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Fortune’s Fast-Growing List: M-Flex’s Only Local Co.

Anaheim’s Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc., which designs and manufactures flexible printed circuit boards that go into cell phones and other mobile devices, earlier this month was ranked No. 35 on Fortune magazine’s 100 fastest-growing companies list for 2010.

The list ranks public companies by their revenue and earnings growth over a three-year period.

Multi-Fineline, also called M-Flex, saw revenue grow 20% and earnings per share grow 88% for the three years through April.

It’s the only Orange County-based company on the list, which features other big names, including Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.

Chief Executive Reza Meshgin attributes the growth to M-Flex’s business strategy, which focuses on engaging with customers during the design phase, speedy production and an ongoing relationship throughout production.

The idea is that M-Flex gains trust with its customers early on and also helps speed up the design cycle, a critical bit of marketing for those in the cutthroat consumer electronics industry.

“We believe our growth validates our value-added service model that includes working directly with our customers during the design phase of a program and maintaining a high level of interaction throughout the product lifecycle,” Meshgin said. “This provides M-Flex with the ability to quickly ramp production of complex flex assemblies and has proven instrumental in expanding our relationship with major customers.”

Multi-Fineline’s customers include Apple Inc., Research in Motion Ltd. and Motorola Inc., among others. Research in Motion, which makes BlackBerry smart phones, ranked No. 33 on the same list.

M-Flex saw sales of $764 million for the 12 months through September 2009.

Analysts, on average, expect the company to see $791 million in sales for the year through September 2010.

Permlight Funding

Tustin-based Permlight Products Inc., a maker of cooling engines for light-emitting diodes, or LED, lights, said it recently raised a new round of financing.

The privately held company didn’t disclose the amount.

The round is set to fund the company’s growth, it said.

“We look forward to working with a lender that has a reputation of enhancing shareholder value, and its belief in the prospects of Permlight and its brands,” Chief Executive Phil Frey said.

Last year, Permlight raised $750,000 in a venture debt round from Santa Barbara-based Agility Capital LLC.

Agility makes small loans to venture-backed companies that later convert to stock in those companies.

Permlight makes “engines” that power lights and sells them to makers of residential and commercial light fixtures and illuminated signs on buildings.

Permlight’s technology allows LED chips to be attached directly to an isolated circuit board in order to reduce the amount of heat it produces. It buys the chips from Japan’s Nichia Corp.

Permlight has some 40 workers locally and does its manufacturing in Asia.

Charitable Buying

A local startup is looking to combine discounts with do-gooding.

Newport Beach-based DealGooder Inc., which launched its website last week, was started with the idea of combining collective buying with collective donating.

“We wanted to take two popular concepts of online deals and charitable giving and combine them,” said Cofounder Cara Mungo.

Here’s how it works: DealGooder offers a daily deal for a local business. Say, a $25 credit toward food at a restaurant for only $10. The deal, essentially a printable voucher, is e-mailed to subscribers who sign up on the company’s website.

If 300 people buy the offer, then DealGooder splits the revenue—half goes to DealGooder, half goes to the local business.

DealGooder takes half of what it makes and donates it to the “charity of the week” shown on its site.

“We use a collective model to lower the price for consumers, but by promising businesses a certain number of consumers, they will give a deal,” Mungo said. “There’s a tipping point, a minimum amount, for the deal to go through.”

It’s not unlike Groupon Inc.’s Groupon.com or Amazon.com Inc.’s Woot.com.

The difference is there’s an added charity component.

“People want more than just a good deal,” Mungo said. “They want to know that their purchase is making an impact in the world. That’s the market we will succeed in.”

DealGooder is self-funded and is in the process of closing a round of funding from friends, family and angel investors, Mungo said.

The company is focused primarily on OC businesses and charities for now. It’s looking to expand to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York in the coming months.

“The daily deal industry is huge and it will continue to grow,” Mungo said. “Groupon has paved the way, but there is plenty of room in this industry.”

The company has a dozen workers here.

Mungo previously led the national marketing team at Irvine’s St. John Knits Inc.

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