Thursday, December 10, 2015


Factual Finds $35M In Series B
Los Angeles-bassed data startup Factual, which is led by Gil Elbaz, said Thursday that it has raised $35M in a Series B funding round. The funding came from Altpoint Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Data Collective, Haystack Partners, Heritage Group, Index Ventures, Miramar Ventures, Tamarisk Global, and Upfront Ventures, plus Saif Mansour, Michael Ovitz and Tom Unterman. Factual said the funding brings its total raised to $62M. Factual said the new funds go towards engineering, sales and marketin (More info...)
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DataScience Raises $22M
Culver City-based DataScience, led by former Sometrics' founder Ian Swanson, said today that it has raised $22M in a Series B funding. The funding was led by Whitehart Ventures, and also included Greycroft Partners. DataScience says it is using data science to help businesses make predictions to drive business results. The company has now raised more than $28M in funding. DataScience says it products--which can parse through and extract data from text and other sources--are already being used by (More info...)
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Flipagram Doubles Clips To 60 Seconds
Los Angeles-based Flipagram, the mobile app developer which is led by serial entrepreneur Farhad Mohit, said this morning that it is doubling the size of its free clips to 60 seconds. Flipagram's mobile app lets users create a video story, by matching up a users' photos and videos to popular, licensed music clips. Flipagram says it is now offering up millions of free, 60-second clips, ranging from both popular to obscure songs. Flipagram's app allows users to create music-driven, musical stories (More info...)
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SteelHouse Adds $49M In Funding
Los Angeles-based advertising software developer SteelHouse is announcing this morning that it has raised $49M in a new funding round. The funding was led by Mercato Partners, and also included Staley Capital and Silicon Valley Bank. SteelHouse is led by Mark Douglas. SteelHouse saaid that it was able to find significant capital, even as many advertising companies are running into "challenges" securing financing from traditional venture capital funds.
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SpaceX Plans To Launch Rocket On December 19th
In its first launch since a failed launch in June, SpaceX is planning to launch a new mission to space on December 19th, according to CEO Elon Musk. SpaceX--which has a large backlog of missions on its books--puts its launches on hold after the failed launch to the International Space Station in June, despite a long list of successful missions to space. That failure was the first for SpaceX, which concluded the catastrophic launch failure was due to a faulty strut in the rocket's fuel tank. Spac (More info...)
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Rubicon Project Adds Former DreamWorks Exec As Board Member
Los Angeles-based online advertising technology developer Rubicon Project has added a new member to its board, the company said earlier this week. Rubicon Project said that it has named Lewis W. Coleman as an independent director. Coleman was most recently Vice Chairman of Dreamworks Animation, and also had been President and CFO at Dreamworks. Coleman also sits on the boards of Immune Design, DCI LLC, and eBond Advisors. He previously has served at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Montgom (More info...)
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Semtech Gets Smart Building Win With Schneider Electric
Camarillo-based Semtech said today that its LoRa wireless technology has been selected by building automation specialist Schneider Electric, for use in its building monitoring solutions, electrical load switching devices, grid monitoring systems, HVAC controls and predictive maintenance tools. Financial impact of the win was not announced. Semtech said the companies will develop a combined oRa Wireless RF, LoRaWAN and WMBus solution for Schenider's customers.
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Kurion Signs New Licensing Deal In Japan
Irvine-based nuclear and hazardous waste remediation technology developer Kurion reported another win in Japan on Wednesday afternoon, saying that it has licensed its GeoMelt virtification technology with ISV Japan, Limited and Daiei Kankyo. The company said the deal calls for the companies to collaborate more closely on treatment of nuclear waste in Japan. Kurion said its technology has been used for the treatment of asbestos, PCBs, dioxins, and other persistent organic pollutants sicne 2005 in (More info...)
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