Thursday, July 16, 2015Fandango's Movieclips Ties With YouTube Space For New ContentLos Angeles-based Fandango said Thursday that its YouTube channel, Fandango Movieclips, is in a deal with YouTube Space LA, to create new, movie-themed original video content at the production space. Fandango said it has been selected for the YouTube Space LA residency program, and will have extensive use of its production facilities to experiment with new formats and innovate new types of content. The deal includes the launch of a new, weekly series called Movie3Some, which will feature intervi (More info...)
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Yeti Acquired By Jim Armstrong, New InvestorsSanta Monica-based Yeti, the local discovery and travel app developer led by Alex Capecelatro, has been acquired by a group of private investors, the company said Thursday morning. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Yeti said the investors include Jim Armstrong of March Capital Partners. Yeti--which was last known as At The Pool, and got its start as Hyphos--will now be headed by Andy Mazzarella. Yeti's mobile app allowed users to discover cool things to do and see in nearb (More info...)
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Oculus VR Buys PebblesVirtual reality headset maker Oculus--which is owned by Facebook, and was until recently headquartered in Irvine--has acquired Pebbles Ltd., a developer of gesture recognition technology. Financial terms of the buy have not been disclosed, however, reports place the acquisition at around $60M. Oculus said on its blog that Pebbles will help the company to advance virtual reality, tracking, and human-computer interactions. Pebbles was based in Israel, and develops systems which custom optics, sens (More info...)
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Readz Launches Mobile Marketing Tools, Backed by $7.15MWoodland Hills-based Readz, a new startup that is aiming to help marketers quickly create microsites, landing pages, white papers, and other content, said today that it has raised more than $7.15M in funding, and launched its products. The company said the funding actually came over the last few years, with backing from such investors as Parana Management Corp. Readz is led by Bart De Pelsmaeker. The company says it first raised funding in 2011, and has been operating in stealth mode. Readz tool (More info...)
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NantHealth Buys Harris Healthcare SolutionsCulver City-based NantHealth one of the family of companies that is part of NantWorks, said today that it has acquired the commercial Healthcare Solutions business of Harris Corporation. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The business provides systems integration for the healthcare market. NantHealth said it would combine its existing products with Harris' FusionFX suite of products. NantWorks said the acquisition is the largest transaction to date for NantWorks, to help it e (More info...)
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Flipagram Raises $70M For Photo, Video, and Music Sharing AppsLos Angeles-based Flipagram, led by startup vetera Farhad Mohit, said late Thursday evening that it has raised $70M in a funding round, for its photo, video, and music sharing apps. The funding was led by Sequoia, and also included Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Index Ventures. As part of the funding Sequoia's Michael Moritz and Kleiner's John Doerr have both joined Flipagram's board of directors. Flipagram counts a significant number of celebrities as users, including Britney Spears, Jess (More info...)
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NantKwest Launches IPOCulver City-based NantKwest--until recently known as Conkwest--said today that it has launched an IPO effort, offering up 7,000,000 shares of its stock at between $20.00 and $23.00 per share. The company--which is developing immunotherapy products for treating cancer, infectious diseases and inflammatory disease--said it has applied to list on the Nasdaq Global Market as NK. The IPO is being underwritten by BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Jefferies LLC and Piper Jaffray & Co. (More info...)
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Semtech Cuts Employees On Smartphone WeaknessCamarillo-based analog and mixed signal semiconductor developer Semtech said late Wednesday that it has cut its employee base by eight percent, as it looks to adjust to a decline in its revenues due to weak, Korean smartphone demand. Semtech said that the cuts mostly come from sales, general, and administrative expenses. Semtech said the cuts will save the company approximlately $20.0M in annual operating expenses. The company is taking a $3.5M charge as part of the cuts. Semtech did not give an (More info...)
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