socalTECH

JANUARY 4, 2016

Over the last week or so, we've featured the reflections of our readers on 2015 and what it has meant for Southern California's technology industry. Our last contribution comes from Hamet Watt , a venture capitalist at Upfront Ventures (www.upfront.com). What was the biggest news for you or your firm this year? Hamet Watt: Upfront Ventures raised a brand-new $300 million fund, Upfront V.

Southern California 154

Southern California Entrepreneur News Technology 154

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 4, 2016

A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. It was a decade ago that I led the sale of Expertcity (creator of GoToMeeting) to Citrix. During the early 2000’s, my team grew the company to one of the largest SaaS businesses of its day, with sales of $70 million. In November of 2015, Citrix announced that it will spin out the “GoTo” Division, of which GoToMeeting remains the flagship product, as a standalone public company.

SaaS 141

SaaS Yahoo Advertising Customer 141

socalTECH

JANUARY 4, 2016

Auto maker Toyota , which is headquartered in Torrance, says this morning that it is announcing how it plans to leverage artificial intelligence research in its next generation vehicles. Toyota, which has not yet revealed the details of the announcement, said the effort comes out of the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), a research and development enterprise focused on artificial intelligence for automobiles, robotics, and scientific discovery.

Artificial Inteligence 136

Artificial Inteligence Torrance Research Invest 136

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 4, 2016

Staying on top of the newest innovations in the healthcare field can be extremely time-consuming. As a professional in the field, your free time is a valuable commodity in scarce supply. So to help you stay current on trends, we have researched the latest developments in healthcare for the biggest changes you can expect to see in the upcoming year. Here are our five predictions for the most important healthcare trends in 2016.

Technical Review 57

Technical Review Social Media Media Research 57

Advertiser: Aggregage

Office leases are one of companies’ largest expenses, and if your whole team is working from home with no clear end in sight, you may be wondering what to do about your lease.

Company

socalTECH

JANUARY 4, 2016

Gil Elbaz , the founder of Los Angeles-based data startup Factual , is one of the backers of a developer of lab management software for the research, biotech, and pharma industry today. Palo Alto-based Quartzy said this morning that it raised $17M in a Series B funding, which Elbaz and other angels including Jeremy Stoppelman, Justin Caldbeck, and Tikhon Bernstram, in a round which was led by Emergence Capital and included Khosla Ventures and YC Continuity Fund.

Research 116

Research Los Angeles Capital Funding 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2016

Most first-time entrepreneurs seem to believe the myth that they need a minimum of a half a million dollars to start a business. At least that is usually the lowest number I see requested from our local angel investment group. In reality, over 80 percent of successful new businesses are self-funded for much less -- often as little as $10,000. I’m convinced this also reduces risk.

Startup 61

Startup Social Media Entrepreneur Sales 61

socalTECH

JANUARY 4, 2016

Irvine-based RF semiconductor developer RFaxis is expanding its product lineup this morning, saying it has added a number of RF front ends for the Internet-of-Things and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) market. According to RFaxis, the new products, its RFX2403, RFX2413, and RFX1030 RFeICs, support the sub-GHz and 2.4GHz frequency bands, and are used for such areas as ZigBee, Bluetooth Low Energy, and other protocols.

Product 109

Product Sample Marketing Develop 109

socalTECH

JANUARY 4, 2016

A driver for ridesahring service Lyft was killed over the New Year's holiday, after he was hit by a suspected drunk driver. According to the Hawthorne Police Department, 21-year old Thor Anderson, a driver for Lyft, was killed after his black Ford Fusion was broadsided by a 21 year old male driving a red Infiniti coup. Anderson was pronounced dead on the scene of the crash by Los Angeles County Fire units.

Hawthorne 109

Hawthorne Los Angeles Help Services 109

socalTECH

JANUARY 4, 2016

Irvine-based mobile accessory maker Incipio has scored an investment from private equity investor Goode Partners, the company announced this morning, via a minority investment. Incipio did not disclose the size of the investment. Incipio said it will use the new funding to further carry out its business, including identifying and executing future acquisitions of companies.

Equity 109

Equity Invest Acquisition Mobile 109

socalTECH

JANUARY 4, 2016

Burbank-based PSI Services , a provider of professional testing services, said this morning that it has acquired Applied Measurement Professionals (AMP), a subsidiary of the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC). Financial details of the all-stock deal were not announced. PSI Services provides talent assessment testing for job seekers, license testing for government regulatory agencies, certification and credentialing services, and other related services.

Services 100

Services Burbank Acquisition 100