Both Sides of the Table
JANUARY 24, 2016
I’ve been spending a lot more time on Facebook as a blogger than I ever did. So I thought it was worth explaining why. And I’m going to cross post this entire post on Facebook as an experiment rather than just posting a link on FB and trying to drive people to my blog. If you want to follow me on Facebook I’m here. So if you’re reading this on Facebook (or on my blog!
socalTECH
JANUARY 25, 2016
There's a large number of on-demand services which have been appearing recently, to help people deal with almost every aspect of their life. One of the latest is Los Angeles-based Helpr (www.helpr-app.com), which recently launched to help parents find babysitters for their children. Becka Klauber Richter is co-founder of the startup, and spoke to us about the company, which she co-founded with Kasey Edwards.
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Berkonomics
JANUARY 28, 2016
No–one needs to tell you that mobile readers now outnumber desktop readers for your message. A recent Experian marketing survey revealed that 52% of all email opens are from mobile devices, and that 38% of all clicks are from mobile devices. Experian looked at three hundred brands and 21 billion emails – a few more than you or I have as a resource for our marketing intelligence.
InfoChachkie
JANUARY 25, 2016
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. It is no secret that the number of private companies with valuations in excess of one billion dollars has skyrocketed since the start of 2014. As show in CBInsight’s chart, the number of such “unicorns” created during the first half of 2014 was roughly equivalent to the number created during the prior three years.
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.
Eric Greenspan
JANUARY 24, 2016
This silent feud between Seth David and I had been pretty one sided, until now. Like Ice Cube and Dr. Dre use rap lyrics, Seth and I use social media instead. We recently parted ways and agreed to do so amicably. After being what I assume is the subject of one or more of Seth David’s emotionally charged blog posts, I’ve decided it’s time to respond.
socalTECH
JANUARY 26, 2016
Los Angeles-based HopSkipDrive , the kids' ridesharing service which is led by Joanna McFarland, said today that it has raised $10.2M in a Series A funding. The funding was led by FirstMark Capital, and also included Greycroft Partners and Pritzker Group Venture Capital, along with prior investors Upfront Ventures, BBG Ventures and 1776. The ridesharing service--which taps screened, childcare providers to drive children around town for busy parents--also said it has named the former GM of Uber i
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Tech Zulu Event
JANUARY 27, 2016
TechZulu is excited to invite you to the 2016 Startup and Entrepreneur Forecast taking place Thursday, February 11 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Cross Campus in Santa Monica. We will have amazing panelists from Crosscut Ventures, Machine Shop Ventures, Techstars, and more to be announced soon who will share their insights and forecast for startups in 2016.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 23, 2016
Every business wishes that all their employees were star performers, but wishing doesn’t make it happen. Some coaches and leaders seem to have the magic for bringing out the best in everyone. Research has shown that it isn’t magic, but a focus on engaging people in their work, so that their work triggers the same emotions as play does for you. Some of you cynics may think that such a thing isn’t possible, but Shawn Kent Hayashi, who has worked for years with entrepreneurs as well as Fortune 500
socalTECH
JANUARY 28, 2016
Los Angeles- and Berlin-based eKomi , a developer of software to solicit ratings and reviews from e-commerce customers, has added Anastassia Lauterbach to its board of directors. Lauterbach has served on the boards of Dun & Bradstreet, Kaspersky Labs, Intel, and Star Alliance, and been an executive at Qualcomm, Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile International, Daimler Chrysler Services, and McKinsey & Co. eKomi is led by Michael Ambros, and says it is headquartered in Berlin and Los Angeles with
socalTECH
JANUARY 26, 2016
A big Los Angeles area construction and engineering firm, AECOM , said Tuesday that it has been selected to build the first, Hyperloop test track, for a competition being run by Hawthorne-based SpaceX. AECOM said it is building a six-foot diameter, steel tube track which will run nearly one mile, adjacent to SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorn, as part of the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition.
socalTECH
JANUARY 29, 2016
In a boost to LA's clean technology industry, energy storage products developer sonnen said this week that it has set up its U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles, to help increase its market presence in the United States. The company, which designs battery-based energy storage devices which use LiFePO4 batteries to capture solar power and supply that power back to a home in the evening, said it will be manufacturing its devices in California.
socalTECH
JANUARY 29, 2016
Los Angeles-based Naritiv , a new startup developing a network of content creators for Snapchat, has raised $3M in a funding round, the company said Thursday. The startup--founded by Dan Altmann and Eric Posen--says it is enabling the creation of mobile-first content for Snapchat and other social network platforms. The funding was led by Third Wave Digital and Allen DeBevoise and also included Disney and Luminari Capital.
socalTECH
JANUARY 29, 2016
A report, issued earlier this week by venture firm the Female Founders Fund , says that Los Angeles, and New York, are better markets than Silicon Valley to find funding for female founders. According to the fund, it tallied up Series A investment rounds across the country, finding that there were five, female-led companies that raised Series A fundings in Los Angeles last year, or 13 percent of deals for the year, compared with only 16 Series A fundings of companies led by females in the Bay Ar
socalTECH
JANUARY 29, 2016
The California Public Utilities Commission voted on Thursday to approve new, net energy metering (NEM) rules, which govern how owners of rooftop solar systems are metered by the electric industry, in a ruling which was widely hailed by the solar industry. The ruling on the NEM 2.0 tariff rates governs how rooftop solar energy is metered, including how those rooftop solar energy customers are paid for excess solar energy generated by their panels.
socalTECH
JANUARY 29, 2016
Los Angeles-based Rubicon Project is in a deal to extend the company's advertising marketplace to linear television, in a partnership deal with AdMore , the companies said this week. Rubicon said it will power automation technology for AdMore, which will allow advertisers to use programmatic buying to target linear TV audiences. AdMore, which is backed by The Carlyle Group and HIG Growth Partners, helps agencies and marketers automate their TV advertising.
socalTECH
JANUARY 26, 2016
Beverly Hills-based Kumba Health , a new healthcare startup, has recently launched a new online marketplace for healthcare services, which connects patients with physicians, labs, imaging centers, and other healthcare services. According to the startup, it is aiming at the "direct pay" segment of the marketplace, where patients are directly paying physicians for services, and neither patients nor those healthcare providers are seeking insurance reimbursement.
socalTECH
JANUARY 25, 2016
Irvine-based storage giant Western Digital and IBM said this morning that the two companies are in a patent acquisition and licensing deal, where WD will acquire more than 100 patent assets from IBM, and where the two will cross-license a number of patents. Financial details of the deal were not announced. According to the two, WD has acquired patents in the areas of distributed storage, object storage, and emerging non-volatile memory.
socalTECH
JANUARY 29, 2016
Los Angeles-based movie ticketing site Fandango said Friday that it has acquired M-GO , the on-demand, movie release service which is a joint venture between Technicolor and DreamWorks Animation. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Fandango, which itself is a unit of NBCUniversal, said the acquisition will help it in the development of new moviegoing products and services.
socalTECH
JANUARY 27, 2016
Los Angeles-based Hollywood Software, Inc. (HSI), a provider of enterprise software for managing digital movie distribution, has been acquired by Rentrak , a provider of viewer analytics and tracking of movie and television consumption. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Rentrak said the buy will allow it to provide "highly valuable" movie analytic tools.
socalTECH
JANUARY 27, 2016
Los Angeles-based creative video crowdsourcing site Tongal has named a new, Chief Marketing Officer, saying it has named Amanda Malko to the new position. Malko was previously CMO of digital marketing agency 360i. She has also served at The Associated Press and Massive Incorporated. Tongal offers up an online platform which helps brands, studios, and creators develop video content, including advertising and short films; the company says that it now has powered more than 1,000 campaigns.
socalTECH
JANUARY 27, 2016
FACEIT , a online, competitive gaming site founded in London in 2012, says that it has set up shop in Los Angeles, and raised $15M in a Series A funding round. The funding round came from Anthos Capital, Index Ventures, and United Ventures. FACEIT offers up an online site for competitive gaming and esports, allowing players to compete against each other and to win prizes.
socalTECH
JANUARY 26, 2016
Amid hand wringing about an IPO slowdown in 2015, there's one shining region which had a banner IPO and acquisition year last year: Santa Barbara. The city and surrounding region, which has been a long time technology hub, had a huge IPO and exit year, according to an analysis conducted by socaltech. There were five exits north of $100.0M along the Central Coast, including three IPOs.
socalTECH
JANUARY 29, 2016
Irvine-based ALPHAEON , a provider of beauty and wellness products which is owned by Strathspey Crown Holdings LLC, said it has acquired Eveo , a provider of software for the healthcare market. Financial terms of the deal were not announced. ALPHAEON said that Eveo was the developer of ShoutMD, an online- and mobile platform that allows physicians to collaborate with the company, share insights, and purchase products from ALPHAEON.
socalTECH
JANUARY 29, 2016
As part of the city's efforts to make more of its data accessible to citizens and others, the City of Los Angeles rolled out a new site, Los Angeles Geohub , powered by GIS technology from Esri. The new site allows citizens and others pull up a large library of open data, and browse that through a map interface. The data includes everything from ZIP codes in Los Angeles, to high accident rate corridors and the locations of traffic accidents; wineries in Los Angeles; bus routes; volunteer opportu
socalTECH
JANUARY 28, 2016
Los Angeles-based SnapMD , the developer of a virtual healthcare and telemedicine platform, has raised $5.3M in a Series A funding, the company said today. The funding came from Shea Ventures, TYLT Labs and Whittier Ventures. The startup, led by tech veteran Dave Skibinski, operates a service which helps healthcare providers reach out to patients through a mobile app and cloud software.
socalTECH
JANUARY 28, 2016
Steamboat Ventures , the venture capital firm linked to The Walt Disney Company, is seeking to raised $100M for its latest fund, Steamboat Ventures V. The investment firm--which once was located in Burbank--has shifted its operations to Hong Kong, and now looks to be focusing strongly on overseas rather than domestic investments. Steamboat's US portfolio has included such local companies as Edgecast, GameSalad, GoPro, Sometrics, and Fastclick; however, the vast majority of its efforts now appear
socalTECH
JANUARY 28, 2016
Hawthorne-based SpaceX and NASA said late Wednesday that SpaceX has tested the parachutes that it will initially use to land the Space Crew Dragon spacecraft on earth. According to NASA, the testing--done from a C-130 cargo aircraft--is part of the final development and certification work with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. NASA is initially returning its crew back to earth in the Dragon using those parachutes, a tried-and-true technology for the space agency; SpaceX is hoping at some point in
socalTECH
JANUARY 27, 2016
Santa Monica-based online movie and television streaming site Hulu says that it has inked a deal with IFC Films , to act as the exclusive streaming home for all future documentary releases from IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Hulu said the streaming release will directly follow theatrical releases of those films.
socalTECH
JANUARY 27, 2016
Los Angeles-based enterprise software developer Chrome River , which develops cloud-based expense management and supplier invoicing software, says it grew its user base by 82 percent, year over year. The company said it had record growth in 2015, and now has over 430 enterprise customers and more than 1 million users. The company did not say what that translates to in terms of revenues.
socalTECH
JANUARY 27, 2016
StatMuse , one of the companies to emerge out of the Disney Accelerator in Burbank last fall, said this morning that it has raised $10M in a Series A funding round. The round came from Techstars, The Walt Disney Company, Allen & Co., Greycroft Partners, Promus Ventures, Haas Portman, Deep Fork Capital, and Bee Partners. The round also included former NBA commissioner David Stern and the United Talent Agency.
socalTECH
JANUARY 27, 2016
San Diego-based biopharmaceuticals developer Halozyme Therapeutics said yesterday that it has raised $150M in royalty-backed, debt financing. The financing came from Pharmakon Advisors and Athyrium Capital Management. According to the company, the funding will go towards a Phase 3 cancer study in cancer patients. Halozyme said the non-dilutive financing is secured by future royalties of its ENHANZE products from Roche and Baxalta, and that the debt was issued at 8.75 percent plus the three-month
socalTECH
JANUARY 27, 2016
Newport Beach- and Tel Aviv-based Memeni , which develops a social software plaform to help brands create their own, online communities, has raised $2.5M in an angel investment round, the company disclosed Tuesday. Names of those investors were not announced. Memeni is led by Arik Benzino. Memeni's software lets brands create their own online community of users.
socalTECH
JANUARY 26, 2016
Qualcomm Ventures , the venture capital arm of San Diego-based Qualcomm , has left the company and joined Microsoft. Nagraj Kashyap, who has headed up Qualcomm's venture efforts for the last 12 years, apparently is leaving for a similar role at Microsoft Ventures, the corporate investment arm of the software giant. Kashyap's now-deleted profile on Qualcomm Ventures' page says he built Qualcomm Ventures from team of only three people in 2003, to over 140 investments and $1 billion in venture inve
socalTECH
JANUARY 26, 2016
Wish you could live just like Minecraft founder Markus Persson (aka Notch)? Well, you can--if you are the winner of an auction of some of the contents of the $70 million house he moved into in Beverly Hills. Persson apparently is selling Bentley furnishings from the house, original Shepard Fairey prints, a custom 40-piece chandelier, a signed Michael Jackson photo and an Hermes scarf as part of the sale, being conducted by an estate sale company.
socalTECH
JANUARY 26, 2016
Game development software provider GameSalad , which has offices in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, has launched a brand new version of its Windows tool GameSalad Creator for Windows , the company said today. GameSalad said the latest version is both more stable than its prior version and integrates Intercom.io, adding Web Real Time Communications (WebRTC) capabilities to its game software.
socalTECH
JANUARY 26, 2016
For our Insights and Opinions section today, Erik Caso, CEO and founder of San Diego-based Entangled Media--the maker of personal media streaming platform younity , tells us why your next startup doesn't need to be in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley, or rather the Bay Area, is the undisputed center of the tech universe. Whether it's experienced labor, capital or services, the density of these startup factors is simply unrivaled anywhere in the world.
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