Monday, April 10, 2017


Heal Adds Former Navy Secretary Mabus To Board
Los Angeles-based Heal, which offers up an app-driven service that lets users book on-demand, house calls from doctors, has added former U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to its board of directors. Mabus served at U.S. Navy Secretary for President Barack Obama for nearly eight years. Mabus also previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Clinton Administration, as well as serving in private industry.
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Vizio, LeEco Call Off $2 Billion Acquisition Deal
Irvine-based Vizio and Chinese electronics giant LeEco have called off the $2 billion acquisition of Vizio by LeEco, citing "regulatory headwinds". Hints that the deal were going south have been apparent for months, as LeEco has faced a cash crunch, issues getting cash for the deal from overseas, and more. The two had reached an agreement in July of 2016 for LeEco to buy Vizio, a move which would have made Vizio founder William Wang a billionaire. It's unclear what the path forward is now for Vi (More info...)
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Wavemaker Partners Backs Saleswhale For Automated Sales Leads
Santa Monica- and Singapore-based Wavemaker Partners is one of the investors in Saleswhale, a Singapore startup developing artificial intelligence software for managing sales leads and sales conversations. Saleswhale said it raised $1.2M in a seed funding over the weekend, which came from Monk's Hill Ventures, Gree Ventures, and Wavemaker Partners. Wavemaker Partners is the venture firm run by Eric Manlunas and David Siemer, and which has operations both in Los Angeles as well as in Singapore.
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Neural Analytics Gets $10M In Funding
Los Angeles-based Neural Analytics, a startup which is developing medical devices used to measure, diagnose, and track brain health, has raised $10M in a funding round, the company said this morning. The funding was led by Reimagined Ventures. As part of the funding, the company said that Ted Koutouzis of Reimagined Ventures joins the company's board. The company has now raised $27M in total. Neural Analytics said the funds will go towards expanded commercialization and ongoing research. Neural (More info...)
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Airgain Acquires Antenna Plus
San Diego-based antenna technology developer Airgain announced late Sunday that it has acquired substantially all of the assets and certain liabilities of Antenna Plus, a developer of antenna products for the mobile and automotive fleet market. Airgain said it is paying approximately $6.4 million in cash for Antenna Plus, which was in bankruptcy proceedings. Airgain said Antenna Plus had unaudited revenues of $7.5M in 2016, and that it expects the acquisition to be accretive to the firm within 2 (More info...)
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Illumina Launches Prenatal Testing Solution In Europe
San Diego-based lifesciences equipment maker Illumina said late Sunday evening that it has launched its prenatal testing solution, VeriSeq NIPT, in Europe. The company's product allows laboratories to screen for fetal chromosomal abnormalities indicating conditions such as Down syndrome in about one day.
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MobileCause Enhances Crowdfunding Software For Nonprofits
Los Angeles-based MobileCause, which develops fundraising and communications software for nonprofits, has rolled out an enhanced crowdfunding software product. According to the company, which is venture backed by Level Equity, said its software allows for use of dynamic templates, social sharing, and other features. MobileCause is led by CEO Sean MacNeill. The company raised $15M in January.
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Aerie Pharmaceuticals Names New VPs
Irvine-based Aerie Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceuticals company developing treatments for glaucoma and other eye diseases, said it has named Gary Menichini as Vice President of Sales, Dale Seibt as Vice President of Market Access, and Gerry McKenzie as Vice President of Commercial Operations. The company also has appointed Michael McCleerey to the new position of Vice President of Portfolio Development. Menichi was previously at Genoptix, and also served at Alcon Laboratories; Seibt was previousl (More info...)
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