Friday, April 13, 2012


YouMail Says Goodbye To BlackBerry
Demonstrating in dramatic fashion why BlackBerry maker Research in Motion seems to be in so much trouble these days, Irvine-based YouMail, which develops personalized voicemail services and related applications, said it is saying goodbyte to the BlackBerry platform. The firm--which rose to prominence in part due to the popularity of its service on the Blackberry--said in a blog post Friday it has released its last BlackBerry app, rebuilding the app, fixing "tons" of bugs, and more. The firm said (More info...)
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Friendgiftr Acquired By Private Equity Firm
Los Angeles-based Friendgiftr, the angel-backed developer of a service which allows users to send gift cards to their family and friends, has been acquired, the firm said Friday morning. Friendgiftr said it has been acquired by private equity firm Aurora Borealis Investments. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Friendgiftr was founded by Rob Carpenter, who the company said will be moving on to new opportunities.
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EndPlay Raises $21.5M For Content Management Systems
Los Angeles-based EndPlay, a developer of software-as-a-service offerings for content management, said today that it has raised $21.5M in total funding for the firm. The company said it recently closed a round of funding from VantagePoint Capital Partners and Advanced Technology Ventures. Size of the most recent round was not disclosed. EndPlay said it is using the new funding to accelerate its product development and distribution.
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CapLinked Dangles 50GB Free Storage For Members
Manhattan Beach-based CapLinked, the provider of a cloud-based service for managing fundraising by private companies, is dangling 50GB of free storage to members--if they invite 10 or more people to the site. The firm said that its storage service allows users to store all of their important files, and share them with their own company or others. CapLinked, run by Eric M. Jackson and Christopher Grey, said that its offer is far more than the 32GB of free space offered on Dropbox, or the 5GB offe (More info...)
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StyleSaint Gets Funding
Venice, California-based StyleSaint, an online site which allows users to create their own collections of styles, photos, and other fashion information, has scored funding from Crosscut Ventures. Details on the funding have not yet been announced. StyleSaint's web site is similar to Pinterest, allowing users to create their own collections of photos which they can share with others.
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Yabber Launches iPad Kids Magazine
Yabber, a new Los Angeles startup, said Thursday that it has launched a new, iPad-based kids magazine. According to Yabber, the founders of the firm were "inspired by the growing tech and startup communities of Santa Monica and Los Angeles" to start the company, looking to innovate in the children's magazine area. The company is led by Sugam Arora. The magazine is available now in the Apple iTunes store, and is free.
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Siemer & Associates Names Managing Director
Los Angeles-based investment banking firm Siemer & Associates, the merchant banking firm headed by David Siemer, said this week that it has named Dan Chen as Managing Director of the company. Chen has previously served at such firms as Montgomery & Co., Merrill Lynch, and TPG Capital. In addition to its investment banking activities, Siemer & ASsociates has an active venture capital arm, Siemer Ventures, and is now running a business incubator, Wavemaker Labs, in Singapore. (Editor's note: Sieme (More info...)
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