Daily Links 9/8/2011: DreamIt Ventures launches Fall 2011 Philadelphia Class

DreamIt Ventures Launches Its Fall 2011 Philadelphia Class (TechCrunch)

CSC ‘in last leg' of AppLabs buy-out talks (Hindu Business Line)

Rick Sherlund Is Back! Analyst Likes MSFT, ORCL, CRM, SAP (Forbes: The Tech Trade)

IT pros heading to SAP TechEd 2011 packing questions for vendor (SearchSAP.com)

Dell’s golden opportunity isn’t in servers (Gigaom)

Infonetics Research: Pace overtakes Motorola in pay-TV set-top box (STB) market in 2Q11; STB market to peak in 2011 (Marketwire)

Comcast's thePlatform notches TV Everywhere deal with Liberty Global (CED Magazine)

TruePosition Acquires Intellectual Property from Rosum (Business Wire)
Buying for product development, or just adding to patent portfolio?

Philly tech, U-City to Old City (Philly.com: Philly Deals)
On Vuzit's Christopher Cera.

"It was a dumb idea": newspaper chain fires copyright troll Righthaven
(Ars Technica)
John Paton, on taking over as MediaNews CEO, makes decision.




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Philly Tech TidBits 9/8/2011: InstaMed raises another $5.5 million

InstaMed, the Philadelpia-based provider of healthcare payment systems, has raised an additional $5.5 million, according to an SEC Filing. Headed by Founder, President and CEO Bill Marvin, InstaMed raised $6 million in debt and equity one year ago and had prior funding rounds in 2009 ($6 million) and 2007 ($5 milion), so it has now raised at least $22.5 million. Investors have included Osage Partners, NJTC Venture Fund, US Bancorp, and Ashby Point Capital. Josh Kopelman was an early investor through his personal Midas Capital fund.
InstaMed has several Penn/Wharton connections among its management team, board and advisors; Marvin played on the varsity squash team at Penn (as did Comcast's Brian Roberts). Bill was an executive with Accenture’s Health and Life Sciences practice and founded a software company that was acquired by a Microsoft/ Pfizer joint venture.
I don't have any information about InstaMed's financial performance. It describes itself as a healthcare payments network connecting providers, payers and patients, and says it serves over 200,000 providers nationally with tens of billions of dollars in healthcare payments processed.


Speaking of Osage, they have raised $47 million for what appears to be a new private equity fund, Osage Venture Partners III, LP.


UPenn-related MentorTech Ventures has raised $10.75 million towards a $40 million offering for a new fund, MentorTech Ventures III L.P., according to an SEC filing. Though not large, MentorTech, managed by Michael B. Aronson and Boris Kalandar, takes small, usually early stage stakes in Penn-associated ventures; major successes have included Diaper.com (sold to Amazon), PayQuik (sold to Citi), Yodle, and Neat Company. With all of the entrepreneurial activity going on within Penn/Wharton, it should have plenty of opportunities ahead.


Penn Mezzanine LP of Wayne has raised $34.2 million in an offering, according to an SEC filing. Its not clear whether this is related to or completely separate from Safefuard Scientifics' announced acquisition of a 36% interest in Penn Mezzanine in July.
Penn Mezzanine, which was founded in 2010, is headed by Managing Partners Donald K. Rice and Darl A. Petty. It provides mezzanine financing to middle market companies using combinations of structured equity and debt.


Square One Bank has provided a a $2.5 million credit facility to ProfitPoint, Inc., a Clifton Heights-based provider of stored value and loyalty program solutions. NewSpring Ventures was an early investor in ProfitPoint.


Oaks, PA-based asset manager and investment processor SEI Investments teamed up with Greenwich Associates on a survey of institutional investors, consultants and fund managers globally. The first report (out of three installments) from the survey indicated that Private Equity exits were way up in the 2nd quarter, and that fund allocations to that area may increase. But SEI says that many of those exits represent “low hanging fruit” and the average holding period for a portfolio company has lengthened to five years.


Silicon Valley Research Group says it has opened a practice in Philadelphia, its fourth location. Marc Pitcher, the company’s Director of Client Services, is based in Philly. He also manages the firm's New York City practice. "Philadelphia has a burgeoning technology and venture capital scene, and the presence of the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, Temple and other highly respected centers of innovation make the city a natural fit for our company”, Pitcher said in a statement.



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Daily Links 9/7/2011: John Paton to run combined Journal Register/MediaNews operation

Paton to serve as CEO of MediaNews and Journal Register Co. (Poynter)

Post fron John Paton's Digital First Blog.

The Coming Local-Newspaper Rollup (paidContent)
Alden Global Capital, in addition to owning Journal Register and having a major stake in MediaNews (I've seen it reported as 40%; don't know if it is larger now), also has a significant stake in Philadelphia Media Network (Inquirer, Daily News, Philly.com), so this move could have other implications for the future of news media in the Philly area.

SAP Buying Right Hemisphere for 3-D Visualization (PC World)
A little more in-depth information here from Computerworld New Zealand.

SAP Entering the Mobile EMR Arena (Medgadget)

SAP sees no signs crisis is hitting real economy (Reuters)

Dick Ebersol Returns to NBC Sports as Advisor (Hollywood Reporter)
Missed this item from a week ago.

NBC Super Bowl Ad Spots Selling for up to $3.5 Mil Each (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC Universal Hires Top Morgan Stanley Media Banker (New York Times: DealBook)

Liberty Has Money to Burn
Malone Says Time Many Be Ripe for Acquisitions After Liberty Interactive Split
(Multichannel News)
Liberty Interactive is QVC's parent company.

Comcast Slots SeaChange Into Video Gateways (Light Reading Cable)

Philadelphia Named a ‘Code for America’ City for 2nd Time (Government Technology)

U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book: Philadelphia District (Text) (Bloomberg)



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Update on Philly Tech Events Calendar

I mistakenly deleted the unique URL on which the Philly Tech Events calendar is published each week, and I apparently can't get it back (the URL, that is, not the content)

If you follow the calendar, or wish to follow it, you can find it here. The new URL is http://phillytechnews.blogspot.com/2011/09/philly-tech-events-calendar-updated.html. (I use the same URL each week).

Sorry for any inconvenience this causes anyone.


Daily Links 9/6/2011: Big changes coming in Manufacturing ERP

Sunoco to Sell Refineries (New York Times: DealBook)

SAP TO ACQUIRE 3-D VISUALIZATION SOFTWARE MAKER RIGHT HEMISPHERE (SAP Press Release)

Reflections on Workday, Dreamforce and SAP (Dennis Howlett/ZDNet Blogs)

Salesforce gunning for manufacturing ERP (Dennis Howlett/ZDNet Blogs)

Workday co-CEO Bhusri on IPOs, Windows tablets and strategy (ZDNet Blogs)
Workday is targeting SAP in particular, looking towards IPO next year.

Rootstock Software Introduces ‘The Manufacturing Suite’ On Salesforce.Com’s Force.Com Platform (Rootstock Press Release)
I wrote about Rootstock, in which Radnor's Cross Atlantic Capital Partners is an investor, and its interest in adding Salesforce.Com's Force.Com platform in June.

AmerisourceBergen Acquires IntrinsiQ, LLC (Business Wire)
Saw this rumored two months ago on another blog; person said it was going to be announced back then and it wasn't. Price is $35 million.

Google Goes Big With Its Hulu Bid (All Things Digital)

Analysis: CBS, NBC Extend PGA Rights, But Golf Channel Also Gains
New Nine-Year Deals Now Co-terminus With Cable Network's Pact Through 2021
(Multichannel News)

Bachus Takes on Fed Over Capital One-ING Deal (Wall Street Journal: Washington Wire)

Melbourne company seeks 1,200 temporary workers (Florida Today)
GSI Commerce.

With Rama, iPhone becomes tour guide to the past (Gigaom)
Sounds like a cool app; Philadelphia is one of the cities it covers.



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Daily Links 9/2/2011: As Netflix loses Starz, Dish/Blockbuster reportedly ready to enter market

Judge Enters Comcast–NBCU Final Judgment, With His Own New OVD Condition
Requires keeping track of any arbitration that can be invoked by competing OVDs for two years
(Broadcasting & Cable)

Comcast Ads Misled Customers, Regulator Says (The Wrap)

Netflix to lose Starz, its most valuable source of new movies (LA Times: Company Town)

What Wall Street is saying about Netflix-Starz (Gigaom)

Dish Said to Plan Blockbuster Rival to Netflix (Bloomberg)
More troubling news for Netflix; its "mini-monopoly" may be coming to an end.

Oracle Verdict Against SAP Is Overturned (AP via NY Times)

8 “Ideas” on Why Judge Overturned Oracle v. SAP Verdict (ASUG News)

AOL: Mike Arrington Is No Longer Employed By This Company (Silicon Alley Insider)
Update: AOL clarifies Arrington's role, though I'm not sure this matter has been cleared up yet. Coincidentally, I did mention one Arrington/Huffington incident at the end of my blog post about MapQuest yesterday before this all broke. It all may have been in good humor, as Huffington is certainly a toughened veteran of the talk show wars, but one wonders if there was tension there. Also, the talk of selling or breaking up AOL may have contributed to the timing of this move.

Philadelphia exchange faring well under Nasdaq (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Though with a lot less people.

Business Objects (& SAP) Vets Raise $6 Million For Business Analytics Software Startup Visier (TechCrunch)

Workday during Hurricane Dreamforce (Enterprise Irregulars)

University tests SAP ERP on new Dell cloud
University of Kentucky sees cost advantages
(Computerworld)

Genuine Parts buys Cobra Wire and Cable (AP via Business Week)
Cobra is based in Hatboro.

Kevin Riordan: Rutgers law librarian a Web pioneer (Philadelphia Inquirer)



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Judge throws out $1.3 billion verdict against SAP in Oracle case

Judge throws out $1.3 billion verdict in Oracle case against SAP (San Jose Mercury News)

Judge Throws Out $1.3 Billion Judgment Against SAP as “Grossly Excessive”
(All Things Digital)
More details, including text of Judge's decision and statements from SAP and Oracle.


As AOL explores options, where will MapQuest end up?

Tom Paine




Word that AOL has retained investment banking firm Allen & Co. and law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to help it explore strategic alternatives has led to a good deal of speculation about its future.

Part of that speculation centers around what will happen to MapQuest. The company, which grew out of RR Donnelley's Cartographic Services unit in Lancaster before being spun out, dominated the early days of Internet map search and was acquired by AOL for $1.1 billion in stock in 1999. After Google entered the market in 2005, it stole a large percentage of consumer eyeballs away from MapQuest, passing it in traffic in 2009. MapQuest, though, still has some excellent technology and important third-party relationships and ranked as the 22nd busiest site on the Web in March of this year, according to Compete.

For several years MapQuest maintained co-headquarters in Denver and Lancaster; it now refers to Lancaster as "its second largest office after Denver and an engineering centric office or branch", according to a MapQuest spokesperson responding to a question from Philly Tech News, who also said it was AOL policy not to comment on the number of employees at any location.

Much of the current thinking on AOL centers on it going the private equity route, with the PE acquirer under that scenario then determining which pieces to keep or dispose. Many see MapQuuest as a candidate to be spun off if that where to happen. AOL does not break out MapQuest's financial results; it currently reports under the Huffington Post Media Group, headed up by Arianna Huffington. Huffington has promoted MapQuest heavily, getting a sarcastic response from fellow AOler Michael Arrington. While there is an argument that MapQuest fits with AOL's Patch local news network, others disagree with that.



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