Wednesday, July 20, 2016


SpotHero Launches Parking App In LA
Need help finding a parking spot in LA? Parking reservation service SpotHero says it has launched its parking app in Los Angeles, letting users find and reserve parking spots near LAX, Downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena, along with elsewhere, at over 150 locations in the Los Angeles area. The company--based out of Chicago--works with parking operators to help them fill unsold spots, which can be reserved via an iOS or Android app, or through the company's website. The company's app is similar to (More info...)
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3PL Central Acquires Traker Systems
Manhattan Beach-based 3PL Central, a private equity-backed developer of warehouse management software, said that it has acquired Traker Systems (iTracker), a fellow developer of software in the 3PL software area. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. 3PL Central said that the acquisition will help it to accelerate its product development cycles, provide more solutions, and bolster its Customer Success team. 3PL Central is led by John Watkins, who remains CEO of the combined com (More info...)
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TouchCommerce Launches New Chatbot Product, TouchAssist
Agoura Hills-based TouchCommerce has added a new chat bot product called TouchAssist, to its lineup of services and software, the company said this morning. TouchCommerce said its new product, aimed at brands, will offer up "intelligent" automated conversations with customers, all linked into TouchCommerce's live assistance services. TouchCommerce said it is leveraging virtual assistant technology from Nuance Communications for the new product, which starts out text interactions using virtual as (More info...)
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Rubicon Project Wins Spotify
Los Angeles-based Rubicon Project has landed a high profile win today, with music streaming service Spotify, the companies announced this morning. Financial impact of the win was not annoucned. The two said that Rubicon Project will automated Spotify's audio advertising inventory, in a move which will let brands reach listeners with 15- and 30-second audio advertising spots, which can be targeted by age, gender, music genre, and specific playlists.
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Dollar Shave Club Acquired For $1 Billion By Unilever
In another, stunning exit for Southern California's technology startup community, Los Angeles-based Dollar Shave Club has been acquired from a reported $1 billion by Unilever. Dollar Shave Club operates a subscription, razor and toiletries accessory business targeted at men. Unliver did not disclose terms of the deal, but said the deal is expected to close in Q3. The deal is a huge win for Southern California's e-commerce and subscription market. Dollar Shave Club was venture backed by Andreesse (More info...)
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SpaceX Dragon Successfully Docks With ISS
The latest SpaceX mission to the International Space Station has successfully docked with the International Space Station this morning, as it made the final leg of its journey to the ISS after a successful launch early Monday. According to NASA, Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams and NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins successfully captured the Dragon spacecraft at 6:56 a.m., and is now working on installation of the Dragon to offload cargo from the vehicle to the space station. NASA plans to op (More info...)
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Synthorx Raises $10M
San Diego-based Synthorx, a developer of protein therapeutics technology, said it has raised $10M in a Series B financing this morning. The funding was led by RA Capital Management, and also included Avalon Ventures and Correlation Ventures. RA Capital Management's Andrew Levin joins the company's board with the funding. Synthorx is focused on developing synthetic biology techniques for producing proteins that cannot be made through traditional methods. The company's technology is based on resea (More info...)
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LA Startup To Broadcast Live Surgery In VR
Los Angeles-based GIBLIB, a startup multi-channel-network (MCN) focused on surgery content, said it will be broadcasting a live, public stream of a hernia surgery in virtual reality next week. According to GIBLIB, it will broadcast a 360 degree virtual reality view of a surgery being conducted in Beverly Hills in 4K video. The company said the livestream will be available to the public, although the startup said the purpose of its site is for doctors to share videos of their surgeries to help ed (More info...)
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Versant Ventures Chalks Up An IPO At Audentes Therapeutics
Newport Beach-based venture capital ‌investor Versant Ventures can chalk up another IPO this morning, as portfolio company Audentes Therapeutics heads to the NASDAQ Global Market as BOLD. Audentes priced at the midpoint of its earlier, estimate IPO range of $14.00 to $16.00 per share. Versant Ventures had owned 11.1 percent of Audentes Therapeutics before its IPO. Audentes is based in San Francisco.
posted on Wednesday, July 20, 2016(Full story)