Tuesday, September 1, 2015Whisper Names Sales VPVenice, California-based anonymous messaging app developer Whisper said Tuesday that it has named Shelby Huston Haro as the company's Vice President of Sales. Haro is from the entertainment industry, and has served at Maverik Digital, GetGlu, Penske Media Corp, along with Flixster, Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. Whisper says that Haro will help the company with outreach to brands. Whisper is venture backed by Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, CAA Ventures, Tencent, Shasta Ventures, Th (More info...)
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Shift Technologies Gets $50M MoreShift Technologies, the online marketplace for used cars which has major operations in Los Angeles, has raised $50M in new funding for the startup, the company said today. The funding was led by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (GSIP), and also included Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and Highland Capital Partners. GSIP's Ian Friedman joins the company's board with the funding. The company is based in San Francisco, but launched into Los Angeles in July, saying it expected to hire 50 employees he (More info...)
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Dollar Shave Club: 2.2M Members, New CommercialsSanta Monica-based Dollar Shave Club, the membership-based razor delivery service led by Michael Dubin, says the firm is up to 2.2 million members, and has just launched a new ad campaign which taps into TV commercials, outdoor media, radio, social, and online. The company said its new ad campaign, "The Crusty Razor", was co-written by Michael Dubin and creative director Alec Brownstein. The company says that, since it started its made-for-TV commercials last fall, it has doubled its membership. (More info...)
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Super League Scores Funding To Bring Minecraft To A Theater Near YouSanta Monica-based Super League, a startup which is running Minecraft tournaments at movie theaters, said today that it has raised a Series B funding round. Size of the funding round was not disclosed. The funding came from Cinemark Theatres, Softbank, and overseas investors, along with Quadrant Management. Super League was co-founded by John Miller, the company's Chief Visionary Officer, and is led by Ann Hand, the company's CEO. The company says it already has deals with Cinemark Theatres, Reg (More info...)
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Instamotor Launches In San DiegoOnline used car buying and selling marketplace Instamotor said Monday that it has launched operations in San Diego. The startup--which already offers up its services in San Francisco and Los Angeles--lets users list, browse, and buy cars all through the company's mobile app. The company says it pre-screens all of the vehicles listed on its service for fraud, and that it also uses reputation features to help buyers better see who they are buying from. Instamotor launched its car buying and sellin (More info...)
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Beats Music's Ian Rogers Heads To LVMHIan Rogers, the former CEO of Beats Music and longtime Southern California startup executive, has been named Chief Digital Officer at luxury brand
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Illumina Completes GenoLogics AcquisitionSan Diego-based life sciences equipment maker Illumina said today that it has completed its acquisition of GeneLogics Life Sciences Software, which makes laboratory information management systems for the life sciences industry. Financial details of the deal have not been announced. GenoLogics' software is used in managing genomic information and research. The deal had originally been announced in August. GenoLogics was based in Redwood City, California.
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ZEFR Names Product HeadVenice, California-based ZEFR, the content monetization and protection provider, said this morning that it has named Tom Furukawa as its new Head of Product. Furukawa has previously worked for Yahoo!, The Enthusiast Network, Kelly Blue Book, and Rubicon Project. ZEFR said that Furukawa had most recently founded his own mobile ad company, and has 15 years of experience in the product management and technology development area. ZEFR is venture backed by Institutional Venture Partners, U.S. Ventur (More info...)
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ID Analytics Names New CEOSan Diego-based ID Analytics said yesterday that it has named Scott Carter as its new Chief Executive Officer. Carter has been ID Analytics' Chief Operating Officer since September of last year, having previously served at Experian, Fair Isaac, and First Union. Carter replaces Larry McIntosh, who had been CEO since 2012; the company said McIntosh will continue as a strategic advisor to the company. No reason for the CEO switchup was given by the company. ID Analytics provides consumer risk mana (More info...)
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Hyper Martial Arts Gets $400K In Debt FundingHuntington Beach-based lifestyle brand Hyper Martial Arts, which develops high-intensity, martial arts training curriculum, has raised $400,000 in debt funding. The funding came from Lighter Capital. The company said the funding will go towards launching an online training program for training martial artists, expanding a bully defense outreach program, and for marketing. The company says its training revolves around a "martial arts lifestyle". The company was founded by Roland Osborne.
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