HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

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UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

WELCOME NEW MEMBER!

Hong Bui, Memeo, Inc.
Hong Bui is Co-Founder and CEO of Memeo, Inc., a digital media and information management company, backed by venture firm G51 Capital. Founded in 2003, Memeo (formerly Tanagra, Inc.) provides software and services that dramatically simplify the way individuals manage digital media and information across their desktop computers, storage devices, media appliances, mobile devices and the Web. Customers include businesses, universities and government organizations interested in a simple way to organize and protect critical files, as well as families who are managing and protecting their digital photography, music and documents. Memeo's partners and distributors include Amazon.com, CompUSA, OfficeMax, Frys, MicroCenter, Avenquest, Shutterfly and D-Link. Previously, Hong held executive and technical leadership positions at Apple Computer, JavaSoft, Visto.com and Amazon.com. A Founder of Visto Corporation and the driver of award-winning e-store development and merchandizing at Amazon.com, Hong is credited with the development of the Java Servlets standard that has been adopted industry-wide. He has joined the Wednesday Orange County Technology Executives Round Table.

Berkus to Identify Key Technology Trends for 2007+
Dave Berkus, President of Berkus Technology Ventures, Chairman of the ABL Technology Advisory Board, as well as former Chairman of Tech Coast Angels, will keynote "Key Technology Trends Shaping 2007 and Beyond," on January 25, in Long Beach. Dave is considered to be one of California's most prolific angel investors with a portfolio of 66 technology company investments over 15 years, for many of which he actively served as CEO and board member. His presentation will include an update of trends from: the January 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, recent strategic positioning exercises with emerging growth technology  companies, and recent networking with many of the 1,500+ contacts in his "golden Rolodex" of technology and private equity leaders. Afterwards, Round Table discussions will address the implications of these trends on the business strategies of the participants. To attend or for more information: >>


Omnitron's iConverter Gets MEF 14 Certification for Ethernet
Omnitron Systems Technology, where Arie Goldberg is CEO, announced that its iConverter platform has been certified compliant to the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) 14 conformance and certification test process. MEF 14 provides clear specifications-based guidelines for the formulation of Service Level Agreements, and is a major step toward making Ethernet truly carrier-grade. Omnitron's iConverter platform has also been certified compliant with the MEF 9 Ethernet Virtual Connection attributes. Together MEF 9 and MEF 14 cover the complete set of Carrier Ethernet service attributes defined in the core definitional technical document MEF 10. >>  

Microsemi's Acquisition of PowerDsine Okayed
Shareholders of Israeli chipmaker PowerDsine Ltd. have approved a $245 million buyout by Microsemi Corporation, where Jim Peterson is CEO. A Tel Aviv District Court still must approve the deal, which Microsemi expects to close in the first quarter. PowerDsine makes chips to send power over computer networking cables, cutting the need for separate energy supplies for routers, switches and other devices. The chips are seen as a way to cut costs of installing a network. >>  

Telelogic Offers Free UML Software
Telelogic, where Jesper Christensen is a senior executive, has released a free Unified Modeling Language (UML) software tool -- Telelogic Modeler -- available free for developers, which allows engineers, designers and developers of embedded, real-time, and enterprise IT applications to create model-driven designs. UML is used throughout the software development industry to create object-oriented models of software before writing code. The new product is based on Telelogic's full featured Rhapsody and Tau modeling environments. (socaltech TechNews, 1/3/07)

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

SoCal VC Investments Hit $3.4 Billion for 2006
Southern California's venture capital investments totaled roughly $534.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to data from socalTECH, with investments in the region for the year totaling just over $3.4 billion.  Meanwhile, there was $3.72 billion in 56 IPOs for 2006, the most IPO activity and largest total raised since 2004, Dow Jones VentureOne reports. 18 companies had IPOs in 4Q06, raising an aggregate total of $1.23 billion. Regarding mergers and acquisitions, in 4Q06 there were 75 M&A events with a total value of $7.3 billion; the total for the year reached $31.18 billion in 404 M&As. The yearly total is roughly equivalent to 2005's 407 acquisitions. Technology companies saw the most M&A activity in 2006, representing 273 transactions and $19.33 billion in deals. In the IPO category, healthcare companies dominated, with 28 deals and $1.36 billion in capital raised on the markets, followed by technology firms, with 20 IPOs and $1.95 billion raised, the largest number of technology IPOs since 2000. (socaltech.com TechNews, 1/2/07)

VCs Look Ahead to 2007, Favor Internet & Media
Companies operating at the intersection of the Internet and the media are poised for more VC investment, according to a National Venture Capital Association survey, conducted in early December with 200+ VCs. 70% foresee increased investments in Internet-specific companies; 69% see increases in media and entertainment investing; 23% in software and 9% in semiconductors. The survey found no shortage of investable capital over the next several years, with 79% of respondents predicting that venture firms will raise similar-size or larger funds during the next fund-raising cycle. However, half of the respondents predict fewer firms will be doing deals after the next fund-raising cycle, and 48% expect a decrease in the number of venture firms operating in the U.S. (eMarketer Daily 1/2/07)

UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

1/5 - 210 Corridor Round Table
1/10 - Wednesday Orange County Round Table
1/11 - Thursday Orange County Round Table (moved to 2^nd Thursday for this month only)
1/12 - West Los Angeles Round Table
1/25 - Focused Workshop: "Key Technology Trends Shaping 2007 & Beyond," Long Beach, 2-5:30 p.m. >>