Links 10/12: One Kings Lane sold for less than $12 million; Noodle Partners raises $4 million led by Osage Venture Partners



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Bed Bath & Beyond Acquired One Kings Lane [in June] For Just Under $12 Million (Pymnts)
First Round Capital, an early investor, has had some mixed results in apparel and home furnishings ecommerce.
Over $200 million was invested in One Kings Lane (only a tiny portion of that from First Round).

Noodle Partners raises $4 million to help colleges deliver degrees online (TechCrunch)
Osage Venture Partners led round.

Wells Fargo Chief Abruptly Steps Down
(NY Times)

Italy’s train operator invests big in IoT (Enterprise Irregulars)
Partnering with SAP.






Assessing Salesforce’s platform and ecosystem (Dion Hinchcliffe/Enterprise Irregulars)

Comcast set-top boxes now offer detailed stats for more sports (Engadget)

FCC: Cable Op Average Retrans Payments Up $5 Million (Multichannel News)






22 Tech or Tech-related Companies on NJBIZ’s List of 50 Fastest Growing



Esther Surden

Publisher & Editor, NJTechWeekly.com



Datapipe CEO Robb Allen. Allen's company Datapipe is on this list. | Courtesy Datapipe





Last week NJBIZ released its list of the 50 Fastest Growing Companies in New Jersey for 2016. According to  the New Jersey business newspaper, the award “celebrates New Jersey businesses that have demonstrated dynamic growth over the past few years.” This year 22 tech or tech-related companies found their way onto the NJBIZ list. We present them in alphabetical order.



Company

Industry

City

ASB Resources

IT services

Princeton

Atyeti Inc.

IT consulting services

Princeton

Avaap USA LLC

Technology

Edison

CardCash.com

Consumer products and services

Brick

Compunnel Software Group Inc.

Staffing, IT/software

Plainsboro

Computer Data Source

Third party computer maintenance services

Eatontown

Datapipe

IT services

Jersey City

Global Data Mart Inc.

IT consultancy

South Plainfield

iCIMS Inc.

Software-as-a-Service

Matawan

Intone Networks Inc.

IT consulting

Iselin

Lorven Technologies, Inc.

Software IT consulting

Plainsboro

OpDecision, LLC

Telecommunications

Marlton

PCS LLC

IT managed services

Moorestown

Precision Technologies Corp.

IT staffing      

Monmouth Junction

Roy Consulting Group LLC dba Process Stream

IT and business consulting services

Princeton

SBS Group

IT

Edison

Söoryen Technologies

Web design and development/e-commerce/managed service

Oradell

Synchronoss Technologies Inc.

Telecom

Bridgewater

Techminds Group LLC

IT

Rochelle Park

Vitals

Digital health

Lyndhurst

Wodify Technologies LLC

Technology

Cherry Hill

WorkWave

Software

Neptune









Esther Surden is Publisher and Editor of NJTechWeekly, and a contributor to Philly Tech News. This article originally appeared in NJTechWeekly, and is republished here with her permission.






iPipeline Launches New Data Service Offering to North American Carriers
Data Will Fuel Underwriting, Strategic Planning, and Business Development Decisions

Business Wire
iPipeline Launches New Data Service Offering to North American Carriers
Data Will Fuel Underwriting, Strategic Planning, and Business Development Decisions

October 11, 2016 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--iPipeline® – a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance industry– announced today the launch of its new Data Service Offering to North American carriers. The Data Service provides carriers with access to one of the most comprehensive repositories of anonymized quoting, apply, and in-force data elements for analysis within the industry.

iPipeline launched a new data service offering for North American Carriers.
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“iPipeline was approached by several carriers about providing this unique industry service for years. We finally decided to take this offering to the market place after conducting a survey with key industry carriers. Under our new Data Service Offering initiative, we are providing quoting, apply, and in-force data elements for carrier analysis in an anonymized fashion, so neither personally identifiable information nor carrier identifiers or product names are available,” said Tim Wallace, CEO, iPipeline. “The life insurance industry is a maturing market, so growth hinges on better understanding the buyer demographics and purchasing patterns. We believe this one-of-a-kind information will be invaluable in helping to support the industry’s underwriting, strategic planning, and business development initiatives as well as the collective advancement of the industry.”

“The Life insurance industry manages an incredible amount of information about its customers. It is a source of great opportunity to better leverage this data for so many areas, from strategic planning, product development, and underwriting to sales to service,” said Tom Scales, Research Director, Celent. “Data analytics is a critical element in understanding risks, demographic preferences, and designing new products for today’s buyers. Companies, like iPipeline, who offer access to rich industry data are fueling this necessary science.”

The new Data Service offering provides North American carriers with access to 77 million quote requests, 1 billion quote responses, 4.2 million application records, and 12.7 million in-force records. The anonymized information includes specific demographic groups, premium paid by coverage amounts, underwriting/health classes, periods of coverage, specific geographies, pending case patterns and time progressions for all key activities, and much more to signal purchasing trends and buyer dynamics by population segments.

To explore this new Data Service Offering and delve into the details, contact sales@ipipeline.com.

About iPipeline

iPipeline is a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance industry. Through our SaaS solutions, we accelerate and simplify insurance sales, compliance, operations and support. We provide process automation and seamless integration between every participant in the life insurance industry including carriers, agents (such as financial advisors and independent insurance agents), distributors (such as banks, broker-dealers and general agencies) and consumers. Our innovative solutions enable automated processing for pre-sales, point-of-sale execution of applications, post-sale support, reporting, consumer delivery and agency management.

iPipeline provides the process automation and seamless integration needed on a global basis to make a sale by aggregating more than 120 carriers, 875 distributors and financial institutions, and their producers and licensed advisors in a cloud-based environment. Headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, iPipeline has locations in Cheltenham (UK), Fort Lauderdale, Huntersville, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, and Vancouver. Save the date for iPipeline’s Connections 2017 User Meeting & Conference on March 15-17 at the ARIA in Las Vegas. Visit www.ipipeline.com.

Contacts
For iPipeline:
Lisa Bollinger
Marketing
484-870-6234




Links 10/11: Gov. Wolf announces Ben Franklin TechVentures expansion; FCC hits Comcast with record cable company fine over billing practices



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Dan Primack departs Fortune’s “Term Sheet” for new content startup from Politico founders (Recode)
New venture backed by NBCU, among others. Primack is a Haverford College grad.

Gov. Wolf announces Ben Franklin TechVentures expansion (WFMZ.com)

Envestnet buys Wheelhouse Analytics (Philly.com)

Comcast service should be returning to normal after hourslong outage (Boston Globe)

FCC hits Comcast with record cable company fine over billing practices (The Verge)

Wi-Fi vs. LTE could be the start of a mobile rollercoaster (PCWorld)

Microsoft will launch its price war with Salesforce on November 1 (Business Insider)

Decrypted Podcast: Inside the Spectacular Collapse of Fab.com (Bloomberg)

$3.4M equity financing computes for Montco EHR software developer Core Solutions (Philadelphia Business Journal)





Comcast-backed Atairos Group to acquire College Sports Licensor Learfield


Tom Paine



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Michael Angelakis / Atairos Group website



Atairos Group has reached an agreement to acquire Plano, Texas-based college sports licensor Learfield.

Atairos Group is the Bryn Mawr and New York-based PE fund backed by Comcast and headed by former Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis.

Terms were not disclosed, but earlier reports suggested the bidding was in the $1 billion plus range. Prior to Comcast, Angelakis was a senior executive with Learfield seller Providence Equity. Atairos was reported to have beaten out three other bidder including TPG Capital, majority owner of Hollywood agency CAA.









Earlier this year, Atairos made a $250 million investment in Groupon.

Also this year, Atairos teamed with former Citigroup CEO Vikram S. Pandit to form a new financial services company.

Atairos was launched this year with $4 billion in committed capital from Comcast.

Atairos is often seeking long-term synergies with Comcast in its investments, as was indicated after its Groupon investment. Learfield may have some fit with Comcast's now wholely-owned Comcast Spectacor unit.




Links 10/10: NBC faces criticism over handling of Trump video; Salesforce reported still in talks with Twitter



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Why Did NBC News Sit on the Trump Tape for So Long?
(Politico)

Twitter Is Said to Be in Continued Talks With Salesforce (NY Times)

Facebook’s Slack competitor, Workplace, is finally here (Recode)


Insider Q&A: What's hard about streaming TV online (AP via Philly.com)

Who's happy about Christie's tax-reciprocity move? Anyone? (Philly.com)

Advocate says Verizon's South Jersey service upgrade plan insufficient (Press of Atlantic City)

Oracle Extends Deadline for $9.3 Billion NetSuite Deal -- WSJ (Dow Jones Business News)

Verizon evaluating 'material' effect of massive Yahoo hack (CNET News)




Sunday Highlights: Twitter Seeks New Path After Potential Bidders Said to Back Off; Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon Return to 'SNL' as Philly Voters



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This Hip, Weird Clothing Store Wants to Take Over America (Bloomberg)
First Round Capital was an early investor.

Billy Bush, embroiled in Trump tape scandal, is asked to take a break from 'Today' show
(LA Times)


Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon Return to 'SNL' as Sought-After Philly Voters (Hollywood Reporter)

Twitter Seeks New Path After Potential Bidders Said to Back Off (Bloomberg)

Pennovation: Where ideas go to grow up (Philly.com)

Fast-growing fintech firm BizEquity doubles office space with Bryn Mawr HQ move (Philadelphia Business Journal)

How Hatboro-Horsham schools used PARIS software to be more efficient (Philadelphia Inquirer)






TECATE Beer ad ridicules Trump's wall





Saturday Highlights: State appeals court reverses Uber, Lyft ban in Philly; 'Apprentice' tapes not at NBC



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State appeals court reverses Uber, Lyft ban in Philly (Philly.com)

Digging for Trump 'Apprentice' tapes? They're not at NBC (Politico)








PepsiCo’s Mid-Project Move from SAP On-Premise HCM to SuccessFactors (ASUG News)

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff on Oracle's Larry Ellison: 'Do you just pretend we don't exist?' (CRM, ORCL) (Business Insider via SFGate)

Users [such as Comcast] look to real-time streaming to speed up big data analytics (SearchBusinessAnalytics)



Links 10/7: Warrant deals abound in cable industry; Salesforce shareholders besiege possible Twitter deal



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Thomson Reuters CEO to move to Toronto, launches tech center (Reuters)

Semtech lowers outlook on expenses from Comcast network deal (Marketwatch)
Semtech will also get a warrant agreement with Comcast, as at least three other Comcast provider have gotten.

Charter, Arris Ink Warrant Agreement (Multichannel News)
Similar to Comcast's recent warrant deals.

Comcast to start capping internet use on Nov. 1 after customer data usage nearly doubles in one year (Denver Post)

Salesforce Shareholders Besiege Possible Twitter Deal (New York Times)


Why the Latest Move in the Oracle-NetSuite Merger Could Spark Concern (Fortune)

The future of the SAP S/4HANA public cloud – a talk with SAP’s Ross Wainwright (Jon Reed/Diginomica)




Comcast Launches Enterprise Internet of Things Trial Venture
Collaborating with Semtech to provide LoRa® Technology IoT solutions for enterprises (Press Release)


Comcast Launches Enterprise Internet of Things Trial Venture
Collaborating with Semtech to provide LoRa® Technology IoT solutions for enterprises



October 05, 2016 04:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time
PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Comcast today announced machineQ™, a new business trial venture focused on building business-to-business solutions and a platform for the Internet of Things (IoT). As a part of machineQ, Comcast will work with select commercial partners in proof of concepts to use its network to enable partners to gather, transmit, and analyze data from connected devices distributed throughout their organizations.

“Semtech is committed to working with Comcast to make LPWAN networks broadly available in the United States. We believe this will foster innovation by enterprises for new IoT solutions that allows us all to benefit from the advantages of our emerging connected world.”
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Comcast will use Semtech Corporation’s (NASDAQ: SMTC) globally-proven LoRa® Wireless Radio Frequency Technology to deploy network trials in Philadelphia and San Francisco later this year. These trials will focus on enabling use cases such as utility metering, environmental monitoring (e.g., temperature, pollution, noise), and asset tracking through LoRa Technology-enabled devices and network services. Organizations and enterprises interested in participating in trials for LoRa-specific proof of concepts are encouraged to contact Comcast here.

According to a 2016 study of the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) market by Machina Research, the total number of global M2M connections will grow from 6 billion in 2015 to 27 billion in 2025, with 20 percent of these connections originating in the United States. The global market is estimated to generate $3 trillion in revenue by 2025 with 22 percent ($660 billion) originating in the United States. Machina’s study also indicates that 11 percent of the connections by 2025 will use Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) connections such as LoRa.

"We believe the business-to-business segment of the Internet of Things market is going to expand rapidly over the next decade as businesses look to IoT-based technology to manage their businesses in a more effective and sophisticated manner," said Sam Schwartz, Chief Business Development Officer, Comcast Cable. "Technologies such as LoRa are setting the stage for the era of connected devices, and we think our network potentially has a role to play in connecting the millions of internet-enabled devices deployed within enterprises.”

Comcast has invested tens of billions of dollars to build a network that spans 20 of the nation's top 30 markets. It includes more than 149,000 route miles of fiber optic cable and more than 500,000 miles of HFC plant that is in close proximity to hundreds of thousands of businesses and city locations.

“The decision by Comcast to complement its existing infrastructure with LoRa Technology will enable connected devices, servers and software components to communicate seamlessly and securely on its new LoRaWAN™-based IoT platform,” said Mohan Maheswaran, Semtech’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Semtech is committed to working with Comcast to make LPWAN networks broadly available in the United States. We believe this will foster innovation by enterprises for new IoT solutions that allows us all to benefit from the advantages of our emerging connected world.”

If the initial trials are successful, Comcast intends to commercially deploy LoRaWAN networks and LoRa-related services across its markets, with the goal of completing commercial deployments within the next 18 to 30 months.

About Semtech

Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for high-end consumer, enterprise computing, communications, and industrial equipment. Products are designed to benefit the engineering community as well as the global community. The Company is dedicated to reducing the impact it, and its products, have on the environment. Internal green programs seek to reduce waste through material and manufacturing control, use of green technology and designing for resource reduction. Publicly traded since 1967, Semtech is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol SMTC. For more information, visit www.semtech.com.

About Comcast Cable

Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. Comcast has invested in technology to build an advanced network that delivers among the fastest broadband speeds, and brings customers personalized video, communications and home management offerings. Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) is a global media and technology company. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

Contacts
Comcast Corporation
Joel Shadle, 215-286-4675
joel_shadle@comcast.com
or
Semtech
David Guerra, Media
805-480-2185
dguerra@semtech.com
or
William “Sandy” Harrison, Investor Relations
805-480-2004
sharrison@semtech.com