San Diego’s SmartDrive Systems Raises $47M, Names New CEO

Here come the freeway metaphors. San Diego’s SmartDrive Systems, which provides Web-based services linked to dashboard video, says it has topped off its tank with $47 million in additional venture funding and named former Veoh CEO Steve Mitang as its new designated driver. The company, founded in 2004, targets public and commercial motor vehicle fleets, … Continue reading “San Diego’s SmartDrive Systems Raises $47M, Names New CEO”

Qualcomm Expands its Power Efficiency Prowess in Summit Micro Buyout

A few weeks after last year’s Mobile World Congress, Qualcomm’s Bill Davidson talked with me about the importance of making energy efficiency a priority in wireless chip design. Davidson, who is Qualcomm’s senior vice president of global marketing and investor relations, voiced frustration over some of the gigahertz-size claims that some companies coming out of … Continue reading “Qualcomm Expands its Power Efficiency Prowess in Summit Micro Buyout”

Aiming for Third-Time Charm, San Diego’s Astute Networks Raises $12M

[Corrected 6/19/12, 10:25 am. See below.] San Diego’s Astute Networks, which reinvented itself almost two years ago by focusing on flash-based technology for accelerating virtualized computing systems, has closed on a $12 million Series B financing led by Samsung Investment Corp. The deal reflects the merits of the company’s new strategy, says Astute CEO Steve … Continue reading “Aiming for Third-Time Charm, San Diego’s Astute Networks Raises $12M”

SD Biotech Roundup: Life Technologies, KFx Medical, Shire, & More

From dollops of cash to big project announcements, here is our roundup of San Diego life sciences news for the past week. —Waltham,MA-based Alere (NYSE: [[ticker:ALR]]) recalled an additional 650,000 Triage cardiology screening tests after a FDA inspection of the company’s San Diego facility raised concerns about quality control. Alere recalled more than 803,000 tests … Continue reading “SD Biotech Roundup: Life Technologies, KFx Medical, Shire, & More”

SD at Center of Shire’s Plan for Regenerative Medicine Business

Shire plans to spend more than $100 million to develop a new campus in San Diego, where the Irish specialty pharmaceutical wants its regenerative medicine acquisitions to coalesce into a $1 billion business, according to Kevin Rakin, Shire’s Regenerative Medicine President. “We believe we’re on the front lines in a new era [with regenerative medicine],” … Continue reading “SD at Center of Shire’s Plan for Regenerative Medicine Business”

Dental Implant Startup Wins Top Prize at UCSD Entrepreneur Challenge

Nasseo, a medical device startup with new technology for dental and orthopedic implants, won the sixth annual UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge, a competition for seed-stage startups. The challenge has been drawing broader interest among students and young scientists training in labs throughout Torrey Pines Mesa, where many of San Diego’s elite biomedical research institutes … Continue reading “Dental Implant Startup Wins Top Prize at UCSD Entrepreneur Challenge”

Qualcomm Offers Cash Prizes for Mobile Apps at Uplinq Hackathon

The X Prize Foundation likes to say its first $10 million prize (for successfully demonstrating a private rocket can reach space) has multiplied 100-fold, resulting in a $1 billion private space industry—not to mention the benefits of worldwide media coverage in 2004, when SpaceShipOne claimed the prize. In recent years, it’s become increasingly clear that … Continue reading “Qualcomm Offers Cash Prizes for Mobile Apps at Uplinq Hackathon”

Shire Unveils Plan for SD Campus, Regenerative Medicine Expansion

Shire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SHPGY]]), the Irish drug giant that acquired San Diego’s Advanced BioHealing a year ago, says today it has been working with San Diego-based BioMed Realty Trust to develop a corporate campus in San Diego as part of a substantial expansion of its regenerative medicine business. The move is expected to generate “several hundred … Continue reading “Shire Unveils Plan for SD Campus, Regenerative Medicine Expansion”

Ford’s Sustainability Roadmap: From EVs to a Future Beyond Cars

When Dan Kapp, Ford’s director of power-train research and advanced engineering, came through San Diego a week or so before Christmas, he told me the first all-electric Focus cars would arrive here in time for Valentine’s Day. Yesterday, the Focus EV road show came through town again as part of a promotional tour ahead of … Continue reading “Ford’s Sustainability Roadmap: From EVs to a Future Beyond Cars”

SD Biotech Roundup: Astute Raises $40M, Correlation Tries New VC Model

Here’s a short, but interesting roundup of life sciences news over the past week. —San Diego-based Astute Medical, which targets certain biomarkers to rapidly diagnose sepsis and other acute conditions, says today it has raised $40.4 million in a Series C Financing led by MPM Capital and Kaiser Permanente Ventures. The company raised roughly the … Continue reading “SD Biotech Roundup: Astute Raises $40M, Correlation Tries New VC Model”

A Big Crowd and Signs of Increasing VC Activity Mark SD Venture Summit

“Clearly, there’s more activity here today than there was a year or two ago,” Dave Titus said as he was making final preparations for today’s San Diego Venture Group Summit. As a litmus test for San Diego’s innovation economy, the signals coming out of the annual event were all green. More than 640 people registered, … Continue reading “A Big Crowd and Signs of Increasing VC Activity Mark SD Venture Summit”

Covario Expands Rio SEO Product Line with Top Local Search Deal

San Diego’s Covario, which provides search marketing services for Fortune 500 companies, says today it has acquired Top Local Search, a San Diego-based firm that provides “hyperlocal” search engine optimization (SEO) products and services. Covario plans to combine Top Local Search with its new Rio SEO business unit, which was created in April to serve … Continue reading “Covario Expands Rio SEO Product Line with Top Local Search Deal”

Enroute to Health Datapalooza, Esri’s Davenhall Sees Opportunity in Apps

The Health Datapalooza, which began in 2010 as the Community Health Data Initiative, convenes today and continues through tomorrow in Washington, DC. An estimated 1,200 people are expected to attend the conference, which opened this morning at the Washington Convention Center with a keynote address by Todd Park, the Athenahealth co-founder who three months ago … Continue reading “Enroute to Health Datapalooza, Esri’s Davenhall Sees Opportunity in Apps”

Awarepoint Adds $14M to Fund its Continuing Expansion

San Diego-based Awarepoint, which raised $27 million in a Series F financing round last August, says today it’s raised $14 million in additional financing, with the Heritage Healthcare Innovation Fund putting up $7.5 million of the total. A spokeswoman for Awarepoint says the new funding is not part of last year’s Series F funding, so … Continue reading “Awarepoint Adds $14M to Fund its Continuing Expansion”

Barclaycard Acquires Social Couponing Startup Analog Analytics

Analog Analytics, the Solana Beach, CA-based entry in the online social coupon business, got its own deal of the day. Founder Ken Kalb says in a recent email to local business leaders that Barclaycard, a member of the Barclays global financial services giant, has acquired the four-year-old company. As I reported a year ago, Analog … Continue reading “Barclaycard Acquires Social Couponing Startup Analog Analytics”

New San Diego VC Firm Emerges as ‘The Moneyball of Venture Capital’

[Corrected 6/5/12, 10:05 pm. See below.] Here’s some big news for San Diego’s innovation economy: There’s a new venture capital firm in town—and its investment methodology represents a fundamentally different approach to the conventional business model for venture investing. The firm, Correlation Ventures, is using predictive analytics technology to tilt the odds in its favor. … Continue reading “New San Diego VC Firm Emerges as ‘The Moneyball of Venture Capital’”

SD Biotech Roundup: Wireless Sensor Prize, Zogenix, Sangart, & More

The X Prize Foundation’s Peter Diamandis came to San Diego to announce the formation of a new incentive prize competition, while a variety of companies disclosed new funding deals. It’s all part of our roundup of local life sciences news. —San Diego-based Sangart, which has been developing an oxygen-carrying compound for treating the effects of … Continue reading “SD Biotech Roundup: Wireless Sensor Prize, Zogenix, Sangart, & More”

Roambi Expands Core Business to Specialized Publishers of Biz Intel

When Mellmo’s founders were just sitting down to design their compelling mobile technology for visualizing business intelligence (BI) data, they realized how it might be used in other ways. “We could see there may some interesting use cases for the product outside the usual BI application,” says Mellmo co-founder and president Quinton Alsbury. Today, just … Continue reading “Roambi Expands Core Business to Specialized Publishers of Biz Intel”

San Diego’s Carbon Capture Pulls Out as Synthetic Genomics Moves In

Synthetic Genomics, the San Diego startup developing microorganisms to synthesize biofuels and other products, said it has acquired an 81-acre site in Calipatria, CA, to expand beyond its laboratory tests of algae. Synthetic Genomics’s expansion appears to be counter-balanced, though, by a business consolidation at Carbon Capture, another San Diego algal biofuels developer. The price … Continue reading “San Diego’s Carbon Capture Pulls Out as Synthetic Genomics Moves In”

Safety Analyses Lead Sangart to Move Ahead with ‘Oxygen Therapeutic’

Encouraging results in a second mid-stage trial of an oxygen-carrying compound has prompted San Diego’s Sangart to draw on an additional $50 million from Leucadia National (NYSE: [[ticker:LUK]]), a diversified New York holding company that is Sangart’s majority owner. Sangart, which has been developing the compound to counter traumatic blood loss, says the additional funding … Continue reading “Safety Analyses Lead Sangart to Move Ahead with ‘Oxygen Therapeutic’”

Xconomist of the Week: Evan Snyder—Stem Cell Reality Check

San Diego Xconomist Evan Snyder has been called a “stem cell revolutionary” and is regarded as a father in the field of stem cell research. When we talked in his office at San Diego’s Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, he told me he isolated the first neural stem cell in the mid-1980s, as well as the … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Evan Snyder—Stem Cell Reality Check”

Nokia Joins X Prize in $2.25M Wireless Health “Sensing Challenge”

When the X Prize Foundation’s Peter Diamandis took the stage in San Diego this morning at the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA) annual convergence summit, he said it was the perfect audience for announcing the foundation’s newest competition—the “Nokia Sensing X Challenge.” The challenge, organized through a partnership with the Finnish wireless device manufacturer, is offering … Continue reading “Nokia Joins X Prize in $2.25M Wireless Health “Sensing Challenge””

SD Life Sciences Roundup: Takeda Consolidates, Startups Raise Cash

It’s been a busy week for startup funding, with Obalon Therapeutics, Aperio Technologies, Topera, and Ivera Medical closing on financing deals. We’ve also got drug development news from Ocera Therapeutics and MediciNova. —Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical said it’s closing its center of excellence in South San Francisco, which has been focused on developing early stage antibody … Continue reading “SD Life Sciences Roundup: Takeda Consolidates, Startups Raise Cash”

MediciNova Misses Primary Goal in Mid-Stage Trial of IV Asthma Drug

It was clear that San Diego’s MediciNova (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MNOV]]) had a lot riding on the outcome of a mid-stage trial of the company’s lead drug candidate, bedoradrine sulfate. As I reported recently, MediciNova has been developing the compound to treat acute asthma attacks that are not responsive to standard therapy. So shareholders registered their disappointment … Continue reading “MediciNova Misses Primary Goal in Mid-Stage Trial of IV Asthma Drug”

Analytic Software Wins Janssen Prize to Reduce Hospital Readmissions

A team developing analytic software that scores patients for the risk they pose to being readmitted within 30 days after being discharged from a hospital is the winner of the inaugural Janssen Connected Care Challenge. The prize is sponsored by Janssen, a unit of New Brunswick, NJ-based Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: [[ticker:JNJ]]) . Kim Park, … Continue reading “Analytic Software Wins Janssen Prize to Reduce Hospital Readmissions”

San Diego BizTech Roundup: Qualcomm, Helix Wind, and ‘Skqueak’

Here’s a potpourri of San Diego tech news, large and small, fresh from the local fields of innovation. —San Diego’s Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]), the world’s biggest manufacturer of wireless chipsets, said it has renewed its global QPrize venture investment competition for the third time. The $1 million pool is almost double the total pool Qualcomm … Continue reading “San Diego BizTech Roundup: Qualcomm, Helix Wind, and ‘Skqueak’”

San Diego’s Free EvoNexus Tech Incubator Gains Qualcomm Expertise

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]), the San Diego wireless technology giant, says today it is joining forces with EvoNexus, the free tech incubator operated by the nonprofit industry group CommNexus. The move adds a new dimension of business and technical expertise to EvoNexus, which relies heavily on volunteer tech executives and others to help mentor entrepreneurs enrolled … Continue reading “San Diego’s Free EvoNexus Tech Incubator Gains Qualcomm Expertise”

Wireless Health Summit Showcases Incentive Prizes as Tool for Change

About 275 technologists and healthcare industry executives are gathering in downtown San Diego tomorrow as the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA) convenes its Seventh Annual Convergence Summit at the Grand Hyatt. “The overarching theme of the summit this year is ‘How do we move from innovation to institutional and personal adoption of the tools and technologies … Continue reading “Wireless Health Summit Showcases Incentive Prizes as Tool for Change”

For Those on Watch, Hope Springs Eternal as Hair Trials Inch Along

Waiting for the biotech industry to advance new treatments for male pattern baldness (as well as female hair loss) might seem about as exciting as watching hair grow. But some people have a lot of skin in the game, if you know what I mean. More than just a few people, actually. San Diego’s Histogen … Continue reading “For Those on Watch, Hope Springs Eternal as Hair Trials Inch Along”

SD Biotech Roundup: Elevation Pharmaceuticals, BioSurplus, and More

We’re anticipating a lot of news out of a big cancer conference that begins next week in Chicago. Here is your head start. —Cancer researchers have talked for decades about finding the silver bullet that could kill cancer cells without harming the healthy cells nearby. These days, the industry is focusing on the development of … Continue reading “SD Biotech Roundup: Elevation Pharmaceuticals, BioSurplus, and More”

The Skqueak That Roars: New App Combines Drawing, Audio, Images

What began as an effort by a couple of San Diego engineers to bring computer vision to the iPhone has resulted instead in “Skqueak,” a mobile app that enables users to sketch over photos and videos on their iPhones. The Skqueak app is now available in Apple’s iTunes App Store. Sanjay Nichani, who moved to … Continue reading “The Skqueak That Roars: New App Combines Drawing, Audio, Images”

Qualcomm Sees Licensing Model in Wireless EV Charging Technology

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) plans to use its well-established model in technology licensing as it advances innovations in wireless charging of electric vehicles (EVs), smartphones, and other devices, according to Qualcomm’s top European executive, Andrew Gilbert. The San Diego wireless giant, which announced the formation of a wireless charging standards organization with Samsung last week, also … Continue reading “Qualcomm Sees Licensing Model in Wireless EV Charging Technology”

Verdezyne Raises $10.6M to Advance Sustainable Chemicals Technology

Verdezyne, the Carlsbad, CA-based company developing industrial biotechnology processes for making adipic acid and other sustainable chemicals and fuels, has raised more than $10.6 million, according to a recent regulatory filing. A spokesman for the company confirmed the financing, but would not comment beyond the filing, which shows the financing consisted of debt and rights … Continue reading “Verdezyne Raises $10.6M to Advance Sustainable Chemicals Technology”

SD Life Sciences Roundup: Celladon, Vertex, MediciNova, & More

Massachusetts’ Vertex and San Diego’s Celladon are advancing some promising gene therapy treatments. Here’s our roundup of life sciences news over the past week. —San Diego’s Celladon, which is developing a gene therapy to treat patients with a certain type of heart failure, extended a recent investment round by $10 million. Two new investors, MPM … Continue reading “SD Life Sciences Roundup: Celladon, Vertex, MediciNova, & More”

BeyondTrust Acquires eEye to Block Attacks From Within and Without

Carlsbad, CA-based BeyondTrust, a network security company focused on protecting public companies against attacks from within, says it has acquired eEye Digital Security, a Phoenix, AZ-based company that helps defend networks from external threats. Financial terms were not disclosed. Both companies are private. Since moving to the San Diego area three years ago, BeyondTrust has … Continue reading “BeyondTrust Acquires eEye to Block Attacks From Within and Without”

San Diego’s MediciNova Nears Turning Point with Lead Drug for Asthma

[Corrected 5/7/12, 5:10 pm. See below.] When Yuichi Iwaki started MediciNova in 2000, he says many mid-size pharmaceutical companies in Japan had concluded it was just too difficult to conduct their own clinical trials in the United States. So MediciNova was born of a kind of Japanese pragmatism. “Mid-size Japanese companies did not have the … Continue reading “San Diego’s MediciNova Nears Turning Point with Lead Drug for Asthma”

San Diego’s Celladon Extends Round to $53M, Opens European Office

San Diego-based Celladon, which raised $43 million in February to advance development of a gene therapy treatment for heart disease, has extended the round with an additional $10 million, according to a statement yesterday. The company’s lead drug candidate is intended to restore a key enzyme for a healthy heart. The extension added two new … Continue reading “San Diego’s Celladon Extends Round to $53M, Opens European Office”

SD BizTech Roundup: Ortiva Acquired, EcoATM, & Grid2Home Raise Cash

Here’s a quick roundup of new from San Diego’s technology sector over the past week. —In a move that has implications for San Diego’s tech community, the University of California named Pradeep Khosla, dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering, to succeed Marye Anne Fox as chancellor of the University of California, San Diego. … Continue reading “SD BizTech Roundup: Ortiva Acquired, EcoATM, & Grid2Home Raise Cash”

Preparing Your Company for Funding and Beyond

Preparing your company for angel or venture capital financing, acquisition, or going public all involve the same basic steps. Connect and the Perkins Cole law firm have organized a half-day workshop to help startup founders structure their companies for a seamless transition to venture financing and beyond. More information and online registration is here.  

Nirvanix Raises $25M to Fuel Expansion of Cloud Storage Services

San Diego-based Nirvanix, which provides cloud storage services, says today it has raised more than $25 million in a Series C round of venture funding led by Khosla Ventures. Existing investors Valhalla Partners, Intel Capital and two San Diego firms, Mission Ventures and Windward Ventures, joined in the round. Nirvanix, founded in 1998 as Streamload, … Continue reading “Nirvanix Raises $25M to Fuel Expansion of Cloud Storage Services”

SD Life Sciences Roundup: Gen-Probe, Zogenix, & the Innovation Economy

Here’s our wrap-up of life sciences news over the past week, along with some life sciences data from the latest Connect Innovation Report. —Bedford, MA-based Hologic (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HOLX]]) agreed to pay $3.7 billion, or $82.75 a share, for Gen-Probe (NASDAQ: [[GPRO]]), San Diego’s venerable, 29-year-old clinical diagnostics company. At a 20 percent premium, the Hologic-Gen-Probe … Continue reading “SD Life Sciences Roundup: Gen-Probe, Zogenix, & the Innovation Economy”

Buying SD’s Ortiva Wireless Adds Video Optimization to Allot’s Tools

Israel’s Allot Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALLT]]), which optimizes data traffic and performance for both fixed and mobile broadband networks, says it is acquiring San Diego-based Ortiva Wireless, which specializes in optimizing video streaming across wireless networks. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ortiva CEO Marc Zionts, who was working to finalize the deal this … Continue reading “Buying SD’s Ortiva Wireless Adds Video Optimization to Allot’s Tools”

After 6 Years and $26M, Insolvent Chumby Selling Remaining Assets

Alas, poor Chumby! We knew him well. The Internet-enabled device of infinite jest and excellent fancy is now the unfortunate subject of an asset sale supervised by a trustee—Insolvency Services Group of Beverly Hills, CA, according to Mike Freeman, who broke the story in today’s U-T San Diego. To the creditors go the spoils. As … Continue reading “After 6 Years and $26M, Insolvent Chumby Selling Remaining Assets”

San Diego’s EcoATM Raises $17M As It Builds Recycling Cash Machine

San Diego’s EcoATM is ringing up $17 million in a Series B round of venture funding today to expand the operation of its automated kiosks, which recycle cell phones and other handheld electronic devices and immediately dispense cash or gift cards. After deploying several generations of its kiosks in shopping malls, retail stores, and companies … Continue reading “San Diego’s EcoATM Raises $17M As It Builds Recycling Cash Machine”

Innovation Report Shows San Diego Added 695 Tech Jobs at End of 2011

San Diego’s innovation economy added 75 new technology companies and 695 jobs during the last three months of 2011, according to the Connect Innovation Report for the fourth quarter of 2011. New jobs created in San Diego’s innovation sector during the fourth quarter of 2011 accounted for more than half of the 1,182 jobs added … Continue reading “Innovation Report Shows San Diego Added 695 Tech Jobs at End of 2011”

San Diego BizTech Roundup: Independa, Zui.com, Bandsintown, and More

It was a light week for tech news in San Diego. Our roundup today is short and sweet. —Fueled by strong growth over the past nine months, San Diego’s Zui.com introduced “Facetube,” a social network intended to empower pre-teens to share age-appropriate content. The company that began in 2008 as KidZui also re-branded itself earlier … Continue reading “San Diego BizTech Roundup: Independa, Zui.com, Bandsintown, and More”

New Health IT Initiative Takes Cognitive Medical Beyond Military

Doug Burke, president of Cognitive Medical Systems, tells me this morning the San Diego-based health IT startup is implementing a wireless clinical support system for the Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina. The startup will integrate its health IT system and analytics platform with handheld devices that doctors and other health care providers can use … Continue reading “New Health IT Initiative Takes Cognitive Medical Beyond Military”

SD Life Sciences Roundup: Amylin, Illumina, AstraZeneca Acquires Ardea, & More

Some big changes are underway in San Diego, with AstraZeneca’s big buyout of Ardea Biosciences and Illumina’s ambitious bid to develop an app store. There’s big biology and big data happening too. —Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]), the San Diego maker of DNA sequencing instruments, unveiled its plan to create Basespace Apps, an open platform for genomic … Continue reading “SD Life Sciences Roundup: Amylin, Illumina, AstraZeneca Acquires Ardea, & More”

Big Data, Big Biology, and the ‘Tipping Point’ in Quantified Health

Two of the biggest trends in technology innovation are converging—and as they come together, there is a chance to accomplish something rare in San Diego. Something exponential. One of these forces is “big data,” the ever-increasing capabilities of computers and analytic software to move from gigabytes to terabytes, petabytes, and beyond. The other is “big … Continue reading “Big Data, Big Biology, and the ‘Tipping Point’ in Quantified Health”

Zui.com Adds “FaceTube” as MattyB Helps March Traffic Surge Past 2M

First came the Internet browser, with a new approach to parental controls. Then came Zui.com, an Internet search engine for kids that has grown to serve more than 2 million youthful users a month in less than nine months. Today, San Diego-based Zui.com is introducing “Facetube,” a new feature of Zui.com that operates like a … Continue reading “Zui.com Adds “FaceTube” as MattyB Helps March Traffic Surge Past 2M”