Friday, June 20, 2014AmplifyLA's Bricault Get Exit At SnappyTVPaul Bricault of the AmplifyLA startup accelerator in Venice, has scored an exit with one of his companies. Twitter said Thursday that it has acquired SnappyTV, a San Francisco developer of software which helps people capture live event video, edit that video, and post it directly to Twitter. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Bricault was one of a number of angel investors and advisors at SnappyTV, including Josh Felser, Chris Redlitz, Dan Halabe, Brian Woods, Russ Fradin, (More info...)
posted on Friday, June 20, 2014(Full story)
Insights: 2030 May Be The Year They'll Take Your Driver's License Away
For today's Insights and Opinions section, we are featuring a post from Jonathan Handel, a Los Angeles entertainment/technology attorney, who imagines one day when driver's licenses will be obsolete (thanks to Google and Uber).
I was stuck in traffic yesterday, which I didn't really mind because I have a fun little yellow convertible, and I was thinking about Uber ($17 billion! – that's the company's valuation, not the price of a ride) and Google's driverless cars (development cost unkn (More info...)
posted on Friday, June 20, 2014(Full story)
Kite Pharma Surges In IPOLos Angeles-based Kite Pharma, a biopharmaceuticals firm developing treatments for cancer, surged in its IPO this morning on the NASDAQ Global Market, trading as high as $29.22 in morning trading. The company had priced last night at $17.00 per share, above an earlier estimated initial public offering price of between $12.00 and $14.00 per share. Kite Pharma is venture backed by Pontifax, Alta Partners, and Commercial Street Capital, as well as financier David Bonderman. The company was up 68 pe (More info...)
posted on Friday, June 20, 2014(Full story)
Silicon Beach Fest: Catching Up With Kevin Winston
We spoke with Kevin Winston, the organizer of Silicon Beach Fest (www.siliconbeachfest.com), which is currently going on in Santa Monica and runs through Saturday, about the energy here in Southern California, as well as a little bit about what's going on with the event this year. Kevin is also well known as the organizer of the Digital LA networking group (digitalla.net), which hosts dozens and dozens of events in Silicon Beach every year (Editor's note: socalTECH.com is a media sponsor of th (More info...)
posted on Friday, June 20, 2014(Full story)
DogVacay Launches New Mobile AppSanta Monica-based DogVacay, which operates an online marketplace which connects dog owners with dog sitters and other dog owners willing to watch their dogs, said Thursday that it has launched a brand new, mobile app. According to DogVacay, the new and improved version of the app now includes better looking host profiles, better message replies, easier booking requests, ability to save phone numbers, credit card input options, and much more. DogVacay is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Baroda Ven (More info...)
posted on Friday, June 20, 2014(Full story)
Genzum Raises $20M For Generic Pharmaceuticals EffortLos Angeles-based biopharmaceuticals firm Genzum has raised $20M in a funding round, according to backer SG LLC. According to SG, its Alternative Investments Division invested $20M in Genzum, to go towards that company's expansion of its pipeline of generic pharmaceutical products. Genzum develops, commercializes, and licenses generic pharmaceutical products, and is led by Chris Achar.
posted on Friday, June 20, 2014 (More)(Full story)
Leadbolt Rolls Out New Mobile Ad PlatformLos Angeles-based Leadbolt, the developer of mobile app discovery and monetization tools lead by Dale Carr, said Thursday that it has rolled out what it says is its next generation, mobile ad platform. According to Leadbolt, it has re-engineered the product from the ground up, providing better design, making it easier to use, adding a new developer portal, and other features. The company also said it has added better support fro new phone models and high resolution devices, native ads, and abili (More info...)
posted on Friday, June 20, 2014(Full story)
PCM Opens New Data Center In OhioEl Segundo-based PCM, formerly known as PC Mall, said Thursday that it has opened up a new data center in New Albany, Ohio. PCM said the new data center will provide Tier II space for managed hosting and cloud IT services, which it provides to its customers. PCM said the new data center is on 7.9 acres of land it purchase back in December of 2012. The company said the new center adds to two existing data centers and an operations center in Atlanta. PCM provides products to the business market, a (More info...)
posted on Friday, June 20, 2014(Full story)
QAD Chief Marketing Officer Passes AwaySanta Barbara-based enterprise resource planning software maker QAD said late Thursday that its Chief Marketing Officer, Gordon Fleming, unexpectedly passed away. QAD said Fleming passed away on June 14th. Fleming had been at QAD for 19 years. The company said that Fleming passed away tragically and unexpectedly, but did not discuss any details.
posted on Friday, June 20, 2014(Full story)