Holograms yes, those 3-D images Darth Vader used to communicate in “Star Wars” are coming to Latino grocery stores in L.A.
Developed in Chatsworth, a patented technology projects into space 3-D images in high-resolution streaming video. The product will be rolled out in 47 grocery stores in Hispanic neighborhoods in the L.A. area.
The holographic video, displayed in kiosks, would feature advertisements and content about products sold in the stores.
The system, developed by Provision Interactive Technologies Inc., will also soon pop up in duty-free stores internationally. It recently partnered with drinks giant Diageo, behind brands including Smirnoff and Baileys, to bring advertisements of its products in hologram form. This model would incorporate an “air touch” element where consumers can touch the floating images to get more information on the products.
“No one is used to seeing that anywhere other than science-fiction movies,” said Chief Executive Curt Thornton.
Thornton said the company is responding to research that shows more than 70 percent of purchasing decisions are made inside a store. That’s why many checkout counters at groceries feature small television screens with news and advertisements.
“Those flat panels are everywhere in homes, stores and at work and people are beginning to tune them out,” Thornton said. “But images floating in space are something truly new.”
Provision has recently sealed a partnership with a top advertiser, but Thornton declined to disclose the brand. A national grocery chain is also testing the product in 30 of its stores in the Pacific Northwest.
Founded in 2001, the company of a dozen employees is funded mostly through angel and private equity investors. It recently went public in February under the name Provision Holding Inc.
Marketplace Money
LeadPoint, operator of an online lead-generation marketplace, seems to have little difficulty raising funds. It’s been around for four years and has successfully completed its fifth round of financing of $6 million.
The latest funding, from Silicon Valley Bank Venture along with Redpoint Ventures, brings the total amount of investment in the company to $16 million. LeadPoint serves as middleman between buyers and sellers of sales leads.
The money will go toward adding “bench strength” to the company, expanding marketing and sales forces and delve into new categories, according to a press release.
The Brentwood-based company is 100 employees strong and led by Chief Executive Marc Diana, previously on the founding team of LowerMyBills.com, a comparison shopping site that sold to Experian for $380 million in 2005.
Document Investment
Docstoc.com, a social networking site built around professional documents, raised $3.5 million from Santa Monica-based Rustic Canyon Partners.
The money will be used to expand the company’s employee base of five people, and bolster its marketing and business development efforts.
The Beverly Hills company, founded in 2006, had raised $750,000 in investments from entrepreneurs including Robin Richards, founding president of MP3.com, and Brett Brewer, one of the founders of Intermix, former parent company of MySpace.
The site, officially launched five months ago, has attracted more than 200,000 shared documents, including business plans, wills and nondisclosure agreements.
Moving Pictures
Santa Monica-based Transpera has been selected by the Associated Press to supply video feed for the news service’s soon-to-be launched mobile network.
AP’s video news clips will be made available on mobile devices for those who subscribe to the wire service. Transpera’s technology will stream the video content and match ads to targeted demographics.
Transpera got its first $3 million in venture funding last year from Intel Capital, Flybridge Capital and First Round Capital.
New Face
Michael Starkenburg is the new chief operating officer of Image Metrics, developer of facial animation software.
Starkenburg had served as a consultant to the Santa Monica company for the past year. Previously, he was partner at venture capital fund Sprout Group, and chief technology officer of Gemstar-TVGuide.
He replaces Kelvin Duckett, who has been promoted to the position of executive vice president.
Data Offering
Data storage provider Nexsan Corp. is going public. The offering is estimated at $81 million.
The Thousand Oaks company develops disk-based storage systems designed for long-term data storage. Nexsan sells its products through several hundred partners in North America, Europe and Asia.
Nexsan, which reported revenue of $50 million last year, is relatively a small player among its competitors, including Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Sun Microsystems Inc.
Staff reporter Booyeon Lee can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 230.
