Under New Initiative, Biocom Scouts for Strategic Partners in Japan

After working for years to make inroads in China, San Diego’s Biocom industry group has refocused its global partnering efforts on a new initiative intended to connect emerging life sciences companies in San Diego with big pharmas in Japan. Biocom and the Japan Bioindustry Association signed a formal partnership agreement last summer, according to Biocom … Continue reading “Under New Initiative, Biocom Scouts for Strategic Partners in Japan”

Finistere Raises $150M for New Fund Focused on Agricultural Biotech

Finistere Ventures, a San Diego investment firm focused on agricultural biotechnology, said it has closed on $150 million for its second fund. In a regulatory filing, the firm indicates plans to raise as much as $200 million for the fund, Finistere Ventures II. In a separate filing, Finistere disclosed plans to raise $20 million for … Continue reading “Finistere Raises $150M for New Fund Focused on Agricultural Biotech”

Shire Acquires Meritage Pharma in Deal Potentially Worth $245M

[Updated 2/24/15 6:10 pm. See below.] After acquiring ViroPharma last year in a $4.2 billion deal focused on Cinryze, the Irish pharmaceutical giant Shire says it is following through on a four-year-old option that Exton, PA-based ViroPharma held with San Diego’s Meritage Pharma. In a statement today, Shire says it has acquired San Diego’s Meritage … Continue reading “Shire Acquires Meritage Pharma in Deal Potentially Worth $245M”

Former Biotech CEO Richard Hollis Unveils Web Startup Holonis

Richard Hollis, who lost control of his namesake biotech company in 2009, is staging a comeback with the launch of San Diego-based Holonis, an online marketplace providing e-commerce software and services on a subscription basis for business customers. While Hollis spent 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, beginning in 1978 as a salesman with Baxter … Continue reading “Former Biotech CEO Richard Hollis Unveils Web Startup Holonis”

Cebix Shuts Down Following Mid-Stage Trial of C-Peptide Drug

San Diego-based Cebix, which raised about $50 million to advance a C-peptide replacement therapy for treating diabetes-related microvascular problems, has quietly folded its tent. Jacob Fuchs, an Xconomy reader and pharmacy student interested in the use of C-peptide as a potential treatment for diabetic patients, recently inquired about the company’s status. In an e-mail, he … Continue reading “Cebix Shuts Down Following Mid-Stage Trial of C-Peptide Drug”

Seragon CEO Rich Heyman Is Going on Hiatus

The moving boxes are stacked in the hallways of San Diego’s Seragon Pharmaceuticals, and that means the end is near for CEO Rich Heyman. He’s fine with that. As Heyman put it, “I’m not going to go operational any time soon.” After selling Seragon to Genentech, the South San Francisco-based unit of Roche, last July … Continue reading “Seragon CEO Rich Heyman Is Going on Hiatus”

In Quest for Robotics Startups, Qualcomm Accelerator Scouts for AI

At a time when companies like Google (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GOOG]]), Facebook (NASDAQ: [[ticker:FB]]), Baidu, and Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) are engaged in an arms race in artificial intelligence, Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) is putting a premium on “deep learning” as it solicits startups for its new robotics accelerator. Qualcomm unveiled its plans to host the intensive, four-month program … Continue reading “In Quest for Robotics Startups, Qualcomm Accelerator Scouts for AI”

Rechristened Laguna Pharmaceuticals Raises $30M, Moves To San Diego

Laguna Pharmaceuticals, founded in 2006 as a spinout of Cleveland, OH-based drug discovery and testing company ChanTest, has raised $30 million in a Series B round of venture funding and relocated in San Diego. The company, previously known as ChanRx, also recruited former Amira Pharmaceuticals CEO Bob Baltera as CEO. Versant Ventures and Frazier Healthcare … Continue reading “Rechristened Laguna Pharmaceuticals Raises $30M, Moves To San Diego”

Qualcomm Buys Aerial Drone Startup with Advanced Control Technology

In a small-but-significant addition to its budding interest in robotics, San Diego-based Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) has acquired KMel Robotics, a Philadelphia, PA-based startup that specializes in multi-rotor drones capable of coordinated, high-performance operations. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. In response to an Xconomy e-mail query, a Qualcomm spokesman said, “At this … Continue reading “Qualcomm Buys Aerial Drone Startup with Advanced Control Technology”

San Diego’s 10 Top-Funded Kickstarter Tech Projects of 2014

Securing venture funding for tech startups has never been easy in San Diego, especially after the great recession came to town in 2008. But in recent years, crowdfunding has opened a new outlet for technology innovation in San Diego and other regional hubs. (Our list of San Diego’s 10 top-funded tech projects on Kickstarter is … Continue reading “San Diego’s 10 Top-Funded Kickstarter Tech Projects of 2014”

Innovation on Kickstarter: The 10 Top-Funded Tech Ideas of 2014

A lot of ink has been spilled about the Coolest Cooler, a re-imagined picnic cooler equipped with a built-in blender, waterproof Bluetooth speaker, and UBS charger (among other things). To fund the project, inventor Ryan Grepper of Portland, OR, raised a record $13.3 million from 62,642 backers last summer on Kickstarter. The $13.3 million Grepper … Continue reading “Innovation on Kickstarter: The 10 Top-Funded Tech Ideas of 2014”

MaxLinear Gains Entropic’s Connected Home Portfolio in Buyout Deal

MaxLinear (NYSE: [[ticker:MXL]]), a Carlsbad, CA-maker of radio frequency and mixed-signal semiconductors, has agreed to acquire San Diego-based Entropic Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ENTR]]) in a cash-and-stock deal valued at nearly $287 million. The acquisition enables MaxLinear to broaden its access to broadband technology for the “connected home” and related markets by adding Entropic’s proprietary technology portfolio … Continue reading “MaxLinear Gains Entropic’s Connected Home Portfolio in Buyout Deal”

Algal Biofuel Icon Sapphire Energy Moves to Diversify Product Line

After James Levine stepped in last summer as CEO at Sapphire Energy, he told Xconomy he would be looking for ways to broaden and diversify Sapphire’s core expertise in algae-based biofuels by developing new businesses in related fields. Now that strategy is beginning to take form. The San Diego company said Jim Astwood has joined … Continue reading “Algal Biofuel Icon Sapphire Energy Moves to Diversify Product Line”

From Telemetry to Wearable Wednesdays: Q&A with Daniel Obodovski

As a director of business development at Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) for nine years, Daniel Obodovski participated in the commercial launches of multiple devices that were early examples of machine-to-machine communications (M2M). Before 2010, he says, “We launched a child-tracking device together with BestBuy, an Alzheimer patient-tracking device, and a covert cargo tracking device.” These days, … Continue reading “From Telemetry to Wearable Wednesdays: Q&A with Daniel Obodovski”

Crinetics Gets $1.5M Grant for Work on Women’s Health Disorders

Since 2008, when Scott Struthers founded San Diego’s Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, the startup has advanced its development of small-molecule drugs for treating endocrine-related disorders and cancers chiefly through a series of Small Business Innovative Research awards and foundation grants. The company says its passion for drug hunting “is tempered by a post-recession startup culture.” This week, … Continue reading “Crinetics Gets $1.5M Grant for Work on Women’s Health Disorders”

Venture Funding Looms Large for San Diego Biopharma Startups

Venture capital funding in the San Diego area has recovered from a three-year plunge that accompanied the U.S. financial crisis, according to a recent analysis of a decade’s worth of VC deals. But venture investments in San Diego remain heavily concentrated in new drug startups, according to David Coats, the San Diego-based co-founder and managing … Continue reading “Venture Funding Looms Large for San Diego Biopharma Startups”

Portfolium Reinvents the Resumé, Rolls Out App for Job Seekers

San Diego-based Portfolium began as a solution to the problem that many students face as they near the end of their schooling and look to join the real-world workforce. How do you create a persuasive resumé or LinkedIn profile if you’ve been a full-time student and don’t have much professional work history? Founding CEO Adam … Continue reading “Portfolium Reinvents the Resumé, Rolls Out App for Job Seekers”

Aspyrian Therapeutics Raises $8.5M for New Tumor Immunotherapy

[Updated 2/4/15 12:15 pm. See below.] See below.San Diego-based Aspyrian Therapeutics, founded in 2010 to advance technology that uses near-infrared light to activate an immune response targeting certain types of tumors, has raised almost $8.5 million from investors, according to a recent SEC filing. The investors were not identified. The technology was developed at the … Continue reading “Aspyrian Therapeutics Raises $8.5M for New Tumor Immunotherapy”

Q&A: SprinkleBit Sets Out to Crowdsource Active Investing

SprinkleBit CEO Alexander Wallin says he got hooked on investing in stocks when he was 14, working at a small ice cream kiosk in Skärhamn, on the West Coast of Sweden. He invested everything he earned that summer in Metro International, a media company then trading at 3.80 Swedish Krona a share. Metro later issued … Continue reading “Q&A: SprinkleBit Sets Out to Crowdsource Active Investing”

TVC Capital Raises $115M, Keeps Focus on Software, Value Investing

San Diego-based TVC Capital, a small private equity firm that specializes in growth-stage investments in software companies, has closed its third investment fund with $115 million in capital commitments. All of the firm’s existing institutional investors participated in the fund, TVC Capital III, along with three new investors, according to Jeb Spencer, a co-founder and … Continue reading “TVC Capital Raises $115M, Keeps Focus on Software, Value Investing”

Uber-Size Deals Dominate Mega Year in U.S. Venture Activity

Venture capital firms invested more than $47.3 billion in U.S. startups in 2014, marking the highest funding level of VC funding since 2001, according to data being released today by CB Insights, the New York-based venture capital database. The $47.3 billion was 62 percent more than the $29.2 billion that venture firms invested in 2013. … Continue reading “Uber-Size Deals Dominate Mega Year in U.S. Venture Activity”

Qualcomm-Novartis Deal Portends Wave of Clinical Trial Innovation

The significance of a deal announced last week during the 2015 International CES in Las Vegas went largely unnoticed amid the hubbub of the world’s biggest consumer technology show, packed as it was with 3,600 exhibitors and over 170,000 attendees. The deal creates a new collaboration in clinical trials between Qualcomm Life, the wireless health … Continue reading “Qualcomm-Novartis Deal Portends Wave of Clinical Trial Innovation”

Qualcomm Ventures Forms Joint Investment Business with Novartis

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]), the San Diego wireless technologies giant, plans to form a joint investment business through its corporate ventures arm with the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis. The joint investment entity would make as much as $100 million available for innovative health startups. In a statement, the partners say they would invest in early stage … Continue reading “Qualcomm Ventures Forms Joint Investment Business with Novartis”

Silver Spring Networks Acquires Escondido’s Detectent for $12M

Silver Spring Networks (NYSE: [[ticker:SSNI]]), which makes smart grid technologies for electric utilities, says it has agreed to pay $12 million in cash to acquire Detectent, an Escondido, CA-based company that provides analytic software to utilities. Detectent initially began in 2004 as a research project, when ConEdison asked founder Mike Madrazzo to analyze the New … Continue reading “Silver Spring Networks Acquires Escondido’s Detectent for $12M”

Seismic Raises $20M in Round Led by Software Growth Equity Fund

After tripling revenues in 2014, Encinitas, CA-based Seismic says today it has closed a $20 million round in Series B funding led by JMI Equity, the growth equity firm that specializes in software and services. Seismic was founded in 2010 to advance what co-founder and CEO Doug Winter calls “sales enablement software” that helps sales … Continue reading “Seismic Raises $20M in Round Led by Software Growth Equity Fund”

GlySens Raises $12M for Wireless Implantable Glucose Sensor

San Diego-based GlySens says it has raised $12 million in Series C funding to advance its wireless technology for an implantable sensor that could be used to monitor blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. No investors were identified in the statement issued by GlySens, which says only that several new investors participated in the … Continue reading “GlySens Raises $12M for Wireless Implantable Glucose Sensor”

MadCap Acquires Doc-to-Help, Expands Lineup of Authoring Tools

San Diego’s MadCap Software, which specializes in software used to create help documents, owners’ manuals, user guides, and other types of professional documentation, says today it has acquired longtime rival Doc-to-Help from GrapeCity, the Japanese software and services provider. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Privately held MadCap was founded in 2005 by … Continue reading “MadCap Acquires Doc-to-Help, Expands Lineup of Authoring Tools”

Lawn Love Raises $1.9M to Provide On-Demand Gardening Services

Lawn Love, a San Diego Web startup that emerged from the Y Combinator accelerator in August, has raised $1.9 million in seed funding from Launch Capital, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Binary Capital, and other investors. “We’re bringing software and tech to a traditionally low-tech space,” says Jeremy Yamaguchi, a San Diego entrepreneur who started Lawn … Continue reading “Lawn Love Raises $1.9M to Provide On-Demand Gardening Services”

Tracon Files for $57.5M IPO to Move Cancer Drugs to Next Stage

San Diego-based Tracon Pharmaceuticals, which raised $27 million in a Series B financing round in September, plans to raise a total of $57.5 million in an IPO, according to a recent regulatory filing. The company was founded in 2004 to develop new drugs for treating cancer, age-related macular degeneration, and fibrotic diseases. Curiously, this is … Continue reading “Tracon Files for $57.5M IPO to Move Cancer Drugs to Next Stage”

San Diego Innovation and the Top 10 Stories of 2014

To understand the ebb and flow of innovation in San Diego over the past year, I combined a ranking of stories with the most page views on Xconomy San Diego with my own editorial curation. Some themes are apparent in this top 10 list. The life sciences are ascendant here, with advances in genomics, stem … Continue reading “San Diego Innovation and the Top 10 Stories of 2014”

AltheaDx, with Personalized Medicine Diagnostics, Files for IPO

San Diego-based AltheaDx, which uses diagnostic tests and bioinformatics to help doctors identify the optimal drugs based on a patient’s genetic make-up, plans to raise as much as $69 million in an IPO. The company, which began operating in 2008, says in its IPO filing that it has used its IDgenetix technology to complete tests … Continue reading “AltheaDx, with Personalized Medicine Diagnostics, Files for IPO”

Device-Maker BeneChill Seeks to Raise $14.6M Through IPO

BeneChill, a startup established in San Diego eight years ago to develop a rapid-chilling technology to treat patients suffering from heart attacks and brain injury, intends to raise more than $14.6 million through an IPO. The company needs the cash. In its IPO filing with federal regulators, BeneChill says it generated only $400,000 in revenue … Continue reading “Device-Maker BeneChill Seeks to Raise $14.6M Through IPO”

SAIC Founder J. Robert Beyster Dies

J. Robert “Bob” Beyster, the nuclear physicist who founded Science Applications International Corp.—the multibillion-dollar government contractor better known as SAIC—died of natural causes yesterday at his home in San Diego. He was 90 years old. Beyster was a Cold War scientist who founded SAIC to tackle some of the nation’s most-difficult problems in national security—and … Continue reading “SAIC Founder J. Robert Beyster Dies”

#Hashtag This: How the Twitter Hashtag Caught Fire in San Diego

It’s been over seven years since Chris Messina proposed that Twitter users adopt the hash symbol as a way to collate their discussions and designate groups. I’m only just now catching up to him, although I have an excuse. I used to be mainstream media. Still, as Messina told me recently by phone from San … Continue reading “#Hashtag This: How the Twitter Hashtag Caught Fire in San Diego”

EdgeWave Adds $2M to Extend Overhaul of Enterprise Cybersecurity

San Diego-based EdgeWave, which raised $6 million in equity funding in July (and arranged a $5 million credit facility), says today it has raised another $2 million in equity from three investors in an extension of its Series A round. The cybersecurity company, known previously as St. Bernard Software, a public company, has been moving … Continue reading “EdgeWave Adds $2M to Extend Overhaul of Enterprise Cybersecurity”

Auspex Shares Soar on Late-Stage Results from Huntington’s Study

San Diego-based Auspex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ASPX]]) says it plans to file a new drug application by mid-2015 after reporting today that its lead drug candidate curbed involuntary movements associated with Huntington’s disease in a late-stage clinical trial. The price of Auspex shares gained about 65 percent, leaping by more than $16 to $41.21 a share … Continue reading “Auspex Shares Soar on Late-Stage Results from Huntington’s Study”

Techstars Hires Startup Vet to Run Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator

Ryan Kuder, a San Diego startup veteran who left the mobile device recycler EcoATM earlier this year, has been hired to lead the new robotics startup accelerator that Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) is establishing under a deal with Techstars. Boulder, CO-based Techstars, which just announced its 16th startup program last week in Detroit, named Kuder as … Continue reading “Techstars Hires Startup Vet to Run Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator”

Seattle’s QuestionPro Acquires RapidEngage (aka SlimSurveys)

QuestionPro, a Seattle Web-survey and market-research company, has acquired RapidEngage, a San Diego startup with micro survey technology that enables merchants and other businesses to gather customer feedback in less than 30 seconds. RapidEngage was co-founded in 2012 as SlimSurveys by Sean Callahan, Rodney Rumford, and Daniel Marashlian. They self-funded the startup, and Rumford said … Continue reading “Seattle’s QuestionPro Acquires RapidEngage (aka SlimSurveys)”

In 4th San Diego Draft, Plug and Play Picks 7 Startups for Bootcamp

It took 11 judges just 30 minutes yesterday afternoon to draft seven seed-stage tech companies to spend three months next year in a startup boot camp at the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, CA. The seven winners were chosen following presentations by 24 finalists on the 15th floor of a downtown high-rise at … Continue reading “In 4th San Diego Draft, Plug and Play Picks 7 Startups for Bootcamp”

Network Security Startup DB Networks Raises $17M

DB Networks, a Carlsbad, CA-based company developing database security technology, says today it has raised $17 million in a new financing round led by Grotech Ventures. The additional cash will be used to advance its network technology and expand its business, according to a statement. Founded in 2009, DB Networks previously raised a $2.3 million … Continue reading “Network Security Startup DB Networks Raises $17M”

Members Push Merger of 2 California Life Sciences Industry Groups

The move to combine two nonprofits that are dedicated to advancing California’s life sciences interests was set in motion 11 months ago, when CEO David Gollaher resigned from the San Diego-based California Healthcare Institute (CHI). Gollaher’s departure from the public policy group he co-founded in 1993 created an opening to assess whether it made sense … Continue reading “Members Push Merger of 2 California Life Sciences Industry Groups”

“Connect 3.0” Names San Diego’s Most Innovative Products of 2014

A security startup that detects anomalous cyber behavior and a life sciences company that makes 3D liver tissue for use in drug toxicity testing were among eight San Diego companies that won engraved Lucite trophies last night for the most innovative products of 2014. The awards were handed out by Connect, the San Diego nonprofit … Continue reading ““Connect 3.0” Names San Diego’s Most Innovative Products of 2014”

An Xconomy Analysis: Five Ideas to Boost San Diego’s Software Sector

Like a lot of cities, San Diego is jealous of Silicon Valley. Not jealous of Silicon Valley as a place, but jealous of the tech innovation and startup activity that happens there. As ServiceNow (NYSE: [[ticker:NOW]]) CEO Frank Slootman said earlier this year, the Bay Area is “one beehive of talent that is constantly reconstituting … Continue reading “An Xconomy Analysis: Five Ideas to Boost San Diego’s Software Sector”

Soci Raises $1.5M to Expand Social Media Management System

As marketers become more sophisticated about the use of social media, Afif Khoury says it’s clear that increasing the size of your fan base can be a misleading statistic. It’s not enough to just sign up fans online. Instead, the goal for social media marketing has shifted to building an audience that is engaged, and … Continue reading “Soci Raises $1.5M to Expand Social Media Management System”

Teaching Entrepreneurship, the Pirate Code, and MIT’s Bill Aulet

If there was a theme to Bill Aulet’s swing through San Diego last week, it was that entrepreneurship is a skill that can be learned. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that entrepreneurship can be taught. In fact, if there was a subtext to Aulet’s presentation at UC San Diego, it would have to be, “Let’s … Continue reading “Teaching Entrepreneurship, the Pirate Code, and MIT’s Bill Aulet”

BioNano Raises $53M to Identify “Structural Variations” in Genome

[Corrected 11/24/14, 12 pm. See below.] San Diego-based BioNano Genomics, which has taken a fundamentally different approach to analyzing the genome, says today it has closed on $53 million in Series C financing to expand its commercialization efforts in North America, China, and Europe. Legend Capital, a Beijing-based venture fund affiliated with Lenovo’s controlling shareholder, … Continue reading “BioNano Raises $53M to Identify “Structural Variations” in Genome”

With Uber Investor Driving, Cue Raises $7.5M for Personal Dx Device

The VC who placed a $26.5 million bet on Uber in 2011 is now leading a $7.5 million investment round in Cue, a San Diego startup developing a wireless diagnostic device that enables consumers to run clinical lab tests at home to measure their own health. In a statement from Cue yesterday, Sherpa Ventures managing … Continue reading “With Uber Investor Driving, Cue Raises $7.5M for Personal Dx Device”

New Study Shows How ZMapp Binds to Ebola, Ways to Boost Potency

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have produced the first 3-D image of how the ZMapp drug developed by San Diego’s Mapp Biopharmaceutical binds to the Ebola virus, providing new insights about how the drug works and how it might be improved. ZMapp is an experimental drug that combines three “humanized” monoclonal antibodies. Mapp Bio … Continue reading “New Study Shows How ZMapp Binds to Ebola, Ways to Boost Potency”

Plug and Play San Diego Seeks New Ways to Get Startups into Program

In a few weeks, Plug and Play San Diego will convene its fourth pitch competition—giving entrepreneurs in the region a shot at spending three months in a boot camp for tech startups at the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, CA. Alex Roudi, the San Diego investor and entrepreneur who helped Plug and Play … Continue reading “Plug and Play San Diego Seeks New Ways to Get Startups into Program”

Device Maker Says Ebola Patient Recovered After Blood Filtration

As the global death toll from the current Ebola outbreak officially hit 5,147 this week, a San Diego medical device company is reporting promising findings in the treatment of one infected patient. Aethlon Medical CEO James Joyce said in an interview earlier this week that a Ugandan doctor stricken with Ebola is now recovering in … Continue reading “Device Maker Says Ebola Patient Recovered After Blood Filtration”