Thursday, May 14, 2015NextVR Gets Investment From Mandalay's GruberLaguna Beach-based virtual reality technology developer NextVR has received a round of funding from Mandalay Entertainment's Peter Gruber, the company said this week. Size of the strategic investment round was not announced. NextVR--which is looking to bring virtual reality to live sports and entertainment broadcasts--said that Gruber has also joined the company's advisory board, along with Scott Teissler and Doug Perlman. Teissler was most recently at Turner Broadcasting, and Perlman is Founder (More info...)
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Vizio Eyes IPOIrvine-based consumer electronics maker Vizio is looking to file for an IPO, and has started shopping for investment bankers, according to a report. Bloomberg says that Vizio has more than $1 billion in revenues, and has been invited a number of banks to pitch for its business, and is hoping for an IPO this year. Vizio was founded by William Wang, and was originally bootstrapped by Wang with $600,000 raised from friends and family and by mortgaging his house.
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FameBit Buys RefameSanta Monica-based Famebit, the Youtube influencer marketplace led by David Kierzzkowski, has acquired short form, video marketing company Refame, the two announced this morning. Financial details of the buy were not disclosed. Famebit said the deal will help it automate short form, video content creation on Vine, Snapchat, and Instagram. Refame has a reach of over 40 million people, according to the companies. Famebit is backed by Science Inc., and says the acquisition helps expand its reach to (More info...)
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Santa Monica Steps Into Airbnb FirestormThe City of Santa Monica, which over the last few years has earned itself the reputation as a technology startup friendly city--has just stepped into a major Internet firestorm, after the City Council cracked down on vacation rentals through Airbnb and other sites, banning renting out residences for less than 30 days, and forccing homeowners who rent out extra rooms--or even their couch--to get business licenses, and pay a 14% tax. The city council approved the move on Tuesday night. The move is (More info...)
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Core Innovation Capital Backs Vouch For Social LendingLos Angeles-based venture investor Core Innovation Capital is one of the lead companies in a Series A investment in Vouch, a consumer lending startup which offers up consumer loans based on if a users' social network
will "vouch" for that users' credit-worthiness. Vouch said it raised $6M in the Series A, which came from Core Innovation Capital, Data Collective, Stanford StartX Fund and Cooley LLP along with First Round Capital, Greylock, IDG Ventures and AngelList. Core Innovation Capital's i (More info...)
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How Silversheet Wants To Tame Doctor CredentialingWhat's the relationship between Internet video phenomenon lonelygirl15, and streamlining the mound of paperwork required for physicians to gain credentials at your local hospital? Nothing, except Miles Beckett, a serial entrepreneur who is best known for creating lonelygirl15 and online content provider EQAL. We caught up with Miles, to learn more about his new startup, Silversheet (www.silversheet.com), and the big opportunity to streamline paperwork in the medical field for doctors seeking cr (More info...)
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NantBiosciences Raises $100MLos Angeles-based NantBiosciences, one of the group of companies created by billionaire entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong, has raised $100M in funding, according to a regulatory filing by the company. Source and details of that funding have yet to be announced. The filing indicates a single investor put that $100M into the company. NantWorks has said that NantBiosciences is working on discovering knowledge on the protein level, using personalized medicine to develop drugs.
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DAQRI Buys ARToolworksLos Angeles-based augmented reality technology developer DAQRI said Wednesday afternoon that it has acquired ARToolworks, a developer of augmented reality software libraries. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. DAQRI said that, as part of the acquisition deal, it will release ARToolKit's "Pro" version of its software available for free, and will open source the software under LGPL v.3. ARToolworks was founded in 2001, and was based in Seattle.
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Tealium Links Into IBM CommerceLos Angeles-based NantBiosciences, one of the group of companies created by billionaire entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong, has raised $100M in San Diego-based Tealium, the developer of enterprise "tag" management software led by Jeff Lunsford, said today that it has connected its software into IBM Commerce. Tealium said the link allows users of IBM's e-commerce tools to more quickly launch personalized marketing campaigns and provide more relevant customer experiences. Tealium's softare manages " (More info...)
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