An HQ moves eastward. B2B branches into B2C. Acquisitions abound. And VC funds keep rolling in. Read on for more details on technology news in Boston this week. —Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has filed an ordinance to license and regulate micro-mobility businesses like scooter-sharing startups Bird and Lime. The proposal, which still needs approval … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Scooters, Toast, Mimecast, AtScale, Acquia & More”
Author: Brian Dowling
Brian is a former Xconomy editor. Before joining Xconomy, he reported on Massachusetts government and politics for the Boston Herald and previously wrote as a general assignment reporter covering everything from crime and courts to electoral politics, business, and international politics. Brian earned a master’s degree in newspaper writing from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and started his career at the Hartford Courant writing about manufacturing and energy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Theology from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Carbon Relay Exits Stealth to Help Data Centers Sip, Not Gulp, Power
Data centers’ deepening thirst for electricity has raised alarms over the intensity of carbon emissions resulting from many classes of technology, from cryptocurrencies to social media and cloud storage. A new Boston company is launching today marketing an A.I. tool to ratchet back power use at data centers. Carbon Relay says its technology is five … Continue reading “Carbon Relay Exits Stealth to Help Data Centers Sip, Not Gulp, Power”
Moving HQ to Boston, AtScale CEO Chris Lynch Talks VCs, Tech Scene
There are more than a couple reasons why former Accomplice partner Chris Lynch is relocating the headquarters of his big data startup AtScale from San Mateo, CA, to Boston. He rattled them off last week, sitting in the newly wired-up but still empty first-floor office on Atlantic Avenue that Lynch plans to fill with sales, … Continue reading “Moving HQ to Boston, AtScale CEO Chris Lynch Talks VCs, Tech Scene”
Boston Tech Watch: The Predictive Index, Catalant, ZoomInfo, Notarize
A work week shortened by the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday didn’t seem to slow new capital from venture firms and strategic investors from flowing into Boston technology businesses this week. Read on for more: —The Predictive Index, a workforce talent optimization technology company in Westwood, MA, has raised $50 million in growth-stage capital led … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: The Predictive Index, Catalant, ZoomInfo, Notarize”
“At a Critical Juncture,” Desktop Metal Gets $160M From Koch Fund
[Updated 11:41 am ET. See below.] Desktop Metal, a metal 3D-printing company, has raised $160 million in a funding round led by the technology arm of Koch Industries, the multinational industrial conglomerate owned by billionaire philanthropists and right-leaning political donors Charles and David Koch. With the Series E funding from Koch Disruptive Technologies and other investors, … Continue reading ““At a Critical Juncture,” Desktop Metal Gets $160M From Koch Fund”
Bevi Lands $35M for Smarter Water Cooler That Gets to Know You
The water cooler will see you now. The beverage engineers at Boston-based startup Bevi are hard at work building a drink dispenser that can call up the finest details of your workplace drink order. How much lime flavoring is enough? How effervescent should the carbonation be? What mix of vitamins should be added? “We see … Continue reading “Bevi Lands $35M for Smarter Water Cooler That Gets to Know You”
Boston Tech Watch: Nantucket, Lionbridge, Nano-C, Barac & Quick Base
Nantucket entrepreneurs welcome, and acquisitions abound. There are also new owners, new offices and new money in the bank for Boston-area technology companies this week. Read on for the details. —Sense, the Cambridge, MA-based home electricity management technology startup, has partnered with Swiss utility technology company Landis+Gyr to put Sense’s technology in Landis’ Internet-of-things platform, … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Nantucket, Lionbridge, Nano-C, Barac & Quick Base”
Pivot to Software: Drone Maker CyPhy Rebrands, Seeks Airborne A.I.
The hardware business isn’t cutting it for CyPhy Works, a maker of tethered drones for everything from military uses to disaster response and the oil and gas industry. Today, the drone company announced a pivot to software—and a rebranding to Aria Insights. (The name comes from the word for a group of canaries.) The investors, … Continue reading “Pivot to Software: Drone Maker CyPhy Rebrands, Seeks Airborne A.I.”
IBM Vets Launch Sonrai Security, Eyeing Multi-Cloud “Complexity”
Businesses racing faster and faster to put their data and applications into multiple cloud services will soon have to figure out how to keep an eye on it all. Start thinking about the hundreds of users, the dozens of accounts, and the handful of different cloud services that don’t always speak the same language, and … Continue reading “IBM Vets Launch Sonrai Security, Eyeing Multi-Cloud “Complexity””
Boston Tech Watch: Boston Metal, TaxJar, ClimaCell, & WithMe Health
[Updated 11:38 AM. Paragraph added.] A bunch of startups started 2019 off on the right foot taking big checks cut by investors that continue the boom from 2018. Read on for more. —Weather forecast company ClimaCell says its high-resolution data is now available in 40 countries, including India. In October, the Boston-based startup raised $45 … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Boston Metal, TaxJar, ClimaCell, & WithMe Health”
With Room To Grow, Facebook Boston Moves Into Shiny, New Office
Facebook’s new Boston office—which is really in Cambridge, MA—is up and running, and there’s plenty of elbow room. The digs measure 130,000 square feet of open-style tech workspaces, something called micro-kitchens, a massive cafeteria, and cheeky-titled conference rooms. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer views of Cambridge, Boston’s Beacon Hill, the Zakim Bridge, and more, all from the … Continue reading “With Room To Grow, Facebook Boston Moves Into Shiny, New Office”
Smooth-Driving Startup ClearMotion Gets $115M for Production Push
[Corrected 1:02 pm ET. See below.] Auto technology startup ClearMotion says its active suspension system promising buttery-smooth rides on bumpy terrain is ready for prime time. The Boston-area business says it raised a $115 million Series D funding round led by Franklin Templeton Investments and it is working with a handful of automotive manufacturers to commercialize … Continue reading “Smooth-Driving Startup ClearMotion Gets $115M for Production Push”
Identity as Security Key: Akamai Buys Online Access Firm Janrain
It’s an online security concern perhaps best distilled in a popular 1993 comic from The New Yorker magazine. “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog,” reads the comic that shows a drawing of one pooch atop an office chair in front of a computer, sharing the wisdom to a second of man’s best friend … Continue reading “Identity as Security Key: Akamai Buys Online Access Firm Janrain”
Tidelift’s “Netflix for Open-Source Software” Model Gets $25M Boost
Tidelift, a startup trying to solve some of the open-source software industry’s problems around compensation and security, said it wrapped up a $25 million investment to gather more publicly maintained software projects under its umbrella. The Boston-based company, founded in 2017 by four Red Hat vets, said it is trying to recreate what Red Hat … Continue reading “Tidelift’s “Netflix for Open-Source Software” Model Gets $25M Boost”
Endeavor Robotics Sues Rival QinetiQ Over Stair-Climbing Patents
Endeavor Robotics is suing QinetiQ, its lone competitor in a heated competition for a $429 million defense contract, for using two of Endeavor’s patented methods to get a robot to climb stairs. Endeavor, based in Chelmsford, MA, is asking the U.S. District Court in Delaware to declare that Waltham, MA-based QinetiQ North America is infringing … Continue reading “Endeavor Robotics Sues Rival QinetiQ Over Stair-Climbing Patents”
Boston Tech Watch: Underscore VC, Piaggio, SoftBank & Sea Machines
A pair of massive Boston-area investments from the Japanese SoftBank Group’s $100 billion Vision Fund, a moonshot power storage spinout from Alphabet’s X labs, and some local robotics moves are found in this week’s Boston technology news. —Underscore VC, a Boston-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage tech startups, is capping off its second fund … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Underscore VC, Piaggio, SoftBank & Sea Machines”
$500M and 1.2B Cars: Cambridge Mobile Telematics Talks SoftBank Deal
Ask Cambridge Mobile Telematics cofounder Hari Balakrishnan about the $500 million his business raised from SoftBank’s Vision Fund and he’ll bring up two bigger numbers: 1.2 billion and 875 million. The first is an estimate of the number of vehicles globally. The second is the number of insurance policies on those vehicles. Then there’s a … Continue reading “$500M and 1.2B Cars: Cambridge Mobile Telematics Talks SoftBank Deal”
From Google to Gates: Malta Targets Power Storage With Molten Salt
A new and unconventional power storage startup is preaching the gospel of salt and antifreeze as the long-sought answer to how to bottle up renewable electricity from intermittent solar and wind projects. Malta, based in Cambridge, MA, announced today it has graduated from Alphabet’s X, the Moonshot Factory—where it was known as Project Malta—and is … Continue reading “From Google to Gates: Malta Targets Power Storage With Molten Salt”
RightHand Robotics Adds $23M to Scale Up Its Warehouse Tech
Warehouses run entirely by robots may not be waiting on the horizon, but that—and much more—remains a goal for Somerville, MA-based RightHand Robotics. “A typical item delivered to a customer is touched four to 11 times before it ships,” says the company’s co-founder Leif Jentoft. “We are looking to automate every one of those picks.” … Continue reading “RightHand Robotics Adds $23M to Scale Up Its Warehouse Tech”
24M, Reeling In $22M, Thinks It Has the Next Great Battery
It turns out we might have been making lithium-ion batteries all wrong this whole time. That’s at least what Cambridge, MA-based battery startup 24M says, now having developed what it sees as the “right” way. The company, a spinoff of A123 Systems, announced today it raised a $21.8 million Series D round led by Japanese … Continue reading “24M, Reeling In $22M, Thinks It Has the Next Great Battery”
Emotional Intelligence Startup Cogito Spins Out Mental Health Unit
Cogito, the A.I. startup that wrings emotional intelligence cues out of the human voice, is training its focus on call centers and splitting off its behavioral health unit into a new enterprise called CompanionMX. The new Boston-based company’s CEO is Sub Datta, who most recently worked as chief business officer at Soft Robotics in Cambridge. … Continue reading “Emotional Intelligence Startup Cogito Spins Out Mental Health Unit”
Boston Tech Watch: Indigo Ag, GE, Algo Capital, Solo.io, Cybric
Venture capital deals, acquisitions, and spin-offs made up much of this week’s Boston technology news. —Boston-based agtech startup Indigo Ag has acquired TellusLabs, an A.I. satellite technology company that was founded in Somerville, MA. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Indigo says it plans to integrate TellusLabs’ agricultural technology with its on-the-ground data to … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Indigo Ag, GE, Algo Capital, Solo.io, Cybric”
Facial Recognition Startup Suspect Technologies Raises $810K
Amid warnings over potential dangers of facial recognition, Jacob Sniff is still bullish on the technology. His Cambridge, MA-based facial recognition software startup Suspect Technologies has closed on an $810,000 funding round co-led by billionaire investor and “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban and Santa Monica, CA-based venture firm Chaac Ventures. Up until now, Suspect Technologies … Continue reading “Facial Recognition Startup Suspect Technologies Raises $810K”
Adding A.I. to the Factory Floor, MachineMetrics Powers Up with $11M
Many of today’s factories are a far cry from the soot-covered, smoke-belching machine shops of old: The Internet-connected machines talk to one another, compile output and maintenance data, and some accept software updates much like personal computers or smartphones. But managing the tides of incoming data to fine-tune factory productivity has required an industry of … Continue reading “Adding A.I. to the Factory Floor, MachineMetrics Powers Up with $11M”
Alcohol-Delivery App Drizly Doubles VC Haul with $34M Funding Round
Booze delivery app Drizly has raised $34.6 million in a new funding round, according to regulatory filings, nearly doubling the total venture capital the company has taken in since its 2012 founding. The Boston-based company—which operates an online marketplace for beer, wine, and liquor that’s delivered to customers’ doors—closed its last funding in February 2017 … Continue reading “Alcohol-Delivery App Drizly Doubles VC Haul with $34M Funding Round”
HubSpot Wants to Stoke Innovation With $30M Corporate Venture Fund
Hubspot is launching a $30 million corporate venture capital fund to invest in promising startups that can boost its marketing platform. HubSpot Ventures will back companies with software tools that align with the Cambridge, MA-based company’s aim to help small and medium businesses grow, the company says. Target companies will also need to align with … Continue reading “HubSpot Wants to Stoke Innovation With $30M Corporate Venture Fund”
Boston Tech Watch: Endeavor, Building Ventures, LearnLux, ETQ, Cogito
[Updated 12/07/18, 10:30 a.m., and 12/10/18, 10:45. See below.] The spigot is still wide open for venture funding as cash continued to flow into Boston startups this week. Smart scooters and military robots rounded out the week in tech news. Read on for more: —IBM (NYSE: [[ticker:IBM]]) is dealing away two Massachusetts-founded enterprises it shelled out … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Endeavor, Building Ventures, LearnLux, ETQ, Cogito”
Google A.I. Fund Leads $7M Boost For Boston Route Logistics Startup
Google’s A.I.-focused fund Gradient Ventures has made its second Boston-area investment by leading a $7 million Series A round for autonomous dispatch and routing software startup Wise Systems. Wise was founded in 2014 by a group of MIT and Harvard graduates. The company says it uses machine learning to autonomously direct delivery operations by melding … Continue reading “Google A.I. Fund Leads $7M Boost For Boston Route Logistics Startup”
Forge AI Raises $11M to Crack Unstructured Data for Machine Learning
Forge AI, a Cambridge, MA-based startup aiming to decode the world’s mountains of unstructured data for machine learning algorithms, says it has raised $11 million in new funding. Jim Crowley, Jack Crowley, and Jennifer Lum founded Forge in 2017, and it’s kept relatively quiet in the time since. The company reads and digests unstructured data. … Continue reading “Forge AI Raises $11M to Crack Unstructured Data for Machine Learning”
Superpedestrian Rolls Out Smarter, Hardier E-Scooter for Sharing
It’s the diagnosis of Superpedestrian CEO Assaf Biderman that bike- and scooter-share startups know far too little about bikes and scooters. His Cambridge, MA-based transportation technology startup is announcing its foray into scooter sharing today with what it says is a smart, durable, and efficient scooter of its own. Biderman sees the feverish industry—crowded with … Continue reading “Superpedestrian Rolls Out Smarter, Hardier E-Scooter for Sharing”
Boston Tech Watch: Gradifi, Numerated, Jibo, Corvus, Botkeeper
A wave of cash for finance and insurance tech startups, a robotic assistant goes dark, and a medical transportation startup’s move across the Bay State make up the latest in Boston technology news. Read on for details. —The former head of PayPal’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PYPL]]) Boston office, David Chang, has been named CEO of Gradifi, a … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Gradifi, Numerated, Jibo, Corvus, Botkeeper”
Coinbase Backs Flipside Crypto Amid “Healthy” Currency Selloff
(Updated 11/29/18, 11 a.m. with additional funding details) The crash in digital currency values has tossed fuel on the already raging fire of skepticism around many crypto projects, which are suspected as scams masquerading as a technology of tomorrow. But the price retreat—and the accompanying losses to crypto speculators—are welcome news to Dave Balter, CEO … Continue reading “Coinbase Backs Flipside Crypto Amid “Healthy” Currency Selloff”
Aras Adds $70M from Goldman Sachs to Grow Product Software
Aras, a “product lifecycle management” software company based in Andover, MA, has raised $70 million in a Series D investment round led by Goldman Sachs. The deal is aimed at beefing up Aras’s enterprise software capabilities and expanding its reach farther around the globe. Earlier investors Silver Lake Kraftwerk and GE Ventures joined in the … Continue reading “Aras Adds $70M from Goldman Sachs to Grow Product Software”
Formlabs Competitor DWS Sues in Latest 3D Printing Patent Fight
Italian 3D printing technology firm DWS Systems is suing Formlabs for infringing its stereolithography patent, marking the Somerville, MA-based company’s latest legal battle over the technology in its popular 3D printer models. DWS filed the counterclaim in U.S. District Court in Virginia in response to an earlier lawsuit by Formlabs to consolidate a slew of … Continue reading “Formlabs Competitor DWS Sues in Latest 3D Printing Patent Fight”
Thanksgiving Pie, Brought to You By “Chuck” the Warehouse Robot
Robots may not have taken all of our jobs (yet), but they are already starting to nibble at our volunteer hours at holiday bake sales. And this one has a taste for pie. Chuck, the creation of Waltham, MA-based 6 River Systems, was sizing up Community Serving’s 26th annual Pie in the Sky bake sale … Continue reading “Thanksgiving Pie, Brought to You By “Chuck” the Warehouse Robot”
Boston Tech Watch: Bento, MassChallenge, Apprenti, DUST, Chaossearch
[Updated 11/16/18, 2:15 pm. see below] Accelerators and apprenticeships, venture deals and partnerships. Here’s a roundup of Boston technology news bits from the week. Read on: —Nonprofit tech accelerator MassChallenge is toying with launching a for-profit entity to help alumni of the program “further accelerate their growth.” It’s unclear what form that entity might take, … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Bento, MassChallenge, Apprenti, DUST, Chaossearch”
Now With Siemens, Low-Code Firm Mendix Still Plotting Its Own Course
If you thought Siemens’ $730 million purchase of Boston-based business app developer Mendix would have locked the digital company’s focus onto the factory floor, CEO Derek Roos wants you to know you’re wrong. The reality, Roos claims, is that the Mendix deal is more about transforming Siemens. “Why would Siemens buy a horizontal, industry-agnostic cloud … Continue reading “Now With Siemens, Low-Code Firm Mendix Still Plotting Its Own Course”
Bain Capital Ventures Nets $1B Funding to Fuel New Round of Tech Bets
Bain Capital Ventures has raised $1 billion to pour into technology companies large and small across a swath of industries, the largest single round of fundraising in the firm’s history. The cash includes a $650 million core fund—that’ll be aimed half at early stage startups and half at later-stage growth companies—as well as a $250 … Continue reading “Bain Capital Ventures Nets $1B Funding to Fuel New Round of Tech Bets”
ClearSky Data Raises Another $20M Amid Cloud Arms Race
[Updated 11/13/18, 12:05 pm, with executive comments throughout.] The data storage wars rage on. Boston-based primary data storage and backup provider ClearSky Data has raised $20 million in new funding to bring more customers aboard its “on-demand” hybrid cloud storage system. To date, ClearSky has taken in $59 million from investors. It shouldn’t be much … Continue reading “ClearSky Data Raises Another $20M Amid Cloud Arms Race”
Veritas, Elliott Strike $5.7B Deal for Athenahealth
[Updated 11/12/18, 10:31 am, with deal terms.] Athenahealth has reached an agreement to be bought for approximately $5.7 billion in cash by private equity firms Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital, an affiliate of activist hedge fund Elliott Management. The acquisition was announced Monday morning. Reuters first reported the deal Sunday and said an official announcement was … Continue reading “Veritas, Elliott Strike $5.7B Deal for Athenahealth”
Boston Tech Watch: Neurala A.I., GE, MaxQ, Threat Stack, Bluefyre
Acquisitions, partnerships, and an FDA approval mark this week’s roundup in Boston technology news. Read on for more: —Boston University is adding artificial intelligence education to its electrical and computer engineering courses through a partnership with Boston A.I. company Neurala, to bridge a growing “skills gap” in the technology. Neurala is providing its A.I. education … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Neurala A.I., GE, MaxQ, Threat Stack, Bluefyre”
Google’s Schmidt: 5 Years Before A.I. Is More Than Advisory Tool
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the next five years of artificial intelligence and machine learning will be more like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa than a self-driving sedan or a robo-surgeon taking out your appendix. “There are still significant errors, as you know, in machine learning systems that we tolerate. They are advisory,” Schmidt … Continue reading “Google’s Schmidt: 5 Years Before A.I. Is More Than Advisory Tool”
In Search of Names, Tech Startups Look to Galaxies Far, Far Away
All-seeing orbs, a distant planet and source of a life-giving drug, interstellar faster-than-light space travel, a carbon-freezing technique used to lock away enemies. The science fiction and fantasy creations—carbonite, palantir, Arrakis, warp drive—evoke the sort of futuristic vision that many startups dream to make a reality, or at least plumb for inspiration (and marketing). In … Continue reading “In Search of Names, Tech Startups Look to Galaxies Far, Far Away”
“Don’t Go Nuts With This”: Tech CEOs on What $100M Can Buy
So, your long-scrappy tech startup cashed a nine-figure check from a gaggle of venture capital types. What now? Launch a hiring spree? Land a beachhead in Europe? Squirrel some away for a rainy day? Build all the features into your gizmo that you always wanted (and promised to customers)? By our count, at least 14 … Continue reading ““Don’t Go Nuts With This”: Tech CEOs on What $100M Can Buy”
Boston Tech Watch: CIC, Zylotech, Freebird, Mavrck, Sheprd
Venture funding rounds, a co-working center opening, and a shuttered ride-sharing service marked the Boston-area technology news this week. Read on for more. —Freebird, a Cambridge, MA-based flight re-booking service, brought in $8 million in new funds to accelerate growth in its main corporate travel market. The Series A investment was led by American Express … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: CIC, Zylotech, Freebird, Mavrck, Sheprd”
Nurse Staffing Startup Gets $10.8M as Personnel Ratios Hit MA Ballot
IntelyCare, a Massachusetts-based nurse-staffing platform for long-term care, assisted living, and rehabilitation facilities, has raised $10.8 million from venture investors, less than a week before voters weigh in on a new state mandate hospital for patient-to-nurse ratios. San Francisco firm Leerink Revelation Partners led the Series A funding round and was joined by Longmeadow Capital, … Continue reading “Nurse Staffing Startup Gets $10.8M as Personnel Ratios Hit MA Ballot”
Moonshots, Tough Tech, and Not Falling in Love With Your Robot
Before researchers at Google’s skunkworks labs embark on a new project, they decide when to kill it. The technical and business teams set parameters for when to walk away from the “moonshot” idea to avoid being so seduced by the technology that they forget about the underlying problem it aimed to solve. “It becomes less … Continue reading “Moonshots, Tough Tech, and Not Falling in Love With Your Robot”
As Midterms Approach, Notarize Lends a Hand to Absentee Voters in SD
The idea started with online complaints from voters in South Dakota, where applications for absentee ballots require the certification of a notary public. The response from Pat Kinsel, founder and CEO of a Boston-based online notary startup aptly named Notarize, was to offer its services for free—the same deal it made last year to hurricane-battered … Continue reading “As Midterms Approach, Notarize Lends a Hand to Absentee Voters in SD”
Boston Tech Watch: Scooter Regs, Threat Stack, iRobot, Teikametrics
Cybersecurity layoffs, higher import tariffs on robotic vacuum cleaners, funding deals, and a push for e-scooter regulations make up the pulse of technology news this week in Boston. Read on for more. —A bill proposed in the Massachusetts State House would apply the same regulatory system that oversees ride-hailing app businesses such as Uber and … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Scooter Regs, Threat Stack, iRobot, Teikametrics”
In E-Commerce Marketing Race, Privy Aims to Democratize Online Tools
The push by Boston e-commerce tech startup Privy to become a marketing Swiss army knife for online merchants has fueled a new $4.25 million funding round for the company. The money will be used to double its headcount and help it move into more spacious digs from its current scrappy office quarters. Founder and CEO … Continue reading “In E-Commerce Marketing Race, Privy Aims to Democratize Online Tools”