Silicon Valley Wire

San Francisco-Based Vizu Raises $6.75 Million in New Funding

San Francisco - Vizu, a San Francisco-based provider of online market research services, said that it has secured $6.75 million in a new round of funding, co-led by iNovia Capital and Greycroft Partners. Previous backers including Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Esther Dyson also participated. The company said that it will use the funds for further technology development, as well as to bolster its sales and client service teams. Launched in 2005, Vizu has developed a platform that allows clients to measure the effectiveness of their digital media branding campaigns in real time.
http://www.vizu.com
http://answers.vizu.com/solutions/pr/press-release/20091202.htm

S.F.-Based ReTel Technologies Lands $1M in Seed Funding

San Francisco -- ReTel Technologies, a San Francisco-based developer of surveillance video business intelligence and analytics products, said that it has raised $1 million in a new round of seed funding, led by Jeff Clavier of SoftTech VC. Ira Weiss from Hyde Park Angels, Dave McClure (through FF Angel), Maples Investments, eonBusiness and Zelkova Venture Capital also participated, which the company will use to expand its engineering and sales teams. ReTel's flagship software, known as ConstantAudit, is designed to use existing surveillance equipment to helps restaurant and retail chains learn more about their stores' operational efficiency, employee productivity and consumer experience. Current clients include Shell Petroleum and Dunkin' Donuts, with additional chains now participating in private pilot programs.
http://www.reteltechnologies.com
http://www.reteltechnologies.com/2009/12/retel-technologies-raises-1-million-for-surveillance-video-analytics/

San Jose-Based SiTune Lands Second Round of Funding

San Jose, Calif. -- SiTune, a San Jose-based developer of low-power chips for broadband wireless technologies, said on Thursday that it has raised an unspecified amount in its second round of funding from previous backer Greenlane Investments. The company said that it will use the proceeds to ramp production of its latest generation of tuners for mobile digital TV and universal CMOS TV, as well as to grow its international sales infrastructure. "We are ramping up our production infrastructure and aggressively expanding our international presence to support and expand our customer base," said Vahid Toosi, the president and CEO of SiTune.
http://www.situne-ic.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091203005109/en

Berkeley-Based MOG Debuts $5-a-Month Music Streaming Service

Berkeley, Calif. -- MOG, a Berkeley-based network of user-created music blogs, on Wednesday announced the North American launch of MOG All Access, a premium digital music service providing streaming access to over six million songs for $5 a month. The service launches with licenses from all four major record labels and "thousands" of independent labels, and provides unlimited song streaming and playlist creation. The service also includes an algorithm-based music discovery service and an interactive radio service. MOG, which counts 10 million monthly visitors to its stable of music blogs, is offering a one-hour free trial of the new service.
http://www.mog.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mog-all-access-puts-music-in-the-cloud-a-huge-library-of-all-you-can-eat-on-demand-music-78314892.html

Redwood City-Based EA to Release Fewer Titles; Sees Shift to Digital

Redwood City, Calif. -- Fresh off a round of more than 1,500 layoffs, Redwood City-based Electronic Arts (EA), the large developer and publisher of video games, plans to reduce the overall number of titles that it releases in coming years, Reuters reported. EA will publish more than 50 titles in 2009, but plans to cut that number to 40 next year. "Thirty wouldn't shock me at some point in the future," CEO John Riccitiello told Reuters. Riccitiello also said that he expects half of the game industry's output to be distributed digitally in 2010, up from 40% this year.
http://www.ea.com
http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUSN0151965220091201?sp=true

San Francisco-Based Aravo Closes Fourth Round at $27 Million

San Francisco -- One year after initially raising $7 million in its fourth round of funding, San Francisco-based Aravo, a developer of web-based software designed to help users better manage supplier information, said on Tuesday that it has closed the round at $27 million. New investor Cisco was the largest participant, and also plans to integrate its WebEx technologies with Aravo Supplier Information Management (SIM) to enable real-time collaboration between buyers and suppliers. "We see a great opportunity to advance cross-company collaboration within enterprise supply chains," said David Knight, the senior director of product management for Cisco's Collaboration Software Group. The company now has raised $50 million since its inception in 2000, with the majority provided by individuals. Aravo plans to use the proceeds to develop new products, as well as expand its sales, marketing and delivery capacity.
http://www.aravo.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091202005328/en 

San Francisco-Based Bizo Lands $6 Million in New Funding

San Francisco -- Bizo, the San Francisco-based developer of an online B2B audience targeting platform and advertising network, said on Wednesday that it has raised $6 million in a new round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Previous investors Venrock, Vulcan and Ascent also participated in the round, which the company will use to increase its sales and marketing teams and invest in product development. Bizo's Bizographic Targeting Platform is designed to let B2B marketers learn more about the business-oriented demographics of their audience and target them more precisely, while preserving their anonymity. Top clients include American Express, Hoover's and JPMorgan Chase.
http://www.bizo.com 
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bizo-announces-6-million-of-funding-led-by-bessemer-venture-partners-78305977.html

San Francisco-Based gWallet Lands New Investments in First Round

San Francisco - gWallet, the San Francisco-based developer of a virtual currency platform for social media sites, said that it has landed new investments from Adams Street Partners and Trinity Ventures in its first institutional round, increasing its total backing to $12.5 million. The company, which was launched earlier this year, said that it will use the funds to establish new offices in New York and London, as well as for acquisitions. gWallet is the third startup for founder Gurbaksh Chahal, who launched his first advertising startup, ClickAgents, at age 16 and sold that company to ValueClick for $40 million just two years later. His second venture, behavioral advertising network BlueLithium, was sold to Yahoo in October 2007 in a $300 million deal. The new company's platform features alternative online payment, virtual currency and virtual product aggregation components, and promises to offer better protection for consumers than incumbents in the space.
http://www.gwallet.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gwallet-raises-first-institutional-round-increasing-total-investments-to-125m-78249932.html

Fremont-Based HipLogic Lands $7 Million in Second Round

Fremont, Calif. -- HipLogic, the Fremont-based developer of a mobile application platform, said on Wednesday that it has raised $7 million in its second round of funding to further develop and deploy its platform. New investor Bay Partners led the round, which also included new investor Accrue Sports and Entertainment Ventures and previous backers Benchmark Capital and Stage 1 Ventures. HipLogic's platform is designed to connect smartphone users with social networking, web and entertainment content in a format specifically built for mobile. It currently is being deployed through a partnership with European mobile retailer The Carphone Warehouse.
http://www.hiplogic.com
http://www.hiplogic.com/press.php?r=20091202_hiplogicsecuresfunding

San Francisco-Based LoopNet Settles Litigation with Rival CoStar

San Francisco -- LoopNet, the San Francisco-based operator of an online commercial real estate marketplace, said on Wednesday that it has settled its ongoing litigation with CoStar Group, a Maryland-based provider of information services to the commercial real estate industry. The deal, which does not include any cash payments, resolves false advertising claims in New York, breach of contract and unfair competition claims in California and copyright claims in Maryland. In a joint statement, the companies said that the settlement is "in the best interest of our customers, shareholders and employees." LoopNet originally filed suit against CoStar in late 2007 over the alleged unlawful use of its property listings and listing information. CoStar then filed its own suit three months later, claiming that LoopNet greatly inflated its number of registered users.
http://www.costar.com/ 
http://www.loopnet.com/
http://www.costar.com/about/article.aspx?id=6905

Online Retail Sales Jump 13.7% on "Cyber Monday"

San Mateo, Calif. -- U.S. online spending on "Cyber Monday," the first day back at work after the Thanksgiving holiday, was up 13.7% from last year, according to a new report from San Mateo-based Coremetrics. In addition, the average dollar amount consumers spent per online order rose from about $130 to $180. And consumers on average purchased nearly 10% more than on Black Friday, the traditional start to the holiday shopping season, as well as 30% more than on Cyber Monday in 2008. Retailers in apparel and jewelry reported the biggest jumps in average dollar amounts spent.
http://www.coremetrics.com/solutions/benchmark-report-black-friday-cyber-monday-2009.php?cm_sp=holiday-benchmark-reports-_-website-_-homepage-tile

Report: YouTube in Talks to Offer $1.99 Streaming TV Shows

San Bruno, Calif. -- YouTube, the San Bruno-based online video unit of Google, is in early talks with TV networks and studios on offering streaming TV episodes for $1.99 each, All Things D reported. Citing multiple unnamed sources, the blog said that the shows would be made available for commercial-free streaming the morning after their first network broadcast. Apple's iTunes Store and other retailers already sell TV episode downloads for $1.99 each, and many network sites, as well as Hulu, offer streaming episodes for free with advertising. All Things D, however, reported that YouTube may aim for "long and mid-'tail' shows and videos that aren't available other places, and don't have to match existing prices."
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20091201/is-youtube-ready-for-prime-time-google-wants-to-stream-tv-for-a-fee/

Milpitas-Based Aquantia Raises $35 Million in Fourth Round

Milpitas, Calif. -- Aquantia, a Milpitas-based developer of silicon products used in high-speed Ethernet networking, said on Tuesday that it has raised $35 million in its fourth round of funding, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Previous backers Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Pinnacle Ventures and  Venture Tech Alliance also participated in the round, which the company said eventually could be expanded to as much as $44 million. Rohini Chakravarthy, a partner at NEA, will join the company's board of directors. Aquantia's 10GB Ethernet technology provides high-speed links for servers, switches and storage devices in data centers and networks. The company also raised $26 million in a round that closed in early 2008.
http://www.aquantia.com
http://www.aquantia.com/pdf/Aquantia_SeriesD_FINAL.pdf (PDF)

Mountain View-Based Soasta Raises $10 Million in Third Round

Mountain View, Calif. -- Preparing for global expansion, Mountain View-based Soasta, a provider of cloud testing services, said on Tuesday that it has raised $10 million in its third round of funding, led by UV Partners. Previous backers Canaan Partners, Formative Ventures and The Entrepreneurs' Fund also participated. The company plans to use the funds to open new offices in Europe, broaden its reseller channel and enhance products. "This round of financing will help us through our expansion phase," said CEO Tom Lounibos. With Soasta's CloudTest service, users describe a web user process, such as logging into an account or executing a transaction, and the company's engineers build and run specific tests, then work with clients to analyze and fix a site's problems. 
http://www.soasta.com
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Soasta-Inc-NYSE-CSC-1083731.html

Genius.com Lands $7 Million in New Round of Funding

San Mateo, Calif. -- Genius.com, the San Mateo-based developer of a web-based marketing automation and email marketing platform, said on Tuesday that it has landed $7 million in a new round of funding, led by new investor Deep Fork Capital. All of the company's previous investors, including Accel, MDV, Walden and Emergence, also participated. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its sales and product development efforts, with an eye on profitability. Genius.com has more than 500 corporate customers, who use the company's technology to automate email marketing and lead nurturing campaigns.
http://www.genius.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SaaS-Social-Marketing-iw-1433380171.html?x=0&.v=1

Palo Alto-Based Ansca Mopbile Lands $1 Million from Merus Capital

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Ansca Mobile, the Palo Alto-based developer of a platform for creating native iPhone apps, said on Tuesday that it has landed a new $1 million investment from venture capital firm Merus Capital. The company said that it will use the funds to expand its operations, including hiring more engineers. Ansca, which is led by a team of former Adobe mobile software veterans, makes the Corona platform, which it said allows "non-traditional" developers to quickly create and share apps.
http://www.anscamobile.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Ansca-Mobile-Receives-1-prnews-2804962697.html?x=0&.v=1

NORAD Launches Annual Holiday Site Tracking Santa

Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. -- The North American Aerospace Defense Command on Tuesday officially launched its NORAD Tracks Santa web site in seven languages. The site features holiday games and activities that will change on a daily basis, and beginning Dec. 24 will stream videos from numerous cities along Santa's journey. Internet users also will be able to track Santa through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and TroopTube.mil. And for the first time, NORAD said that it has partnered with OnStar, allowing subscribers to track Santa while they're in their vehicles on Christmas Eve. NORAD began the Christmas tradition in 1955 after a child mistakenly called the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center seeking the whereabouts of Santa.
http://www.noradsanta.org/

Broadcom to Acquire Sunnyvale-Based Dune Networks

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Broadcom, the Irvine-based designer of communications chips, said on Monday that it will pay $178 million to acquire Sunnyvale-based Dune Networks, a developer of switch fabric used in data center networking equipment. The deal is expected to close by the end of March. Broadcom said that the acquisition will bolster its offerings for data centers. "[Dune's] technology is particularly well suited to meet the emerging requirements for cloud computing networks at a large scale, and will enable us to address new market applications for Ethernet in the data center," said Martin Lund, the vice president and general manager of Broadcom's network switching business. Founded in 2000, Dune previously had raised $45 million in funding from investors including U.S. Venture Partners, Alta Berkeley Ventures, Aurum Ventures, Cipio Partners, Jerusalem Venture Partners and Pitango Venture Capital.
http://www.dunenetworks.com/
http://www.dunenetworks.com/webSite/Modules/News/NewsItem.aspx?pid=355&id=110&ntype=2

Palo Alto-Based TechCrunch Says CrunchPad Tablet PC Hits Dead End

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Ten days after the scheduled debut of its tablet PC, Palo Alto-based technology blog TechCrunch said on Monday that its CrunchPad device, being developed with Singapore-based Fusion Garage, has hit a legal dead end. "The entire project self destructed over nothing more than greed, jealousy and miscommunication," TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington wrote in a blog post. The project, nearly a year and a half in development, was expected to feature a 12-inch touchscreen and proprietary operating system, allowing users with web access to browse the Internet, watch videos and edit documents at a relatively low cost. Arrington wrote that the project imploded when Fusion Garage's shareholders decided to sever ties with TechCrunch, moving forward on its own. "We jointly own the CrunchPad product intellectual property, and we solely own the CrunchPad trademark," wrote Arrington. "So it's legally impossible for them to simply build and sell the device without our agreement." He added that multiple lawsuits are expected to follow.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/30/crunchpad-end/

AOL to Unveil System that Will Tailor Content to Readers, Advertisers

New York -- Hoping to boost its fortunes as a stand-alone company, AOL is preparing to launch a new digital newsroom system that will use sophisticated algorithms to determine which types of online articles, photos and videos the company's editorial staff should produce, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The system will collect data from various web searches in an effort to better tailor AOL's content to readers and advertisers. "Content is the one area on the web that hasn't seen the full potential," CEO Tim Armstrong told the paper. "Hopefully, we will spark a revolution of people doing content at a different scale." Once armed with the information, the company plans to churn out specific content from its 500-person editorial staff, as well as through a network of several thousands freelancers. AOL said that it will sell ads next to the content, as well as accept sponsorships of specific articles, such as stories about where to find particular types of merchandise. The company is planning to complete its spinoff from parent Time Warner on Dec. 9.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574565673001918320.html (subscription required)
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-aols-armstrong-orders-up-news-thats-automated-and-advertorial/

Redwood City-Based BaroSense Lands Investment from iNovia Capital

Redwood City, Calif. -- iNovia Capital, a Montreal-based venture Capital firm, said on Monday that it has invested an undisclosed amount in Redwood City-based medical device maker BaroSense as part of the company's second round of funding. Eight-year-old BaroSense, which focuses on the minimally invasive treatment of obesity, did not disclose other details. "This round should allow the company to complete U.S. clinical trials and obtain regulatory approval to commercialize its lead product," said Daniel Balbierz, the president and CEO of BaroSense.
http://www.barosense.com/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/iNovia-Capital-Invests-in-prnews-2453463220.html?x=0&.v=1

Black Friday Online Spending Rises 11% from Last Year

Reston, Va. -- As bargain-hunting shoppers scoured the Internet for deals on "Cyber Monday," comScore reported that online sales on "Black Friday" were up 11% from a year ago. In fact, the $595 million in web sales made it the second highest online spending day in 2009. "Black Friday, better known as a shopping bonanza in brick-and-mortar retail stores, is increasingly becoming one of the landmark days in the online holiday shopping world," said Gian Fulgoni, the chairman of comScore. "While this acceleration in spending suggests the online holiday season may be shaping up slightly more optimistically than anticipated, it may also reflect the heavy discounting and creative promotions being put forth by retailers that now encompass the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter." comScore noted that the Internet increasingly has been an influential driver of "brick-and-mortar" retail stores, with shoppers doing diligent research before making purchases.
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/11/Black_Friday_Boasts_595_Million_in_U.S._Online_Holiday_Spending_Up_11_Percent_Versus_Year_Ago