Thursday, September 15, 2016Report: Unilever Eyes The Honest CompanyIs another, Los Angeles consumer startup--The Honest Company--about to be acquired by Unilever? An unconfirmed report Thursday afternoon, from TechCrunch, says that Unilever is in early talks to acquire the company, founded by Jessica Alba and SoCal serial entrepreneur Brian Lee. If true, an acquisition would be the second by the company of a high profile, Los Angeles startup this year, after the acquisition of Santa Monica's Dollar Shave Club by Unilever--for a billion dollars--in May. The Hone (More info...)
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Tesla Motors Selected For Massive Battery Storage Project In SoCalTesla Motors has been selected to build and install massive, 80 megawatt battery storage facility in Southern California, as part of a new contract with Southern California Edison, the two announced on Thursday. The plant--to be build at SCE's Mira Loma plant--is designed to store up energy from renewables, for use during peak hours. Tesla said that the massive Tesla PowerPack install will provide enough energy to power more than 2,500 households for a day or charge 1,000 Tesla vehicles. Financi (More info...)
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LumaTax Raises $2M For Small Business Tax Reporting SoftwareLumaTax, a new startup has offices in both San Diego and Seattle, Washington, has raised $2M in a funding, the company said on Thursday. The funding came from Madrona Venture Group, Greycroft Partners, and angels. LumaTax develops software which can be used by small businesses to automate the paperwork required for paying sales taxes. The company is initially launching its product in California. The startup is led by Robert Shulte, who was founder of sales tax software provider Taxient, which wa (More info...)
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FastPay Gets Strategic Funding From Citi VenturesLos Angeles-based FastPay, which provides working capital loans to digital businesses, has scored a strategic funding round from Citi Ventures, according to the company. The size of that investment was not announced. The company, led by Jed Simon, helps companies who have a long accounts payable cycle--such as online publishers and mobile app developers--cover working capital needs. FastPay ays that so far, it has originated nearly $1.5 billion in loans, and now has more than 70 employees. FastP (More info...)
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Indeed Prime On Why Los Angeles Is A Hot Technology Jobs Market
Most of the insiders and hiring executives in Los Angeles know how hard it is to find technical talent in Los Angeles—but not all realize it's not because of lack of talent, but because of very high demand. Last week, job search service Indeed launched a new service in Los Angeles, called Indeed Prime, hoping to jump into the market for finding talent here to address that issue. We spoke with VP of Indeed Prime, Terence Chiu, about the new service—and more importantly, why the company deci (More info...)
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Sony Slashes Staff At San Diego Game StudioSony has cut more than 50 employees in San Diego, at its Sony San Diego Studio, which develops videogames such as Kill Strain and MLB. According to reports, the layoffs are part of a wider cut in its videogaming operations which also included workers in London. Gamasutra reported the moves are possibly a move away from "live games" development at Sony.
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Taco Bell Jumps On Virtual Reality Bandwagon, To Give Away A Playstation VRIrvine-based fast food chain Taco Bell is jumping into the world of virtual reality, saying today that it will give away the chance to win a PlayStation VR to consumers who visit its stores, before the device ships to the general public. Taco Bell said it will offer up a special code in its "Taco Bell Big Box" that consumers can text to the company, to get a chance to win a PlayStation VR headset ahead of its public release. Those codes will be available starting today, through October 19th. Tac (More info...)
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Digital Map Products Gets $36.3MIrvine-based Digital Map Products (DMP), a developer of cloud-based mapping products used by businesses and government for mapping and land use applications, has raised $36.3M in a strategic growth funding. The funding and management recapitalization came from Silversmith Capital Partners. Digital Map Products was founded by Jim Skurzynski and Geoff Wade, who will continue to lead the company. Todd MacLean and Marc Munfa, both of Silversmith Capital Partners, will join the company's board of dir (More info...)
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Resonant Raises $11.5M In Public OfferingGoleta-based radio frequency filter designer Resonant Inc. said Wednesday that it has raised $11.5M in its public offering, selling 2,715,000 shares of its common stock at $4.25 per share. The company, led by Terr Lingren, said it will use the funding to further expand its IP portfolio and increase its commercialization opportunities for its technology. The company said that the new funds, combined with its current cash, will provide it sufficient capital even in the absence of revenue, into 201 (More info...)
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