U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has recently announced his plans to create a new Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship within the Department of Commerce. As part of this initiative, Secretary Locke also plans to launch...

The Department of Energy (DOE) is now accepting Phase I grant applications from qualified small businesses in their FY 2010 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Funding Oppor...

The National Economic Council and Office of Science Technology Policy recently released the National Innovation Strategy report outlining the guiding principles and priorities for the Obama administration’s innovation agend...

This morning's interview is with Gil Elbaz, founder of Factual (www.factual.com), a new startup based here in Los Angeles focused on open data sharing and accuracy. Gil is one of the founders of Applied Semantics, the firm acquired by Google

Aliso Viejo-based online retailer Buy.com has made a major move into the international market today, and has opened up stores in Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The e-commerce retailer said that the firm will also sell its items

Los Angeles-based Zadspace, an advertising firm backed by DFJ Frontier, Crosscut Ventures and Gideon Hixon Fund, has unveiled its advertising product, saying Tuesday that it has exited beta testing of its service. Zadspace adds full color, 4x6 advertisements on cardboard

Monrovia-based Tanner Research is the recipient of a $1M, contract award from the Defense Logistics Agency, the firm said Tuesday afternoon. According to Tanner, the funding will go to accelerate production of a micro-initiator board, used for military applications. The

Santa Monica-based venture firm Rustic Canyon, along with Intel Capital, has put more into Silicon Valley-based InSync Software, a developer of software for the RFID and supply chain tracking business. According to InSync, it has raised $4.7M in a Series

Santa Monica-based entertainment studio Lionsgate reported this afternoon that it has linked with Massify, an online community for the film industry, to help develop feature film projects for the studio. According to Lionsgate, it will tap's Massify's online network for

San Diego-based Internet radio firm Slacker has now raised its latest funding round to $12.1M, and appears to have expanded the target size of the round to $14.2M. The details came according to a regulatory filing from the firm Monday.

San Diego-based Overland Storage, a developer of tape storage and other data backup devices, announced today that the firm has inked a manufacturing agreement with Foxconn. According to Overland, Foxconn will collaborate with the firm to manufacture one product line.

Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal, a provider of local search advertising services, has topped Deloitte's 2009 Technology Fast 500 list, an annual listing of companies ranked by their five year growth rates. According to the list, ReachLocal topped the list with a

In what looks like a continuing consolidation for the out-of-home media industry, Los Angeles-based Channel M has been acquired by PlayNetwork. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Channel M is a producer of content for in-store TV networks;

Westlake Village-based Zumbox, which is developing a system to deliver postal mail electronically using street addresses, said today that it has hired Peter O. Price as head of its media division. Price has served at Time Inc., Publisher of the

Aliso Viejo-based Vertos Medical, a developer of medical devices for treating lumbar spinal stenosis, announced this morning that it has raised $15.5M in a Series D funding. The round was led by new investor ONSET Ventures, with participation from prior

PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association have weighed in on Q3 venture capital totals, saying that $475.5M was invested in 65 Southern California deals in Q3, compared to $773.3M and 87 deals in Q3 of last year. Nationally, the

The Food and Drug Adminstration has delayed an approval of Thousand Oaks-based Amgen's osteoporosis denosumab, the firm said Monday, in order to seek more information. According to Amgen, the FDA has requested that the firm include further information on the

For our Insights and Opinions section today, we have an article from Wil Schroter, CEO and founder of Santa Monica-based Affordit (www.affordit.com). Wil also founded Go Big Network, an online community for entrepreneurs. He recently landed a round of funding,

Carlsbad-based Veredezyne--which was formerly known as CODA Genomics--said today that it has received a $1.7M grant from the National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The firm said the grant, which lasts for 1.5 years, will be focused on

Newport Beach-based Sendio, a developer of email appliances for blocking spam, said Monday that it has hired two new sales executives, and is now 100 percent focused on channel sales. According to Sendio, it has hired Ron Claypool as its