Friday, October 16, 2015Tinder Heads Towards IPO (Kinda), With Match.com IPO FilingLos Angeles-based Tinder, the red hot dating and hookup app developer, is heading towards an IPO, albeit as part of IAC's Match Group. Match Group filed for an IPO on Friday, saying that it is looking to raise up to $100M in an IPO on the NASDAQ Global Select Market as MTCH. The IPO is being underwritten by J.P. Morgan, Allen & Company, and BofA Merrill Lynch. Match Group runs Match, OkCupid, Tinder, OurTime, BlackPeopleMeet and other dating brands, and also owns The Princeton Review. 100 percen (More info...)
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Ansible Acquired By Red Hat For Around $100MSanta Barbara-based Ansible, a developer of IT automation software, has been acquired by Red Hat, to help bolster Red Hat's management capabilities for hybrid and OpenStack clouds, and container-based services. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed, however, reports say the deal was worth around $100M. Ansible was venture backed by Menlo Ventures, and was led by Michael DeHaan. Ansible had only raised around $6M in funding. DeHaan had previously worked at Red Hat. The acquisition is one (More info...)
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Cie Digital Labs Acquired By Tech Entrepreneur Anderee BerengianIrvine-based Cie Digital Labs (CDL), which is both a provider of interactive development and technology startup "studio" efforts, said that technology investor Anderee Berengian has acquired a majority stake in the company. Size of the deal was not announced. Berengian is managing partner at RezVen Partners, and was formerly an executive at Overture. Cie Digital Labs said that its founder, Justin Choi, will continue to retain a "significant" stake in the company, and will remain involved. The co (More info...)
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Soothe Expands To VancouverLos Angeles-based massage-on-demand app developer Soothe said this week that it is expanding its services to Vancouver, British Columbia. According to the company, it started offering up its services on Thursday in Vancouver, allowing clients to book a same-day massage from licensed massage therapists in their home, office, or hotel room. Soothe says it offers up Swedish, Deep Tissue, or Sports massages to singles or couples in 60-, 90- and 120-minute sessions. Soothe was founded by Merlin Kauff (More info...)
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17hats Finds $4M To Build Tools For Solo EntrepreneursPasadena-based 17hats, a startup that develops business management software aimed specifically at solo entrepreneurs (solopreneurs), has raised $4M in a Series A funding. The funding was led by Wavemaer Partners, and also included Talmadge O'Neill and Harry Tsao of Mezi Media and Tamim Mourad of PriceGrabber. 17hats is led by Donovan Janus. The startup's software handles everything from booking clients and managing projects, to finances and other administrative processes. The company is targetin (More info...)
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GoPro, USC Film School In Major Content PartnershipAction camera maker GoPro said late Thursday that it has partnered with the University of Southern California, and the USC School of Cinematic Arts, to bolster its content efforts--and maybe help the company recruit talented students to work for the company. According to GoPro, USC's School of Cinematic Arts is a flagship partner in the GoPro community, and will integrate GoPro into its curriculum, through workshops, mentorship, and donation of cameras and equipment. GoPro announced the deal wi (More info...)
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Boingo Adds Android 6.0 SupportLos Angeles-based Wi-Fi and small cell network operator Boingo Wireless announced Thurday that it has added support for Android 6.0 "Marshmallow" to its 100,000 Passpoint Secure hotspots. Boingo said its Passpoint hotspots make it easy for Boingo users with Android devices to switch between Wi-Fi and cellular networks, by automatically switching between those networks without need for logins or passwords. Boingo said those hotspots are available at such locations as Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Los A (More info...)
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Southern California Companies Raise $1.46B In VC In Q3 2015
Southern California has seen another, big venture capital investment quarter, with companies raising $1.46 billion across the region in Q3 of 2015, according to the latest numbers released by the PricewaterhouseCoopers/NVCA MoneyTree survey, based on data from Thomson Reuters. According to the report, which was released this evening, there were 97 deals totaling $1.467 billion across the Southern California region, a rise, dollarwise, over Q3 of 2014, when there was $797.0M in 108 deals. There (More info...)
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