Thursday, September 18, 2014


Gem Gets $2M For Bitcoin API
Venice, California-based Bitcoin startup Gem has raised $2M, to make Bitcoin easier to use for developers, the company said this week. According to Gem, the seed funding came was led by First Round Capital and Tekton Ventures and also included RRE Ventures, MESA+, Amplify.LA, Birchmere Labs, Idealab, ECEG, Partners, Baroda Ventures, Wavemaker Labs, Bitcoin Shop, Inc., Crypto Currency Partners, QED Associates, and Angel investor James Joaquin. Gem is led by Micah Winkelspecht. The funding was co (More info...)
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Metacloud VC On Cisco Acquisition: "Epic Exit"
According to one of Pasadena-based Metacloud's venture capital backers, the acquisition of the cloud services provider by Cisco on Wednesday was an "epic exit". The statement came from Jason Lemkin, a venture capitalist at Storm Ventures. No terms of the deal have been announced, however, Metacloud had only raised around $25.0M in funding, from such investors as AME Cloud Ventures, Canaan Partners, Pelion Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, and Storm Ventures. The exit is also a huge win for technolo (More info...)
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BeLinked Mashes Up LinkedIn, Tinder For Dating
What would happen if you mashed up the business centric world of LinkedIn, with the hot-dating action of Tinder? You'd get BeLinked, a new Los Angeles-based service which uses LinkedIn's social graph to help connect you with dates. BeLinked, which is led by Max Fischer, said this week that it has launched a new iOS app which helps match people through LinkedIn, using that site's extensive professional networking emphasis to better match potential dates. The app uses LinkedIn profiles and informa (More info...)
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Shuttlerock Raises $2.35M, Sets Up Shop In LA
Shuttlerock, a New Zealand-based developer of marketing software which helps companies embed social media generated by their fans into their websites, has raised $2.35M in a Series A funding, and opened up its US headquarters in Los Angeles. ShuttleRock also said that it has named former ValueClick CEO James R. Zarley as its chairman of its board. The funding came from such investors as Japanese digital advertising agency Opt, ICE Angels, and angels Gary McCormick and Yoshihiro Kawamura. The com (More info...)
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Docupace Gets Majority Investment
Los Angeles-based Docupace Technologies, a provider of electronic processing technology aimed at the financial institutional and wealth management industry, said today that it has raised a round of funding from RCS Capital Corporation. The new investment gives RCS Capital a majority stake in Docupace. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Docupace develops electronic document management software for managing the operations of broker-dealers. Docupace said the company will continue to (More info...)
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Rio SEO Raises New Funding, Takes Independent Path
San Diego-based Rio SEO, the local search software development arm of Covario, said Wednesday that it has raised a new round of funding to take the company independent. The new funding comes after the rest of Covario was sold to Dentsu Aegis Network. According to Rio SEO, it has raised additional funding from FTV Capital, Dubilier & Co., Voyager Capital, and Stratim Capital, to allow it to pursue further development and sales of its technology platform. Size and details of that investment were n (More info...)
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Covario Acquired By Dentsu Aegis Network
San Diego-based Covario, the search and content marketing agency, is being acquired by Dentsu Aegis Network, the companies said late Wednesday. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. According to the two, Covario has over 140 professionals offering up paid and organic search, social media, and content marketing services to brands and direct marketing clients. As part of the deal, Covario's SEO software arm--Rio SEO--will become an independent company. UK-based Dentsu Aegis Network said t (More info...)
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Interlink Electronics Names VP of Operations In China
Camarillo-based Interlink Electronics, the manufacturer of force sensors and other electronics, said Wednesday that it has named a new VP of Operations, based in China. The company said it has named John Sirbu as Interim VP of Operations based in Shenzhen. In a related move, Interlink said that Howard D. Goldenberg, the company's President, is now leaving the company, due to the expansion in China.
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