Cryptocurrency investor Michael Terpin sues AT&T over “SIM swap” scam; Cargomatic raises $35M in series B round; Boeing acquires El Segundo-based satellite and flight-plan maker MORE

Walmart Labs , the technology arm of retail giant Walmart , is planning a major expansion in San Diego--hoping to tap into the area's deep depth of technology talent. According to Walmart, it is planning to triple its headcount in San Diego, as it expands into a new office which is triple the size of its existing operation in the city. According to Walmart Labs, it plans to triple its San Diego headcount to over 180, and expand into a new building which is around 30,000 square feet. MORE

Los Angeles-based VERSES , a new startup using blockchain and appling it to the virtual and augmented reality world, has raised $6M in a seed fudning, the company said Wednesday. The funding came from Blockchain Industries, Inc., Decentra Fund, and others. The company also says it is raising additional capital via a private token sale. MORE

Chrome River picks up ExxonMobil; Wells leaving Netflix; Bird scooters face vandalism MORE

Hawthorne-based SpaceX is targeting its next rocket launch for sometime next week, from its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. SpaceX has targeted the launch of the Telstar 18 VANTAGE communications satellite for a launch window starting at 11:33pm EDT on the 23rd, according to multiple sources. MORE

Irvine-based cybersecurity software developer Cylance said today that it is looking to secure all of 2018's U.S. political campaigns, by offering up its software at no cost to political campaigns and candidates. Cylance cited an "unprecedented number of threats" to the democratic process. MORE

Santa Monica-based electric scooter company Bird --alongside competitor Lime--shut off all of its scooters in Santa Monica on Tuesday, in protest of a city study which ranked Uber and Lyft higher than Bird and Lime in a ranking of possible services to gain access to the city formally. MORE

National Technical Systems (NTS), a provider of qualification testing, inspection, and certification services to the electronics and other markets, has shifted its corporate operations to Anaheim, from three offices in Calabasas, Fullerton, and Brea. According to NTS, it has opened a new "Corporate Center" in Anaheim, which will house its finance, accounting, marketing, procurement, human resources, contract administration, and information technology operations. MORE

Irvine-based Skyworks Solutions , which makes a wide selection of analog semiconductors, said that its high reliability optocouplers are being used in a line of implantable cardiac defibrillators. Skyworks did not say who is manufacturing those defibrillators, only saying that it is a "leading medical device provider". Skyworks said its photovoltaic optocouplers are providing the link between power supply circuits and control electronics. READ MORE>>. MORE

Los Angeles-based AuditBoard , a developer of risk and compliance software used to help auditors streamline their work, has raised $40M in a funding round, the company disclosed this morning. The funding was led by Battery Ventures. Michael Brown of Battery Ventures joins the company's board with the funding. AuditBoard was founded by Daniel Kim and Jay Lee. The company was formerly known as SOXHUB, but renamed itself to AuditBoard in November of last year. MORE

Santa Barbara-based AxiaMed , which is developing healthcare payments technology, said late Tuesday afternoon that it has raised $12.4M in a funding round. The funding was led by Health Enterprise Partners (HEP), and also included Nashville Capital Network and other existing investors. AxiaMed is a developer of payment software, used b y hospitals and others for managing payments from patients. The company's CEO and co-founder is Randal Clark. READ MORE>>. MORE

Monday, August 20, 2018 -- South Bay Monday Club. Monday Club helps Southern California companies improve their business plan presentations and meet experts who can help them achieve their objectives. Email fredvmc@earthlink.net for more information. MORE

Camarillo-based semiconductor maker Semtech reported a design win today for its LoRa wireless technology. According to Semtech, its LoRa technology is being us to help monitor cattle health in real-time, via a design win with company Quantified Ag. Semtech said Quantified Ag is using its LoRa devices and wireless radio technology into its "smart" cattle tags, which collect body temperature and activity in cows continuously, 24 hours a day, on cattle feedlots. MORE

How, exactly, did Santa Barbara-based Sonos get to where it is today? In an in-depth look, Wired just posted a long article charting the path of Nick Millington, the Chief Product Officer at Sonos , and the evolution of the company's whole home sound systems. Sonos just became the latest Central Coast company to have an IPO, one of a long string of successful technology startups to come out of the region. READ MORE>>. wired sonos nick millington interview startup entrepreneur MORE

El Segundo-based Stamps.com said Wednesday afternoon that it has completed its $220M acquisition of UK-based MetaPack Ltd. , a provider of e-commerce shipping software. Stamps said it paid approximately $220M in fash, from its existing cash and investments, for MetaPack. The deal had originally been announced in July. According to Stamps.com, it plans to operate MetaPack as a wholly owned subsidiary, under its existing management team. MetaPack was founded in 1999. MORE

SpaceX approved for “load-and-go” procedure; Netflix testing new ads; NTS heading to Anaheim MORE

Ford—one of the automakers competing in China’s huge car market—is now making a bid to provide China’s leading software infrastructure hub dedicated to streamlining transportation by connecting cars and riders with mobility services. Ford’s recently acquired unit Autonomic , which co-created the automaker’s Transportation Mobility Cloud (TMC), inked a deal Tuesday to partner with Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. MORE

In our Insights and Opinions section, we regularly feature contributions from the local community about the local technology ecosystem. Today, we have an opinion piece from Ed Guerrero of Silicon Valley Bank, on the mobile gaming industry. One of the best things about working at Silicon Valley Bank in Los Angeles is the access to amazing founders and companies. MORE

The Boring Company , the Los Angeles company founded by Elon Musk to create underground transportation systems, said late Wednesday evening that it is proposing a new, high speed, underground public transportation system specifically designed to connect Los Feliz, East Hollywood, or Rampart Village neighborhoods to Dodger Stadium. According to The Boring Company, the system would connect the Red Line to Dodger Stadium, allowing fans to get to Dodger Stadium in under 4 minutes. MORE

Markets and competitors change. Are you being left behind? MORE

Daniel Kim and Jay Lee, the two founders of AuditBoard , a Los Angeles-based provider of a risk and compliance software service for large businesses, grew up middle school friends in Cerritos, Calif. MORE

Match Group dating app subsidiary Tinder Inc. has filed a lawsuit against parent company InterActiveCorp., alleging IAC purposefully undervalued the company to avoid proper payouts to executives MORE

If Azealia Banks’ Instagram account is to be believed , Elon Musk’s tweets about Tesla’s take-private deal can be chalked up to some good ole acid and a whole lot of post-tweet frantic scrambling. Over a series of Instagram stories from the weekend, Banks (whose account should be taken with an entire salt shaker — more on that later) reported from the belly of the beast (which in this case is one of Elon Musk’s Los Angeles homes). MORE

Snapchat enlists Nicki Minaj to show how AR tools let users shop in RL; SpaceX invites guests into the Dragon X; Treyarch testing Battle Royale mode MORE

Risk and compliance software company AuditBoard raises $40 million; Bird, Lime lead e-scooter protest in Santa Monica; Tinder sues parent company MORE

Marina del Rey advertising blockchain firm Lucidity (an affiliate of KR8OS Inc.) announced Aug. 15 it completed a funding round of $5 million in total, comprised of investments from six venture capital firms MORE

Long Beach-based Cargomatic , which develops technology to connect shippers and carriers, said this week that it has raised $35M in a Series B funding round. The funding was led by Warburg Pincus, and also included Canaan, Genesee & Wyoming, Xplorer Capital and Muse Family Enterprises. According to Cargomatic, the new funding will go towards geographic expansion efforts and hiring key employees. Cargomatic develops a mobile marketplace, which helps connect short-haul carriers to shippers. MORE

Michael Terpin , a well known serial entrepreneur who is very active in the Los Angeles technology industry--and has since made a name for himself as an early cryptocurrency investor and pioneer--is suing AT&T over the loss of $23.8 million due to a "SIM swap" scam. Terpin is seeking $223.8M in his lawsuit, including $200M in punitive damages, for AT&T's role in allowing an AT&T agent to transfer Terpin's cellphone account to an international criminal gang. MORE

San Diego-based GreatCall , which sells the Jitterbug and other phones and safety devices aimed at the senior market, has been acquired by Best Buy , in a deal worth $800M in cash. Best Buy announced the acquisition on Wednesday afternoon. Best Buy said the acquisition would help it expand in the "large and growing" health space. Best Buy said that GreatCall has over 900,000 subscribers. MORE

In its early years, Uber was a headstrong force knocking down preconceived ideas about transportation and, along with Lyft, sparking the imaginations of countless entrepreneurs who are now building a new industry called “mobility.” MORE

El Segundo-based Millenium Space Systems , a developer of small satellite systems, has been acquired by Boeing , Boeing said on Thursday. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Boeing said that Millennium Space Systems has approximately 260 employees. Millennium was founded in 2001, and was led by CEO Stan Dubyn. According to Boeing, Millennium Space Systems will become a subsidiary of the company, and will report to the company's Phantom Works division. MORE