Santa Monica-based Zag has finally revealed the total invested in its latest, strategic round of funding, saying Thursday that it raised $37.4M. USAA is an affinity group which is using Zag's automotive configuration software and services. The firm's venture round had earlier been reported to be worth $32.4M, and included USAA--however, the firm had refused to confirm those details until today. The round came from USAA, and included Capricorn Investment Group, LLC, GRP Partners and Anthem Venture Partners. Zag also provides online car buying software for a number of AAA

Los Angeles-based Zag , the online car buying software firm headed by former CarsDirect CEO Scott Painter, has scored an investment from financial services firm USAA , USAA disclosed Thursday. According to USAA, it is taking an equity position in Zag, which is also providing the firm with its car buying services. Zag develops technology which allows members of groups like USAA to USAA did not provide financial details behind the investment. USAA has been offering Zag's services to its members since 2007.

Santa Monica-based Zag.com , the online automobile buying service headed by Scott Painter, is reporting today that it had what is calls its "strongest sales so far this year" in June. Zag has previously received venture capital from such firms as Anthem Ventures, GRP Partners, the Tech Coast Angels, Capricorn Management, Capital One, and Arcturus Capital. The firm--which provides its car buying service as a private-label offering through affiliate groups such as the AAA and USAA--said it had 20% sales growth in June, and 15% growth on average for the previous three months. The firm

Santa Monica-based TrueCar , the automotive pricing startup headed by Scott Painter, said yesterday that it has rolled out a new, monthly consumer price report. The firm said that the monthly report will help consumers identify which cars have the most negotiating room, best deals, and other information. TrueCar is a spinout of Zag Automotive, and gathers its data from actual sales information from local dealerships. READ MORE>> ...Tags: Tags: truecar automotive pricing shoppin

Santa Monica-based TrueCar , the automotive pricing spinout of Zag, said today that it is targeting dealers with a new web site, to help dealerships price vehicles based on market data. According to the firm, it will allow dealers to see price reports and window sticker data from its service, giving those dealers information on what consumers are actually paying for their vehicles. TrueCar Pricing on the new dealer-centric offering was not disclosed. TrueCar said that the new service will help dealers to "optimize" their vehicle pricing.

Santa Monica-based TrueCar , the automotive pricing spinout of Zag Automotive, disclosed Wednesday that the firm has inked distribution deals with five automotive websites. According to TrueCar, it will provide its price reports on Pricequotes.com , Carbuyingtips.com , Carzen.com , Carpricesecrets.com , and Cardevotion.com . TrueCar is using pricing data, derived from information gained from Zag's Financial details of the distribution deals were not disclosed. The firm provides that data to users to get realistic pricing data before shopping for a car.

The firm--which is a spinout of automotive configuration software firm Zag--said it will provide consumers with a "Price Report" showing the full distribution of prices paid by other people, for the exact same vehicle, in a consumer's local area. TrueCar is venture backed by Zag, Anthem Venture Partners, Global Retail Partners, Capricorn, Capital One Auto Finance, and Arcturus Capital. Santa Monica-based TrueCar has officially launched its new car pricing site today, saying that it is now providing consumers with details on the prices paid for people on cars in their area.

Santa Monica-based TrueCar , the automotive pricing spinout of Zag Automotive, annoucned today that it has hired the Chief Evangelist from Edmunds. The firm said that Jesse Toprak will serve as the firm's Vice President of Industry (Tresnds & Insights) at the company, and will analyze and report on automotive related topics, trends and insights. Toprak spent nine years at Edmunds, in addition to earlier experience at automotive franchises. TrueCar is using real-world sales data from automotive dealesr to power its service, which allows both consumers and dealers to research

Santa Monica-based SharesPost , which has created on online marketplace for sellers and buyers of private company stock, reported to its users late Friday that the firm now has sales of LinkedIn, Linden Lab, Tesla Motors, and SugarCRM going into escrow. The firm also bolstered its research, posting reports on all of those firms, and also reported that it had over 4,000 users sign up in its first two weeks. The firm--which launched in early June--also said that that it now has offers to sell Facebook, Tesla, XDx, eHarmony, and LindenLab shares, as the firm's marketplace starts to gear up.

socalTECH tracks day-to-day venture capital activity in the Southern California region, and uses venture data disclosed by companies announcing funding; self-reported by both technology companies and venture firms; as well as regulatory filings and other sources. However, Other firms receiving significant capital during the quarter were car buying technology firm Zag , with around $37M raised, and solar energy firm eSolar , which raised $30M from an Indian partner during the quarter. The Southern California Venture capital totals were up slightly in Q1 of this year from last quarter, to around $718M in deals, according to an analysis of socalTECH.com's proprietary venture database .