Tuesday, November 18, 2014


Blossom Aims To Conquer Drought With Smart Irrigation Gadget
Can a crowdsourced smart irrigation controller help us get a handle on California's record breaking drought? Irvine-based Blossom hopes so, and has just raised $31,000 in its Kickstarter campaign to help bring its product to market. Blossom was founded by Manrique Brenes , along with Matt McRae and Kaido Kert. McRae is Vizio's current CTO and Head of Marketing; Kert was previously a software developer at Skype. Blossom's smart water controller is entirely controlled by a smartphone app for eith (More info...)
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Seriously Adds $5M For Mobile Games Effort
Santa Monica- and Helsinki-based Seriously, a developer of mobile games, has raised $5M in additional funding, according to the company. The funding came from Upfront Ventures, Sunstone Capital, and Daher Capital. Seriously has its business development and marketing arm in Santa Monica, with game development in Helsinki. The company said it has now raised its total funding to $10M. Seriously is led by Andrew Stalbow--the company's flagship game is "Best Fiends", which runs on iOS.
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Hush Scores $100K On Kickstarter For Smart Earplugs
San Diego-based Hush, a startup out of the EvoNexus incubator, has blown past its initial crowdfunding goals, raising more than $105,000 so far in the first five days of the company's crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Hush is developing "smart earplugs" that block out all sound--but are connected to your smartphone, so that important alarms and notifications can still be heard. The company says its product is fully controlled by a smartphone, and that users can pick and choose what notificat (More info...)
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Enrou: Combining Causes and Commerce To Help Improve The World
How can you make your shopping during the holidays more than just a gift--but something that might actually improve lives around the world? Los Angeles-based Enrou (www.enrou.co) thinks it has a way--by connecting people with products that also help support international development and causes, via its own online marketplace. We spoke with Ann Wang, co-founder of Enrou, to learn more about how the company wants to help tie together the world of e-commerce and worthy causes to help improve the w (More info...)
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Edgecast Blocked By Chinese Censors
In a move which affects thousands of websites, EdgeCast, the Los Angeles content delivery network operator which is now a part of Verizon, has been blocked by the "great firewall of China" -- the Chinese government's Internet censorship effort. Edgecast said the yesterday that China has escalated its filtering of a number of popular web properties using its services. Greatfire, an organization that monitors the Great Firewall of China, said
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Renova Therapeutics Raises $7.52M
San Diego-based Renova Therapeutics, a biopharmaceuticals company developing treatments for congestive heart failure and other diseases, has raised $7.52M in a Series C funding round. The company said the funding primarily came from high net worth individuals. As part of the funding, Daniel M. Bradbury has joined the company's board. Bradbury is a member of life sciences consulting and investment firm BioBrit LLC; he also served as President and CEO of Amylin Pharmaceuticals.
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Disney Inks Digital Video Deal With Walmart's Vudu
Walt Disney Studios said Monday that it has inked a deal to distribute its movies via Walmart's Vudu digital video service, via its Disney Movies Anywhere effort. According to Disney, consumers who purcase Disney, Pixar, and Marvel titles in Walmart stores or on VUDU can now access those titles across connected entertainment devices and smart TVs. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Disney Movies Anywhere is Disney's digital movie service, giving access to around 400 Disney, Pixar, (More info...)
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Allylix Acquired By Evolva
San Diego-based Alyllix, which produces flavors, fragrances, and other ingredients using yeast fermentation, has been acquired by Swiss company Evolva Holdings SA. Evolva said it will acquire Allylix in return for 46 million shares of the company. As part of the acquisition, Cargill will invest $4M in Evolva shares to support the transaction. Allylix was venture backed by Avrio Ventures, BASF Venture Capital GmbH, Blue Grass Angels, Cultivian Ventures, Life Science Angels, Midpoint Food & Ag Fun (More info...)
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