Silicon Valley Wire

Redwood City-Based EoPlex Technologies Raises $8 Million in Third Round

Redwood City, Calif. -- EoPlex Technologies, a Redwood City-based maker of miniature devices designed to generate and manage energy, said that it has raised $8 million in its third round of funding, led by ATA Ventures. Previous investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Labrador Ventures and Draper-Richards also participated. The company said that it will use the proceeds to expand its design and manufacturing capabilities. EoPlex is developing new technologies to manufacture miniature electronic components and subassemblies. The company said that its 3-D parts are printed in layers using special "inks" depositing materials in millions of locations.
http://www.eoplex.com/pr_feb0807.html

San Jose-Based Tripath Technology Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

San Jose, Calif. -- Tripath Technology, a developer of power amplification technology to the digital media, consumer electronics and communications markets, said that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said that it will ask the court to allow it to continue operations. Tripath revealed in late December that it needed to either find a buyer or secure additional financing to prevent the holders of its debentures to potentially force it into an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding. The company also said that it did not have sufficient cash or other resources to even complete its financial statements for fiscal 2006, and had been able to operate since the end of August only by collecting advance payments from distributors, reducing its payroll expenses and delaying making payments to those it owed.
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=121527&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=961125&

Filing: YouTube Investors Reap Sizable Windfalls in Google Deal

Mountain View, Calif. -- Several of YouTube's top investors experienced massive paydays when the video sharing company was acquired for $1.65 billion last year by Mountain View-based Google, according to a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among the largest beneficiaries were the three YouTube founders, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and funds associated with Artis Capital Management. Company co-founders Chad Hurley and Steven Chen walked away with $345 millions and $326 million respectively, while fellow co-founder Jawed Karim made $64 million. The Sequoia Capital XI Fund reaped $442 million, and Artis Capital Management cleared $83 million.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/sec?s=GOOG

Fremont-Based Pegasus Wireless Given OK to Begin Operations in Bahamas

Fremont, Calif. -- Pegasus Wireless, a Fremont-based maker of hardware and software for broadband wireless networking and Internet access, said on Friday that it has received the necessary licenses to begin operating its new manufacturing facility in the Bahamas. The company said that both the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the Bahamian government have granted their approvals. The facility, located in Freeport, will be used to further develop the company's manufacturing and distribution capabilities.
http://www.pegasuswirelesscorp.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070209/20070209005333.html?.v=1

Report: 73% of U.S. Companies Say They'll Advertise in New Media

Washington, DC - Seventy-three percent of U.S. companies plan to spend as much as a fifth of their advertising budgets on ads that appear in web sites, blogs, video games, virtual worlds and other "new media" sectors, according to a new survey by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). "The survey confirms a strong commitment among executives to complementing traditional media by allocating a portion of their budgets to new media properties and experimentation," said the AAF. The survey also revealed executives' belief that traditional media categories, such as newspapers, network television and radio, are in need of innovation if they are to remain competitive.
http://www.aaf.org/news/press20070206_01.html

Menlo Park-Based Promptu Raises $5.6 Million in New Funding Round

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Promptu, a Menlo Park-based provider of voice-powered search and navigation services to mobile operators and their subscribers, said that it has raised $5.6 million in a new round of funding. Previous investors Steelpoint Capital, Lauder Partners and other private investors participated in the round, which the company plans to use to further develop its technology that lets people use their voice to find and purchase content on mobile phones, as well as to expand its business development efforts globally. Founded in April 2000 as AgileTV, Promptu has raised a total of $17.3 million since transforming itself into a wireless company last year, including $11.6 million in a round that closed in September.
http://www.promptu.com/company/press-release-06.php

American Capital Invests $77 Million in Sunnyvale-Based EAG

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- American Capital Strategies, a Maryland-based investment and buyout firm, said that it has invested another $77 million in Evans Analytical Group (EAG), a Sunnyvale-based provider of analytical lab services to high tech companies. American Capital said that its investment, in the form of senior term loans and additional senior subordinated debt, supported EAG's acquisitions of five companies --Advanced Materials Engineering Research, Materials Analytical Services, Cascade Scientific, Shiva Technologies Group and Nano Sciences. American Capital also increased the company's revolving credit facility. The firm initially invested in EAG in late 2005.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070207/dcw055.html?.v=76
http://www.americancapital.com/

San Jose-Based Tessera Technologies Completes Acquisition of Eyesquad

San Jose, Calif. -- Tessera Technologies, a San Jose-based developer of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry, said on Thursday that it has completed its $18 million cash acquisition of Eyesquad, an Israeli developer of digital auto-focus and optical zoom technologies for camera phones and other electronic products that integrate cameras. The deal was first announced late last month. Tessera said that combining its technology with Eyesquad's will allow it to offer greater capabilities in miniaturized cameras used in a broad range of electronic products.
http://www.tessera.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070208/20070208006005.html?.v=1

San Francisco-Based VIA Pharmaceuticals to Merge with Corautus Genetics

San Francisco --  VIA Pharmaceuticals, a San Francisco-based drug development company, said on Thursday that it has agreed to merger with Corautus Genetics, an Atlanta-based developer of gene therapy products for cardiovascular disease. Under the deal, VIA stockholders will own approximately 76.4% of the combined company, with Corautus' stockholders owning the remainder. "The merger is expected to create a drug development company focused on compounds that target inflammation in the blood vessel wall as an innovative approach to the treatment of cardiovascular disease," said a press release on Thursday announcing the deal. The combined company's lead product candidate will be a small-molecule drug that targets inflammation in the blood vessel wall, which is believed to be a key disease process in atherosclerosis.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070208/clth054a.html?.v=3

AOL, Former Execs to Pay $105 Million to Settle CalSTRS Suit

Sacramento, Calif. -- In a case dating back to the Internet bubble, Internet giant AOL, several of its former executives and a handful of banks have agreed to pay $105 million to a major California pension fund to settle claims that AOL artificially inflated the price of its stock prior to its merger with Time Warner. The deal follows a lawsuit by the Sacramento-based California State Teachers' Retirement System, commonly known as CalSTRS, which claimed that AOL's inflated prices in 2000 and 2001 cost its pension fund about $135 million. Time Warner previously agreed to pay a total of $510 million to settle similar shareholder suits and regulatory charges relating to the deal. CalSTRS said that the settlement did not resolve its claims against AOL's accountants, Ernst & Young.
http://www.calstrs.com/Newsroom/2007/news020707.aspx