Thursday, March 27, 2014


SoCal Investors Score With Klout Acquisition
A number of Southern California angel investors, and one of its venture firms, have scored an exit over at social media influence measurement startup Klout, as the San Francsco company said Thursday that it is being acquired by Lithium Technologies. The deal is reportedly worth $200M. Klout's investors include Silicon Beach angel investor Paige Craig; San Diego angel investor Howard Lindzon; Tom McInerney, a regular investor in Silicon Beach startups; and Greycroft Partners, which has a big pres (More info...)
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Santa Monica Threatens Silicon Beach Growth By Taking Aim At Airport
In a move which threatens the growing Silicon Beach technology industry, the Santa Monica City Council voted last night to downsize the Santa Monica Airport. The council has expressed the desire to close the airport, and is gearing up for legal battles with the FAA. The airport is a popular destination for private flights by Silicon Valley venture capitalists to visit and invest in Santa Monica's growing technology industry, dramatically shortening the time required by those executives to visit (More info...)
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Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Announces $1.65B Investment Fund
Los Angeles-based middle market investor Levine Leichtman Capital Partners announced Thursday that it has closed on $1.65 billion in capital commitments for its latest fund, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Fund V, L.P.. The firm said the fund exceeded a target of $1.5 billion, and came from public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, insurance companies, fund of funds and family offices. Levine Leichtman is led by Lauren Leichtman, and primarily invest (More info...)
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GoCoin Gets $1.5M For BitCoin Payments
Santa Monica-based GoCoin, the Bitcoin payments startup led by Steve Beauregard, has scored $1.5M in a Series A financing, the company said today. The funding was led by the Bitcoin Shop, Inc., as well as Owen Van Natta, the former COO of Facebook. The funding also included angels Andrew Frame (Ooma), David Neumann (Current TV), and others. GoCoin said the new round will go towards engineering resources and to ramp up its global sales force. GoCoin has around 7,000 square feet on the 3rd Street (More info...)
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Collective Digital Studio Gets Investment Round
Los Angeles-based Collective Digital Studio, a YouTube multichannel network operator (MCN), has raised a round of investment from German media company ProSiebenSat.1, the company said today. The size of the funding was not announced, however, Collective Digital Studio said it received a "significant" investment for a minority share of the company from ProSiebenSat.1. CDS says it now has over 600 channels, and delivers nearly a billion views a month to viewers. The company's properties include Vi (More info...)
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RuiYi Raises $15M For Monoclonal Antibody Research
La Jolla-based RuiYi, a company developing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, said today that it has raised $15M in a Series B financing. The funding came from 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, Apposite Capital, SR One, Merck Serono Ventures, and Aravis SA. The company said the funding will gotwards continued development of its lead compound. RuiYi has its executive headquarters in La Jolla, but is conducting research in China, via facilities in Pudong, Shanghai, China.
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RealD Sues MasterImage3D, Volfoni
Los Angeles-based 3D movie projection technology provider RealD has filed two, separate patent infringement lawsuits, the company said late Wednesday. RealD said it filed a lawsuit against MasterImage 3D, contending that that company's MI-Horizon3D products infringe on its patents; and a similar, separate suit against Volfoni for its SmartCrystal Diamond product. The lawsuits were filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. RealD said that both the MasterIma (More info...)
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HitFix Launches Video Channel
Los Angeles-based entertainment news provider HitFix has launched a new video channel, which will feature both content, news, and advertising, the company said this morning. HitFix said its new HitFix Video channel delivers both original content and highly targeted advertisements, delivering 90 million monthly video streams. HitFix said the channel reaches a total of 300 million monthly viewers through a number of in-home and out-of-home partners, including Naitonal CineMedia, Hulu, IZ ON Media, (More info...)
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ReachLocal Trumpets Marketing Automation Customer List
Woodland Hills-based online local online marketing provider ReachLocal is bragging today that it has signed up 1,000 clients for its new ReachEdge marketing automation product. ReachEdge helps small and medium sized businesses with their online marketing efforts, including managing their website, advertising, SEO, lead management, and tracking of customer acquisition efforts. The product had been launched in September of 2013. ReachLocal said fifty five percent of its first clients have been pri (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 27, 2014(Full story)