StartUp Beat

Thank you for your readership.  I have decided to take StartUp Beat in a new and exciting direction, starting tomorrow.  The focus of the site will no longer be news from companies based in the greater Los Angeles area.  Instead, it will now be a forum for technology startups from across the U.S. to pitch their ideas in a free forum to a large, national (and even international) audience.  Basically, carefully selected technology startups based anywhere in the U.S. will be able to submit a pitch, bylined by a founder or CEO, that describes what the company does, value proposition, investors, product, goals, and other key items that are key to providing an understanding of the company.

All companies that submit their pitches to StartUp Beat will be indexed and fully searchable.  Their indexed pitches will also include a consistently updated profile that includes key information like founders, executives, employees, etc.  We tried this for companies in the Los Angeles area for a limited time last year, and I was impressed with the sheer number of technology startups from across the U.S. that were seeking to have a voice in a forum like this where they could tell their stories.

You will still be able to access our archive of articles from the past year of news from startups in the Los Angeles area, and all permalinks to individual articles will remain live.

I hope you will find our new format valuable, interesting, and stimulating.  As always, I welcome and encourage your comments and feedback.

Sincerely,

Brian Kovalesky
Editor & Publisher
StartUp Beat
brian@startupbeat.com

Posted by startupbeat at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

-Break.com Debuts New Properties as Part of Ad Network Launch – Los Angeles-based online video company Break.com has launched its new Break Men’s Ad Network and three new web properties—Cage Potato, Chickipedia, and Holy Taco.  Here’s a link to the announcement: Break Launches Three New Branded Web Properties and Men’s Ad Network

-Dayton Steps Down as Helio CEO – Entrepreneur and Helio founder Sky Dayton will step aside as CEO and move to non-executive chairman of the Westwood-based mobile virtual network operator.  Dayton will be replaced by Helio president and COO Wonhee Sull.  Here’s TechCrunch’s take on the move: Sky Dayton Steps Down As CEO of Helio

-Gumiyo to Deliver Mobile Carfax Reports – The Woodland Hills-based startup that develops e-commerce solutions for mobile devices has announced that it has partnered with Carfax to make Carfax Vehicle History Reports available on mobile devices.  GUMIYO, Inc. First to Deliver Carfax Vehicle History Reports Through Mobile Devices to Consumers  

Posted by startupbeat at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

-2008 Local Entrepreneurship Awards Finalists Announced – Entretech today announced the finalists for the 5th annual awards.  Presented by both Entretech and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the honors will be given at a breakfast on January 31st.  PricewaterhouseCoopers and Entretech Announce Finalists for 5th Annual Entrepreneurship Awards 2008

-Demand Media and the Lance Armstrong Foundation Announce Agreement – The Santa Monica-based social media company says that it will build ‘Livestrong.com’ for the group, a site that will provide professional health, wellness and fitness-related content.  The company says that as part of the deal, the Foundation and Lance Armstrong will become shareholders in Demand.  Demand Media and the Lance Armstrong Foundation Announce Agreement to Build LIVESTRONG.com 

-Integrien Adds to Advisory Board – Here’s more on the appointment, from the Irvine-based provider of integrity management solutions: Fred van den Bosch Joins Integrien’s Strategic Advisory Board

-The Rubicon Project Raises $15 Million – The Los Angeles-based Internet marketing startup today announced the completion of a series B round, led by Mayfield Fund with participation from IDG Ventures Asia; Stanford University; University of California Berkeley; Matt Coffin, founder and former CEO of LowerMyBills.com and Clearstone Venture Partners.  the Rubicon Project Raises $21 Million With New Financing Led by Mayfield Fund

Posted by startupbeat at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/25/08 – Los Angeles-based MyMedicalRecords.com, which provides web-based personal health records services, has debuted MMR Pro, which it says is an easy-to-use, low-cost system that enables physicians and other healthcare providers to store paper-based patient medical records in a secure online environment without requiring upfront costs for special hardware or software.

The company is addressing the increasing impetus from regulators on adoption of electronic records by physicians and other healthcare providers.  MyMedicalRecords.com says MMR Pro enables doctors to get many of the benefits of an extensive electronic records system by digitizing patient files on the same day the patient leaves the office, with minimal disruption to existing workflow.  MMR Pro physicians will also be afforded the option to have all “back-file” paper records indexed and scanned for online access at a nominal cost.  Patients will also be able to access and view their records at no cost from any Internet-connected computer, according to the company.

In addition, digitized patient files are stored on a secure web site branded with the name of the physician practice.  Then using its MMRFreeView service, MyMedicalRecords.com says patients will be able to view his or her individual records by logging into their account with a secure password.

At the core of the MyMedicalRecords.com service is a document management and communications platform that allows doctors to securely fax medical and personal health records such as lab test results and immunization reports into a user’s account.  Images such as x-rays, scans and MRIs can be uploaded directly from the computer desktop, allowing users to efficiently and confidentially manage their health records through a personalized account, according to the company.

MyMedicalRecords.com – www.mymedicalrecords.com
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1/25/08 – Gumiyo, a Woodland Hills-based startup that develops e-commerce solutions for mobile devices, will begin enabling consumers of AutoUpLinkUSA, which runs an online inventory service for car dealers, to directly access their online inventory listings through a mobile phone web browser.

The companies say the new service lets dealers market their new and used inventory to consumers right on their web-enabled cell phones.  AutoUpLink will be utilizing the GumiyoPRO Elite mobile platform, which will allow dealers to directly access their online inventory listings through a mobile phone web browser when consumers text certain keywords with VINs or stock numbers.  These keywords are printed on dealers’ vehicle display stickers, classified ads, outdoor advertising or other promotions.

In general Gumiyo extends online marketplaces to mobile phones and provides sellers with unique mobile homepages and running print ads, signs, flyers, or any type of offline and online advertising.  It utilizes a proprietary short code with specialized text messages to power its service.

The company raised an undisclosed amount of funding in November.  It also inked a number of partnerships last year, including a deal with AutoBase to enable mobile auto classifieds, online classified provider Edgeio and it integrated Google Base listings into its mobile commerce services.

Gumiyo - www.gumiyo.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

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Posted by startupbeat at 09:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

-iPhotoMeasure Chosen by Depiction Software – Tarzana-based DigiContractor, announced that its innovative photo measuring software has been chosen by Depiction, a supplier of personal computer imaging and estimating software for the building industry: Depiction Software Offers iPhotoMEASURE V3

-Mahalo Adds ‘Multi-Profiles’ – Santa Monica-based Mahalo, the “human edited” search engine launched by serial entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, today announced that members will be able to integrate multiple social networking profiles into their Mahalo profiles.  Here’s more from the Mashable blog: Mahalo Launches Multi-Profiles; Why Didn’t I Think of That?

Posted by startupbeat at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We’d like to take a moment to thank our sponsors: LegalZoom and Integrien. 

They allow StartUp Beat to continue to provide news coverage of the most dynamic and innovative startups and early stage companies in the greater Los Angeles area. They also allow StartUp Beat to remain editorially independent and provide objective coverage of this dynamic community.  Note that our sponsors remain completely separate from our editorial coverage (see our sponsorship/advertising policy for more details).   We seek out companies that we feel will benefit or be of interest to our readership.

We are always looking for additional sponsors to help us keep the site thriving.  If you are interested, email sponsors@startupbeat.com for more details.  In the meantime, here’s more about our current sponsors:

LegalZoom allows you to be the hero of your family and your business. In 3 Easy Steps, protect yourself with a living will or power of attorney. Protect your family with a last will or living trust. Protect your business by incorporating or forming an LLC (Limited Liability Company). LegalZoom.com was founded by top attorneys so you know your legal documents are reliable. They built LegalZoom so that you can go online, answer a straightforward questionnaire for any legal document service, and then LegalZoom takes it from there, even performing a review for completeness and common mistakes.

Integrien is the intelligent systems management company that enables the predictable operation of mission critical applications. We help IT Operations manage complexity by applying real-time analytics to monitoring data to provide the intelligence that prevents problems from affecting their business. Integrien identifies dynamic thresholds to reduce the volume of false positive alerts generated by traditional rigid monitoring thresholds. We apply real-time analytics to monitoring data to identify the abnormal application and infrastructure behavior that precedes a problem. This unique ability to recognize and predict problems as they emerge allows us to help IT Operations identify and resolve issues before they result in slowdowns or outages. Integrien significantly reduces MTTR by providing a Problem FingerprintTM that focuses remediation efforts and minimizes the number of bridge call participants. These Problem FingerprintsTM continually adapt and “learn” over time as new monitoring data is analyzed. Only Integrien delivers this power of prediction and prevention.

Posted by startupbeat at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/24/08 – Westlake Village-based Row 44 and Southwest Airlines announced this week that it will test Row 44’s service on four of its aircraft this summer.  This will make Southwest the first U.S. carrier to test satellite-delivered broadband Internet access on multiple aircraft.

Row 44, which uses the Hughes satellite network, is also working with Alaska Airlines to implement an in-flight system.  

The service enables fliers with wi-fi enabled devices to connect to the system through wireless hotspots installed inside the aircraft cabin, enabled by a light-weight radome mounted on top of the aircraft that houses an antenna, which receives and transmits signals, according to Row 44.

Row 44 has been privately funded to this point.

Row 44 – www.row44.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

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Integrien

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1/24/08 – Dell has announced that it will begin bundling Culver City-based open source IP telephony company Fonality’s open-source software with its enterprise servers.

This is obviously a big deal for Fonality, which last year was one of the more active companies in the region in terms of partnerships and expansion of its small-and-medium sized business-focused product mix.  Dell seems particularly suited for a partnership with Fonality, with its small-office, home-office focus.

While the companies aren’t divulging specifics about the partnership, apparently the deal’s revenue sharing arrangement is split right down the middle, with hardware revenue going to Dell and software going to Fonality.

Fonality uses a hybrid-hosted technology based on the open-source Asterisk telephony software for its products.  Its flagship offering is its PBXtra product for business that has the ability to support branch offices, as well as mobile and home-based workers.  The service won a PC Magazine Editors’ Choice award last year.

The company counts Azure Capital and Intel Capital among its investors.

Fonality – www.fonality.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

LegalZoom.com

Integrien

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1/24/08 – Venture investors poured $3.8 billion into Southern California-based companies last year, according to the Quarterly Venture Capital Report released this week by Dow Jones VentureSource.  The total represents 272 deals and a 12 percent growth rate over 2006.

Southern California just beat out New England for total investment, but garnered fewer total deals.  New England totaled $3.7 billion in money raised, in 326 completed rounds.

Overall, California was again the top destination for venture capital investment for the year, with 42 percent of all deals nationwide with 1,112 and 47 percent of all capital invested with just under $14 billion. The San Francisco Bay Area, in its usual spot as king of VC investment, attracted 818 deals totaling $9.9 billion.  That represents 3 percent more than 2006.

More details on the report can be found here: U.S. Venture Capital Investment Climbs 8% to $29.9 Billion in 2007, Highest Level Since 2001
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1/23/08 – Santa Monica-based mobile video and advertising company Transpera and Los Angeles-based online video company Break.com are partnering up to bring Break’s Internet content to mobile phones.

Using the Transpera platform, Break’s content and advertising will be available through major carrier networks including AT&T, Sprint/Nextel and T-Mobile, the companies say.  In addition, compatibility with the iPhone, Windows Mobile and the latest video-capable devices will allow users to customize their mobile videos.  

Transpera launched in July, and is backed by Intel Capital, IDG Ventures and First Round Capital.  Break, which has been around since 1998 and targets young men, says that it brings more than 18 million unique monthly visitors to its web site.  Last summer it secured $21 million in funding from Lionsgate Entertainment.

Transpera – www.transpera.com

Break.com – www.break.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

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1/23/08 – AlwaysOn has unveiled its OnMedia 100 winners, an award that recognizes the top private companies who have made significant strides in the advertising, marketing, and promotion industry.  Local winners include Ripe Digital Entertainment, Ripple, Jacked, The Rubicon Project, ThisNext and Transpera.

AlwaysOn says its editors and industry experts representing companies in the online ad service, technology, community platform, mobile advertising, marketing and web analytic sectors from around the globe submitted nominations for the OnMedia 100 award.

The OnMedia 100 Top Private Companies will be honored at the upcoming AlwaysOn conference on January 28-30 in New York City. 

AlwaysOn – www.alwayson.goingon.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

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Posted by startupbeat at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/23/08 – Santa Monica-based Jacked, an online publishing platform designed to operate simultaneously with TV programming, today announced that it has been selected to join Microsoft’s Startup Accelerator Program.  The program is designed to connect high-potential startups to an extensive support network that it says provides access to Microsoft people and programs, guidance on future directions, and support to accelerate participants’ success.

Microsoft says the requirements for inclusion in the program are innovation, marketability, growth potential, funding, platform decision and strategy.  Microsoft evaluates hundreds of startups before choosing participants.

Jacked’s platform, which is particularly focused on sports programming, is a mixture of online applications with a library of information, media, game, commerce and advertising spots, which it says allows users to interact with shows through information like statistics, photos, player information, play-by-play, chat and news. 

The company was founded in 2006 by former American Greetings Mobile chief Bryan Biniak.  It raised $6.5 million in September from Provenance Ventures, Core Capital Partners and Gabriel Venture Partners.

Jacked – www.jacked.com
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1/22/08 – Spot Runner, the Los Angeles-based Internet-based TV ad agency, has announced the acquisition of GlobeShooter, a network of more than 1,200 independent filmmakers, professional videographers, photographers, producers and production companies.

Spot Runner says it will integrate GlobeShooter into its existing and future products aimed at local, regional and national businesses, spanning television and online media.  The package of services will be renamed the “Spot Runner Production Network.”  Spot Runner says the acquisition will significantly expand its ability to offer highly customized ads for TV and the Internet, and gives it the capability to quickly deploy a local filmmaker to capture on-site video footage of its clients’ businesses—such as images of their storefronts, customer testimonials, employees at work, product demonstrations and local landmarks.  Spot Runner says this footage will be incorporated into ads from Spot Runner’s library to produce personalized, relevant, high quality local TV and online ads at an affordable price point.

As part of the deal, GlobeShooter founder Simon Foster has joined Spot Runner as director of the Spot Runner Production Network.  The company says he is now responsible for growing and managing the network.

Spot Runner is backed by Battery Ventures, Index Ventures, Allen & Company and Tudor Investments.

Spot Runner – www.spotrunner.com

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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

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1/22/08 – Irvine-based Integrien, the provider of integrity management solutions for businesses, today unveiled the next version of its flagship software, Alive.  Integrien says version 6.0 includes enhanced analytics, scalability for the largest operational environments and a new customizable, role-based GUI, which assists IT operations staff in alleviating complexities associated with maintaining mission critical applications in complex IT environments.  The software increases operational efficiency by providing real-time, automated analysis of IT performance data and delivers actionable intelligence for identifying, resolving, and preventing problems, according to Integrien.

Alive 6 includes a new architecture and integration framework that Integrien says greatly increases the scalability of the software, enabling users to leverage existing investments in monitoring and systems management tools.

Integrien was founded in 2001, and is backed by Clearstone Venture Partners and Acartha Group.

Integrien – www.integrien.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

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Integrien

Posted by startupbeat at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

-Boingo Selects JiWire for Ad Delivery – The Santa Monica-based wi-fi network aggregator has selected a provider of advertising services for its airport-based sites. JiWire to deliver mobile ads at Boingo Wi-Fi airport sites

-Inside Axiotron – The Daily Breeze ran an interesting piece over the weekend about El Segundo-based Axiotron and its founder, Andreas Haas.  Axiotron is the maker of the recently released Modbook—the first Mac tablet computer.  Here's a link to the article: Getting a piece of Apple

-Tech Coast Angels Elects Sid Mohasseb President – The largest angel group in the U.S. announced the election last week of its new president: Tech Coast Angels Largest Angel Investment Organization in U.S Elects A New President

-‘Geek Culture,’ L.A.-Style – The Webware blog included a rundown last week of the Twiistup 3 party in Venice: SoCal geeks ready for the spotlight

Posted by startupbeat at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/18/08 – El Segundo-based Ripple, which delivers hyper-local content on flat screen panels in public locations, has announced two big partnerships that expand its network of public interactive screens and its advertising reach.  The first is a deal with CBS Outernet, a division of CBS that runs in-store media networks and advertising in grocery stores nationwide.  The company has also partnered with SeeSaw Networks, a San Francisco-based media company that offers a digital out-of-home media network advertising portfolio.

Ripple says its agreement with CBS Outernet will combine CBS’s national network of screens with Ripple’s “hyper-local” targeting capabilities in more than 1,500 spots in retail locations such as Borders, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Jack In The Box and Tully’s.  The company says the combined networks will reach more than 100 million viewers per month.

As a newly minted affiliate of SeeSaw networks, which enables companies to plan and execute “out-of-home” advertising though its partners, Ripple will now have access to SeeSaw’s portfolio of top-tier brand advertisers who will be able to feature their messages alongside Ripple’s network of geographically-targeted lifestyle content.

Ripple was founded in 2004.

Ripple – www.rippletv.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

LegalZoom.com

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Posted by startupbeat at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/18/08 – Pasadena-based eSolar, the renewable energy startup that specializes in solar thermal power, has been given the largest grant by Google.org in its initial $26 million disbursement of funds.  Back in late November, Google.org, which is Google’s philanthropic arm, announced that eSolar would be part of the first group of companies to receive support.

eSolar, an IdeaLab startup, will get $10 million dollars in this round of funding.  Google.org says it is also contributing toward fighting health and environmental threats, improving public services and supporting small businesses.  

Oak Investment Partners is also an investor in eSolar.

eSolar – www.esolar.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

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LegalZoom.com

Posted by startupbeat at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/18/08 – The Los Angeles Venture Association, or LAVA, held its fifth annual awards dinner last night, where it honored some of the region’s standout companies over the last year, and presented its Lifetime Achievement Award in Venture Capital to IdeaLab CEO Bill Gross.

Individual award winners included Los Angeles-based Internet-based TV ad agency SpotRunner, which won for “Best Venture Financing in Software and Media.”

The awards dinner benefited the Pasadena Union Station Foundation and was held at the Luxe Summit Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.

LAVA – www.lava.org
------------------------------------------------------------
**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

Integrien

LegalZoom.com

Posted by startupbeat at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We’d like to take a moment to thank our sponsors: LegalZoom and Integrien. 

They allow StartUp Beat to continue to provide news coverage of the most dynamic and innovative startups and early stage companies in the greater Los Angeles area. They also allow us to remain editorially independent and provide objective coverage of this dynamic community.  Note that our sponsors remain completely separate from our editorial coverage (see our sponsorship/advertising policy for more details).

We are always looking for additional sponsors to help us keep the site thriving.  If you are interested, email sponsors@startupbeat.com for more details.  In the meantime, read on for more about our current sponsors...

LegalZoom allows you to be the hero of your family and your business. In 3 Easy Steps, protect yourself with a living will or power of attorney. Protect your family with a last will or living trust. Protect your business by incorporating or forming an LLC (Limited Liability Company). LegalZoom.com was founded by top attorneys so you know your legal documents are reliable. They built LegalZoom so that you can go online, answer a straightforward questionnaire for any legal document service, and then LegalZoom takes it from there, even performing a review for completeness and common mistakes.

LegalZoom has helped form over 100,000 businesses. Whether you need a simple DBA, or a full incorporation, LLC or Limited Partnership, you can go to LegalZoom to easily take care of these important matters. It seems like businesses can be sued for anything these days, and without a corporation or LLC you’re putting your personal assets at risk.

 
Integrien is the intelligent systems management company that enables the predictable operation of mission critical applications. We help IT Operations manage complexity by applying real-time analytics to monitoring data to provide the intelligence that prevents problems from affecting their business. Integrien identifies dynamic thresholds to reduce the volume of false positive alerts generated by traditional rigid monitoring thresholds. We apply real-time analytics to monitoring data to identify the abnormal application and infrastructure behavior that precedes a problem. This unique ability to recognize and predict problems as they emerge allows us to help IT Operations identify and resolve issues before they result in slowdowns or outages. Integrien significantly reduces MTTR by providing a Problem FingerprintTM that focuses remediation efforts and minimizes the number of bridge call participants. These Problem FingerprintsTM continually adapt and “learn” over time as new monitoring data is analyzed. Only Integrien delivers this power of prediction and prevention.

Posted by startupbeat at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/17/08 – Xirrus, the Westlake Village-based provider of high-performance, long-range wi-fi products, has been chosen to provide wi-fi connectivity for USENIX—the Advanced Computing Systems Association—conferences and symposiums.  The group says these events are meeting grounds for the presentation, discussion and application of technical advances in all aspects of computing systems, covering topics such as network design and implementation, systems administration, network security and electronic voting.

Xirrus has experience with wi-fi deployments at trade shows and conferences, with successful deployments at the last three Interop shows.  The company says it is now focusing on providing wi-fi for regionally-based gatherings rather than larger events, in addition to the company’s permanent deployments of its Wi-Fi Arrays at locations like corporate campuses, schools and public areas.

Xirrus was founded in 2004 by former Xircom executives and is backed by U.S. Venture Partners and August Capital.

Xirrus – www.xirrus.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

LegalZoom.com

Integrien

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1/17/08 – Los Angeles-based 60Frames Entertainment, a producer and syndicator of online content that was recently started and incubated by United Talent Agency and Los Angeles-based Spot Runner, has launched its first line up of programming.  The company says it first programs include one called “Cockpit,” a comedy series developed by the group that created the popular online series “Prom Queen” for Michael Eisner’s Vuguru, and “Erik the Librarian Mysteries,” which is written and directed by TV writer Brent Forrester of “The Office.”

60Frames says it has a dozen-or-so other projects in development, with partners including the Coen brothers, John August and Tom Fontana.  The company has signed distribution deals with video sites including Bebo, Break.com, Dailymotion, iTunes, MySpace, Veoh, Vuze and YouTube, among others, and will begin offering its content through streaming service Joost next month.

The company has raised $3.5 million from an investment group led by Tudor Investment Corporation and Bob Pittman’s Pilot Group.

60Frames Entertainment – www.60frames.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

Integrien

LegalZoom.com

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-Hands-On Review of Axiotron’s Modbook – Engadget this week featured a hands-on review of El Segundo-based Axiotron’s long-anticipated Modbook Mac tablet computer, which began shipping just after New Year’s Day.  It’s the first Mac-based notebook, but Engadget finds some faults, apparently: Axiotron Modbook tablet Mac hands-on

Posted by startupbeat at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/16/08 – Westwood-based mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, Helio, today officially released its long-anticipated Mysto phone.  The device is an ultra-thin slider phone that features a large, reflective mirror-like screen, and electrostatic keys that make the device shiver when pressed, according to Helio.

In addition, Helio has debuted two new GPS search services that run on the Mysto, called “WHERE” and “Tellme.”  WHERE is a service of uLocate Communications which provides information on things like local weather and events based on the user’s current location.  Tellme is a subsidiary of Microsoft and the first one-touch voice search application for mobile in the U.S. which lets users simply press one button and say a word to receive local search results.

The Mysto is manufactured by Samsung exclusively for Helio, according to the company.  Mysto boasts a 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, night mode and built-in Photo Studio for high quality photos and video, 100MB of available internal memory expandable via microSD to 4GB, stereo Bluetooth, and support for an array of audio and video formats including MP3 and AAC audio, and MPEG-4 and H.264 video. 

Founded in 2005, Helio is a joint venture of EarthLink and South Korea’s SK Telecom.  It is headed by EarthLink and Boingo Wireless founder Sky Dayton.

Helio – www.helio.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

LegalZoom.com

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1/16/08 – Los Angeles-based Placely, a new online travel networking startup that enables travelers to share information and to stay connected while traveling, announced today that it has launched a new free feature.  Called the TripKit, the company says it allows users to enter a travel itinerary and immediately receive relevant data to make the travel experience more informative and pleasurable.

Placely says that TripKit aggregates relevant information for the traveler’s destination, all on one page.  Information includes interactive maps, weather forecast and top restaurant choices, according to the company.  Additionally, TripKit users have access to networking data allowing them to share travel tips and effortlessly meet up with people in their network while on-the-go.

The company was founded by entrepreneurs Denis Khoo, former CTO of Market Wire, and Rishi Jain.

Placely – www.placely.com
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**StartUp Beat Thanks Our Sponsors:

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LegalZoom.com

Posted by startupbeat at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/16/08 – Los Angeles-based The Rubicon Project, a startup online marketing and advertising firm, has hired Bob Bennett, the former senior vice president of product development at Ticketmaster, as vice president of product and engineering.  The company says Bennett will oversee all aspects of product development and the technology team.

Bennett has also held senior e-commerce positions with eToys, Jackson National Life and Union Bank of California.

The Rubicon Project raised $6 million in series A funding in October.  The firm was founded by Internet marketing veteran and serial entrepreneur Frank Addante, and says its mission is to automate the “highly inefficient” Internet advertising industry.

The Rubicon Project – www.rubiconproject.com
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-WiSpry Co-founder Selected as Co-author – Jeffrey Hilbert, who co-founded the Irvine-based fabless semiconductor company that develops low-cost, high-performance radio frequency micro-electro-mechanical systems for the wireless industry, has been selected to contribute to a book about semiconductor venture capital best practices.  More on the announcement: WiSpry Co-founder Selected by Aspatore Books in New Authoritative Book on Semiconductor Venture Capital Best Practices

-CyberDefender Offers Free Tech Support During Valentine’s Week – It seems this has been a successful promotion, as the Los Angeles-based security and support firm did the same thing on Halloween and Christmas.  More details can be found at: Show Your Computer Some Love This Valentine's with CyberDefender's Free Tech Support...

-Language Weaver to Host Webinar – The Los Angeles-based developer of software for automatic language translation is partnering with SaS provider Idiom Technologies on a Webinar that addresses the advantages of automated translation services for businesses that operate in multilingual markets.  It will be held on January 3oth: Language Weaver and Idiom Technologies Host Webinar to Educate Businesses on How to Achieve Increased Productivity in Development of Multilingual Content

Posted by startupbeat at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1/15/08 – Irvine-based Fisker Automotive, a startup that is working on a range of environmentally friendly sports cars, has secured a second round of funding, from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.  Fisker is a joint venture of Quantum Fuel Systems and Fisker Coachbuild that was launched in September, 2007.  The firms did not disclose the funding amount.

Fisker is also debuting its first production car this week and next at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.  The company says it anticipates making initial deliveries of the car toward the end of 2009. 

The venture is benefiting from a proprietary system developed by Quantum called “Q-Drive,” which it says is a high-performance plug-in-hybrid electric vehicle architecture.  It says the Q-Drive plug-in hybrid electric drive system is designed to achieve 50 miles of zero emission, battery-only range while providing combined gasoline-electric hybrid operation to enable uncompromised vehicle range and performance.

Fisker Automotive received initial capital funding from Palo Alto Investors.

Fisker Automotive – www.fiskerautomotive.com

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1/15/08 – Westlake Village-based Inphi, which designs and develops integrated circuits for processing high-speed digital data in computing and communications systems, today announced that John S. Edmunds has been appointed as its CFO.  The company says that Edmunds will assume responsibility for its global financial strategy, planning and reporting, and will report directly to Young Sohn, Inphi’s president and CEO.

Edmunds, who most recently served as senior vice president and CFO at Trident Micro Systems, brings more than 20 years of financial and operations management experience to Inphi.  Prior to Trident, he served as vice president of finance for Zoran Corporation.  He also worked at accounting firm Coopers and Lybrand.

Founded in 2000, Inphi is backed by investors that include Tallwood Venture Capital, Mayfield Fund and Walden International.

Inphi Corporation – www.inphi-corp.com

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