Wednesday, September 24, 2014Walmart Launches GoBank With Green DotIn a move which will not surprise anyone familiar with Monrovia, California-based Green Dot, the company's mobile banking service, GoBank, has been launched by Walmart. According to Walmart and Green Dot, GoBank, the FDIC-insured checking account driven by mobile apps and low fees, the checking account product will be available nationwide exclusively through Walmart by the end of October. Financial details of the deal between the two companies were not announced. Prepaid card--and now, banking p (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2014(Full story)
UCLA To Tap Outside Board For Startup DealsThe University of California, Los Angeles is looking to an outside board to help it negotiate technology transfer and research deals with companies, according to reports. The group will tap a yet un-named group of outside experts to help technology startups coming out of UCLA to better navigate their way through commercialization efforts. The moves come as the University of California system approved a move to allocate $250M in a venture capital fund to invest in startups founded by UC faculty a (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2014(Full story)
Former eHarmony Chief Waldorf Surfaces At Invoice2goThe former head of eHarmony, Greg Waldorf, has surfaced over at a small mobile invoicing and expense management startup called Invoice2go, after a big funding round for the company. Invoice2go--founded in Australia--said it raised $35M in a funding round from Accel Partners and Ribbit Capital today, and named Waldorf as its CEO. Waldorf had most recently been CEO-in-Residence for Accel Partners. Waldorf left eHarmony back in 2011 to become CEO-in-Residence for Accel. eHarmony is now back in the (More info...)
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InstaMed Finds $15M For Healthcare PaymentsNewport Beach-based InstaMed, which operates a payment network for healthcare providers, says it has raised $15M in a funding round. The company said the new funding came from four funds and four publicly traded companies, none of which were named by the company. InstaMed is led by Bill Marvin. The company said it offers up a single integrated network for managing healthcare payments.
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ServiceNow Sued By BMCServiceNow, the developer of IT cloud management software, is being sued by competitor BMC Software, over patent infringement claims. BMC said that ServiceNow is violating seven of its patents, covering areas around incident managemnt, performance analytics, configuration management, and more. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, a well known location for pursuing patent infringement claims. BMC bragged that it has more than 300 current and pending (More info...)
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Tilofy: Making Sense Of The World Around You Using Location Data
What happens when you apply big data and computer science to digest all of that social data being fed into Twitter and other social platforms--and cross match that to location information? Los Angeles-based Tilofy (www.tilofy.com)--out of USC's Viterbi Startup Garage--is doing just that, helping to highlight what is going on around you, by absorbing all of that location data out there at any particular time and place. We spoke with Ali Khoshgozaran, co-founder and CEO of the company, to learn (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2014(Full story)
Science Inc. Buys PlayHavenLos Angeles-based Science Inc. has acquired mobile ad network PlayHaven from current owner Upsight, the two companies aid this morning. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to the two, the deal includes PlayHaven's ad monetization, ad serving, and other tools. Science said the deal came as it was looking for a mobile advertising firm. PlayHaven Ad Network and its operating team are becoming part of Science's Growth Labs division. Science has invested in such companies as Dol (More info...)
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musicBleeper Launches Music Bleeping AppTired of your kids listening to profanity laced music? Tustin-based Bleeper said Tuesday that it has launched a new app called musicBleeper, which filters out objectionable words in music on any iOS device playlist. According to the company, its new app scans through songs in a playlist and scrubs words from the music, based on a library of songs maintained by the company. The company said the app can be customized to bleep out certain words based on a children's age, religious affiliation, or o (More info...)
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Beachfront Media Debuts Mobile Video Ad ProductBurbank-based Beachfront Media, the video software and technology provider led by Frank Sinton, said Tuesday that it has launched a new programmatic video ad platform called Beachfront.io. Beachfront said the new product provides programmatic video ads for mobile video advertising, which combines both real-time-bidding (RTB) with private marketplaces and programmatic inventory. The company said the platform allows publishers to set up both public RTB marketplaces and programmatic premium private (More info...)
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Cinedigm Sells Hollywood SoftwareCentury City-based Cinedigm said late Tuesday that it has sold its Hollywood Software division to an outside team of investors, led by David Gajda, one of the company's original founders. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Cinedigm said the all cash deal came as it decided that it no longer made strategic sense to pursue the software business, where it was selling to many of its competitors. Hollywood Software's tools are used for managing digital theatrical distribution and exhibit (More info...)
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YP Links With GrubHub For Restaurant OrderingLos Angeles-based local search and directory site YP has linked up with GrubHub, to enable restaurant ordering and delivery through YP's sites and brands. According to the companies, the deal will let users of YP's online sites and mobile apps to order food from GrubHub's restaurants. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The deal also helps GrubHubs' restaurants with placement throughout YP's directory.
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Ixia Names New CFOCalabasas-based Ixia, the network testing hardware and software developer, said Tuesday that it has named Brent Novak as its new Chief Financial Officer. Novak has been Ixia's VP of Finance since 2006, and was appointed acting CFO of the company in March. Novak also has served at Idealab and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2014(Full story)
Sunrun Plans Major Hiring In Southern CaliforniaResidential solar installer Sunrun said this morning that it is planning a major hiring and expansion drive, with the hiring of 800 additional employees and the opening of ten new offices--many of them in Southern California. The San Francisco company said that it plans hiring and expansion in Escondido, North Hollywood, Orange County, Pomona, San Diego, and San Luis Obispo, among other locations. The company said the expansion comes due to increased consumer demand for home solar installation. (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2014(Full story)