Wednesday, August 27, 2014Real Estate Investors Win With Rise Of Silicon Beach In Playa VistaThe surge of technology, advertising, and media companies flocking to Silicon Beach has meant a huge win for real estate investors, particularly in Playa Vista, according to a report today. Early investors in transforming Playa Vist--which is now home to operations of YouTube, Google, 72AndSunny, Microsoft, and many others--into a center for the technology, advertising and media industry, have apparently been rewarded handsomely, according to the WSJ. Playa Vista is midway between Santa Monica a (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2014(Full story)
FreedomPop's Stokols, Winklevoss Capital Back Smart Outlet Maker ZuliStephen Stokols, the CEO of Los Angeles-based Freedompop, as well as Winklevoss Capital, which has recently had a presence in LA, have both invested in a maker of "smart outlets" which turn on using Bluetooth. Zuli, which is based in San Francisco, said it has raised $1.65M in a seed round, which included Menlo Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Logitech, DeNA, XG Ventures, FreedomPop CEO Stephen Stokols, and Hossein Eslambolchi, former CTO of AT&T. Zuli's products turn on electronics and other devic (More info...)
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Neurosigma Files For IPOLos Angeles-based NeuroSigma, a developer of medical devices aimed at treating epilepsy and depression, has filed for an IPO, saying that it is looking to raise up to $50M on the public markets. The company said it has applied to list on the NASDAQ Global Market as NSIG. The life sciences company said its IPO is being underwritten by Jeffries, BTIG, and Craig-Hallum Capital Group. The company is currently marketing a product in the EU, Canada, and Australia for the treatment of epilepsy. Neurosi (More info...)
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TigerText Sees Messaging SurgeSanta Monica-based TigerText, the secure messaging service provider for the enterprise market, reports that it has seen a spike of 750 percent in its message volume in the first half of the year. The company said the growth comes due to record sales and customer growth at the company. TigerText said five of the top ten, for-profit U.S. health systems are now using its products, which has resulted in over 300 million messages per month being sent via its platform. TigerText--led by Brad Brooks--o (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2014(Full story)
How ConsumerTrack Has Created A Growing, Profitable--and Mostly Unknown Business
In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven't earned a dime of revenue. However, this town is also full of very profitable, growing, and revenue generating companies-- which have for the most part been below the radar. We spoke with one of those companies-- El Segundo-based ConsumerTrack (www.consumertrack.com)--which is a $30M, bootstrapped an online marketing company which is driving millions of c (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2014(Full story)
Report: Snapchat Valued At $10 Billion In New FundingVenice-based Snapchat is in the midst of raising a new round of funding, led by storied venture capital investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which valued the company at close to $10 billion, according to a report. Citing "people with knowledge of the matter", the WSJ said that the deal comes despite Snapchat having no revenues, but makes it among one of the most valuable startups on the market. The report also said that Snapchat has around 100 million monthly active users now using its mes (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2014(Full story)
eHarmony: More than 600,000 Marriages, New Job Matching ServiceSanta Monica-based online matchmaking site eHarmony said Tuesday that it now has more than 600,000 marriages to its credit, with approximately one in seven people in America having subscribed to the service at one point or another. eHarmony also said it will be releasing its job matching service, Elevated Careers, in Q4. The company--which detailed its track record on its fourteenth anniversary--says in the last two years since Dr. Neil Clark Warren returned that it has "undergone a transformati (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2014(Full story)
Ozobot Opens Preorders For Educational RobotRedondo Beach-based Ozobot, a developer of minature, educational robots, said this morning that it has begun pre-orders of its product. Ozobot is an interactive robotic device, which follows the paths of mazes, interacts with a user on paper, and connects with an Android phone. Ozobot said its robot is aimed at teaching kids about robots, and also teaches them basic and advanced programming skills, coding, robotic behavior, and deductive reasoning. The robot is priced at $39, and is expected to (More info...)
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Yardi Ties With The Home DepotSanta Barbara-based property management software developer Yardi said yesterday that it has linked up with The Home Depot, giving its clients access to products from the popular home improvement chain directly from its online platform. Yardi said thatclients can access those products via a button in its online procurement system in Yardi Procure to Pay, the company's procurement and invoice processing platform. Financial details of the deal were not announced. The link means that The Home Depot' (More info...)
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Vitesse Names New Board MemberCamarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor, the developer of semiconductors for the networking market, said late Tuesday that it has added a new member to its board of directors. The company said it has appointed William C. Martin, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Raging Capital Management, to its board. Vitesse said that Raging Capital is the company's largest stockholder, owning over 21 percent of its shares. Martin has previously served on the boards of Bankrate and Salary.com.
posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2014(Full story)