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Software Veterans Raise Venture Cash at Latest Startup

Aliso Viejo-based Predixion Software Inc., a startup maker of software that crunches data to come up with projections, recently raised $3.3 million in a first round of funding.

Predixion has been flying under the radar since it started in the fall.

The company plans to use the money to further product development and begin sampling its software with customers, according to Chief Executive Simon Arkell.

Predixion’s software, which works with Microsoft Corp.’s Excel and PowerPivot, is set to be used by customers in healthcare, marketing and financial services, among others.

Doctors can use the software’s data crunching features to predict the onset of diabetes in certain patients based on their medical histories.

Most of the heavy computing and analysis happens in the cloud—outsourced storage that allows companies to use and save big amounts of data without cluttering up their own servers.

“We provide a service so that any power user of Excel can do predictive analytics and have all the work done in the cloud,” Arkell said. “We have the ability to really enhance Microsoft’s own database offering. We can provide it to companies that don’t have the technical and financial resources to make it all work.”

Predixion’s venture capital investors include Corona del Mar’s Miramar Venture Partners and others that are unnamed. The company has 10 workers here and maintains a development office in Washington state.

Its founders include Arkell and a trio of former executives from Aliso Viejo-based software company Datallegro Inc., which in 2008 was acquired by Microsoft for $275 million.

Former Datallegro chief executive Stuart Frost is chairman of Predixion. Frost continues to run the Irvine-based Microsoft unit as general manager of strategy.

Steve DeSantis is Predixion’s finance chief. Jamie MacLennan is technology chief. Both held the same posts at Datallegro.

Arkell has a colorful history. He’s an Australian pole vaulter who competed in the summer Olympics in Barcelona and Atlanta.

In 1998 he cofounded Newport Beach software startup Versifi Technologies Inc., which was bought by Belgium’s Reef Technologies SA for $48 million in 2001.

Electronics Maker Bought

Anaheim’s RTI Electronics Inc., a maker of electronic parts that go into audio devices, lighting and power supply gear, was bought by a private equity buyer after its Minnesota-based parent divested the local unit.

RTI was bought by Los Angeles-based Shackleton Equity Partners LLC for undisclosed terms.

St. Paul, Minn.-based IntriCon Corp., a publicly traded maker of electronics for medical devices with some $55 million in yearly sales, decided to sell RTI late last year and had been seeking a buyer.

Shackleton was a good fit, according to RTI Chief Executive Jonathan Smith.

“They have other businesses in technology-related areas and they have skill sets in tech implementation and business turnarounds that will help us recover from the impacts of the business recession,” he said.

RTI has three main product lines.

Roughly half of its sales come from what are called thermistors. They are electronic parts used to help other devices regulate their heat output and protect against power surges.

RTI makes film capacitors made of plastic and metal films that store electricity and release on demand. They’re used primarily in audio equipment and in filters for industrial gear.

The company also makes magnetics—essentially coils that go into large lighting systems, such as those found in concert halls.

RTI has roughly 60 workers in Anaheim. They do manufacturing and product

design, and operate out of a 52,000-square-foot factory near the Riverside (91) Freeway.

The company was started in 1971 in Orange County and originally was known as Rodan Industries.

In 1997, IntriCon bought the business and since has operated it as a subsidiary.

IntriCon has struggled with losses of late and has been working to streamline its business.

It’s set to focus on its most profitable line of business, the manufacturing of small electronic sensors used in medical devices that monitor intravenous fluid delivery systems.

Smith formerly was RTI’s vice president of operations and finance. He stepped into the top role after RTI’s former general manager, Steve Binnix, retired this year.

RTI’s local operations are set to stay in place, Smith said. The company doesn’t disclose financials.

Companies Honored

A slew of local companies, teachers and students were honored at the 17th annual awards ceremony put on by the local chapter of trade group TechAmerica on June 2 at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.

The winners include:

• Bruce Hallett, managing director of Corona del Mar’s Miramar Venture Partners. Hallett received the Greg Ross Community Service Award.

• Heath Clarke, Chief Executive at Irvine’s Local.com Corp. Clarke won the Outstanding chief executive honor.

• Irvine’s Teridian Semiconductor Corp., which won the Outstanding Technology Company award and certificate of merit for Harvey Mudd College Green Engineering.

• Irvine-based Telogis Inc., which won in the Innovative Product: Cloud Comput-ing category.

• Irvine’s Quartics Inc., which won Innovative Product: Semiconductors.

• Santa Ana’s Powerwave Technologies Inc., which won Innovative Product: Telecommunications.

Correction

My May 31 column should have had Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp.’s market value at $7.5 billion.

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