This week’s presenting companies at Octane’s annual VC in the OC conference are hoping to match the fundraising success of last year’s group.
Fourteen local tech companies will be among 15 presenters vying for their first institutional funding round from a group of more than 20 venture capitalists, including the likes of Okapi Venture Capital in Laguna Beach and Irvine-based Tech Coast Angels and K5 Launch.
Among some of the locals: cloud video hosting provider Oculu in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach-based Web conferencing provider AnyMeeting.
The May 22 conference, in its third year, hopes to attract some 1,000 people, with a heavy concentration from both ends of the state.
“Orange County is a regional innovation cluster for life science and information technologies,” said Octane Chief Executive Matthew Jenusaitis. “The VC in the OC meeting brings together all of the constituencies that make these centers thrive.”
Last year’s conference drew about 700 people, and six companies acquired funding after making pitches to investors. They included Irvine rechargeable-battery maker Enovate Corp., which got $24 million; Irvine biotech manufacturer Biosynthetic Technologies LLC, which came away with $9 million; and Melrok, an energy-monitoring and management firm in Santa Ana that got $2 million.
Presenting companies from the 2012 event raised more than $27 million.
This year’s VC in the OC keynoters include Vinny Smith, the former chief executive of Quest Software who cashed out last year after Dell Inc.’s $2.4 billion takeover; Brendan Iribe, chief executive of Irvine startup Oculus VR Inc., which is developing a virtual reality gaming headset; Mark Suster, a partner at GRP Partners in Los Angeles; as well as former congressman and current Chapman University School of Law Dean Tom Campbell.
Startup Gets Distribution Deal
Laguna Beach startup Polkast has inked a distribution deal in Japan and a strategic investment from Tokyo-based security software provider Digital Arts Inc.
The distribution deal marks the first big push outside the U.S. for the cloud-services provider.
The company, launched in 2010, had contracted with equipment makers ZyXEL and Netgear to distribute products on their networked-attached storage devices.
“By working with Digital Arts, we will be able to integrate top-of-the-line security features,” said founder and Chief Executive Hong Bui, an industry veteran with stints at Apple, Amazon and JavaSoft. “Plus, immediate distribution in Japan allows us to expand into one of the biggest business markets in the world.”
Polkast didn’t disclose the investment value. The company employs 14 people.
QLogic Adds Board Member
Aliso Viejo-based networking-equipment maker QLogic Corp. has added chip executive Christine King to its board.
King, a former chief executive of Standard Microsystems Corp. and AMI Semiconductor Inc., brings QLogic deep connections to the computer industry and global contacts from more than 23 years in various management roles at IBM Corp.
“QLogic had been considering appointing the right executive to the board following the loss of our colleague Jim Fiebiger in late 2011,” said spokesperson Chris Humphrey, referring to Fiebiger’s passing.
King also is a director at Idaho Power Co.
InXile Is Kickstarter Standout
Newport Beach-based video game maker inXile Entertainment blew past its $900,000 fundraising goal on Kickstarter.
The final tally: more than $4.1 million raised through some 74,000 backers. The total puts inExile’s role-playing game, Torment: Tides of Numenera, in rare company among the approximately 40,000 projects launched on the New York-based crowd-funding site since its start four years ago.
Torment is the fourth highest-funded project on Kickstarter to date and the second-highest in the gaming sector, trailing only the Android-powered $99 OUYA game console for TV made by Santa Monica-based OUYA Inc., which raised more than $8.5 million last year through some 63,000 backers.
Last year inExile raised more than $2.9 million for its post-apocalyptic Wasteland 2, a predecessor to the popular Fallout computer game series.
Palo Alto-based Pebble has raised the most on Kickstarter, with $10.2 million for its customizable watch, which can change digital faces and connect to Apple and Android applications via Bluetooth.
Chris Casacchia can be reached at
casacchia@ocbj.com.
