Artificial pancreas trials move forward with $2.3M grant
By Marlize van Romburgh / Friday, March 14th, 2014 / Health Care & Life Science, Nonprofits, South Coast, Technology, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on Artificial pancreas trials move forward with $2.3M grant
With $2.3 million in recent federal funding, Sansum Diabetes Research Institute is moving forward with clinical trials of its artificial pancreas, a device that researchers hope will substantially improve the lives of people living with Type 1 diabetes.

Feeling lucky? How small businesses can navigate Google’s new algorithm
By Stephen Nellis / Friday, March 14th, 2014 / Small Business, Technology / Comments Off on Feeling lucky? How small businesses can navigate Google’s new algorithm

With a recent change to its search algorithms, Google has made it much harder for a plumber in Arroyo Grande to show up when a user searches for “San Luis Obispo plumber,” even though that business may have served the greater San Luis Obispo area for decades.
QAD profits slip despite record revenue
By Staff Report / Thursday, March 13th, 2014 / Banking & Finance, South Coast, Technology, Tri-County Economy, Tri-County Public Companies / Comments Off on QAD profits slip despite record revenue
Summerland-based QAD’s profits in its most recent fiscal year dipped 3.8 percent to $6.4 million, or 41 cents per Class A share and 34 cents per Class B share.
Sonos discloses $535M in revenue
By Staff Report / Wednesday, March 12th, 2014 / Technology, Top Stories / Comments Off on Sonos discloses $535M in revenue

In a rare financial disclosure, Santa Barbara audio firm Sonos has disclosed that its 2013 revenue was $535 million and that total sales doubled during the past year.
Clean Diesel shares soar on Acura contract
By Staff Report / Tuesday, March 11th, 2014 / Banking & Finance, Banking Industry, Technology, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy, West Ventura County / Comments Off on Clean Diesel shares soar on Acura contract
Clean Diesel said it has begun production of a new series of catalytic-emissions reduction products for the 2015 version of Honda’s gasoline-powered Acura TLX models. The announcement sent the Ventura-based firm’s shares soaring 74 percent higher in trading on March 11.

Quantifying success: New fund to invest in data companies
By Stephen Nellis / Friday, March 7th, 2014 / Technology, Top Stories / Comments Off on Quantifying success: New fund to invest in data companies

A group of Santa Barbara entrepreneurs is looking to raise as much as $50 million for an investment fund that would finance dozens of little big-data startups.

German entrepreneur tunes into hearing loops with Otojoy
By Stephen Nellis / Friday, March 7th, 2014 / Columns, Technology / Comments Off on German entrepreneur tunes into hearing loops with Otojoy
A Santa Barbara entrepreneur is hoping to make life in public places a little easier for people with hearing loss. Otojoy installs hearing loops, which take audio signals from sound systems and then transmit them electromagnetically to be picked up by a special feature found in most hearing aids.