socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Los Angeles-based Weblife , a developer of secure, employee web browsing software, has been acquired by Proofpoint , in a $66M all cash deal, the companies announced today. Proofpoint said it will use the acquisition to extend its email malware protection to users' personal email accounts. Weblife was venture backed by a new, venture capital investment firm in Los Angeles, Nordic Eye, which has offices in both LA and Copenhagen.

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Seed Funding Email Venture Capital Los Angeles 138

L.A. Business Journal

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Proofpoint to acquire secure browser developer Weblife for $66 million, SpaceX will fly cargo to the Space Station on a used Falcon 9 Rocket and Evan Spiegel explains why Snapchat is separating social from media in redesign.

Snapchat 100

Snapchat Develop Development SpaceX 100

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

In an editorial, posted this morning, Snap, Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel blames social media --implying, indirectly, Facebook--for the phenomenon of "fake news", saying that personalized newsfeeds have revolutionized the way people share and consume content but at a "huge cost to facts, our minds and the entire media industry." In an attempt to separate Snapchat from Facebook--and despite the service being widely considered a social media service--Spiegel said Snapchat actually began as "an escape from

Social Media 138

Social Media Snapchat News Media 138

L.A. Business Journal

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Proofpoint announced Wednesday plans to acquire anonymous web browser developer Weblife of Hollywood for $66 million.

Develop 124

Develop Development Hollywood Web 124

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

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Online real estate brokerage Redfin said this morning that it is launching a brand new, "concierge" service in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., where the company will take care of the deep cleaning, painting, staging, and landscaping of a home before a sale. According to Redfin, the trial of the new Redfin Concierge Service will only be available in LA and Washington D.C., and will be available for a 2 percent listing fee.

Sales 133

Sales Los Angeles Pricing Services 133

Tech.Co

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

As of an August Pew Research study , 43 percent of Americans report “often getting news online,” just seven percentage points lower than the number who get their news from TV sources. In other words, the internet is a huge and growing source of news — and it’s a lot harder to regulate the internet than television. Fears of incorrect news items, creating by bad actors hoping to profit off of their viral posts shared on the strength of tribal prejudices, haunt many people in 2017

Snapchat 83

Snapchat News Artificial Inteligence Social Media 83

Tech.Co

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Mega startup campuses, the latest trend in coworking, are spreading their wings in Europe. They are different from the traditional coworking space not just in size, but also in scope and ambition. As the founding head of Campus London , Google’s first physical hub for startups and now home to over 80,000 registered members, I thought it would be interesting to share the latest developments in this space from my perspective.

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Startup Google Venture Capital Outsource Development 70

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Goleta-based Transphorm , which is focused on developing gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, has raised $15M in a new investment round. The funding came from Yaskawa Electric Corporation. According to Transphorm, the investment comes only a few weeks after Yaskawa said it was using Transphorm's products for a servo motor. Transphorm said the new funding goes toward its product development efforts.

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Invest Funding Product Technology 124

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

For all the excitement surrounding stem-cell based therapies in the early 2000s, the field still has little to show for it in terms of approved therapies. The many technical challenges of working with stem cells have not, however, deterred Semma Therapeutics, which today announced a whopping $114 million Series B round from a sizable list of investors.

Funding 82

Funding San Diego Company Companies 82

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Santa Monica-based streaming television service Hulu said this morning that it is adding Designated Survivor, as well as other titles, such as Revenge, Shadowhunters, Marvel�s Agent Carter, Blossom, The Catch, and Bunheads to its library of content. The addition comes as a result of a licensing deal with The Disney/ABC Television Group. Financial details of the deal were not announced.

Hulu 113

Hulu Design Content Santa Monica 113

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

In the wake of the Equifax breach and the global WannaCry ransomware outbreak earlier this year, tensions around cybersecurity are running high. According to a recent study conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Barkly, seven out of 10 organizations are reporting their security risk has significantly increased during the past 12 months.

Artificial Inteligence 80

Artificial Inteligence Study Organization Report 80

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Santa Monica-based private equity investor Clearlake Capital and portfolio firm NetDocuments said today they have acquired ThreadKM , a developer of project management and collaboration software. Financial details of the buy were not announced. Both NetDocuments and ThreadKM serve the legal and compliance market. Clearlake Capital acquired NetDocuments in March.

Capital 113

Capital Santa Monica Equity Software 113

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Codiak BioSciences, the startup run by former Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB ) research chief Doug Williams, has rung up its third big round of cash in two years. The Cambridge, MA, company has closed a $76.5 million Series C round from a large group of investors, among them founding backers Flagship Pioneering and Arch Venture Partners, and new participants EcoR1 Capital and Casdin Capital.

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Research Capital Startup Company 72

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

El Segundo-based medical apparel company Jaanuu , the venture-backed startup led by Shaan Sethi, said it has received a new, strategic investment round today. New investors in the company include Dan Nordstrom (former co-president of Nordstrom) and his Nordstrom family, Joel Spiegel, former VP of engineering for Amazon and creator of Amazon Marketplace, Georg Richter, former president and COO of Guthy-Renker, Gabriel Naouri, deputy head of international operations of Groupe Casino, Innovation Gl

El Segundo 113

El Segundo Funding Legalzoom Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. You can count on it and plan for it, or you wait for the next survival crisis brought your way by this rapidly changing world. You can even give it a more elegant name, like “market-focused reinvention,” but it won’t be graceful if you don’t take the lead.

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Course IBM IBM Social Media 59

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Los Angeles-based mobile game developer Jam City is turning to two social media stars--sisters Justine (aka iJustine) and Jenna Ezarik--in an online social media promotion around National Cookie Day, which is December 4th. According to Jam City, it is taking viewer votes for which of the two sisters cookie recipes will be featured in its popular mobile game, Cookie Jam.

Social Media 113

Social Media Media Mobile Los Angeles 113

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

If Wednesday’s hearing for Health and Human Services Secretary Nominee Alex Azar is any indication, reining in drug prices and insurance premiums are the policy priorities that will guide Congress’s interaction with the department under a new leader. For the better part of the three-hour hearing by the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, Azar fended off a barrage of questions, most of them having to do with the affordability of the healthcare products and services that Amer

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Pricing Guide Education Report 52

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Santa Monica-based TigerText , the developer of secure messaging tools that are popular with the healthcare industry, said on Tuesday that it has rolled out a new clinical communications product called TigerFlow Enterprise. TigerText said the new tools embed workflow communications and mimic the existing workflow of a hospital, integrating with EHR systems, managing a wide range of clinical alerts, and more.

Santa Monica 113

Santa Monica Tool Pricing Software 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Aliso Viejo-based semiconductor developer Microsemi said it has completed its acquisition of the high performance timing business of Vectron International. The deal was worth $130M. Microsemi acquired the business from Knowles Corporation. Microsemi said Vecron's products include include crystals and crystal oscillators; frequency translators; clock and data recovery products; SAW filters; SAW oscillators; crystal filters; SAW and BAW based sensors and components used in telecommunications, data

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