Thursday, February 4, 2016Connectifier Acquired By LinkedInCosta Mesa-based Connectifier, the artificial intelligence software developer led by John Jersin, has been acquired by LinkedIn, the companies said Thursday afternoon. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Connectifier was developing automated software to help companies with their recruiting, and had raised around $12.0M in funding from such investors as Galeo Ventures, Goldcrest Investments, Okapi Venture Capital, and True Ventures. Connectifier's angel investors also included Sean Ell (More info...)
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Snapchat Theme Drives New Playboy IssueIn a bid for a new generation of readers, Playboy, the men's magazine best known for its long history of nude photo pictorials of women, has launched a new "non-nude" era of the publication, with a Snapchat-like front cover. The magazine said its cover--which features Instagram celebrity Sarah McDaniel--was deliberately designed to look like Snapchat, and a collection of selfie-style photos which the magazine says provides a "more intimate experience" for readers. Playboy said a few months ago t (More info...)
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Nomadix Gets Patent WinAgoura Hills-based Internet access gateway maker Nomadix says that it has received a win in a federal court, saying that Blueprint RF has infringed upon one of the company's patents. The summary judgement was made by Judge Dean D. Pregerson, U.S. District Court judge for the Central District of California, and stems from a patent infringment lawsuit filed by Nomadix in October of 2014, covering the idea of a "portal page" which users land on when first connecting to a network, particularly in ho (More info...)
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Power Supply Scoops Up $5M In Seed FundingPower Supply, a food startup which provides weekly menus from chefs to local customers for pickup at local locations and gyms, has raised $5M in a seed funding, the company disclosed Wednesday. The funding came from Upfront Ventures. The company offers up a weekly set of meals from local chefs, to customers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. The company's pickup locations in Santa Monica, for example, include Blank Spaces and CrossFit Santa Monica.
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Tribogenics Gets Funding From NikonLos Angeles-based Tribogenics, which is developing handheld, X-ray technology, has scored a strategic investment from Nikon, via its subsidiary, Nikon Americas Inc. Size of the investment was not announced. According to Tribogenics, the funds goes towards commercialization of its handheld XRF analyzer products, which allow X-rays to be taken from a small, handheld device. Tribogenics is a spinout of technology originally developed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The deal als (More info...)
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Hortau Raises $10M For Irrigation Management SystemsSan Luis Obispo-based Hortau, a developer of commercial, irrigation management systems, has raised $10M in a financing round. The funding was led by Advantage Capital Agribusiness Partners, LP (ACAP) and also included BDC Capital, Avrio Ventures LP II and Capital regional et cooperatif Desjardins. Hortau, which is led by Jocelyn Boudreau, uses wireless soil monitors in farm fields to more accurately measure plant stress and water levels, and adjusts watering of those fields to optimum levels. Th (More info...)
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Aira.IO Finds $2.5M To Assist The BlindSan Diego-based Aira.IO, a developer of assistive technology aimed at helping the blind and visually impaired, has raised $2.5M in a Series A funding, the company said this morning. The funding was led by Lux Capital and ARCH Venture Partners, and also included Felicis Ventures, Larry Bock, Scott Belsky, and a number of other angels. Aira.IO's co-founder and CEO is Suman Kanuganti. The company's software uses smart glasses like Google Glass and Vuzix to help users identify things in their enviro (More info...)
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OpenMethods Connects With $5M For Contact Center Integration SoftwareLos Angeles-based OpenMethods, a developer of software for the contact center and telephony market, has raised $5M in a funding round, according to the company. The funding came from Kayne NewRoad Ventures Fund II, which is jointly run by Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and NewRoad Capital Partners. OpenMethods is led by Gerrit Lydecker. The company's software connects the Oracle Service Cloud software, Oracle's CRM suite, with telephony software from Genesys, Cisco, Avaya, and Interactive Intel (More info...)
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Zeeto Expands In New YorkSan Diego-based software developer Zeeto, a developer of online advertising software, said it has expanded to the East Coast, and opened up a New York City office. Zeeto said the new office will include both engineers and support staff. The new offices in in the Union Square district. Zeeto is led by Stephan Goss, and develops software to manage advertisements on websites using a method it calls "registration marketing".
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