socaltech.com TechNews - Monday, June 22, 2015 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. Silicon Valley Bank (http://www.svb.com). Make next happen now. PricewaterhouseCoopers (http://www.socaltech.com/pwc). Fetch Recruiting, Inc. (http://www.fetchrecruiting.com) Technical Recruiting for LA based Startups and High-Growth Companies Shimokaji IP (http://www.shimokaji.com) Bettering Life Through Creative Ideas ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --Transphorm Gets $70M From KKR --Rubicon Project: Mobile Ads Now More Than 20 Percent Of Revenues --Enplug, Startup Vitamins' Modern Version Of The Motivational Poster --Lytx Wins rePlanet --Sonos Enhances Spotify Support --STARZ PLAY Launches On Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick --YouMail Improves Robocall Blocking App MARKETPLACE --Safire Partners Executive Search --KeyInfo, Wilcon:Fiber Ring Connectivity For LA and Ventura County --Safire Partners Executive Search --Early Stage Commercial Insurance - Pacific Unified Insurance Agency RECENT JOB POSTINGS --QA Automation Engineer, marina del rey, TeleSign --Product Marketing Manager, marina del rey, TeleSign RECENT FUNDING EVENTS ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- Don't Miss Silicon Beach Fest - June 24-27th! socalTECH.com is a returning media partner for Silicon Beach Fest, this June 24-27 at the new Marina Del Rey Hotel. Silicon Beach Fest is LA's biggest tech startup entertainment fest, with startup CEOs, investors, Hollywood executives on panels, startup showcase, and several networking events. Get 20% off Full, Thurs only or Friday only passes with our SoCal Tech discount code SBFSOCALTECH20 at http://sbf15.eventbrite.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transphorm Gets $70M From KKR ---- Goleta-based Transphorm, which is developing power conversion technology, said this morning that it hass raised $70M in a new investment round, led by KKR. Other investors in the company also include Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Foundation Capital, Google Ventures, Soros Quantum Strategic Partners, INCJ, and Fujitsu. Transphorm is developing power conversion semiconductors based on Gallium Nitride (GaN), and was co-founded by NObel prize winner Dr. Shuji Nakamura, who is best known for his invention of the blue LED. As part of the funding round, KKR has added David Kerko, Brittany Bagley, and Eiji Yatagawa to Transphorm's board, along with industry experts Mario Rivas and Michael White. Transphorm said the funding goes towards growth, product innovation and expansion. http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64693 Rubicon Project: Mobile Ads Now More Than 20 Percent Of Revenues ---- Los Angeles-based Rubicon Project says that mobile advertising spend is now more than 20 percent of the activity on its ad platform, as the company has ramped up its mobile efforts. According to Rubicon, it has been on a two year initiative to automate buying and selling of premium advertising on mobile, with mobile now more than 20 percent of its total managed revenues--up from less than 3 percent two years ago. The company said mobile managed revenue is expected to surpass $200M in its fiscal 2015. Rubicon Project operates an automated system for buying and selling online and mobile ads, to help publishers maximize their ad revenues across advertising networks. Enplug, Startup Vitamins' Modern Version Of The Motivational Poster ---- Anyone who works or has worked in a corporate environment is familiar with the motivitional poster--with their upbeat messages and motivating statements. (More...) http://www.socaltech.com/enplug_startup_vitamins_modern_version_of_the_motivational_poster/s-0060702.html Lytx Wins rePlanet ---- San Diego-based Lytx, the provider of video-based driver safety systems, reported a wint his morning with rePlanet, California's largest recycler. According to Lytx, rePlanet has signed a three-year, full fleet deployment of its enterprise products, as part of a driver safety effort. Lytx uses video cameras and sensors to help monitor and improve fleet driver safety. The company said it won rePlanet's business after a competitive, head to head trial, where its systems reduced risky driving frequency and severity by 60 percent, reduced traffic violations by 70 percent, and reduced mobile phone usage by drivers by 80 percent. The companies did not say how many vehicles are covered by the deal. Sonos Enhances Spotify Support ---- Santa Barbara-based streaming music system developer Sonos and music service Spotify said last week that the two have rolled out a beta of an upgraded Android app, which brings more of Spotify's features into the Sonos Controller App. The two said the link adds genres + moods, time-of-day recommendations, and ability to start a radio station from any artist and track to the Sonos' Android app. The two also said there are a number of performance improvements in the release, as well. Spotify said the enhancements are the result of a recently released set of new tools for its streaming music partners. STARZ PLAY Launches On Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick ---- Beverely Hills-based STARZ said Friday that it has launched its streaming, online television service, STARZ PLAY on Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. STARZ PLAY is an online, TV streaming service which allows STARZ premium subscribers to sign into the company and receive its films via all kinds of devices or their PC. YouMail Improves Robocall Blocking App ---- Irvine-based YouMail, the enhanced voicemail service provider led by Alex Quilici, has rolled out an upgraded robocall blocking app on iPhone, the company said Thursday. The company--whose cloud-based voicemail service is aimed at both consumers and small businesses--says its app automatically detects robocalls, so those callers actually think a user's number has been disconnected. The upgrades include a count showing users how many robocalls and spoofed numbers calls it has blocked. The company also offers up an app for Android phones. http://www.youmail.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MARKETPLACE Reach 10000+ readers for 5 days for $250 Post your marketplace ad at: http://www.socaltech.com/postad.html ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- Safire Partners Executive Search Safire Partners has completed 500+ retained executive searches since 2006 working with emerging businesses in Southern California. Please visit our website to see an updated list of our clients and searches completed at http://www.safirepartners.com/. We are always interested in meeting new candidates and potential clients, so feel free to email our Managing Partner, Todd Gitlin at [email protected]. ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- KeyInfo, Wilcon:Fiber Ring Connectivity For LA and Ventura County Key Information Systems, Inc. (KeyInfo), a leading cloud and infrastructure provider offering integrated solutions to enterprises, has announced the launch of its dedicated fiber ring built in partnership with Wilcon, the premier West Coast provider of private fiber optic networks. The KeyInfo fiber ring brings high-speed, private connectivity to businesses in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Because of its characteristic high security, fiber is an ideal choice for industries with highly regulated or sensitive data requirements. Organizations in the healthcare, financial, retail and government verticals can depend on Wilcon’s absolute physical layer security to protect the data in transit. For more information about the KeyInfo fiber ring, please visit our website at: http://keyinfo.com/solutions-we-build/Connectivity/fiber/ ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- Safire Partners Executive Search Safire Partners has completed 500+ retained executive searches since 2006 working with emerging businesses in Southern California. Please visit our website to see an updated list of our clients and searches completed at http://www.safirepartners.com/. We are always interested in meeting new candidates and potential clients, so feel free to email our Managing Partner, Todd Gitlin at [email protected]. ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- Early Stage Commercial Insurance - Pacific Unified Insurance Agency We are a commercial insurance broker working with startup and early stage technology and E-Commerce companies to implement cost effective strategies for their insurance and risk management programs. We provide guidance and strategic planning during various phases and also advise regarding employee benefit structures to assist in employee recruiting and retention. Coverage placements include D&O, Property, Liability, Workers Comp, E&O, Cyber/Network Security and Employee Benefit Programs. Contact: John Huttinger, CIC, CRM Vice President Ph#310-370-5000 Ext 3025 w Fx 310-370-5454 [email protected] ------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RECENT JOB POSTINGS More jobs at http://www.socaltech.com/Jobs Members post jobs for free Senior Accountant, marina del rey, TeleSign http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5655 Technical Account Manager, marina del rey, TeleSign http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5654 Senior Software Engineer, marina del rey, TeleSign http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5653 DevOps Engineer, marina del rey, TeleSign http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5652 QA Automation Engineer, marina del rey, TeleSign http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5646 Product Marketing Manager, marina del rey, TeleSign http://www.socaltech.com/showjob.php?id=5651 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RECENT FUNDING SUMMARY 06/18/15 Sikka Software $10.5M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64712 06/18/15 Visage $2.1M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64711 06/17/15 IRIS.TV, Inc. $5.3M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64710 06/17/15 Cynvenio $25.5M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64709 06/17/15 Informed Data Systems $8.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64707 06/17/15 Transphorm, Inc. $70.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64693 06/16/15 Rayton Solar $1.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64606 06/16/15 ServiceTitan $18.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64605 06/16/15 Connectifier $6.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64604 06/15/15 Looklist $0.2M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64603 06/12/15 BioAtla $30.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64599 06/08/15 TaskUs $15.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64553 06/04/15 Orbitera $2.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64545 06/04/15 CALHOUN VISION INC $69.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64544 06/02/15 Entropix $1.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64539 05/29/15 Snapchat $537.6M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64433 05/28/15 GumGum $26.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64430 05/27/15 Manta Instruments $0.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64428 05/26/15 HelloTech $2.0M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64359 05/26/15 Enervee $3.5M http://www.socaltech.com/intelligence/?action=showdeal&id=64358 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 June 23, Costa Mesa -- End the Post-Market Money Pit: How Early Moves Can Please Regulators, Payers, and Your Investors: Evolving observational research requirements, regulations, and payer expectations are redrawing the road map for global market access. How can organizations plan ahead to create clinical programs that meet pre-market and post-market needs while suppressing costs?. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24733 June 23, Los Angeles -- Women in LAVA "PITCH PITCH AND AWAY" Working Sessions. LAVA. Every entrepreneur needs a polished pitch deck to present to investors and an elevator pitch that rolls off their tongues at networking events. We want to help get yours to perfection. This year we will be hosting a series of working sessions for women entrepreneurs to develop their pitch presentation, practice the pitch, and get invaluable feedback from mentors and colleagues. These sessions will lead to the chance to present to a panel of women-focused investors at our Investor Panel Event in December. Participation in at least one of these events will qualify you to apply for our pitch competition.https://generalassemb.ly/education/women-in-lava-pitch-pitch-and-away-working-sessions/los-angeles/11207. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24545 June 24, Marina Del Rey -- Silicon Beach Fest. socalTECH.com is a returning media partner for Silicon Beach Fest, this June 24-27 at the new Marina Del Rey Hotel. Silicon Beach Fest is LA's biggest tech startup entertainment fest, with startup CEOs, investors, Hollywood executives on panels, startup showcase, and several networking events. Get 20% off Full, Thurs only or Friday only passes with our SoCal Tech discount code SBFSOCALTECH20 at http://sbf15.eventbrite.comNEW . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24760 June 24, Westwood -- First Look LA: First Look L.A. supports, nurtures and stimulates our unique culture in Southern California, while furthering L.A.s position as a center for start-ups and emerging technology. In addition to the presenters, venture capitalists and early stage angel investors attend the event, along with local elected officials, business leaders and senior administrators from local universities.. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24724 June 25, Culver City -- Mobile Strategy & Development. AITP-LA. Your organization should already have mobile functionality and a mobile presence. How should your company best address its mobile needs, or improve upon its existing mobile presence or deployment? A panel of Los Angeles area experts will discuss the impetus for going mobile, and how they mapped out and executed upon this need for their own firms. Elements include business needs, analytics, requirements gathering, developing technical specs, platform needs, building teams, and the tradeoffs and pitfalls of farming out the development work. . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24716 June 25, Marina Del Rey -- Silicon Beach Fest. socalTECH.com is a returning media partner for Silicon Beach Fest, this June 24-27 at the new Marina Del Rey Hotel. Silicon Beach Fest is LA's biggest tech startup entertainment fest, with startup CEOs, investors, Hollywood executives on panels, startup showcase, and several networking events. Get 20% off Full, Thurs only or Friday only passes with our SoCal Tech discount code SBFSOCALTECH20 at http://sbf15.eventbrite.comNEW . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24761 June 26, Marina Del Rey -- Silicon Beach Fest. socalTECH.com is a returning media partner for Silicon Beach Fest, this June 24-27 at the new Marina Del Rey Hotel. Silicon Beach Fest is LA's biggest tech startup entertainment fest, with startup CEOs, investors, Hollywood executives on panels, startup showcase, and several networking events. Get 20% off Full, Thurs only or Friday only passes with our SoCal Tech discount code SBFSOCALTECH20 at http://sbf15.eventbrite.comNEW . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24762 June 27, Playa Vista -- Big Data Day LA 2015. Join us and countless others for the third annual Big Data Day LA, held in none other than Los Angeles, of course! Big Data Day LA is the largest conference of its kind as well as the only free big data conference in Southern California, packed with informational speakers. This year will feature talks from City of Los Angeles, Cloudera, Couchbase, Databricks, Datastax, Fandango, Hortonworks, LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, MapR, Microsoft, MongoDB, Netflix, Oracle, Teradata, Toyota and many more. This only happens once a year and tickets go fast, so don’t miss out. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24741 June 27, Marina Del Rey -- Silicon Beach Fest. socalTECH.com is a returning media partner for Silicon Beach Fest, this June 24-27 at the new Marina Del Rey Hotel. Silicon Beach Fest is LA's biggest tech startup entertainment fest, with startup CEOs, investors, Hollywood executives on panels, startup showcase, and several networking events. Get 20% off Full, Thurs only or Friday only passes with our SoCal Tech discount code SBFSOCALTECH20 at http://sbf15.eventbrite.comNEW . See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24763 June 30, Santa Monica -- Upfront Ventures' Kara Nortman - Fireside Chat. TechFire will be hosting a fireside chat with Kara Nortman, Partner at Upfront Ventures, L.A.'s leading VC firm. Kara joined Upfront Ventures as a partner in November 2014. She is currently the Chairman of Seedling which recently merged with Moonfrye where she was co-founder and CEO. Prior to starting Moonfrye, Kara spent close to seven years at IAC where she acted as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Urbanspoon and Citysearch. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24753 June 30, Camarillo -- Clay Clark Presents - Thrive: How To Move From Surviving To Thriving. Camarillo Public Library. Clay is the founder of Thrive15, serial entrepreneur, and the former "U.S. SBA Entrepreneur of the Year" who has been described by the folks at Yahoo as the "Jim Carey of Entrepreneurship." As the result of his tireless tenacity and work ethic, he's been able to found or co-found several successful companies. Clay will teach specific action steps that have been proven to work in his own life and the lives of millionaire business owners around the world. Learn how to not just survive, but actually make your life epic every step of the way as your company begins to thrive. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24745 June 30, Santa Monica -- Mobile LAVA: Alternative Accelerators & Start-Up Resources. On Tuesday, June 30th, at ROC we'll be having our next installment of Mobile LAVA: Alternative Accelerators and Start-Up Resources. Today, start-ups have more choices for accessing business resources and seed funding than ever. This is especially true for first-time and early-stage entrepreneurs not yet ready to pursue venture capital or who lack certain critical capabilities. To meet these needs are emergent alternative accelerators, incubators and precelerator models. The next Mobile LAVA will present some of these different equity partners available to start-ups in today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape. Panelists include: Jeff Scheinrock, President and CFO of Originate; Matthew Pierce, Founder and CEO of O Labs; Cauri Jaye, CEO at Rhubarb Studios; Benoit Vatere, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Science, Inc. and Ryan Azlein, Director of the Preccelerator Program at Stubbs, Alderton & Markiles.. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24755 July 6, San Diego -- Marketing Mondays "Marketing Automation" Every other Monday we will be gathering at the Downtown EvoNexus offices to talk about startup marketing challenges. There will have be a brief presentation that leads into a discussion about marketing tactics and difficulties. Examples of topics will include: branding, positioning, creative, landing pages, testing, engagement, scaling, email, research, etc.. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24758 July 8, Irvine -- Hatchwork, K5, and EvoNexus Fundraising Series : From Handshake to Exit: An Inside Look at the Startup/Investor Relationship Have you ever wondered what it's like to be funded? Questioning what the relationship between you and an investor should look like? Want to learn about the path to investment? Get the inside view of the relationship between a startup and their investor. Gain an understanding of the path from meeting an investor to getting investment.. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24756 July 9, Rancho Santa Margarita -- 5th Annual OCTANe Golf Tournament: You’re invited to OCTANe’s 5th Annual Golf Tournament! Team up with your colleagues or come solo, either way you are sure to meet many new business contacts and friends. Tournament will fill up fast, so reserve your spot today!. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24734 July 20, Irvine -- Marketing Mondays "Marketing Automation" : EvoNexus is excited to launch Marketing Mondays @ The Vine! This has been a successful event at our San Diego location and we are thrilled to be able to have OC entrepreneurs reap the benefits of this monthly presentation and discussion from seasoned marketing experts, Chris d’Eon and Randy Gerson. Join us the third Monday of each month for networking, beverages, and a quality discussion surrounding various marketing strategies!. See http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/eventid/24757 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored by: TVC Capital LLC (www.tvccapital.com) Investments in and Acquisitions of Growing Software Companies Silicon Valley Bank (http://www.svb.com). Make next happen now. 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). Shimokaji IP (http://www.shimokaji.com) Bettering Life Through Creative Ideas Email [email protected] for more information about sponsoring this newsletter. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the socalTECH.com TechNews from our web site, or otherwise requested a subscription. If you do not want to receive this newsletter go to: http://www.socaltech.com/unsubscribe.php or email us at [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Legal Notices ---- While SOCALTECH LLC has used its best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein, SOCALTECH LLC does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident or other causes. All contents Copyright (c) 2014 SOCALTECH LLC. 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