Friday, September 8, 2017Luxe Acquired By Volvo In Asset DealLuxury valet and concierge parking startup Luxe, which was backed by Upfront Ventures and which used Los Angeles as one of its launch markets when it started in 2014, has been acquired by Volvo Cars, in an asset acquisition deal. Financial terms of the acquisition wer enot disclosed. Volvo said the buy would give it a "major boost in the development of digital services that simplify consumer experience." Luxe has been looking for a buyer since last year, when it abandoned its original business o (More info...)
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Facebook Plans to Spend $1 Billion Next Year On ContentIn a move which will no doubt be music to Hollywood's ears, Facebook is reportedly planning to spend as much as $1 billion next year on building out its own, original video content. According to the WSJ, the spending will go towards making Facebook a destination site for people looking for television shows on its "Watch" video tab. The rush by technology sites to create their own shows has greatly benefited the Los Angeles movie, television, and content business, particularly with original progr (More info...)
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Hulu, Spotify Team For $5 A Month Bundled Service For StudentsLos Angeles-based streaming television provider Hulu, and streaming music provider Spotify, hoping to hook college students on their services, said on Thursday they are rolling out a new entertainment streaming bundle for U.S. college students. The new service costs only $4.99 a month, and lets students not only stream music but also stream television shows and movies from Hulu. The two said the new Spotify Premium for Students gives access to both Spotify Premium and to Hulu's Limited Commerci (More info...)
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Bitcoin IRA Aims At Making Bitcoin Investments Part Of Your Retirement FundBitcoinIRA.com, a new Los Angeles startup, said it has launched a new service which will let individuals to make investments in such cryptocurrencies as Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum Classic (ETC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), as part of an IRS-approved retirement account. The company said it is looking to allow its customers to "build a retirement portfolio with Bitcoin and altcoins."
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Maestro Finds $3M For Esports Engagement, AnalyticsLos Angeles-based Maestro, a new startup developing engagement and analytics software for the e-sports industry, has raised $3M in a Series A funding. The funding was led by Hersh Interactive Group, and also included Rubicon Venture Capital and the Stanford-StartX Fund. The company also said it previously raised an earlier $2.8M in seed funding from 500 Startups, Scrum Ventures, Three Six Zero Group, and Larry and Drew Marcus, partners at Walden Venture Capital. Maestro is led by founder and CEO (More info...)
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Digital Domain Helps Deutsche Telekom Launch New VR Site, Magenta VRLos Angeles-based Digital Domain said late Thursday that it has partnered with Deutsche Telekom, to create a new virtual reality destination called Magenta VR. According to Digital Domain, Magenta VR bundles the best VR content from the fields of sports, music and entertainment. Digital Domain said it created four, original pieces of VR content for Deutsche Telekom as part of the new VR site, which also includes VR content from Red Bull, National Geographic and Twentieth Century Fox.
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Fitbit, Dexcom Team on Glucose Monitoring For DiabeticsSan Diego-based continuous glucose monitoring device maker Dexcom, and fitness wearables maker Fitbit said on Thursday that the two are in a new collaboration, which will incorporate Dexcom's data directly on Fitbit's Ionic wearable. The two said the effort is aimed at helping people better manage their diabetes and get a more complete picture of their overall health. The Fit bit Ionic is Fitbit's new smartwatch. According to the two, Dexcom's continuous glucose monitoring device will feed its i (More info...)
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CoreLogic Donates $250,000 To Disaster FundIrvine-based CoreLogic, which provides property information and data for the real estate industry, says it has committed $250,000 to the HOPE Disaster Fund, a fund run by Operation HOPE to help disaster survivors with financial recovery. The two said Operation HOPE provides such services as emergency budgeting and credit counseling, assistance with deferring mortgage payments and communicating with creditors, support obtaining SBA loans, help with obtaining copies of destroyed financial document (More info...)
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Illumina Sues Premaitha Health Over PatentsSan Diego-based life sciences equipment developer Illumina says it has filed a new patent infringement suit against Premaitha Health plc, in the United Kingdom. According to Illumina, its new suit accuses Premaitha of infringing upon European Patent (UK) 1 524 321 B2 titled, "Non-invasive Detection of Fetal Genetic Traits". Illumina said that the patent in question is exclusively licensed to Illumina from Sequenom. Illumina has a number of lawsuits filed against Premaitha, accusing the firm of i (More info...)
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