by Amazon.com, the two companies disclosed yesterday. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Irvine-based Double Helix Games is in the midst of developing Killer Instinct for the Xbox One, and was formed via the merger of two other local videogame studios--Shiny Entertainment and The Collective. The company says it has 75 employees in Orange County.
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j2 Global Buys International Phone Number Service
Los Angeles-based J2 Global, the provider of cloud-based services in the phone, email, email marketing, online backup, and other areas--and which also owns Ziff Davis--is further expanding its empire today. The company said it has acquired City Numbers, a Birmingham, UK-based provider of toll free phone numbers. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. J2 Global said that City Numbers provides inbound local, national and international toll free phone numbers in over 80 countries. The compa (More info...)
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Interthinx Acquired By First American Financial
Agoura Hills-based Interthinx, which develops loan quality analytics and decision support tools for the mortgage industry, has been acquired by Santa Ana-based title insurance provider First American Financial Corporation, the two said this morning. According to First American Financial, it paid $155M for Interthinx to acquire it from parent company Verisk Analytics. First American Financial said it was advised by BofA Merrill Lynch and McGuireWoods LLP in the deal.
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Anametrix Names Product Management VP
San Diego-based real-time marketing analytics software developer Anametrix said Wednesday that it has named Barry Parshall as its new SVP of Product Management. Parshall was most recently at iJento, where he also served at SVP of Product Management. Parshall also has served at Adobe/Omniture, WebTrends, Crystal Descisions, Business Objects, and Micro Data Base Systems. Parshall will head up product strategy for the company. Anametrix is backed by TVC Capital as well as angels. The company's foun (More info...)
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Sonrgy Licenses Technology From UC San Diego
San Diego-based biotechnology startup Sonrgy said Wednesday that it has license core, ultrasound-sensitive drug delivery nanotechnology for the company from UC San Diego. According to Sonrgy, it has begun commercializing the technology, which is focused on nano-scale drug delivery. Financial details of the license were not announced. Sonrgy said the technology is based on research from the lab of Professor Sadik Esener at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.
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