Guardian News & Media acquires UnLtdWorld

TechCrunch is reporting that UnLtdWorld, the three year-old social network for social entrepreneurs, has been acquired by Guardian News & Media Limited.
TechCrunch say terms aren’t being disclosed and UnLtdWorld are being tight lipped, which suggests it wasn’t a major pay day.

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Demand Media acquires CoveritLive

Demand Media has acquired CoveritLive. Brands like ESPN, Ford, News Corp and BBC use CoveritLive to engage event audiences with real-time commentary, instant reader polling and question and answer capabilities. Events hosted on CoveritLive attract an audience of over 60 million people every month, 60% of which comes from outside the United States.

“CoveritLive really reflects our mission as a company – publishing what the world wants to know and share. Consumers around the world are tuning in by the millions to participate in live events powered by CoveritLive, collectively spending over a billion minutes on the platform each month” said Richard Rosenblatt, Chairman and CEO of Demand Media. “CoveritLive’s live event platform helps us continue to work towards that mission, building on both our social publishing model and our social media product offering with a platform that offers proven value to both brands and consumers.”

CoveritLive has grown rapidly as major brands increasingly use its live event platform. For instance, last weekend CoveritLive powered conversations during Sunday’s Oscar ceremonies on properties like People, TMZ, Entertainment Weekly, Variety and the Daily Beast. According to Google Analytics, on Oscar Sunday over 2 million people viewed event coverage powered by CoveritLive.
Demand Media and CoveritLive have worked together since 2009, when Demand Media made a strategic investment in CoveritLive. With that investment, Demand Media secured a minority interest in CoveritLive. With today’s acquisition, CoveritLive will become part of Demand Media’s portfolio of social solutions, along with its integrated community platform Pluck.

“Like Demand Media, we started CoveritLive to help fill the gaps in online content. We saw an opportunity to cover live events in a way that no one had before by combining talented writers, multimedia and two way engagement via comments and polls” said Keith McSpurren, President and Founder of CoveritLive. “As a Demand Media partner, our joint customers have seen the value of combining our service with Pluck’s integrated community platform. It’s a powerful combination that helps marketers engage consumers before, during and after an event.”

USA, Santa Monica, CA

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Johnson Controls to acquire EnergyConnect

Johnson Controls has signed a merger agreement with EnergyConnect Group under which Johnson Controls will acquire the outstanding shares of the company. The transaction is expected to close in July.

EnergyConnect Group is a provider of smart grid demand response services and technologies. The acquisition of EnergyConnect will position Johnson Controls’ Building Efficiency business as a demand response leader in the large commercial, industrial and institutional markets.  EnergyConnect’s demand response technology and service platform provides energy managers and facility operators real-time energy information and access to energy markets, enabling them to control their energy spend.  The combination of energy efficiency, smart building technologies and demand response services creates an additional platform for growth in a rapidly growing segment of the energy market.

“As our customers continue to demand more sophisticated capabilities to manage their energy costs, integrating demand response services with energy efficiency makes EnergyConnect and Johnson Controls Building Efficiency a natural fit,” said C. David Myers, vice president, Johnson Controls and president, Building Efficiency. “Coupling EnergyConnect’s expertise in demand response with Johnson Controls’ strength in smart building technologies would enable us to expand our offerings and help our customers better manage their overall energy spend.”

“We are excited about the prospects of joining forces with Johnson Controls,” said Kevin Evans, president and Chief Executive Officer of EnergyConnect.  “In addition to the natural synergies in our businesses, the Johnson Controls’ global footprint and distribution channels would enable us to accelerate the transformation of electricity use in response to market prices while enhancing the efficiency and reliability of the grid.”

USA, Milwaukee, WI

Kenergy Scientific to acquire online game show iwonitlive.com

NJ-Kenergy Scientific has completed a Letter of Intent to acquire all of the assets of I Won It Live Enterprises. These assets include all intellectual property, including trademarks, domain name and an operating on line game show that offers both unique advertising opportunities and revenue generating opportunities for Kenergy.

The website, http://www.iwonitlive.com is believed to be the first website to offer members instant prizes for winning on line games where players play live against other contestants. Mr. Michael Johnson, a successful pioneer in creative internet businesses, developed the concept in 1999 and recently developed and expanded the site. The current membership is growing daily and the site is expected to generate positive cash flow this year. The site affords Kenergy a continuous advertising opportunity to promote both the http://www.greensmartstore.com website, as well as store advertising. Kenergy and other companies will provide prizes and receive additional advertising at the games in the form of promotional presentations. Other companies will pay small advertising fees per game that are expected to grow rapidly.

Ken Glynn, President of Kenergy Scientific, stated that he would not attempt this venture without new personnel on the team and he also announced that two of the founders and the technical support team of I WON IT LIVE Enterprises will be coming on board to fully operate the website. Mike Johnson will be serving as CEO for the website and salaries will be based solely on commissions from site revenues. The acquisition costs will be payable over one year and will likely be fully paid from the site revenues. Glynn welcomed Johnson and his support team to the table and expects the transaction to be completed shortly.

USA, Flemington, NJ

Powerit Solutions secures $5 million funding

Powerit Solutions has completed a new round of financing with a $5 million investment from five funds. Black Coral Capital, a fund focused on the cleantech sector, led the round as a new investor; the other four were existing investors from prior rounds.

Powerit Solutions is a Seattle-based international cleantech company that plugs energy-intensive businesses into the smart grid. Powerit’s Spara technology enables users to automatically increase energy efficiency, cut peak-rate usage, participate in demand response programs, and respond to dynamic pricing advantageously—without compromising quality, production, or comfort.

“Powerit Solutions’ Spara technology is a valuable tool for smart grid connectivity, as we see in their work with Auto-DR, for example,” says Rob Day of Black Coral Capital. “Unlike a lot of smart grid companies that just have good ideas, Powerit’s ideas have become products that are already producing real benefits from the smart grid—customers are reducing their electricity bills and increasing operational efficiency.”

“Powerit is an established leader in energy management, with active installations operating around the world,” Day continues. “And we think Spara’s flexible technology will integrate well with partner services and products. That will help build Powerit’s value.”

USA, Seattle, WA

The New York Times Company sells UCompareHealthCare.com to MDx Medical

The New York Times Company has sold its UCompareHealthCare.com unit to MDxMedical, Inc., parent company of Vitals.com. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

UCompareHealthCare.com (“UCompare”), based in Marlborough, Mass., provides dynamic Web-based interactive tools to help consumers both measure the quality of and find healthcare services, healthcare providers and healthcare facilities.

“Combined, the UCompare and Vitals.com Web sites are visited more than 100 million times annually by patients. They use the sites to make more informed and intelligent decisions about their doctors, hospitals and other healthcare facilities,” said Mitch Rothschild, co-founder and CEO of MDx Medical. “With this acquisition, we’ll have the scale to make health care access simpler and more transparent for the consumer-patient. We’ll be introducing powerful Web-based and mobile applications so patients can access better quality care more conveniently.”

The Times Company acquired UCompareHealthCare.com in March 2007.

USA, New York, NY, Marlborough, MA & Lyndhurst, NJ

MXGI acquires CyberAction

CyberAction, the Digital Trading Cards business, has been acquired by Media Exchange Group, a leading cross-platform mobile digital publisher. CyberAction will retain its name and become the Brand Name behind Media Exchange Group’s existing technology for digital trading cards. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“With the technological infrastructure and distribution capabilities we have in place, we can finally take Christian’s vision for the CyberAction Trading Card to a level that simply wasn’t feasible before,“ says Joe Cellura, Chairman of Media Exchange Group.

Los Gatos, CA

Transphorm raises $20 million in round led by Google Ventures

Transphorm has completed a $20 million Series C financing led by Google Ventures, with participation from existing venture investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Foundation Capital and Lux Capital. This brings the total capital raised from all rounds to $38 million.

The company delivers custom-designed power modules that are easy to embed in virtually any electrical system, from consumer electronics products, to industrial motor drives, to inverters for solar panels and electric vehicles, and sells these modules to power equipment manufacturers. Transphorm was founded by Founded by Umesh Mishra and Primit Parikh,

“We founded Transphorm to re-imagine what enhanced efficiency in the generation and use of electrical energy can do for our economy,” said Umesh Mishra, CEO of Transphorm. “Why put up with needless energy waste in every electrical system and device, when we can quickly and cost-effectively design products that are inherently energy efficient? Transphorm’s next-generation power modules cut waste, increase efficiency, reduce system size and simplify overall product design.”

The company will unveil its first product at the upcoming APEC conference.

USA, Mountain View, CA

 

Motorola Mobility invests in Catch Media

Motorola Mobility Holdings, through its strategic investment arm, Motorola Mobility Ventures has made a strategic investment in Catch Media Inc., the provider of a patented licensed digital rights locker platform – Play Anywhere.

Catch Media’s patented registry, tracking, routing and clearinghouse technology, together with its unique post-acquisition license, provides retailers, carriers and consumer electronics vendors the ability to offer their customers legal and convenient access to their digital content from disparate devices – smartphones, tablets, set-tops, connected TVs and other connected devices inside and outside the home.

“Instant and easy access to music and video collections from any device, any place and at any time has become a necessity for consumers,” said Mony Hassid, managing director, Motorola Mobility Ventures. “Catch Media’s innovative B2B platform gives consumers the ubiquitous access they crave while compensating the content owners, content distributors and every other party that contributes to the ecosystem.”

“Teaming up with Motorola Mobility is very exciting for us and adds the support and expertise of a leading vendor for cellular carriers and Cable/Telco operators to the Play Anywhere® ecosystem,” said Yaacov Ben-Yaacov, co-founder and CEO of Catch Media. “Motorola Mobility’s support will enable our platform to be more tightly integrated across their devices.”

Ari Emanuel, Co-CEO of WME Entertainment, a strategic investor in Catch Media and one of the largest and most diversified Hollywood talent agencies, said, “Catch Media stands at the forefront of digital media companies seeking to offer consumers maximum convenience while ensuring that all the stakeholders in the process, including the actors, directors and content owners, share in the revenues generated. Motorola Mobility’s investment and guidance will serve as an important catalyst in the launch of Catch Media’s Play Anywhere services.”

Catch Media’s Play Anywhere system was rolled out with Best Buy Europe in Q4 2010 through a service called “Music Anywhere” offered by The Carphone Warehouse in the UK, and is expected to be rolled out in the U.S. in early 2011 in cooperation with the music industry. Catch Media will continue to work closely with the content industry to offer legal media cloud services that ensure rights holders are compensated as content is consumed across disparate devices.

USA, Libertyville, IL & Beverly Hills, CA

Glam Media choosing bankers for an IPO

Business Insider is reporting that Glam Media is listening to the sales pitches of about 14 Wall Street banks in preparation for an IPO. They quote “a source familiar with the situation”.

The report says that Glam hasn’t made any decisions yet,  though Bank of America (Merrill) had an early edge.

Glam Media raised its fifth round of venture capital last year – $50 million from aeris CAPITAL. The company did not disclose the valuation of the round, but it was rumoured to be around $750 million.

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USA, Brisbane, CA

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