Wednesday, April 12, 2017MoneyTree: $1.1 Billion In VC Invested In SoCal In Q1
Over $1.1 billion in venture capital dollars were invested in the Southern California region in Q1, according to the latest MoneyTree Report, issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and CB Insights. The report tallied up $926.4M invested across 71 deals in Q2 of 2017 in LA and Orange County, and $202.37M invested in San Diego for the quarter across 32 deals. Investments in LA/OC were up slightly from the $898.3M invested in Q4, with San Diego also up from $175.73M in Q4. Among the largest invest (More info...)
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Digsy Launches Sales Software For Commercial Real Estate BrokersFullerton-based Digsy has rolled out a new, sales software platform specifically aimed at helping commercial real estate brokers better manage their sales teams. Digsy is backed by Gil Amelio (former CEO of Apple), Gordon Stephenson (board member with Zillow) and Sean Ellis (GrowthHackers.com and DropBox), K5 Ventures, Tech Coast Angels, along with executives from LoopNet. The startup said the new software helps commercial real estate pros convert more prospects into deals. The company said it h (More info...)
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Creativebug Acquired By Jo-Ann StoresCreativebug, the online educational video site for the arts and crafts market which was last owned by Otter Media, the joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group, has been acquired by Jo-Ann Stores, the arts and crafts retailer. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. According to Jo-Ann Stores, Creativebug will continue to be based in San Francisco, and will continue to be led by President and CEO Urusula Morgan. Creativebug had been acquired by Otter Media in 2014, for $10 (More info...)
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Clearlake's Ivanti Gobbles Up Concorde SolutionsIvanti, the IT automation software developer owned by Santa Monica-based private equity investor Clearlake Capital, announced this morning that it has acquired Concorde Solutions, a developer of software asset management (SAM) software-as-a-service. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Ivanti says the acquisition is its ninth in the last five years. Concorde Solutions was based in Reading, UK. Clearlake Capital acquired LANDESK in January, merging it into existing portfolio fir (More info...)
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NextGen HealthCare Acquires EntradaIrvine-based NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, a provider of electronic health records software which is owned by Quality Systems, said this morning that it has agreed to acquire Entrada, a Nashville-based provider of cloud-based mobile apps for the electronic health records (EHR) market. NextGen Healthcare said it will pay $34M in cash for Entrada. Entrada had revenues of approximately $12M in 2016, according to the companies. Rusty Frantz is President and CEO of NextGen Healthcare.
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Hunker Launches New Home Design SiteA new, online home design site, called Hunker, launched today, focused on home design, home tours, product recommendations, personal essays, and helpful information for homeowners and apartment-dwellers. The new site comes from Santa Monica-based Leaf Group--which, until recently, was known as Demand Media--and offers up its own site, plus also reach into Facebook and Instagram. According to Leaf Group, Hunker is the latest in a series of new sites launched by the company, including Cuteness (pe (More info...)
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Chris Hollod On Investing With Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Ron Burkle
Many investors, and many startups have heard of A-Grade Investments—the investment firm created by Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Ron Burkle—and the many investments it has made, in such huge, breakout companies as Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, Pinterest, Warby Parker, Houzz, Nest, and many others—an investment that has now grown to be worth more than $250M. Chris Hollod who is Managing Partner of A-Grade Investments, and is now one of the partners in Burkle's newest venture fund, Inevitable (More info...)
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Here's One Tech Company With No Gender Issue: LA's EviteWith all the hand wringing in the tech industry over gender balance and equity, here's one company that apparently has no issue: LA-based Evite, the online invitations service. According to Evite, women currently make up 59 percent of its total employees, and 52 percent of its senior leadership roles, which includes its technical positions. Evite said that women head up its Product, Analytics and Data Infrastructure, Mobile Development, Testing and Advertising Operations, in addition to HR Legal (More info...)
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AEG Launches New Division, AEG StudiosLos Angeles-based sports and entertainment company AEG said Tuesday that it has launched a new, in-house branded content division, AEG Studios, which will provide creation, production and development of original content for the company and its brand partners. The new division will be led by Raymond Leon Roker. AEG said the unit will support its existing global partnerships across its sports, music, and facilities business units, including developing virtual reality and 360-degree video, document (More info...)
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TP-Link Launches Mesh Networking SystemBrea, California-based networking products maker TP-Link has jumped into the consumer Wi-Fi mesh networking market, with the launch of a new product called the Deco M5. Mesh networking allows multiple home Wi-Fi routers to communicate with each other to extend Wi-Fi coverage throughout a house, overcoming issues with poor coverage. TP-Link says its Deco M5 Whole-Home Wi-Fi systems will sell as a three-unit multi-pack, both through retailers and also HSN. TP-Link said its Wi-Fi system is capable (More info...)
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RippleNami Ties With BanQSan Diego-based RippleNami, which develops cloud-based data visualization tools, said on Tuesday that it has entered into a strategic parnership with Blockchain technology developer BanQu. According to the two, they are integrating RippleNami's data visualization software for BanQu's blockchain identity technology. The companies said the technologies specifically are aimed at helping users in such areas as East Africa, Latin America and South America, and particularly, helping establish "economi (More info...)
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