This week in Boston tech, we’re catching up on the latest real estate deals—including Amazon’s new digs, funding and acquisition news, and people on the move. Read on for details.
Office Space
—Let’s start with new office deals. The biggest one: Amazon is expanding to Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, leasing space at WeWork’s new coworking office, the Boston Globe reported. Amazon didn’t tell the newspaper how much space it would rent out, but anonymous sources reportedly said it will take up two floors. The Boston Business Journal, citing anonymous real estate industry sources, reported that Amazon’s Back Bay space will be temporary, and the tech company is still looking for a permanent office in Boston.
The Globe reported that Amazon will maintain its office across the Charles River in Kendall Square, which houses employees working on the speech tech that powers the company’s Alexa voice assistant.
—Also in Back Bay, The Yard announced plans to open a coworking space this fall at 120 St. James Avenue, formerly known as the John Hancock Tower. It will be the New York-based company’s first coworking space in Boston. The company currently operates seven offices in the New York City area, but plans to add six more spaces, including in Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
—Finally, Industrious—which operates a network of coworking spaces nationwide—plans to open a location in Boston in November, according to BostInno.
Deals
—Kendall Research Systems, an MIT spinout working on neuroscience research software and hardware technologies, was acquired by Los Angeles-based Kernel for an undisclosed price. Read more in this Medium post from Kernel founder Bryan Johnson.
—Boston-based Sungage Financial, which helps homeowners access financing for installing solar power equipment, raised $3.3 million in equity funding from investors, according to an SEC filing.
—Prechorus, a Boston-area startup working on communications and logistics software for event organizers, raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Accomplice and individual investors, BostInno reported.
People
—Cambridge, MA-based Vecna Technologies, a maker of robots and healthcare software, has named Dwight Moore the CEO of its subsidiary VGo Communications. VGo sells “telepresence” robots that allow people to remotely—via the robot—see, hear, talk, and move around.
Previously, Moore served as president of private equity firm Echelon Partners. He has also held leadership roles at NTS, NCR, and Lockheed Martin, according to a press release.
