DFJ gets $55M for startups
West Coast venture firm DFJ Frontier has secured $55.4 million to invest in young companies, and Frank Foster of the firm’s Santa Barbara office will oversee it. The fund, which closed April 27, is significant because it arrives at a time when seed-stage companies are struggling amid the harshest capital-raising environment in years. The cash Read More →
Mall giant Macerich gets Paseo Nuevo role
The Paseo Nuevo shopping center, which draws shoppers, tourists and retailers alike to downtown Santa Barbara, is under new management after investors agreed to a contract with Macerich to oversee the 438,000-square-foot property. Santa Monica-based Macerich, which also operates the nearby La Cumbre Plaza, The Oaks in Thousand Oaks and the Pacific View Mall in Read More →
Mind over money – San Luis Obispo software firm scores big investment
San Luis Obispo-based firm Mindbody has landed a $5.6 million private equity investment, closing one of the biggest Central Coast technology deals in years. The company makes Web-based software for personal service businesses such as yoga instructors and day spas. Mindbody secured its cash at a time when funding for technology companies remains at its Read More →
UCSB gets stimulus funds for energy center
The University of California, Santa Barbara, has won $19 million in federal stimulus money for a new energy research center. The money will come in payments of about $3.8 million a year over the next five years and could begin flowing as early as late August, university officials said. The funding will help UCSB researchers Read More →
Is CO2 the next big fuel? – Carbon Sciences says process could make it happen
Santa Barbara-based Carbon Sciences says it has invented a breakthrough process to turn carbon dioxide into useable fuels, but its technology might have a long way to go before it’s ready to change the world. Carbon Sciences is raising its profile at a time when solutions to a global energy and climate change crisis appear Read More →
Did financial journalists miss the meltdown?
DENVER — Did the news media blow it in coverage of the financial mess? This is a question that’s come up in conversation quite a bit lately — I even asked about it during a recent interview on an area television show. That also happens to be the question that kicked off the annual conference Read More →
South Coast sales activity sinks deeper in Q1 as incentives abound
According to the Scott Glenn team at Radius, the most telling statistic from the first quarter of 2009 was the lack of completed sale transactions. “The dramatic decline of both the stock market and credit markets beginning in September of 2008 were contributing factors as very few properties went into escrow in the fourth quarter Read More →
