Friday, June 17, 2016Ceres Acquired For $17.2MThousand Oaks-based agricultural biotech developer Ceres is being acquired by Minnesota-based agriculture firm Land O'Lakes, in a deal worth approximately $17.2M, the companies said on Friday. The two said that Land O'Lakes will pay $0.40 per share, in cash, for Ceres. Ceres will become part of Land O'Lakes Forage Genetics International (FGI) subsidiary.
Ceres said the acquisition came after evaluating strategic options, and was unanimously backed by its board of directors.
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Former LA VC Gets Backing For Enterprise Alerting, Micro Apps StartupFouad ElNaggar, a former venture capitalist who had been responsible for the Los Angeles office of Redpoint Ventures, has scored funding for a new startup, Sapho. According to Sapho, it has raised $9.5M in a Series A funding, which was led by Alsop Louie Partners. Sapho develops software which helps pull together information across hundreds of enterprise apps, and presents them to employees as "micro apps". Those apps provide push-like, user-friendly access to enterprise apps, much like employee (More info...)
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CheckAlt Acquires KlikLos Angeles-based CheckAlt, which provides mobile check deposit and Check 21 payment services and software, said late Thursday that it has acquired Klik Technologies, a subsidiary of MUFG Union Bank, N.A., which provided receivables processing. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Klik Technologies was based in New York, and had over 120 employees. CheckAlt--which is led by Shai Stern--said the acquisition will give it a "greatly expanded" customer base and solutions. The compa (More info...)
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Vrse Finds $12.6M, Renames Itself WithinLos Angeles-based Vrse, the virtual reality content company headed by Chris Milk, said on Thursday that it has raised $12.56M more in a Series A funding. The funding came from 21st Century Fox, Andreessen Horowitz, Raine Ventures, WME, Live Nation, Vice Media, Tribeca Enterprises, Annapurna Pictures, Legendary Pictures, and Freelands Ventures. As part of the funding, the startup said it has renamed itself to Within. The company develops virtual reality apps and immersive videos.
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Cast & Crew Entertainment Services Buys CAPS PayrollBurbank-based Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, which provides payroll and production management services and technology to the entertainment industry, said it has acquired CAPS Payroll, a provider of payroll services for the commercial production, venues, music tours, live events, unscripted television and independent film markets. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced, however, Cast & Crew said it is received "substantial additional equity" from its backer, private equity bac (More info...)
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Activision Blizzard To Debut Animated Television Series On NetflixSanta Monica-based Activision Blizzard says that it is branching out its content to the world of streaming television with its first, original title out of its new television and film studio, Activision Blizzard Studios. According to Activision Blizzard, the studio has created Skylanders Academy, a new, animated series which will show on Netflix. The new series will be the first production by its studio, which is being led by Stacey Sher and Nick van Dyk.
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D-Link Debuts New, 180-Degree Wi-Fi CameraFountain Valley-based consumer electronics maker D-Link announced it has launched a new, 180 degree Wi-Fi camera, aimed at home surveillance. According to D-Link, its new DCS-8200LH camera provides an 180 degree, ultra-wide angel lens, 720p HD video quality, and a microSD slot, for local recording, and costs $139.99. The company also said its camera is compatible with IFTTT (If This Then That), the home automation provider which lets users connect device events with other software and apps--such (More info...)
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