Silicon Valley Wire

Pleasanton-Based IronPlanet Files for $92 Million IPO

Pleasanton, Calif. -- IronPlanet, the Pleasanton-based developer of an online marketplace for used heavy equipment, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $92 million in its initial public offering (IPO). The company, which plans to list its stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol "IRON," has yet to disclose details of the offering, such as the number of shares to be sold or their expected price range. Last year, IronPlanet connected more than 1,600 unique sellers to over 7,600 unique buyers, who bought approximately 30,000 individual pieces of equipment.
http://www.ironplanet.com/
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1481441/000095012310026056/f55123orsv1.htm

Mountain View-Based Plastic Jungle Raises $7.4M in Second Round

Mountain View, Calif. – Plastic Jungle, the Mountain View-based developer of an online gift card exchange, said on Friday that it has raised $7.4 million in its second round of funding, led by new investor Redpoint Ventures. Previous backers Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital and Bay Partners also participated. The company, which also raised $6 million in March 2009, plans to use the latest funding to grow its business, which aims to liquidate the estimated $30 billion in unused gift cards. The service allows users to get cash for unwanted gift cards for up to 92% of the unused balance, as well as buy gift cards at up to a 30% discount. Plastic Jungle said that it saw 450% year-over-year revenue growth this past holiday season. "Our growth this past year proves that we are filling a significant gap in the retail economy allowing retailers to drive enormous incremental value from their already successful gift card programs," said CEO Gary Briggs. "With this new investment we’ll be able to execute our vision more quickly."
http://www.plasticjungle.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Plastic-Jungle-Raises-74-bw-3965402667.html?x=0&.v=1

Report: Google May Exit China on April 10, to Detail Plans Monday

Mountain View, Calif. -- Google may opt to exit the Chinese market on April 10, according to an unnamed sales agent quotes by China Business News. "We've gotten news saying Google will leave China on April 10, but this piece of news has not yet been confirmed by the Google side," wrote China Business News reads, according to a translation published in The Wall Street Journal. The report also cited an unnamed employee of Google China as saying that the company would announce its intentions with respect to China on Monday. The company announced that it would stop censoring its search results in China -- a requirement by the Chinese government -- and consider leaving the country following hacker attacks on Gmail accounts that originated from the country.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-to-announce-china-plans-monday-report-2010-03-18?reflink=MW_news_stmp
http://www.yicai.com/news/2010/03/323510.html

S.F.-Based Francisco Partners Completes Deal for QuadraMed

San Francisco -- Francisco Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on technology, said on Friday that it has completed its $126 million acquisition of QuadraMed, a Virginia-based provider of information technology services to the healthcare industry. The all-cash deal, which takes QuadraMed private, was first announced in December. QuadraMed, now a subsidiary of Francisco, will maintain its Reston headquarters, as well as its operations at various offices throughout the U.S. The company’s stock will no longer be listed on the Nasdaq Global Market.
http://www.quadramed.com
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=81676&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1403883&highlight=

S.F.-Based World Golf Tour Lands $10 Million for Online Game

San Francisco -- World Golf Tour (WGT), the operator of a virtual online golf game, has raised $10 million in its third round of funding, led by JAFCO Ventures, VentureBeat reported. Previous investors Panorama Capital and Battery Ventures, also participated. Founded in 2007, WGT will use some of the funds for expansion overseas, as well as to develop a version of its online game for Facebook.  The free-to-play game, which counts around 500,000 active monthly users, generates revenue through the sale of virtual items, like branded golf clubs and balls. WGT also said that it has signed a long-term deal with the U.S. Golf Association. Under the agreement, the USGA will recognize WGT as the exclusive platform provider for its virtual golf championships.
http://www.wgt.com
http://www.wgt.com/news/
http://games.venturebeat.com/2010/03/16/world-golf-tour-raises-10m-as-it-expands-overseas-and-explores-social-games/ 

Mountain View-Based Playdom Invests $5M in Argentina's MetroGames

Mountain View, Calif. -- Playdom, a Mountain View-based publisher of social games that recently raised $43 million in financing, has invested $5 million in the first round of funding for MetroGames, a developer of social games based in Argentina. MetroGames counts more than 30 games across Facebook and its own web site. The company will use the funds to expand its pipeline of game development, and to further develop its Metrogames.com site. John Pleasants, Playdom's CEO, has joined the company's board of directors. "MetroGames has a proven track record for developing very appealing social games, so we are convinced that with Playdom's help they will become a big player in the social gaming market," said Pleasants.
http://www.playdom.com
http://www.metrogames.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/playdom-fuels-metrogames-plans-for-explosive-growth-87860757.html

Palo Alto-Based Hercules Commits $52M to Nine Companies

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Hercules Technology Growth Capital, a Palo Alto-based specialty finance firm, said on Thursday that it has committed over $52.0 million in structured debt financing to new and existing portfolio companies. New financings include $8 million to Manhattan Beach-based Intelligent Beauty and $15.7 million to an undisclosed California-based healthcare provider focusing on children's health. In addition, the firm said that it has committed $28.3 million to seven portfolio companies. The funds don't include $25 million in financing for Velocity Technology Solutions, announced last week. "With these recent new commitments, we are further diversifying our portfolio by stage and industry sector," said Manuel Henriquez, the chairman and CEO of Hercules.
http://www.htgc.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100318005390/en/Hercules-Technology-Growth-Capital-Announces-Additional-Commitments

AOL Launches $10M Venture Fund for "Local" Start-ups

New York -- AOL said that it has launched a $10 million dedicated venture capital fund, which will invest in start-ups in the "local" space. The fund, which will operate out of the company's AOL Ventures investment arm, will target start-ups "fundamentally improving the local experience for consumers, businesses, governments and organizations throughout the world." The company also announced plans to "aggressively expand its Patch hyperlocal news service, currently available in 40 communities, and re-launch its City's Best rankings in 25 major U.S. metro areas. In addition, AOL said that it plans to increasingly incorporate local content into its AOL.com homepage, using intuitive geo-targeting technology to tailor information to users' locations. "Local is the one area of the Internet that has not been built out in an extensive way," said Tim Armstrong., AOL's chairman and CEO. "While there are companies in the local space, AOL has the technology to digitize the local space at scale.  We believe it's an untapped market for the most part and one of the largest commercial opportunities online that has yet to be won."
http://corp.aol.com/press-releases/2010/03/aol-expand-hyper-local-presence-and-relaunch-citys-best-2010
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35916168 (CNBC Interview)

State Launches $30M Loan Program for Clean Energy Manufacturers

Sacramento -- A new state program will provide more than $30 million in low-interest loans to California companies creating or retaining jobs in clean energy technology. The Clean Energy Business Financing Program (CEBFP), supported by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will allow companies to apply for $50,000-$5 million in funds to manufacture eligible energy efficiency or renewable energy products, components, systems or technologies. Applicants can apply for the loans starting March 29 at the top link below.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/recovery/cleanenergy.html
http://www.energy.ca.gov/releases/2010_releases/2010-03-17_clean_energy_business_financing.html

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo to Acquire S.F.-Based Citizen Sports

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Confirming a flurry of rumors about the deal, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said on Wednesday that it will acquire Citizen Sports, a San Francisco-based developer of sports apps and games for the iPhone and Facebook platforms. Financial terms of the deal, expected to close by midyear, were not disclosed. Founded in 2004 by Mike Kerns and Jeff Ma in 2004, Citizen Sports is the developer of the popular Sportacular iPhone app, as well as several other fantasy sports games and Facebook apps. "Sports has been among the earliest online categories to experience rapid social proliferation, and the combination of Citizen Sports leading products with our world-class sports experience on Yahoo Sports is a win-win for sports fans globally," said Bryan Lamkin, the senior vice president of Yahoo's Consumer Products Group.
http://www.citizensportsinc.com/
http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=452804

Santa Clara's LucidLogix Raises $8 Million in New Funding

Santa Clara, Calif. -- LucidLogix Technologies, an Israeli developer of processors designed to improve visual computing in business and gaming applications, said on Wednesday that it has landed $8 million in new funding from previous backers Rho Ventures, Giza Venture Capital and Genesis Partners. The company, which bases its sales and marketing operations in Santa Clara, now has raised $40 million since its inception. It plans to use the latest funds to enhance sales support, accelerate market penetration of current products and expand research and development activities.  Lucid targets its graphics technology to motherboards and add-in boards for desktops and mobile platforms.
http://www.lucidlogix.com/
http://www.lucidlogix.com/download/PR%20Salegrowth_add_investment%20031610.pdf (PDF)

Netflix Settles with FTC Over Privacy, Cancels Contest Sequel

Los Gatos, Calif. -- Netflix, the Los Gatos-based online DVD rental service, has settled a lawsuit related to the disclosure of customer data for its Netflix Prize contest for developers, and announced that it will abandon plans to host a sequel to the contest. The first contest awarded $1 million to developers who were able to improve the accuracy of Netflix's movie recommendations feature by 10%. At the time of the award, the company announced a sequel contest that would provide developers with what it said was anonymous usage data from subscribers. Netflix said that soon after the announcement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began asking questions about how the disclosure might affect customers' privacy, and a class action lawsuit was filed against the company over the matter. "We have reached an understanding with the FTC and have settled the lawsuit with plaintiffs," Neil Hunt, Netflix's chief product officer, wrote on the company's blog. "The resolution to both matters involves certain parameters for how we use Netflix data in any future research programs."
http://blog.netflix.com/2010/03/this-is-neil-hunt-chief-product-officer.html

Facebook Tops Google to Become Most-Visited U.S. Site

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Palo Alto-based Facebook topped Mountain View-based Google last week to become the most-visited web site in the U.S., according to new data from audience measurement firm Hitwise. Facebook claimed 7.07% of all U.S. Internet visits last week, eclipsing Google's 7.03%. Visits to Facebook were up 185% for the week, compared with the same week in 2009, while visits Google rose 9%. Facebook also has wrestled away the top U.S. site ranking from Google on several prior occasions, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Together, the two sites accounted for 14% of all U.S. Internet visits last week.
http://weblogs.hitwise.com/heather-dougherty/2010/03/facebook_reaches_top_ranking_i.html

Winners Selected in Annual Intel Science Talent Search

Washington, DC -- Intel, the Santa Clara-based chipmaker, and the Society for Science & the Public on Tuesday night announced the winners of their 69th annual Intel Science Talent Search, which held its final round in Washington, DC. Eighteen-year-old Erika DeBenedictis of Albuquerque, N.M. won the top award of $100,000 from the Intel Foundation for her project developing a software navigation system to help improve spacecraft travel through the solar system. Second place honors and $75,000 went to David Liu, 18, of Saratoga, Calif., for his work to develop a system to recognize and understand digital images. Each of the 40 finalists received at least $7,500 in prizes. More than 1,700 high school seniors originally entered the competition, with 300 semifinalists announced in January.
http://www.societyforscience.org
http://www.societyforscience.org/Document.Doc?id=180

AOL Launches Cooking Site KitchenDaily

New York -- Looking to further expand the reach of its lifestyle content, AOL on Wednesday launched a new food web site called KitchenDaily. The site, targeting home cooks, features a database that includes thousands of recipes tested by chefs, food magazines and cookbook publishers, as well as brands such as Campbell's. "KitchenDaily is designed to help busy home cooks, moms in particular, make smart, informed decisions about food and cooking while also helping to instill confidence in their abilities in the kitchen," said Stephanie Dolgins, the senior vice president of AOL Women's and Lifestyle Group. Cheryl Brown, formerly of Gourmet magazine and Wondertime magazine, will serve as editor-in-chief, and Megan Steintrager, formerly of Epicurious.com, will be senior editor. The site also features more than 250 original videos from expert chefs and the Culinary Institute of America.
http://www.kitchendaily.com
http://corp.aol.com/press-releases/2010/03/aol-launches-kitchendailycom

Study: Mobile Apps to Outsell CDs by 2012

San Mateo, Calif. -- Mobile apps will outsell CDs by 2012, according to a new study by Chetan Sharma Consulting for San Mateo-based GetJar. The study predicts that app downloads will increase from current annual levels of more than 7 billion to nearly 50 billion by 2012, when their revenue of $17.5 billion would eclipse that of CDs ($13.8 billion). "With the consumer appetite for mobile apps rocketing, the opportunities for developers are huge," sad Ilja Laurs, the CEO of GetJar. The number of app stores also increased from eight to 38 last year -- a trend Laurs believes soon will be reversed. "There is no way that this many app stores will survive in the long term and while the value of the global app economy is set to be astoundingly high by 2012, we think only a few app stores will share this revenue," he said.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100316007140/en/GetJar-Reveals-Mobile-Apps-Outsell-CDs-2012 

San Mateo-Based BrightEdge Lands $6.5 Million in New Funding

San Mateo, Calif. -- BrightEdge a San Mateo-based developer of web-based software used for search engine marketing, said on Tuesday that it has raised $6.5 million in a new round of funding, led by Battery Ventures. Previous backers Altos Ventures and Illuminate Ventures also participated in the round, which the company will use to accelerate its entry into the market, as well as expand its engineering and operations activities. Satya Patel, a partner at Battery Ventures and former manager at Google, will join the company's board of directors.
http://www.brightedge.com/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SEO-Management-Leader-iw-2787763150.html?x=0&.v=1

San Bruno-Based Agile Energy Raises First Round of Funding

San Bruno, Calif. -- Agile Energy, a San Bruno-based developer of utility-scale solar power generating projects, said on Tuesday that it has raised its first round of venture capital from Good Energies, an investor in clean energy businesses. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. Agile was formed last December by Glen Davis and Robert Morgan, two former executives with Ausra, a venture capital-backed solar thermal technology company. Prior to that, the two worked together for many years at AES. Agile Energy is focused on developing grid-connected, ground-mounted solar projects located in North America with generating capacity over 5 megawatts. The company said that each of its projects will feature photovoltaic or concentrating photovoltaic technology, "with suppliers to be selected on a competitive basis." Agile said that its near-term pipeline consists of about 400 megawatts of solar projects.
http://www.agileenergy.com
http://www.goodenergies.com

San Francisco-Based PowerReviews Raises $6.1 Million

San Francisco -- PowerReviews, a San Francisco-based provider of customer review technology to online retailers, said on Tuesday that it has raised $6.1 million in a new round of funding, co-led by Menlo Ventures and Tenaya Capital. PowerReviews provide customer review and social merchandising tools to more than 800 clients, including Orbitz, Radio Shack, Toys R Us and Staples. The company, which now has raised nearly $30 million since its inception, also operates product review and recommendation site Buzzillions.com.
http://www.powerreviews.com/
http://www.powerreviews.com/press.php

FCC Delivers National Broadband Plan to Congress

Washington, DC -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday delivered its long-awaited National Broadband Plan to Congress, with the goal of creating a nationwide communications network connecting more than 90% of U.S. households. Among the highlights, the plan aims to connect 100 million households with affordable broadband at speeds of 100 megabits per second, with 1 gigabit connections at anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals and military installations, and free up another 500 megahertz of wireless spectrum to meet the growing demand for mobile services. Another aspect aims to create a nationwide wireless public safety network for first responders. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called the plan "a 21st century roadmap to spur economic growth and investment, create jobs, educate our children, protect our citizens and engage in our democracy." Currently, nearly 100 million Americans lack broadband at home, while 14 million desire broadband but don't have access.  
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-296858A1.pdf (PDF)
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-296859A1.pdf (PDF)

Report: Yahoo to Buy San Francisco-Based Citizen Sports

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Looking to further bolster its strong sports content business, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo is expected to acquire Citizen Sports, a San Francisco-based developer of sports apps and games for the iPhone and Facebook platforms, AllThingsD reported, citing several unnamed sources. The blog pegged the purchase price at upwards of $50 million. Officials from both companies have declined to comment. Founded in 2005 as ProTrade, Citizen Sports is the developer of the popular Sportacular iPhone app, as well as several other fantasy sports games and Facebook apps.
http://www.citizensportsinc.com/
http://kara.allthingsd.com/20100315/yahoo-is-teed-up-to-buy-a-sports-site-boomtown-is-betting-on-citizen-sports-for-the-score/

Ning CEO Exits; Joins VC Firm Andreessen Horowitz

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Ning, the Palo Alto-based developer of a platform used to create niche social networks, said that co-founder and CEO Gina Bianchini has stepped down to become an executive in residence at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Fellow Ning co-founder Marc Andreessen, who will remain chaiman, made the announcement on the company's blog. Ning's COO, Jason Rosenthal, will become the company's new CEO. Ning counts 45 million registered users across its 2.3 million user-created social networks.
http://www.ning.com  
http://blog.ning.com/2010/03/an-update-from-ning-chairman-co-founder-marc-andreessen.html

Survey: 19% of Online News Consumers Willing to Pay

Washington, DC -- Only 19% of Americans who get their news online said that they would be willing to pay for that service, according to a new survey by the DC-based  Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, 82% said that they would look elsewhere if their news sites began to charge. Currently, only a handful of mainstream news sites, including those of The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, require users to pay subscription fees to access content, though a growing number of news organizations plan to experiment with the model. Pew found that while more than half of all American adults get at least some of their news online, most tend to graze across multiple sites, without having a primary one that they rely on.
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/The-economics-of-online-news/Media.aspx?r=1

Cupertino's MagnaChip Semiconductor Files for $250 Million IPO

Cupertino, Calif. -- MagnaChip Semiconductor, a Korea-based maker of analog and mixed-signal chips with U.S. headquarters in Cupertino, on Monday filed to raise up to $250 million in its initial public offering (IPO). The company, which emerged from Chapter 11 in November, plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MX." Details of the offering, such as the number of shares to be sold and their expected price range, have yet to be announced. MagnaChip's products include display drivers, which are used in flat panel displays and mobile multimedia devices, and chips used for power management in consumer products. The company also provides
specialty analog and mixed-signal foundry services for fabless semiconductor companies that serve the consumer, computing and wireless markets.
http://www.magnachip.com
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1325702/000095012310024348/f54652orsv1.htm

San Francisco-Based ANTs to Sell Up to $10M in Stock to Fletcher

San Francisco -- ANTs software, a San Francisco-based developer of database migration tools, said on Monday that it has struck a deal to sell up to $10 million in tock to Fletcher International. The company plans to use the bulks of the proceeds for research and development, as well as to executive its go-to-market strategy. "We have a number of very significant corporate milestones on the horizon and this investment agreement allows us to move towards meeting our goals," said Joseph Kozak, the chairman and CEO of ANTs. George Ladner of Fletcher International said that his firm hopes to "find additional ways to support their growth."
http://www.ants.com
http://www.fletcher.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100315005576/en/ANTs-Software-Announces-10-Million-Investment-Agreement

Santa Clara-Based Rovi Acquires Recommendations Firm MediaUnbound

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Rovi, a Santa Clara-based developer of digital entertainment technologies formerly known as Macrovision, said on Monday that it has acquired Massachusetts-based media recommendation service MediaUnbound. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. MediaUnbound was founded in 2000 by undergraduates at Harvard University, and its clients have included Napster, MTV Networks, NTT DoCoMo and HMV. Rovi said that the deal will improve its recommendation capabilities while also decreasing its time to market for new products. Rovi operates the All Media Guide database of metadata on 1.8 million albums and 16 million tracks, in addition to 1.2 million TV episodes and 430,000 movie titles.
http://www.mediaunbound.com 
http://www.rovicorp.com

San Francisco-Based RMG Acquires Pharmacy TV

San Francisco -- RMG Networks, the San Francisco-based developer of a place-based network of entertainment and advertising screens, announced on Monday that it has acquired Pharmacy TV, a video network whose screens are deployed near pharmacist counters in major grocery and drug store chains. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. RMG said that its digital entertainment and ad network, which includes 60,000 screens across in-flight, fitness and other sectors, reaches 25 million consumers monthly. The company is backed by digital cinema network National CineMedia and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. RMG said that it plans to accelerate Pharmacy TV deployments in 2010.
http://www.pharmacytv.net 
http://www.rmgnetworks.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/RMG-Networks-Extends-into-bw-2942899067.html?x=0&.v=1

Menlo Park-Based Sequoia Backs Mobile Application Developer Snaptu

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Sequoia Capital, the Menlo Park-based venture capital firm, said that it has made an unspecified investment in Snaptu, an Israeli developer of mobile applications. Snaptu, formerly known as Moblica, offers a mobile service that incorporates social networking, news, information and sports applications into a single app that works on a wide range of mobile devices. The company said that its app has been downloaded to over four million phones worldwide. "We see huge value for consumers and mobile operators in Snaptu's unique approach to bringing mobile applications to virtually any phone," said Gili Raanan, a partner at Sequoia Capital.
http://www.snaptu.com
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Snaptu-Attracts-Investment-From-Sequoia-Capital-1131015.htm

Sunnyvale's Commtouch to Repurchase Another $5M in Stock

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Commtouch, an Israel-based developer of messaging and web security technologies with U.S. headquarters in Sunnyvale, said on Monday that it plans to buyback an additional $5 million in company stock. The news follows a similar program in 2008 and 2009, in which the company repurchased $4.9 million of its stock. Commtouch reported $17.3 million in cash resources as of Dec. 31, with slightly less than 24 million shares outstanding. "With our strong cash position, the execution of this plan will not inhibit us from continuing to explore potential transactions aimed at accelerating the company's business expansion plans," said Gideon Mantel, the company's chairman and CEO.
http://www.commtouch.com
http://www.commtouch.com/press-releases/commtouch-board-directors-approves-additional-stock-repurchase-plan-5-million