Memjet CEO Lauer Talks Strategy as Debut Approaches for “Disruptive” Inkjet Technology

When I got a chance to sit down with Memjet CEO Len Lauer a few weeks ago, I was full of anticipation—because, for me, Memjet is a study in contradictions. Memjet, as I reported in March, has been developing a host of radically innovative inkjet printing technologies for a worldwide market that was established decades … Continue reading “Memjet CEO Lauer Talks Strategy as Debut Approaches for “Disruptive” Inkjet Technology”

Ramius Makes Unsolicited Bid for Cypress Bioscience

An activist investment fund managed by Ramius, a New York multi-fund hedge fund, pounced on Cypress Bioscience (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CYPB]]) today, offering to pay almost $160 million in cash to acquire the San Diego biotech. Ramius Value and Opportunity Advisors, a subsidiary of the $7.8-billion Ramius fund group, already owns about 9.9 percent of Cypress, making … Continue reading “Ramius Makes Unsolicited Bid for Cypress Bioscience”

ESRI Launches Open Website for Mapping, Verenium Sells Cellulosic Biofuels Biz, MindTouch Unveils Improved Platform, & More San Diego BizTech News

[Corrected 7/19/10, 1:05 pm. See below.] Some 13,000 developers of geographic information systems (GIS) gathered at the San Diego Convention Center last week as ESRI, the Redlands, CA-based GIS software developer, moved to address the market for mobile and other users. We’ve got that and the rest of our BizTech News all mapped out for … Continue reading “ESRI Launches Open Website for Mapping, Verenium Sells Cellulosic Biofuels Biz, MindTouch Unveils Improved Platform, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Venture Funding Drops Sharply in San Diego; Life Sciences Deals Predominate in Our Top 10 List

Venture capital investments in the San Diego region during the second quarter declined significantly—from both the same quarter of 2009 as well as the previous quarter, according to data released over the weekend by two rival surveys. The local downturn was in sharp contrast to the nationwide trend, which showed VC funding on the rise … Continue reading “Venture Funding Drops Sharply in San Diego; Life Sciences Deals Predominate in Our Top 10 List”

Venture Surveys Show Nationwide Increase, More or Less, in Second-Quarter Investments

How would you prefer your venture capital survey data this morning? Depending on the source, we can serve it up lukewarm, hot, or scalding. All three measures show that venture funding rose during the second quarter; it’s just a matter of degree: —CB Insights, a startup financial services firm based in New York, reports that … Continue reading “Venture Surveys Show Nationwide Increase, More or Less, in Second-Quarter Investments”

ESRI Reshapes its Proprietary Mapping System Into an Open Crowdsourcing Platform, Raising a Challenge for Google

In the plenary session that kicked off the ESRI International User Conference this week in downtown San Diego, ESRI founder and president Jack Dangermond demonstrated the features of ArcGIS.com, a free website the company recently launched that allows ordinary folks to create their own maps. Dangermond also highlighted a free mobile app that the private, … Continue reading “ESRI Reshapes its Proprietary Mapping System Into an Open Crowdsourcing Platform, Raising a Challenge for Google”

Sony Electronics Gets New Boss

Japan’s Sony Corp. today named Phil Molyneux as the new president and chief operating officer of Sony Electronics in San Diego, the North American headquarters for the company’s consumer electronics business. Stan Glasgow, who has served as president and COO since 2006, was named to a newly created position—senior advisor, entrepreneurship and innovation—at Sony Corp. … Continue reading “Sony Electronics Gets New Boss”

How Novartis Got Its Vaccines Groove Back, Intellikine Gets a Drug Development Deal, Ambrx CEO Departs, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

San Diego’s life sciences newsmakers must have been over compensating, after slacking off last week. This week we have deals, fundings, comings, and goings—not to mention Luke scoops No. 1 and 2—and our summary begins now. —Infinity Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, MA, could pay San Diego-based Intellikine as much as $488.5 million in various types of … Continue reading “How Novartis Got Its Vaccines Groove Back, Intellikine Gets a Drug Development Deal, Ambrx CEO Departs, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics Open Greenhouse for Algae Biofuels Development

San Diego’s Synthetic Genomics and Texas-based ExxonMobil celebrated the first anniversary of their strategic alliance today with the official opening of a greenhouse for growing and testing algae that could someday replace crude oil in the production of diesel and other fuels. On this day last year, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend at least $600 … Continue reading “ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics Open Greenhouse for Algae Biofuels Development”

Translational Science Grants Include Awards for San Diego, New England

A program to accelerate the transformation of biomedical discoveries into patient treatments has awarded $37.2 million to a consortium headed by UC San Diego Health Sciences and its Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI). A $20 million grant also was awarded for a similar consortium in New England, headed by the University of Massachusetts Center … Continue reading “Translational Science Grants Include Awards for San Diego, New England”

San Diego’s MindTouch Launches Next-Generation Version of Content Development Platform

To MindTouch CEO Aaron Fulkerson, websites are becoming the primary storefronts for most businesses and their chief way of interacting with their customers. And in this age of metatags and search engine optimization, Fulkerson says each page of website content viewed by customers represents a business opportunity—a chance to generate new customer leads, increase sales, … Continue reading “San Diego’s MindTouch Launches Next-Generation Version of Content Development Platform”

San Diego Power Line Approval Opens Path to Renewable Energy Projects—But Opponents Vow to Keep Fighting

The U.S. Forest Service has approved San Diego Gas & Electric’s plan to build a high-voltage power line through a 19-mile stretch of the Cleveland National Forest, clearing the final hurdle the utility needed for construction to begin on a locally controversial project known as the Sunrise Powerlink. “The Forest Service’s decision to authorize the … Continue reading “San Diego Power Line Approval Opens Path to Renewable Energy Projects—But Opponents Vow to Keep Fighting”

How Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Turned Around the Ship it Got From Chiron

Matthew Stober had a dramatic story to tell when he came through San Diego to speak to pharma manufacturing executives at last month’s annual Vaccine Production Summit. As the global head of technical operations for Cambridge, MA-based Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics, Stober was closely involved in the corporate turnaround that enabled Novartis to ship more … Continue reading “How Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Turned Around the Ship it Got From Chiron”

Idealab Solar Startup Moves to SD

Energy Innovations, a renewable energy startup incubated and funded by Pasadena, CA-based Idealab, has moved its corporate headquarters, design center, and global manufacturing center to the suburban San Diego community of Poway, CA. Energy Innovations uses proprietary technology to concentrate the sun’s energy 1,200 times in solar panels that double the efficiency of current photovoltaic … Continue reading “Idealab Solar Startup Moves to SD”

AnaptysBio Gets $1.5M from DARPA

San Diego’s AnaptysBio, which has been developing antibody-based technology with backing from Avalon Ventures, says it got a $1.5 million contract to develop military biosensors that could be used to detect specific biological agents in possible terrorist attacks. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) provided funding for the two-year effort, which will use Anaptys … Continue reading “AnaptysBio Gets $1.5M from DARPA”

ESRI Releases Apple Map App, Reveals “19.20.21 Project” as Annual Conference Begins

At the U.S. Census Bureau, where the World POPClock is ticking, the total population of the world (as of July 10) is estimated at 6.85 billion. But what does that mean, really? Today, our understanding of what that means comes from the sort of knowledge that only information technology delivers. Now just about anyone with … Continue reading “ESRI Releases Apple Map App, Reveals “19.20.21 Project” as Annual Conference Begins”

Qualcomm’s Flo TV to Debut Datacasting; Nissan Leaf EV Rollout Begins in San Diego, TipCity Launches “Flash Deal” Technology, & More San Diego BizTech News

Not all our biztech news last week was about debuts; We also have a denouement or two, and maybe even some news that’s somewhere between. So here’s our summary, from beginning to end: —San Diego-based Qualcomm’s Flo TV plans to “datacast” background information related to some sporting events later this month. Flo TV President Bill … Continue reading “Qualcomm’s Flo TV to Debut Datacasting; Nissan Leaf EV Rollout Begins in San Diego, TipCity Launches “Flash Deal” Technology, & More San Diego BizTech News”

TipCity Offers Search Engine for Diners, Enables Local Restaurants to “Flash Deals”

As the entrepreneur who successfully pioneered Bluetooth software at San Diego’s Widcomm (now part of Broadcom), Hiep Pham is accustomed to taking some calculated risks. Today, he is betting that consumers will respond to “flash deals” for restaurant discounts that are sent to their mobile devices by text message or e-mail, and are displayed on … Continue reading “TipCity Offers Search Engine for Diners, Enables Local Restaurants to “Flash Deals””

With San Diego as “Ground Zero,” Nissan Targets Pragmatic Car Buyers With Leaf EV—and We Take It for A Test Hum

In the fall of 2008, I was green with cleantech envy when my colleague Greg Huang got to test drive a prototype Tesla Roadster, the luxury, all-electric sports car made by Silicon Valley’s Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TSLA]]), which became a public company just last week. But yesterday I turned over a new Leaf—and then I … Continue reading “With San Diego as “Ground Zero,” Nissan Targets Pragmatic Car Buyers With Leaf EV—and We Take It for A Test Hum”

Arena Signs Deal With Eisai for Lorcaserin, Qualcomm CEO Identifies Two Opportunities in Mobile Health, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

The long Fourth of July holiday weekend made for a short week of life sciences news in San Diego. Even if I made short work of this week’s roundup, though, let’s hope you long remain interested. —Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs, who was instrumental in bringing the World Economic Forum’s mobile health … Continue reading “Arena Signs Deal With Eisai for Lorcaserin, Qualcomm CEO Identifies Two Opportunities in Mobile Health, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

Flo TV to Launch Sports Datacasting This Month, as Parent Qualcomm Studies Datacasting for Magazines and Other Opportunities

Some of Qualcomm’s top executives have been suggesting the San Diego wireless technology giant is looking at alternative uses of the 700 MHz spectrum that Qualcomm’s Flo TV has been using since 2007 to broadcast television programming to mobile devices. As we reported last month, Qualcomm Chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs said the number of … Continue reading “Flo TV to Launch Sports Datacasting This Month, as Parent Qualcomm Studies Datacasting for Magazines and Other Opportunities”

Qualcomm CEO Points to Wellness and Chronic Care Management as Big Opportunities in Mobile Health

Like most advances in the life sciences, ensuring reimbursement by medical insurance providers and getting new wireless devices through the government regulatory process will be crucial barriers for the emerging wireless health sector to overcome, according to Qualcomm chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs. Jacobs, who was key to organizing a mobile health summit held in … Continue reading “Qualcomm CEO Points to Wellness and Chronic Care Management as Big Opportunities in Mobile Health”

Qualcomm Seeks Spark for Brew MP, Northrop Grumman Gets $35M for UAV-to-UAV Refueling, & More San Diego BizTech News

It was a busy week for San Diego BizTech news, as Qualcomm convened its inaugural Uplinq conference to encourage programmers to write apps for its Brew MP system. We’ve got that news and more, so link up here. —Qualcomm convened its first-ever Uplinq conference in San Diego last week in a bid to reinvigorate the … Continue reading “Qualcomm Seeks Spark for Brew MP, Northrop Grumman Gets $35M for UAV-to-UAV Refueling, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Kleiner-Backed V-Vehicle’s Headquarters Remains in San Diego—For Now

San Diego has learned from years of painful experience that being the hometown of a corporate headquarters is an insecure relationship that depends entirely on the fidelity of the company’s CEO. So it seemed inevitable that San Diego-based V-Vehicle would move its headquarters to the San Francisco Bay Area after the wheels came off the … Continue reading “Kleiner-Backed V-Vehicle’s Headquarters Remains in San Diego—For Now”

Northrop Grumman Planning First UAV-to-UAV Aerial Refueling

At Northrop Grumman’s unmanned systems development center in suburban San Diego, some folks are describing a $33 million contract that was announced today as “DARPA hard.” DARPA is an acronym for the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the two-year contract awarded to Northrop Grumman calls for demonstrating the feasibility of using one high-altitude … Continue reading “Northrop Grumman Planning First UAV-to-UAV Aerial Refueling”

Qualcomm Offers Cash Incentives, Broader Support, in Bid to Energize App Developers (and Partners Like Twitter)

After taking a hiatus in its annual Brew developers conference last year, Qualcomm raised the curtain yesterday on its new and improved Brew MP (mobile platform) at Uplinq—a reincarnated developers conference that recasts the two-year-old Brew MP as a “fully realized” mobile operating system that is broader, deeper, and more developer friendly. Following a multimedia … Continue reading “Qualcomm Offers Cash Incentives, Broader Support, in Bid to Energize App Developers (and Partners Like Twitter)”

Sanofi Buys TargeGen, Biogen Idec Hires CEO, Orexigen Obesity Drug Shows Promise Against Diabetes, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

It’s been barbell time for life sciences news in San Diego, with much of the developments happening yesterday and at the end of last week. Still, it shouldn’t require too much heavy lifting; your workout starts now. —Sanofi-Aventis, the French pharma giant, is acquiring San Diego-based TargeGen in a structured deal that could be worth … Continue reading “Sanofi Buys TargeGen, Biogen Idec Hires CEO, Orexigen Obesity Drug Shows Promise Against Diabetes, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

Zementis Partners With Datameer

Datameer, a San Mateo, CA-based provider of data analytics, and Zementis, a San Diego-based analytics startup, have announced a strategic partnership to help customers integrate scalable standards-based predictive analytics. The partnership combines a proprietary decision engine developed by Zementis for real-time execution of predictive models with the power and scale of Datameer Analytics Solution (DAS), … Continue reading “Zementis Partners With Datameer”

Qualcomm Looks to Re-Energize the Brew Faithful at Inaugural Uplinq Conference

Nine years ago, San Diego-based Qualcomm introduced Brew, a programming language that made it easier for software developers to integrate short programs with wireless devices so mobile users could also play games, send messages, share photos, and get other services. The idea was to provide a standard programming environment to accelerate the adoption of mobile … Continue reading “Qualcomm Looks to Re-Energize the Brew Faithful at Inaugural Uplinq Conference”

State Names San Diego “Innovation Hub,” Awards $4M Grant for Biofuels Worker Training

The California Department of Labor says it has awarded the San Diego region a $4 million grant to create job training programs for workers in the  emerging biofuels industry. In a related announcement, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Office of Economic Development today named the combined area of San Diego and Imperial Counties as the state’s … Continue reading “State Names San Diego “Innovation Hub,” Awards $4M Grant for Biofuels Worker Training”

Toyota Delivers Three Prius Plug-In Hybrids for Year-Long Demo

San Diego Gas & Electric and the nonprofit California Center for Sustainable Energy rolled out three Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) today in what’s expected to be at least a year-long program intended to assess the vehicles’ performance in real-world driving conditions throughout the United States. The three cars unveiled today in San Diego … Continue reading “Toyota Delivers Three Prius Plug-In Hybrids for Year-Long Demo”

Company Formation, Venture Capital Remain Concerns in Data for San Diego’s Innovation Economy

The economic indicators in San Diego’s innovation economy are flashing mixed signals for the first quarter of 2010, based on data released by Connect, the nonprofit group for technology and entrepreneurship. The Connect Innovation Report can be found online here, and my roundup of the latest data follows: —Flashing Red: New company formation fell by … Continue reading “Company Formation, Venture Capital Remain Concerns in Data for San Diego’s Innovation Economy”

San Diego’s Genomatica Scales Up Bio-Based Technology in Michigan Demo

Genomatica says it has successfully scaled up technology that uses genetically engineered microbes to make 1,4-butanediol (BDO)—a solvent and industrial chemical usually made from crude oil or natural gas. The San Diego company, which touts itself as a leader in the “sustainable chemicals revolution,” worked with an industrial biotechnology partner in Lansing, MI, to make … Continue reading “San Diego’s Genomatica Scales Up Bio-Based Technology in Michigan Demo”

DOE Awards $9M for Algae Biotech Center

San Diego’s quest to become a hub for the development of algae-based biofuels got a boost today, with the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB), saying it’s getting the lion’s share of a three-year, $9 million federal Department of Energy grant awarded today. In addition to the $9 million in federal funds, a consortium … Continue reading “DOE Awards $9M for Algae Biotech Center”

World Cup Draws Big Fans From San Diego’s Innovation Elite, Mushroom Networks Targets Internet Bottlenecks, SmartDraw Aims for a Bigger Market, & More San Diego BizTech News

Local companies revealed a flurry of venture funding deals last week, but some VC partners said venture capital continues to lag the overall economic recovery. The nagging problem is that IPOs and other exits remain constricted for venture-backed companies. We have all that and even some World Cup news. You better settle in, because our … Continue reading “World Cup Draws Big Fans From San Diego’s Innovation Elite, Mushroom Networks Targets Internet Bottlenecks, SmartDraw Aims for a Bigger Market, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Mobile Health Summit Convenes Today

The World Economic Forum, which organizes the exclusive annual meeting on global economics, business, and policy in Davos, Switzerland, is convening its first invitation-only summit on mobile healthcare today at San Diego’s Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa. A key figure driving the event is Qualcomm Chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs, who also is chairman … Continue reading “Mobile Health Summit Convenes Today”

San Diego’s Hotbed of Innovation Also a Hotbed for World Cup Fans

Earlier this week on ESPN radio, the announcers introduced news about the dramatic U.S. victory over Algeria in the World Cup soccer tournament by saying (approximately): And now, for the four or five Americans who are soccer fans… Ouch. Ironic too, considering that ESPN invested $100 million for the broadcasting rights to the 2010 World … Continue reading “San Diego’s Hotbed of Innovation Also a Hotbed for World Cup Fans”

Mushroom Networks Uses “Bonding” Technology to Pump More Data Through Bottlenecks

What San Diego’s Mushroom Networks does is something akin to IT alchemy. The company’s technology transforms data rates that trickle into its “black box” device from a variety of Internet connections into a broadband gusher on the other side, for the benefit of all the users on a business intranet or local network. The technology … Continue reading “Mushroom Networks Uses “Bonding” Technology to Pump More Data Through Bottlenecks”

Multimeric Gets Innovation Grant

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded an innovation grant worth $350,000 over two years to San Diego’s Multimeric Biotherapeutics to develop a vaccine against nicotine, and eventually other drugs of abuse. Multimeric says vaccines against nicotine are designed to generate antibodies that sequester nicotine in the blood and prevent the molecules from crossing … Continue reading “Multimeric Gets Innovation Grant”

Intrigue, Fraud Surround Death of Biotech Angel Investor, Neurocrine Biosciences Signs Two Big Deals, Regulus Therapeutics Signs Sanofi-Aventis Deal, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

San Diego’s life sciences community and angel investors are watching transfixed as investigators unfold the suspicious death of La Jolla resident John G. Watson. We also saw some huge funding deals over the past week, and we’ve summarized it all for you here: —Carlsbad, CA-based Regulus Therapeutics announced a lucrative partnership with Sanofi-Aventis, the Paris-based … Continue reading “Intrigue, Fraud Surround Death of Biotech Angel Investor, Neurocrine Biosciences Signs Two Big Deals, Regulus Therapeutics Signs Sanofi-Aventis Deal, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

On-Ramp Wireless Raises $4.5M

San Diego’s On-Ramp Wireless, which launched its low-cost, long-range wireless networking technology last September, has raised $4.5 million out of a planned $18 million round of equity and debt, according to a recent regulatory filing. On-Ramp CEO Joaquin Silva did not respond right away to an e-mail seeking more information about the company’s fund-raising. On-Ramp, … Continue reading “On-Ramp Wireless Raises $4.5M”

Investment Banking Advisor Points to the Exit for Venture-Backed Startups

Founders of venture-backed startups should be building their business to go public through an IPO, but it is far more likely they will get acquired instead, according to former investment banker Steve Fletcher, who is now a managing director in the San Francisco office of GCA Savvian Advisors. Fletcher, who was a keynote speaker this … Continue reading “Investment Banking Advisor Points to the Exit for Venture-Backed Startups”

Ceregene Gets $2.5M From Fox Foundation

San Diego-based Ceregene, which is developing gene therapy treatments for Parkinson’s and other ailments, says it is getting $2.5 million from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. The company says it is conducting a mid-stage study that aims to deliver the neurotrophic factor neurturin to improve the status of degenerating neurons in the … Continue reading “Ceregene Gets $2.5M From Fox Foundation”