Monday, March 2, 2015ReachLocal Names Two ExecutivesWoodland Hills-based ReachLocal said Monday that it has named two new executives, hiring Paras Maniar as the company's new Chief Strategy Officer, and Megan Opp as the company's new Chief People Officer. Maniar was most recently a venture capitalist at WPSChallenger, managing that fund's venture investments in North America; he also had been at EQAL (before the startup's acquisition by Everyday Health), and served at McKinsey and Company. Opp was previously Senior Vice President of Human Resourc (More info...)
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Tinder Looks For Revenue, Launches Tinder PlusLos Angeles-based online dating app developer Tinder is looking to start generating some revenue with a new service it launched today, called Tinder Plus, which allows users to undo their rejections and also access other premium functions. The new premium service starts at $9.99 a month. Tinder said that users under 30 will pay $9.99 a month to be able to undo a swipe left, and will not be limited to the number of "likes" on the system. Users older than 30 will pay $19.99 for the new service. Ti (More info...)
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NextVR Includes Light Field Technology In 3D VR TechnologyLaguna Beach-based NextVR, which is developing technology to capture 3D, broadcast-quality virtual reality, said today that it will be adding "light field" capture technology to its platform. Light field technology--allows for capture of more than just the usual visual information in a scene and allows for refocusing on elements in a scene after the fact. That technology was first brought to market by camera maker Lytro. NextVR said it will use its own patented light field technology in its 3D v (More info...)
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Pulse Electronics Acquired By OaktreeSan Diego-based Pulse Electronics said today that it is an agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Oaktree Capital Management. According to Pulse, Oaktree will invest $17.0M in Pulse, and pay $1.50 per share in cash for the publicly outstanding shares of Pulse, taking the company private. The new company will continue to be led by CEO Mark Twaalhoven. The take private deal comes seven months after Pulse pulled its stock from the New York Stock Exchange, on the verge of delisting, after its m (More info...)
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Rocket Lab Finds Funding For Small Satellite DeliveryLos Angeles- and New Zealand-based Rocket Lab, which says it is developing orbital vehicles for the delivery of small satellites into space, said it has raised a Series B financing round. Size of the funding was not announced. The Series B funding came from Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, the K1W1 investment fund, and Lockheed Martin. The company said it will use the funding to complete its launch system, which it plans to offer up for commercial launches as early as 2016. David Cowa (More info...)
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j2 Global Withdraws Carbonite OfferLos Angeles-based j2 Global said early this morning that it has withdrawn its tender offer for Carbonite, after entering into a confidentiality agreement with the company. j2--which has been in the midst of a hostile takeover attempt of Carbonite since December--said that the agreement between the two companies includes a "standstill" provision which expires on June 30th, but that j2 will be nominating candidates for Carbonite's board.
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PSI Services Finds Private Equity FundingBurbank-based PSI Services, a provider of professional testing services to both the commercial and government market, said today that it has scored a private equity investment. The funding came from Waud Capital Partners. Financial details of the funding were not disclosed. PSI is led by Stephen Tapp. The company said it offers up solutions to help measure, assess, and identify skills, certifications, and more of job seekers. The company said is provides pre-hire employment selection, manageria (More info...)
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