StartUp Beat

-Southern California Takes No.2 Position in VC Investment – According to a study conducted by Dow Jones for Ernst & Young, Southern California trails only the San Francisco Bay Area in VC investment nationwide.  The study said that VC investment in the Southern California region surged 25 percent last year.  Here is a write up on the study from the Los Angeles Times (reg. req’d: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-venture23jan23,1,2528337.story?coll=la-headlines-business), and a link to the announcement and summary of the survey results from Dow Jones and Ernst & Young (http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=112219)

-PropPoint Appoints Two New Executives – PropPoint, the Los Angeles-based Tenant In Common (TIC) 1031 real estate exchange specialist company today announced the hiring of Ryan Stepp and Scott Bjornson.  According to the company, Stepp will become the company’s vice president, client services, and will support the company’s TIC 1031 real estate investment business throughout California.  Bjornson will lead the company’s expansion into Florida and the Southeastern United States, according to a company announcement.  Link to company press releases: (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070123005401&newsLang=en) (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070123005412&newsLang=en)

-Interview With Energy Innovations Management – WorldChanging.com features an interview with Andrew Beebe, president of Pasadena-based Energy Innovations, and Bill Gross of IdeaLab and CEO of Energy Innovations.  Link to interview: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005829.html