Silicon Valley Wire

EMC Acquires Santa Clara-Based FastScale Technology

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Data storage giant EMC said on Monday that it has acquired FastScale Technology, a Santa Clara-based  developer of software platforms used to manage data centers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. EMC said that the acquisition will expand its portfolio of Ionix products, to increase the performance and scalability of private cloud infrastructures. FastScale will join EMC's Ionix Software Group, led by Jay Mastaj. "The acquisition by EMC will better enable us to drive FastScale technology through the EMC’s strong research and development, marketing and sales channels," said Lynn LeBlanc, the CEO of FastScale Technology.
http://www.fastscale.com
http://www.emc.com/about/news/press/2009/20090831-03.htm

OneRiot Lands $7 Million in Third Round of Funding

San Francisco -- OneRiot, the Colorado-based developer of a "real-time" search engine with offices in San Francisco, said that it has raised $7 million in its third round of funding, co-led by previous investors Appian Ventures, Commonwealth Capital Ventures and Spark Capital. The company said that it will use the proceeds to further enhance its core search product and support its partner network. Current partners include Yahoo and Microsoft, who recently released a version of Internet Explorer bundled with OneRiot realtime search. Launched last November, the company has developed a search tool that bases its results on the current social buzz associated with any content on the web. The technology indexes web pages that are shared by users on social services such as Twitter and Digg. In addition, OneRiot manages its own panel of 3 million users who have opted in to share realtime information with the service.
http://www.oneriot.com
http://live.oneriot.com/press/pr_SeriesC.html

MOG Lands $5 Million for User-Generated Music Blog Network

Berkeley, Calif. -- MOG, the Berkeley-based developer of a network of user-created music blogs, said that it has raised $5 million in a new round of equity financing round, led by Menlo Ventures. Previous backers Simon Equity Partners and Scott Jones also participated in the round, which brings MOG's total funding raised to date to $12.5 million. Founded in 2005 MOG sees over 6,000 music blog posts created each week by its contributors, and receives over 8 million unique monthly visitors. The company also is backed by major record labels Universal and Sony. "We have plans to be a leader in not just editorial music content but in music listening as well," said MOG founder and CEO David Hyman.
http://www.mog.com
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-28-2009/0005084509&EDATE=

San Mateo-Based AdMob Acquires Menlo Park's AdWhirl

San Mateo, Calif. -- AdMob, the San Mateo-based developer of a mobile advertising marketplace that in January raised $12.5 million in funding, said that it has acquired fellow mobile advertising technology firm AdWhirl for an undisclosed sum. Menlo Park-based AdWhirl offers a service that can aggregate ads from various mobile ad networks. AdMob said the deal will allow it to offer open-source mediation technology to iPhone application developers.
http://www.admob.com/ 
http://www.adwhirl.com
http://blog.admob.com/2009/08/27/an-open-mediation-solution-for-app-developers/

Facebook Increases Privacy Protection on Quiz Applications

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Responding to complaints from the Canadian Privacy Commissioner and a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Palo Alto-based online social network Facebook has agreed to implement new privacy safeguards that limit the access of personal information by quiz authors. The organizations had complained that Facebook fails to vet application developers for trustworthiness, allowing them to access an alarming amount of a user's -- and that user's friends' -- personal information without express permission. Facebook's policy changes will require that applications specify the personal profile information they seek access to, and obtain express consent before any data is shared. "Our productive and constructive dialogue with the Commissioner's office has given us an opportunity to improve our policies and practices in a way that will provide even greater transparency and control for Facebook users," said Elliot Schrage, Facebook's vice president of global communications and public policy.
http://www.facebook.com/press/releases.php?p=118816
http://www.priv.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2009/nr-c_090827_e.cfm
http://developers.facebook.com/news.php?blog=1&story=292

San Mateo-Based isocket Raises $2 Million in Funding

San Mateo, Calif. -- isocket, a San Mateo-based developer of a commission-free ad platform that's currently in beta testing, said that it has raised $2 million in new seed funding. Investors included Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Blumberg Capital, SoftTech VC and the Founders Fund Angel, as well as a host of others. "Raising capital is one of the hardest and biggest hurdles for startup founders. As a result, many entrepreneurs make funding the goal - in other words, it becomes the finish line," wrote co-founder and CEO John Ramey in the company's blog. "But for Zak [founder and CTO Zak Hassanein], myself and all the new team members who will be joining us, this is the starting line. We now have the resources we need to start growing isocket into what we know it can be." The company also announced that it plans to hire for "a bunch of" open positions at its future San Mateo office. The positions will include engineering, design and sales, among others. 
http://www.isocket.com/
http://blog.isocket.com/2009/08/isocket-raises-2m-in-funding-from-top-investors/ 

More Than 4,400 Workers to Participate in "Power IT Down Day"

Palo Alto, Calif. -- More than 4,400 people have pledged to shut down their computers, printers and peripherals at the end of Thursday's work day as part of the second annual Power IT Down Day, an energy saving initiative backed by Citrix, HP, Microsoft, Intel and the Professional Services Council. The number is 1,600 more than the inaugural effort a year ago. Organizers said that if all participants carry through on their pledges, over 57,000 kilowatt hours will have been saved, equating to a cost savings of $5,700 in one night. "Imagine if just these 4,400 individuals powered IT down for a whole year. That's a savings of more than $2M," said organizers.
http://www.hp.com/go/poweritdown

As Separation Nears, AOL Names Arthur Minson as New CFO

New York -- Just weeks ahead of its planned spinout from parent Time Warner, AOL on Thursday named former Time Warner Cable executive Arthur Minson as its new executive vice president and CFO, He replaces Nisha Kumar, who left the company earlier this summer. Minson most recently served as the executive vice president and CFO at Time Warner Cable, which also recently separated from Time Warner. Earlier in his career, he led AOL's corporate finance and development activities. "We're delighted to have Artie back at AOL as we continue our transition to an independent public company," said AOL CEO Tim Armstrong. Minson will be headquartered in New York City. AOL expects to complete its separation around the end of this year, when it will become an independent, publicly traded company.
http://corp.aol.com/press-releases/2009/08/aol-names-arthur-minson-chief-financial-officer

TiVo Sues AT&T, Verizon for Infringing Its DVR Patents

Alviso, Calif. -- Following a $105 million victory in a still ongoing patent infringement dispute with DISH Network owner EchoStar, Alviso-based TiVo on Wednesday filed additional claims against AT&T and Verizon, alleging the companies are violating its digital video recorder patents. Filed in federal court in the Easter District of Texas, the complaints seek injunctions that would prevent AT&T and Verizon from distributing set-top boxes with the allegedly infringing technology, in addition to unspecified damages. AT&T offers a digital TV service called Uverse, while Verizon operates one called FiOS TV. Both offer their subscribers set-tops with digital video recorders.
http://www.tivo.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/TiVo-Files-Complaints-for-prnews-3180605461.html?x=0&.v=1

San Jose-Based LogLogic Names Guy Churchward as New CEO

San Jose, Calif. -- LogLogic, the San Jose-based developer of a platform for collecting, storing and reporting IT log data, on Wednesday named Guy Churchward as its new CEO. Churchward, most recently the vice president and general manager of NetApp's Data Protection Group, succeeds Patricia Sueltz, who held the role for two years. The company did not disclose the reason for her departure. The move comes three months after LogLogic secured $8.8 million in an extension of its fourth round of funding. The company, which now has more than 1,000 clients, said that it is looking to expand into new markets, including IT security management and database activity monitoring.
http://www.loglogic.com
http://www.loglogic.com/news/news-releases/2009/08/loglogic-names-guy-churchward-ceo/

San Rafael-Based Autodesk Acquires Assets from BOSS International

San Rafael, Calif. -- Autodesk, the San Rafael-based developer of design, engineering and entertainment software, said on Wednesday that it has acquired certain assets from Wisconsin-based BOSS International that the company said will further expand its water resources analysis capabilities for the architecture, engineering and construction industry. The assets include StormNET for stormwater management analysis, RiverCAD for floodplain analysis and WaterNET for water distribution analysis. All will be integrated with Autodesk's model-based design tools. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Chris Maeder, the former president and CEO of BOSS International, will join Autodesk as an industry solutions manager for the environmental engineering industry.
http://www.autodesk.com
http://www.bossintl.com/
http://pressreleases.autodesk.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=627

Union City-Based Microvi Biotech Raises First Round of Funding

Union City, Calif. -- Microvi Biotech, a Union City-based developer of water treatment technologies, said on Wednesday that it has raised an undisclosed amount from private investors in its first round of funding, which it plans to use to expand product development and grow its workforce. Names of the individual investors also were not disclosed, though company founder Fatemeh Shirazi said they have "first-hand cleantech experience." Microvi Biotech began its operations as a research and development company in the field of environmental biotechnology and water purification, but is now transitioning into its commercialization phase. Led by Shirazi, who serves as chairman, CEO and CTO, the company is developing products that target industrial wastewater, drinking water, surface water, groundwater and municipal wastewater.
http://www.microvibiotech.com/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microvi-Biotech-Inc-Raises-bw-597995153.html?x=0&.v=1

YouTube to Expand Program Letting Video Creators Share Ad Revenue

San Bruno, Calif. -- YouTube, the San Bruno-based online video site owned by Google, said that it will expand a program that allows producers of popular videos on the site to share in advertising revenue. "Now, when you upload a video to YouTube that accumulates lots of views, we may invite you to monetize that video and start earning revenue from it," the comp[any wrote on its blog. "To determine whether a particular video is eligible for monetization, we look at factors like the number of views, the video's virality and compliance with the YouTube Terms of Service."
Publishers of videos eligible for monetization will now receive an email and see an "Enable Revenue Sharing" message next to their videos on the watch page. Once the offer is accepted, YouTube will begin selling ads to accompany the video, sharing part of the revenue.
http://ytbizblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/in-future-everyone-will-monetize-their.html

Sony to Challenge Kindle with New "Daily Edition" E-book Reader

New York -- Hoping to pose a serious challenge to Amazon's Kindle, Sony has introduced a new e-book reader device of its own, known as the Reader Daily Edition, which will sport a touch-screen display and 3G wireless Internet access through AT&T when it goes on sale in December. The device will sell for $399 -- $100 more expensive than rival Amazon's new Kindle 2. Owners of the Sony reader will be able to purchase and download e-books wirelessly from the company's eBook Store, which includes over a million free public domain titles from Google. Sony also has partnered with library e-book firm OverDrive to offer visitors access to their local library's collection of e-books. Along with the Daily, Sony also introduced a "pocket" e-book reader model, the Reader Pocket Edition, which will feature a five-inch electronic paper display and retail for $199.
http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/computer_peripheral/e_book/release/41492.html
http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/computer_peripheral/e_book/release/41494.html

Report: Jessica Biel Searches Most Likely to Link to Malware

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Santa Clara-based security firm McAfee has named actress Jessica Biel the web's "most dangerous celebrity" to search for online, based on the number of resulting links that will lead a user to online threats like spyware, adware, spam, phishing and viruses. The company said that users making Jessica Biel-related searches have a one in five chance of landing on a site that's tested positive for online threats. Biel leapfrogged Brad Pitt, who held the title last year. Others on the most-dangerous list include Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and Lindsay Lohan.
http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3554

SBA Takes to YouTube to Reach Larger, Younger Audience

Washington, DC -- Latching on to an increasingly popular trend throughout the federal government, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on Wednesday began posting informational videos on San Bruno-based video sharing site YouTube. The agency said that it will use the platform in an effort to reach more young people, posting videos on subjects such as entrepreneurship, the importance of small business and information on programs and services. "With millions of visitors, most of them under 35, YouTube offers a prime opportunity to use current technology and the appeal of a popular online platform to further promote the agency’s programs and services," said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. The SBA YouTube channel, available at the link below, debuted with a 60-second introduction to the SBA, and a 10-part "Delivering Success" series co-produced with the U.S. Postal Service. The agency said that future videos will contain more in-depth information.
http://www.youtube.com/sba

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo to Acquire Arab Community Maktoob.com

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Looking to extend its reach in the Middle East, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said on Tuesday that it will acquire Dubai-based Maktoob.com, an Arab online community with more than 16.5 million members. Financial terms of the deal, expected to close by year's end, were not disclosed. Yahoo said that the acquisition will expand its offerings in countries such as the U.A.E., Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt and Saudi Arabia by adding relevant Arabic-language content and services, as well as Arabic versions of Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo Mail. Maktoob.com was founded in 2000 by Samih Toukan and Hussam Khoury as a free Arabic/English web email service, and has since grown into an Arab online community. "Yahoo is acquiring Maktoob.com for the strong brand and audience it has built over the last nine years and the passionate team they have assembled, which we believe is the strongest in the region," said Keith Nilsson, Yahoo's senior vice president of emerging markets.
http://www.maktoob.com
http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=404902

Mountain View-Based VeriSign to Sell Messaging Business for $175M

Mountain View, Calif. --  VeriSign, the Mountain View-based Internet infrastructure firm, said on Tuesday that it will sell its messaging business to Florida-based Syniverse for $175 million in cash. The company said that the deal is part of its ongoing divestiture program, which also included the sale of its Communication Services Group (CSG) to Transaction Network Services (TNS) last spring. "Even under challenging economic conditions, we have continued to execute on our divestiture strategy through aligning with buyers with complementary strengths," said Mark McLaughlin, VeriSign's president and CEO. The acquired business has about 300 employees and generated $140 million in revenue over the past year. Syniverse said that the deal will expand its messaging offerings for mobile operators.
http://www.verisign.com
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Verisign-Inc-NASDAQ-VRSN-1035098.html
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Syniverse-to-Acquire-bw-2089900013.html?x=0&.v=1

Palo Alto-Based Facebook to Increase Headcount by 50% This Year

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Facebook, the Palo Alto-based online social network with more than 250 million users, may increase its headcount by as much as 50% this year, capitalizing on a glut of unemployed engineers displaced by the recession, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Bloomberg. The company currently counts 1,000 employees. "No one else has been hiring," Zuckerberg told Bloomberg. "It's been a great environment for us because the economy has helped out." Zuckerberg, however, also said that he's been keeping a close eye on costs, with the goal of making the company cash-flow positive by next year.
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a5U0NPzBl0EI

Omidyar Network Commits $2 Million to Wikimedia Foundation

Redwood City, Calif. -- Omidyar Network, a Redwood City-based philanthropic investment firm launched in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, on Tuesday announced a grant of up to $2 million over the next two years to the Wikimedia Foundation, the San Francisco-based non-profit that operates user-generated online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Wikimedia also has appointed Matt Halprin, a partner at Omidyar, to its board of trustees. Michael Snow, chair of the Wikimedia Foundation board, said that Halprin's background in strategy development will be "particularly useful as we embark on the collaborative strategy development project, Wikimedia's top priority for the coming year." Before joining Omidyar, Halprin was most recently the vice president of global trust and safety at eBay.
http://www.omidyar.com
http://wikimediafoundation.org
http://www.omidyar.com/about_us/news/2009/08/25/omidyar-network-awards-2-million-grant-wikimedia-foundation

S.F.-Based Fanbase Lands $5 Million for Online Sports Almanac

San Francisco -- Fanbase, the San Francisco-based developer of a user-driven online almanac of college and professional athletes, said that it has raised $5 million in funding from Benchmark Capital and officially launched its service. Founded in 2008 and led by former Epinions CEO Nirav Tolia, Fanbase said it attracted over 500,000 users during its beta period, with users making more than 60,000 contributions to the site. Similar in style to Wikipedia, the site now counts dedicated pages for more than 1.7 million athletes and 20,000 teams across 23 sports, including all major professional leagues and Division I, II and III collegiate athletics. "We created Fanbase for users to showcase their enthusiasm for their favorite athletes and teams," said Tolia, the company's president and CEO.
http://www.fanbase.com
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-24-2009/0005081822&EDATE=

TheFunded.com Releases Dramatically Simplified Term Sheet

San Jose, Calif. -- TheFunded.com, a San Jose-based online community of entrepreneurs that rate and review funding sources, on Monday released its "Plain Preferred" term sheet, a "dramatically simplified" version designed to sharply lower the average $50,000 in legal fees that companies pay to close their first-round investments. The site said that its term sheet, first proposed by entrepreneur Chris Dixon and hashed out through online discussions between various entrepreneurs and investors, "is a rare example… where the percentage ownership of participants will correlate closely to returns generated in an exit." The term sheet is available at the link below.
http://thefunded.com/funds/item/5936

Audible Magic Lands $1.28 Million for Media Fingerprinting

Los Gatos, Calif. -- Audible Magic, a Los Gatos-based provider of content identification and copyrighted media tracking services, has raised $1.28 million in new funding PaidContent reported, citing an SEC filing. The investment came from previous backers, including Florida Silicon Partners and Tierra Del Oro. Founded in 1999, Audible Magic provide media fingerprinting services that can help copyright holders track the use of their content online. The company's technology is used by YouTube, for instance, to track uploads of copyrighted videos, allowing copyright holders to then choose to either remove or monetize the clips. Audible Magic will use the new funds for product development and marketing.
http://www.audiblemagic.com
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-audible-magic-raises-nearly-1.3-million-in-funding/
http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1125426/000112542609000004/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml

Wikipedia Gets $500,000 Grant from Hewlett Foundation

San Francisco -- The Wikimedia Foundation, the San Francisco-based non-profit that operates the Wikipedia online encyclopedia, said that it has received a $500,000 grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. "The enormous popularity of Wikipedia and its collaborative premise make the Wikimedia Foundation an ideal vehicle for spreading the open educational resources movement," said Barbara Chow, director of the education program at Hewlett. Wikimedia said that it is hoping to improve user-friendliness, develop training tools for prospective new editors, establish metrics to track its impact and improve access to project data for researchers.
http://wikimediafoundation.org

San Francisco-Based IA Global Lands $200,000, Signs New Deal with CFO

San Francisco -- IA Global, a San Francisco-based investor in consumer, technology, services and health companies in the Pacific Rim region, said on Monday that it has raised $200,000 in new funding and signed an amended employment contract with its CFO. The funding came through a stock purchase agreement with previous backer Inter Asset Japan LBO No 1 Fund, in which the company will sell 5 million shares at $0.04 each. Mark Scott also has signed a one-year renewable deal to remain CFO, with his new contract based more heavily on equity.
http://www.iaglobalinc.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090824005380/en

CEA Opens Nominations for "Best Of…" Awards

Arlington, Va. -- The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) on Monday opened nominations for its 2010 International CES Best of Innovations Design and Engineering Awards, which honor product and engineering design in 36 consumer electronics product categories. This year, the CEA has added new categories for electronic gaming software, online audio/video content delivery, online retail and social networking. The winning products will be showcased at the International CES (Consumer Electronics Show), which will take place in Las Vegas this January. All companies launching a product between March 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010 are eligible. Nomination forms are available at the link below.
http://www.CESweb.org/innovations

SBA Says Small Businesses Won Record $93.3B in Federal Contracts

Washington, DC -- Small businesses won a record $93.3 billion in federal prime contracts last fiscal year, according to new figures released by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). In all, 13 agencies met small business contracting goals, as negotiated by the SBA.. They include the departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), General Services Administration (GSA), Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Transportation, SBA and Veterans Affairs. Only one agency, the GSA, met all five of its SBA goals, while two others, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), didn't meet a single one. The complete scorecard is available at the link below.
http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/goals/index.html

MySpace Acquires Music Discovery Service iLike

Los Angeles -- Confirming widespread speculation, online social network MySpace announced that it will acquire iLike, developer of an online music discovery service with 55 million users. While financial details were not disclosed, reports earlier this week pegged the purchase price at around $20 million. The move is key to MySpace, since more than 10 million of iLike's current users reside on rival social network Facebook. Founded in 2006, Seattle-based iLike is the creator of a service designed to monitors users' listening habits and makes musical recommendations. Owen Van Natta, the CEO of MySpace, said that the company now plans to extend iLike's recommendation engine beyond music to all forms of entertainment.
http://www.myspace.com
http://www.ilike.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/MySpace-To-Acquire-bw-1535334822.html?x=0&.v=1

Survey: Execs Hesitant to Be "Friended" by Business Contacts on Facebook

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Nearly half of executives say they are uncomfortable being "friended" on social network Facebook by the employees they manage or their bosses, according to a new survey by Menlo Park-based staffing firm OfficeTeam. Of the 150 randomly selected senior executives interviewed, 47% said that they would feel "not very comfortable" or "not comfortable at all" receiving a friend request from their bosses. In addition, 43% also would feel uncomfortable with such a request from co-workers, 48% from people they manage, 50% from clients and 62% from vendors. "The line between personal and professional has grown increasingly blurred as more people use social networking web sites for business purposes," said Robert Hosking, the executive director of OfficeTeam. "Although not everyone is comfortable using sites like Facebook to connect with professional contacts, it's wise to be prepared for these types of requests." The company also offered several tips on how professionals should handle potentially awkward Facebook situations, available at the link below.
http://www.officeteam.com/PressRoom?id=2501

Poniard to Raise Up to $60M Through Equity Financing Facility

South San Francisco -- Poniard Pharmaceuticals, a South San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical firm focused on oncology, said on Thursday that it has struck a deal to raise up to $60 million by selling stock to Azimuth Opportunity over the next 18 months. The deal allows Poniard to determine the timing, dollar amount and price per share for any draw under the facility. The company said that it will use the proceeds to advance its picoplatin clinical development and commercialization programs, as well as to pursue potential new product opportunities. "This equity line provides us with an important addition to our financing options," said Greg Weaver, Poniard's senior vice president and CFO. "The facility has a competitive cost of capital, no warrants and flexible structure and should further strengthen our position as we negotiate with potential global partners for our late-stage differentiated platinum-based chemotherapy agent, picoplatin."
http://www.poniard.com/
http://investor.poniard.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=404133

PTO Rejects Twitter's Application for 'Tweet' Trademark

San Francisco -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has preliminarily rejected San Francisco-based Twitter's application for the trademark "tweet," citing the fact that third-party Twitter services TweetMarks, Cotweet and Tweetphoto already have filed applications to trademark the word, CNET News.com reported, based on documents uncovered by blogger Sam Johnston. "Marks in prior-filed pending applications may present a bar to registration of applicant's mark," the PTO wrote in a notice sent to the company last month. Upon initially filing for the trademark, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote on the company's blog, "We have applied to trademark Tweet because it is clearly attached to Twitter from a brand perspective but we have no intention of 'going after' the wonderful applications and services that use the word in their name when associated with Twitter." It's unclear what the next step will be for Twitter with the Patent and Trademark Office.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10313566-2.html
http://samj.net/2009/08/twitters-tweet-trademark-torpedoed.html

Mountain View-Based Polyvore Nabs $5.6M for Web Fashion Magazine

Mountain View, Calif. -- Polyvore, the Mountain View-based developer of a user-generated online fashion magazine, said that it has raised $5.6 million in its second round of funding. New investor Matrix Partners joined previous backers Benchmark Capital and Harrison Metal Capital. Founded in 2007 by a number of ex-Yahoo employees, Polyvore lets users mix and match products from any online store to create outfits and fashion collages, which may then be embedded on blogs and social network profiles. The company, which counts over 4 million unique monthly visitors and 150 million monthly pageviews, will use the new funds to accelerate growth and expand its sales and engineering teams.
http://www.polyvore.com
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-18-2009/0005079646&EDATE=

San Jose-Based Wanova Exits Stealth with $13 Million Round

San Jose, Calif. -- Wanova, a San Jose-based desktop virtualization start-up, said on Wednesday that it has exited stealth mode by raising $13 million in its first round of funding from Greylock Partners, Carmel Ventures and Opus Capital. The company said that its architecture addresses the endpoint management challenges presented by distributed remote and mobile workers "so IT has the control they need, and end-users have the productivity they want," according co-founder and CEO Ilan Kessler. Kessler and fellow co-founder Issy Ben-Shaul (CTO) also co-founded Actona, which was acquired by Cisco and became the foundation of its Application Delivery business. Wanova also operates a development center in Israel.
http://www.wanova.com
http://wanova.com/pages/wanova-news.html?page_id=581

San Jose-Based PaymentOne Lands $7M in Equity and Debt Financing

San Jose, Calif. -- PaymentOne, a San Jose-based developer of alternative payment technology for  digital merchants, said that it has raised $7 million in its second round of equity and debt financing, led by AER Investments. The company will use the proceeds for internal expansion and mobile-related product development, as well as for possible acquisitions. PaymentOne's flagship PhoneBill service allows merchants to have their consumers charge fees to their landline, broadband or mobile phone bills, without the need for a credit card.
http://www.oaymentone.com
http://paymentone.com/news_events/press_releases/2009/081709.asp

Report: Apple Media Event on Sept. 9 Won't Include Tablet

Cupertino, Calif. -- Apple is planning a press conference Sept. 9 in San Francisco, where it is expected to introduce updated iPods and a new version of iTunes, but most likely won't unveil its highly anticipated tablet computer, All Things D reported. The Cupertino-based company typically has used the first week of September to introduce new products that will be available for the holiday shopping season. It's unclear whether CEO Steve Jobs -- who recently returned to work after a six-month medical leave of absence, during which he underwent a liver transplant -- will deliver the keynote address.The company reportedly has been planning to launch its new $800 touch-screen tablet computer sometime before year's end.
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090817/apple-event-scheduled-for-wednesday-sept-9-music-only-no-tablet/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker

San Francisco-Based Salon.com Lays Off 20% of Editorial Staff

San Francisco -- Salon.com, the San Francisco-based online magazine, has laid off six members of its editorial staff -- or about 20% of its total team -- Gawker.com reported. The cuts include three editors, a writer, a photo editor and a producer, "We are moving away from a very traditional magazine production model and becoming more of a true web publication, with a more direct publishing system" that will launch in the fall, Salon CEO Richard Gingras told Gawker. "We think this direction makes us a stronger company, and puts us in a good position to not just weather the economic storm but emerge much stronger than ever."
http://www.salon.com
http://gawker.com/5339172/editorial-layoffs-come-to-salon

San Francisco-Based Teachscape Raises $16 Million in Third Round

San Francisco -- Teachscape, a San Francisco-based developer of training software and other technology services for educators, said that it has raised $16 million in its third round of funding, led by ABS Capital Partners. The company will use the proceeds to expand, as well as to develop new products. Teachscape provides video-based online training and technology tools to teachers, and also offers Masters degree programs for K-12 educators. Its software is designed to track changes in teaching practices, then correlate those changes to improved student performance. The company currently works with 1,200 schools in 25 states. Mark Atkinson, the CEO of Teachscape, called the investment a "game changer," putting the company in a better position to "offer teachers and school districts the software and services they need to immediately begin to improve instructional outcomes."
http://www.teachscape.com/
http://www.teachscape.com/html/ts/nps/abs.pdf (PDF)

Lockheed Martin Space Systems to Cut 800 Jobs, Many in Sunnyvale

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Looking to pare expenses in the face of declining business, Lockheed Martin Space Systems said that it plans to cut 800 jobs -- about 4.5% of its workforce -- by the end of this year. The company said that the reductions will affect technical, managerial and administrative positions, primarily at its Denver and Sunnyvale facilities. The layoffs are separate from the ongoing downsizing underway at the company's Michoud Operations as a result of the planned fly-out of the Space Shuttle program in 2010. "The action we are taking, though difficult, is necessary to adapt to our current projected business base and to maintain an appropriate workforce to meet our customers' needs," said Joanne Maguire, the executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/ssc/
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2009/0817_ss_ssc.html

San Francisco-Based Teachscape Raises $16 Million in Third Round

San Francisco -- Teachscape, a San Francisco-based developer of training software and other technology services for educators, said that it has raised $16 million in its third round of funding, led by ABS Capital Partners. The company will use the proceeds to expand, as well as to develop new products. Teachscape provides video-based online training and technology tools to teachers, and also offers Masters degree programs for K-12 educators. Its software is designed to track changes in teaching practices, then correlate those changes to improved student performance. The company currently works with 1,200 schools in 25 states. Mark Atkinson, the CEO of Teachscape, called the investment a "game changer," putting the company in a better position to "offer teachers and school districts the software and services they need to immediately begin to improve instructional outcomes."
http://www.teachscape.com/
http://www.teachscape.com/html/ts/nps/abs.pdf (PDF)

Santa Clara-Based OpSource Lands $4M from ATEL Ventures

Santa Clara, Calif. -- OpSource, a Santa Clara-based provider of web-based software and services to businesses, said on Tuesday that it has landed $4 million in new equipment financing from San Francisco-based ATEL Ventures. The company plans to use the capital to enter new markets, including the enterprise cloud space. The news comes six months after OpSource raised $10 million in its fifth round of funding, led by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT). Six-year-old OpSource became cash-flow positive in December.
http://www.opsource.net
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090818006087/en

Academic Authors Seek Changes to Google Book Settlement

Mountain View, Calif. -- A group of professors at the University of California believes that Mountain View-based Google's settlement with authors over the use of works in its book-scanning project does not take their interests into consideration, The New York Times reported on its web site. The group sent a letter to the court that is examining Google's settlement, asking that some changes be made to the settlement. "We are concerned that the Authors Guild negotiators likely prioritized maximizing profits over maximizing public access to knowledge, while academic authors would have reversed those priorities," the group wrote. "We note that the scholarly books written by academic authors constitute a much more substantial part of the Book Search corpus than the Authors Guild members' books." The professors also fear that the fees that libraries will pay for access to Google's digital book archives could skyrocket, and are not convinced of the privacy protections for users of the service.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/uc-professors-seek-changes-to-google-books-deal/

Sunnyvale-Based MobileIron raises $11 Million in Second Round

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- MobileIron, developer of a mobile device management platform for smartphones, said on Monday that it has raised $11 million in its second round of funding, co-led by previous investors Sequoia Capital, Norwest Venture Partners and Storm Ventures. The company, which recently launched operations, makes the MobileIron Virtual Smartphone Platform, designed to give organizations a central view of employees' smartphone content, activity and applications. "MobileIron's mission is to enable our customers to embrace smartphones throughout their organizations," said CEO Bob Tinker. The company also raised $8.8 million first round early last year.
http://mobileiron.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090817005616/en

Santa Clara-Based Analogix Semiconductor Lands $10 Million

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Analogix Semiconductor, a Santa Clara-based maker of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for the digital multimedia market, said on Monday that it has raised $10 million in a new round of funding. Keytone Ventures led the round, which also included previous investors Woodside Fund, DCM, Globespan Capital Partners and JAIC. Founded in 2002, Analogix also has several offices across Asia, including Shenzen, Beijing, Taipei and Tokyo.
http://www.analogix.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090817005928/en

Palo Alto-Based FanSnap Lands $5 Million for Ticket Search Engine

Palo Alto, Calif. -- FanSnap, the Palo Alto-based developer of a live event ticket search engine co-founded by a the former CMO of StubHub, said that it has raised $5 million in a new round of funding from Highland Capital Partners. The company in March launched its search engine, which displays detailed ticket-level results from dozens of ticket providers, including Ace Ticket, AllShows.com, Barry's Tickets, Gold Coast Tickets, Las Vegas Tickets, RazorGator, StubHub and TicketNetwork. The site currently features more than 12 million sports, theatre and concert tickets to more than 30,000 events. FanSnap CEO Mike Janes said that it will use the new funding, together with existing funding from General Catalyst Partners, to support growth.
http://fansnap.com
http://www.fansnap.com/press-release/2009-Aug-12/fansnapr-secures-5-million-in-funding-9

Mountain View-Based Mint.com Raises $14 Million in Third Round

Mountain View, Calif. -- Mint.com, the Mountain View-based developer of a personal finance site designed to help users manage and save money online, said that it has raised $14 million in its third round of funding, led by DAG Ventures. New investors The Founder's Fund, and previous backers Benchmark Capital, Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital and Sherpalo also participated in what the company is terming "a significant up round." Mint.com, whose service now counts more than 1.4 million registered users, said that it will use the proceeds to expand its staff -- particularly in engineering -- and accelerate product upgrades and new partnership launches scheduled over the next 6-12 months. The company has raised $31 million since its inception in 2007.
http://www.mint.com 
http://www.mint.com/press/mintcom-raises-14-million-in-series-c-funding-led-by-dag-ventures/

On2 Investors File Suit to Block Acquisition by Google

Mountain View, Calif. -- A week after the deal was announced, investors in New Jersey-based video compression technology firm On2 Technologies have filed suit to block the company's pending acquisition by Mountain View-based Google, the New York Post reported. The all-stock deal was valued at $106.5 million at the time of the announcement. But the suits, filed in New York and Delaware, claim that the company is being undervalued, and also allege the deal benefits On2's management, board and employees more than investors. A vote by On2's shareholders, required for approval, has yet to be scheduled. On2's customers include Adobe, Skype, Nokia, Infineon, Sun Microsystems, Mediatek, Sony, Brightcove and Move Networks.
http://www.on2.com
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08122009/business/rewind_on2_sale_deal_184089.htm

San Jose-Based Shocking Technologies Lands $10 Million

San Jose, Calif. -- Shocking Technologies, a San Jose-based startup developing special materials designed to protect cell phones and semiconductors from electrostatic discharge, said that it has landed $10 million in its second round of funding, led by Vista Ventures. ARCH Venture Partners, ATA Ventures, Balch Hill Partners and other private investors also participated. "The funding will allow us to build out our manufacturing infrastructure and continue our development as we work with our customers to bring our initial products, cell phones and flash drives to market in the coming months," said Lex Kosowsky, the president and CEO of Shocking Technologies.
http://www.shockingtechnologies.com
http://www.shockingtechnologies.com/press_releases.asp?press_release=20

Crescendo Networks Lands $5 Million, Moves HQ to Menlo Park

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Crescendo Networks, a developer of application acceleration technologies, said on Thursday that it has raised $5 million in venture capital and relocated its corporate headquarters from Israel to Menlo Park. The company had based its North American headquarters in Menlo Park since late 2007, when it moved from Florida. Trilogy Equity Partners led the round, which also included participation from previous investors Evergreen Venture Partners, Apax Partners, StageOne Ventures and Challenge Fund. Crescendo, which now has landed $45 million over seven years, said that it will use the new proceeds to further fuel sales expansion. "We are very excited to complete this round of financing and look forward to expanding our footprint in the U.S. market," said Adoram Ga'ash, the company's CEO.
http://www.crescendonetworks.com/
http://www.crescendonetworks.com/press-releases.aspx?09-08-13-crescendo-networks-secures-additional-5-million-as-headquarters-moves-to-us

California Again Leads Nation with 84 Firms on New Inc. 500 List

New York -- California again leads the nation with 84 companies on the newly released Inc. 500 list, up six from a year ago. The state topped Texas (45), Virginia (35), New York (35) and Florida (27) on the list, which annually ranks the fastest growing private companies in America based on percentage revenue growth from 2005-08. Among Bay Area firms, Mill Valley-based Perfect Fitness ranked fourth, San Francisco-based Canopy Financial 12th and Sunnyvale-based Ruckus Wireless 26th. The complete list, to be published in the September issue of Inc., is available at the link below.
http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2009/the-full-list.html

Mountain View-Based Xora Acquires Gearworks, Lands $8.5 Million

Mountain View, Calif. -- In a marriage of companies that develop location-based mobile business applications, Mountain View-based Xora said on Wednesday that it has acquired Minnesota-based Gearworks. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. In a related move, investors from both companies, including Dawntreader Ventures, BlueStream Ventures, Split Rock Partners and Rho Ventures, have pumped another $8.5 million into Xora. The combined company will have more than 16,000 customers and partnerships with wireless carriers including Sprint Nextel, Verizon, AT&T, Telstra, US Cellular, Cbeyond and Procall. Xora said that the acquisition will help it capitalize on the growing market for handset-based mobile resource management applications, particularly in North America.
http://www.xora.com/gearworks
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Xora-and-Gearworks-Merge-to-bw-862006893.html?x=0&.v=1