Tuesday, May 12, 2015


FreedomPop Plans Expansion In UK
Los Angeles-based FreedomPop, the free mobile broadband provider backed by DCM, Atomico, and Mangrove Partners, is planning to expand to the United Kingdom in the summer, the company disclosed Tuesday. FreedomPop is led by Stephen Stokols, who had previously been VP of Strategy and Product Development at British Telecom. The company leaked that it is in the midst of an effort to raise a "large" funding round via a strategic investor or venture investors, and--according to an article in TechCrunc (More info...)
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Glaukos Files For IPO
Laguna Hills-based Glaukos, which is developing a medical device to treat glaucoma, has filed for an IPO. According to Glaukos, it is looking to raised up to $86.25M in an IPO oon the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol GKOS. The IPO is being underwritten by J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs & Co., William Blair, and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. Glaukos is venture backed by Domain Associates, Verant Ventures, Frazier Healthcare, InterWest Partners, Montreux Equity, OrbiMed, Merit (More info...)
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Vadio Finds $7.5M, Taps Sony's Landau As Chairman
Vadio, the music video streaming technology developer led by Bryce Clemmer, said today that it has raised $7.5M in a Series A funding round, and tapped former Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment executive Yair Landau as its Chairman and COO. The company--which has an office and significant operations in LA--develops technology which synchronizes streaming music audio with visual content and music videos. The funding was led by Marker LLC. Landau was at Sony for 17 yars, and also was recently at (More info...)
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Another Big Exit For Local Angels With Mindbody?
Local angel investors--including the Tech Coast Angels and Pasadena Angels--might just have another big hit on their hands, with the news today that San Luis Obispo-based Mindbody has filed for an IPO. Local angels--whose biggest exit so far in recent years was the IPO of Green Dot back in 2010--were the first backers of MindBody, having first received funding from Frontera Capital, the Pasadena Angels, and the Tech Coast Angels back in 2009.
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Mindbody Files For IPO
San Luis Obispo-based Mindbody has filed for an IPO, saying in an SEC filing that it is looking to raise up to $100M on the public markets. The startup, led by Rick Stollmeyer, has yet to select an exchange, but says it has applied to list as MB. The company's IPO is being underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS Investment Bank, Pacific Crest Securities, and JMP Securities. MindBody is venture backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Catalyst Investors, Institutional Venture Partners, W C (More info...)
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Toyota: Old Camry Hybrid Batteries Being Used To Power Yellowstone
Toyota, which runs its U.S. operations out of Torrance, said today that old batteries used in the Toyota Camry Hybrid are being used to power the solar energy systems at a location in Yellowstone. Toyota said that those old battery packs--which are still usable for energy storage even after being removed from vehicles--are being used at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus, in a system which has just come online. Toyota said the system at Yellowstone is the first of its kind, the first system to (More info...)
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Velocify Steals Away COO From ZEFR
Los Angeles-based Velocify, the developer of sales automation software which is led by Nick Hedges, has snagged ZEFR Chief Technology Officer Manoj Goyal as its new Chief Operating Officer, the company said this morning. Velocify said Goyal will lead the company's product, technology, and client success teams. Goyal also has served at OpenX, where he was SVP of Engineering, and also has been at Hewlett Packard, Oracle, and EMC.
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Epicor, With Operations In OC, Plans Spinoff
Enterprise software developer Epicor--which has significant operations in Orange County--said Monday that it plans to spin its Retail Solutions Business into a separate, privately held company. According to Epicor, the new spinout will be backed by Apax Partners, and is expected to be spun off in June. Epicor--which was founded in Orange County--had been acquired by Apax Partners back in 2011. The company moved its headquarters from Irvine to Texas a number of years ago, but continues to maintai (More info...)
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AOL Acquired By Verizon For $4.4 Billion
AOL--which has been one of the most active acquirers of Southern California technology startups in recent years--has been acquired itself, by Verizon, AOL and Verizon announced this morning. According to Verizon, it will pay $50 per share for AOL, in a deal worth approximately $4.4 billion. AOL has been one of the most active acquirers of high tech startups in Southern California in recent years, having acquired LA's Convertro for $101M and paying $83M to acquire ad technology company Gravity la (More info...)
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TrueCar: More Than Half Of Users Now On Smartphones, Tablets
Santa Monica-based car buying and selling marketplacce TrueCar says that more than half of the consumers coming to the service are now using either a smartphone or tablet. TrueCar detailed the information in the announcement of the launch of a new product, TrueCash, which offers up personalized incentives from manufacturers and dealers, and also features high resolution photographs, embedded video, and more to help manufacturers showcase their brands. According to TrueCar, it saw more than 2.2 m (More info...)
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Cornerstone OnDemand Rolls Out New Products
Santa Monica-based talent management software developer Cornerstone OnDemand has launched two new products this morning, including a new predictive analytics dashboard and a cloud platform aimed at developers. Cornerstone OnDemand said that its Cornerstone Insights product uses machine learning and big data to help businesses better hire, train, manage, and retain their top talent. The new Cornerstone Edge product is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) specifically aimed at developers, to help them (More info...)
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Imprimis Pharmaceuticals Finds $15M In Debt
San Diego-based Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, a company developing compounded drugs, said thiss morning that it has scored $15M in a term loan. The debt funding came rom Life Sciences Alternative Funding LLC. According to Imprimis, the funding will go towards expansion and growth of the company's opthallogy and urology business. The company said the loan has an interest rate of 12.5 percent per year and monthly, interest-only payments for the first three years. Imprimis is led by Mark L. Baum.
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