Silicon Valley Wire

Mountain View-Based Eye-Fi Raises $20M, Forges Japanese Partnership

Mountain View, Calif. -- Eye-Fi, a Mountain View-based maker of wireless memory cards, said on Wednesday it has raised $20 million in its fourth round of funding, led by Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo. Previous backers Shasta Ventures, Opus Capital and TransLink Capital also participated. The investment by NTT Docomo is part of a larger partnership with the company, which in April will launch Eye-Fi card activation through mobile phones. The deal means that NTT Docomo's 59 million mobile subscribers will be able to share high-quality images between their digital cameras, mobile devices, online photo sites and digital photo frame, without the need for a computer. Eye-Fi said it also has expanded its executive team, adding former Skype and eBay executive Michele Don Durbin as its vice president of marketing.
http://www.eye.fi
http://www.eye.fi/press-releases/eye-fi-raises-20-million-series-d-round-led-by-ntt-docomo

San Mateo-Based SugarSync Lands $15 Million in Fourth Round

 

San Mateo, Calif. -- SugarSync, the San Mateo-based developer of a free service that syncs files across a user's computers and devices, said on Wednesday it has raised $15 million in its fourth round of funding, which the company will use to grow its team and expand its datacenter footprint. New investor Coral Group led the round, which also included participation from previous backers Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Sigma Partners, Hatteras Venture Partners and Hercules. The company now has raised $50 million since its inception. SugarSync's service is expected to be introduced to over 100 million new customers this year through partnerships with companies such as Samsung, Lenovo, Fujitsu, SanDisk, France Telecom-Orange, Korea Telecom and SoftBank Mobile.
http://www.sugarsync.com
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/sugarsync-completes-15-million-series-d-to-expand-its-global-cloud-1625836.htm

Redwood City's Amplidata Raises $8 Million in Third Round of Funding

Redwood City, Calif. -- Amplidata, a Belgium-based developer of object storage technology with U.S. headquarters in Redwood City, said on Wednesday it has raised $8 million in its third round of funding. Big Bang Ventures, Endeavour Vision, Intel Capital and Swisscom participated in the round, which the company will use to grow its sales and support organization in the U.S., Europe and Asia. "This investment will allow us to accelerate our business in worldwide big data accounts," said CEO Wim De Wispelaere. Amplidata is the developer of AmpliStor, an optimized object storage tool for "big data" applications.
http://www.amplidata.com/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/29/idUS121469+29-Feb-2012+BW20120229

Reports: Apple to Unveil iPad 3 Next Week in San Francisco

Cupertino, Calif. -- Shares of Cupertino-based Apple hit an all-time high on Tuesday after the company announced plans for a media event next week, presumably to unveil the third generation of its popular iPad tablet computer. The event is scheduled for March 7 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Though rumors of the unveil have persisted for weeks, CNBC drove the buzz into a frenzy early Tuesday when it tweeted: "Quad-Core iPad 3 with 4G LTE to be unveiled in New York next week." A New York unveil would've be a major shift for Apple, which previously has introduced the bulk of its major products either in San Francisco or at its headquarters in Cupertino. The news sent shares of Apple up nearly 2% to $535.41.
https://twitter.com/#!/CNBC/status/174522294549479424/ (CNBC Tweet)
http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/28/2830603/quad-core-ipad-3-launch-rumor-cnbc-lte

Harold Hughes to Retire as CEO of Sunnyvale-Based Rambus

 

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Rambus, the Sunnyvale-based developer of computer memory technology, said it has launched a search to replace CEO Harold Hughes, who plans to retire once a successor is found. Hughes, 66, a former longtime executive at Intel, has served on the company's board of directors since 2003. The company said he will be nominated for another term at its annual meeting in April. "Rambus is on a strong path as a result of our diversification strategy and recent license agreements with key semiconductor companies," said Hughes. "Given this, I have decided it is time to start the process of identifying my successor and help the company move into the next phase."
http://www.rambus.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120227006929/en/Harold-Hughes-Retire-Rambus-Chief-Executive-Officer

San Francisco-Based Admeris Names Brian Bogosian as President, CEO

San Francisco -- Admeris, a developer of mobile commerce technology that recently moved to San Francisco from Toronto, on Tuesday named Brian Bogosian as its president and CEO. Company founder Simon Law called Bogosian, the former longtime CEO of Good Technology, "the leader who will drive this company to its full potential." Admeris' cloud-based technology enables secure, one-touch payments on mobile devices.
http://www.admeris.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120228006744/en/Admeris-Mobile-Names-Brian-Bogosian-CEO

Charles River Ventures Raises $375 Million for 15th Fund

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Charles River Ventures, the Massachusetts-based venture capital with West Coast operation sin Menlo Park, said on Tuesday it has raised $375 million for its 15th investment fund. The fund, known as CRP XV, will focus on early-stage technology companies within the mobile, Internet and software segments, as well as emerging companies focused on energy and intellectual property. "We closed the fund in just two months at the top end of our range," said Izhar Armony, general partner. Investing partners of the fund include Armony, Jon Auerbach, Saar Gur, Bruce Sachs, Devdutt Yellurkar and George Zachary.
http://www.crv.com
http://www.crv.com/news/press_releases/charles_river_ventures_closes_fifteenth_fund_at_375_million/

S.F.-Based Digital Realty Trust Buys Data Center Campus in Texas

 

San Francisco -- Digital Realty Trust, a San Francisco-based owner and operator of data centers, said on Monday it has paid $123 million to acquire an 819,000-square-foot data center and office campus in Lewisville, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The campus totals over 168 acres, which includes 10 buildings and 39 acres of land for future development.  The property, currently known as Convergence Business Park, is 99% leased on a long-term basis to eight tenants, including three operating data centers. "Dallas continues to be a very strong market for us," said CEO Michael Foust. "When combined with Datacenter Park Dallas in Richardson, located approximately 25 miles from this site, we believe that we will be able to accommodate a large majority of the data center requirements from customers seeking space in the Dallas market." 
http://www.digitalrealty.com
http://investor.digitalrealty.com/CorporateProfile.aspx?iid=4094311

Russia's Game Insight Opens Publishing Arm in San Francisco

San Francisco -- Game Insight, a Russia-based developer of games and apps for mobile and social platforms, said on Monday it has opened a new publishing arm in downtown San Francisco. "Our San Francisco office will serve as a central hub for new development opportunities and partnerships throughout North America," said founder and CEO Alisa Chumachenko. Founded in 2009, Game Insight boasts a portfolio that includes free-to-play games on Android, iOS, social, web and HTML 5 platforms.
http://www.game-insight.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120227006640/en/Game-Insight-Opens-San-Francisco-Publishing-Headquarters

Mountain View-Based Game Closure Raises $12 Million in First Round

Mountain View, Calif. -- Game Closure, a Mountain View-based maker of tools designed to help game studios develop and publish mobile games for the iOS and Android platforms, said on Monday it has raised $12 million in its first round of funding, led by Highland Capital Partners. Greylock, Benchmark, General Catalyst and Charles River Ventures also participated in the round, which the company will use to fund its HTML5-based cross-platform game technology. Game Closure's technology allows publishers to distribute their video games across multiple platforms. Previously, they had to develop titles on a single operating system, then port the source code to other platforms. "Our goal has always been to drastically reduce the time it takes to write games for every mobile platform, from 12 months to just 4-6 weeks," said Martin Hunt, the company's co-founder and CTO. Founded last year by students from Stanford, Game Closure currently has 26 employees, with plans to double that number over the next six months, focusing on the areas of engineering, data analytics and design.
http://www.gameclosure.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/game-closure-announces-12-million-in-series-a-financing-led-by-highland-capital-partners-140565953.html

Sunnyvale-Based EnerVault Raises $15.5 Million in Second Round

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- EnerVault, a Sunnyvale-based clean energy startup developing electric energy storage systems based on battery technology, said it has raised $15.5 million in its second round of funding, increasing its total backing to date to $24.5 million. Investors included Mitsui Global Investment (MGI), Total Energy Ventures, 3M, TEL Venture Capital, Commercial Energy of California, Oceanshore Ventures and US Invest. The company said the latest funds, coupled with $5.5 million in government grants, twill allow it to complete its first installation -- a one megawatt-hour system located near Turlock, Calif.
http://enervault.com/
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/enervault-raises-155-million-for-grid-size-energy-storage-systems-140115863.html

San Jose-Based Cisco to Acquire Lightwire for $271 Million

San Jose, Calif. -- Cisco, the San Jose-based networking equipment giant, said on Friday it will pay approximately $271 million to acquire Lightwire, a Pennsylvania-based developer of optical interconnect technology for high-speed networking, with West Coast offices in Santa Clara. The deal is expected to close by the end of April, when Lightwire's employees will be integrated into Cisco's Transceiver Modules Group Business Unit and Supply Chain Operations Group. Cisco said the acquisition will give it access to low-power CMOS photonics technology, helping it deliver high-speed networks with the next generation of optical connectivity. The news comes nearly two years after Cisco acquired San Jose-based CoreOptics, a designer of digital signal processing tools used in high-speed optical networking.
http://lightwire.com/
http://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=675179

Obama Administration Unveils Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights

Washington, DC -- Responding to widespread complaints about the privacy practices of Internet companies like Facebook and Google, the Obama administration on Thursday unveiled its "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights," a framework for protecting the personal data or web users. The list includes giving individual consumers better control over the personal data collected from them by companies and how it is used, as well as transparency about privacy practices and responsible handling of personal data. Using the outline, the Commerce Department plans to meet with companies, privacy advocates and other stakeholders to develop enforceable privacy policies. "American consumers can't wait any longer for clear rules of the road that ensure their personal information is safe online," said President Obama. "As the Internet evolves, consumer trust is essential for the continued growth of the digital economy. That's why an online privacy Bill of Rights is so important." In addition, the White House said that companies delivering nearly 90% of online behavioral advertisements, including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL, have now committed to utilize "Do Not Track" buttons embedded in web browers, giving consumers the option of keeping their browsing histories from being tracked. Companies making the commitment will be subject to enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/02/23/we-can-t-wait-obama-administration-unveils-blueprint-privacy-bill-rights

Sunnyvale-Based Critical Path Acquires San Mateo-Based Laszlo Systems

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Critical Path, a Sunnyvale-based developer of messaging and messaging security tools, said on Thursday it has acquired San Mateo-based Laszlo Systems, creator of a web-based communications platform integrating email, voice and messaging with social media. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Critical Path said the acquisition of Lazlo's Webtop application will allow it to deliver a unified application platform integrating a range of messaging, IM, voice, video, media and social services. "Beyond technology, Laszlo also brings great talent and a strong presence in the North American and Chinese markets, and we are excited to be able to reach more customers in those regions," said CEO Mark Palomba. George Shahid, the former CEO of Lazlo, has become the COO of Critical Path.
http://www.cp.net
http://www.cp.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=231:event-2&catid=13:critical-path&Itemid=39

San Jose-Based Pinger Lands $7.5 Million Investment from T-Venture

San Jose, Calif. -- Pinger, a San Jose-based developer of mobile apps that allow users to text and talk for free, said on Thursday it has landed a new $7.5 million investment from T-Venture, the venture capital arm of Deutsche Telekom. The company, which will use the funds for international expansion, has named Bernhard Gold, investment director at T-Venture, to its board. Pinger's U.S. communication products are currently installed in 23% of Apple iOS devices, according to comScore. The company is now looking to expand abroad, and last year launched Pinger DE in Germany. "Our strategic investment is aimed to support Pinger's international expansion, especially to Europe, where we're confident that the company will replicate the success it orchestrated in the United States," said Gold. Previous investors include Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and DAG Ventures.
http://www.pinger.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120223006175/en/Deutsche-Telekom-Investment-Arm-T-Venture-Invests-Pinger

Mountain View-Based Luminate Raises $10.7M, Launches Image App Store

Mountain View, Calif. -- Luminate, the Mountain View-based developer of a platform designed to make images interactive on the web, said on Thursday it has raised $10.7 million in its third round of funding, led by Nokia Growth Partners. Several previous backers also participated. The news comes as the company on Thursday launched its Image App Store, where publishers can browse and choose specific image apps they wish to use on their sites. Luminate also has released 11 new image apps, designed specifically for interacting with images across the web. "The most successful technologies ultimately evolve into platforms," said CEO Bob Lisbonne. "Luminate first introduced image apps, and today's image app store represents the logical next step. In the future, we will open our platform to third-party developers." The company had been known as Pixazza until last July.
http://www.luminate.com/publisher/app-store/
http://www.luminate.com/press-release/2012-02-23/

LendingTree Opens New Marketing Headquarters in Burlingame

Burlingame, Calif. -- LendingTree, the North Carolina-based developer of an online marketplace that connects consumers with multiple lenders, said on Wednesday it has opened its new marketing headquarters in Burlingame. "With the Bay Area being the epicenter of technology and innovation, LendingTree saw an opportunity to expand our marketing team and tap into the Silicon Valley talent pool," said CEO Doug Lebda. The company said it has assembled a 20-person marketing team, led by CMO Gabe Dalporto, who joined the company last April. "We now have a permanent address where our team of marketers and designers can collaborate and communicate more efficiently in an area that gives employees quick access to San Francisco, the Valley and the East Bay," said Dalporto.
http://www.lendingtree.com 
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lendingtree-opens-new-marketing-headquarters-in-san-franciscos-bay-area-139994253.html

Palo Alto-Based Wheelz Lands $13.7 Million in Round Led by Zipcar

Palo Alto, Calif. – Wheelz, the Palo Alto-based developer of a peer-to-peer car sharing service targeting college campuses, said on Wednesday it has raised $13.7 million in its first round of funding, led by car-sharing network Zipcar. Fontinalis Partners also participated. Scott Griffith, the chairman and CEO of Zipcar, and Mark Schulz, founding partner at Fontinalis, have joined the company's board. "Zipcar knows and understands the business complexities of car sharing better than anyone on the planet; we will benefit tremendously from this expertise as we continue to grow," said founder and CEO Jeff Miller. Wheelz's platform is designed to connect students who own cars with students who need them, allowing owners to earn extra money. The company's service is currently available at Stanford, and is launching soon at UC Berkeley, USC and UCLA. 
http://wheelz.com
http://www.zipcar.com
http://wheelz.com/pages/zipcar_press_release

Mountain View-Based Synopsys Completes Deal for Magma Design Automation

Mountain View, Calif. -- Synopsys, a Mountain View-based provider of electronic design automation (EDA) software and services, said on Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of San Jose-based Magma Design Automation in a deal worth approximately $523 million. Under the agreement, first announced in December, Synopsys paid $7.35 a share in cash. Magma's EDA software is used by major semiconductor manufacturers to complex integrated circuits. Founded in 1997, the company has around 700 employees, and generated $35.3 million in revenue during the quarter ended July 31. Clients include Broadcom, LSI Logic, Marvell, NEC, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Samsung, Texas Instruments and Toshiba. Rajeev Madhavan, Magma's founder, chairman and CEO, will not join Synopsys.
http://www.synopsys.com/ 
http://www.magma-da.com/  
http://synopsys.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1001

Mountain View-Based Zettaset Names Jim Vogt as President and CEO

Mountain View, Calif. -- Zettaset, a Mountain View-based developer of open source data analytics tools, on Tuesday named Jim Vogt as its new president and CEO. He will succeed company founder Brian Christian, who will become CTO. Vogt most recently served as senior vice president and general manager of the Cloud Services business unit at Blue Coat Systems, and previously was the president and CEO at Trapeze Networks, which was acquired by Belden. "Brian has done an exceptional job laying the foundation for success, in not only developing our initial products, but also in forming the first critical commercial partnerships," said board member Andreas Stavropoulous, managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. "Jim has all the proven leadership skills and experience necessary to lead Zettaset to its next phase of growth." Zettaset was known as GOTO Metrics until mid-2011.
http://www.zettaset.com 
http://www.zettaset.com/pages/big-data-innovator-zettaset-appoints-jim-vogt-as-new-president-and-ceo/

San Jose-Based Compass Labs Lands $6 Million in New Funding

San Jose, Calif. -- Compass Labs, the San Jose-based developer of a social media advertising platform, said it has raised $6 million in a new round of funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Presidio Ventures. The company said it will use the funds to further develop its core CLIQ platform, as well as bolster sales and marketing efforts and expand into international markets. "This new area of social media intelligence will introduce new players, new data sets and new customer behavior metrics," said co-founder and CEO Dilip Venkatachari. "This funding will help us stay one step ahead of these changes."
http://www.compasslabs.com
http://www.compasslabs.com/company/press2012/press021612.php

San Jose-Based Nanosolar Raises $20 Million in New Funding Round

San Jose, Calif. -- Nanosolar, a San Jose-based maker of thin film solar cells and panels, said it has raised $20 million in a new round of funding, from previous investors Mohr Davidow Ventures and OnPoint Technologies and new backer aeris Capital. The company said it will use the proceeds to fuel continued expansion, as well as newly committed projects. "This represents the beginning of an exciting new period of growth," said CEO Eugenia Corrales. "With our team firmly entrenched, we will be unveiling new projects and new partners"
http://www.nanosolar.com
http://www.nanosolar.com/company/blog/nanosolar-secures-20-million-new-funds

Comcast to Take on Netflix with Xfinity Streampix Service

Los Gatos, Calif. -- Taking direct aim at Los Gatos-based Netflix, cable giant Comcast said on Tuesday it will launch a new subscription video service called Xfinity Streampix. The service, set to debut later this week, will allow cable subscribers to instantly view movies and TV shows from partners including Disney-ABC Television Group, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and Cookie Jar Entertainment. Programming will be available for streaming to TVs, computers and mobile devices. Comcast said that Steampix will be included as a component of many of its package deals, as well as sold separately for $4.99 a month.
http://www.comcast.com/About/PressRelease/PressReleaseDetail.ashx?PRID=1156&SCRedirect=true

Broadcom Completes $3.7 Billion Acquisition of Santa Clara's NetLogic

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Broadcom, the Irvine-based developer of communications chips, said on Friday it has completed its $3.7 billion acquisition of Santa Clara-based NetLogic Microsystems, a maker of chips used in Internet networks. Under the deal, first announced in September, shareholders of NetLogic received $50 a share in cash. All of NetLogic's more than 700 employees have made the transition, and Ron Jankov, the former president and CEO of NetLogic, has become a senior vice president and general manager at Broadcom. "This acquisition adds a high-margin, high-growth business that strongly increases the addressable market of our infrastructure and networking business," said Broadcom CEO Scott McGregor.
http://www.broadcom.com  
http://www.netlogicmicro.com  
http://www.broadcom.com/press/release.php?id=s649597

Sunnyvale-Based Silicon Image Opens R&D Center in India

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Silicon Image, a Sunnyvale-based developer of wireless and wired HD connectivity technology, said on Friday it has opened a new research and development center in Hyderabad, India. The facility will focus on the design and development of semiconductor and IP core technologies used in mobile, wireless and consumer electronics products. The company also has R&D operations in Sunnyvale and Shanghai, China. The India office currently has 80 employees.
http://www.siliconimage.com/ 
http://www.siliconimage.com/news/releasedetails.aspx?id=686

San Jose, San Francisco Ranks Among Nation's Leaders in Social Media Jobs

San Jose, Calif. -- San Jose and San Francisco rank near the top of the list of U.S. cities with the highest volume of social media jobs, according to Onward Search. San Jose came in second and San Francisco third on the list, which ranked cities based on the number of social media-related jobs posted on SimplyHired. New York topped the list, with Los Angeles and Boston rounding out the top five. The most advertised jobs included blogger/social media content writer (30%), social media marketing manager (27%) and social media strategist (16%). The complete report, which also includes salary ranges for job titles in all 20 markets, is available at the link below.
http://www.onwardsearch.com/Social-Media-Salaries/

Alan Shaw Resigns as President and CEO of Redwood City-Based Codexis

Redwood City, Calif. -- Codexis, a Redwood City-baseda developer of industrial enzymes used to produce biofuels, bio-based chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates, said on Friday that Alan Shaw has resigned as its president and CEO to "pursue other interests." The company's board has named Peter Strumph, Codexis's former senior vice president and business head of pharmaceuticals, as its interim CEO while it searches for a permanent replacement. "We are grateful to Alan for his many years of service in leading Codexis from its inception and are pleased that he has agreed to serve as a special advisor to the board," said Thomas Baruch, the company's chairman. The news comes less than a month after Robert Lawson also resigned as the company's CFO.
http://www.codexis.com
http://ir.codexis.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=208899&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1662622&highlight=

Foster City-Based E2open Files to Raise $86.25 Million in IPO

Foster City, Calif. -- E2open, a Foster City-based developer of cloud-based software designed to help companies more efficiently collaborate with their trading partners, on Friday filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $86.25 million in its initial public offering (IPO). The company has yet to reveal details of the offering, such as the number of shares to be sold or their expected price range. BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as lead underwriter. For the fiscal year ended last February, E2open reported revenue of $55.5 million and net income of $6.6 million. The company's E2open Business Network now includes more than 29,000 unique registered trading partners. Clients include Boeing, Cisco, Dell, the Gap, GE, Flextronics, IBM, Motorola and Vodafone.
http://www.e2open.com/
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1540400/000119312512066151/d45301ds1.htm
http://www.e2open.com/news/article/e2open-announces-filing-of-registration-statement-for-proposed-initial-public-offering/

Opera Software Acquires Mobile Theory and 4th Screen Advertising

San Mateo, Calif. -- Looking to expand its offerings to advertisers and mobile publishers, Opera Software, a Norway-based developer of mobile browsers with U.S. headquarters in San Mateo, said on Thursday it has acquired San Francisco-based Mobile Theory and U.K.-based 4th Screen Advertising. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Opera said the acquisitions will allow it better monetize the traffic that flows through Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers.  Mobile Theory operates a mobile advertising network focused on the U.S. market, while 4th Screen Advertising operates a similar network focused on Europe. Opera, whose browsers serve more than 160 million monthly active users, said the latest moves will bolster its ability to "deliver end-to-end mobile advertising solutions to brands, agencies, publishers and mobile operators across the globe." Mobile Theory's clients include Microsoft, Chevrolet, AstraZeneca, Coca-Cola and Capital One, while 4th Screen's include publishers such as The Guardian, MTV, Global Radio, Shazam and IMDb.
http://www.mobiletheory.com
http://www.4th-screen.com
http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2012/02/16/

SAP Completes Tender Offer for San Mateo-Based SuccessFactors

San Mateo, Calif. -- German business software giant SAP said on Thursday it has completed its cash tender offer for shares of SuccessFactors, a San Mateo-based developer of cloud-based business execution software. Under the deal, SAP paid $40 a share, or about $3.4 billion. The companies first announced plans for the acquisition in December. As of Wednesday, about 81.6 million shares -- approximately 96% of SuccessFactors' stock -- had been tendered, SAP said. Once the deal officially closes, SuccessFactors will operate as a unit of SAP America, and delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange.
http://www.successfactors.com/
http://www.successfactors.com/press-releases/1661887/

Palo Alto-Based BackPlane Lands First Round of Funding, Acquires Cortex

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Backplane, a Palo Alto-based social networking startup aiming to unite people around interests, affinities and movements, said on Thursday it has raised an unspecified amount in its first round of funding. The round included participation from new investors Sequoia Capital, Greylock Discovery Fund, Battery Ventures, Formation 8 and Advance/Newhouse Investment Partnership, as well as previous backers Google Ventures, Founders Fund Angel, Menlo Ventures, SV Angel and i/o Ventures. Several individuals also took part in the round, which will accelerate the expansion of the company's engineering and development teams. The first Backplane community, Lady Gaga’s #LittleMonsters (http://littlemonsters.com/) is currently a private beta site, with plans for a public release in the spring. Additional communities will launch throughout the year. Along with the financing, Backplane said it has acquired i/o Ventures start-up Cortex. Created by Joey Primiani, a co-founder of Backplane, Cortex is a web-based sharing platform that allows users to share and send content to dozens of social networks, online platforms and mobile destinations.
http://thebackplane.com/
http://littlemonsters.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120216005812/en/Top-Investors-Join-Early-Financing-Backplane

Thoma Bravo Completes $1.3 Billion Deal for Blue Coat Systems

San Francisco -- An Investor group led by Thoma Bravo, the San Francisco-based private equity firm, said on Wednesday it has completed its $1.3 billion acquisition of Sunnyvale-based Blue Coat Systems, a developer of web security and WAN optimization technology. Stockholders received $25.81 a share under the deal, which will take the company private. Blue Coat's stock will cease to trade upon the close of the Nasdaq on Wednesday, and Gregory Clark, its president and CEO, will retain his current roles. "The security and network acceleration markets have tremendous growth opportunities, and Blue Coat as a private company is now well poised to further strengthen its market leadership," said Orlando Bravo, managing partner of Thoma Bravo. The deal was first announced in early December.
http://www.bluecoat.com
http://www.thomabravo.com
http://www.bluecoat.com/company/press-releases/blue-coat-operate-privately-held-company-and-aggressively-advance-its 

Milpitas-Based SanDisk Acquires Sunnyvale-Based FlashSoft

Milpitas, Calif. -- SanDisk, the Milpitas-based maker of Flash memory storage devices, said on Wednesday it has acquired Sunnyvale-based FlashSoft, a developer of caching software products. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SanDisk said the acquisition will expand its solid state disk drive (SSD) portfolio. The company plans to sell FlashSoft's products as standalone software, targeting Windows, Linux and VMWare platforms, as well as offer them in combination with its own portfolio of SAS, PCIe and SATA products. FlashSoft last June raised $3 million in its first round of funding, led by Thomvest Ventures.
http://www.sandisk.com/
http://flashsoft.com/
http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/press-room/press-releases/2012/sandisk-acquires-flashsoft

Santa Clara-Based Vantage Data Centers Lands $135 Million Credit Facility

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Vantage Data Centers, a Santa Clara-based developer of wholesale data centers, said on Wednesday it has landed a $135 million revolving credit facility, which the company will use to accelerated the development of data center campuses in Santa Clara and Quincy, Wash. Lenders include Royal Bank of Canada, KeyBank, Bank of America, Barclays Bank, Raymond James Bank, FSB and UBS Loan Finance. Vantage announced completion and leasing of its first Santa Clara data center (V3) in early 2011, followed by construction of its V2 facility in September. The company's Quincy, Wash. campus is being developed in several phases.
http://www.vantagedatacenters.com
http://www.vantagedatacenters.com/images/doc/credit_facility_final_1329302611.pdf (PDF)

Parthenon Capital Partners Raises $700 Million for New Fund

San Francisco -- Parthenon Capital Partners, a private equity firm with dual headquarters in San Francisco and Boston, said on Wednesday it has raised $700 million for its latest investment fund, exceeding its initial fund target of $600 million. The fund, Parthenon Investors IV, increases the firm's total capital under management to more than $2 billion. The firm targets middle-market companies in business and financial services, healthcare, distribution and logistics, and technology services.
http://www.parthenoncapitalpartners.com
http://www.parthenoncapitalpartners.com/news_result.asp?id=116

Cisco Report: Mobile Data Traffic to Increase 18-Fold by 2016

San Jose, Calif. -- Worldwide mobile data traffic will increase 18-fold over the next five years, reaching 10.8 exabytes per month by 2016, according to a new forecast from San Jose-based Cisco. The company attributes the sharp increase in mobile traffic to a projected surge in the number of mobile devices, which is expected to exceed the number of people on Earth. "By 2016, 60% of mobile users -- 3 billion people worldwide -- will belong to the ‘Gigabyte Club,' each generating more than one gigabyte of mobile data traffic per month," said Suraj Shetty, Cisco's vice president of product and solutions marketing. "By contrast, in 2011, only one-half percent of mobile users qualified."
http://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=668380

Newark-Based LUMEnergi Names Barry Weinbaum as President and CEO

Newark, Calif. -- LUMEnergi, a Newark-based developer of network-controlled lighting energy management tools, on Tuesday named Barry Weinbaum as its president and CEO. Weinbaum most recently served as the vice president of strategic marketing at Acuity Brands, and previously was the CEO of Renaissance Lighting and president and CEO of NanoOpto. LUMEnergi is the third venture-capital backed company for Weinbaum, a serial entrepreneur.
http://www.lumenergi.com
http://www.lumenergi.com/news/lumenergi-names-ceo/

Campbell-Based AlienVault Raises Additional $2 Million

 

Campbell, Calif. -- Just two weeks after announcing it had raised $8 million in its second round of funding, Campbell-based AlienVault, a developer of open source security information and event management software, revealed on Tuesday it has landed $2 million more. The company disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that six investors took part in the latest tranche. Trident Capital had led the previous portion of the round, which also included participation by Adara Venture Partners and Neotec.
http://www.alienvault.com
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1542189/000154218912000001/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml  

San Jose-Based Solar Junction Raises $19.2 Million in Fourth Round

San Jose, Calif. -- Solar Junction, a San Jose-based developer of high-efficiency solar cells, said on Monday it has raised $19.2 million in its fourth round of funding, which the company will use to ramp up manufacturing. Participants included new investor IQE and previous backers New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV) and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. IQE, which is investing $5 million, will receive an exclusive multi-year wafer supply contract with the company as part of the deal. Solar Junction said the capital will allow it to "meet demand and fulfill current and future orders with a number of CPV [concentrated photovoltaic] companies."
http://www.sj-solar.com 
http://www.sj-solar.com/downloads/Solar_Junction_Closes_Round_IQE_13Feb12.pdf (PDF)

European Commission Approves Google's $12.5 Billion Deal for Motorola

Mountain View, Calif. -- The European Commission on Monday approved Mountain View-based Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Illinois-based handset-maker Motorola Mobility. The deal, first announced in August, would give Google the hardware to go along with its popular Android smartphone operating system. In its ruling, the antitrust body said the acquisition "would not significantly modify the market situation in respect of operating systems and patents for these devices." U.S. regulators now are expected to follow suit. "This is an important milestone in the approval process and it moves us closer to closing the deal," wrote Don Harrison, Google's vice president and deputy general counsel in a blog post. "We are now just waiting for decisions from a few other jurisdictions before we can close this transaction."
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/129&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/european-commission-clears-motorola.html

Santa Clara-Based Hitachi Data Systems Completes Deal for Shoden

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), a Santa Clara-based unit of Japanese electronics giant Hitachi that provides technology and services designed to improve IT costs and agility, said on Monday it has completed its acquisition of Shoden Data Systems, a provider of data center technology in South Africa and across the sub-Saharan African continent. Financial terms of the deal, first announced in October, were not disclosed. Shoden develops products and technologies designed to optimize data center environments for major banking, telecom and retail clients in South Africa. The two companies previously had partnered for 11 years.
http://www.hds.com
http://www.shoden.co.za/
http://www.hds.com/corporate/press-analyst-center/press-releases/2012/gl120213a.html

Santa Clara-Based Intel Settles Antitrust Suit in New York

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel, the Santa Clara-based chipmaker, said it will pay $6.5 million to settle an antitrust suit filed by the New York Attorney General in 2009. The company said the money is meant to cover some of the costs of the litigation, and stated that it "does not admit either any violation of law or that the allegations in the complaint are true." The settlement doesn't require Intel to makes any changes to the way it conducts business. "Following recent court rulings in Intel's favor that significantly and appropriately narrowed the scope of this case, we were able to reach an agreement with New York to bring to an end what remained of the case," said Doug Melamed, Intel's senior vice president and general counsel.
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/legal/nyag.htm

Sunnyvale-Based Ruckus Wireless Raises First $21.7 Million of Round

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Ruckus Wireless, a Sunnyvale-based developer of Wi-Fi technology, has raised the first $21.7 million of a planned $25 million round of equity funding, the company revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Thirty-nine investors have so far taken part in the round. Identities of the investors have not been disclosed. Founded in 2004, Ruckus had previously attracted $51 million in venture capital from Sequoia Capital, Sutter Hill, T-Ventures, Investor AB, Focus Ventures and Motorola Ventures.
http://www.ruckuswireless.com/
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1294016/000129401612000001/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml

Reports: Apple to Release Faster iPad 3 First Week of March

Cupertino, Calif. -- Apple will introduce its new iPad 3 during an event in San Francisco scheduled for the first week of March, the blog All Things D reported. Citing unnamed sources, the blog said the newest generation of the popular device will feature a faster chip, an improved display and, almost certainly, the company's Siri voice search feature, which it rolled out in the most recent iPhone. Analyst Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research told Computerworld that Apple also eventually could release a smaller, 7-inch iPad, similar to Amazon's Kindle Fire.
http://allthingsd.com/20120209/apple-to-announce-ipad-3-first-week-in-march/
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9224120/March_debut_of_iPad_3_a_sure_bet_says_analyst?taxonomyId=163&pageNumber=1

Shares of Mountain View-Based LinkedIn Spike 18% on Strong Earnings

Mountain View, Calif. -- Shares of LinkedIn soared nearly 18% on Friday after the Mountain View-based operator of the popular online professional network reported stronger-than-expected financial results in the fourth quarter. The company posted net income of $6.9 million on revenue that more than doubled to $167.7 million. It marked the company's sixth straight quarter of greater than 100% year-over-year growth. LinkedIn priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $45 last May, and saw its stock price more than double on its first day on the New York Stock Exchange.
http://press.linkedin.com/node/1104

nivio Raises $21 Million to Expand Engineering in Palo Alto

Palo Alto, Calif. -- nivio, developer of a platform that provides access to desktop apps, data and a Windows environment from almost any device, said on Thursday it has raised $21 million to expand engineering efforts at its Palo Alto office and further roll-out its technology. India-based Videocon and Kansas City-based AEC Partners participated. nivio said its clients for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac will be available later this month along with its Ubiquity client, which can deliver an entire desktop over any HTML5 browser. The company's app store lets users rent desktop software on any screen, with customers also gaining access to 10GB of free storage they can use to drop their files and have them synced across their devices.
http://www.nivio.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120209005307/en/nivio%C2%AE-secures-21M-investment-support-mission-bringing

Dassault Systemes Acquires San Francisco-Based Netvibes

San Francisco -- Dassault Systemes, a French developer of 3D design and digital mock-up software, said on Thursday it has acquired San Francisco-based Netvibes, developer of an platform that lets users create personalized dashboards for real-time monitoring, social analytics, knowledge sharing and decision support. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "Netvibes is a perfect fit for our 3D Experience platform," said Bernard Charles, the president and CEO of Dassault. "It will connect information related to all product, service and user experiences from internal and external data sources, all in real-time and in-context." Clients such as Coca-Cola and the Department of Energy use Netvibes' tools to improve decision-making. The company also helps more than 4 million people a month create free dashboards to manage their daily digital lives.
http://www.3ds.com/netvibes 
http://blog.netvibes.com/netvibes-is-now-part-of-dassault-systemes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NetvibesDevBlog+%28Netvibes.com+Blog%29

San Francisco's Virtustream Completes Acquisition of Enomaly

San Francisco -- Virtustream, a Maryland-based provider of cloud computing services with a major presence in San Francisco, said on Thursday it has completed its acquisition of Toronto-based Enomaly, developer of a marketplace for buyers and sellers to exchange available computing and storage capacities. Financial terms of the deal, first announced in December, were not disclosed. Virtustream said it will continue to support Enomaly's products, including its ECP public cloud software and SpotCloud cloud exchange. The company also said the deal will allow it to quickly expand its distribution into China, where Enomaly already has gained significant traction.
http://www.virtustream.com  
http://www.enomaly.com   
http://www.virtustream.com/pdf/EnomalyCloseRelease_020912.pdf (PDF)

Mountain View-Based ChemoCentry Prices IPO; Shares Rise 10%

Mountain View, Calif. -- Shares of Mountain View-based ChemoCentry rose 10% on their first day of trading Wednesday after the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm priced its initial public offering (IPO). The company is selling 4.5 million shares for $10 each -- below its expected price range of $14-$16 -- and expects to generate net proceeds of $39.4 million. Shares of ChemoCentryx are now trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "CCXI." The company is developing oral drugs to treat autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders and cancer.
http://www.chemocentryx.com/
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1340652/000119312512044954/d237820ds1a.htm

San Francisco-Based Extole Lands $10 Million in Third Round

San Francisco -- Extole, the San Francisco-based developer of a social marketing platform used by brands and agencies, said on Wednesday it has raised $10 million in its third round of funding, led by Shasta Ventures. Previous investors Norwest Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures and Trident Capital also participated in the round, which increased the company's total backing to $22 million.The company said it will use the new funds to fuel growth, scale operations and accelerate product and platform investments. Extole's platform powers social referral programs, promotions, testimonials and social analytics for more than 200 brands. Clients include Kate Spade New York, J. Hilburn, AAA, Shutterfly, New York Times and SkyMall.
http://www.extole.com 
http://extole.com/press-coverage/extole-secures-10-million-in-series-c-funding-led-by-shasta-ventures/