Catching up on a couple of small Boston-area company financings, while we wait to hear from mobile-ad firm Jumptap on what’s up with its latest $20 million (or something) equity round.
—Waltham, MA-based Forerun, a maker of patient-charting software for doctors in emergency departments, said it has raised $2 million in Series C financing led by Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation. Other investors, including Michael Kaufman from KBT Partners, also participated in the round. Forerun was founded in 2006 and is led by CEO Ken Wolfe.
—Boston-based Smarterer, a new startup focused on online skills tests, has raised $1.25 million in an initial financing round from investors including True Ventures, Dharmesh Shah, Joe Caruso, and Shikhar Ghosh. The news was reported this morning by Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe. Smarterer is led by co-founders Dave Balter (from BzzAgent) and Jennifer Fremont-Smith, who is chief executive (and the former CEO of AnswerSmart and Third Level Data). It’s early days, but it sounds like there could be paying applications in human resources and recruiting.
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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