Tuesday, July 19, 2016


Hyperloop One Countersues BamBrogan For $250M
Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One, the high flying startup which has been working on high speed, tube-based transportation systems first envisioned by Elon Musk, has countersued former founder and executive Brogan BamBrogan, for launching a "smear campaign" against the company. Hyperloop One is seeking $250M in damages from BamBrogan. Hyperloop One saw a flurry of negative press over the structure of the company and control of the firm by venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, including an
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Snapchat Confirms Acquisition Of Bitmoji
Venice-based Snapchat has confirmed its acquisition of Bitmoji, the developer of software which lets people create their own, personalized "emoji", which they can insert into Snapchat. The company--which announced the deal via a comic strip on Tuesday--said Bitmoji's team has joined Snapchat as part of the deal. Snapchat reported paid around $100M for Bitmoji's parent company, Bitstrips.
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RadPad Links With DocuSign For Electronic Lease Agreements
Los Angeles-based rental marketplace RadPad, which is backed by Altpoint Ventures, Goldcrest Investments and AmplifyLA, said today that it has linked up with DocuSign to simplify the process of apartment rentals. The company said it now lets landlords and renters electronically execute leases. RadPad--led by Jonathan Eppers--now allows landlords to handle everything from listing apartments and homes, to qualifying tenant applications, signing leases, and event accepting debit and credit card pay (More info...)
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Incipio Gets Early Approval From FTC On Skullcandy Buy
Irvine-based Incipio said today that the FTC has granted it early termination of the waiting period required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, on its acquisition of fellow electronics accessory maker ,a href="http://www.skullcandy.com">Skullcandy. Incipio and Skullcandy said in June that Incipio would pay approximately $177M for Skullcandy, or $5.75 per share in cash. Both Incipio and Skullcandy make electronic accessories, including earbuds, headphones, mobile phone c (More info...)
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Interview with Roni Eshel, goFlow
Are you looking for what the actual surf conditions are at your favorite break, and if it's crowded or not, or if you ought to come check it out? Right now, you might rely on your friends—or maybe get an inkling of an idea from forecasts—but there's no way to know unless you get some real time information. Los Angeles-based goFlow is hoping to make that inforamtion as easy as checking out an app, tapping into a crowdsourced network of outdoor sports enthusiasts. Roni Eshel, the founder o (More info...)
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Soraa Installs LED Lighting At Madame Tussauds
LED lighting developer Soraa, which developed LED lighting which is based on technology developed at UC Santa Barbara, reported today that its LED lighting is being used at Madame Tussauds San Francisco. Soraa is a developer of Gallium-Nitride (GaN) based LED lamp technology. The company said its LED lights were selected both to control energy costs and to reduce heat at the popular tourist attraction. Soraa still maintains a research center in Goleta.
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Linksys Launches New MU-MIMO Wireless Access Point For Small Businesses
Playa Vista-based Linksys has launched a new, 802.11AC Wave 2 access point with MU-MIMO, aimed at the small and medium business market, the company said today. The company said its new Linksys Business Pro Series Wireless-AC, Dual-band MU-MIMO Access Point costs only $499.99, making it easier for small and medium sized businesses to implement wireless MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple Output) technology. Linksys said that most MU-MIMO routers cost more than $1000. Linksys said its ne (More info...)
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Ixia Wins NoviFlow
Calabasas-based network testing software and hardware developer Ixia reports this morning that its products hvae been selected by NoviFlow, to validate performance of that company's Software Defined Networking (SDN) switches. Financial impact of the win was not announced. Ixia said that NoviFlow is using its IxNetwork product, which emulates SDN switches, hosts, and applications.
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