Investors put $215 million into mobile technology companies in the Boston area in the first quarter of 2009, according to figures released today by Mobile Monday Boston, the local chapter of the global association for mobile professionals. That’s the largest amount raised by the mobile sector in the last five quarters, and it went to 11 companies.
“Despite reports of widespread venture capital decline, mobile investment in Massachusetts is still on the rise,” Mobile Monday Boston co-founder and organizer Kate Imbach said in a statement. “Boston is quickly establishing itself as the worldwide hub of mobile and wireless.”
The lion’s share of the funds raised came in the form of a $175 million sale of 17.4 million shares of stock by Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUAN]]) of Burlington, MA. Companies that raised venture funds in the quarter included Quantia Communications (Newton, MA, amount undisclosed), Onset Technology (Waltham, MA, $3 million), Vela Systems (Burlington, MA, $550,000), Quattro Wireless (Waltham, MA, $10 million), Extreme Reach (Needham, MA, $1.5 million), Black Duck (Waltham, MA, $9.5 million), Mintera (Acton, MA, $390,000), Everyday Solutions (Concord, MA, $500,000), Ember (Boston, $8 million), and MedAptus (Boston, $6 million).
Here’s a chart from Mobile Monday Boston illustrating quarterly mobile investments in the region:
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Author: Wade Roush
Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco.
Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.)
I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia.
I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats.
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