socaltech.com TechNews - Thursday, December 11, 2014 Edited by Benjamin F. Kuo ISSN: 1524-6736 http://www.socaltech.com/News ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sponsored by:
TVC Capital LLC (www.tvccapital.com) Investments and acquisitions of growing software companies. Safire Partners (http://www.safirepartners.com). Los Angeles-based executive search for emerging growth companies Binary Pulse Technology Marketing (http://www.binarypulse.com). We Create Demand for California's Technology Companies. Shimokaji IP (http://www.shimokaji.com) Bettering Life Through Creative Ideas ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --DFR2014 and the socalTECH 50: SoCal's Tech Industry Celebrates The Holidays --RapidEngage Acquired By QuestionPro --Toshiba Rolls Out Wireless, Chromecast-Connected Hard Drive --Kurion Expands Win At Fukushima --Resonant Names COO --Hulu Adds Discovery's MythBusters, Deadliest Catch --Ring Gets $7M For Smart Doorbells --Slacker Radio Unveils New UI, Redesign --March Capital Partners Backs Appcito --Conversant Becomes Part Of Alliance Data After $2.3 Billion Deal MARKETPLACE --New Q3 Money Tree Results! --USC Marshall's MS in Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Apply Now! --SoCal IP Law Group LLP - Serving the IP Needs of Business --La Visual - A Branding, Product Strategy & Rapid Prototyping Accelerator --Fetch Recruiting, Inc. --UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) RECENT JOB POSTINGS --Head of Product (VF iQ), Venice, Vision Fleet --User Experience (UX) Design Manager - Mobile, San Luis Obispo,, MINDBODY Inc. --Senior Front End Engineer, San Luis Obispo,, MINDBODY Inc. RECENT FUNDING EVENTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DFR2014 and the socalTECH 50: SoCal's Tech Industry Celebrates The Holidays ---- Thanks to everyone who joined us last night for the Digital Family Reunion, where we celebrated this year's socalTECH 50, and awarded Belkin founder Chet Pipkin with DFR's Outstanding Achievement Award. (More...) http://www.socaltech.com/dfr2014_celebrates_the_holidays/s-0058192.html RapidEngage Acquired By QuestionPro ---- San Diego-based RapidEngage, a developer of online survey software and tools used to collect customer feedback and to engage users, has been acquired by fellow online survey company QuestionPro. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. RapidEngage was founded by Daniel Marashlian, Sean Callahan, and Rodney Rumford, who also founded photo sharing app Plixi (TweetPhoto), which had been acquired by Lockerz in 2011. RapidEngage was one of the companies incubated at EvoNexus. Co-founder Sean Callahan was one of the 2013 socalTECH 50. Toshiba Rolls Out Wireless, Chromecast-Connected Hard Drive ---- Toshiba's Digital Products Division, which is headquartered in Irvine, said today that it has rolled out a new device called the Canvio AeroCast Wireless Hard Drive, which specifically provides storage to Google Chromecast. According to Toshiba, the new device, which has 1TB of capacity, is specifically designed to allow users to download and store movies, music, and photos. The hard drive connects to other devices using a Wi-Fi connection, and retails at $219.99. Toshiba also said it has rolled out a product called the Canvio Cast Wireless Adapter, which allows users to convert their existing hard drives to similar, wireless functionality. That device retails at $79.99. Toshiba has major operations in Orange County. Kurion Expands Win At Fukushima ---- Irvine-based clear and hazardous waste management technology developer Kurion said late last night that it has scored another contract at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, for a second, mobile processing unit to clean up nuclear tainted water at the disaster site. Kurion said the contract, from Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), arrived in Japan last week. Size of the contract was not announced. Kurion had delivered another of its mobile processing systems to TEPCO in October. Kurion has been instrumental in helping to clean up contaminated water at the plant, which was heavily damaged in 2011 due to the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Resonant Names COO ---- Santa Barbara-based Resonant, which develops radio frequency (RF) filters for the mobile device industry, said Wednesday that it has named Neal Fenzi as its Chief Operating Officer. Fenzi is one of the company's co-founders, and has served as Vice President of Engineering since June of 2013. Fenzi previously also served at Superconductor Technologies. Hulu Adds Discovery's MythBusters, Deadliest Catch ---- Los Angeles-based streaming television site Hulu is continuing to extend out its catalog off titles, saying this week that it has inked a deal with Discovery, to feature subscription, video-on-demand access to such titles as Deadliest Catch, MythBusters, Say Yes to the Dress, Treehouse Masters, and more. Hulu said those titles will be available for streaming beginning January 1st. Financial details of the deal were not announced by the companies. The two said the content will also include programming from Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science, Destination America and original Spanish-language content from Discovery en Espanol. Ring Gets $7M For Smart Doorbells ---- Santa Monica-based Ring, the smart doorbell startup led by Jamie Siminoff, has raised $4.5M in equity and another $2.5M in debt financing, the company disclosed Wednesday. The company--formerly known as Doorbot--said the Series A financing comes from True Ventures, and also included First Round Cpaital, Queensbridge Venture Partners, Upfront Ventures, and angels. True Ventures' Adam D'Augelli will join the company's board with the funding, which the company disclosed gives it a $15.5M postmoney valuation. Siminoff had initially raised funding for its Doorbot project through a crowdfunding campaign back in 2012; Siminoff also pitched the idea on "Shark Tank", but turned down investors from that show in favor of more traditional venture funding. http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61328 Slacker Radio Unveils New UI, Redesign ---- San Diego-based Slacker said today that it has launched a complete redesign of the site and service, adding a number of online personalities to the service and focusing in on artists, personalities and musicians. Slacker--which has been occupying a niche in the online radio streaming area--said it is adding personalities and programs such as Tyler Oakley, Rooster Teeth, Comic Book Girl 19, and Nerdist to its list of dedicated online radio stations, tied to a redesign which it says provides a "more modern look". The new app and UI is initially available on the web and on iOS. March Capital Partners Backs Appcito ---- Santa Monica-based venture capital investor March Capital Partners--the new investment firm led by longtime Southern California venture capital veterans Jim Armstrong, Sumant Mandal, Gregory Milken, and Jamie Montgomery--has made an investment in cloud application infrastructure developer Appcito. Appcito said this week that it has raised $7.5M in a Series A funding round, which also include Atlas Venture and The Fabric. March Capital's Sumant Mandal led the investment round. Appcito is working on cloud-native, subscription software to help developers deliver cloud applications, improving performance, security, and end-user experience in those cloud applications. March Capital has recently invested in such companies as Agent Ace, DeepForestMedia, and TeleSign. http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/index.php?action=showdeal&id=61326 Conversant Becomes Part Of Alliance Data After $2.3 Billion Deal ---- Westlake Village-based online advertising company Conversant--which until recently was known as ValueClick--is now officially part of Alliance Data, after the completion of Alliance Data's acquisition deal with the company. (More...) http://www.socaltech.com/conversant_becomes_part_of_alliance_data/s-0058172.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MARKETPLACE Reach 10000+ readers for 5 days for $250 Post your marketplace ad at: http://www.socaltech.com/postad.html ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- New Q3 Money Tree Results! Get the latest Q3 2014 PwC SoCal MoneyTree Report NEW Q3 2014 Results! 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Whether you already have an advanced degree -- like many of our current students -- or are in the early stages of a promising career, USC Marshall's MS in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, through the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, prepares you for opportunities in corporate venturing, technology commercialization and more. With full- and part-time options, the program gives you the flexibility you need. Apply now. http://www.marshall.usc.edu/msei?adref=SoCalTech14 ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- SoCal IP Law Group LLP - Serving the IP Needs of Business IP Litigation . IP Transactions . Patent & Trademark Prosecution . IP Strategy . Westlake Village . Santa Barbara . Irvine. [email protected] 805-230-1350 www.socalip.com ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- La Visual - A Branding, Product Strategy & Rapid Prototyping Accelerator Local branding agency launches a new design-centric accelerator program. We help you streamline the launch of your startup by offering world-class branding, product strategy, user-experience design, rapid-prototyping technology, mentorship, and access to early stage investment all under one roof! Contact us to setup a meet and greet today. Contact: Braven Greenelsh CEO [email protected] [email protected] Direct: 323-924-8847 | Studio: 818-824-6430 | Fax: 888-763-7412 Website: Lavisual.com Linkedin Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/braven ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- Fetch Recruiting, Inc. Fetch Recruiting, Inc. (http://www.fetchrecruiting.com) Technical Recruiting for LA based Startups and High-Growth Companies ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Part of the UK government’s commercial arm, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) helps American companies bring their high-quality investment to the UK's dynamic economy, acknowledged as Europe's best place from which to succeed in global business. We also help UK-based companies succeed in the global economy. UKTI offers expertise and contacts through its extensive network of specialists in the UK, and in British embassies and other diplomatic offices around the world. We provide companies with the tools they require to be competitive on the world stage. Our team in the United States works to promote UK-US trade and investment through our offices at the British Embassy in Washington as well as the British Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco. Learn more at: https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/uk-trade-investment-in-the-usa ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RECENT JOB POSTINGS More jobs at http://www.socaltech.com/Jobs Members post jobs for free Head of Product (VF iQ), Venice, Vision Fleet http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5605 User Experience (UX) Design Manager - Mobile, San Luis Obispo,, MINDBODY Inc. http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5604 User Experience (UX) Design Manager - Mobile, San Luis Obispo,, MINDBODY Inc. http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5603 Senior User Experience (UX) Designer, San Luis Obispo,, MINDBODY Inc. http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5602 Mid + Sr. Software Engineer, San Luis Obispo,, MINDBODY Inc. http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5601 Senior Front End Engineer, San Luis Obispo,, MINDBODY Inc. http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5600 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RECENT FUNDING SUMMARY 12/10/14 Ring FKA Doorbot $4.5M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61328 12/09/14 DB Networks $17.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61224 12/04/14 WhipClip $20.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61166 12/04/14 Serviz, Inc. $3.2M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61165 12/03/14 Cognitive Networks $14.5M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61164 11/21/14 Breezeworks $5.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61127 11/21/14 PlutoTV $13.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61126 11/20/14 FastPay $15.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61047 11/20/14 BioNano Genomics, Inc $53.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61045 11/19/14 Honk $1.8M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61038 11/19/14 Carbonics $5.5M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61037 11/18/14 Renova Therapeutics $7.5M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61033 11/17/14 Metal Networks $5.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61032 11/13/14 Scopely $35.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=61027 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Events This Month http://www.socaltech.com/Calendar socaltech.com Calendar of Southern California High Tech Events Submit your events at least two weeks in advance to: http://www.socaltech.com/submitevent.html December 11, Santa Monica -- Cross Campus and the All B-School Happy Hour. Cross Campus and the All B-School Happy Hour Group are hosting another “Toys 4 Tots, Alcohol 4 Adults” charity holiday party for Silicon Beach! The holidays are a time to celebrate with family and friends and to be merry, so the more the merrier. Bring yourself, bring a guest and don’t forget to bring a toy, and join the fun with your Cross Campus and MBA family. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24407 December 11, Los Angeles -- LA Tech Summit. Meet the hottest companies in Los Angeles and learn what makes "LA Tech" the most innovative technology ecosystem in the nation. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24424 December 11, Los Angeles -- Why 2015 is the Year of PR. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24440 December 13, Los Angeles -- UAVSA (Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle Systems Association) Drone Expo. Open to the general public, this all-day event aims to serve a growing community of entrepreneurs, professionals and enthusiasts designed to inform, educate and discuss how this technology can be better and safely utilized for business, health, public safety, urban planning, entertainment and other commercial purposes. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24438 December 14, Santa Monica -- Career Counseling for Designers. General Assembly. Feeling fuzzy on your career options? Need some guidance? Come to GA on Saturday to chat with top designers on how they got to where they are today. We'll have plenty of drinks and snacks to go around while representatives from the following companies/organizations will be in attendance to provide you with one on one advice on the various career paths available to designers in Los Angeles. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/23845 December 14, Santa Monica -- StartupMind's Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. Come one, come all to the Ugliest Christmas Sweater party of the Season! Yes, that's right, right in the heart of Silicon Beach, it's StartupMind's Christmas party at Seasons 52 and you're all invited. We are participating in the Spark of Love Toy Drive and tickets are either $10 or free admission with the donation of a $10 brand new toy. It's an awesome way to help disadvantaged children experience a little brighter Christmas and give back. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24414 December 16, Marina del Rey -- #LATHH Holiday Party & Ping Pong Tourney. It's that time of year again! Get your party hats on and your pong paddles out - we're throwing a killer hotel party in MDR. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24425 December 16, Santa Monica -- PandoMonthly Presents: A Fireside Chat with Jeremy Liew. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24441 December 16, -- For OCTANe Members and Sponsors Only. Please RSVP through the email invitation you have received through EventbriteNEW . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24450 December 16, Irvine -- OC Tech Alliance Holiday Reception. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24389 December 16, Santa Monica -- Mindshare Presents "Interstellar & The Science of Entertainment" at Cross Campus What do Hollywood and the field of Science have in common? Not much, at least most of the time. But with easy access to information movie fans just might be getting smarter! These days, unless it's a story of pure fantasy, script writers face more criticism than ever when they gloss over the facts and attempt to get away with a plot that has no foundation in reality. What is the history of Hollywood's relationship with academia? How have the two areas of human endeavor influenced each other? What new technologies, whether in the theater or in the lab, will be the next thing to shape the future of story telling? Lets see what happens when we mix together great minds from the world of entertainment, design & scienceNEW . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24445 December 16, Culver City -- FWD.us Monthly Meetup: How immigration announcement impacts tech. Join the FWD.us Los Angeles Chapter on Tuesday, December 16 from 7-9 to hear more about how the President's recent actions on immigration will impact the tech community, and participate in a mini-hackathon focused on advancing immigration reform through creative content. RSVP to reserve your spot todayNEW . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24447 December 18, Irvine -- AWT Annual Holiday Fundraiser cordially invited you to join AWT and colleagues from Southern California’s tech community to celebrate the season at our annual holiday event supporting our annual scholarship awards. This evening of great food, fine wine and festive networking will be once again held at the beautiful Prego Ristorante in IrvineNEW . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24448 December 18, Santa Monica -- LAVA Holiday Party. Come celebrate the Holiday Season with LAVA! Enjoy a great networking event, awesome food, and holiday beverages. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24420 December 18, Santa Monica -- CONVERSATION W/ KEITH FERRAZZI AND NIR EYAL. Join us for a Conversation between Keith Ferrazzi and Nir Eyal, focusing on his new book Hoooked – How to Build Habit-Forming Products. In Hooked, Nir Eyal explores why some products capture widespread attention while others flop. Based on years of research and his class at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Eyal has written the book he wished had been available to him as a startup founder—not abstract theory, but a how-to guide for building better products and technologies. Eyal’s four-step “Hook Model” details what’s required to build a habit-forming product that brings users back repeatedly, without relying on costly advertising or aggressive messaging. Hear Nir discuss and elaborate on these 4 steps live, during an in depth conversation with author and noted busines strategist Keith Ferrazzi. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24410 December 31, -- Heart to Heart: Building Emotional Connections with Consumers in the Automotive Industry. Wharton University. Presenters: Professor Patti Williams, John Mendel, and Vicki Poponi (WG’98). Increasingly marketers want to capture consumer hearts, build loyalty and brand love. Join us for a discussion about how emotions influence consumer decision making and specifically how Honda builds bonds with consumers. Vicki Poponi, Assistant Vice President of Product Planning, Honda, will discuss how Honda learns about consumers and strives to build emotions into the product design process. John Mendel, Executive Vice President, Honda will discuss how Honda uses marketing communications to spark consumer emotions. Wharton's Professor Patti Williams will discuss research on emotions and consumer decision making . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/23907 December 31, Santa Monica -- 409a Valuation. LA CFOs is a sponsor supported forum where CFO's of technology companies can come together to freely collaborate, learn and innovate, share expertise, ideas, and experiences in confidential, informal, non-threatening environment in order increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their role and enhance our value to our respective organizations. This month's topic is 409a Valuations, led by Eric Briggs, Silicon Valley Bank. This event is restricted to CFOs only. A confirmed reservation is required, others will not be admitted. Please contact [email protected] for an invitation.. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24007 January 8, Santa Monica -- LA CEOs presents: CEO secrets to running a successful tech company in Los Angeles. Join Mark Landay, Dynamic Synergy Executive Recruitment, for a fireside chat with John Tomich, CEO of Onestop Internet. This sponsor supported (free) event is restricted to qualified CEOs & CFOs only. A confirmed reservation is required, others will not be admitted. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24413 January 8, Irvine -- Firsty is an OCTANe Program that focuses on networking and relationship building. It brings together the Orange County technology ecosystem, consisting of executive leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, academicians, and strategic advisors. Firsties are free to attend and open to everyone, so bring a friend or coworkerNEW . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24451 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored by: TVC Capital LLC (www.tvccapital.com) Investments in and Acquisitions of Growing Software Companies Silicon Valley Bank (http://www.svb.com). Helping entrepreneurs succeed. Stubbs Alderton Markiles, LLP (http://www.stubbsalderton.com). Business. Technology. Law. Vision. Safire Partners (http://www.safirepartners.com). SoCal-based executive search for emerging growth companies Binary Pulse Technology Marketing (http://www.binarypulse.com). We Create Demand for California's Technology Companies. Fetch Recruiting, Inc. (www.fetchrecruiting.com) Technical Recruiting for LA based Startups and High-Growth Companies Key info (http://www.keyinfo.com) infrastructure ~ connectivity ~ co-location ~ cloud PricewaterhouseCoopers (http://www.socaltech.com/pwc). 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