Wednesday, May 28, 2014Apple Confirms $3B Beats Electronics AcquisitionApple confirmed Wednesday that it has acquired Los Angeles-based Beats Electronics, in a deal worth $3 billion. According to Apple, Beats' brand will remain separate from Apple's own brand, and it will continue to offer both Beats' popular line of headphones and Beats new subscription music service, Beats Music. Apple said that Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple as part of the buy. Apple CEO Time Cook, in a statement on the acquisition, said that music "holds a special pl (More info...)
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Broadcom Rolls Out Wireless Charging ChipIrvine-based Broadcom rolled out a systems-on-a-chip (SoC) Wednesday, hoping to fix the problem of too many standards for wireless charging. According to Broadcom, it has rolled out a new, multi-standard wireless charging SoC which supports all three, wireless charging standards being pushed by various manufacturers, including the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), Power Matters Alliance (PMA) and Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). The new product is designed to be included by OEMs in their produ (More info...)
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California Technology Ventures Gets Exit An AngioScorePasadena-based venture capital firm California Technology Ventures has scored an exit at one of its portfolio firms, selling cardiac catheter maker AngioScore, to medical device firm Spectranetics. Spectranetics said it would pay $230M plus earnout for AngioScore, which was backed by California Technology Ventures, Innomed Ventures, Linkagene LP, Pelion Ventures, Psilos Group Management, QuestMark Partners, Saints Capital and Telegraph Hill Partners. California Technology Ventures has been an (More info...)
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EnTouch Controls Sets Up Shop In LAEnTouch Controls, a startup that develops cloud-based, energy management software for the lighting and HVAC market, said today that it has set up a new office in Los Angeles. The Texas startup, which is backed by NRG Energy, SJF Ventures, and Trailblazer Capital, said the new office will serve as its West Coast sales office, and will be headed by Michael Block. Block, the company's new director of sales, joins the company from Lumenergi. EnTouch Controls is backed by NRG Energy, SJF Ventures, an (More info...)
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Idealab Startup Aims At $149 3D Printer, Gets FundingA new, Pasadena-based startup out of Idealab, the startup incubator headed by Bill Gross, is hoping to bring 3D printing to the masses for $149. According to New Matter, it is hoping to bring its 3D printer to users, starting at only $149, in an attempt to make 3D printing accessible to everyone. To kick off the effort, New Matter has launched a new indieGogo pre-order campaign for the product, which New Matter said was co-designed with frogVentures, and is venture backed by First Round Capital (More info...)
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Ecwid Scores $5M In Series BSan Diego-based e-commerce software developer Ecwid said this morning that it has closed a $5M, Series B funding round. According to Ecwid, the funding was led by iTech Capital, and also included Runa Capital. Ecwid said that Gleb Davidyuk of iTech Capital joins the company's board with the funding. Ecwid said it will use the funding for further developing its product, expanding global distribution, and for sales and marketing. Ecwid develops e-commerce software specifically aimed at helping sma (More info...)
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BlackLine Systems Hires Chief Marketing OfficerLos Angeles-based financial software developer BlackLine Systems has hired its first, Chief Marketing Officer, the company announced today. BlackLine said it has hired David Downing, most recently the Chief Marketing Officer of NetSuite, as its first CMO. Downing also previously served at such companies as SAP, Informatica, Oracle, Adobe, Seagate and Hill and Knowlton. BlackLine Systems develops software used for handling the financial close for companies. The company is backed by private equity (More info...)
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OpenX Names Chief Customer OfficerLos Angeles-based online and mobile advertising technology provider OpenX announced this morning that it has named Tish Whitcraft as the company's new Chief Customer Officer. Whitcraft was most recently Chief Customer Officer at Tagged, and also was an executive at MySpace/Fox Interactive Media, in addition to serving as an executive at Yahoo. OpenX said that Whitcraft will head up OpenX's partner services team, which includes support, sales engineering, and customer operations. OpenX is venture (More info...)
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Semtech Aims At Energy Management, Smart Meters With CertificationCamarillo-based analog and mixed signal semiconductor supplier Semtech is targeting the energy management and smart metering market, through the certification of one of its development kits. Semtech said it has received Wi-SUN Alliance certification for a wireless transceiver development kit, which specifically covers interoperable energy management and smart-utility network applications. Semtech's kit, the SX1272, is used by companies to develop IEEE 802.15.4g, low-power, wireless networks. Tha (More info...)
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Esri Pledges To Donate $1 Billion In Software For STEM EffortsRedlands-based geographical information systems (GIS) software developer Esri is putting up $1 billion in its software, to help bolster STEM education, as part of a White House initiative, the company said Tuesday. Esri said it will provide a grant to make its advanced, cloud-based mapping software available to more than 100,000 elementary, middle, and high schools in the United States, for free. Esri said the move is part of the White House ConnectED initiative, which was recently announced by (More info...)
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