Thursday, April 26, 2012Private Equity Firm Set To Sell Hulu Stake, Says ReportA report today from Bloomberg says that Providence Equity Partners, the private equity firm which owns part of Los Angeles-based Hulu, is selling its stake to the firm's other owners in a deal valuing the firm at about $2 billion. Citing two people with "knowledge of the matter", Bloomberg said Providence had originally invested $100M in 2007, and will be paid $200M for its 10 percent share of the video streaming site. No details on the deal have been announced. Hulu's other owners are Walt Disn (More info...)
posted on Thursday, April 26, 2012(Full story)
Los Angeles To See Clearwire LTE In 2013Los Angeles is one of the cities set to get LTE from wireless carrier Clearwire, after the company outlined its roll out plans for its 4G network. Clearwire--which currently offers up 4G wireless in Los Angeles using the WiMAX wireless protocol--said that it will roll out its TDD-LTE network to New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, in early 2013, among 31 cities it plans to launch overall in 2013. The new LTE network is targeted at "hot zones" within those cities where (More info...)
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Orange County Gets New IncubatorsOrange County is ramping up its business acceleration and incubation activity, according to a report today from the Orange County Register, which says there are three new accelerators/incubators launching in the county, including FastStart.studio, a incubator and accelerator in Irvine, Frost Venture Partners, aimed at the big data and cloud market, and Kimco Entrepreneurs Year Start, a program aimed at providing free rent and flexible leases specifically for first-time, retail entrepreneurs. The (More info...)
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Howard Lindzon Backs SendHubSan Diego angel investor Howard Lindzon, via his Social Leverage fund, has backed a provider of SMS messaging services, SendHub as part of an angel funding round for the company. SendHub said this morning that it has raised $2M in a seed funding round, which came from Kapor Capital, Menlo Ventures, 500 Startups, Howard Lindzon's Social Leverage fund, Bronze Investments, Start Fund, Y Combinator, Eric Ries, Jawed Karim, Paul Buchheit, among with other angels. Lindzon runs stock messaging service (More info...)
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Boingo Wireless Launches At Phuket AirportLos Angeles-based wireless hotspot operator Boingo Wireless reports this morning that it has launched its managed Wi-Fi services at Phuket International Airport in Thailand, as part of an agreement with WLANNet, a provider of Wi-Fi infrastructure which already serves Phuket. Boingo said that it has begun broadcasting its Boingo Hotspot SSID, which will allow travelers through the airport to access its Wi-Fi services. Details of the deal between the companies were not disclosed. Boingo said the d (More info...)
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Fandango Expands Mobile Movie Ticket DistributionLos Angeles-based movie site Fandango is expanding its rollout of mobile ticketing, saying this morning that it has added more than 1,400 additional screens across the country to its paperless mobile ticket program. Fandango said that it has added 1,300 Cinemark screens and 100 Regency Theatre screens to its network. Fandango said it now accepts mobile tickets at 2,600 screens. Fandango said that it currently is seeing 23 percent of its ticket sales driven by mobile transactions.
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MuckerLab Unveils Accelerator Teams At Demo DayLos Angeles-based startup accelerator MuckerLab is booting up its first Demo Day later this afternoon, debuting nine new startups out of its incubator focused on Internet software, services, and media. The accelerator--which is headed by Erik Rannala--had earlier announced Surf Air, an airline-travel-by-subscription startup, and Lifecrowd, a startup which helps people find local social activities. The new companies demonstrating today are Instacanvas, a marketplace for social media art; Laffster (More info...)
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Tech Coast Angels Fund Cadence BiomedicalThe Tech Coast Angels has backed the maker of a medical device to help people with severe disabilities to walk. According to Cadence Biomedical, the Tech Coast Angels are among a number of new investors in a $1.1M, Series A2 funding for the company. The funding was led by HealthTech Capital, and also included the Sand Hill Angels, Tech Coast Angels, ACE Fund, Frontier Angel Fund, WINGS, Alliance of Angels, and Keiretsu Forum Northwest. Cadence Biomedical is based in Seattle. The deal is the seco (More info...)
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Report: Dmitry Shapiro To Head Up Google PlusA report today says that Dmitry Shapiro, the former founder of Veoh and head of MySpace Music, and currently founder of alternative social networking site Anybeat, may be heading to Google to head up its Google+ efforts. The report, from PandoDaily, cited a single source for the information. Shapiro's AnyBeat has been attempting to create an alternative to Facebook, in part by focusing on helping people network around topics they're interested in, with anyone--not just they know personally. Any (More info...)
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Powerwave Technologies Sells Chinese Manufacturing OperationsSanta Ana-based Powerwave Technologies, the publicly held manufacturer of wireless communications components, said yesterday that it has entered into a deal with Shenzhen Tatfook Technology Co. Ltd., where it will sell selected assets of its Chinese manufacturing facilities to Tatfook. Powerwave said it is selling assets from Filtronic (Suzhou) Telecommunications Products Co. Ltd, the subsidiary of Powerwave which owns and oeprates its Chinese manufacturing operations, for $12.5M. Tatfook will t (More info...)
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SRS Labs Powers Samsung Flat Panel TV LineSanta Ana-based SRS Labs, the developer of surround sound and other audio processing technology, said today that Samsung will use its technology in its 2012 6000 series of flat-panel TVs. Financial impact of the deal were not disclosed. SRS Labs will provide its SRS TheaterSound HD technology to Samsung's flat panel TV customers. Samsung is an existing customer of SRS.
posted on Thursday, April 26, 2012(Full story)