Thursday, September 8, 2016Report: SpaceX Grounded For Up To A Year, Says CompetitorHawthorne-based SpaceX might be grounded for as long as a year, the company's prime competitor--the United Launch Alliance--told Reuters on Thursday. According to a report, Tony Bruno, CEO of the ULA, said it "typically" takes nine to 12 months for companies to return to flight after an accident. The comments came a week after the destruction of a SpaceX Falcon 9, while it was still sitting on the launch pad. That Falcon 9 was undergoing refueling operations for a test fire, ahead of a planned l (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 8, 2016(Full story)
Howard Morgan Steps Down At First Round Capital, Back To Angel InvestingHoward Morgan, the venture capitalist who helped found Pasadena-based Idealab back in 1996, and has since been Founding Partner at seed stage investment fund First Round Capital, is returning to angel investing and will not participate in First Round Capital's new fund. According to First Round Capital, the move will become official at the end of the year. First Round Capital just filed paperwork on a new, $175M fund. Morgan has been a regular in Southern California's high tech startup market-- (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 8, 2016(Full story)
J.D. Power and Associates Acquired by XIO GroupCosta Mesa-based J.D. Power and Associates, the provider of consumer research and data, has been acquired by UK-based alternative investment firm XIO Group, the two said on Wednesday, in a deal worth $1.1 billion. XIO Group acquired J.D. Power from S&P Global. The deal had previously been announced by the companies. According to XIO Group, J.D. Power will remain headquartered in Costa Mesa. XIO Group is based in London. J.D. power will continue to be led by its existing management team, accordin (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 8, 2016(Full story)
Two SoCal IPOs On IPO Calendar For This MonthTwo, Southern California tech companies--The Trade Desk, based in Ventura, and Everbridge, which has major operations and was founded in Glendale--are on tap for IPOs this month, according to the NASDAQ's upcoming IPO calendar. The Trade Desk's IPO is expected on September 21st, if all goes well, with Everbridge hitting the market on September 16th. The two companies are the only tech companies currently on the upcoming IPO list. Southern California's tech industry appears to be seeing a bit of (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 8, 2016(Full story)
NextVR To Broadcast US Open Highlights In Virtual RealityLaguna Beach-based NextVR says it has signed a deal to provide virtual reality broadcast highlights from the US Open, offering up virtual reality content for tennis fans, from the 2016 US Open Tennis Championship Semifinals and Finals. Financial impact of the win was not announced. According to NextVR, the partnership with the United States Tennis Assocation (USTA) will involve multiple cameras at the Men's and Women's Semifinals and Finals matches from Thursday, September 8 through Sunday, Sept (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 8, 2016(Full story)
Indeed Targets Tech Talent In Los AngelesOnline job search site Indeed is taking aim at Southern California's high tech market, with the launch of its Indeed Prime in the market. According to Indeed, the service--specifically targeted at technology talent--will give employers access to a "curated pool" of people, based on coding skills, education, and work experience. The Indeed Prime service--unlike a typical job board or resume bank--specifically screens and prequalifies professionals with technical skills, such as software engineers (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 8, 2016(Full story)
Western Digital, Unisplendour Launch Joint VentureIrvine-based Western Digital, and Chinese company Unisplendour Corporation Limited said today that the two have launched a new joint venture, Unis-WDC Storage Co., Ltd., to market and sell datacenter storage systems in China. The two companies had previously announced plans for the new joint venture. Unis-WDC Storage Co., Ltd., is 51 percent owned by Unisplendour, and 49 percent by Western Digital. The new company will have its headquarters in Nanjing, with a sales and marketing office in Beijin (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 8, 2016(Full story)