Boston area software and life sciences startups are starting off the new year right with a slew of financing, acquisitions, and partnerships news.
—Marlborough, MA-based Physicians Interactive Holdings received a $17 million pledge from Merck Global Health Innovation Fund to develop Web and mobile apps for connecting physicians and life sciences companies.
—Repeat biotech entrepreneurs Bob Langer and Omid Farokhzad founded a new startup, called Blend Therapeutics, along with Stephen Lippard. Blend is backed by $2.8 million from Flagship Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, and NanoDimension, according a FierceBiotech report.
—Last Friday saw a number of financings, some for quirkily named startups: $4 million more for Cambridge-based GrabCAD and $4.5 million for Cambridge-based Krush, $6 million for Boston- and Nashville-based Moontoast, $8.3 million for Linkwell Health, and $4 million for Novogy.
—Safari Books Online, a joint venture between O’Reilly Media and Pearson Education, acquired Threepress, a Boston area company focused on digital publishing tools. The price tag of the deal wasn’t disclosed.
—Woburn, MA-based LogMeIn (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LOGM]]), which makes remote access and customer support software, paid $16.5 million to acquire Kansas-based Bold Software, a developer of technology for live-chat systems and click-to-call customer service.
—A cluster of area digital marketing startups inked deals: Newton, MA-based Neolane raised $27 million, Boston-based
