Monday, November 30, 2015Hulu Brings Seinfeld Experience To LAAre you a fan of Seinfeld? Plan a visit to West Hollywood in a couple of weeks, when Los Angeles-based streaming television site Hulu is opening up its popular "Seinfeld: The Apartment" experience on Melrose Avenue. According to Hulu, its true-to-life apartment exhibit--which includes a recreation of the Seinfeld apartment, a gallery of props and memorabilia, and more from the show, will be open to the public from December 16th through the 20th. Hulu originally launched the exhibit in New York b (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)
Greycroft Raises $200M For New Venture Fund, Greycroft IVIn what is good news for Southern California's venture backed startups, one of the region's most active investors, Greycroft Partners, has raised $200M in its fourth fund. Greycroft said it just closed Greycroft IV as of today, bringing its total under management to $800M. Greycroft says it now has 20 people, split between New York and Los Angeles. Greycroft has invested in such local companies as Maker Studios, Awesomeness TV, Epoxy, GameSalad, Moonfrye, Nativo, Saatchi Art, Scopely, Seedling, (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)
Techstars Starts Push For LA Healthcare Accelerator ApplicationsStartup accelerator operator Techstars is making a big push to enroll startups in its new, Los Angeles-based startup accelerator, the Techstars Healthcare Accelerator, saying it is launching a nationwide tour to talk to prospective startups about the accelerator. The accelerator--which will be the second for Techstars in Los Angeles--is being run at Cedars Sinai.
Techstars is visiting Berkeley, Austin, Boston, and New York--in addition to running an event in Los Angeles--through December, to dr (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)
UN Report Blames Dating Apps For Spread Of HIV In AsiaA new report from the United Nations is pointing at the rise of mobile dating apps for an HIV epidemic among teenagers in Asia--particularly among young, gay men, according to a report from the Guardian. Two of the biggest, mobile dating apps developers, Tinder and Grindr--which are both based in Los Angeles--who have taken fire for facilitating a culture of casual hookups, are mentioned in the report. Both of those companies have been targeted by billboards in Los Angeles by the AIDS Healthcar (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)
Shopatron Acquired By Vista Equity PartnersSan Luis Obispo-based Shopatron, which develops e-commerce software, is being acquired by private equity investor Vista Equity Partners, according to the companies. Financial terms of the buy were not announced. Vista Equity partners said the deal combines both Shopatron and another, e-commerce software provider, MarketLive, which it is acquiring in a simultaneous deal. Shopatron was venture backed by Kern Whelan Capital and Rivenrock Capital.
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)
Thanksgiving, Black Friday See More Than $1 Billion Each In Ecommerce SalesU.S., desktop retail e-commerce spending on Thanksgiving and Black Friday both totaled more than $1 billion each, according to numbers from comScore released over the weekend. According to comScore, online shoppers spent $1.096 billion on Thanksgiving, and $1.65 billion on Black Friday, both a rise from last year. Thanksgiving sales were up 9 percent, and Black Friday sales were up 10 percent versus last year. comScore said it has tallied $23.4 billion online so far for the first 27 days of the (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)
MakieLab Starts Shipping Disney DesignsLos Angeles- and London-based MakieLab, one of the companies out of Disney's recent Disney Accelerator class, started shipping its Disney-themed, custom 3D printed dolls on Friday, with clothing and designs from Disney properties. MakieLab creates custom, 3D printed dolls which the hair, skin, eye color, and other aspects of the doll are highly customized, to either match a kids' own features or for a custom look. The company had showed its first Disney-themed dolls--featuring such Disney brands (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)
Akana Wins AeromexicoLos Angeles-based API management software developer Akana reports this morning that it has signed up Aeromexico as a customer. Financial impact of the win was not announced. Akana said Aeromexico is using its software for managing its application programming interfaces (APIs) for its various IT systems. In particular, Akana said it is using Akana' API management software to expand its mobile app program, and help partners such as hotel chains and cruise ship lines tap into its systems in real ti (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)
CrowdStrike Sets New CIOIrvine-based security software developer CrowdStrike announced this morning that it has named Colin Black as its new Chief Information Officer. Black was previously CIO of Kratos Defense and Security, and also had served at Cymer and Mindspeed Technologies. CrowdStrike said Black will focus on infrastructure expansion of its platform. CrowdStrike is venture backed by Google Capital, Rackspace, Accel, and Warburg Pincus, among others, and is led by George Kurtz, the founder of Foundstone and form (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)
OticPharma Names New ChairmanIrvine-based OpticPharma, a biopharmaceuticals firm developing treatments for ear, nose, and throat (ENT) disorders, said today that it has named Keith A. Katkin as its Chairman of the board. Katkin is the President and CEO of Avanir Pharmaceuticals. Katkin also has served at Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, InterMune, Amgen and Abbott Laboratories. He is on the boards of Avanir, Rigel Therapeutics, Carbylan Therapeutics, and CoverMymeds, among other organizations.
posted on Monday, November 30, 2015(Full story)