Thursday, February 12, 2015Google's Investment In SpaceX Round Totals $900MMountain View-based Google confirmed in its quarterly earnings report this week that it was the biggest investor in the recent, $1 billion funding round for Hawthorne-based SpaceX. In the 10-K filing, Google confirmed that it invested $900M in the recent funding round for SpaceX on January 20th, saying the investment goes to help support continued innovation in the areas of space transport, reusability, and satellite manufacturing. The remainder of the funding round came from Fidelity, Founders (More info...)
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truePrep Takes On SAT TutoringLooking for improving your score on the SAT? truePrep, a new service from Santa Monica-based ArborBridge, said today that it has launched a new service which matches students with online SAT tutors, who can help students prepare for the SAT through online, video conferencing. truePrep said its service connects students with "elite" tutors, charging $75 per hour for those tutoring services--half what it says typical test prep companies charge. truePrep uses computer-assisted testing and questionn (More info...)
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Clearlake Capital Buys FrontRange SolutionsSanta Monica-based private equity investor Clearlake Capital said this morning that it has acquired enterprise service management software company FrontRange, and will merge it with another of its portfolio firms, Lumension. The newly merged company will be called HEAT Software. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Clearlake Capital said it received financing for the deal from Wells Fargo Capital Finance, PNC Bank, Capital One and Consortium Finance. Clearlake's John Ferron beccome (More info...)
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Amazon Studios Bringing Back Sigmund and the Sea MonstersAmazon Studios, the original content development arm of Amazon.com--which is based in the LA area--said today that it is bringing back Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, the 1970's children's television series, in a deal with Sid and Marty Krofft. Amazon said they will develop a "reimagined pilot" to the show. No other details of the new pilot were released. The Kroffts we also behind the iconic 1970's show Land of the Lost.
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Cidara Therapeutics Raises $42MSan Diego-based Cidara Therapeutics, which is developing treatments for fungal and other infections, has raised $42M in a Series B funding. Names of the investors were not announced. Cidara said the funding came from a syndicate of healthcare-dedicated institutional investors, and both new and existing investors. Cidara Therapeutics is developing biotechnology products in the anti-infective and immunotherapy areas. The company is led by Jeff Stein.
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SpaceX Says Soft Landing SuccessfulHawthorne-based SpaceX said yesterday that it successfully "soft" landed its first booster stage for its Falcon rocket in the ocean, landing vertically and within 10 meters of its target. The company--which scrapped plans to land the rocket stage on a platform, due to high seas--said the success in the soft landing suggests a "high probability" of landing the stage on a drone ship in the future. SpaceX's last attempt to recover its booster via a vertical landing did not fare as well, when the bo (More info...)
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Adtile Technologies Rolls Out Mobile Ad ProductSan Diego-based Adtile Technologies, the developer of mobile advertising technology led by Nils Forsblom, has rolled out a new mobile ad technology that the company says uses multiple sensors on users' phones to engage with users. The company said its technology takes advantage of the "incredible sensory hardware" already available on phones to help engage with users. Adtile said its new technology--FireMotion--tracks a phone's position and velocity, which can be used as a creative tool in mobil (More info...)
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Love Lab Looks To Add Trust To Online Dating AppsTired of swiping left and right with people you're not quite sure about? A new, Los Angeles-based startup, LoveLab, launched Wednesday, saying it is looking to bring a level of trust into the online dating app scene. The new startup--backed by longtime area startup veteran Jon Kraft, and run by TV stars Steven and JoAnn Ward (Master Matchmakers, VH-1)--said it is looking to help online daters gain a level of trust in online profiles, and to help conquer the issue of daters "seriously misrepresen (More info...)
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