Ixia, a provider of IP and wireless network test systems, announced today its acquisition of Austin-based BreakingPoint Systems, a security testing firm, for $160 million in cash.
The deal is expected to close by the end of September pending regulatory approvals.
BreakingPoint’s security products allow Ixia to offer its customers a strong defense against Cyber attacks.
“The current threat landscape is changing everything from the way we conduct business, to how we protect data and secure infrastructures, to the way we train cyber warriors,” Vic Alston, Ixia’s president and CEO said in a news statement. “This dynamic IT landscape is creating a growing demand for solutions that provide definitive and current insight into the resiliency of critical IT infrastructures and defenses. The use of disparate testing tools, threat intelligence, and monitoring products allows dangerous security vulnerabilities that erode the security posture of businesses and government agencies.”
BreakingPoint had revenue of $33.5 million in 2011, up 40 percent from a year earlier.
“As a leader in cyber security research, BreakingPoint has built a library of more than 34,000 attacks, exploits, malware, and more,” Dennis Cox, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of BreakingPoint. said in a news statement. “Joining forces with Ixia creates a powerful platform in security and application testing — one with an extensive global sales reach into enterprises, service providers, and government agencies.”
Tag: technology (Page 14 of 25)
The GIF, Graphics Interchange Format, is 25 years old.
And it’s gotten a makeover.
The annoying images of flashing e-mail boxes and under construction signs from the early days of the Internet still exist. But few people use them.
Instead, companies looking to get the attention of a highly distracted Internet audience have turned to the video GIF.
And Cinegif in Austin wants to create special GIFs for them.
“Animated GIFs are making a comeback,” said Graham McFarland, Cinegif’s CEO.
Some people say the GIF killed Myspace.com because everyone junked up their profiles by placing numerous animated files on them, McFarland said. But GIFs are one of the most popular postings to Tumblr, the popular blogging platform, he said.
“GIFs are making a comeback because they can be easily put together to look like a video file.”
Cinegif is bringing this trend to businesses, McFarland said.
Companies can put the video GIFs into e-mail campaigns and social media campaigns, McFarland said.
“Anywhere you can use an image file you can use an animated GIF,” he said.
Right now the biggest creators of animated GIFs are teenagers and high-end fashion photographers in New York and Los Angeles, McFarland said.
Earlier this month, Burberry’s tweeted animated GIFs from its London Fashion week show.
Cinegif is doing a handful of pilot projects with small businesses locally and nationally to bring the technology to a wider business market, McFarland said.
The startup company recently launched its Cinegif App for the iPhone that lets consumers share 10 second video clips within a text message.
Cinegif has created a video conversion software that reduces file size and makes sharing short videos easy. The company has three patents on its technology and one more pending, McFarland said.
With the Cinegif video app, which is free, anyone can send a 10 second video GIF in a text message. The size of the file is compatible for mobile delivery with any telecommunications carrier, according to the company.
Doug Richardson, a professional photographer, came up with the idea and formed the company in 2006, but he’s only recently begun to commercialize it. The company has some angel funding and plans to seek additional funding later on this year. Cinegif currently has three employees and two contract employees.
Cinegif plans to host a 20 second film festival in Austin later this year to raise the awareness of what GIFs are and how they can be used, McFarland said.
“The goal is to get the technology out and into the hands of creative people,” McFarland said.
Valence Technology reports it has received notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market that the company may be delisted for not complying with the $1 minimum balance for its stock price.
The Austin-based company, which makes energy storage systems, initially received notification from the Nasdaq on Dec. 13, 2011 that the bid price for its stock had closed at less than $1 a share during the previous 30 business days. That means that Valence Technology was not in compliance with Nasdaq’s listing rule. The stock exchange gave the company 180 days to meet its minimum bid requirement. Valence was not able to do that. The company also has negative stockholders’ equity and so it doesn’t meet other listing standards for the Nasdaq market.
Valence is appealing the ruling and that will stay the suspension of the company’s stock pending the appeal panel’s decision.
If you were wanting to get the pulse of the Austin startup community, who are in the top 5 you would talk to? Thanks!
— Damon Clinkscales (@damon) June 10, 2012
Damon Clinkscales recently complied this list when he tweeted out a question to the Austin high-tech community asking for recommendations of the top people to talk to about the Austin startup scene.
I agree with all the recommendations. My list in Austin is as follows:
Josh Baer, founder of multiple companies including OtherInBox, Capital Factory and author of Austinpreneur.
Jason Cohen, founder Smart Bear Software, founder of Capital Factory and founder of WP Engine.
Damon Clinkscales, software engineer and founder of AustinOnRails.
Bill Boebel, founder of Webmail.us, angel investor and manager at Capital Factory.
Julie Huls, president of the Austin Technology Council.
Bryan Menell, director of the Collaboratory at Dachis Group, founder of AustinStartup.com and the monthly High Tech Happy Hour.
Josh Dilworth, founder and CEO of Jones-Dilworth, Inc., an early-stage technology marketing firm.
Kevin Koym, entrepreneur and founder of Tech Ranch Austin.
Eve Richter, emerging technologies coordinator at City of Austin/Economic Development
Robert Reeves, founder at Datical, cofounder of Phurnace Software and formerly director of IT and Wireless at the Austin Technology Incubator.
Jeff Harbach, executive director of Central Texas Angel Network
Rudy Garza, angel investor and founder and managing general partner of G-51, also known as TexasSuperAngel on Twitter.
Andrew Busey, successful serial entrepreneur, now venture partners with Austin Ventures.
Jacqueline Hughes, founder of Austin Startup Week
Laura Beck, owner of StripedShirt and seasoned technology PR professional who knows everyone.
Lori Hawkins, veteran technology reporter at the Austin American Statesman. She pens the Starting Blog.
Bob Metcalfe, co-founder of Ethernet, 3Com, professor of innovation at UT and cofounder of 1SemesterStartup.
Austin has a thriving high-tech startup scene. So many people contribute to the collaborate environment in the city and that makes it tough to name just a few.
In fact, I was just interviewed for an article in Fast Company Magazine on the startup scene in both Austin and San Antonio and I listed many of the people on Clinkscales list. But I also told the reporter that it was tough to make up a list because so many people in Austin help startup entrepreneurs.
I also listed the top people for the San Antonio area. They are as follows (and again I know I will leave off important people so please list them in the comments sections to add to this list.)
Graham Weston, chairman of Rackspace, founder of Geekdom and investor in lots of startup companies.
Pat Condon, founder of Rackspace, supporter of Geekdom and angel investor in startup companies.
Dirk Elemendorf, founder of Rackspace, supporter of Geekdom and angel investor in startup companies.
Jason Seats, founder of Slicehost, managing director of TechStars Cloud and angel investor.
Alan Weinkrantz, high-tech public relations professional who runs his own firm and splits his time between the startup scene in San Antonio and Israel.
Dr. Luz Cristal Glangchai, assistant professor and associate director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Trinity University and manager of 3DayStartup San Antonio.
Nick Longo, founder of CoffeeCup Software and director of Geekdom, a collaborative coworking space for high-tech entrepreneurs in downtown San Antonio.
Vid Luther, founder of ZippyKid, a WordPress hosting site.
Move it and store it.
Austin-based startup Sparefoot has teamed up with Penske Truck Rental to make it easy for folks to move and store their belongings this Memorial Day weekend.
Sparefoot informs us that this coming Tuesday is known in the business as “Crazy Tuesday” because it’s the unofficial biggest day of the year for the storage industry.
“This collaboration with SpareFoot will make for a more convenient moving experience for our customers,” Don Mikes, Senior Vice President of Rental for Penske Truck Leasing, said in a news release.
SpareFoot is the world’s largest online marketplace for consumers to find and reserve self-storage units, with comparison shopping tools that show real-time availability and exclusive deals.
Photo by John R. Rogers with Viusalist Images in Austin
The focus of the site is to attract mid-to-senior level technology workers to the Austin region. The site allows employers to post openings, review resumes and connect directly with qualified job-seekers. The site has 2,000 jobs seekers and 37 companies including Bazaarvoice, Microsoft and Google registered so far.
“Economic growth flourishes when employers are able to couple a favorable business climate with the right talent pool,” Clarke Heidrick, Board Chair, Austin Chamber, said in a news statement. “As a new talent initiative of the Chamber, AustinTechSource will support all Austin companies, big and small, with their goals of efficiently finding topnotch, experienced tech talent.”
WhaleShark Media has acquired Miwim, an online coupon and deal site in France.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Austin-based WhaleShark Media connects consumers with multiple daily deal and coupon services like Deals.com and CouponShare.com as well as deal sites outside of the U.S.
Founded in 2010, WhaleShark Media has received $300 million from several venture capital firms including Austin Ventures, Google Ventures, and Institutional Venture Partners.
Last year, WhaleShark Media made more than $70 million in revenue as part of the $1.7 billion in sales generated for its merchant clients.
The company has 170 employees worldwide, including 120 in the U.S. It plans to hire another 50 employees this year.
The acquisition of Miwim’s web portfolio, which includes online coupon site Bons-de-Reduction and cash-back website Poulpeo, combined with WhaleShark Media’s existing portfolio of European websites, VoucherCodes.co.uk in the U.K. and Deals.com in Germany, positions WhaleShark Media to provide coupons to consumers that represent 70% of the ecommerce activity in Western Europe.
Olivier David and Francois Larvor, the founders of Miwim, will continue to serve as co-General Managers of Miwim and 20 other employees will join WhaleShark in France.
Calxeda, which makes energy-saving chips for servers that power data centers, has raised $20 million of a $30 million offering, according to a statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Austin-based company, founded in 2008 as Smooth Stone, announced $48 million in funding in November of 2010.
Calxeda’s funders include Advanced Technology Investment Co., ARM, Battery Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners and Highland Capital Partners.
For more on the company, read the profile Susan Lahey wrote last year.
BY DAMON CLINKSCALES
FounderDating (and no, it’s not romantic) has just launched in Austin.
The online network allows you to connect with other talented folks who are ready to found a company in your area. The first live event for Austin will be held on May 23rd (apply by May 15th).
About the network:
High Quality – members are carefully screened for quality and readiness. Applications and members’ identities are confidential, but a few of the folks who are part of the network are former founders or early employees of: StackMob, Snapfish, Asana, Soundtracking, and hi5 just to name a few.
Balanced – 50% engineering & 50% non-engineering
Online Network – The event is just the beginning. FD is an invite-only online network of entrepreneurs looking for co-founders around the country that you become a part of.
You can apply at here (you don’t need to have an idea, just ready to work on a serious side project).
Here’s some more background: in a TechCrunch article.