Monday, May 12, 2014Parallax Capital Partners Raises $115MLaguna Hills-based Parallax Capital Partners, a private equity investor which invests in software and other technology companies, said Monday that it has raised a new, $115M fund for its investments. The company said the new fund is aimed at lower middle market companies with revenues of between $5M and $100M. The fund says it has made three investments so far, but did not disclose the names of those companies. Parallax has previously invested in such companies as Micro Focus, Inovis, TriSyn, Mu (More info...)
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USC Marshall Snags Elon Musk, Steve Ballmer For CommencementThe University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business has lined up two of technology's biggest names--Elon Musk and Steve Ballmer--as speakers for commencement, the school said Monday. According to the school, technology mogul Elon Musk, who founded Telsa Motors and SpaceX, will speak at the USC Marshall Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony at the Galen Center on Friday morning, and retired Microsoft CEO Steven A. Ballmer will speak at the USC Marshall Graduate Commencement Ceremony (More info...)
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Adform Raises $5.5M In Series B To Bolster Efforts In USOnline advertising technology provider Adform announced today that it has raised $5.5M in a Series B funding round, as part of the company's expansion into the United States. The company--which has a chunk of its U.S. operations in Los Angeles, where it set up offices in February--said the funding came from Via Venture Partners. In particular, Adform said the finacning will go to bolster sales efforts out of its Los Angeles and New York City offices. Adform develops what is says is a turnkey pro (More info...)
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Lumena Pharmaceuticals Acquired By ShireSan Diego-based biopharmaceuticals developer Lumena Pharmaceuticals has been acquired by UK-based Shire plc, in a deal worth $260M plus earn out, the companies said this morning. Shire said the buy would help add to its rare diseases portfolio. Lumena Pharmaceuticals had filed for an IPO in April; the company was venture backed by Alta Partners, New Enterprise Associates, RiverVest, A.M. Pappas Life Sciences Ventures, and Adage Capital Partners.
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Amazon Adds Free Music For FilmmakersAmazon Studios, the Los Angeles-based arm of Amazon.com which is generating original content for Amazon's online video service, Amazon Prime Instant Video, has rolled out a new service to filmmakers--free music tracks for filmmakers registered with the service. Amazon Studios said it is now providing "thousands" of movie score and soundtrack music for its filmmakers to use for video content, and no charge. Amazon did not say where it is sourcing the music and scores, which are divided into diffe (More info...)
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Varsity Healthcare Partners Acquires Katzen Eye GroupLos Angeles-based private equity investor Varsity Healthcare Partners (VHP) said this morning that it has acquired Katzen Eye Group, a national operator of opthalmologic and optometric services. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Varsity Healthcare Partners said that it will use Katzen Eye Group as the core of a new company, EyeCare Services Partners, which will look to consolidate vision care services practices and surgical centers. VHP said the investment comes of out ifs Varsity H (More info...)
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Ceres Gets PatentThousand Oaks-based seed biotechnology developer Ceres reports this morning that it has been awarded a U.S. patent on a genetic sequence derived from corn. The company said the patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,710,201, covers use of a gene in areas of research, product development, and seed production. The company said the additional patent brings its total owned or licensed patents to 85; the company also says it has approximately 110 pending patent applications. According to the U.S. PTO, the invento (More info...)
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RealD Wins Italian CustomerLos Angeles-based 3D movie projection provider RealD said this morning that it has scored a win with an existing customer in Italy, THE SPACE CINEMA. According to RealD, the Italian theatrical exhibitor will install an additional 40, RealD screens as part of its chain, bringing its total screens at The Space Cinema to 140. The company said the installations are expected to be complete this summer. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed.
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Vitesse Launches New 10 Gigabit Ethernet LineCamarillo-based chip maker Vitesse Semiconductor said this morning that it has launched a new line of 10 Gigabit Ethernet chips. According to the company, it has launched a new generation of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) PHYs, a family of physical layer transceivers called the VSC8489. The company said the new components are aimed at enterprise and high speed data centers supporting cloud services. The new family includes timing synchronization features, input signal monitoring, and much more. The co (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 12, 2014(Full story)