Thursday, December 4, 2014


Uber Takes Lead In Ridesharing Fundraising With $1.2 Billion Round
Los Angeles has been one of the hottest markets for ridesharing companies, with Uber, Sidecar, Lyft, Flywheel, TaxiMagic, and Opoli -- and probably others--all trying to take a piece of the transportation market. However, it looks like ridesharing company Uber might have just changed the equation, after announcing a $1.2 billion funding round -- with more on tap -- valuing the company at $40 billion, and adding a very, very significant warchest to the company's fight to come out as the top dog a (More info...)
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CallFire Acquires FireText
Santa Monica-based telephony, texting, and voice API developer CallFire announced Thursday that it has acquired UK-based FireText, a provider of SMS marketing in the UK. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. CallFire said the buy will expand the company into the European market. CallFire, which is led by Ron Burr, offers up a wide range of phone and texting services for companies.
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Vantage Media Sells Unit To Campus Explorer
Los Angeles-based Vantage Media said Thursday that it is selling its Education Services Business--which sells leads to education advertisers--to Campus Explorer, as it looks to sharpen its focus on the technology behind its real time bidding (RTB) advertising platform. Financial terms of the sale were not announced. Vantage Media said the business was officially sold last week. The educational lead generation agency business had been the core of Vantage Media's original business, before a major (More info...)
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RealD Cuts Staff, Downsizes Facilities
Los Angeles-based 3D movie project technology developer RealD said this morning that it has cut its headcount, and will be downsizing its facilities, as part of a expense reduction move. According to RealD, the cuts include the elimination of certain sales and marketing and research and development expenditures. The number of employees who will be affected by the cutbacks were not disclosed by the company. According to the company, the moves will save it around $30M in expenditures over a two ye (More info...)
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Digital Family Reunion 2014: Less Than A Week To This Year's Biggest Party!
There's less than a week to the technology industry's biggest holiday event of the year--the Digital Family Reunion on Wednesday, December 10th at the Skirball Cultural Center. Southern California has had a banner year this year, with a huge number of successful exits, fundings, and more. It's the season to celebrate the technology and media industry's success here with the Join us to honor the socalTECH 50, our list of the "ones to watch" in the local tech community, and network and dri (More info...)
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SERVIZ, Backed by $10.7M From Groupon, Takes On Holiday Lighting Installs
Sherman Oaks-based SERVIZ, a new, on-demand home services startup led by ReachLocal founder Zorik Gordon, said Wednesday that it is connecting consumers with holiday lighting installation services--and also revealed a funding round from Groupon. The startup said it raised $10.7M in a funding round, led by Groupon, along with other investors. SERVIZ lets consumers book home services via both its online website and an iPhone app, and is initially offering its service in the greater Los Angeles are (More info...)
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Facebook Taps ESET For Malware Security Tools
Facebook is tapping San Diego-based Internet security software developer ESET, in a move to help Facebook users battle malware. According to ESET and Facebook, they are offering up the ESET Online Scanner for Facebook to all Facebook users, as part of Facebook's complimentary anti-malware initiative. ESET said that when Facebook detects that a user's account may have been compromised by malware, it will offer up ESET's Online Scanner for Facebook to help scan for and disable malware on a user's (More info...)
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Bourns Buys Komatsulite Mfg. Co.
Riverside-based electronic components manufacturer and supplier Bourns has acquired Japanese company Komatsulite Mfg. Co., Ltd., a developer of safety devices for the rechargeable lithium-ion battery market, the company said Wednesday. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Bourns said Komatsulite develops mini breaker devices used to enable longer battery life, high current draw, and fast recharge of lithium ion batteries, and has more than $100M in annual revenues. Bourns gains five ma (More info...)
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Broadcom Adds NFC Support
Irvine-based chip maker Broadcom said today that it has added support for Near Field Communications (NFC) within its kits for developing embedded, Internet connected devices. Broadcom said its Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) software development kit now includes support for NFC, the technique which is being used for such things as mobile payments and other Internet-of-Things features. Broadcom's chips are very widely used in smartphones, tablets, and other devices.
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