Opportunities for civic and community involvement in Southern California are getting a boost from a new app developed by Huntington Beach startup Nead Inc.
MyCivic Apps, which recently launched online and is operated through individual municipalities, includes several features and provides “smart forms” that allow residents a more convenient way to file for licenses and permits, pay city bills, and report hazardous debris on a highway, suspicious neighborhood activity, power outages, lost pets.
The app sends users location-based push notifications of relevant, immediate information on weather and road conditions, special promotions, local events, and places of interest.
The latest offering from Nead, which stands for No Ego Apps Development, is an extension of the company’s MyCity Mobile that allows residents to communicate in real time with local businesses, city hall and others via a smartphone or other mobile device.
The service has attracted a wide range of customers since its 2010 launch, including Fullerton-based Congressman Ed Royce, unions, and municipalities, such as Aliso Viejo, Garden Grove, Laguna Niguel and Huntington Beach, which uses the app to steer visitors to local businesses.
The company also provides white-label services on behalf of governments and companies that have “generated some pretty good revenue channels,” according to founder T.J. Sokoll, a La Palma native.
“It’s a gold rush now,” said Sokoll, who ditched a lucrative career as a stockbroker to learn programming code. “We’re pushing right to seven figures this year.”
Under the business model, cities and business pay a setup fee and sign on to a monthly subscription that varies depending on usage.
Nead has eight employees.
Microsemi to Slim Down
Look for Microsemi Corp. to rein in costs with cuts related to its $389 million takeover of Camarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. if the deal closes.
The Aliso Viejo chipmaker expects to save about $20 million in synergies and cuts of redundant positions in its first full year after the transaction.
Each company has design centers in Camarillo, as well as operations in Massachusetts and several Asian manufacturing hubs that are ripe for consolidation.
“Those locations where we really coexist, we’d want to consolidate into one facility over time,” Chief Strategy Officer Steve Litchfield told the Business Journal.
Vitesse, which is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol VTSS, has about 390 employees.
Microsemi was attracted to the company’s application software; high-performance chips; and integrated turnkey systems for global telecom carriers, enterprise and Internet of Things networks.
“It really plays into our communications strategy,” Litchfield said. “The market seems to like it.”
Western Digital Closes Deal
Irvine-based Western Digital Corp. completed its deal for data center storage software maker Amplidata, which has major operations in Milpitas and Belgium. Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
The 7-year-old company, which will operate under Western Digital’s San Jose subsidiary HGST, received a $10 million strategic investment from Western Digital’s venture capital arm in September.
