Irvine’s Solarflare Communications Inc., one of the area’s best-funded startups, has landed a contract to embed its technology at the Chicago Board Options Exchange to boost high-frequency trading.
Solarflare partnered with Santa Clara-based Arista Networks Inc. to implement the network on the board’s trading platform, CBOE Direct.
The technology is said to improve network performance, bandwidth and response time for options customers, according to the company. The upgrades were implemented in the first quarter for the Chicago market, the country’s largest options exchange, and for its all-electronic C2 Options Exchange, CBOE Futures Exchange and CBOE Stock Exchange.
The deal was struck with options exchange parent CBOE Holdings Inc.
Solarflare has carved out a niche in the last year selling its 10GbE adapters directly to banks, hedge fund managers, stock exchanges, brokerages and other financial institutions.
That’s a shift from the company’s initial strategy to sell chips to server manufacturers themselves.
Solarflare has raised more than $200 million in venture funding since starting in 2001.
SendGrid in Anaheim
Boulder, Colo.-based SendGrid, which develops cloud software to help businesses deliver emails to customers more easily, has set up shop in Anaheim.
The company said it opened up the new office to tap the local talent pool and to center research and development efforts here, according to socaltech.com.
Sendgrid is an offshoot of Boulder-based startup incubator TechStars. It has received backing from venture capital firms Foundry Group LLC in Boulder and Highway 12 Ventures of Boise, Idaho.
The recent expansion included the hiring of Thomas Albers as vice president of engineering. Albers was most recently at Direct EDI Inc., a San Diego e-commerce software maker. He also spent some time at Myspace, which was recently bought by Irvine-based media-buying agency Specific Media LLC for an estimated $35 million.
Local.com on Hunt
Irvine-based search engine operator Local.com Corp. continues to eye acquisition targets as it aims to grow in the daily deals and e-commerce market.
The company said last week it secured a $12 million revolving credit line from Square 1 Bank, a unit of North Carolina’s Square 1 Financial, and will use it for acquisitions and other growth initiatives.
The new credit line takes the place of one previously provided by Silicon Valley Bank. Local.com added to its daily deals business last month with its purchase of San Juan Capistrano’s Screamin’ Media Group Inc. for $12.5 million in cash, stock and debt.
Screamin’ Media operates the Screamin’ Daily Deals website, which offers daily coupons and other deals from local businesses in 14 markets, including Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego and others.
The company also operates a travel deals website.
In May, Local.com launched its Spreebird daily deals site with offerings from businesses here and in Denver and Philadelphia.
Local.com’s plan is to eventually expand those deal offerings to 17 markets by the end of the year, the company’s Senior Vice President and General Manager Malcolm Lewis told the Business Journal in May.
Local.com got started in the daily deals business with its purchase earlier this year of Los Angeles-based iTwango LLC, which helps advertisers email deals to consumers based on location.
The company also has bolstered its e-commerce with the recent acquisitions of Mountain View-based Krillion Inc. and Rovion Inc. in Boston.
Krillion culls together product photos, comparison pricing, availability, discounts and other details for online shoppers. Rovion, a former unit of Irvine-based DigitalPost Interactive Inc., creates and tracks online video advertising for local and national advertisers.
Local.com plans to tailor Krillion’s service to local shoppers and distribute the ads across its network of more than 1,400 regional websites.
The company generates revenue from retailers when consumers click on the ads.
Local.com runs an online search engine that directs users to local businesses, such as “flowers in Irvine.”
Users also get search results that include offers from local businesses, reviews, links to local websites, maps, driving directions and other features.