Paddy Spence and Northwood Ventures Announce Strategic Investment in Zevia

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 28, 2010

Paddy Spence, a veteran of the natural/organic packaged goods industry, and Northwood Ventures, a leading private equity investor in the branded consumer sector, announced today an investment in Zevia LLC, a leading natural calorie-free soda brand. In only three years, the Zevia

NextSpace Partners with Wavepoint Ventures As A Mentor to Local Entrepreneurs

Santa Cruz, CA (PRWEB) September 28, 2010

NextSpace, the workplace for the new economy, has formed a strategic relationship with Wavepoint Ventures, LLC, a venture capital firm with offices in Menlo Park, CA and El Dorado Hills, CA. The relationship centers on a mentoring program that NextSpace will deliver to start-up companies looking for help with establishing and growing their businesses. Wavepoint Ventures seeks out innovative companies in markets that are underserved in the traditional venture capital industry. Their strategy involves regional partnerships with local business associations, incubators, and workplace experts.

The goal of the program is to offer advice, training, and practical strategic guidance to innovative, early-stage companies based in the Santa Cruz and Monterey region. The mentoring program is specifically tailored to the needs of each participating company.

NextSpace, with locations in downtown Santa Cruz and downtown San Francisco, focuses on bringing together entrepreneurs, freelancers, independent consultants, university resources, and investors into a collaborative, innovative community. Nearly 250 people work out of NextSpace's two locations. These startups and freelancers run the gamut from social media companies like 12seconds.tv , iPhone app development companies like Streetview Labs, software companies like Intuvo, and a range of independent software engineers, designers, web developers, and other professionals.

"NextSpace is an ideal regional partner for Wavepoint because we have a deep understanding of the entrepreneurial landscape in our region. We've got great relationships with the local start-up and angel communities and are very plugged into what's happening in the engineering, biotech, and digital media programs at UC Santa Cruz" said Jeremy Neuner, Co-Founder and CEO of NextSpace. "Wavepoint is perfectly in sync with our philosophy of finding and encouraging local talent."

This announcement of the NextSpace/Wavepoint relationship comes just a few weeks after the announcement that AOL acquired Rally Up, a mobile applications company that was launched at NextSpace, to become part of AOL's mobile division. "Rally Up's acquisition by AOL is just the latest proof point that the Santa Cruz/Monterey region is a great place to start and grow companies," continued Neuner. "Working with Wavepoint will allow us to build on that kind of success."

"The Santa Cruz region has a long and rich history of innovation and creating great companies," says Peter Gardner, Managing Director for Wavepoint Ventures. "NextSpace is an ideal partner for helping to not only develop deal flow, but also deliver sound advice to local startup companies and help support the local entrepreneurial community."

NextSpace's relationship with Wavepoint delivers a unique combination of capital, advice and an innovative work environment that can provide a path to success for businesses in Santa Cruz, Monterey and the surrounding region.

Useful Links:

NextSpace Website: http://www.nextspace.us

Virtual Tour: http://nextspace.us/take-a-tour/

About Nextspace:

NextSpace is the workplace for the new economy. NextSpace provides innovative physical and virtual infrastructure that freelancers, entrepreneurs, and creative class professionals need to succeed in the 21st century knowledge economy. In an increasingly disconnected world, NextSpace creates a collaborative community that is revolutionizing the nature of work. With locations in Santa Cruz, CA and San Francisco, CA, NextSpace offers collaborative working environments that meet the workplace needs of hundreds of different professionals from all walks of life. More information is available at: http://www.nextspace.us

About Wavepoint Ventures, LLC:

Wavepoint Ventures, with offices in El Dorado Hills and Menlo Park, is a venture firm committed to accelerating the growth of innovative young technology companies through a combination of capital, thoughtful guidance, and a network of strategic relationships. The firm is led by professionals with a combined total of more than 40 years of professional venture capital investing experience and 30 years of operational experience. For more information about Wavepoint, go to http://www.wavepointventures.com.

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Ambistar Ventures Announces the Launch of GLOBATEXT.COM, a Web-based Mobile Messaging and Communications Platform for SMB'S

Austin, TX (PRWEB) July 11, 2011

Ambistar Ventures, the Austin-based Technology Incubator, today announced the official launch of the pioneering messaging website Globatext.com. For the past 6 months the website had operated in a private invitation-only beta version. Now, the website is fully operational and available to all businesses and organizations who wish to access the site.

Globatext has opened up the vast, uncharted territory of SMB Mobile Marketing by providing Small-to-Medium sized businesses with a platform to manage their own mobile messaging campaigns, said Timothy Ngo, founder of Ambistar Ventures. Thanks to Globatexts easy-to-use web-based platform, SMBs can now set-up and launch their own mobile messaging program within minutes.

Globatext is a web-based service that enables businesses and organizations to create and self-manage their own messaging campaigns with ease. Competitive monthly plans start at $ 25, making Globatext the lowest cost messaging service in the industry today. Globatext supports the transmission of 5 different message types, which can all be sent from one simple web interface. Using the message control panel, business owners and managers can chose a variety of ways to get their message out to customers or prospects, including SMS text messaging, MMS picture messaging, Instant Messaging, Email and even Social Networking Posts.

Globatext has robust features that will appeal across a wide range of businesses and industries. Globatext representatives said that their primary target clients would be businesses such as restaurants, retail stores, real estate offices, nightclubs/bars and service oriented companies. Globatext will also be focusing on such organizations as universities, government agencies, as well as political, social and religious groups.

Besides its state-of-the-art multi-mode platform, the differentiator that really sets Globatext apart from other Mobile Marketing Technology companies is its commitment to client support. Sean Wade, co-founder of Ambistar Ventures, said: "Many business owners who have not taken part in mobile marketing campaigns in the past haven't done so because they lack experience with this emerging medium. Many non-tech savvy business owners simply don't know how to take the first steps towards designing their own campaign. Globatext solves this problem through technology and consultancy.

Globatext clients will each be assigned a dedicated, local Account Representative who will not only help small business owners navigate the Globatext platform, but will also play a role in helping businesses build their customer lists and create effective ongoing mobile marketing campaigns. Ngo said, "We believe we are the first company in the world to provide this level of technology combined with this one-on-one business mentoring."

According to new estimates from ABI Research, taken together, mobile marketing and advertising will grow at an impressive rate of 40% CAGR over the next five years. ABI concluded that, "Compared to campaigns in more traditional media, mobile marketing can be relatively inexpensive. Moreover, ads can be highly targeted and naturally paired with the rich mobile content that a growing number of consumers are accessing through mobile devices."

Businesses need to take a hard look at the way they are interacting with current customers and prospects, said Ngo. If they dont currently have a mobile relationship with their customers, they run the risk of losing them to competitors.

One of the stand-out features of Globatext is its mobile couponing feature. For many consumers, the habit of virtually clipping and carrying a coupon on their phone is rapidly becoming instinctive. That explains why almost 70 million mobile coupons worth $ 2.4 billion are expected to be redeemed in 2013, up from a mere 200,000 coupons in 2009. Whether its a coupon or an ad, getting value from local businesses through the mobile phone has become much more accepted than it was only a couple of years ago. Sixty three percent of consumers say they are either comfortable or very comfortable with receiving value offers through their mobile device.

Other features of the Globatext Platform include the ability to create and send QR codes, mobile voting, appointment reminders, Mcards, and voice broadcasts.

At the official launch, Ngo went on to say, With increasing trends in mobile marketing, the demand for a low cost, easy-to-use mass messaging solution for SMBs is clearly on the rise. With the launch of Globatext, we have directly responded to this tremendous market demand.

About Ambistar Ventures

Ambistar Ventures is a Technolgy Incubator based in Austin,TX. Ambistar Ventures makes early stage investments in technology companies with mass market audiences. Ambistars investment priorities include web and mobile advertising, mobile computing, cloud computing, web analytics, social networks, e-learning, wireless experiences and consumer shopping.

About Globatext

Globatext is a web-based messaging platform that allows business owners and managers to create and launch their own messaging campaigns for marketing or communication. Globatext provides next generation tools that allow companies to conveniently send SMS, MMS, IM, Email and Social Networking Posts. Business owners and managers interested in Globatext can visit http://www.globatext.com or call 512-777-4480 to speak to a Sales Representative.

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Giza Ventures has invested in LucidLogix Technologies

(PRWEB) June 11, 2009

LucidLogix Technologies, the provider of the recently launched multi-GPU HYDRA technology, today announced it has secured $ 18 million in Series C round of funding from Rho Ventures. This investment is the largest to date, bringing total capitalization to $ 32 million.

Rho Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investors Genesis Partners and Giza Venture Capital. Lucid intends to use the funds for commercializing the company's current technology and developing next generation products.

"It is a great achievement for Lucid to raise this level of funding when the economic atmosphere is so shaky. Our recent announcements and engagements with major partners have demonstrated that we can deliver and commercialize our technology," stated Offir Remez, founder and VP of business development. "Our investors see the value added of both the company personnel, as well as the technology it develops."

"Rho Ventures is an ideal partner, as they take an active role in supporting the growth of up and coming technology companies," says Lucid CEO, Moshe Steiner. "Their track record of success in the graphics processing space, such as Silicon Graphics - makes us honored to be a part of the Rho portfolio."

"We believe there is potential for the multi-GPU market and have confidence in the Lucid approach," said Jeff Grammer, a partner at Rho Ventures. "The HYDRA scalable graphics processing technology has the ability to affect the price performance paradigm in systems of all types.

"And while the Lucid HYDRA engine at first glance is impressive, what makes the company even more attractive is the team of engineers behind the innovation," added Grammer. "We are looking forward to seeing the fruits of this powerful partnership."

About Giza Ventures

GIZA VENTURE CAPITAL established in 1992, is a pioneer investor in seed and early-stage technology companies. Giza currently manages five funds totaling about $ 600 million.

Giza investment professionals bring wealth of expertise and experience in Communications, Semiconductors, Information Technology, Enterprise Software, Life Sciences, CleanTech, Media, Internet & Entertainment.

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