Silicon Valley Wire

S.F.-Based Six Apart Sells LiveJournal to Russia's SUP

San Francisco --Six Apart, a San Francisco-based developer of blogging tools, said on Monday that it has sold its LiveJournal online community business to Russian media company SUP. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SUP said that it has launched a new company called LiveJournal Inc., based in San Francisco, to manage and operate LiveJournal, which draws more than 18 million monthly unique visitors. The two companies have worked together since October 2006, when SUP signed a licensing deal to support and develop the Russian segment of LiveJournal. "Having gotten to know LiveJournal in Russia over the past year we see enormous potential in developing the business worldwide," said Andrew Paulson, the CEO of SUP.
http://community.livejournal.com/LJ_2008/
http://au.biz.yahoo.com/071203/43/1ikn1.html

Livermore-Based Alloptic Raises $24 Million in Funding

Livermore, Calif. -- Alloptic, a Livermore-based developer of optical access equipment, said on Monday that it has raised $24 million in a new round of funding, co-led by previous investors Arcapita Ventures and Ritchie Capital Management. The company said that it will use the funds to continue its global expansion, as well as for sales, marketing and protecting its patent portfolio. Launched in 1999, Alloptic is a designer of equipment used in fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) deployments, enabling such services as high-speed Internet, digital cable TV and IP telephone. The company said that it has added more than 50 new customers this year.
http://www.alloptic.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071203/20071203005481.html?.v=1

Mountain View-Based Serus Lands $2 Million Investment from Samsung

Mountain View, Calif. -- Serus, a Mountain View-based provider of web-based software designed to help companies solve outsourcing challenges across their supply and fulfillment networks, said on Monday that it has received a $2 million investment from Samsung Ventures. The company said that it will use the capital to expand its international opportunities, particularly in Asia. It currently has a corporate office in India and works with numerous multinational customers, including AMD, Cisco and Flextronics. The news comes four months after Serus raised $8 million in its third round of funding, led by OVP Venture Partners.
http://www.serus.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071203/20071203005768.html?.v=1

Worldwide Semiconductor Sales Rise 5% in October

San Jose, Calif. -- Worldwide semiconductor sales in October came in at $23.1 billion, 5% higher than a year ago, according to new figures released by the San Jose-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). The organization said that sales of $210.5 billion for the first 10 months of 2007 are running 3.9% ahead of the same period of 2006. "At this point, it does not appear that reported declines in consumer confidence or other concerns have affected sales of electronic products," said George Scalise, president of the SIA. "We will be closely watching consumer sales of electronic products through the holiday season."
http://www.sia-online.org/pre_release.cfm?ID=457