Silicon Valley Wire

S.F.-Based Military.com Acquires Military Spouse Site CinCHouse.com

San Francisco -- Military.com, a San Francisco-based military and veteran online membership organization and unit of Monster Worldwide, said that it has acquired CinCHouse.com, an online social network for military wives and women in uniform. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Military.com said that the acquisition will expand its reach to the military spouse community. CinCHouse.com will continue under the leadership of founder and Navy wife Meredith Leyva, who will join Military.com as the senior director of women and family initiatives. Leyva founded the site, which is an acronym for "Commander in Chief of the House," in 1999 when she was a marketing executive in Washington, DC. The site now claims approximately 200,000 visits and 3 million page views a month.
http://www.cinchouse.com
http://www.military.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090730006383/en

Mentor Graphics Acquires San Jose-Based Embedded Alley

San Jose, Calif. -- Mentor Graphics, an Oregon-based provider of electronic hardware and software design tools, said that it has acquired San Jose-based Embedded Alley Solutions, a designer of Android and Linux development systems. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mentor said that the acquisition will allow it to provide device manufacturers with all the software they need to build their products, "placing Mentor Graphics at the forefront of open source software in embedded devices." Embedded Alley said that it was the first company to market commercial Android tools and services in May.
http://www.embeddedalley.com/
http://www.mentor.com/company/news/android-embedded-linux

Bankrupt Asyst Technologies to Sell Three Businesses

Fremont, Calif. -- Three months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Fremont-based Asyst Technologies, a maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, said on Friday that it has entered into deals to sell three business operations. The company said that it will sell its Fab Automation assets to Crossing Automation, its Connectivity Software assets to The PEER Group and the U.S. assets of its Automated Material Handling Systems business to Murata Machinery. Financial terms of the deals, each expected to close by the end of August, were not disclosed. "These acquisitions will not only preserve our customers' investments but will also provide them with a great opportunity to take advantage of a broader set of capabilities without the need to replace existing systems," said Paula LuPriore, Asyst's chief restructuring officer.
http://www.asyst.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090731005160/en

Microsoft CEO Defends Deal with Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Despite a chilly reception from some investors, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Thursday defended his company's landmark search deal with Sunnyvale-based Yahoo. Under the 10-year deal, announced on Wednesday, Microsoft's Bing search platform will power Internet search on Yahoo's sites, with Yahoo keeping 88% of the revenue generated from ads on the sites.  "It's a win-win deal from my perspective," Ballmer told a group of financial analysts on Thursday, according to Reuters. "Nobody gets it… It's a little bit complicated." Shares of Yahoo dropped 12% following the announcement on Wednesday, and fell nearly 4% more in Thursday's trading.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN3036072020090730?rpc=44

Santa Clara-Based McAfee to Acquire MX Logic for $140 Million

Santa Clara, Calif. -- McAfee, the Santa Clara-based provider of Internet security software and services, said on Thursday that it will pay $140 million in cash to acquire Colorado-based MX Logic, s provider of email and web security and email archiving services. The value of the deal, expected to close during the third quarter, could rise by as much as $30 million, depending on MX Logic's future performance. McAfee said that the acquisition will boost its cloud=based security portfolio. MX Logic will become part of McAfee's Software-as-a-Service business unit, headed by Marc Olesen. 
http://www.mcafee.com/us/about/corporate/mcafee_mxlogic.html 
http://siblog.McAfee.com/ 
http://www.MXLogic.com

Skyline Ventures Promotes Glenn Reicin to Managing Director

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Skyline Ventures, a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm focused on medical device and biopharmaceutical investing, said on Thursday that it has promoted Glenn Reicin to managing director. Reicin had served as a venture partner at the firm since October, and previously  was a managing director in the research department at Morgan Stanley, covering medical devices and supplies. Skyline also announced the addition of Leon Chen and Kristin Lynn Myers as full-time associates. Launched in 1997, the firm currently has approximately $800 million under management, including its most recent $350 million fund, Skyline V, which closed in late 2007.
http://www.skylineventures.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Skyline-Ventures-Names-Glenn-bw-1037559176.html?x=0&.v=1

S.F.-Based Thoma Bravo Acquires Entrust for $124 Million

San Francisco -- Thoma Bravo, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, said on Wednesday that it has completed its acquisition of Texas-based Entrust in a deal worth $124 million. Entrust is a developer of technology designed to secure digital identities and information for more than 2,000 clients. Under the deal, shareholders of Entrust, who approved the acquisition at a special meeting on Tuesday, will receive $2 a share in cash. "The company's recurring revenue streams, market leading products and diverse customer base of more than 2,000 organizations were among the many very attractive attributes that led us to acquire Entrust," said Robert Sayle, a vice president at Thoma Bravo.
http://www.thomabravo.com
http://www.entrust.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090729005842/en

Intel Capital Invests $10 Million in Five Cleantech Companies

San Francisco -- Intel Capital, the investment arm of Santa Clara-based chipmaker Intel, said on Wednesday that it has invested a total of $10 million in five cleantech companies. The deals include a first-time investment in New York-based CPower (demand response and energy efficiency), as well as follow-on investments in Ireland-based Powervation (digital power control), Texas-based Convey Computer (energy efficient high performance computing), San Francisco-based Grid Net (smart meter infrastructure) and Palo Alto-based iControl (home automation and monitoring). "These investments share synergies focused on accelerating adoption of Smart Grid technologies, fostering energy efficiency and performance in ways that benefit consumers of electricity and power utilities as well as complement Intel’s strategic objectives," said Steve Eichenlaub, the managing director of platform technologies for cleantech and digital health at Intel Capital.
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20090729corp.htm

Yahoo and Microsoft Strike Landmark Search Deal

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Following months of conjecture and negotiations, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo and  Microsoft on Wednesday announced a landmark 10-year search deal that the companies hope will help them take aim at market-leader Google. Under the agreement, expected to close early next year, Microsoft's newly launched Bing search platform will power Internet search on Yahoo's sites, while Yahoo will sell premium search ads for both companies. Yahoo initially will keep 88% of the search revenue generated from its sites, and estimates that the deal eventually will boost its annual operating income by $500 million, while saving it $200 million in capital expenditures. Each company will maintain its own display advertising business and sales force. "This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo, our users and the industry," said Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. "This deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities and mobile experiences." The two companies had been working on some form of a search deal since the spring of 2008, when Microsoft unsuccessfully tried to acquire Yahoo for $47.5 billion.
http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microsoft-Yahoo-Change-Search-bw-3679551339.html?x=0&.v=1

Santa Clara-Based Power Assure Raises $2.5M, Unveils Management Team

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Power Assure, a Santa Clara-based developer of power management software for data centers, said on Wednesday that it has raised $2.5 million in its first round of funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and individual investors. The company also announced its new management team, including Brad Wurtz (CEO), Clemens Pfeiffer (CTO), Tom Carlson (CFO) and Patti Zullo (vice president of sales). Wurtz previously spent 10 years with Cisco Systems, where he served as vice president and general manager of the company's carrier packet voice business. Pfeiffer, who co-founded Power Assure, previously was the founder, president and CEO of International SoftDevices. Power Assure said that its business automation software reduces energy use and carbon emissions by an average of 50% in commercial, corporate and government data centers.
http://www.powerassure.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090729005033/en

AOL Names Stephane Panier to Head Bebo's Global Operations

Mountain View, Calif. -- Preparing for life as an independent company, AOL on Wednesday named Stephane Panier as the head of global operations for its Bebo social network, charged with expanding the service's global reach and growing its current user base of 24 million. Panier most recently served as Bebo's vice president and COO of Bebo. Prior to joining the company in January, Panier worked for Google for six years in both senior finance and operations positions. Bebo, which has its U.S. headquarters in Mountain View, currently operates sites in 13 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Poland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India and the Netherlands.
http://www.bebo.com

AT&T to Power Free Wi-Fi at Barnes & Noble Bookstores

New York -- A week after announcing the launch of its new eBookstore, bookseller Barnes & Noble has unveiled plans to provide free Wi-Fi service in all of its stores nationwide. Though AT&T has offered Wi-Fi to Barnes & Noble customers since 2005, the expanded agreement will make the service complimentary and unlimited for store visitors. The company said that customers will now be able to freely download and preview any of its over 700,000 e-book titles, including hundreds of thousands in the public domain available from Google. Barnes & Nobel has more than 1 dozen locations in the Bay Area.
http://www.bn.com/ebooks
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090728005285/en

San Mateo-Based BookFresh Lands $500,000 in Seed Funding

San Mateo, Calif. -- BookFresh, a San Mateo-based developer of online appointment scheduling technology for small businesses, said on Tuesday that it as secured $500,000 in additional seed funding from several prominent Silicon Valley investors, including Ron Conway. The company, which last month changed its name from HourTown, said that it will use the new capital to support its growing business operations. The company's technology allows personal businesses, such as accountants, massage therapists, music teachers, fitness trainers and cleaning services, to accept and manage appointments online. Other backers include NBC Universal, Baseline Ventures and Hatch Ventures.
http://www.bookfresh.com
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Bookfresh-1022852.html

Time Warner Buys Back Google's AOL Stake for $283 Million

Mountain View, Calif. -- Five years after selling Mountain View-based Google a 5% stake of AOL for $1 billion, media giant Time Warner said that it repurchased the stake earlier this month for a mere $283 million. The revelation, disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), comes as Time Warner prepares to spin off AOL into a standalone company. The latest deal values AOL at $5.7 billion -- down from $20 billion at the time of the original deal with Google in late 2005. AOL, which expects to complete its spin-out by year's end, still has a deal to continue using Google's search services through Dec. 2010. 
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1468516/000095015709000443/ex99-1.htm

S.F.-Based SunRun Closes $18 Million in Second Round

San Francisco -- SunRun, a San Francisco-based developer of home solar power services, said on Tursday that it has raised $18 million in its second round of funding, led by Accel Partners. Previous investor Foundation Capital also participated in the round, which the company will use to ramp up its residential solar service, as well as expand into new market. Founded in early 2006, SunRun provides a service designed to make it affordable for homeowners to switch to solar power. For as initial cost as low as $1,000, the company arranges to purchase solar equipment from a local contractor, then sells solar energy at a fixed rate lower than the homeowner's current bill. "Most people don't have $30,000 to spend on solar equipment and don't want to worry about taking care of a $50,000 asset," said CEO Edward Fenster. "SunRun makes solar a reality for people who wouldn't otherwise have considered it, and we're finally at the point where it makes financial sense as well as environmental sense for a majority of homes." The company, which also raised $12 million last June, now offers its service in parts of California, Massachusetts and Arizona.
http://www.sunrunhome.com/
http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/myPRNJ.jsp?profileid=1140076&resourceid=4031652

Report: Friendster for Sale, Seeking Suitors in Asia

Mountain View, Calif. -- Online social network Friendster, which lags well behind market leaders Facebook and MySpace, has hired Morgan Stanley to help it seek a buyer for the company, or at least sell some of its assets, TechCrunch reported. The blog, citing documents that it obtained, said that Friendster is courting potential suitors in Asia, where 75% of its 100 million registered members reside. The company, which in January opened its U.S. headquarters in Mountain View, claims to be attracting 100,000 new users and 500 million page views daily, though U.S. users fell to 21 million in May, down 45% from the prior year. The documents hint that Friendster will seek to add virtual goods, games, dating, music and classifieds in a bid to generate additional revenue. The company has to date raised around $45 million in venture capital.
http://www.friendster.com
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/27/exclusive-friendster-shopping-itself-around-in-asia/

S.F.-Based Mixamo Gets $4M for Web Character Animation Service

San Francisco -- Mixamo, the San Francisco-based developer of an online service that creates character animations, said that it officially has launched with a $4 million round of venture capital, co-led by Granite Ventures and Keynote Ventures. Mixamo's technology is based on research from Stanford University's BioMotion Lab, and developed in collaboration with Toronto University and the Max Planck Institute. The company said that it plans to soon bring to market its online service for customizing and creating character animations in a fraction of the time required by traditional methods. Founding CEO Nazim Kareemi previously served as the CEO of Canesta, a VC-backed startup that developed the world's first CMOS 3D sensors.
http://www.mixamo.com
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-27-2009/0005066660&EDATE=

Santa Clara-Based Agilent to Acquire Varian for $1.5 Billion

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Agilent Technologies, the Santa Clara-based measurement technology giant, said on Monday that it will acquire Palo Alto-based scientific instrumentation company Varian in a cash deal worth $1.5 billion. Agilent will pay $52 a share in the acquisition, which the company said will broaden its offerings in life sciences, environmental and energy and materials. Both companies' board already have approved the deal, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year and generate $75 million in annual cost synergies. "This acquisition is a major step in Agilent's transformation into a leading bio-analytical measurement company," said Bill Sullivan, Agilent's president and CEO. Adrian Dillon, Agilent's executive vice president and CFO, will assume responsibility for combining Varian with Agilent's Bio-Analytical Measurement segment.
http://www.varianinc.com 
http://www.agilent.com
http://www.agilent.com/about/newsroom/presrel/2009/27jul-gp09016.html

Menlo Park-Based Schooner IT Raises $20 Million in Second Round

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Schooner Information Technology, a maker of data access appliances used in datacenters, said on Monday that it has raised $20 million in its second round of funding, led by Menlo Ventures. Previous backers CMEA Capital and Redpoint Ventures also participated in the round, which the company will use to urther develop its datacenter technology and expand its worldwide distribution activities. The company launched its first two products, the Schooner Appliance for MySQL Enterprise and the Schooner Appliance for Memcached, in April. Schooner also has named Mark Lohmeyer, a product development and management veteran from Symantec, as its vice president of products.
http://www.schoonerinfotech.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Schooner-Information-bw-3783494546.html?x=0&.v=1

Mountain View-Based Egnyte Raises $6 Million in First Round

Mountain View, Calif. -- Egnyte, a Mountain View-based developer of web-based file server software for small businesses, said on Monday that it has secured $6 million in its first round of funding. New investor Polaris Venture Partners and previous seed investor Maples Investments participated in the round, which the company will use to grow channel distribution for its service. Founded in 2006 and launched in 2008, Egnyte provides a service that allows businesses to store corporate data, share files within and outside the company and backup employee computers in the cloud.
http://www.egnyte.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090727005192/en

Mountain View-Based Intuit Completes $170M Deal for PayCycle

Mountain View, Calif. -- Intuit, the Mountain View-based developer of financial software such as QuickBooks and TurboTax, said that it has completed its $170 million acquisition PayCycle, a Palo Alto-based developer of online payroll services used by more than 85,000 small businesses. The all-cash deal, first announced in June, will allow Intuit to offer lower-cost alternatives to payroll outsourcing services, while also allowing accountants to more easily provide stand-along payroll services to small business clients. The two companies are quite familiar with one another, with Jim Heeger, the CEO of PayCycle, a former CFO at Intuit. PayCycle is now part of Intuit's small business group.
http://www.intuit.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090723006271/en

Matrix Partners Closes New $600 Million Technology Fund

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Matrix Partners, a Massachusetts-based venture capital firm with West Coast offices in Menlo Park, said on Friday that it has closed a new $600 million fund, known as Matrix IX. The firm said that the fund will focus on investments in consumer Internet, software, mobile, communications and systems ventures. "We're fortunate in this challenging investment climate to raise a fund that will enable us to continue to foster innovation in critical sectors of the economy," said Timothy Barrows, a general partner at Matrix. The firm previously has invested in companies such as Aruba Networks, Netezza, SanDisk and Veritas Software.
http://www.matrixpartners.com/index.php/site/press_detail/343/

San Francisco-Based Kontera Raises $15.5 Million in New Round

San Francisco -- Kontera, a San Francisco-based developer of in-text advertising technology, said on Thursday that it has raised $15.5 million in a new round of funding, led by Sequoia Capital. Tenaya Capital and Carmel Ventures also participated. Founded in 2003, Kontera's semantic-analysis technology is designed to find key words and phrases on a publisher's web page and automatically link them to the most relevant ads from its stable if advertisers. The company said that its network now includes more than 15,000 publishers. "We will use this financing to scale our network faster and to expand our real-time semantic analysis platform, products and solutions," said CEO and co-founder Yoav Shaham.
http://www.kontera.com
http://www.kontera.com/index.php/about-us/news-a-press/press-releases/246-kontera-secures-155m-round-of-private-funding-led-by-sequoia-capital

Mountain View-Based Bubble Motion Lands $6 Million in New Funding

Mountain View, Calif. -- Bubble Motion, a developer of voice messaging technology, said on Thursday that it has secured $6 million in a new round of funding from new investor Palomar Ventures and previous investors Sequoia Capital and Comcast Interactive Capital. In a related move, Al Snyder, the CEO of Aepona, and Amanda Reed of Palomar Ventures have joined the company's board of directors. "Even though we already had a strong balance sheet, we felt that it made sense to have some additional capital for strategic acquisitions and R&D investments to accelerate our growth," said Tom Clayton, the president and CEO of Bubble Motion. The company, whose BubbleTalk service lets users send short voice messages to anyone without calling, also raised $14 million in a round of funding that closed in March 2008.
http://www.bubblemotion.com/
http://www.bubblemotion.com/news-press-releases.html

San Francisco-Based RPX Closes Second Round of Funding

San Francisco -- RPX, the San Francisco-based developer of a service designed to help protect technology companies against costly patent infringement suits, said on Thursday that it has raised an undisclosed sum in its second round of funding. Index Ventures led the round, which also included participation from previous investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Charles River Ventures. RPX acquires patent rights and provides them as a defensive measure to its members, who pay annual fees of $35,000-$4.9 million, depending on their size. The service, launched in November, is designed to help shield members from lawsuits filed by non-practicing entities, who acquire patents solely for the purpose of licensing and litigation. To date, RPX has acquired more than $90 million in patent rights in the mobile, Internet search, telecommunications, consumer electronics and RFID markets, and currently has 14 technology clients.
http://www.rpxcorp.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090723005105/en

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo Acquires Xoopit, Looking to Sell HotJobs

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- After partnering since December, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said that it has acquired San Francisco-based Xoopit, developer of a service that lets users post photos contained in emails to social networks and blogs. Though financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, the blog All Things D reported prior to the sale that a figure around $20 million was being discussed. The company said that it plans to integrate Xoopit's photo sharing applications, as well as its content indexing and discovery technology, into Yahoo Mail and other services over the coming months. Separately, PEHub.com reported that Yahoo is looking to unload its HotJobs and Yahoo Small Business units. The company bought job listings site HotJobs for $436 million in 2001, and launched Yahoo Small Business to provide smaller companies with tools to help create an online presence. "They've been approached by [major buyout firms], but they're proactively looking to sell to a strategic investor like a Careerbuilder or Monster.com," a source told PEHub.com.
http://ycorpblog.com/2009/07/22/xoopit-yahoo-mail-moving-beyond-that-massive-digital-shoebox/
http://blog.xoopit.com/2009/07/its-official.html
http://www.pehub.com/45262/yahoo-trying-to-sell-hotjobs-yahoo-small-business/

Milpitas-Based LSI to Acquire Campbell-Based ONStor

Milpitas, Calif. -- LSI, a Milpitas-based maker of data storage chips and software, said on Wednesday that it will pay $25 million in cash to acquire Campbell-based ONStor, a developer of network-attached storage products. The deal is expected to close within 30 days, allowing LSI to offer clients storage products capable of managing both unstructured and structured data. The acquisition will be the second this year for LSI, which in April agreed to pay $20 million to buy the 3ware RAID adapter business of Applied Micro Circuits.
http://www.lsi.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/LSI-Announces-Agreement-to-prnews-3205532372.html?x=0&.v=1

Palo Alto-Based Ning Gets $15M for Niche Online Social Networks

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Ning, the Palo Alto-based developer of a platform that allows users to create their own niche online social networks, has raised $15 million in a new round of funding that saw the company valued at $750 million, All Things D reported. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the investment round. Ning was founded in 2007 by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini. The company counts about 29.3 million registered users and 1.3 million Ning networks, growing at a rate of nearly 4,000 new networks each day. The networks attract about 6 million monthly unique visitors in the U.S.
http://www.ning.com
http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090721/ning-raises-15-million-more-at-a-yes-really-750-million-valuation/

San Mateo-Based eMeter Raises $32 Million in New Funding

San Mateo, Calif. -- eMeter, a San Mateo-based developer of software designed to power smart meter deployments for utilities, said on Wednesday that it has raised $32 million in a new round of funding led by Sequoia Capital. Previous investor Foundation Capital also participated in the round, which the company will use to boost sales and marketing in new markets, enhance services to current clients and invest in product development. eMeter currently have more than 24 million smart meters under contract with utilities, and recently released new consumer software called Energy Engage, which allows utility customers to manage their energy usage and reduce peak demand.
http://www.emeter.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090722005326/en

Palo Alto-Based iControl Networks Lands $23M in Third Round

Palo Alto, Calif. -- iControl Networks, a Palo Alto-based developer of broadband home management systems, said on Wednesday that it has raised $23 million in its third round of funding, increasing its total backing to more than $45 million. New Investors Tyco International’s ADT Security Services, Cisco, Comcast Interactive Capital and GE Security joined previous investors Charles River Ventures, Intel Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in the round. iControl's technology allows homeowners to see and control their homes -- including security and energy systems -- through the Internet, iPhone or other mobile devices.
http://www.icontrol.com
http://www.icontrol.com/press_releases/2009/pressRelease_07_22_09.php

Report: Apple's New iPod Touch to Include Microphone, Camera

Cupertino, Calif. -- Apple is designing a new version of its popular iPod touch device that will include an on-board camera and microphone, Wired.com reported. Citing a "well-connected" source, the news organization said that the Cupertino-based company's Chinese manufacturing partners already are churning out the devices, which could go on sale in 2-3 months. The article noted that, with the addition of Skype's Internet telephony application from Apple's App Store, the iPod touch "would pretty much obviate the need for a home phone line once and for all."
http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/ 
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/07/apple-preparing-ipod-touch-with-camera-microphone-source/

Survey: Pay Raises Expected to Rebound in 2010

Arlington, Va. -- Pay raises for U.S. workers are expected to rebound in 2010, following a year in which many companies slashed raises in the wake of the recession, according to a new survey by consulting firm Watson Wyatt. Companies are projecting median merit increases of 3.0% for next year, according to a survey of 235 large U.S. employers conducted in May. Additionally, according to a separate survey, only 10% of companies now say they plan to eliminate pay raises in 2010, compared with 25% this year. "This has been a very difficult year for both employers and their workers, but there is some good news on the horizon," said Laura Sejen, global director of strategic rewards consulting at Watson Wyatt. "Employers plan to give larger raises next year, and many plan to reinstate previously cut pay raises as planning for an eventual economic recovery continues."
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/news/press.asp?ID=21843

Traffic to Travel, Online Gaming Sites Sees Big Jump in June

Reston, Va. -- With the end of the school year, visits to travel and online gaming sites surged in the month of June, according to new figures from Internet audience measurement firm comScore. Airlines were the month's top-gaining category, with traffic jumping 22% to 33.2 visitors. Also among the top gainers were travel transactions, online travel agents and travel information. Southwest Airlines, the top ranked site in the airlines category, achieved particularly strong gains, growing 64%. Online gaming sites also saw a surge in activity in June, with the gaming information category attracting 50 million Americans, up 6% from the previous month. Gaming sites GiantRealm and GameStop saw traffic bumps of 25% ands 19%, respectively.
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/7/comScore_Media_Metrix_Ranks_Top_50_U.S._Web_Properties_for_June_2009

San Francisco-Based SlideRocket Lands $5M, Names New CEO

San Francisco -- SlideRocket, a San Francisco-based developer of online presentation tools, said on Tuesday that it has raised $5 million in its second round of funding, and has named Chuck Dietrich as its CEO. Azure Capital Partners led the round, which also included participation from first-round leader Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. The company plans to use the proceeds to add to its headcount, among other things. Dietrich, most recently a general manager and vice president at salesforce.com, succeeds company co-founder Mitch Grasso, who assumes the role of CTO. SlideRocket launched its cloud-based presentation application, which helps users create, manage and deliver presentations, in public beta last November.
http://www.sliderocket.com 
http://www.sliderocket.com/blog/2009/07/some-very-exciting-sliderocket-news/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/google/20090721005483/en

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo Launches Redesigned Home Page

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Internet giant Yahoo on Tuesday launched its newly redesigned home page, which the company is hoping will put it back on the cutting edge with hot properties such as Twitter and Facebook, PaidContent reported. The company is calling the change, which debuted Tuesday afternoon on an opt-in basis, the most radical in its 15 years of existence. The blog reported that customization will be a key element of the redesign, with one Yahoo executive calling it part of a push to make the site the "center" of people's online lives.
http://www.yahoo.com
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-yahoo-set-to-finally-launch-home-page-redesign-new-look-for-search-too/

Newark-Based Novasys Medical Lands Another $18.95 Million

Newark, Calif. -- Novasys Medical, a Newark-based developer of therapies focused on women's health, said on Tuesday that it has raised another $18.95 million in its fourth round of funding, capping the round -- which originally closed in May 2008 -- at $68.45 million. Versant Ventures, ThreeArch Partners and Skyline Ventures all participated in both tranches of the round, with previous backers Alloy Ventures, Delphi Ventures, GBS Venture Partners and Hercules Technology Growth Capital also participating. Novasys is developer of the Renessa treatment for female stress urinary incontinence.
http://www.novasysmedical.com
http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/myPRNJ.jsp?profileid=1140076&resourceid=4027480

Report: VC Investments Increase, but Remain at Mid-1990s Levels

Washington, DC -- Another day, another positive sign out of the venture capital industry. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) on Tuesday reported a 15% increase in quarterly investment activity during the second quarter, when venture capitalists invested $3.7 billion, up from $3.2 billion the previous quarter. Based on year-to-date figures, the groups predicted in their MoneyTree Report that final 2009 figures most likely will mirror levels seen in 1996 and 1997. "Halfway through 2009 we are seeing more positive signs than at the beginning of the year, including an overall increase in investment levels and an ongoing interest in seed and early stage funding," said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA. "However, until we see notable upticks in venture fundraising and exit activity… we won't expect considerable increases in the number of deals completed each quarter."
https://www.pwcmoneytree.com/MTPublic/ns/index.jsp 

Barnes & Noble Debuts eBookstore with 700K Titles

New York -- Bookseller Barnes & Noble has announced the launch of what it says is the world's largest eBookstore, which initially will offer more than 700,000 titles in a range of e-book formats. The company also announced an exclusive deal to sell a forthcoming e-book reader device made by Plastic Logic, taking a page from rival Amazon with its Kindle reader. The Barnes & Noble eBookstore will use a software reader application acquired from Fictionwise in March, which supports platforms including Windows, Mac, BlackBerry and iPhone. Some 500,000 of the e-book titles are being made available for free download through a deal with Google, which is providing books already in the public domain. The company said it expects to count well over one million titles within the next year. Amazon, by comparison, currently offers about 330,000 titles Bestseller and new release titles at Barnes & Noble's eBookstores initially will sell for $9.99, matching Amazon.com's blanket price for all of its e-books.
http://www.bn.com/ebooks
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090720006053/en
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/technology/internet/21book.html

Google to Sell Radio Unit Assets to WideOrbit

Mountain View, Calif. -- Google has agreed to its web-based radio ad buying service, Google Radio, to San Francisco-based advertising management software firm WideOrbit for an undisclosed sum, PaidContent reported. The deal includes Google Radio Automation, SS32 and Maestro products. Staffers at the Google Radio unit will become employees of WideOrbit. Founded in 1999, WideOrbit manages $10 billion in online ads from some 1,300 radio and TV stations. The company has raised $40 million in total funding, including most recently a $10 million round in October.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-google-radios-assets-being-bought-by-wideorbit/
http://www.google.com/radioautomation
http://www.wideorbit.com

Santa Clara-Based Intel to Sell $1.5 Billion in Debentures

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Chipmaker Intel said on Monday that it plans to raise $1.5 billion through the sale of convertible debentures, due in 2039. The Santa Clara-based company plans to use the bulk of the proceeds to purchase shares of its stock, with the remainder for general corporate purposes. "The markets are such that we felt like this would be a good opportunity to get into the market," Intel spokesman Tom Beerman told Reuters.
http://www.intel.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Intel-to-Offer-15-Billion-of-bw-762453495.html?x=0&.v=1
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN2013523420090720?rpc=44

Newark-Based Oraya Therapeutics Raises $42 Million in Third Round

Newark, Calif. -- Oraya Therapeutics, a Newark-based medical technology company developing radiosurgical treatments for eye diseases, said on Monday that it has raised $42 million in its third round of funding, which it will use to support a pair of international studies. Scale Venture Partners and Domain Associates co-led the round, with also included participation from previous backers Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Synergy Life Partners. The company's IRay system is designed to deliver a highly localized dose of low-energy X-Ray radiation to treat age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years and older.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090720005574/en

Yahoo Investor Icahn Backs Microsoft Search, Advertising Deal

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Carl Icahn, a major investor in Sunnyvale-based Yahoo, has spoken out in favor of the company's proposed search and advertising deal with Microsoft, Reuters reported. "I've been a strong advocate of getting a search deal done with Microsoft," Icahn, who owns about 5% of Yahoo, told the news service. "It would enhance value if a deal got done, because of the synergies involved." Icahn also holds a seat on Yahoo's board of directors. Reports surfaced last week that the two companies were close to signing a multi-billion dollar deal that would see Microsoft assume Yahoo's search advertising business.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE56H0C420090718
http://www.icahnreport.com

VC Investments Pick Up in Q2; Still Lag Well Behind '08 Levels

San Francisco -- After a sizable decline in the first quarter, the U.S. venture capital industry showed signs of recovery last quarter as venture capitalists invested $5.27 billion, according to new data from Dow Jones VentureSource. While still dramatically lower than the $8.33 billion a year ago, the figure is a 32% improvement over last quarter. Locally, the Bay Area saw a 41% drop in investments, with $1.83 billion going into 180 deals -- on par with levels seen in 2005. "As the venture capital industry's rebound gains traction, we're seeing a new landscape emerge," said Jessica Canning, the director of global research at Dow Jones VentureSource. "Investors are diversifying their portfolios away from traditional investment areas like biopharmaceuticals and software toward segments like medical devices and information services while also pulling back on how much they are willing to invest in each deal."
http://sev.prnewswire.com/publishing-information-services/20090718/PH4828018072009-1.html

Palo Alto-Based HP to Acquire Data Storage Firm IBRIX

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Hewlett-Packard (HP), the Palo Alto-based technology giant, said on Friday that it will pay an undisclosed sum to acquire Massachusetts-based IBRIX, a developer of file serving software for large organizations. The deal is expected to close within the next 30 days, when IBRIX will be integrated into the StorageWorks division in HP's Technology Solutions Group. Founded in 2000, IBRIX makes software designed to let clients store massive amounts of user-generated data. The company, which has 53 employees and more than 175 clients, has been a partner of HP's for three years. "Customers need highly scalable storage solutions that efficiently and cost-effectively manage massive amounts of information,” said Jeff Hausman, the vice president of unified storage at HP's StorageWorks Division. "This acquisition expands our portfolio to better support the needs of this market segment."
http://www.hp.com/go/storage 
http://www.ibrix.com 
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2009/090717xa.html

Intel Completes Deal for Alameda's Wind River Systems

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel, the Santa Clara-based chip-making giant, said on Friday that it has completed its acquisition of Alameda-based Wind River Systems, a developer of software for embedded computing systems. The company launched its tender offer for the company in June, paying $11.50 a share. Intel said that the acquisition will allow it to grow its processor and software presence outside the traditional PC and server markets. Wind River is now a unit of Intel, operating as part of the company's the Software and Services Group.
http://www.intel.com  
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20090717corp.htm?iid=pr1_releasepri_20099717r

Facebook Testing New Virtual Currency Platform

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Facebook, the Palo Alto-based online social network with more than 250 million members, is seeking testers for its upcoming virtual currency platform, CNET News.com reported. The company has long been rumored to be developing a virtual currency that could be used as barter among its users, as well as by developers of Facebook applications. "Our 250 million users can now buy Facebook Credits in 15 currencies and we believe that, as Facebook Credits become more broadly available on Platform, they will meaningfully improve developer monetization and provide a great experience for users," the company wrote in a blog post.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10287796-36.html
http://developers.facebook.com/news.php?blog=1&story=263

San Francisco-Based Clickthrough Secures $1 Million

San Francisco -- Clickthrough, a San Francisco-based developer of interactive web video tools, said that it has secured $1 million in new financing. Investors included music industry veterans Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Nicky Byrne and Wayne Wilkins. Clickthrough's technology enables users to click on anything that appears inside of a web video, and retrieve information about the product, place or person. The company has integrated its technology into music videos, through partnerships with labels including Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Slip N Slide Records. Clickthrough also offers analytics tools to measure how consumers interact with web videos.
http://www.clikthrough.com/
http://corporate.clikthrough.com/site/press.php?subPage=20090714-35videos

Foster City-Based Truviso Raises $3M, Installs New Management

Foster City, Calif. -- Truviso, a Foster City-based developer of data analytics software, said on Thursday that it has raised $3 million in funding from previous investors ONSET Ventures, Diamondhead Ventures and UPS Strategic Ventures. The company also said that it has completed installing its new management team, which will be led by CEO Thomas Rowley, the former CEO of StarVox Communications, Preventsys and Counterpane Internet Security. Other hires include Alex Lazar as executive vice president of sales, Kim MacPherson as senior vice president for product development and operations and Tom Kuhr as senior vice president of marketing. "These executive appointments fulfill the company's goal of establishing a complete, experienced management team to move us to the next level of growth," said Michael Franklin, Truviso's founder and CTO.
http://www.truviso.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090716005254/en

Sun Microsystems Stockholders Approve Takeover by Oracle

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Stockholders of Santa Clara-based server maker Sun Microsystems on Thursday approved the company's $7.4 billion takeover by Redwood Shores-based Oracle, first announced in April. Sun said that approximately 62% of its shares voted to adopt the agreement, under which Oracle will pay $9.50 a share. The two companies have been partners for more than two decades, with Oracle using Sun's Java language and software and Solaris operating system as the basis of some of its core products.
http://www.oracle.com  
http://www.sun.com   
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090716005993/en

San Francisco-Based Home-Account Lands Two New Investments

San Francisco -- Home-Account, the San Francisco-based developer of a web-based mortgage finding service, said that it has landed new investments from Menlo Park-based Rembrandt Ventures and San Mateo-based Freedom Financial Network. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Home-Account's service, which costs $49.95, is designed to find qualified homeowners the lowest available rates and terms for which they can qualify. If users are unable to qualify for a mortgage, they can opt for a plan that provides credit reports and counseling for $9.95 a month.
http://www.home-account.com  
http://www.home-account.com/pdf/HA_July_Release.pdf (PDF)