Tuesday, August 4, 2015Netflix Announces Unlimited Maternity, Paternity LeaveMovie rental and streaming service Netflix said Tuesday afternoon that it will provide unlimited maternity and paternity leave to its employees, during the first year after a child's birth or adoption. Netflix--which has a significant employee presence in Los Angeles--said the move is part of its move to make sure it can compete for and keep the "most talented individuals in their field". According to Tawni Cranz, Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, the company gives its employees the freedom to m (More info...)
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Heal Expands Into Back To School Physicals, StitchesSanta Monica-based Heal, the on-demand, in-home doctor's appointment service, said Tuesday that it has expanded its list of services to back to school physicals, and also will be offering up sutures as part of its menu of services. The startup--led by Dr. Renee Dua--is targeting families with the service, which currently is available in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco. Heal said the service will conduct in-home, back-to-school physicals, along with such other services and tests and (More info...)
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Local ID Boosts Executive RanksLos Angeles-based Local ID has named two new executives, the company said today, as it uses its recent seed funding to boost its executive ranks. Local ID said it has named Mahesh Angadi as Chief Product Officer and Franklyn Farace as its Chief Revenue Officer. Angadi was previously at Omniture, and also served at PubMatic. Farace was previously Vice President, Retail Solutions at Coupons Inc., also also has been at Valassis. Local ID offers up data and tools to help brands optimize their local (More info...)
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Chewse Picks Up $5.9M For Office CateringChewse, a startup which helps companies manage their office food and meal programs--and counts Pivotal Labs, TasteMade, OpenX, Factual, and Big Frame as customers--said it has raised $5.9M in a Series A investment. The company--which got its start in Santa Monica, but has now moved to San Francisco--said the funding came from The Foundry Group, and also included Andy Appelbaum (Seamless), 500 Startups, Galvanize, and Telegraph Hill Capital. Chewse got its start in Santa Monica helping to manage (More info...)
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Seriously Finds $18M For Mobile GamesVenice, California- and Helsinki, Finland-based mobile game developer Seriously, the developer behind the title Best Fiends, has raised $18M in a venture funding round, the company said this morning. The Series A funding round was led by Northzone, and also included Korea Investment Partners, Upfront Ventures, Sunstone Capital and Daher Capital. Seriously said it has now raised $28M in funding. The new funding specifically goes to building out the company's production teams and marketing. Ser (More info...)
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Interview with Mike Hopkins, ICE Energy
Santa Barbara-based Ice Energy (www.ice-energy.com) has quietly been working away at developing energy storage systems to help smooth out the demand for energy on the nation's power grid. The company recently landed a major contract from Southern California Edison (SCE) to deploy thousands of the company's "Ice Bear" equipment--enough to store 25.6 megawatts of energy. We caught up with Mike recently to better understand the company's technology, why there's an interest in energy storage by ut (More info...)
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Somi Data Launches Online Restaurant Ordering SoftwarePasadena-based Somi Data, a new startup developing online ordering software for restaurants, said this morning that it has had its first deployment with Loteria Grill. Financial impact of the win were not disclosed. Somi Data says its online ordering system includes features to help its customers easily manage menu items, integrate with existing POS systems, and more. Somi Data was founded and is led by Justin Agredano.
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RealtyMogul.com Opens Office In AtlantaLos Angeles-based real estate investment marketplace RealtyMogul.com has opened up a new office in Atlanta, as part of an expansion by the company. RealtyMogul.com said the new office will be lead by Chuck Taylor, who was formerly of A10 Capital. Taylor also served at Reynold Capital Group and JPMorgan. RealtyMogul.com operates an online real estate marketplace that connects borrowers with capital from accredited and institutional investors. The startup is led by Jilliene Helman, and recently ra (More info...)
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BlackLine Names New Board MemberLos Angeles-based financial close software developer BlackLine announed today that it has added Graham Smith, the former CFO of Salesforce, to its board of directors. BlackLine said that Smith was CFO of Salesforce for seven years, taking the company from $750M in annual revenues to more than $5 billion. Smith also was CFO of Advent Software, Vitria Technology and Nuance Communications, and served at Oracle. Smith also sits on the boards of Splunk, MINDBODY, and Xero.
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Demand Media Names Accounting HeadSanta Monica-based Demand Media said Monday afternoon that it has named Wendy Voong as the company's new Chief Accounting Officer. Voong was most recently Senior Director, North America Accounting and Reporting for Activision, and also has served at Ernst & Young. Demand Media said Voong was responsible for Activision's SEC reporting and quarterly close cycle.
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