Zymergen, a biotechnology startup that harnesses robots and machine learning to produce bioengineered microbes for customers in manufacturing and healthcare, announced today it has raised $130 million in a Series B fundraising round. For years, companies have been tweaking the genes of microbes such as bacteria to turn them into biological factories that produce everything … Continue reading “IT-Biotech Hybrid Zymergen Raises $130M Round Led By SoftBank”
Author: Bernadette Tansey
Bernadette Tansey is a former editor of Xconomy San Francisco. She has covered information technology, biotechnology, business, law, environment, and government as a Bay area journalist. She has written about edtech, mobile apps, social media startups, and life sciences companies for Xconomy, and tracked the adoption of Web tools by small businesses for CNBC. She was a biotechnology reporter for the business section of the San Francisco Chronicle, where she also wrote about software developers and early commercial companies in nanotechnology and synthetic biology.
Soundtrap Lands $6M for Collaborative Music & Audio Creation App
Soundtrap, a recording studio app that competes with Apple’s GarageBand, announced today it has raised $6 million to expand its reach in both the consumer and education markets. Like GarageBand, Soundtrap is easy to use and has been adopted for use in schools, Soundtrap CEO and co-founder Per Emanuelsson says. What differentiates Soundtrap is that … Continue reading “Soundtrap Lands $6M for Collaborative Music & Audio Creation App”
Press Institute Teams with Newsela to Make Kids Savvier News Consumers
Web technologies have brought financial challenges and a tidal wave of media competitors to traditional news organizations in recent decades. Now a non-profit that has been championing newspapers since 1946 is using technology to bolster demand for high-quality journalism. The American Press Institute is working with educational technology company Newsela to teach school children how … Continue reading “Press Institute Teams with Newsela to Make Kids Savvier News Consumers”
TerrAvion’s Eye in the Sky For Growers, And Now, Ranchers
Robert Morris was a military drone platoon leader in Afghanistan, where he started thinking about the potential of aerial imagery in agriculture. He later became a chapter president of the Drone Industry Association, and explored the idea of setting up a business providing drone surveillance of farmland. Morris did go on to co-found an aerial … Continue reading “TerrAvion’s Eye in the Sky For Growers, And Now, Ranchers”
Tech Transforms the Election Experience, From VR to Voter Registration
My friend Eileen and I are planning to “phone-watch” the first presidential debate together on Monday. Just by calling her number in Louisiana from my couch in the Bay Area, I’ll hear hilarious commentary on the Clinton-Trump exchange from Eileen, a terrific reporter who’s wittier than most standup comics. I found another name for this … Continue reading “Tech Transforms the Election Experience, From VR to Voter Registration”
Are Enterprise or Consumer Startups Best VC Bets? One VC’s View
When Shawn Carolan joined Menlo Ventures just after earning his MBA at Stanford in 2002, he found the venture capital firm “fairly enterprise focused.” But Carolan, a trained engineer who says he loves gadgets and gizmos, was most interested in tech products aimed at consumers. Over the next decade, the Stanford recruit managed to give … Continue reading “Are Enterprise or Consumer Startups Best VC Bets? One VC’s View”
SAP Doubles Down, Commits Another $1B to Sapphire Ventures
Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sapphire Ventures, whose ancestry traces back to the former corporate venture investing arm of German software giant SAP, said today it has secured $1 billion in capital from SAP. That adds up to $2.4 billion in assets under management for Palo Alto, CA-based Sapphire—-all pledged by SAP SE (NYSE: [[ticker:SAP]]), … Continue reading “SAP Doubles Down, Commits Another $1B to Sapphire Ventures”
Chrono Therapeutics Scores $47.6M to Advance Anti-Smoking System
Digital health company Chrono Therapeutics has landed $47.6 million from investors to fund its drive toward FDA approval of a wearable quit-smoking system it hopes will rival products like Pfizer’s drug Chantix. Chrono’s product combines a programmed patch delivering tailored doses of nicotine with a motivational app to deal with the psychological aspects of addiction … Continue reading “Chrono Therapeutics Scores $47.6M to Advance Anti-Smoking System”
A Window Opens For Federal Financial Aid at Edtech Programs Within Colleges
This week brought some encouraging news for educational technology companies and code schools, whose students often can’t qualify for federal grants and loans. The Obama administration is moving ahead with an experiment that makes federal student aid available for a small number of degree or certificate programs offered through partnerships between established higher education institutions … Continue reading “A Window Opens For Federal Financial Aid at Edtech Programs Within Colleges”
Pre-Election Day, VCs And Others Already Lobbying To Keep Low Tax Rate
Menlo Ventures managing director Venky Ganesan, who became chair of the National Venture Capital Association’s board in May, took office at a potentially crucial moment in the history of the venture investing sector. The name “Wall Street” has become a shorthand term for corruption in the populist mood of the presidential election campaign. And the … Continue reading “Pre-Election Day, VCs And Others Already Lobbying To Keep Low Tax Rate”
Data Software Startup MapR Raises $50M, Signals IPO Plans
MapR, one of the data management companies vying to help businesses grapple with the onslaught of information they process and store, announced a $50 million equity financing today and revealed that it’s considering an initial public offering. San Jose, CA-based MapR, a competitor to Cloudera and Hortonworks, sells software designed to integrate the data that … Continue reading “Data Software Startup MapR Raises $50M, Signals IPO Plans”
New Schools Venture Fund Offering $7M More To Education Entrepreneurs
It’s still mid-summer, but in some districts where school starts in only a few weeks, teachers are already digging out their lesson plans and preparing to resume their classroom routines. But some of them would rather toss those lessons in the bin, and in fact, scrap the whole design of their schools and build new … Continue reading “New Schools Venture Fund Offering $7M More To Education Entrepreneurs”
Coding Dojo Takes Its Software Bootcamp Courses to Campus
Coding Dojo, which runs software development bootcamps in San Jose, Seattle, and other cities, will be offering some of its programming courses at Bellevue College near Seattle this fall in what it hopes will be the first of several college partnerships. Coding Dojo instructors will go on-campus evenings and weekends at the large public college … Continue reading “Coding Dojo Takes Its Software Bootcamp Courses to Campus”
Talend Raises $95M in IPO: A Boost For Others Waiting in the Wings?
The pricing of data integration company Talend’s IPO shares late Thursday, and its instant jump in trading Friday, delivered a booster shot for the optimism following fellow Silicon Valley company Twilio’s successful market debut last month. Talend sold 5.25 million shares at $18 apiece, above its anticipated range of $15 to $17, to raise $95 … Continue reading “Talend Raises $95M in IPO: A Boost For Others Waiting in the Wings?”
Allegis Capital Leader Co-Founds DataTribe To Tap Government Research
In 2015, Silicon Valley venture firm founder Robert Ackerman was helping the founders of Maryland startup Onyara to prepare for a fundraising round that would allow them to mine the commercial potential of advanced data processing technology developed at the National Security Agency. “I just found my next billion-dollar idea,” Ackerman says he was thinking … Continue reading “Allegis Capital Leader Co-Founds DataTribe To Tap Government Research”
DCM Ventures Snags $770M, and Three Security Firms Raise Millions
[Updated 7/15/16, 1:24 pm. See below.] This year could be the richest fundraising period for venture capital firms since 2000, according to Thomson Reuters figures so far. Menlo, Park, CA-based DCM Ventures did its bit this week to keep up the pace. DCM, a 20-year-old venture capital firm whose interests straddle the United States and … Continue reading “DCM Ventures Snags $770M, and Three Security Firms Raise Millions”
Industrial Giant Siemens Seeks VR/AR Startups To Help Revolutionize Manufacturing
During this, the first year when virtual reality headsets are widely available, games are the lure commonly spurring consumers to try VR. And that’s spreading beyond digital games. Early next month, some headset owners will be able to watch finals matches in basketball and other sports recorded for VR at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. … Continue reading “Industrial Giant Siemens Seeks VR/AR Startups To Help Revolutionize Manufacturing”
Osmo Game Aims To Lower Age Limit To Learn Concepts Behind Coding
Literacy is being redefined in our era of digital technology. The language of coding is becoming an essential element of literacy in the United States—as Latin and Greek once were for ambitious American colonists when the Declaration of Independence was signed 240 years ago. Elite elementary schools are now introducing very young children to basic … Continue reading “Osmo Game Aims To Lower Age Limit To Learn Concepts Behind Coding”
Code School Leaders Share Their Edtech Picks To Make All Kids “Coding Natives”
Workers who already have a college degree now often top off their credentials by doing a stint at a code school—July and August are the peak enrollment periods, says San Francisco-based online code school Bloc. Others seek graduate degrees in computer science, or just study on their own via online courses, to add coding to … Continue reading “Code School Leaders Share Their Edtech Picks To Make All Kids “Coding Natives””
The Future of Human-Machine Culture Imagined At Robo Madness West
Roboticists covered a sweeping range of topics at Xconomy’s annual Robo Madness West conference last week, from the ethics of artificial intelligence to the powerful impact of robots that have faces. Two themes ran through all the panel discussions, whether they focused on robot design, logistics and manufacturing, drones, or artificial intelligence. Speakers repeatedly brought … Continue reading “The Future of Human-Machine Culture Imagined At Robo Madness West”
Twilio’s $150M IPO May Bolster Faith In Unicorns—-Or Some Of Them
Venture investors, as well as tech companies hesitant to try going public, were hanging on the outcome of communications software company Twilio’s IPO this week in hopes that it would signal a thaw in the mood on Wall Street for such offerings. So far, Twilio is delivering a strong positive signal. The San Francisco-based company … Continue reading “Twilio’s $150M IPO May Bolster Faith In Unicorns—-Or Some Of Them”
LightCyber Reaps $20M To Advance Its Cyberattack Detection Services
LightCyber, a cybersecurity company that specializes in detecting hackers once they’ve breached the outer defenses of a data network, announced today it raised $20 million in a Series B financing round. The venture round was led by Claltech, an Israeli division of New York-based global investment group Access Industries, and veteran security entrepreneur and investor … Continue reading “LightCyber Reaps $20M To Advance Its Cyberattack Detection Services”
Visiting A “Legal Hacker” Who Finds Cracks In IoT Security
If you’ve been rambling around Second Street in San Francisco’s South of Market tech hub recently (shown here), you might have seen an unusual sight—-a tall young Australian walking along with an open laptop connected to a mysterious knobby white stick. That was Balint Seeber with an uber-antenna, and he was capturing wireless communications from … Continue reading “Visiting A “Legal Hacker” Who Finds Cracks In IoT Security”
Barefoot Scores $130M for Programmable Switch To Make Networks Smart
We’re all always watching out for those new companies whose innovations turn out to be the gateway for systemic change across many tech sectors, as early mobile devices and cloud computing services did. Palo Alto, CA-based Barefoot Networks today laid claim to that earth-mover status, emerging from stealth after two years to announce it had … Continue reading “Barefoot Scores $130M for Programmable Switch To Make Networks Smart”
Qadium Reaps $20M Venture Round For IoT Device Search Engine
Tim Junio was a young security consultant for DARPA, the tech research division of the U.S. Department of Defense, when the agency called for responses to an interesting challenge. That was: Propose a way that a bad actor could cause catastrophic harm to the nation’s economy just by tapping into data that is generally available. … Continue reading “Qadium Reaps $20M Venture Round For IoT Device Search Engine”
A Front Row 5,000 Rows Deep in AltspaceVR’s Virtual Theater
Can a concert in a virtual auditorium sell out? To get the best seat, does your avatar have to camp out overnight at the virtual ticket booth? The questions that come up as virtual reality works its way into the real consumer world are often as mind-bending as Zen koans. But entrepreneurs have already cooked … Continue reading “A Front Row 5,000 Rows Deep in AltspaceVR’s Virtual Theater”
Cybersecurity Company Agari Raises $22M For E-Mail Shield
Cybersecurity company Agari, which guards against hacker attacks initiated through fraudulent e-mails, announced today it has raised $22 million in a Series D fundraising round lead by Norwest Venture Partners. Scale Venture Partners and other previous investors joined in the round, which brings San Mateo, CA-based Agari’s total fundraising to $44.7 million. Agari CEO Patrick … Continue reading “Cybersecurity Company Agari Raises $22M For E-Mail Shield”
ThoughtSpot Raises $50M for Business Data Search Engine
“The consumption of data by humans has increased maybe millions of times compared to what we used to use,” Ajeet Singh says. “This is possible because of search.” By that, serial entrepreneur Singh means search engines like Google and Microsoft’s Bing, which instantly scour websites to find us a restaurant, an audiobook, or the name … Continue reading “ThoughtSpot Raises $50M for Business Data Search Engine”
Geodesic Capital Closes $335M First Fund For Growth Investing
Geodesic Capital, a year-old venture capital firm that plans to help U.S. companies expand into Japan and other countries in Asia, has raised a $335 million inaugural fund with backing from anchor investor and co-founder Mitsubishi. In addition to Mitsubishi’s business contacts as a diverse global enterprise, Foster City, CA-based Geodesic comes with the ready-made … Continue reading “Geodesic Capital Closes $335M First Fund For Growth Investing”
Schoold Uses Machine Learning to Do Your College Scholarship Hunt
Now that high school seniors have made the fateful choice of a college to attend in the fall, their parents are free to pull out tufts of hair as they figure out how to pay for it. Scholarships are life-saving options, but they can be hard to ferret out, says San Francisco-based startup Schoold, which … Continue reading “Schoold Uses Machine Learning to Do Your College Scholarship Hunt”
OBE Wants To Dress The Fashionable VR Gamer
Well before the debut of a slew of virtual reality headsets for consumers this year, game makers and other tech companies were getting ready to feed the expected demand for VR content. But they weren’t the only innovators preparing to ride along as VR emerged as a commercial product after years in headset developers’ workshops. … Continue reading “OBE Wants To Dress The Fashionable VR Gamer”
Vetting Cloud Security Companies: Scale VC Sets The Scene
[Corrected 5/11/16, 12:59 pm. See below.] When Ariel Tseitlin joined Netflix in 2011 to help it transition from a movie DVD rental company to a Web-based streaming entertainment service, his team had to build Netflix’s cloud architecture. There was nothing out there to buy, Tseitlin says. The cybersecurity industry was also a fraction of its … Continue reading “Vetting Cloud Security Companies: Scale VC Sets The Scene”
Augmedix Plans To Expand Google Glass-Based System For Healthcare
A year ago, a flurry of news stories declared the failure of Google’s Web-connected eyewear Google Glass after the company halted sales of the novel item whose debut it had trumpeted in 2012. Critics said consumers could never figure out a compelling use for the $1,500 smart glasses, which are equipped with a video camera, … Continue reading “Augmedix Plans To Expand Google Glass-Based System For Healthcare”
Lufthansa Cargo Backs RocketSpace’s New Logistics Accelerator
RocketSpace, the big San Francisco co-working space that’s evolving into a matchmaker between corporations and innovative startups, said today it has signed up air freight giant Lufthansa Cargo as a partner in its first industry accelerator program. RocketSpace will choose about six startups to participate in its Logistics Tech Accelerator, where they’ll work on new … Continue reading “Lufthansa Cargo Backs RocketSpace’s New Logistics Accelerator”
Purdue’s Fintech Experiment: An Alternative to Pricy Student Loans
Purdue University, which prides itself on teaching innovation, is joining with a financial technology startup in an unusual partnership that may pave the way for lower-cost tuition payment options for students at other higher education institutions some day. Starting May 2, juniors and seniors at West Lafayette, IN-based Purdue can apply for a novel source … Continue reading “Purdue’s Fintech Experiment: An Alternative to Pricy Student Loans”
$1B Lumina Foundation Backs New Education Credentials Framework
Advocates of online education say it can provide learning opportunities as good as college coursework, but at a much lower cost. The broad offerings of edtech companies now range from foreign language instruction to history lessons to computer programming. What non-traditional education providers have always needed, though, is the ability to award their students a … Continue reading “$1B Lumina Foundation Backs New Education Credentials Framework”
An LP Becomes Owner of Silicon Valley VC Firm Northgate
Venture capital firms are usually owned by their founders and other firm executives who actively decide how to invest the money entrusted to them by wealthy individuals and institutions, such as pension funds. The suppliers of capital are called limited partners, and their usual role is to sit back while the VC firm chooses how … Continue reading “An LP Becomes Owner of Silicon Valley VC Firm Northgate”
ROBLOX Lets The Games Begin in VR: Launches On Oculus Rift
Predicting the potential market for virtual reality is the classic chicken-and-egg question: People will only buy the new crop of VR headsets—on sale for the first time this year—if there are plenty of things to watch or do on them. But content developers can only profit if people buy the headsets. San Mateo, CA-based game … Continue reading “ROBLOX Lets The Games Begin in VR: Launches On Oculus Rift”
Invitae Scales Up DNA Test Offerings, Scores Mild Market Bump
Invitae, the genetic testing company that reaped more than $100 million in its IPO last year, today announced an expansion of the diseases covered by its diagnostic assays beyond the cancer tests that have been delivering the bulk of its revenues. The Invitae tests now cover more than a thousand genes—-a mid-year goal the company … Continue reading “Invitae Scales Up DNA Test Offerings, Scores Mild Market Bump”
Appthority Flags Bad Apps, Recruits Employees As Cyber Defenders
Employers shifting their operations to mobile computing have opened the door to BYOD—telling employees it’s OK to Bring Your Own Device and use it for work tasks. Employees have extended that to BYOA–Bring Your Own Apps, says San Francisco security company Appthority in its latest mobile threat report. Workers, just like consumers, download apps without … Continue reading “Appthority Flags Bad Apps, Recruits Employees As Cyber Defenders”
AppDirect Buys Xendo, Adds Search Option Across Users’ Cloud Apps
In a move aimed at making life simpler for Web-based software subscribers, AppDirect is buying San Francisco startup Xendo, which allows app users to search through all their online programs at once for the files or facts they need. With a Xendo search, users who have forgotten whether they stored a document in Box or … Continue reading “AppDirect Buys Xendo, Adds Search Option Across Users’ Cloud Apps”
Is Your Smartphone Spying On Your TV Habits? FTC Warns App Developers
You’re ready to kick back for the weekend and do something mindless. No one will ever know if you watch five episodes of “Zombie House Flipping” instead of the PBS NewsHour, right? Maybe for now. Could be, there’s already an app on your smartphone or tablet capable of finding out what you’re watching by picking … Continue reading “Is Your Smartphone Spying On Your TV Habits? FTC Warns App Developers”
Edtech Startup Credly Raises $2.5M Seed Round From VCs, Lumina Foundation
Credly, a New York edtech company that manages digital credentials for learned skills, said today it raised $2.5 million in a seed financing round led by venture firms University Ventures and New Markets Venture Partners. Credly allows universities, employers, licensing agencies, and other organizations to create electronic badges that represent anything from an earned college … Continue reading “Edtech Startup Credly Raises $2.5M Seed Round From VCs, Lumina Foundation”
A Big Driver For Cybersecurity Spending? Wary Cyber Insurance Vendors
In 2014, insurance companies reaped $2 billion in policy premiums from U.S. companies seeking protection from potentially vast losses due to cyber attacks like those that have hit Target, Sony, and other big firms. By the end of the decade, the U.S. market for cyber insurance could burgeon to $7.5 million, analysts say. But insurers … Continue reading “A Big Driver For Cybersecurity Spending? Wary Cyber Insurance Vendors”
Spy Dolls, Genius Machines: Cybersecurity Firms Look Ahead at RSA
Over the next five years, the number of connected devices will leap from five billion to 50 billion, Symantec CEO Michael Brown told cybersecurity professionals at a keynote address at the RSA Conference this week in San Francisco. The Internet of Things is one of the major trends that will define the security operations centers … Continue reading “Spy Dolls, Genius Machines: Cybersecurity Firms Look Ahead at RSA”
Famed Cryptographers, Turing Awardees Back Apple at RSA Conference
No surprise—the conflict between Apple and the FBI is dominating many sessions at the big RSA Conference in San Francisco this week. Some of the most intriguing comments came from a panel of distinguished cryptographers, including Whitfield Diffie, former chief security officer of Sun Microsystems, and Stanford professor Martin Hellman. On the RSA stage before … Continue reading “Famed Cryptographers, Turing Awardees Back Apple at RSA Conference”
Super Tuesday Is For Kids, Too: Newsela Opens Voting To Students
Among the thousands of Americans who will cast ballots in the slew of presidential primary elections tomorrow, a significant number know that their votes won’t ever be counted by state officials. They know they’re powerless to help their favorite candidates win. Yet people are still urging them to go to the polls on Super Tuesday, … Continue reading “Super Tuesday Is For Kids, Too: Newsela Opens Voting To Students”
Signifyd Raises $20M For E-Commerce Fraud Shield
Fraud detection company Signifyd announced today it has raised $20 million to expand the service it developed to help merchants avoid a costly downside of selling online—having to pay back credit card customers for purchases they didn’t authorize. San Jose, CA-based Signifyd says its machine learning technology can flag shoppers using someone else’s card without … Continue reading “Signifyd Raises $20M For E-Commerce Fraud Shield”
Battery Ventures Staying the Course With $950M in New Funds
Battery Ventures, a Boston-based firm with branches in the Bay Area and Israel, now has $950 million in new money to invest, the company announced today. Battery has set up a $650 million main fund, Battery Ventures XI, and allocated $300 million to its new Battery Ventures XI Side Fund, which will make investment bets … Continue reading “Battery Ventures Staying the Course With $950M in New Funds”
Squinting Through Bubbles and Busts: Norwest’s Way To Navigate
Silicon Valley watchers are always on alert for two things: the next breakout tech investment no one should miss out on, and signs that a tech bubble is about to burst, bringing losses everyone wants to avoid. The current jitters about a tech bubble have some foundation. They include doubts about the valuations of private … Continue reading “Squinting Through Bubbles and Busts: Norwest’s Way To Navigate”