The past week has kept us buzzing with news of funding rounds for startups in the cleantech, biotech, software, and Internet spaces.
—Cambridge, MA-based Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRWD]]) sold its biomanufacturing unit, Mircrobia, to Dutch chemical giant Royal DSM. The purchaser did not reveal how much it paid for Lexington, MA-based Microbia, which designs microbes used to make chemicals from renewable sources and is said to have brought $1 million in losses to Ironwood in 2009.
—Cambridge-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced its plans to offer $375 million worth of convertible senior subordinated notes, due in 2015 in a public offering. Vertex (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) underwriter BofA Merrill Lynch also received the option to purchase up to $25 million in additional notes as part of the terms of the offering.
—Mocospace, a Boston-based mobile social networking and entertainment startup, announced it had received a $3.5 million investment from SoftBank Capital. The company will use the money for adding to its management team and expanding its offerings of Web-based social games for mobile phones. SoftBank joins existing Mocospace investors General Catalyst, Pilot Group, and angel backer Michael Dearing.
—Dana Farber Cancer Institute of Boston received $33 million from French drug giant Sanofi-Aventis to license technology for identifying cancer targets for new treatments. The Boston organization will also receive at least three years of research funding from Sanofi, in addition to possible payments tied to drugs developed as part of the agreement.
— Burlington, MA-based Aspen Technology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AZPN]]), a maker of software for manufacturing optimization, priced a secondary public offering of 18 million shares at $9 per share, an increase from its originally expected offering of 15 million shares.
—Burlington-based medical device startup Rhythmia Medical raised $5 million of a possible $7 million equity-based financing, bringing the company’s total funding pot
