Thursday, March 16, 2017Art Of Manufacturing Podcast Launches Season TwoThe Art of Manufacturing, a podcast hosted by technologist Krisztina Holly has launched its second season, as part of its efforts to help bolster manufacturing ecosystem in Los Angeles. The podcast--part of MAKE IT IN LA, an effort backed by newly re-elected Mayor Garcetti--features a new guest every Thursday, starting with Kellie Johnson, the President of ACE Clearwater Enterprises, a major high tech aerospace manufacturer. MAKE IT IN LA is looking to bridge the gap between local manufacturers (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 16, 2017(Full story)
Embark Ventures Raising $50M Venture Capital FundLos Angeles-based Embark Ventures, a new venture capital fund led by Yipeng Zhao and venture capitalist Peter Lee, is raising a $50M venture capital fund, according to a recent SEC filing by the firm. The filing says the firm has so far raised $45M out of a $50M target in the fund, from six limited partners. Embark's website says it is focused on pre-seed and seed stage investments in Internet and software companies. Lee was previously at investor at Baroda Ventures, and Zhao was at ZMYX Global (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 16, 2017(Full story)
SoCal's Big New Crop Of Venture Investors And FundsAre you an entrepreneur, looking for capital here in Southern California? It's turning out to be a great time for entrepreneurs looking for funding in the region, with not only high profile exits of such companies as Snap Inc., but a bunch of new, early stage investors looking to seed or fund the next big tech success story. Here's a rundown of some of the venture capital investors who have set up shop in Southern California, plus those with big new funds, which have been announced so far since (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 16, 2017(Full story)
Interview with Derek Norton, Watertower VenturesEarlier this week, Derek Norton, a long time advisor to the media, Internet, and technology industry in Los Angeles, announced a brand new venture capital fund called Watertower Ventures (www.watertowerventures.com). We sat down with Derek to learn more about the new $5M fund and what it's all about.
Tell us about the new fund?
Derek Norton: I just closed on a new fund, worth $5M, which I raised from a group of high net worth, high profile LPs. Those include Clark Landry, Michael Kassan, (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 16, 2017(Full story)
OpenX Rolls New Page Analysis ToolOnline advertising exchange operator and ad technology developer OpenX has rolled out a new, page analysis tool for Google Chrome, called Ad Footprint by OpenX Labs, the company said on Wednesday. The new extension helps online publishers explore the load of advertising tags on their pages, helping them figure out how long it takes pages and advertising to load, and how to optimize user experience and page speed. According to OpenX, a number of its premium publishers, including CafeMedia, Interm (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 16, 2017(Full story)
Family.me Launches Family Tree AppPasadena-based Family.me, which is developing a social, family tree application, has launched out of beta, saying that it is aiming to help families document and share their memories. Family.me said it is creating a free, private social network to help families discover, share, and preserve memories. The service lets users collaboratively create a family tree with their family, and attach photos, videos, and other information within that tree. The service also pulls up ancestral records on marri (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 16, 2017(Full story)
Coding Dojo Boots Up Camps In Orange County (Update: Not So Fast)Coding bootcamp operator Coding Dojo had said this week that it was starting its first day of classes in Orange County on Monday, the first time the bootcamp operator has run a program in Orange County. However, in an update on Thursday, a spokesperson for the company says it has delayed that opening until a later date, to be announced later. The company--which announced the expansion into Orange County in December--runs a 14-week, on-site program to teach graduates software coding skills. The c (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 16, 2017(Full story)
EDF Renewable Energy Expands Into Energy StorageSan Diego-based renewable energy developer EDF Renewable Energy is expanding its renewable energy efforts, into distributed electricity and storage. EDF Renewable Energy said it has created a new business unit, Distributed Electricity and Storage (DES), which will focus on distributed solar and storage projects up to 30 megawatts (MW). The company said it will focus on providing that storage to commercial, industrial (C&I) and utility customers in the United States. EDF Renewable Energy said the (More info...)
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SpaceX Delivers Echostar XXIII Into OrbitHawthorne-based SpaceX successfully launched a communications satellite, EchoStar XXIII, into orbit early Thursday morning. SpaceX launched one of its Falcon rockets into space at 2:00 am EDT on Thursday morning, after a delay earlier in the week due to high winds. The morning launch itself was shifted about a half an hour, again due to high upper altitude winds. SpaceX launched the EchoStar XXIII communications satellite into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 16, 2017(Full story)