L.A. Business Journal

AUGUST 8, 2018

Holding company Chernin Group announced Aug. 8 that it sold Santa Monica entertainment conglomerate Otter Media Inc. to AT&T Inc.

Media 113

Media Santa Monica Entertainment Company 113

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JANUARY 27, 2021

Santa Monica-based Science, the startup studio led by Mike Jones and Peter Pham, has launched its own Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), called Science Strategic Acquisition Corp. Alpha (SSAA). According to Science Strategic Acquisition Corp.

Santa Monica 113

Santa Monica Acquisition Entertainment Pricing 113

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JANUARY 2, 2014

Santa Monica-based venture capital investor Siemer Ventures is one of the backers of a new, Japanese mobile video entertainment startup, Breaker. According to Breaker, it has raised $2M in a seed funding round, to help bolster its efforts to produce and distribute mobile video entertainment in Japan. READ MORE>>.

Mobile 224

Mobile Santa Monica Incubator Seed Funding 224

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OCTOBER 4, 2019

Santa Monica-based Vertical Networks , a "mobile-first" content studio which was backed by Snap , has been acquired by New York-based entertainment and sports media company Whistle. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Vertical Networks was founded by Elisabeth Murdoch.

Networking 113

Networking Santa Monica Content Entertainment 113

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OCTOBER 3, 2018

Santa Monica-babsed Tyffon , a developer of immersive entertainment technology started in Japan, said this morning that it has raised $2.17M in a funding round, to set up its first location in Los Angeles. The company says it has now raised $4M in total. As part of the expansion into the U.S.,

Santa Monica 133

Santa Monica Entertainment Los Angeles Startup 133

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OCTOBER 7, 2016

Santa Monica-based entertainment studio Lionsgate said on Thursday that it has named Julie Uhrman to the position of Executive Vice President & General Manager of Lionsgate Over-The-Top (OTT) Ventures, the company's streaming media service. Uhrman also has served at IGN Entertainment and Vivendi Universal.

Media 138

Media Santa Monica Entertainment Platform 138

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APRIL 24, 2018

ICX Media , a developer of artificial intelligence and adaptive learning-driven tools being used to help brands, media companies, and content companies with distribution and monetization, said it has set up shop in the Los Angeles area, with a new office in Santa Monica. The company is led by founder and CEO Michael Avon.

Artificial Inteligence 100

Artificial Inteligence Content Tool Media 100

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OCTOBER 16, 2019

Santa Monica-based TV Time , a developer of an app which lets users report information about their engagement with TVs and movies, has acquired New York City-based Mediamorph , according to the two companies. Mediamorph is a provider of entertainment content distribution and tracking services.

Southern California 113

Southern California Santa Monica Media Entertainment 113

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JULY 24, 2017

Santa Monica-based streaming television provider Hulu announced on Monday that it has appointed Kelly Campbell as the company's new Chief Marketing Officer. READ MORE>>.

Hulu 113

Hulu Google Marketing Santa Monica 113

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FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Santa Monica-based Super League Gaming , which organizes community esports events at theaters and other locations, has partnered with sports entertainment venue company Topgolf , where Topgolf will host amateur e-sports events and competitions. Financial details of the deal were not announced.

Santa Monica 113

Santa Monica Competition Mobile Entertainment 113

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 28, 2015

Light Emotion Data) to the Santa Monica Twilight Concert Series. Utilizing technological innovations spun out of the renowned MIT Media Labs and visual artistry by GMUNK , TrueCar is melding the company’s data analysis and visualization abilities with new, entertainment technology. The TrueCar L.E.D.

Santa Monica 40

Santa Monica Truecar Technology Entertainment 40

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AUGUST 5, 2019

Santa Monica-based vehicle subscription startup Fair , led by longtime automobile and startup veteran Scott Painter, is boosting its executive team, saying on Monday that it has added three new executives to its team. READ MORE>>.

Cornerstone OnDemand 124

Cornerstone OnDemand Truecar Ticketmaster Paramount 124

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OCTOBER 13, 2017

Santa Monica-base online entertainment company TasteMade said yetserday that it is in a big expansion of its content, and is launching two new channels in the home and travel area.

Santa Monica 127

Santa Monica Content Entertainment Develop 127

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SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

Santa Monica-based KIN , which operates a female-focused lifestyle YouTube network, has raised $12M in a funding round, the company said last week. The funding came from Corus Entertainment, Emil Capital, Mayfield Fund, General Catalyst Partners and Rustic Canyon Partners. The company is led by Michael Wayne.

Rustic Canyon 138

Rustic Canyon Santa Monica Entertainment Hollywood 138

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JUNE 18, 2013

A new, Santa Monica-based startup has created a new iTunes application, Draftpedia , aimed at providing a comprehensive source for NBA and NFL Draft history, player stats, and team rosters. The app--which is free--is the brainchild of David Rabie and Joe Sarafian, two Santa Monica entrepreneurs who were born and raised in Los Angeles.

Santa Monica 227

Santa Monica Santa Barbara Statistics Seed Funding 227

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2017

Santa Monica-based Sixgill , a developer of Internet-of-Things, sensor software, has raised $27.9M in a Series B funding round, the company said last week. The company has now raised a total of $33.90M. The funding was led by DRW Venture Capital, and also included Mobile Financial Partners.

Clearstone 113

Clearstone Santa Monica Venture Capital Entertainment 113

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APRIL 5, 2018

The company said it has named Mike DeMartino as Chief Financial Officer, and Anton Reut as Chief Product Officer & Executive Vice President of Operations. DeMartino was previously at Caesar's Interactive Entertainment and Playtika Santa Monica, and Reut was previously at Onestop Internet. READ MORE>>.

Media 113

Media Santa Monica Entertainment Los Angeles 113

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NOVEMBER 27, 2018

Santa Monica-based venture investor March Capital is one of the lead investors in a new, video game publishing startup called Nifty Games , in a $3M funding round, announced on Tuesday by Nifty Games. He also was founder of Massive In-Game Advertising (acquired by Microsoft in 2006), among other firms.

Capital 113

Capital Funding Santa Monica Seed Funding 113

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NOVEMBER 9, 2016

Santa Monica-based Demand Media --in what looks to be a tumultuous day to for the stock market--said this morning that it will begin trading its common stock today on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol, LFGR. The company is changing its name to Leaf Group Ltd. READ MORE>>.

Demand 138

Demand Media Santa Monica Entertainment 138

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JANUARY 24, 2019

Santa Monica-based GumGum Sports , the developer of computer-vision software used for "sport media valuation", led by Ophir Tanz, said on Wednesday that it has doubled both its number of employees, and number of clients in 2018. The company did not announced how many employees it added, nor how many clients.

Santa Monica 113

Santa Monica Advertising Entertainment Tool 113

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MAY 1, 2014

Santa Monica-based movie and entertainment company Lionsgate said late Wednesday that it is expanding into a new line of business, and has launched a new, interactive and game arm. He also had been at Creative Artists Agency, Walt Disney, and Bellrock Media. READ MORE>>.

Media 159

Media Santa Monica Entertainment Venture Capital 159

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JUNE 10, 2013

Silicon Beach--the self-appointed name that has been used to describe many parts of Southern California''s tech community, but which has seemed to have centered itself over Santa Monica and surrounding towns--has no shortage of events and conferences. Last year''s event attracted more than 2,000 attendees. READ MORE>>.

Conference 205

Conference GRP Partners Entertainment Southern California 205

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JULY 22, 2013

Santa Monica-based mobile app monetization and testing developer Burstly has snagged away an executive from high profile mobile games maker Rovio. According to Burstly, Jarkko Rajamaki has joined the company as its new Vice President of Business Development, a new role at the company.

Advertising 194

Advertising Santa Monica Mobile Entertainment 194

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FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard said late Monday that it has received clearance from the South Korean Fair Trade Commission, on its deal to acquire King Digital Entertainment. The companies are still waiting for clerances from the EU, among other conditions. billion deal, which was announced in November.

Activision 100

Activision Santa Monica Acquisition Entertainment 100

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NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Santa Monica-based Activision Publishing is estimating a sell-through of more than $500M in the first 24 hours of launching Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The company said the numbers came via Chart-Track, retail customer sell-through information and internal company estimates. READ MORE>>.

Activision 164

Activision Santa Monica Entertainment Sales 164

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DECEMBER 30, 2016

In 2016, our Santa Monica office more than doubled market share of early-stage companies. Though we bank companies large and small around the globe, here in L.A. we're proud to be part of one of the world's most vibrant innovation ecosystems with some of the fastest growing companies and most creative entrepreneurs.

Santa Monica 124

Santa Monica Southern California Venture Capital SoCalTech 124

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

I was recently interviewed for an article that appeared in Fast Company titled, “ Why you should start a business in LA.&# If you’re interested in the topic it’s worth a read, but I thought I’d elaborate on the topic since it comes up all the time. But we have a great city for building technology companies.

Company 290

Company Companies Technology Startup 290

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MARCH 27, 2013

A number of companies which were located in io/LA have now moved to coworking space CrossCampus in Santa Monica, according to those companies. The loss was first reported by the LA Business Journal. io/LA had only been in the space since April of last year. READ MORE>>.

Chief Technology Officer 248

Chief Technology Officer High Tech Southern California Santa Monica 248

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FEBRUARY 11, 2014

Santa Monica-based comedy site Laffster said Tuesday that it has rebranded itself as Cogo , as part of a move by the company to expand beyond comedy. According to the company--led by Daniel Altmann--it is now expanding into other entertainment verticals, with the aim of connecting artists and fans with projects and causes.

Santa Monica 173

Santa Monica Entertainment Content Sales 173

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JULY 23, 2014

Santa Monica-based entertainment company Lionsgate has made an investment in a Finnish game developer, Next Games , as part of a strategic partnership, the studio said this morning. According to Lionsgate, the investment comes as part of an extended Series A financing round for Next Games.

Invest 138

Invest Develop Development Santa Monica 138

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JANUARY 23, 2013

In a sign of the growth of the Silicon Beach technology world, last year, Google moved its headquarters out of a space on Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica, and into a new fancy headquarters space in Venice. Today, we just had a screening for the Tech Coast Angels, they're screening companies and having lunch here.

Google 253

Google Tech Coast Angels Screening Santa Monica 253

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MARCH 5, 2012

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard said this morning that it has hired a new CFO. Durkin was most recently Corporate Vice President, Chief Operating and Financial Officer of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, which is in charge of Microsoft's Xbox game controller. Brown and Company. Tippl remains COO.

Activision 190

Activision Santa Monica Entertainment Report 190

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JULY 18, 2018

Santa Monica-based SPACES (www.spaces.com), led by CEO Shiraz Akmal and a team of entertainment veterans from Dreamworks Animation, is hoping to do that with a series of physical attractions, powered by VR technology. Generally, our strategy has been to partner with companies that have audiences.

Entertainment 180

Entertainment Santa Monica IP Startup 180

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AUGUST 26, 2020

Santa Monica-based movie ticketing app Atom Tickets is launching its app as a third-party, branded experience on Snapchat , the company announced on Wednesday.

Snapchat 113

Snapchat Santa Monica Company Companies 113

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DECEMBER 13, 2016

Santa Monica-based Tongal , the crowdsourced, marketing and advertising content firm led by Rob Salvatore, has been ramping up hiring, saying today that it has added a significant number of people this month--including three executives to its senior leadership team. READ MORE>>.

Riot Games 100

Riot Games Santa Monica Content Startup 100

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JUNE 23, 2015

Santa Monica-based Heal , an on-demand startup offering up access to house calls from doctors via smartphone, has raised $5M in a seed funding round, the company announced this morning. The company says it can deliver a doctor on housecall in less than 60 minutes. Heal is led by Dr. Renee Dua. READ MORE>>.

Demand 100

Demand Seed Funding Santa Monica Entertainment 100

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FEBRUARY 26, 2014

Santa Monica-based GSN Games , the online games division of Game Show Network, has acquired Bash Gaming , which makes the social bingo game Bingo Bash. GSN Games--which is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and DIRECTV--was previously known as WorldWinner.com. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. READ MORE>>.

Santa Monica 138

Santa Monica Entertainment Content Networking 138