Monday, January 4, 2016


Activision Gobbles Up Major League Gaming
Santa Monica-based Activision has reportedly acquired e-sports organization Major League Gaming, in a deal worth $46M. According to leaked documents sent to shareholders of Major League Gaming, the deal is split between $31M in cash immediately, plus $15M held in escrow. Major League Gaming was an operator of e-sporting events, running tournaments for such titles as Call of Duty, StarCraft 2, and other popular videogames.
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Factual's Elbaz Backs Quartzy
Gil Elbaz, the founder of Los Angeles-based data startup Factual, is one of the backers of a developer of lab management software for the research, biotech, and pharma industry today. Palo Alto-based Quartzy said this morning that it raised $17M in a Series B funding, which Elbaz and other angels including Jeremy Stoppelman, Justin Caldbeck, and Tikhon Bernstram, in a round which was led by Emergence Capital and included Khosla Ventures and YC Continuity Fund.
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Incipio Snags Private Equity Investment
Irvine-based mobile accessory maker Incipio has scored an investment from private equity investor Goode Partners, the company announced this morning, via a minority investment. Incipio did not disclose the size of the investment. Incipio said it will use the new funding to further carry out its business, including identifying and executing future acquisitions of companies. Incipio, which is led by Andy Fathollahi, has recently been in acquisition mode, having purchased Incase and ClamCase in 20 (More info...)
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What I Learned In 2015: Hamet Watt, Upfront Ventures
Over the last week or so, we've featured the reflections of our readers on 2015 and what it has meant for Southern California's technology industry. Our last contribution comes from Hamet Watt, a venture capitalist at Upfront Ventures (www.upfront.com). What was the biggest news for you or your firm this year? Hamet Watt: Upfront Ventures raised a brand-new $300 million fund, Upfront V. What was the biggest lesson you learned over the last year? Hamet Watt: "Keep your elbow in" focus (More info...)
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Toyota Plans Artificial Intelligence Push
Auto maker Toyota, which is headquartered in Torrance, says this morning that it is announcing how it plans to leverage artificial intelligence research in its next generation vehicles. Toyota, which has not yet revealed the details of the announcement, said the effort comes out of the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), a research and development enterprise focused on artificial intelligence for automobiles, robotics, and scientific discovery. Toyota said in November that it will invest $1 billion (More info...)
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PSI Services Acquires Applied Measurement Professionals
Burbank-based PSI Services, a provider of professional testing services, said this morning that it has acquired Applied Measurement Professionals (AMP), a subsidiary of the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC). Financial details of the all-stock deal were not announced. PSI Services provides talent assessment testing for job seekers, license testing for government regulatory agencies, certification and credentialing services, and other related services.
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Lyft Driver Killed In Hawthorne
A driver for ridesahring service Lyft was killed over the New Year's holiday, after he was hit by a suspected drunk driver. According to the Hawthorne Police Department, 21-year old Thor Anderson, a driver for Lyft, was killed after his black Ford Fusion was broadsided by a 21 year old male driving a red Infiniti coup. Anderson was pronounced dead on the scene of the crash by Los Angeles County Fire units. Arturo Martinez Conchas of Hawthorne was arrested for vehicular manslaughter, driving unde (More info...)
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RFaxis Expands Product Line
Irvine-based RF semiconductor developer RFaxis is expanding its product lineup this morning, saying it has added a number of RF front ends for the Internet-of-Things and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) market. According to RFaxis, the new products, its RFX2403, RFX2413, and RFX1030 RFeICs, support the sub-GHz and 2.4GHz frequency bands, and are used for such areas as ZigBee, Bluetooth Low Energy, and other protocols. The company says the new product will sample in Q1.
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