Silicon Valley Wire

CoFoundersLab Acquires San Francisco-Based Techcofounder

San Francisco -- CoFoundersLab, the Maryland-based developer of an online platform designed to match tech entrepreneurs with the right business partners, said on Friday it has acquired San Francisco-based Techcofounder, a Craigslist-style directory for software engineers and developers interested in starting companies or working on side projects. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "We're building out a platform that goes beyond skills matching. We're looking at deeper attributes to determine compatibility in order to facilitate better matches," said Shahab Kaviani, co-founder of CoFoundersLab. "Techcofounder.com was the beginning, and we're excited to add a whole new dimension to the matchmaking process." The news comes just weeks after CoFoundersLab also announced the acquisition of Massachusetts-based rival FounderMatchup.
http://www.techcofounder.com/
http://www.cofounderslab.com/find-a-co-founder/startup-tech-co-founder/

Sunnyvale-Based Looxcie Signs Technology Development Deal with IQT

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Looxcie, the Sunnyvale-based developer of a mobile-connected, handsfree and wearable video cam, said it has signed a technology development deal with In-Q-Tel (IQT), a Virginia-based venture fund backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The company said the agreement will allow for the development of next-generation video cams utilizing Looxcie's intellectual property. The technology is being developed for the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T). Financial components of the deal were not disclosed.
http://www.looxcie.com 
http://www.iqt.org
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/looxcie-and-iqt-enter-into-strategic-partnership-to-develop-new-wearable-videocams-2012-06-28

San Jose-Based Ultratech Acquires Patents from IBM

San Jose, Calif. -- Ultratech, a San Jose-based supplier of lithography and laser-processing systems used to manufacture semiconductor devices, said it has acquired the rights to a collection of patents from IBM. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquired assets include fundamental patents in packaging such as C4 bumping, Ball Grid Arrays, lead-free solders and 3D packaging. "Ultratech has periodically purchased patents that it views are key to our business," said Arthur Zafiropoulo, the company's chairman and CEO. "This acquisition reinforces our commitment to remain at the forefront of providing equipment with leading-edge technology and low cost-of-ownership advantages for our global customer base."
http://www.ultratech.com 
http://www.ibm.com 
http://ir.ultratech.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=687612

Redwood City-Based DigitalPersona Names Richard Agostinelli as CEO

Redwood City, Calif. -- DigitalPersona, a Redwood City-based developer of authentication and access management technology, on Thursday named Richard Agostinelli as its president and CEO. He succeeds former CEO Fabio Righi, who will serve as a board advisor. Agostinelli most recently served as president of the biometrics division of L-1 Identity Solutions, and earlier was the CFO of Identix and CFO and COO of SecuriMetrics. DigitalPersona's fingerprint biometrics technology is designed to help organizations prevent fraud and increase accountability. The technology is incorporated in several national voting systems, biometrically-enabled point-of-sale stations and numerous other commercial applications.
http://www.digitalpersona.com
http://www.digitalpersona.com/Content.aspx?id=3435

Mountain View-Based Blue Jeans Network Raises $25 Million

Mountain View, Calif. -- Blue Jeans Network, a Mountain View-based provider of interoperable video conferencing services, said it has raised $25 million in its third round of funding, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Previous backers Accel Partners and Norwest Venture Partners also participated in the round, which increased the company's total funding to $48.5 million. Blue Jeans said it will use the additional capital to expand sales, marketing and operations, as well as to further develop its technology. In its first year of operation, the company said its service has connected more than a quarter million participants in video meetings.  The company also said it has launched new web browser access, extending video conferencing to the Internet. The new option, currently available in beta, allows participants to connect to a meeting with their Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari browser and a camera. 
http://bluejeans.com
http://bluejeans.com/press-releases/blue-jeans-new-funding-and-breakthrough-functionality

San Francisco-Based Practice Fusion Lands $34 Million in Third Round

San Francisco -- Practice Fusion, the San Francisco-based developer of a web-based electronic medical records system for physicians, said on Thursday it has landed $34 million in its third round of funding, led by Artis Ventures. Previous backers Felicis Ventures and Band of Angels also participated, along with Glynn Capital, Ali and Hadi Partovi, Founders Fund, Morgenthaler Ventures, Scott Banister, SV Angel, Ghost Angel and Barton Asset Management. Launched in 2007, the company's free platform now serves more than 150,000 medical providers and 40 million patients. "This investment will accelerate the launch of our patient strategy as well as the company's API platform and allow us to continue to dominate the market," said founder and CEO Ryan Howard.
http://www.practicefusion.com
http://www.practicefusion.com/pages/pr/artis-ventures-leads-emr-financing-round.html

Menlo Park-Based Institutional Venture Partners Closes New $1 Billion Fund

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Marking the largest fund in its 32-year history, Menlo Park-based venture capital firm Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) said on Thursday it has raised a new $1 billion fund. Known as IVP XIV, the fund will continue the firm's focus on later-stage media and technology businesses. IVP plans to invest $10-$100 million in just 10-12 companies a year in the target sectors of Internet and digital media, enterprise IT and mobile and communications. IVP has invested in more than 300 companies since its inception in 1980, including ArcSight, comScore, HomeAway, Kayak, LegalZoom, LifeLock, LivingSocial, Marketo, MySQL, Netflix, Shazam, Twitter and Zynga. The firm's general partners include Todd Chaffee, Norm Fogelsong, Steve Harrick, Jules Maltz, Sandy Miller and Dennis Phelps. 
http://www.ivp.com
http://www.ivp.com/news/press-release/institutional-venture-partners-announces--1-billion-fund

Google Unveils $199 Tablet to Take on iPad, Kindle Fire

Mountain View, Calif. -- Looking to take on the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle Fire, Mountain View-based Google on Wednesday unveiled its own entrant to the tablet computer market, called the Nexus 7. The seven-inch tablet will run on a newly released version of the company's Android operating system -- known as Jelly Bean -- and sell for $199 for an 8GB version or $249 for 16GB. Other features include a front-facing camera, quad-core processor and up to eight hours of battery life. The tablet, built by Taiwan's Asus, is expected to ship in 2-3 weeks.
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_16gb

Mountain View-Based Solum Raises $17 Million in Second Round

Mountain View, Calif. -- Solum, a Mountain View-based developer of advanced field measurement technology for commercial agriculture, said on Wednesday it has raised $17 million in its second round of funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz. Previous backer Khosla Ventures also participated in this round, which the company will use to expand its facilities and add hardware and software engineering talent. Solum's measurement systems and software are designed to help farmers make better agricultural decisions and increase their profits. "Our team is passionate about bringing advanced measurement technologies to production agriculture, empowering farmers and those who support them to maximize productivity and better manage limited and valuable resources," said CEO Nick Koshnick.
http://www.solumtech.com 
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120627005477/en/Solum-Raises-17-Million-Series-Led-Andreessen

Sunnyvale-Based Aptus Endosystems Lands $25 Million in Funding

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Aptus Endosystems, a Sunnyvale-based medical device company developing technology for endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), said on Wednesday it has raised $25 million in a new round of funding, led by Synergy Life Science Partners. Previous backers US Venture Partners and Longitude Capital Management also participated in the round, which the company will use to expand commercialization of its HeliFX Aortic Securement System in the U.S. and Europe. "We will judiciously utilize these funds to expand the use of HeliFX in targeted markets and introduce new aortic repair products, all while approaching profitability," James Reinstein, the company's president and CEO. http://www.aptusendosystems.com http://www.aptusendosystems.com/news/2012/062712.html

San Francisco-Based Rally.org Raises $7.9 Million in First Round

San Francisco -- Rally.org, the San Francisco-based developer of a social fundraising platform designed to help users raise money, share their story and connect with supporters, said on Tuesday it has raised $7.9 million in its first round of funding. Participants included Relay Ventures, Mike Maples of Floodgate Fund, Reid Hoffman of Greylock Partners, Kevin Rose of Google Ventures, Craig Shapiro of Collaborative Fund and angel investors Michael Birch, Tim Ferriss, Eric Ries, Josh Spear and Scott Belsky. The company said it will use the proceeds to continue hiring engineers and scale its technology platform. Rally offers personalized social fundraising tools for individuals, groups, nonprofits and political candidates. Users can share stories, photos, videos and updates with supporters specifically at the point of donating.
http://www.rally.org
http://blog.rally.org/raising-funds-for-causes-that-matter-rally-org-raises-7-9-million-to-rally-the-world/

Milpitas-Based SanDisk Acquires Schooner Information Technology

Milpitas, Calif. -- SanDisk, the Milpitas-based developer of flash memory storage products, said on Tuesday it has acquired Sunnyvale-based Schooner Information Technology, a developer of flash-optimized database and data store tools. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SanDisk said the acquisition complements its portfolio of enterprise solid state disk (SSD) and flash-optimized software offerings. Schooner's employees have joined SanDisk's Enterprise Storage Solutions (ESS) team. "Schooner represents another step in SanDisk's expansion in the enterprise space," said Greg Goelz, vice president and general manager of SanDisk's ESS division.
http://www.schoonerinfotech.com
http://www.sandisk.com
http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/press-room/press-releases/2012/sandisk-acquires-schooner-information-technology

Mountain View-Based Traxpay Lands $4 Million for U.S. Expansion

Mountain View, Calif. -- Traxpay, the Mountain View-based developer of an online system that allows businesses to exchange payments in real time, said on Tuesday it has raised $4 million in a new round of funding and named John Bruggeman as its CEO.  Earlybird Venture Capital led the round, which the company, which also has major operations in Germany, said it will use to continue its momentum in Europe and prepare to expand into the U.S. market later this year. Bruggeman previously held executive roles at Cadence, Wind River, Mercury Interactive and Netscape. Traxpay has been developing its software in partnership with Accenture, which has helped develop some of the largest proprietary peer-to-peer banking systems.
http://www.traxpay.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120626005305/en/Traxpay-Raises-4-Million-Sets-Sights-Redefining

San Jose-Based Cisco Promotes CTO Padmasree Warrior to Expanded Role

San Jose, Calif. -- Cisco Systems, the San Jose-based networking equipment giant, said on Tuesday the role of executive Padmasree Warrior to chief technology and strategy officer. Warrior, who joined Cisco in 2007, most recently had served as the company's CTO and senior vice president of engineering. In her new role, she will inherit many of the responsibilities of Ned Hooper, who is stepping down as chief strategy officer to "form an independent investment partnership company and to pursue his goal to be a principal investor." "Padma will work closely with Cisco’s engineering, field, operations and services leadership, and will define strategy, investments, acquisitions and the evolution of Cisco's technology partner ecosystem," CEO John Chambers and COO Gary Moore wrote in a company blog post. "Additionally, Padma will be responsible for thought leadership around Cisco's products and architectures, technical talent development and recruiting, and she will increase her time with external stakeholders."
http://blogs.cisco.com/news/evolution-of-key-cisco-leadership-positions/
http://newsroom.cisco.com/execbio-detail?articleId=34150

Santa Clara-Based Affymetrix Completes $315M Deal for eBioscience

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Affymetrix, a Santa Clara-based developer of semiconductor technology for genetic analysis, said on Monday it has completed its $315 million acquisition of San Diego-based eBioscience, a developer of cell analysis products and technologies. The all-cash deal was first announced in early May. "This transaction is an important strategic step for Affymetrix," said Frank Witney, the president and CEO of Affymetrix. "Through the acquisition of eBio we now have a blue-chip portfolio of cell-based assays that diversify our business and open up important new avenues for growth." eBioscience will operate as a separate business unit within Affymetrix under its existing leadership team.
http://www.affymetrix.com
http://www.ebioscience.com
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=116408&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1708319

Sunnyvale-Based Rambus Names Ronald Black as New President and CEO

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Rambus, the Sunnyvale-based developer of computer memory technology, on Monday named Ronald Black as its new president and CEO. The news comes nearly four months after the company said that CEO Harold Hughes would retire once a successor was found. Hughes, who will remain on the board of directors, had led the company since 2005. Black previously served as the CEO of MobiWire (formerly Sagem Wireless), UPEK and Wavecom. "Ron's experience in managing through complex businesses at various levels and helping them achieve objectives make him an excellent fit for the next phase of Rambus," said Thomas Bentley, the chairman of Rambus.
http://www.rambus.com  
http://www.rambus.com/us/news/press_releases/2012/120625.html

S.F.-Based Fog City Capital Co-Leads $12 Million Round for Visual IQ

San Francisco -- Fog City Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, said on Monday it has co-led a new $12 million round of funding for Massachusetts-based Visual IQ, a developer of marketing intelligence software. Volition Capital also co-led the round, which the company plans to use to bolster product development and drive sales growth. Founded in 2006, Visual IQ currently manages over $5 billion in media spend on behalf of its clients. The company said its products are designed to show marketers where opportunities exist for optimization and improvement. Fog City Capital made its initial investment in Visual IQ in early 2010.
http://www.visualiq.com
http://www.fogcitycapital.com/
http://www.visualiq.com/press-and-events/press-release-visual-iq-receives-$12-million-in-financing-from-volition-capital-and-fog-city-capital