Silicon Valley Wire

S.F.-Based OnLive Lands Major Funding to Launch Game Service

San Francisco -- OnLive, the San Francisco-based developer of a web platform that delivers instant video games on demand, said on Wednesday that it has landed a major new round of funding, which the company calls "by far" its largest to date. New investors in the company's third round include AT&T Media Holdings, Lauder Partners, Warner Bros., Autodesk and Maverick Capital. Previous backers Warner Bros. and Autodesk also participated. OnLive is preparing to launch its OnLive Game Service, a cloud-based video game platform that currently is in beta testing. The company said that its service can instantly deliver games to a TV, through a special adapter, or computer, through a browser plug-in. OnLive spent seven years in stealth development before officially launching in March.
http://www.onlive.com 
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Onlive-1052520.html

San Ramon-Based TargetCast Raises $6.5 Million in Second Round

San Ramon, Calif. -- TargetCast Networks, a San Ramon-based developer of digital technology that lets users create and post their own promotional messages on TV sets in their establishments, said on Wednesday that it has raised $6.5 million in its second round of funding. Claremont Creek Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson participated in the round, which increases the company's total backing to $12.8 million. Jerry Hall, the president and CEO of TargetCast, said that his company will use the proceeds to fuel expansion of its ad network, as well as to cultivate partnerships and build an internal ad sales team.
http://www.targetcast.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/TargetCast-Networks-Attracts-prnews-2554899749.html?x=0&.v=1

Campbell-Based Barracuda Networks Acquires Majority Stake in phion

Campbell, Calif. -- Barracuda Networks, a Campbell-based maker of content security appliances, said that it has acquired a majority stake in Austria-based phion, a developer of firewall technology designed to protect corporate communications. Barracuda said that it purchased more than 75% of the company's shares through a recently completed public tender offer. Dean Drako, the president and CEO of Barracuda, said that the acquisition "will bring this next generation of firewall technology" to his company's more than 85,000 customers, which include Coca-Cola, FedEx, Harvard University, IBM, L'Oreal and Europcar.
http://www.barracudanetworks.com
http://www.phion.com
http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/news_and_events/index.php?nid=374

San Jose-Based VeriFone Doubles Stake in Semtek

San Jose, Calif. --  VeriFone, a San Jose-based provider of electronic payment services, said on Wednesday that it has doubled its investment in San Diego-based Semtek, leading the security technology developer's second round of funding. The company also said that it has acquired the option to eventually purchase the remaining shares of Semtek. Financial terms of the deal, which also includes an expanded distribution agreement, were not disclosed. Semtek is the developer of encryption technology that is the core element of VeriFone's VeriShield Protect encryption product for securing cardholder data. The technology allows encrypted card data to be used by typical point-of-sale software systems without any modifications or disruption. Venrock Capital and RRE Ventures also participated in Semtek's second round.
http://www.semtek.com/
http://www.verifone.com/2009/verifone-increases-investment-in-payment-card-security-company.aspx

S.F.-Based Federated Media Names Deanna Brown as President and COO

San Francisco -- Federated Media Publishing (FM), a San Francisco-based digital media firm that helps companies market their brands through web sites, blogs and social networking applications, has named Deanna Brown as its president and COO. Brown most recently served as the president at Scripps Networks Digital, and previously held vice president and general manager titles at Yahoo and AOL. In 1995 she co-founded CondeNet, the digital division of publisher CondeNast, and also has founded Powerful Media/Inside.com (acquired by Primedia) and Gaming Industry News (acquired by Ziff Davis). "I've known Deanna for over 10 years and I have every confidence that she is the perfect partner to help take FM to the next level," said John Battelle, the founder and CEO of Federated Media. FM's clients include American Express, Intel, BMW, HP, Microsoft, RadioShack and JCPenney.
http://www.federatedmedia.net
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090929006349/en

Agreement Ends Sole U.S. Control of Web-Naming Group ICANN

Washington, DC -- The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit group that controls the Internet's domain name system (DNS), will have significantly less oversight from the U.S. government under a new agreement signed Wednesday with the Department of Commerce. The deal puts the management of 11-year-old ICANN into the hands of a worldwide panel of government and private-sector representatives, with the goal of protecting the interests of international Internet users. The U.S. will remain on ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee. "This framework puts the public interest front and center, and it establishes processes for stakeholders around the world to review ICANN's performance," said NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling. ICANN was formed in 1998 to oversee the DNS, which allows users to send email and reach web sites using simple domain names (such as http://commerce.gov) rather than the numeric network server addresses (such as http://170.110.225.163).
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-30sep09-en.htm#affirmation 
http://www.ntia.doc.gov

Mountain View-Based NeoEdge Lands $4 Million for In-Game Ads

Mountain View, Calif. -- NeoEdge, the Mountain View-based developer of an in-game ad network for casual online games, said on Tuesday that it has raised $4 million in its first round of funding, co-led by VanEdge Capital and Jefferson Partners. The VanEdge investment is particularly of note, since that firm's principals include Paul Lee, the former president of Electronic Arts Worldwide Studios, and Glenn Entis, the former chief visual and technical officer of Electronic Arts Worldwide Studios and priCEO of DreamWorks Interactive. Dan Servos, NeoEdge's president and CEO, said that his company is "fortunate to have the financial backing, pedigree experience and relationships that VanEdge Capital brings to our business." The company plans to use the funding to expand its product offerings and acquire new premium online casual game titles. Founded in 2002, NeoEdge provides in-game ads for over 500 ad-supported casual games in its partner network, which includes some 50 game publishers.
http://www.neoedge.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neoedge-secures-40-million-in-series-a-financing-to-accelerate-growth-62569697.html

Sunnyvale-Based Palm Closes Offering After Raising $359.9 Million

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Palm, the Sunnyvale-based smartphone maker, said that it has closed its previously announced stock offering, raising net proceeds of approximately $359.9 million. In all, the company sold 23 million shares for $16.25 each, including 2.15 million shares to Elevation Partners. "We achieved all of our objectives and now have a stronger balance sheet, a stronger shareholder base and a stronger foundation for future growth," said Jon Rubinstein, the chairman and CEO of Palm.
http://investor.palm.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=412013

Menlo Park VCs Invest in Online Ad Technology Firm eBureau

Menlo Park, Calif. -- A pair of Menlo Park-based venture capital firms, Tenaya Capital and Redpoint Ventures, have taken part in a new $10 million funding for Minnesota-based eBureau, a developer of predictive scoring information services for online advertisers. Split Rock Partners also participated in the company's third round, which was led by Tenaya. eBureau's real-time predictive scoring system is designed to help clients enhance the power and performance of their online ad campaigns. The five-year-old company, which has raised $43 million since its inception, currently has nearly 100 clients across multiple industries, including financial services, education, automotive, insurance and retail.
http://www.ebureau.com
http://www.ebureau.com/press-releases/ebureau-secures-10-million-series-c-funding-led-tenaya-capital

Silicon Image CEO Resigns; CFO Promoted to President

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Silicon Image, a Sunnyvale-based maker of semiconductors used to distribute, present and store high-definition content, said Steve Tirado has resigned as its president and CEO. No specific reason was given for his departure. The company has promoted CFO Hal Covert to the roles of president and COO, and has retained an executive search firm to find a new CEO. Covert joined the company from Openwave Systems in 2007. The news came as Silicon Image also reported that its third-quarter revenue will be lower than previously expected.
http://www.siliconimage.com
http://www.siliconimage.com/news/releasedetails.aspx?id=589
http://www.siliconimage.com/news/releasedetails.aspx?id=590

Judge Postpones Hearing on Google Book Settlement

Mountain View, Calif. -- A federal judge overseeing the contentious settlement between Mountain View-based Google and the Authors Guild has delayed a planned Oct. 7 hearing indefinitely, while the two sides work with the Justice Department to allay a range of concerns. "The current settlement agreement raises significant issues, as demonstrated not only by the number of objections, but also by the fact that the objectors include countries, states, nonprofit organizations and prominent authors and law professors," Denny Chin, a U.S. District Court judge in New York, wrote in his ruling. In addition to the Justice Dept., European nations including France have voiced concerns about the deal, as have several state attorneys general; large Internet firms like Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo; copyright holders; and consumer privacy advocates. The Authors Guild itself petitioned the court last week to postpone the hearing.
http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/05CV8136_20090924.pdf (PDF)

Cupertino-Based Compass Labs Raises $1M for Search, Social Media Product

Cupertino, Calif. -- Compass Labs, a Cupertino-based start-up founded by former Google and Yahoo executive Dilip Venkatachari, has raised $1 million of an expected $1.1 million round of financing, PaidContent reported, citing a regulatory filing. Investors included New Enterprise Associates (NEA), where Venkatachari served a stint as an entrepreneur-in-residence. Compass Labs, currently in stealth mode, is developing a search- and social media-related product. Venkatachari previously served as the product manager director for Google AdSense.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-google-mobile-alum-venkatacharis-startup-compass-labs-raises-1-million-/

Report: NBA.com Draws Most Global Interest Among U.S. Sports Leagues

Reston, Va. -- Of the four major U.S. professional sports web properties, NBA.com, the site of the National Basketball Association, attracted the most global interest during a year-long period ending in July, according to new figures from comScore. The profile of visitors to the site showed that 53% came from North America, with 27% also from the Asia-Pacific region and 14.5% from Europe. By comparison, just 7% of visitors to NFL.com, the web site of the National Football League, came from outside North America. For both the National Hockey League (NHL.com) and Major League Baseball (MLB.com), that figure was 12%. The data also showed that U.S. visitors to all four of the sites tend to come from households with higher-than-average incomes, led by the NHL.
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/9/Professional_North_American_Sports_League_Sites_Draw_Attractive_Audiences_from_Around_the_Globe

San Jose-Based Forte Design Systems Acquires Arithmatica

San Jose, Calif. -- Forte Design Systems, a San Jose-based maker of software used by designers of chips and systems, said on Monday that it has acquired Arithmatica, a U.K.-based provider of behavioral synthesis technology designed to reduce the amount of time needed to produce complex chips. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Forte said that it will continue to develop and market Arithmatica's CellMath products, and also integrate the company's technology into its own software. "The Arithmatica acquisition gives us both the tools and the expertise to expand our product offering to achieve circuit quality that has not been possible before," said Sean Dart, the president and CEO of Forte.
http://www.dorteds.com
http://www.forteds.com/news/pr092809.asp

Cupertino-Based Apple's App Store Surpasses 2 Billion Downloads

Cupertino, Calif. -- Just six months after reaching the 1 billion milestone, Cupertino-based Apple said on Monday that the 2 millionth app now has been downloaded from its App Store, which features applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. It had taken nine months for the first billion. "The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, adding that the store "has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device." It now feature more than 85,000 apps, and there also are over 125,000 developers in Apple's iPhone Developer Program.
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/09/28appstore.html

Redwood City-Based Cardica to Raise $10.2 Million in Placement

Redwood City, Calif. -- Days after warning investors about its ability to continue as a going concern, Redwood City-based Cardica, a developer of automated anastomosis systems used in heart surgery, said on Monday that it plans to raise $10.2 million through a private placement. Under the deal, expected to close later this week, the company will sell 8.1 million of its shares for $1.25 each to institutional and individual investors. Cardica said that it will use a portion of the proceeds to further developer its Microcutter product. The company's products allow surgeons to replace hand-sewn sutures with easy-to-use automated systems.
http://www.cardica.com/
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=195013&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1335807&highlight=

Xerox to Acquire Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4 Billion

Norwalk, Conn. -- Document management and imaging technology giant Xerox said on Monday that it will pay $6.4 billion in cash and stock to acquire Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a Texas-based provider of business process outsourcing services. ACS is a major provider of managed services to government clients, having multi-year contracts with more than 1,700 federal, state, county and local governments. Connecticut-based Xerox said that it plans to expand ACS's business in Europe, Asia and South America. ASC shareholders will receive $63.11 a share under the deal, which is expected to close in early 2010. ACS will continue to operate as an independent organization led by Lynn Blodgett, its current president and CEO.
http://www.acs-inc.com
http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/inv_rel_newsroom.jsp?ed_name=NR_2009Sept28_Xerox_to_Acquire_ACS&app=Newsroom&view=newsrelease&format=article&Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US

Santa Clara-Based Chegg.com Says CEO Steps Down

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Chegg.com, the Santa Clara-based developer of an online textbook rental service that raised $25 million in December, said that CEO Jim Safka has stepped down to spend more time with family. He will continue to consult the company on marketing issues. Chairman and co-founder Osman Rashid has been named interim CEO, until a permanent successor is found. "As I said when I started the CEO job at Chegg, I was looking for an early stage company that I could have an immediate impact and spend more time with my family," said Safka. "Given my personal priorities and family desires, I have decided to pass the reigns to a new CEO." The company said that it doesn't plan to make any additional executive changes. Founded in 2005, Chegg buy books through the site, which tells them at the time of purchase exactly how much they will receive at the end of the semester if they choose to sell their books back to the company.
http://www.chegg.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Cheggcom-CEO-Steps-Down-to-prnews-1899870599.html?x=0&.v=1

Record 161 Million U.S. Internet Users Watch Online Video in August

Reston, Va. -- About 161 million U.S. Internet users watch a video online in August -- the largest audience ever recorded -- according to new figures from comScore. Sites owned by Mountain View-based Google, including YouTube, accounted for more than 10 billion of the 25 billion videos viewed during the month. Microsoft ranked second (547 million), followed by Viacom Digital (539 million) and Hulu (488 million). Online viewers watched an average of 157 videos each during the period.
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/9/Google_Sites_Surpasses_10_Billion_Video_Views_in_August

California Moves Up to 38 on Forbes' "Best States for Business" List

Sacramento -- California gained two spots to come in at No. 38 in Forbes' newly released "Best States for Business" rankings. The magazine looks at 33 points of data to determine rankings in six main areas. The state came in dead last in terms of business costs, negating a No. 10 ranking in growth prospects. Virginia, Washington, Utah, Colorado and North Carolina topped the overall list, which is available at the link below.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/23/best-states-for-business-beltway-best-states_table.html 

S.F.-Based CMEA Commits $100M to Alternative Energy Investments

San Francisco -- CMEA Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm focused on the life sciences, information technology and energy & materials sectors, said on Friday that it will invest another $100 million in the alternative energy sector as part of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). The firm made its first commitment to CGI in 2007 to invest $100 million in green energy companies. Now, it will turn its focus to alternative energy, a sector in which it's already backed 14 companies over the past seven years. "The alternative energy sector is finally ready to take off," said Thomas Baruch, the founder and managing director of CMEA Capital. "With the right financing, this sector has the potential to get our economy out of the doldrums by providing millions of new jobs while simultaneously combating our reliance on fossil fuels."
http://www.cmea.com/
http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/CMEA-Capital-to-Invest-an-prnews-2895925473.html?x=0&.v=1

Twitter Confirms Funding; Reportedly $100M at $1B Valuation

San Francisco -- Microblogging service Twitter on Friday confirmed that it has landed a "significant round of funding," which The Wall Street Journal reported was $100 million at a valuation of about $1 billion -- four times its valuation from earlier this year. The San Francisco-based company said that investors included Insight Venture Partners, T. Rowe Price, Institutional Venture Partners, Spark Capital and Benchmark Capital. "It was important to us that we find investment partners who share our vision for building a company of enduring value," wrote CEO Evan Williams. Twitter has yet to generate substantial revenue, but is expected to have 25 million users by the end of this year.
http://blog.twitter.com/2009/09/new-twitter-funding.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/09/24/breaking-news-twitter-to-raise-100-million-from-insight-t-rowe-price-other-investors/?mod=djemalertTECH   

WSJ: S.F.-Based Twitter to Raise $100M at $1 Billion Valuation

San Francisco -- Twitter, the San Francisco-based microblogging service, is nearing a deal that that would land it as much as $100 million in funding based on a valuation of about $1 billion -- four times is valuation from earlier this year -- The Wall Street Journal reported on its web site. Citing people familiar with the deal, the Journal reported that likely investors in the company's third round include T. Rowe Price and Insight Venture Partners, as well as previous backers Spark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners. Twitter has yet to generate revenue, but is expected to have 25 million users by the end of this year. The latest funding round was expected to close as early as Thursday.
http://www.twitter.com
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/09/24/breaking-news-twitter-to-raise-100-million-from-insight-t-rowe-price-other-investors/?mod=djemalertTECH

San Jose-Based Adobe Launches Tender Offer for Omniture

San Jose, Calif. -- A week after announcing plans to acquire Utah-based Omniture in a deal valued at $1.8 billion, Adobe systems, the San Jose-based developer of popular web publishing software, said on Thursday that it has officially launched its tender offer for the company. The company is paying $21.50 a share in cash in an offer set to expire on Oct. 22. Once the deal is completed, Omniture, a developer of online business optimization software, will become a unit of Adobe, adding technology designed to let clients create and more effectively monetize their content and applications online. Omniture's more than 5,000 customers include eBay, AOL, Wal-Mart, Gannett, Microsoft, Neiman Marcus, Oracle, Sony and HP.
http://www.omniture.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090924005251/en 

Mountain View-Based Sabse Technologies to Acquire Mobivox

Mountain View, Calif. -- Sabse Technologies, a Mountain View-based developer of Internet voice services, said on Thursday that it will acquire Montreal-based Mobivox, developer of a voice-activated services platform. Financial terms of the deal -- which comes just two months after Sabse's acquisition of Jaxtr -- were not disclosed. The company said that the acquisition will allow its network of carrier partners to rapidly deploy voice-activated services to their customers.
http://www.sabsebolo.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090924005948/en

Authors Ask for Delay in Google Book Settlement Hearing

Mountain View, Calif. -- The Authors Guild has petitioned a federal court handling its settlement with Mountain View-based Google over the company's ambitious book-scanning project to postpone a hearing on the settlement scheduled for Oct. 7, AFP reported. The organization said that the two sides plan to work with the Department of Justice to overcome its concerns about the settlement. The news comes days after the Justice Department lodged its official opposition to the deal, making suggestions for specific changes that it said could help bring about its approval. The Open Book Alliance, a group opposed to the settlement that includes Google rivals Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo, applauded the move. "Clearly, Google and its partners now agree that the settlement is dead," the group said in a statement. "And any hope for revival of a settlement will require fundamental reforms."
http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/
http://www.openbookalliance.org
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j-FEeESmcydZxlQZA1TftuRx4Q3g

San Ramon-Based TargetCast Acquires Ripple TV

San Ramon, Calif. -- TargetCast Networks, a San Ramon-based provider of out-of-home digital ad delivery services, said that it has acquired Ripple TV, the El Segundo-based operator of an out-of-home digital ad network. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ripple TV's digital TV ad displays can be found in Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Robeks, Gelson's, Noah's and Borders stores. TargetCast said that the deal will create a network with a total of over 3,425 screens in more than 1,400 locations.
http://www.targetcast.com
http://www.rippletv.com
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-22-2009/0005098715&EDATE=

San Francisco-Based Altius Education Lands $8 Million Round

San Francisco -- Altius Education, a San Francisco-based company that partners with non-profit universities to launch fully accredited online colleges, said on Wednesday that it has raised $8 million in its first round of funding, co-led by Maveron and Spark Capital. The Noah Fund also participated in the round, which Altus will use to fuel the growth of its Ivy Bridge College -- a provider of online associate degree programs -- as well as to launch additional programs. According to higher education market research firm the Aslanian Group, nearly 12% of all students at degree granting institutions in 2007 were enrolled solely in online programs, with that figure expected to double by 2013.
http://www.altiused.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Altius-Education-Raises-8-bw-836482058.html?x=0&.v=1

HP Renames EDS Unit as HP Enterprise Services

Palo Alto, Calif. -- A year after completing its $13.9 billion acquisition of technology services giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard (HP) said on Wednesday that it is changing the unit's name. EDS now will be known as HP Enterprise Services, a move that HP said marks "the next major step in a year-long integration." The company also said that it is renaming its Technology Solutions Group, which focuses on business and government organizations, as the HP Enterprise Business. The group, which last quarter accounted for 47% of HP's overall revenue, will continue to report to Ann Livermore, executive vice president of HP.
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2009/090923xa.html

Facebook, Nielsen Partner to Measure Marketing Effectiveness

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Facebook, the Palo Alto-based online social network with more than 300 million members, said that it has forged a multi-year partnership with ratings firm Nielsen. Under the deal, the companies will work to help marketers better use Facebook and gain insights from their campaigns. The first product of the collaboration, Nielsen BrandLift, allows advertisers to post polls on Facebook's homepage designed to measure consumers' interest in products they've seen in ads on the site.
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090922005744/en

S.F.-Based Fluther Raises Funding for Crowdsourced Answers Site

San Francisco -- Fluther, the San Francisco-based developer of a site that provides answers to users' questions based on the expertise and interests of other users, has raised $600,000 in funding, PaidContent reported, citing an SEC filing. No information on investors was disclosed, although Epinions founder Naval Ravikant is listed as a director. Fluther claimed 184,000 unique visitors to its site last month. Users submit questions to the site, which then directs them to other members with expertise on the subject. Users also can discuss questions in real-time with other online members.
http://www.fluther.com
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-question-and-answer-site-fluther-gets-funding/'/

Software Firm Sues Facebook for Patent Infringement

Palo Alto, Calif. -- A Baltimore-based company has filed suit against Palo Alto-based Facebook for allegedly infringing on its two-year-old patent, Bloomberg reported. The company, a small software maker called WhoGlue, claims that the social networking giant has violated its 2007 patent for methods of managing personal relationship data on the Internet. The company, which first applied for the patent in 2001 -- or three years before Facebook was  founded -- is seeking unspecified damages, as well as an injunction to stop Facebook from using the technology. WhoGlue develops web-based relationship management software for membership organizations. "Our solutions are designed to strengthen existing relationships; both between organization and member as well as member to member," WhoGlue says on its web site. "These relationships form a network of individuals who share common interests, beliefs and goals."
http://www.whoglue.com/
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601127&sid=abqgNuil9jkY

Report: Smartphone Users to Download 7 Billion Apps by 2013

Boston -- With the number of smartphone users expected to quadruple over the next four years, research firm the Yankee Group predicts that owners of the devices will download 7 billion apps costing $4.2 billion by 2013. "Apps have been around for years," said Carl Howe, director at Yankee Group. "But app stores have created mass-market products with million-dollar revenue streams attached. Every mobile software developer could be the next Bill Gates for smartphones, but only if they bet on the platforms with the right reach and fit for their application." The firm in two new reports is advising consumer developers to focus on RIM's Blackberry, where consumer-oriented apps are scarce, and enterprise developers to target Apple's iPhone and Google's Android,  addressing thus far relatively untapped markets.
http://www.yankeegroup.com/pressReleaseDetail.do?actionType=getDetailPressRelease&ID=2468

Sunnyvale-Based Serious Materials Lands $60 Million in Third Round

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- In one of the largest funding rounds for a Silicon Valley company in recent months, Sunnyvale-based Serious Materials, a maker of sustainable green building materials designed to save energy, said on Tuesday that it has raised $60 million in its third round of private equity financing. Mesirow Financial led the round, which also included participation from Enertech Capital, Cheyenne and Saints Capital, as well as previous investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Foundation Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, Navitas Capital and Staenberg. The company, which now has raised more than $120 million since its inception, plans to use the proceeds to accelerate its growth and complete development of new energy-saving building products.
http://www.SeriousMaterials.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Serious-Materials-Closes-60-bw-4146868289.html?x=0&.v=1

Milpitas-Based Vuclip Raises $6 Million in Second Round

Milpitas, Calif. -- Vuclip, a Milpitas-based developer of mobile video search and delivery services, said on Tuesday that it has raised $6 million in its second round of funding, by Jafco Ventures. Previous investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA) also participated in the round. Vuclip said that its cloud-based transcoding service delivers more than one million mobile videos a day to mobile users on more than 3,000 unique handsets. The service enables video to play on any phone with a mobile browser and native media player. "We've built a service that addresses browser and device fragmentation issues for mobile video so consumers can watch whatever video they want, when they want it, wherever they happen to be," said Nickhil Jakatdar, the company's co-founder and CEO. Vuclip has 40 employees.
http://www.vuclip.com
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/09-22-2009/0005098060&EDATE=

San Mateo-Based Marketo Lands Third Round of Funding

San Mateo, Calif. -- Marketo, a San Mateo-based developer of software designed for marketing and sales employees, said on Tuesday that it has raised an undisclosed sum in its third round of funding from Mayfield Fund. The company said that it will use the proceeds to accelerate product development, as well as bolster its sales and customer service activities. "We weren't looking for new money but when presented with the opportunity… we knew we had to do it," said Phil Fernandez, the company's president and CEO. In conjunction with the financing, Mayfield managing director Robin Vasan has joined Marketo's board of directors. The news comes 13 months after the company secured $8 million in its second round, led by Storm Ventures.
http://www.marketo.com
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Marketo-1048052.html

Redwood City-Based Silver Spring Networks to Acquire Greenbox

Redwood City, Calif. -- Silver Spring Networks, a Redwood City-based developer of technology that allow utilities to transmit and receive information from the electric grid, said on Tuesday that it will acquire San Bruno-based Greenbox Technology, a developer of web-based energy management software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Greenbox's interactive energy management portal is designed to allow individuals to track, understand and manage their energy usage more efficiently. "We are working with utilities to build the platform for a smarter grid. This acquisition allows Silver Spring to provide another critical application: a smart and intuitive energy-management portal," said Judy Lin, Silver Spring's chief product officer.
http://www.silverspringnetworks.com 
http://www.getgreenbox.com
http://www.silverspringnet.com/news_events/pr_gbx_092209.html

Justice Dept. Opposes Google Book Settlement in Current Form

Mountain View, Calif. -- The Department of Justice has urged the court overseeing Mountain View-based Google's settlement with authors to reject the deal in its current form "due to concerns of the United States regarding class action, copyright and antitrust law." The department also offered a list of proposals on how the deal could be altered to gain its approval, including "imposing limitations on the most open-ended provisions for future licensing," "eliminating potential conflicts among class members" and "providing some mechanism by which Google's competitors can gain comparable access." A hearing is currently scheduled for Oct. 7 to examine to proposed settlement, which also is being opposed by an array of privacy advocates, as well as rivals such as Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/September/09-opa-1001.html

Report: Warner Music, YouTube Close to Music Video Deal

San Bruno, Calif. -- Warner Music Group is close to a deal with San Bruno-based YouTube that would see the major music label once again post videos on the site, CNET News.com reported. Citing sources with knowledge of the talks, CNET said that the companies "have managed to reach terms on most of the major issues" of a dispute over licensing music videos for display on YouTube, and "a final deal could be announced within the next few weeks." Warner pulled its music videos from YouTube in late 2008, following failed licensing renegotiations. The record label at the time said that the payments YouTube would agree to "fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for the value they provide."
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10356764-93.html

Netflix Awards $1M Prize to Developers; Sets New Contest

Los Gatos, Calif. -- Netflix, the Los Gatos-based online DVD rental service, on Monday doled out its $1 million Netflix Prize to a group of engineers and researchers who were able to improve the accuracy of the company's movie recommendation system by 10%. The team "BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos," consisting of three teams that had previously competed against one another, took top honors in the contest, which Netflix launched in 2006. The winning team is comprised of scientists from Austria, Canada, Israel and the U.S. Netflix also on Monday announced its next $1 million challenge. The Netflix Prize 2 will challenge researchers to improve movie recommendations for members who don't rate movies often or at all on the site -- as opposed to the first contest, where the sample of users had rated 50 or more movie titles. The new data provided to contestants will include information about renters' ages, genders, ZIP codes, genre ratings and previously chosen movies.
http://www.netflixprize.com
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-21-2009/0005097597&EDATE=

MySpace Syncs Status Updates with Twitter

San Francisco -- Online social network MySpace announced on Monday that it has added a new feature that lets all MySpace users sync their status updates with their feeds from San Francisco-based microblogging service Twitter, so that their tweets will also appear within their MySpace status and moods. The new feature utilizes OAuth open authentication technology, and can be set to enable syndication either one-way or two-way between MySpace and Twitter. "Your status update is a quick way to tell friends what you're up to, or in to," wrote MySpace senior product manager Sharon Ngyuen. "Our new sync functionality is part of an ongoing effort to make it simple for people to share their status beyond MySpace and allow friends and followers to interact with that content web-wide." Palo Alto-based Facebook has enabled automatic syncing with Twitter, but only for companies, organizations, and others maintaining "pages" on the service.
http://www.myspace.com/pressroom?url=/article_display.cfm?instance_code=myspace&article_id=1078

FCC Chairman Proposes New Rules to Preserve Net Neutrality

Washington, DC -- In a major victory for the concept of "net neutrality," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday outlined several actions he believes need to take place to "safeguard the free and open Internet.". Genachowski proposed that the FCC, which previously had embraced four open Internet principles that guide its enforcement of communications law, add two new principles to that list. The first would prevent Internet access providers from discriminating against particular Internet content or applications, while allowing for "reasonable" network management. The second would require ISPs to be "transparent" about their network management practices. "We are here because 40 years ago, a bunch of researchers in a lab changed the way computers interact and, as a result, changed the world," Genachowski told the audience. "Our work now is to preserve the brilliance of what they contributed to our country and the world. It's to make sure that, in the 21st century, the garage, the basement, and the dorm room remain places where innovators can not only dream but bring their dreams to life. And no one should be neutral about that." Genachowski said that he will begin work on implementing the new rules during the FCC's meeting next month. The FCC has launched a new web site, at the top link below, to encourage input from the public.
http://www.openInternet.gov
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-293567A1.pdf (PDF)
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-293568A1.pdf (PDF)

Dell to Acquire Perot Systems for $3.9 Billion

Round Rock, Texas -- Looking to better position itself against rivals HP and IBM, Dell on Monday said that it will pay $3.9 billion to acquire Perot Systems, the Texas-based IT service giant founded by H. Ross Perot. Under the deal, expected to close by the end of January, Dell will pay $30 a share in cash through a tender offer, with Perot becoming the company's services unit. Michael Dell, Dell's chairman and CEO, said that the acquisition "enhances our opportunities for immediate and long-term growth" and "significantly expands Dell's enterprise-solutions capabilities." Perot has more than 23,000 employees.
http://www.perotsystems.com
http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/secure/2009-09-21-Perot-Systems.aspx

TradeBeam Pumps Another $7 Million Into Chinese Operations

San Mateo, Calif. -- TradeBeam, a San Mateo-based developer of web-based software used to help manage global trading, said that it has pumped another $7 million into its fast-growing Chinese operations. The funds, which came from the company and its previous investors, increases TradeBeam's investment into China to $10 million TradeBeam, which currently has more than 4,000 china-based clients, said that it plans to increase the number of locations in the country from four to eight over the next 12 months.
http://www.tradebeam.com/
http://www.tradebeam.com/about/news/press_releases/20090909.shtml

Mountain View-Based Google Launches DoubleClick Ad Exchange

Mountain View, Calif. -- Google said that it has launched a new online auction site where advertisers can bid on display ad space. The company said that its revamped DoubleClick Ad Exchange "enables display ad space to be allocated much more efficiently and easily across the web." "Better technology can help make display advertising work better for all involved," said Neal Mohan, Mountain View-based Google's vice president of product management. "We're focused on growing the display advertising pie for everyone. The DoubleClick Ad Exchange is a major part of that goal." On the sell side, ad space will come from major online publishers, such as newspapers and large portals, as well as from the company's third party AdSense publisher sites. On the buy side, the exchange already includes over 40 ad networks across North America and Europe.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/annc/20090918_adx.html
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/doubleclick-ad-exchange-growing-display.html

Fremont-Based Accept Software Raises $17M in Second Round

Fremont, Calif. -- Accept Software, a Fremont-based developer of web-based software designed to help companies more efficiently develop new products, said that it has raised just over $17 million in its second round of funding, led by StarVest Partners. Previous backers Jefferson Partners and The Entrepreneurs Fund also participated. The company plans to use the new funds to accelerate the development of its product line, as well as expand sales and marketing. Accept's tools are used by companies to engage communities, prioritize and manage new ideas, align products with company strategy and unify execution across teams.
http://www.acceptsoftware.com
http://www.acceptsoftware.com/news_events/press/091609.html

Skype Founders Sue eBay for Copyright Infringement

San Francisco -- Joltid, the company operated by Skype and Kazaa creators Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, has filed a copyright infringement suit against Skype parent company eBay, which could have an adverse affect on eBay's $2 billion sale of the Internet telephone company to a group of investors, The Wall Street Journal reported. The pair left Skype two years after eBay acquired the company from them for $2.6 billion in 2005, but retained the rights to the service's underlying peer-to-peer technology. Their lawsuit seeks an injunction against further use of its technology, and damages that are estimated to be "amassing at a rate of $75 million daily." Along with eBay, Joltid also named the investors that agreed to acquire Skype from eBay in the lawsuit, including Silver Lake Partners, Index Ventures Management, Michaelangelo Volpi, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. "Their allegations and claims are without merit and are founded on fundamental legal and factual errors," eBay spokesman John Pluhowski told PaidContent.
http://joltid.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125313063626017009.html (subscription required)
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-skype-founders-sue-ebay-investors-over-licenses-could-delay-sell-off/

Twitter Looking to Raise Funding at $1 Billion Valuation

San Francisco -- Twitter, the San Francisco-based microblogging service, is looking to raise $50 million in new financing at a $1 billion valuation, TechCrunch reported, citing multiple sources who said that CEO Evan Williams disclosed the figure during a staff meeting. Insight Venture Partners will be the primary investor in the new round, the blog said. The company last raised $35 million in February from backers including Benchmark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners. To date, Twitter has raised a total of $55 million.
http://www.twitter.com
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/16/twitter-closing-new-venture-round-with-1-billion-valuation/

Palo Alto-Based Zoove Lands $13M for Short Code Mobile Marketing

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Zoove, a Palo Alto-based provider of mobile marketing services in the form of mobile short codes, said that it has raised $13 million in its third round of funding. Investors included Highland Capital Partners, Worldview Technology Partners and Cardinal Capital Partners. The company will use the funds to support the rollout of its service across major U.S. carriers. Zoove's platform lets marketers engage consumers via mobile phones through a unique short code that is entered like a phone number. In return, consumers receive promotional text messages, links to web pages, videos or images, or product information downloaded to the phone.
http://www.zoove.com
http://www.zoove.com/091509.php

Report of Google's Brightcove Acquisition Said to be False

Mountain View, Calif. -- Reports of Mountain View-based Google's possible deal for online video firm Brightcove appear to be false, according to an analyst from research firm Frost & Sullivan. Posting on his blog, Dan Rayburn reported that a trusted employee from one of the companies "confirmed with me that the rumor that Google is buying Brightcove is in fact false." On Wednesday, San Francisco-based technology writer Mark Glaser, the executive editor of the PBS blog Media Shift, reported on Twitter that, according to a "source with knowledge of deal," Brightcove was in talks with Google "about buyout in $500m to $700m range." The rumor quickly sp[read like wildfire around the Internet.
http://twitter.com/mediatwit/status/4032713105
http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2009/09/confirmed-google-rumor-false-not-acquiring-brightcove.html