VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Smartphone pioneer BlackBerry Ltd announced its intention to divest most of its real estate holdings in Canada through sale-leaseback and vacant asset sales in an effort to turnaround its fortunes.

Los Angeles, US-based startup BEZALEL launched a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter to raise $35,000 for the development a portable wireless charger for smart devices called ARK.

China's Oceanwide Real Estate Group will acquire a sprawling parking lot in downtown Los Angeles for $200 million to develop a five-star hotel, apartments and retail spaces.

Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has invested an undisclosed amount in Monaco-based electric car startup Venturi Automobiles and co-founded a new electric racing team which will compete in the Formula E series next September.

Los Angeles has filed a case against Bank of America for discriminatory mortgage lending among the minority communities in the city, Reuters reported citing a court filing.

San Francisco-based web app Swarm Mobile raised around USD3.5 million to develop technology that can track in-store shoppers through their smartphones to help physical stores compete with e-commerce retailers.

Los Angeles-based startup Ninja Metrics raised USD2.8 million today from Tech Coast Angels and Harvard Business School to launch its predictive analytics tool Katana Analytics Engine.

Chinese carmaker BYD Co Lt said it would hire more local workers for its California plant after being accused of breaking US labor rules.

New Jersey Police Chief Allen Cummings in an interview with Associated Press, said family members received text messages on suicide from Paul Ciancia, the LAX shooter.

CBS blocked the access of Time Warner cable's customers to online shows after the cable operator dropped it from its network.

The LA Dodgers will acquire Brian Wilson for US$1 million.

Apple and Los Angeles Unified School District would join forces through a US$30 million-worth deal.

Transom Capital Group acquired One Industries, a protective gear producer based in San Diego.

Hancock Park Associates and Next Point Capital bought Sheffield Manufacturing, a company focused in the aerospace industry.