Monday, January 9, 2017


Ivantis Finds $25M For Microstent Surgery Devices
Irvine-based medical device developer Ivantis, which is developing microstents for minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, has raised $25M in a Series C funding, the company announced today. The funding was led by RA Capital Management, a new investor, and also included Merieux Developpement, along with existing investors. The company said the funding gives it runway until 2020, and support commercialization of its product in the United States. The company says it is anticipating approval by the FD (More info...)
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Qualcomm Invests In Israeli Cybersecurity Startup, Team8
San Diego-based Qualcomm--via Qualcomm Ventures--is one of the lead strategic investors in Team8, an Israeli cybersecurity software developer, Team8 said on Monday. Qualcomm and Microsoft were the two big strategic backers in Team8, which said it has now raised a total of $92M in funding. The size of Qualcomm's investment was not announced. Team8's other investors include Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent and Innovation Endeavors, Cisco AT&T, Nokia, Mitsui & Co, Bessemer Venture Partners, Marker LLC, and Te (More info...)
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Reports: Harvest.Ai Acquired By Amazon
San Diego-based Harvest.ai, a developer of software that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to prevent data loss from enterprises, has reportedly has been acquired by Amazon.com. The company was reportedly acquired for around $20M. Harvest.ai had raised only $2.3M in funding from Trinity Ventures back in March of 2015. The startup is led by Alexander Watson, who previously was at the National Security Agency (NSA) and also had served at Websense.
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MatriSys Bioscience Finds $1.5M From Tech Coast Angels
San Diego-based MatriSys Bioscience, which is developing treatments for treating skin and dermatologic conditions, says it has raised $1.5M in a funding round from the Tech Coast Angels. The lead investor in the investment was Jeff Friedman, MD, Ph.D., who is head of the TCA's Life Sciences Committee. The company's technology is based on skin microbiome research developed at the University of San Diego, in the labs of Professor Richard Gallo. The company said it developing live biological therap (More info...)
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SnapMD Adds $3.25M In Series A
Los Angeles-based SnapMD, which develops telemedicine software and technology, announced this morning that it has added $3.25M in a Series A financing extension. The company said the funding brings its total raised to $9.15M. The startup, led by President and CEO Dave Skibinski, said the new funds go to expand its sales and marketing efforts, and drive revenue through its channel partner programs. SnapMD did not detail the investors in the new funding, only saying it included both institutional (More info...)
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Amgen Leads Investment In SiteOne Therapeutics
Thousand Oaks-based Amgen is the lead investor in a round for San Francisco- and Bozeman, Montana-based SiteOne Therapeutics, SiteOne said on Friday. SiteOne said it raised $15M in a Series B funding round, which was led b Amgen, and also included Next Frontier Capital and insiders. SiteOne is developing no-opioid analgesics, aimed at treating chronic pain without causing addiction.
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UK Company Boohoo To Acquire Nasty Gal For $20M
Los Angeles-based fashion brand and e-commerce provider Nasty Gal is being acquired by UK fashion brand Boohoo.com plc, Boohoo said it a financial filing today, inn a deal worth $20M. According to Boohoo, it has entered into an asset purchase agreement as part of Nasty Gal's bankruptcy sale, which includes "certain intellectual property assets and customer databases" from Nasty Gal. It's unclear if that proposal includes Nasty Gal's current e-commerce business. Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy in (More info...)
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SpaceX Delays Vandenberg Launch To January 14
Hawthorne-based SpaceX has moved the satellite launch scheduled for this morning at Vandenberg to January 14th, due to high winds and rain, the company said on Sunday. SpaceX has been attempting to launch ten IridiumNext communications satellites into space from Vandenberg since the fall. The launch of that payload for Iridium already has seen delays due to the SpaceX explosion at Cape Canaveral, a wild fire at Vandenberg in September, plus a push from Sunday to Monday last week for unexplained (More info...)
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Citrix Sets January Date For GoTo Spinoff
Citrix Systems said on Friday that it has set a date of January 20th, to spin out its "GoTo" family of service offerings. That business--headquartered in Santa Barbara--will become a separate subsidiary called GetGo, which will merge with a subsidairy of LogMeIn. The spinout will result in the distribution of shares of LogMeIn to current Citrix stockholders, currently .1718 of a share of LogMeIn common stock for each share of Citrix common stock owned by a shareholder. Citrix develops GoToMeetin (More info...)
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Amgen Invests $30M In Immatics, Up To $1 Billion In Future Payments
Thousand Oaks-based Amgen announced this morning that it has made a $30M investment in a German company developing cancer immunotherapy, Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH. According to Amgen, the deal could potentially be worth over $1 billion in milestone payments plus royalties. Immatics Biotechnologies is developing cancer immunotherapies focused around target discovery and T-cell receptors, which the two said they are combining with Amgen's bispecific antibody platform, in order to create novel (More info...)
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TrueCar Launches Further Outreach To Auto Dealers
Santa Monica-based TrueCar is continuing its outreach to car dealers--looking to patch up what had been a fairly contentious relationship with both dealers who list and do not list automobiles on its site--saying it is releasing an updated "Dealer Pledge". TrueCar said it will be showing off the pledge at the upcoming 2017 NADA automobile convention, saying the effort reflects a "commitment to operate a transparent, balanced marketplace that benefits both consumers and dealers." TrueCar has been (More info...)
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Aerie Pharmaceuticals To Open Plant In Ireland
Irvine-based pharmaceuticals developer Aerie Pharmaceuticals announced this morning that it is planning to open up its first manufacturing plant, in Ireland. Aerie Pharmaceuticals said it has signed a lease agreement with the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) of Ireland for a new manufacturing plant in Athlone, Ireland, which will include 30,000 square feet of interior floor space. The company said it expects to spend a total of $25 million on constructing the new plant, with commercial supply (More info...)
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BIOLASE Loses CFO
Irvine-based dental laser manufacturer BIOLASE has lost its CFO, the company announced early this morning. Biolase said that its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, David C. Dryer, has resigned from the company to "pursue other opportunities". The company also said the resignation was for "personal reasons", unrelated to the company's financial condition. The responsibility for the company's finances has temporary been handed to the rest of its finance team, with President and CEO (More info...)
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