Claremont Creek Ventures, a startup investment firm specializing in early-stage information technology and biotech startups, has closed its first fund of $130 million in committed capital. The fund will focus on the “un-tethered workforce”, which includes wireless, workforce mobility, and voice/video over IP; applications for healthcare, which includes medical instruments, bio-informatics and home care; […]
Radiance Technologies, a small Huntsville, AL company, has created a system that can instantly determine the exact location of a gun being fired and its model. The U.S. Army is currently testing it and three similar ones to give soldiers an edge in battle conditions, by allowing them to return fire more rapidly.
Unlike other known systems, the Radiance’s WeaponWatch is powered by infrared sensors that can literally detect missiles or gunfire at the speed of light. It even works while under heavy attack and at longer sniper distances.
WeaponWatch is one of the major reasons Radiance has grown from only three employees six years ago to 275, making it one of the 500 fastest-growing small businesses in the United States.
Navio Systems has closed its second round of funding with $25.4 million of venture funding.
Navio sells multimedia networking software to media companies that allows subscribers to buy, share, download, store and access content while protecting the content. Their technology can be integrated into customers’ storefronts through the internet, mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks. It also allows customers access and redownload their purchased content when they lose or upgrade their devices.
Lead participants in this round were the WK Technology Fund and VantagePoint Venture Partners.
LOC-AID Technologies announced that it has secured $5 million in its first round of institutional financing. The round of funding was co-led by H.I.G. Ventures and Intersouth Partners.
Loc-AID was founded in 2001 to add functionality and interoperability to cell phones with location based services.
Telefonica, a mammoth Spanish telecom with major mobile networks in the south of Europe and Latin America, has made a bid to acquire UK’s biggest carrier, O2, for GBP 18 billion ($32 billion).
The bid is being recommended by O2’s board and will complete early next year if it is accepted by shareholders. Telefonica has announced that O2 will maintain its current branding with a headquarters in the UK.
MFORMA, a publisher of mobile entertainment, has raised $30 million in its third round of institutional financing. Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) led the round of financing, which included participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and General Catalyst Partners.
Player X, a London-based mobile game publisher founded in early 2004, has raised $7 million in its first round of venture capital funding. Investors in this round include venture capitalist Arts Alliance and sports licensing firm Bullion International.
In addition, Player X has added SEGA veteran Nick Alexander as Chairman of its board of directors and Fox Kids Europe founder Ynon Kreiz as a non-executive board member.
Autodesk, creator of 3D Studio Max, has announced that it will acquire Alias, creator of the competing 3D tool Maya for $182 million in cash.
Openwave Systems has acquired Musiwave for euro 99.5 million with an additional euro 15 million payable if the division meets certain targets.
Musicwave, which provides entertainment services to mobile operators, will help to fill out Openwave’s software and service product lines. Link to full press release.
Mobile game developer and publisher Gameloft’s revenues for the first six months of 2005 grew by 134% to 20.4 million Euros, from 8.7 million Euros in revenues during the same period of 2005. The company also increased estimates for year end revenues to 44 million Euros.
Gameloft has shown quick growth in the past year […]
A new report from Morgan Stanley looks at the growing opportunities for companies within China’s Internet and Mobile sectors.
Key finds from the report include:
China has over 360MM mobile phone users, 3.6 times more than its Internet users
The total number of China’s mobile users is equal to the total of the next three nations (US, […]
Compass Bancshares, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is one of the countries largest banks, and it has a history of high growth and integration of new technologies. This deal will be the first for Compass since it acquired First Tier in Denver in 2001, and may serve as a further spark for the company. TexasBanc will cost Compass 5 million shares and $232 million in cash.
The banking industry has been looking to expand brick-n-mortar and internet banking into Texas due to its accelerated growth in recent years. The Census Bureau says that Texas’ population grew by 23 percent from 1990 to 2000 and another 6 percent since then.
Once the deal closes regulatory checks and receives shareholder approval, Compass will have more than $31 billion in assets, making it the nation’s 28th largest bank. Analysts also see this key move to expand Compass’s swap and bond desk activities further.
Ebay has agreed to buy Skype, the best known of the VOIP phenomenon, for up to $4.1 billion. It will pay $1.3 billion in cash and $1.3 billion in stock for the company and all associated technology. If certain financial targets are met, Ebay will make an additional payout of up $1.5 billion.
Skype is expecting to receive revenues of $60 million this year and greater than $200 million in 2006, but the company has not yet reached profitability. Some analyst are predicting that Ebay will use its PayPal online payment systems and Skype to allow members to complete transactions via web phone calls. Others predict that Ebay will use Sky as a new marketing and distribution mechanism.
Ebay shares immediately rose 45 cents, or 1.17%, to $39.07.
Motorola said Friday that it has acquired a team Melco Mobile Communication researchers in Rennes, France. Melco Mobile is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Eletric Corp.
This team will focus on design and development of future Motorola platforms and should provide Motorola much needed support to target the 3G market, which is currently dominated by Nokia. “The Rennes team offers Motorola unmatched capabilities in i-mode development and integration, as well as strong branded services and testing skills,” said Ron Garriques, president of Motorola Mobile Devices, in a statement.
News Corp, owned by media giant Rupert Murdoch, acquired IGN Entertainment for approximately $650 million in cash. This will bring the three of the larger gaming sites and IGN’s 320 employees under the News Corp umbrella. Three of the larger game related sites included in the acquisition include:
[…]
The acquisition by News Corp offers new possibilities to revamping IGN. News Corp bring deep pockets to the table along with large a media empire which includes DirectTv, Fox television, significant film companies and a large number of other online entities. Let’s not forget about News Corp’s recent $580 million purchase of Intermix Media (MySpace.com) and an earlier purchase of Scout Media. These outlets offer tremendous cross promotional opportunities, access to new audiences and an ability to consolidate overhead.
It is also quite possible that G4TV will see a new competitor on the airwaves within the next 6 to 24 months.
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