Tuesday, January 19, 2016LeisureLink Picks Up $17M More For Vacation Rental BookingLeisureLink which provides booking and distribution software for the vacation rental industry, announced today that it has raised $17M in a funding round. The funding came from Clearstone Ventures, Kinderhook Industries, and Escalate Capital Partners. The company--which has offices in Pasadena, but has its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah--said the funding will go towards scaling company operations. LeisureLink was became part of VacationRoost in 2014.
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Illumina Makes Another Investment In Twist BioscienceSan Diego-based life sciences maker Illumina has participated in another investment round for San Francisco-based DNA synthesis startup Twist Bioscience, in a new Series D funding for that company. Twist announced a $61M Series D financing and a $20M debt funding round today, which was led by ARCH Overage Fund, Merieux Developpement, Cormorant Asset Management LLC, Fidelity Management and Research Company and Foresite Capital Management LLC, and also included ARCH Venture Partners, WuXi Corporat (More info...)
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Southern California Sees Boom In Venture Investments In Q4Think there is a technology investment slowdown? That's definitely not the case in Southern California, which saw a massive, $1.3 billion invested in venture capital in Q4 of 2015, according to the latest numbers released over the weekend by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. The $1.3 billion invested in Q4 matched the $1.3 billion invested in the region in Q4 of 2014, and was only slightly less than the $1.46 billion invested in Q3, which typically has been th (More info...)
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Flipagram Goes Full ScreenLos Angeles-based Flipagram, the startup which develops mobile apps which let you put your photos to free, popular music, said today that its apps now feature full screen photo video editing, and up to 60 seconds of free music. The company said the full screen support allow for "bigger, better and more engaging" mobile video stories. Flipagram is led by startup veteran Farhad Mohit.
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OpenX Tops $140M In RevenuesLos Angeles-based online advertising technology provider OpenX said late Monday evening that the company has reached $140M in revenues, which it says is a record. The privately held company--which has not previously reported its revenue number publicly--said it doubled its revenue and tripled its profits in the last two years. OpenX, which is led by Tim Cadogan, said that it saw 40% organic, year-over-year growth and added over 250 publishers during the year. The company also says it has been gr (More info...)
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Helpr Launches On-Demand Babysitting App In SoCalDesperate to find a babysitter for the night? Los Angeles-based Helpr, the developer of a mobile, on-demand app to help users find a babysitter, has launched in Los Angeles, Orange County, and Santa Barbara, according to the company. The startup, founded by Kasey Edwards and Becka Klauber Richter, said that its new, on-demand childcare apps helps connect parents with rigorously vetted babysitters in as little as three hours. Helpr said that babysitters on its app are required to have an in-perso (More info...)
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Untappd Merges With Next GlassLos Angeles-based Untappd, the developer of a social networking app for craft beer drinkers, and Next Glass, a developer of machine learning software for recommending alcohol, said last week that they have merged. Financial details of the merger were not disclosed. Both companies develop software that recommend wine and beer to users, and also include social networking and sharing functions. Greg Avola and Tim Mather, co-founders of Untappd, have joined Next Glass as part of the acquisition.
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OpenGate Capital Acquires Power PartnersLos Angeles-based private equity investor OpenGate Capital announced this morning that it has acquired Power Partners, a US-based manufacturer of power transformers. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Power Partners was previously owned by manufacturing company PPI. OpenGate Capital said that Power Partners is based in Athens, Georgia, and has more than 475 employees and $140M in annual revenues. OpenGate Capital said the acquisition comes as a follow on to a prior investme (More info...)
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