Internet Brands to buy WebMD for $2.8 billion, Hulu names Google veteran as marketing executive, and ‘Game of Thrones’ Snapchat lens reaches 45 million people MORE

The second episode of Xconomy’s new podcast, Xconomy Voices , features Recorded Future co-founder and CEO Christopher Ahlberg. MORE

Genomics startups are increasing in number and quality, so much so that three-year-old Illumina Accelerator has expanded with its latest class to accommodate five of them. Xconomy got an early look at the specialty accelerator’s sixth cohort, which includes a company named for a butterfly and the accelerator’s first digital health startup. MORE

Interested in getting involved in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones)? Who are the companies in Southern California that are part of this growing industry? MORE

Los Angeles-based FairClaims has raised $1.8M in a funding round, to go towards the startup's online dispute resolution services. According to the company, the funding came from Fika Ventures, Crosslink Capital and Greycroft. The funding came on top of an earlier, $285,000 in seed funding the company received from Brian Liu (co-founder of legalzoom), Mark Goldstein, and Mark Goines (NOLO, Intuit Turbotax). FairClaims is led by CEO Stephen Kane. MORE

It was not long ago that the apps on our smartphones were, by today’s standards, basic. They played music, allowed us to text, and the very pioneering apps tracked our daily step count and sent us news alerts. That all changed with social media , and now everyone is glued to their phone’s screen. MORE

El Segundo-based Internet Brands , which is owned by private equity investor KKR, agreed this morning to acquire WebMD in a deal worth approximately $2.8 billion. According to WebMD, Internet Brands will pay $66.50 per share in cash for all of the outstanding shares of WebMD common stock. The deal is expected to close in Q4 of 2017. WebMD operates a popular online health information site. Internet Brands is run by CEO Bob Brisco. KKR acquired Internet Brands in 2014. READ MORE>>. MORE

Close. You can take this headline as a rule, not an exception. You’ll recognize the truism, “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy” first stated by German Field Marshall von Moltke way back in the 19 th century. Our variant of the “battle plan” truism is important to internalize. MORE

With content management systems like WordPress , getting a site up and running is no big deal. But apart from building traffic, what I find most challenging is incorporating a lead capture strategy that will actually generate some blog subscribers. MORE

Tuesday, August 1, 2017 -- SIGGRAPH 2017. The annual SIGGRAPH conference is a five-day interdisciplinary educational experience in the latest computer graphics and interactive techniques, including a three-day commercial exhibition that attracts hundreds of companies from around the world. The conference also hosts the international SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival, showcasing works from the world's most innovative and accomplished digital film and video creators. MORE

AT&T , which has been ramping up its efforts and presence in Los Angeles, both with technology and Hollywood, said this week that it has topped 500,000 subscribers on its over-the-top (OTT) streaming platform, DIRECTV NOW. The service--which is run out of AT&T's El Segundo offices--provides access to both live and on-demand television, delivered by high speed Internet and mobile broadband. MORE

The attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act took a major hit this week from Senate GOP holdouts who said the Better Care Reconciliation Act either tore down Medicaid too much or left too much of the ACA in place. A straight-up repeal, floated by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, was also shot down. But as of this writing, McConnell will allow a vote next week to start open debate, much less tightly controlled than the secretive BCRA that went nowhere. MORE

Global Eagle to cancel $416 million deal with Chinese firm over national security concerns, Guidance Software acquired for $240 million, and Elon Musk reveals car elevator at Boring Co. MORE

San Diego’s Effector Therapeutics, a five-year-old cancer drug developer, has raised $38.6 million in new venture capital funding. The Series C financing, led by Pfizer Venture Investments, brings total funding for Effector to about $150 million, CEO Steve Worland said late Monday. MORE

National security concerns have forced Global Eagle Entertainment, an in-flight Wi-Fi service, to cancel a $416 million investment agreement with China’s Beijing Shareco Technologies to create a new joint venture for the Chinese market MORE

Thursday, July 27, 2017 -- AI.LA New Realities Expert Panel #1. Hear experts in the fields of AI, robotics, virtual, augmented, and mixed realities talk about the future. Why attend? Debunk the hype around AI Explore the intersections between VR and Artificial Intelligence Gain insight on the most entertaining advancements in new technologies Discuss biases in data and creator when developing an AI. See [link] (more MORE

Monday, July 31, 2017 -- TEDxUCLA Salon: From Struggle to Success TEDxUCLA Salon How do you turn struggles into success in the field of technology? How do you succeed as a female in a male-driven industry? How can government catch up with the rapid growth in technology? Join us as we explore these hot topics and learn from experts in the field. MORE

Adam Riggs-Zeigen has come a long way since 2013, when he co-founded San Diego’s Rock My World and introduced the mobile app RockMyRun to provide upbeat music playlists to motivate smartphone-equipped runners. “We MORE

Agtech startup Plenty has reeled in $200 million in financing as the company presses forward on its plans to build a global network of indoor vertical farms. Softbank Vision Fund of Japan led the Series B funding round for South San Francisco, CA-based Plenty. The round included investments from affiliates of Louis Bacon, the founder of Moore Capital Management, as well earlier investors Innovation Endeavors, Bezos Expeditions, DCM, Data Collective, and Finistere Ventures. MORE

Cinq Music raises $20 million Series B, Snap Inc. selling Spectacles in Harrods of London, and Snap Inc. hires Swiss team behind anti-reverse engineering software MORE

Glendale-based online legal referral provider LegalZoom says it is legal in New Jersey, despite a recent opinion issued by the New Jersey Supreme Court. According to LegalZoom, recent reports on the opinion of the New Jersey Supreme Court "misinterpret the findings", and that New Jersey attorneys can continue to ethically work with LegalZoom. MORE

Pasadena-based forensics software maker Guidance Software has agreed to be acquired by OpenText , in a deal worth approximately $240M, Guidance said this morning. Guidance, which is best known for developing the EnCase forensic security software, said OpenText will pay $7.10 per share in cash for all of the company's outstanding shares. Guidance was advised by Morgan Stanley and Atlas Technology Group, along with Latham & Watkins, in the deal. READ MORE>>. MORE

Elon Musk claims ‘verbal approval’ for hyperloop route from NY to DC, Falcon Heavy launch has “good chance” of failure says Elon Musk, and Hulu signs 3,000-episode distribution deal with 20th Century Fox MORE

Wednesday, August 2, 2017 -- SIGGRAPH 2017. The annual SIGGRAPH conference is a five-day interdisciplinary educational experience in the latest computer graphics and interactive techniques, including a three-day commercial exhibition that attracts hundreds of companies from around the world. The conference also hosts the international SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival, showcasing works from the world's most innovative and accomplished digital film and video creators. MORE

Does your genetic code contain information that can help you lose weight? It’s a serious question in science, and in business. Now, the makers of Lose It aim to find out. MORE

This story is part of an Xconomy series on artificial intelligence in healthcare. Some of the other stories cover a genomics hackathon , A.I. and radiology , and the impact on doctors and patients. MORE

Hiring your first few employees can often be as hard as choosing your cofounders. Especially in the early days of your startup, when you’re often only months from running out of money, hiring the wrong person can be disastrous. Yet it’s hard to accurately vet potential candidates. MORE

Houston —Houston, Mission Control has a problem. The storied control room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston—recognizable to many of us from 1960s news clips of the dawn of the Space Age – –is in need of a face-lift. MORE

Santa Monica-based streaming television provider Hulu announced on Monday that it has appointed Kelly Campbell as the company's new Chief Marketing Officer. Campbell was most recently at Google, serving as Managing Director of Global Growth Marketing for Google Cloud, also also had previously worked at JPMorgan Chase and FleetBoston Financial Corporation. MORE

Modular construction startup Emagispace raises $4.2 million, ABC News forms production partnership with ATTN:, and Elon Musk disses Mark Zuckerberg’s understanding of the dangers of artificial intelligence MORE

Elon Musk said on Thursday that his Boring Co. received “verbal approval” to build an underground hyperloop system from Washington, D.C., to New York MORE