StartUp Beat

-Big news in digital rights management – More commonly known as “DRM”, it has been a huge issue for the new world of digital music because of the block it imposes on cross-device and service compatibility.  Yesterday’s announcement from Apple and EMI that DRM free music will now be offered could be a boon for companies like Santa Barbara-based Sonos, which develops wireless multi-room home music systems.  If it catches on, DRM-free music will allow unified wireless home music to be more feasible and no doubt significantly more attractive to consumers.

-After much media speculation over the last few days about the future of L.A.-based mobile phone company Helio, it seems that its new Ocean phone may be taking on the role of company’s saving grace.  Eric Zeman at InformationWeek, reporting on the CTIA mobile technology show in Florida last week gives Helio and the Ocean his “unofficial Best of CTIA 2007 award.”  And Giga Om reports on the Ocean and its potential to lift Helio’s prospects—Helio’s Last Chance: The Ocean.

-SoCalTech reports today that an analysis of its venture database reveals that more than $1.15 billion in venture capital deals in Southern California were disclosed in the first quarter of this year.  Here’s the full story: Southern California Raises Over $1B In VC In Q1 2007     

-Trouble at Helio? – It seems that despite its best efforts, Los Angeles-based Helio can’t avoid serious questions about its future.  This time, Scott Leith at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that barring further significant investment from backers EarthLink and SK Telecom (or bringing in outside investors), the company “might not stay afloat.”  Based on a filing last week with the SEC, Leith reported that the company does not have enough cash to operate through this year, based on losses of $191.8 million last year. 

Helio is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), meaning that the company offers mobile phone service over other companies’ networks.  The company’s value proposition is unique devices and services that it can offer on top of basic phone service.  The market is notoriously hard to crack.  For example, ESPN offered a sports-focused MVNO a few years back, but ultimately threw in the towel on the venture. 

Amp’d Mobile is another local company going head-to-head with Helio for the MVNO market.  Amp’d has slight advantage with the news cycle because it is privately funded so it can withhold subscriber and financial numbers, unlike Helio which is backed by two large public companies.

Despite the fact that it is bleeding cash, Helio may have as good a chance of success in this market as anyone.  It has recently released a number of top-notch Helio-branded phones, and is run by a team of experienced executives, including EarthLink and Boingo Wireless founder Sky Dayton.  In addition, the company has the backing of two huge consumer-focused companies.  But the question remains whether it will be enough to compete with the likes of AT&T Wireless and Verizon.  Here’s the article from the AJC: EarthLink’s cell venture running low on cash (reg req'd)

-Speaking of Amp’d Mobile… which has hit the market with a number of content deal announcements in recent weeks—if you’re curious, a review of its much vaunted Amp’d TV offering can be found at PC Magazine: Amp’d TV – Review by PC Magazine

-Miscellaneous - This has little to do with startups, but it’s interesting nonetheless for web surfers.  A site called Pingdom has compiled a list of the total downtime to date this year for the top 20 web sites.  Here is TechCrunch about the list: Top Twenty Sites: Most Downtime

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-The L.A. Times ran a noteworthy story this week about the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation and the recent expansion of its focus.  The institute is a solid addition to the various startup development organizations in the area: USC innovation institute reinventing itself

-More about Amp’d Mobile – Adding to the numerous news bits recently about Amp’d, the company cemented its place in the Los Angeles business community by renewing its lease at The Olympic Studios complex.  Here are the details: Amp’d Mobile Renews 71,900 SF in Los Angeles

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-IdeaLab startup Aptera Motors unveiled the prototype of a concept car with gas mileage of 200 miles per gallon last week at the TED conference.  The company is based in Pasadena.  Here is a photo and brief write-up at Engadget: Aptera takes wraps off 200 MPG prototype car 

-WiSpry adds to executive team – WiSpry, an Irvine-based provider of high-performance radio frequency micro-electro-mechanical systems for cellular phones, today announced the hiring of Joseph Adam as vice president of operations.  Adam was previously vice president of external manufacturing at Skyworks.

-The big buzz in the technology world this week has been the announcement by News Corp. and NBC of a joint venture to create an online video network to rival You Tube.  The yet-to-be named venture is going to be headquartered both here in Los Angeles and New York.  Even more than that, this is a local story because of the potential impact the issue has on the future of Hollywood and the entertainment business.  News sites are abuzz about this issue, but two of the better pieces of analysis about this topic can be found on TechCrunch (Dear Clown Co: Name This Thing Fast Before It’s Too Late) and the L.A. Times (Hollywood’s big online rival: the little guy).

-CircleUp featured in The Pitch – Newport Beach-based CircleUp is now featured in The Pitch by StartUp Beat.  The Pitch is where executives at local tech startups pitch their companies directly to StartUp Beat readers through an article that outlines the business model, product line(s) and the people behind the company.  Check it out at: www.startupbeat.com/thepitch

-SpaceX launch a success – El Segundo-based SpaceX yesterday successfully launched a test rocket into space.  SpaceX is one of the first commercial space travel companies, was founded by 2002 by Elon Musk , the founder of PayPal and the Zip2 Corporation.  The company was awarded the COTS contract by NASA to demonstrate delivery and return of cargo to the International Space Station.  Here is TechCrunch briefly on the launch: Congratulations to SpaceX, They Made It Into Space

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-More on Viacom/You Tube – Paul LaMonica of CNNMoney.com writes today about Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit being a potential boom to smaller online video companies.  See yesterday’s The StartUp Beat for comments from Scott Flacks of Los Angeles-based Stickam, one of those companies that could benefit.  Here’s LaMonica’s article: You Tube rivals: Thanks, Viacom!

-Donna Bogatin at ZDNet blogged this week about the potential for a Google entry into television advertising, and featured L.A.-based SpotRunner—a company that enables local businesses to advertise on local TV at an affordable cost.  SpotRunner has a good team with a lot of expertise and seems to have a head start in the market.  In addition, despite a lot of testing, Google has yet to prove that they can be an effective online advertising “agency” beyond their search engine and its affiliates.  Here’s the write-up:  SpotRunner vs. Google: Let the TV advertising battle begin!

-Wired this week featured a Q&A with Michael Eisner about his new venture into web content production.  His company, Beverly Hills-based Tornante, announced this week that it has produced and will begin showing episodes of a new series on various web video sites.  Here’s the interview: Meet Michael Eisner’s Prom Date

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-YouTube lawsuit and the future of online video - Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit against Google’s YouTube has certainly put the future form of online video in question.  Scott Flacks, vice president of marketing and operations at Los Angeles-based online video site Stickam, says that the suit’s effect on online video may ultimately be positive, as “it will push the judicial system to interpret/clarify the laws regarding these (copyright) issues.”  Flacks also sees the suit as part of the development of the online video industry, saying that it “may slow down the growth of this industry while the issues are being resolved, but definitely won’t stop it.”  With the growth in broadband Internet access, the proliferation of video sites on the Internet, including leaders like YouTube and Stickam, new media ad networks like Spotrunner and Bid4Spots, not to mention the burgeoning phenomenon of user-generated content, it seems that a paradigm shift in content distribution has already taken place, and Viacom’s lawsuit may be a last vestige of the “old world” approach to media content.  Flacks believes News Corporation’s purchase of My Space may have also played a role in Viacom’s action: “I think Viacom is still smarting from their losing out to Rupert on My Space,” he said.

-SoCalTech today features an interesting interview with Ali Diab, president of products and technology at El Segundo-based Ripple, which is building a network of displays in public areas that feature news and information.  The key for Ripple is really going to be content—in a world where people are often dealing with information overload, it will be critical to offer content that captures an audience.  Diab recognizes this, talking in the interview about being “content driven” and offering granular local information: Interview with Ali Diab, President of Products and Technology, Ripple

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-Eisner returns – Michael Eisner, former chief of Disney, is trying to break into the ever-challenging original web content business.  His company, Tornante, has announced that it has produced and will begin showing episodes of a new series on various web video sites (You Tube and Veoh).  Original web content has proven to be a challenge, but if anyone can pull it off, it may be Eisner with his deep Hollywood experience.  And the way things are going for You Tube, Viacom may have done Eisner and his new venture a huge favor with its $1 billion copyright lawsuit.  Here’s the L.A. Times on Tornante’s announcement: Eisner seeks to reprise role of content guy on the Web

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-Geni.com raises $10 million – Business 2.0 reports that Los Angeles-based social genealogy site Geni.com has raised another round of funding, giving the company a nearly $100 million valuation, after only about two months since launch.  Here’s the article: Geni raises another $10 million

-“The Pitch” by StartUp Beat – We’ve added a new section, called The Pitch, where executives at local tech startups pitch their companies directly to StartUp Beat readers.  It’s basically an opportunity for startups to submit an article that outlines the business model, introduces the product line(s) and the people behind the company.  Founders and executives at early-stage companies don’t often get the chance to really outline their vision in the media (usually because they’re lumped into stories with other companies), and the goal of The Pitch is to present this opportunity.  It should be noted that The Pitch is not a “pay-for-play” section – the featured companies are selected based on factors like innovation, financial backing, apparent strength of business model, etc.  The first company featured is Santa Monica-based Answerbag.  Check it out at: startupbeat.com/thepitch

-SoCalTech reported yesterday that Movie Gallery, which owns the Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video and Game Crazy video rental chains, has purchased Burbank-based MovieBeam.  More details at SoCalTech: Movie Gallery Buys MovieBeam 

-Los Angeles-based Spotrunner, which has garnered a lot of press since its founding last year for its innovative online TV ad buying system, has been named to the Business 2.0 "guide to the hottest Web 2.0 companies" for 2007. The NEXT NET 25, which appears in this month's issue, highlights the 25 startups the magazine says have the ability to stand out on their path to potential future success.  Here’s the article: Startups to watch
-Helio’s new Heat phone has been getting some serious attention since its debut last week.  Here’s a good review/overview on CrunchGear: Helio Heat Hands-Burned

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-More Fonality news – Culver City-based Fonality announced yesterday that it has joined the MSPAlliance, a global organization for managed service providers.  The company will also be hosting webinar on Tuesday, March 13 at 9 a.m. PDT for service providers interested in learning more about the Fonality Managed Services Program.  Fonality has been busy lately with a $7 million round of funding completed last month along with the release of a new version of its PBXtra phone system for SMBs.  For more on Fonality, see StartUp Beat’s profile on the company: Fonality Sets Sights on SMB Telephony Market
-Speaking of Fonality, the company told StartUp Beat earlier this week that it is actively searching for job candidates in marketing, sales, Perl development and technical support.  Here are the listings: www.fonality.com/careers.html
-Inc.com this week included an article, featuring L.A.-based Oversee.net’s Lawrence Ng, which deals with the issues startups face when considering whether or not to bring in outside investors (Oversee did not).  Not sure if calling investors “the seducers” is appropriate, but it is an issue that all successful startups face at one point or another, and due diligence is always appropriate.  Here’s the article: The Seducers
-ZDNet’s Ryan Stewart writes about an intriguing local startup that has developed an application for controlling the functions on a yacht.  More about Irvine-based InteliSea to come on StartUp Beat, but for now you can read about it briefly here: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Stewart/?p=282

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-Today’s SoCalTech includes an interesting interview with Jake Weinbaum, CEO of Business.com, and founder of the Santa Monica-based eCompanies incubator back in 1999.  Businesses spawned from eCompanies investment and guidance include Jamdat Mobile (aquired by EA), Business.com and Boingo Wireless.  Here’s the interview: Interview with Jake Weinbaum, CEO of Business.com

-Although this article is not about a Southland-based company, it is a fascinating account of the huge decisions confronting Facebook over the next year or so.  Facebook is no doubt in an enviable position in the world of startups, especially for one started by a college student.  However, when figures close to $1 billion are being offered (the acquisition price Yahoo! was rumored to have offered Facebook last year), the stakes become extremely high for all involved: Facebook.com faces dilemma: build or sell(reg. required)   

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-CNET today featured a piece about Santa Monica-based Stickam, an online video social networking company trying to compete with the likes of You Tube and MySpace with streaming video.  The article notes solid growth in its user base, but also some of the daunting challenges the company faces, not the least of which involve bandwidth and child safely issues.  Here’s the article: A social site where webcams rule

-New slider phone coming from Helio – Apparently, Los Angeles-based MVNO Helio is working with South Korea’s Pantech on a new “slider” phone for mobile voice and data use.  The pictures speak for themselves.  Here they are on Engadget: Helio’s Pantech PN810 QWERTY device pops up in FCC

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-Pasadena listed as top city for cleantech – Led by CalTech’s Entretec and Idealab’s Energy Innovations, Pasadena was named number four in SustainLine’s list of top U.S. cities for green technology innovations/development.  Here is an overview of the list in WorldChanging: Top Five U.S. Cities for Cleantech

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-Reunion.com and Plaxo, Inc. Reach Settlement in Patent Infringement Lawsuit – Santa Monica-based Reunion.com, Inc., its subsidiary GoodContacts, Ltd. and Plaxo, Inc., have announced that they have reached an agreement to resolve their current legal dispute.  The companies say that they are dismissing all claims and counterclaims in their pending lawsuit and releasing each other from claims related to the suit.  The agreement includes cross-licensing patented technology, according to the companies.  Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

-Today’s SoCalTech.com has a news item about a Pasadena-based startup called Central Desktop, and a new online spreadsheet offering the company is adding to it online platform.  It will be interesting to see how a startup like Central Desktop can compete with the likes of Google in this area.  Article: Central Desktop Adds Spreadsheets

-Los Angeles-based MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) Helio has been in the news quite a bit recently, with most of the talk being about whether or not the company is a good long-term bet for its primary investors, EarthLink and SK Telecom.  Despite the speculation, the company seems to be moving ahead full-steam—CrunchGear yesterday included details of a new, yet-to-be-debuted Samsung handset from Helio.  See it here: Helio’s New Samsung Brings the Sexy

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-The Wall Street Journal last week featured a story about Los Angeles-based Geni.com, one of the more interesting local startups that have recently launched.  As the article points out, genealogy web sites/tools are not a new concept, but Geni’s free “social networking” approach is a departure from other genealogy sites.  Even though the company faces numerous challenges, not the least of which are technical in nature and include the ever-present concerns about privacy, the company is led by an experienced team and may be on to something here.  Article: The Next Generation of Genealogy Sites (sub req’d after 2/22/07)

-Fonality included in list of top 25 VOIP startups – VOIP News last week included Los Angeles-based Fonality in its list of “25 Most Interesting VOIP Startups”.  Fonality offers IP-based telephony PBX products based on an open-source technology called Asterisk.  For more on Asterisk and Fonality’s business, VOIP News includes a good overview of the technology and the players involved in the Asterisk open source IP telephony market: What’s So Great About Asterisk?

-Evolution Robotics Joins Industry Leading Robotics Companies in Sponsorship of RoboBusiness Conference – The Pasadena-based company, an Idealab startup, will be a participant and sponsor in the international business development event for mobile robotics and intelligent systems.  More information: http://www.embedded-computing.com/news/db/?5454

-Study on Piracy and the Local Economy – This Los Angeles Times story is somewhat tangential to the business of technology, but interesting nonetheless in terms of measuring the effects of piracy on the local economy: Piracy robs L.A. economy, study says

-This is a TechCrunch story from earlier this week about FilmLoop, a Silicon Valley-based “photocasting” network startup.  TechCrunch describes a sordid story of a quick decline and subsequent fire sale of the company, allegedly prompted by its primary investor.  Here’s the story: Filmloop Betrayed By Investors?

Posted by startupbeat at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

-Following this week’s announcement from Encino-based Bid4Spots about the ongoing success of its remnant radio “reverse” online auctions, Eric Sass at Media Post writes about Google’s struggles in breaking into the radio advertising market (mentioning Bid4Spots in the process): Why Can’t Google Sell Premium Radio Ads?

-Los Angeles Wi-Fi Initiative Announced – L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today unveiled plans to launch a citywide wi-fi network by 2009.  Here’s coverage from the L.A. Times: L.A. mayor wants citywide wireless access

-Engadget this week mentioned the debut of wireless home speakers which are used with the Sonos ZP80 device.  Santa Barbara-based Sonos has garnered a lot of attention for its multi-room music systems for digital entertainment—which allows control of digital music on multiple devices throughout the home.  Here’s the posting…more to come in the future about Sonos: Sonos goes totally wireless

-Los Angeles-based Helio, the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) backed by South Korea’s SK Telecom and Internet provider EarthLink, has generated significant buzz in the mobile community this week with the launch of a mobile music service and the first public release of its subscriber numbers.  CNET addresses the challenges Helio (and others, like rival Amp’d Mobile) face in the mobile space: Is Helio’s Cool Factor Enough?

-Following the barrage of press and product announcements that came out of last week’s DEMO 07 conference, InformationWeek’s Thomas Claburn looks back at companies that debuted at last year’s show and reminds us that the real challenges for most of these early-stage companies lay ahead: Demo Class of 2006: Where Are They Now?

-On the other hand…this year’s DEMO showcased quite a few interesting products and services that are getting rave reviews, including Irvine based Integrien.  CIO includes Integrien in a roundup of DEMO debuts from a corporate IT perspective: The DEMO Inventions CIOs Really Should Care About

-Jon Guynn Joins BiggerBoat – Beverly Hills-based BiggerBoat, a search and discovery engine for entertainment, has announced that entertainment industry veteran Jon Guynn has joined the company as its vice president of sales.  Here is the announcement: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070207005418&newsLang=en

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-As a follow up to last week’s DEMO conference, here is more coverage of some of the L.A.-area companies that presented at the show:
*Newport Beach-based CircleUp is featured in a PC Magazine roundup of top DEMO products:  Demo’s Top 5 Products
*Los Angeles-based Panjea on CNET:  Be your own VJ
*Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury News on Santa Monica-based TeleFlip:  DEMO: TeleFlip Turns Any Cell Phone Into A Crackberry
*InfoWorld on Los Angeles-based Shipwire.com:  DEMO 07 Pushes People Power in Tech
*A ComputerWorld feature on Irvine-based Integrien:  Integrien promises to find problems, reduce troubleshooting

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-Today’s Los Angeles Times includes an article about how bankers and VCs are aggressively courting small “clean tech” companies in California.  It will be interesting to see how this sector develops over the next few years.  Link:  Capital is chasing clean-tech firms

-As noted earlier this week, several local companies are launching or debuting new products at the DEMO 07 show out in Palm Desert.  Tomorrow’s news will include a roundup of local company announcements from the conference.

-Here’s an intriguing product for iPod fanatics (and raises the possibility of expanding the usefulness of the device).  Los Angeles-based Mogopop, founded last year and just recently launched, is a free web-based service that allows the creation, publishing and downloading of content to the iPod.  The site is www.mogopop.com, and a review of the service was posted a few days ago at iLounge:  http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ipod/review/9410/

-Beyond just the well-known consumer services like Skype and Vonage, Internet telephony continues to be a fast growing and interesting sector.  This is a post from GigaOm about a local company called Fonality (based in Los Angeles), a startup that provides corporate-class PBX voice-over-IP solutions based on an open-source system called Asterisk:  http://gigaom.com/2007/01/25/fonality-digium/

-Oversee.net Sponsoring Conference Featuring Arrington and Zapolin – DomainSponsor, a business of Los Angeles-based Oversee.net, today announced the agenda for its upcoming DOMAINfest conference.  According to the company, Mike “Zappy” Zapolin, Co-Founder of the Internet Real Estate Group, LLC, will deliver the opening keynote on February 1.  Michael Arrington, editor and founder of TechCrunch, will be the luncheon keynote speaker on the same day.  The conference will take place this Wednesday through Saturday at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel.  More information can be found here: http://www.domainfest.com/

-Sunday’s Los Angeles Times includes a very comprehensive write-up on Los Angeles-based Internet video startup Stickam.  Link to the story: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-webscout28jan28,1,4878760.story?track=crosspromo&coll=la-headlines-entnews&ctrack=1&cset=true

-Check out MacWorld’s review of Playa Del Rey-based Axiotron’s new ModBook tablet Mac: http://www.macworld.com/2007/01/firstlooks/modbook_fl/index.php

-Here is an interesting article on MediaShift that deals with the ubiquitous web 2.0 question – “Is this another bubble?”: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/01/bubbliciouspaidcontent_crowd_t.html

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-Cal Tech and UCLA Scientists Design Molecular Memory Chip – The chip is an exciting breakthrough for the future of computing power.  The New York Times covers the news here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/science/25chip.html

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-Energy Innovations President Offers Opinion on State of the Union – Andrew Beebe, president of IdeaLab startup Energy Innovations, is making himself available for commentary on energy policy and President Bush’s State of the Union address, according to the Campaign for America’s Future.  Pasadena-based Energy Innovations focuses on renewable energy solutions and recently announced that it would build a solar electricity system for Google at its Mountain View headquarters (see announcement).  Link to announcement from the Campaign for America’s Future: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-23-2007/0004511609&EDATE=

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-Southern California Takes No.2 Position in VC Investment – According to a study conducted by Dow Jones for Ernst & Young, Southern California trails only the San Francisco Bay Area in VC investment nationwide.  The study said that VC investment in the Southern California region surged 25 percent last year.  Here is a write up on the study from the Los Angeles Times (reg. req’d: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-venture23jan23,1,2528337.story?coll=la-headlines-business), and a link to the announcement and summary of the survey results from Dow Jones and Ernst & Young (http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=112219)

-PropPoint Appoints Two New Executives – PropPoint, the Los Angeles-based Tenant In Common (TIC) 1031 real estate exchange specialist company today announced the hiring of Ryan Stepp and Scott Bjornson.  According to the company, Stepp will become the company’s vice president, client services, and will support the company’s TIC 1031 real estate investment business throughout California.  Bjornson will lead the company’s expansion into Florida and the Southeastern United States, according to a company announcement.  Link to company press releases: (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070123005401&newsLang=en) (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070123005412&newsLang=en)

-Interview With Energy Innovations Management – WorldChanging.com features an interview with Andrew Beebe, president of Pasadena-based Energy Innovations, and Bill Gross of IdeaLab and CEO of Energy Innovations.  Link to interview: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005829.html

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-Geni.com Swamped By Site Traffic – Apparently, the Los Angeles-based family tree startup Geni has been overwhelmed with attention and the resulting surge in visitors to its web site since its launch last week (see story).  Michael Arrington at TechCrunch writes about the unique challenges the startup has been facing as a result.  Link:  Geni Overwhelmed With Early Popularity

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-MTV Networks Invests in TagWorld – PaidContent.org reported this week that Viacom's MTVN has invested in Santa Monica-based social networking site TagWorld.  Click for full article.

-Is Web 2.0 Hitting a Wall? – Red Herring writes about the viability of “web 2.0” companies.  Full article: Web 2.0 Losing Steam?

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-Soapbox Mobile Launches Mobile Ticketing Platform With Amp’d Mobile – Soapbox Mobile announced today that through their collaboration with Los Angeles-based Amp'd Mobile and MovieTickets.com, a MovieTickets.com branded application is now live on Amp'd Mobile handsets.  Read more at MobileTechNews: http://www.mobiletechnews.com/info/2007/01/18/125021.html

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-X Prize Foundation Names New President – The Santa Monica-based nonprofit prize institute that offers multi-million-dollar awards for breakthrough innovations, including the Ansari X PRIZE for private spaceflight, announced the appointment of Tom Vander Ark as president.  See press release about Vander Ark’s appointment - http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070117005290&newsLang=en

-Michael Arrington at TechCrunch blogs about new Los Angeles-based startup Geni.com - http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/01/16/geni-launches/

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