San Antonio—While job prospects abound in IT, especially in subsets like cybersecurity, a pretty simple question remains: Is there enough training available to provide people the skills to fill those jobs? The rise of coding schools is helping take care of the demand for software developers, a position that’s projected to rise 17 percent by … Continue reading “With Jobs on Horizon, San Antonio Cybersecurity Firm Funds Nonprofit”
Author: David Holley
David is the national correspondent at Xconomy. He has spent most of his career covering business of every kind, from breweries in Oregon to investment banks in New York. A native of the Pacific Northwest, David started his career reporting at weekly and daily newspapers, covering murder trials, city council meetings, the expanding startup tech industry in the region, and everything between. He left the West Coast to pursue business journalism in New York, first writing about biotech and then private equity at The Deal. After a stint at Bloomberg News writing about high-yield bonds and leveraged loans, David relocated from New York to Austin, TX.
He graduated from Portland State University.
Pfizer Invests in Wave, Inks Metabolic-Focused Drug Development Deal
Wave Life Sciences, the RNA-drug maker that went from Series A funding to initial public offering in less than a year, has received an equity investment from Pfizer as part of a deal to collaborate with the pharma giant on treating metabolic diseases. Pfizer will pay Wave $40 million up front, and the deal is … Continue reading “Pfizer Invests in Wave, Inks Metabolic-Focused Drug Development Deal”
With Devices Everywhere, CloudOne Rises as Private Cloud Service
Companies in almost every industry are targeting the market for “connected” devices, from doorbells and thermostats sold by Nest Labs to something as advanced as automobile hardware and software that monitors your driving habits. One Indiana-based company has steadily been building an infrastructure service that it hopes will help that market grow. CloudOne, located just … Continue reading “With Devices Everywhere, CloudOne Rises as Private Cloud Service”
Emerging Medtech Companies to Pitch at San Antonio Symposium May 10
San Antonio — A few medtech companies will be pitching their products in a “rapid-fire” pitch competition next week at the Emerging Medical Technology Symposium in San Antonio. The organizers of the symposium, a group of medtech executives and others involved in the local industry, expect five companies to participate in the event, which awards … Continue reading “Emerging Medtech Companies to Pitch at San Antonio Symposium May 10”
Locating Veins, Smart Crossbows Headline Student Startup Competition
San Antonio — A team of University of Texas at San Antonio students who created an infrared device that helps medical workers more easily find veins won first place in the $100k Student Technology Venture Competition, hosted by the university’s Center for Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (CITE). The students’ product, called InfraVein, reflects infrared light, … Continue reading “Locating Veins, Smart Crossbows Headline Student Startup Competition”
A New Coat Makes The Difference in Rapamycin’s Disease Prevention
San Antonio — Drugs that can cure a disease inevitably draw the most attention. But San Antonio, TX-based Rapamycin Holdings is hoping that its drug’s potential to prevent the recurrence of diseases like cancer, among others, will at least draw the interest of a Big Pharma company with money to spend. By 2017, Rapamycin Holdings … Continue reading “A New Coat Makes The Difference in Rapamycin’s Disease Prevention”
Austin’s SparkCognition Raises $6M for Predictive Cybersecurity
Austin—[Updated 6/26/17, 10 a.m. See below.] Artificial intelligence and cybersecurity company SparkCognition has closed a $6 million Series B funding round from investors that include Verizon Ventures and CME Ventures. The startup plans to spend the new money on gaining customers for its machine-learning technology that aims to predict when a company’s systems might fail … Continue reading “Austin’s SparkCognition Raises $6M for Predictive Cybersecurity”
With New Partner, Rackspace Builds Out Support for Rivals’ Clouds
San Antonio — [Updated 4/27/16, 3:32 p.m. See below.] Cloud-computing giant Rackspace has made a deal to work with a Boston company that helps large businesses transfer their IT services to cloud-based infrastructures like Amazon Web Services. It’s a move that comes as Rackspace is increasingly finding ways to make money along with the public … Continue reading “With New Partner, Rackspace Builds Out Support for Rivals’ Clouds”
San Antonio Startup Merge VR Expands Retail Reach In GameStop Deal
San Antonio — San Antonio-based Merge VR, a virtual reality headset maker with a device that can be used with most new Android or iOS phones, announced this week that it has signed a deal with gaming giant GameStop and lowered the price of its headset to $80. The deal is just one of “several more” … Continue reading “San Antonio Startup Merge VR Expands Retail Reach In GameStop Deal”
How a San Antonio Company Joined In to Help Conjoined Twins In Need
San Antonio — [Corrected 4:05 p.m. See below.] For a few hours this week, the country was focused on a pair of infant twins in the South Texas town of Corpus Christi, who were conjoined below the waist. Surgeons at Driscoll Children’s Hospital successfully separated the 10-month old babies, Ximena and Scarlett Hernandez-Torres, after 12 … Continue reading “How a San Antonio Company Joined In to Help Conjoined Twins In Need”
New Trinity Program Offers Paid Internships at San Antonio Startups
San Antonio — Two local tech-related organizations have announced a new program with Trinity University that will offer paid internships at San Antonio startups this summer. Called Students + Startups, the 10-week program will pay 30 students a $4,000 stipend, cover the cost of on-campus housing, and pay for one academic credit hour. It is … Continue reading “New Trinity Program Offers Paid Internships at San Antonio Startups”
With $40M Led by GV, Quartet Expands Tech for Mental Health Care
Quartet Health, the data-focused New York company that is trying to connect what it calls behavioral and physical healthcare, has received a $40 million Series B round led by GV, the venture capital arm of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Quartet plans to spend the new money on gaining clients in five to 10 more major … Continue reading “With $40M Led by GV, Quartet Expands Tech for Mental Health Care”
After EMC, Dell Buyouts, Spanning Focused on Data Backup, Ransomware
Austin — The broad-stroke reasoning behind the Dell and EMC merger has been discussed for months: Dell is hoping to benefit from being able to simultaneously offer its computers, servers, and other hardware alongside EMC’s data storage, virtualization, security, and various other computing and data-focused services. But there are other parts of Hopkinton, MA-based EMC (NYSE: … Continue reading “After EMC, Dell Buyouts, Spanning Focused on Data Backup, Ransomware”
For San Antonio’s Consideration: A Biotech Incubator and Accelerator
San Antonio — [Updated, 1:55 p.m. See below.] Most research institutions or universities have at least one success story, a medicine or therapy developed there that made a big impact. Some have many. For the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, a 70-year-old nonprofit biomedical-focused institute with 56 researchers on staff based in Oklahoma City, OK, what first … Continue reading “For San Antonio’s Consideration: A Biotech Incubator and Accelerator”
As Demand For Developers Rises, Denim Group Founders Stress Security
San Antonio—Dan Cornell and Sheridan Chambers had barely graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio—Chambers in 1997, and Cornell a year later—when they sold their first company, Atension, in 1999 to then-publicly traded Rare Medium Group. Their stint at Rare, which suffered the same fate as many dot-com-era software businesses when the bubble burst in … Continue reading “As Demand For Developers Rises, Denim Group Founders Stress Security”
Allergan, Pfizer Cancel $160B Merger, Citing U.S. Treasury Actions
The speculation turned out to be true: Pfizer and Allergan announced today that they are canceling a proposed $160 billion merger, in large part due to steps the U.S. Treasury Department is planning to prevent tax avoidance. Their stock prices started swinging late Monday as the companies began reviewing the new rules released that day by … Continue reading “Allergan, Pfizer Cancel $160B Merger, Citing U.S. Treasury Actions”
Bind Therapeutics Sheds Employees, Considers New Capital or Deals
Bind Therapeutics, the Cambridge, MA-based biotech that hired a Bristol-Myers Squibb oncology researcher as its chief scientific officer in December, is laying off 38 percent of its workforce this month to limit the amount of cash it burns through, the company said in a prepared statement. Bind (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIND]]) expects it will have 61 employees … Continue reading “Bind Therapeutics Sheds Employees, Considers New Capital or Deals”
ImmunoGen CEO and President Daniel Junius Announces Retirement
Daniel Junius, the Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen’s CEO and president since 2009, will retire when the company finds a replacement—something ImmunoGen said in a news release today it “anticipates” will be announced shortly. Junis is staying on the board of directors.
AstraZeneca Spinout Entasis Snags $50M For Anti-Infective Treatments
Entasis Therapeutics, the AstraZeneca spinout developing novel antibiotics, has raised a $50 million Series B round to push forward the creation of a portfolio of treatments for drug-resistant bacterial infections. AstraZeneca announced it was creating Entasis in July, having funded the company with a $40 million Series A. This newest round was led by Clarus … Continue reading “AstraZeneca Spinout Entasis Snags $50M For Anti-Infective Treatments”
When Data Meets Genomics, Where Does Computing Power Come From?
San Antonio—Even as genome sequencing has risen in prevalence and declined in cost during the last decade, it still has many scientists perplexed from a data standpoint. As it becomes more common for pharmaceutical and biotech companies to use data from sequenced genomes for drug testing, the question of how will they effectively process that … Continue reading “When Data Meets Genomics, Where Does Computing Power Come From?”
IBM Data Chief on Strategy: Training Engineers for Cognitive Systems
San Antonio—In this post-Moneyball world of data analytics, it’s an easy stretch to imagine that IBM might use data analytics to help the Orlando Magic win two consecutive games of an NBA playoff series. But what if I tell you that it happened in 1997? Indeed, the Magic used data mining software created by IBM … Continue reading “IBM Data Chief on Strategy: Training Engineers for Cognitive Systems”
Interior Design Startup Havenly Adds $5.8M to Series A
On-demand interior design startup Havenly is adding $5.8 million to a Series A funding the Denver-based company announced in November—bringing the round to $13.3 million total. Havenly wasn’t actively seeking more funding, according to a spokeswoman. The latest financing was instead brought on by new investor interest, she says. The add-on was led by San … Continue reading “Interior Design Startup Havenly Adds $5.8M to Series A”
Selling Former Perot Systems Means $3B in Cash For Dell’s EMC Buyout
Austin—Dell is now at least a few billion dollars closer to its $67 billion buyout of Hopkinton, MA-based EMC. The Round Rock, TX-based computing giant is selling its IT services business for more than $3 billion to NTT Data Corp., a publicly traded company that was spun out from Japanese telecom Nippon Telegraph and Telephone … Continue reading “Selling Former Perot Systems Means $3B in Cash For Dell’s EMC Buyout”
San Antonio’s Merge VR Talks Consumer Interest in Virtual Reality
San Antonio — There’s been chatter for a few years about when virtual reality will go mainstream. That day may already be here or, at the very least, near. VR was one of a few technologies to capture much of the attention at 2016’s South by Southwest. It’s growing increasingly common for personal use, with … Continue reading “San Antonio’s Merge VR Talks Consumer Interest in Virtual Reality”
Grok Interactive Stays Small to Build Apps For Startups Everywhere
San Antonio — Jason Straughan and Jason Ellis, who co-founded San Antonio, TX-based Web and mobile app development company Grok Interactive in April 2013, faced a unique problem when they were ready to grow their small business and hire new software developers: they couldn’t find many, at least locally. Only a few months later, Straughan and two … Continue reading “Grok Interactive Stays Small to Build Apps For Startups Everywhere”
Cars, Virtual Reality, Blockchain (& Grumpy Cat) Lead Pack at SXSW
Austin — Since Twitter made a name for itself at South by Southwest in 2007, attendees have tried in vain to predict the next big tech breakout. Facebook made headlines in 2008, and Foursquare followed a year later. But nothing seemed to be the same as Twitter. By 2013, Grumpy Cat was dubbed winner of … Continue reading “Cars, Virtual Reality, Blockchain (& Grumpy Cat) Lead Pack at SXSW”
I Think, Therefore I Am: Startup Experts Talk A.I. at SXSW
Even executives of companies that develop the world’s leading artificial intelligence software have time to catch a few movies. True to form, it seems the flicks they pick are typically about artificial intelligence. “‘Her’ was particularly interesting, because this machine, this operating system… She was able to empathize with him, able to get him out … Continue reading “I Think, Therefore I Am: Startup Experts Talk A.I. at SXSW”
Blueprint, Roche Ink Milestone Deal for Cancer Immunotherapy
Blueprint Medicines has another deal on its plate that could net it hundreds of millions of dollars. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech raised $147 million in an initial public offering last year, two months before it received FDA approval to begin clinical trials on its two lead drug candidates in July. Now Blueprint has signed a deal … Continue reading “Blueprint, Roche Ink Milestone Deal for Cancer Immunotherapy”
Smart Sleep Mask, On-Demand Doctor App Win ReleaseIt Pitch Event
Austin — For anyone who has trouble with jetlag, Inteliclinic has an answer: a sleep mask. Inteliclinic’s sleep mask, called the Neuroon, is not exactly traditional. It is a device with biometric sensors that uses its own software to connect to a mobile app via Bluetooth. On the lower end of its technological capabilities, the … Continue reading “Smart Sleep Mask, On-Demand Doctor App Win ReleaseIt Pitch Event”
San Antonio Cancer Center Aims for Elegance in Treatment, Prevention
San Antonio — The goal of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center in San Antonio is pretty straightforward: Prevent the suffering that cancer causes people. Researchers there have spent decades developing innovative methods of detecting, preventing, and treating various forms of the disease. The cancer center was founded in the 1970s as a nonprofit and … Continue reading “San Antonio Cancer Center Aims for Elegance in Treatment, Prevention”
San Antonio Entrepreneur Center Opens Using Dallas Nonprofit as Model
San Antonio — Every city wants to boost growth for its industries, especially as technology and innovation-driven startups have become such a focus of the economy. Figuring out exactly how to do it is the tough part. The Dallas Entrepreneur Center, a co-working and incubator space for startups in a city more traditionally known for … Continue reading “San Antonio Entrepreneur Center Opens Using Dallas Nonprofit as Model”
InCube Labs Startup Fe3 Plans Iron-Delivering Patch For Anemia
San Antonio — Mir Imran, the founder and CEO of InCube Labs, has more than 200 patents to his name and has created more than 20 companies through InCube, a healthcare-focused research and development business that invents new technology with the goal of spinning them into separate businesses. Maybe, then, it’s not surprising that Imran … Continue reading “InCube Labs Startup Fe3 Plans Iron-Delivering Patch For Anemia”
Trinity Entrepreneur Program Grows Alongside San Antonio Startups
San Antonio — At a small university just north of downtown San Antonio, there are a few dozen students that, every semester, everyone expects will fail. Don’t worry, it’s nothing nefarious. For the students studying at Trinity University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, experiencing a failure is almost a requisite for someone who wants to … Continue reading “Trinity Entrepreneur Program Grows Alongside San Antonio Startups”
Austin Biotech Savara Nets $20M in Series C for Phase 3 Study
Austin — [Corrected 3/1/16, 11:27 p.m. See below.] A year after releasing results from a Phase 2 clinical trial, Savara Pharmaceuticals has announced $20 million in Series C funding that it will use to take its inhaled version of an antibiotic to Phase 3. Savara, based in Austin, TX, plans to begin enrollment in the Phase … Continue reading “Austin Biotech Savara Nets $20M in Series C for Phase 3 Study”
Unequal Pay: The Worst and Best Cities for Women in Tech
It’s no secret that a wage gap exists between men and women, and that there are groups working to narrow the divide. But did you know that the disparity of pay between male and female workers, in the tech field at least, is larger in some areas of the country than others? While that much … Continue reading “Unequal Pay: The Worst and Best Cities for Women in Tech”
BioAffinity Aims to Revive Cancer Diagnostic in San Antonio
San Antonio — For bioAffinity, a company that relocated its diagnostic research program to San Antonio two years ago, the proof is in the sputum. BioAffinity, the maker of a diagnostic test that is currently focused on lung cancer, aims to use its technology to identify whether cells in a person’s sputum are cancerous, thus indicating … Continue reading “BioAffinity Aims to Revive Cancer Diagnostic in San Antonio”
Pronutria, Eyeing Clinical Push, Gets $42.5M From Nestle Health
Pronutria Biosciences has grabbed another large funding round, announcing today a $42.5 million investment from Nestlé Health Science that the company hopes will get its first drug candidates all the way into late-stage clinical trials. It’s the second significant investment in less than a year. Last May, Pronutria raised a $39 million Series C round … Continue reading “Pronutria, Eyeing Clinical Push, Gets $42.5M From Nestle Health”
San Antonio’s Girdley Finds Spark in Startup Seed Investments
San Antonio—Michael Girdley is an investor in early stage technology companies who, most recently, was the CEO of his family’s San Antonio fireworks business, Alamo Fireworks. There must be some kind of joke there, right? “Explosive returns?” Girdley suggests. Puns aside, Girdley is one of the founding members of the Geekdom Fund, a venture capital … Continue reading “San Antonio’s Girdley Finds Spark in Startup Seed Investments”
Tech Bloc Aims to Elevate San Antonio’s Role in Tech Innovation
San Antonio—Even if it seems unlikely, there is a common thread in these events: a women’s luncheon, a report on whether a city should annex county land, rallies for workers, startup competitions, a railroad project. Each project is being spearheaded by Tech Bloc, a tech-focused nonprofit in San Antonio that aims to promote the local … Continue reading “Tech Bloc Aims to Elevate San Antonio’s Role in Tech Innovation”
Startups Vying for Bexar County Money in San Antonio Tech Contest
San Antonio—A week after Techstars Cloud showcased the 11 companies that were selected for its accelerator program in San Antonio, another group of five startups were picked to participate in a separate Alamo City competition inspired by Techstars. Called Tech Fuel, the competition asked each early-stage company to pitch a panel of judges on its … Continue reading “Startups Vying for Bexar County Money in San Antonio Tech Contest”
Techstars Boulder Announces 2016 Accelerator Class
Techstars has announced the newest group of 11 companies that will be participating in its 2016 Techstars Boulder accelerator program this year. The companies, which range from a Bitcoin company to the maker of a digital wall garden, will present at a demo day on May 18. Techstars provides a company with $20,000 in funding, … Continue reading “Techstars Boulder Announces 2016 Accelerator Class”
In Murky Regulatory Filings, Idaciti Seeks to Bring Transparency
Scouring public financial documents for information can be a true test of will, with countless pages of numbers and jargon battling to lull a reader to sleep at every glance. Idaciti, a Denver-based startup, is launching a software product today that it contends will do that difficult research for you, while also presenting the findings … Continue reading “In Murky Regulatory Filings, Idaciti Seeks to Bring Transparency”
The Companies: San Antonio’s Techstars Cloud 2016 Demo Day Pitches
[Corrected 2/15/16, 2:15 p.m. See below.] San Antonio — One company lets you send encrypted, secure e-mails. Another finds the meaning in your mounds of unfiltered data. Saw a photo online of a dress that you loved but can’t find? At the Techstars Cloud Demo Day in San Antonio, there was a company that proposed … Continue reading “The Companies: San Antonio’s Techstars Cloud 2016 Demo Day Pitches”
Latest Techstars Cloud Startup Class Presents Today in San Antonio
San Antonio — For 11 early stage businesses in San Antonio, TX, three months of planning, trepidation, and retooling business plans is coming to a head. The participants of the Techstars Cloud accelerator program are holding their Demo Day today in the Alamo City. Techstars is the Boulder, CO-based mentorship accelerator that offers versions of … Continue reading “Latest Techstars Cloud Startup Class Presents Today in San Antonio”
Vast, an Algorithm-Based Search Engine for Used Cars, Grabs $14M
Austin—Making a big-decision purchase like a car or home can feel like a futile task given all the details to consider, especially with so many options online. Vast is an Austin, TX-based company that aims to use its data analytics-powered search tools to help people purchase cars, homes, and travel options. The company has historically … Continue reading “Vast, an Algorithm-Based Search Engine for Used Cars, Grabs $14M”
San Antonio’s TRTF Reboots Seed VC Fund
San Antonio — Funding for startups is hard to come by anywhere. York Duncan knows this, and the point was emphasized just last week when he heard someone from Austin, TX, lamenting about the lack of local capital available to the city’s numerous startups. “I’m thinking, you outta come to San Antonio,” Duncan said in … Continue reading “San Antonio’s TRTF Reboots Seed VC Fund”
Patient IO Wants to Improve Care Management with Mobile Thinking
Austin — [Updated 5/5/16, 4:34 p.m. See below.] When Jason Bornhorst created Filament Labs about three years ago, the goal was to build a business that promotes healthy habits, intended to be distributed through insurance companies. “We pretty quickly figured out there was not a strong business there,” he says. The software was strong enough … Continue reading “Patient IO Wants to Improve Care Management with Mobile Thinking”
Polaris Partners Unveils New Startup Notarize with $2.4M Funding
The market for notarizations may not strike you as a booming industry, but it accounts for billions of transactions annually, according to Polaris Partners’ Pat Kinsel. Kinsel, a venture partner at the Boston-based firm, says there are an estimated 1 billion to 2.5 billion documents notarized each year, making it a $30 billion market. Even … Continue reading “Polaris Partners Unveils New Startup Notarize with $2.4M Funding”
BioDirection Scoops Up $4M for 90-Second Diagnostic of Concussions
Whether it’s from advocates shining a spotlight on the underlying dangers of concussions or actors bringing to life the inherent drama of the subject, the foreboding impact of concussions has been top of mind for the last couple of years. That’s what makes new funding for a medical device being developed by Boston-based BioDirection so … Continue reading “BioDirection Scoops Up $4M for 90-Second Diagnostic of Concussions”
GenSpera, Pursuing Partners, Tests Toxin-Based Drug in Brain Cancer
Like many small biotechs, San Antonio, TX-based GenSpera has plenty of options for developing its cancer drug and limited resources to do so. While GenSpera’s treatment, called mipsagargin or G-202, has potential to treat cancers ranging from brain to liver to prostate, the company is limited by funding. GenSpera raised $2.5 million in December, which … Continue reading “GenSpera, Pursuing Partners, Tests Toxin-Based Drug in Brain Cancer”