Chelmsford, MA-based IT firm Mercury Computer Systems said yesterday that it bought LNX, a provider of receiver systems for intelligence technology. Mercury (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MRCY]]) paid $31 million in cash for the Salem, NH-based company, and could pay up to an additional $5 million if LNX hits certain financial targets in 2011 and 2012, according to … Continue reading “Mercury Acquires LNX”
Author: Erin Kutz
Erin Kutz has a background in covering business, politics and general news. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University. Erin previously worked in the Boston bureau of Reuters, where she wrote articles on the investment management and mutual fund industries. While in college, she researched for USA Today reporter Jayne O’Donnell’s book, Gen Buy: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail. She also spent a semester in Washington, DC, reporting Capitol Hill stories as a correspondent for two Connecticut newspapers and interning in the Money section of USA Today, where she assisted with coverage on the retail and small business beats. Erin got her first taste of reporting at Boston University’s independent student newspaper, as a city section reporter and fact checker and editor of the paper’s weekly business section.
NetApp, Novell, and Greylock Top List of Boston-San Francisco Tech Tidbits
What do Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area have in common today? Certainly not the weather. Tech news is a different story, though. We spotted a trio of headlines involving firms with a strong presence in both regions: —Sunnyvale, CA-based storage and data management firm NetApp (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NTAP]]) announced it is buying Akorri Networks of … Continue reading “NetApp, Novell, and Greylock Top List of Boston-San Francisco Tech Tidbits”
Baynote Brings in $13M
Baynote, a San Jose, CA-based maker of Web-based software for digital marketing and e-commerce applications, announced it has wrapped up a $13 million Series C financing, led by SingTel Innov8, the corporate venture arm of Asian telecommunications company SingTel Group. Previous Baynote investors Hummer Winblad, Steamboat Ventures and JK&B Capital returned for the funding round, … Continue reading “Baynote Brings in $13M”
Allurent, Previously Reported Closed, Finds New Life at Jenzabar
This is a startup survival story for the books. Allurent, which the tech media reported as defunct last month, has gotten new life through an acquisition by Boston-based Jenzabar, a maker of higher education enterprise software. What’s more, Allurent, which develops interactive widgets for enhancing e-commerce storefronts, never stopped doing business, says Jenzabar CEO Robert … Continue reading “Allurent, Previously Reported Closed, Finds New Life at Jenzabar”
Toyota Announces Ann Arbor Safety Research Center
Toyota announced that it will invest roughly $50 million over five years to launch and fund a safety research center at its Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, MI. The Collaborative Safety Research Center will include the University of Michigan as a charter partner, and will work with other research institutions, federal agencies, universities, hospitals, … Continue reading “Toyota Announces Ann Arbor Safety Research Center”
Wind Power Holdings, With Big Michigan Footprint, Raises $12.7M
Barre, VT-based Wind Power Holdings, the parent company of wind turbine developer Northern Power Systems, has wrapped up a $12.7 million round of equity-based funding, according to a document filed with the SEC. The filing notes that the money comes from 33 investors, including two from outside of the U.S. Northern Power, which dates back … Continue reading “Wind Power Holdings, With Big Michigan Footprint, Raises $12.7M”
$10M for Dekkun
Dekkun, a stealth-mode life sciences company operating out of Cambridge, MA-based HealthCare Ventures’ offices, has raised $9.9 million of an equity offering that could total $30.5 million, according to an SEC filing. The money comes from four investors, according to the filing, which lists members from HealthCare Ventures, a firm focused on pre-clinical or early clinical … Continue reading “$10M for Dekkun”
2010 Startup Moves from Boston to San Francisco Offer Insights to the Perennial Coast vs. Coast Debate
The debate over the merits of Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area as startup hubs isn’t a new one, but looking back over 2010 has given us new food for thought on the subject. At least four Boston-area startups packed their bags for Silicon Valley, working on technology related to errand exchanging, used clothing … Continue reading “2010 Startup Moves from Boston to San Francisco Offer Insights to the Perennial Coast vs. Coast Debate”
Luma Resources Finds Innovative Road Ahead, Through Solar-Power Shingles
When I hear roofing and sheet metal, I don’t think about technological innovation. But Luma Resources, a Rochester Hills, MI-based startup that sprung out of the now 60-year-old roofing company Allen Brothers, is using its expertise in that business to put solar energy into more homes. Rather than finding ways of affixing solar panels to … Continue reading “Luma Resources Finds Innovative Road Ahead, Through Solar-Power Shingles”
Doctors Research Digs Up $7.7M
Southbury, CT-based med devices firm Doctors Research Group has brought in $7.7 million of a potential $15 million equity-based funding round, an SEC filing shows. The money comes from 53 investors, the document reveals. Doctors Research makes devices for bone substitutes, bone screws, and dental stabilization, and has developed a bone filler and repair product … Continue reading “Doctors Research Digs Up $7.7M”
DynaTrace Drums Up $4M
DynaTrace Software, a Waltham, MA-based maker of diagnostic, monitoring, and user experience management software, has brought in $4 million in equity-based funding, an SEC filing revealed. The startup, which was founded in Austria in 2005, raised $12.9 million from Bay Partners and Bain Capital Ventures in 2008.
Hologic Buys Interlace for $125M
Bedford, MA-based Hologic, a provider of diagnostics, medical imaging, and surgical products for women, announced today that it has bought Interlace Medical of Framingham, MA, for $125 million in cash. Interlace, which makes a hysteroscopic tissue removal system, will be integrated into Hologic’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HOLX]]) gynecological surgical products business. The deal also includes two annual … Continue reading “Hologic Buys Interlace for $125M”
Neuroptix Raises $4.6M
Neuroptix, an Acton, MA-based developer of a diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s disease, has raised $4.6 million of a mixed offering of equity and rights that could total $9.1 million, according to an SEC filing. The company brought in $18.5 million in a Series B round of funding in 2008, led by Inventages.
Longwood Raises First Fund, Biogen Adds Executives, Boston Scientific Acquires Intellect, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
New England’s life sciences companies and investors are wasting no time this new year. We saw headlines of financings, clinical trial results, acquisitions, and executive moves at biotech and pharma companies this week. —Genocea Biosciences of Cambridge, MA, wrapped up $35 million in Series B financing from new investors Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, MP … Continue reading “Longwood Raises First Fund, Biogen Adds Executives, Boston Scientific Acquires Intellect, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
EyeGate Adds $6M to Series D
Waltham, MA-based EyeGate Pharmaceuticals announced yesterday that it added $5.9 million to its Series D funding round, bringing the financing’s total to $28.5 million to date. The biotech works on delivering drugs to the eye, and said the new money will go toward EGP-437, its dexamethasone-derived corticosteroid treatment for dry eye syndrome. In September Eyegate inked … Continue reading “EyeGate Adds $6M to Series D”
Ann Arbor’s Mobiata, After Expedia Takeover, Seeks to Put Travel Info on Your Handheld
Ann Arbor-based Mobiata got a good second birthday present, even if it was a day late. The mobile app developer was acquired by Internet travel empire Expedia.com in November, in a deal that was referred to as Expedia’s “most significant investment to date in addressing the mobile travel market.” The acquisition came one day after … Continue reading “Ann Arbor’s Mobiata, After Expedia Takeover, Seeks to Put Travel Info on Your Handheld”
NeuroMetrix Announces Staff Cuts, Strategy Change
NeuroMetrix, a Waltham, MA-based diagnostics and medical device company, announced today that it plans to focus its business around diabetes and the treatment of diabetic neuropathy, a complication of the disease. The company’s website says it developed products for diagnosing and treating peripheral nerve disorders and for providing regional anesthesia and pain control. NeuroMetrix is … Continue reading “NeuroMetrix Announces Staff Cuts, Strategy Change”
MindShift Gets Alpheon
MindShift Technologies, a Waltham, MA-headquartered provider of IT management and Internet cloud services, announced it has acquired Alpheon, a provider of IT services to healthcare organizations. MindShift, whose technical operations are in Fairfax, VA, said the acquisition of Morrisville, NC-based Alpheon will bring healthcare clients access to its cloud technology and enable it to better help … Continue reading “MindShift Gets Alpheon”
Labtiva Laps Up $2M
Cambridge, MA-based software maker Labtiva has brought in $2 million in equity-based funding, according to an SEC filing.The startup, which works out of the Polaris Venture Partners Dogpatch Labs, is in private beta mode for its online software for scientists, according to its website.
KnowledgeVision Finds $2M
Concord, MA-based KnowledgeVision Systems, a maker of software for creating online presentations, announced it has raised a $2 million Series A financing round led by GrandBanks Capital of Wellesley, MA. The company, which was founded in early 2010, will use the funding to expand its software and services and enter new markets worldwide, according to … Continue reading “KnowledgeVision Finds $2M”
Redstar, From ATG Founders, Reveals Funding Strategy, Sets Up Office Space, Looks to Hire Entrepreneurs
Redstar, the stealthy new venture from the founders of e-commerce software maker Art Technology Group (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARTG]]), is coming a bit more out of the woodwork. Redstar, which has been described by co-founder and ATG veteran Jeet Singh as “a company that builds companies,” has moved into a temporary space in Harvard Square this week … Continue reading “Redstar, From ATG Founders, Reveals Funding Strategy, Sets Up Office Space, Looks to Hire Entrepreneurs”
Affirmed Networks Pulls in $1.7M
Acton, MA-based telecomm startup Affirmed Networks has raised $1.7 million of an equity offering that could total $3.2 million, an SEC filing showed. The stealthy company raised $10.9 million this past summer, when it was incubated at Charles River Ventures in Waltham, MA. The filing for the newest funding lists members of Charles River and … Continue reading “Affirmed Networks Pulls in $1.7M”
Zferral Wants to Help Businesses Turn Their Customers Into Marketers
“We think that your existing customers are your best advocates,” says Detroit area native and entrepreneur Jeffrey Epstein. His startup, Zferral, is looking to make it easy for a small- to medium-sized business to enable consumers to better spread the good word about its brand—and to reward them for bringing in business. The Web-based Zferral … Continue reading “Zferral Wants to Help Businesses Turn Their Customers Into Marketers”
StartupDigest Hits Detroit To Generate Buzz on Area Entrepreneur Events
StartupDigest, a San Francisco-based publisher of online newsletters covering startup communities, has just added the Detroit Metro area to the network of more than 50 areas it tracks worldwide. The publication emails more than 100,000 subscribers across its network each Monday with events and reading lists surrounding the startup and innovation communities in their areas. … Continue reading “StartupDigest Hits Detroit To Generate Buzz on Area Entrepreneur Events”
Movik Gets $3M Debt Deal
Movik Networks, a Littleton, MA-based developer of software for delivering content to mobile devices, has raised $3 million in a debt offering, an SEC filing revealed. The firm also amended a December 2009 regulatory filing to show it had raised an additional $250,000 on top of an $8.5 million equity round. Its investors include North … Continue reading “Movik Gets $3M Debt Deal”
Rave Grabs $4M
Framingham, MA-based Rave Wireless, a maker of security and emergency alert software for mobile phones, has brought in $4 million in an equity offering, according to an SEC filing. The startup raised a $7 million Series D round in November 2008. Its previous investors include Sigma Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, and RRE Ventures.
GSN Digital Sees Booming Business in Putting Traditional Game Show Games On Facebook
You might not think of avid Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune viewers as the most technologically savvy population, but that’s not stopping GSN Digital from taking its classic products to Facebook. “People say traditional brands don’t work on Facebook; we never believed that,” says GSN Digital executive vice president Peter Blacklow. “We always believed that … Continue reading “GSN Digital Sees Booming Business in Putting Traditional Game Show Games On Facebook”
Dell Buys InsiteOne
Computer giant Dell announced yesterday that it plans to acquire Wallingford, CT-based InsiteOne,a provider of data storage, archiving, and disaster-recovery software and services for medical imaging. Dell (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DELL]]) didn’t reveal how much it paid for the Connecticut company, but said InsitetOne’s cloud-based software that works across vendors will be rolled into Dell’s Unified Clinical … Continue reading “Dell Buys InsiteOne”
Game Empire Pulls In $4M
Boston-based Game Empire Enterprises has brought in $4.1 million in equity-based funding, an SEC filing reveals. The document notes the financing comes from two unnamed investors, and lists as company directors Thomas Matlack—Megunticook Management founder, former Providence Journal CFO, and a lead investor in Art Technology Group—as well as Megunticook prinicipal Michelle Fortier, and James Kittler, founder … Continue reading “Game Empire Pulls In $4M”
Boston’s Mini Food Cluster: Area Startups Using Tech to Help Users Cook, Eat, Order, and Diet Better
Everyone eats more around the holidays, and we at Xconomy are no exception (thanks to the cookies, brownies, and sinful gooey butter cake we’ve had shipped to us). All this chomping got us thinking about the dribs and drabs we’ve heard about area startup companies that are applying innovative technology to the food space on … Continue reading “Boston’s Mini Food Cluster: Area Startups Using Tech to Help Users Cook, Eat, Order, and Diet Better”
Area Entrepreneurs Launch Detroit Venture Partners To Turn Motown Into A Tech and Innovation Hub
We’ve written about a number of investors and nonprofits looking to attract and keep companies in Michigan as a way to help the state’s economy kick back into gear. But Detroit Venture Partners is looking to go a bit further. The brand new venture firm wants its portfolio companies to move their operations right into … Continue reading “Area Entrepreneurs Launch Detroit Venture Partners To Turn Motown Into A Tech and Innovation Hub”
EveryScape and Bing Expand Partnership, Raytheon Acquires Applied Signal, Avila Inks Sanofi Deal, & More Boston-Area Deals News
A flurry of pre-holiday announcements of fundings, partnerships, and acquisitions from Boston-area tech and life sciences companies has kept us busy in the past week. —Cambridge, MA-based car-sharing service Zipcar added a $21 million Series G financing to its funding pot. The deal involved a $20 million investment from Meritech Capital Partners, and $1 million … Continue reading “EveryScape and Bing Expand Partnership, Raytheon Acquires Applied Signal, Avila Inks Sanofi Deal, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Harvard Business School Launches Fund to Invest In Lean Startup Model
Harvard Business School announced today that it is launching a $50,000 fund to help student startups roll out prototypes in the winter months. The Minimum Viable Product Fund, which was proposed by three first-year MBA students and is funded by the school’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, will award 10 teams with about $5,000 apiece … Continue reading “Harvard Business School Launches Fund to Invest In Lean Startup Model”
Polaris To Open Dogpatch in Dublin, Nabs Funding From Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund
Polaris Venture Partners is opening up a Dogpatch Labs incubator in Dublin, Ireland, the first international location for its network of startup workspace communities, according to an announcement last week by Ireland’s National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF). The organization also revealed that it had invested $50 million in Waltham, MA-based Polaris through its Innovation Fund … Continue reading “Polaris To Open Dogpatch in Dublin, Nabs Funding From Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund”
Nutshell Building New CRM Software From Scratch, With A Big Focus On Mobile
For Guy Suter, starting from scratch is a good thing. At least when it comes to user interfaces, he says. His Ann Arbor-based startup Nutshell is building a customer relationship management software system from the ground up that he says offers a better user experience than what’s long been out on the market. Suter first … Continue reading “Nutshell Building New CRM Software From Scratch, With A Big Focus On Mobile”
LiveWire Gets FoneStarz
Littleton, MA-based LiveWire Mobile announced today that it has bought FoneStarz Media Group, a British supplier of mobile content, in a deal reported to be worth $4 million. LiveWire provides personalized music services and apps for mobile platforms, and said its acquisition of FoneStarz allows its service to reach 400 million users through 40 mobile … Continue reading “LiveWire Gets FoneStarz”
BG Medicine Yanks IPO
BG Medicine, a Waltham, MA-based developer of diagnostics technology, has withdrawn its second attempt at an initial public offering, after the deal failed to price, Dow Jones Newswires reports. Last week the firm set the targeted price range for its 4.75 million share IPO at $13 to $15 per share, giving it the potential to … Continue reading “BG Medicine Yanks IPO”
Washington Startups Collect $24M in November, Med Devices Lead the Way
It looks like startup investors laid low during turkey month, when tech and life sciences companies collected a total of $24.4 million in equity-based funding across 19 deals. The November total shrunk from this summer and early fall, when the state’s startups pulled in anywhere from $50 million to $80 million per month in financing, … Continue reading “Washington Startups Collect $24M in November, Med Devices Lead the Way”
1366 Gets Another $6M
Lexington, MA-based 1366 Technologies, a developer of silicon wafer technology out to make solar energy cheaper, added $6 million to its Series B round of funding, bringing the financing’s total to $26 million, accorded to an amended SEC filing. In October the firm announced it had raised its second-round financing, thanks to investments from Korea-based … Continue reading “1366 Gets Another $6M”
Massachusetts Startups Snag $175M In November, Money Raised For Drugs, Robots, Ice Cream, Bras
Last month, the total dollars Bay State startups brought in slimmed down from October, but there was a harvest of smaller deals. Nearly a third of the month’s equity deals (12 of 37) rang in at under $1 million each. All told, startups in the tech and life sciences raised $174.7 million in equity-based funding, … Continue reading “Massachusetts Startups Snag $175M In November, Money Raised For Drugs, Robots, Ice Cream, Bras”
Zipcar Pulls in $21M, Adds Case and Mahoney to Board
Zipcar has added big money and big-name board members to its fleet, according to two different company announcements today. The Cambridge, MA-based car-sharing service said it has raised a $21 million Series G financing, with Meritech Capital Partners leading with a $20 million investment and Pinnacle Ventures contributing $1 million. It also added a big corporate … Continue reading “Zipcar Pulls in $21M, Adds Case and Mahoney to Board”
Real Time Farms, From Former Android Developer, Offers Crowdsourced Local Food Guides for Farmer’s Markets and Restaurants
“Android kind of felt like a startup,” Ann Arbor native Karl Rosaen says of the original development team for Google’s mobile phone platform. Rosaen says the entire team could fit inside a single conference room at the company headquarters. As a software engineer he saw Android go from the initial device launch to a technology … Continue reading “Real Time Farms, From Former Android Developer, Offers Crowdsourced Local Food Guides for Farmer’s Markets and Restaurants”
SensorLogic Finds $5M, New CFO
Boston-based SensorLogic said today that it has brought in $5 million in funding from its existing investors, and hired a new CFO, Brian Alton. The deal was led by Sevin Rosen Funds and Boston Millennia Partners, with participation from UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund and Covera Ventures. SensorLogic, which provides cloud-based platforms to help customers deploy applications … Continue reading “SensorLogic Finds $5M, New CFO”
CloudBees Gets Stax
CloudBees, a maker of cloud-based platforms for Java computing and development, announced it has acquired Seattle-based Stax Networks, for an undisclosed sum. CloudBees, which recently emerged from stealth mode and is setting up its headquarters in Boston, raised a $4 million Series A financing last month, led by Matrix Partners. Stax provides Java application platforms … Continue reading “CloudBees Gets Stax”
RelayRides Hits The Ground In San Francisco, With Money From Google Ventures and August Capital
Roughly six months ago, a new alternative to car ownership came to the Cambridge area. RelayRides took the idea of car-sharing service Zipcar a bit further; rather than renting out cars from its own managed fleet, it set up a system for borrowing cars from individual car owners whose vehicles were dormant during the day. … Continue reading “RelayRides Hits The Ground In San Francisco, With Money From Google Ventures and August Capital”
$5.25M Series B For 8D
8D World, a Woburn, MA-based video game developer, announced today that it has raised a $5.25 million Series B round of funding, from new investor Mizuho Capital, of Japan, and return backers Spark Capital and Gobi Partners. 8D is the maker of World Wiz Online, a virtual world for English-as-a-foreign/second language students. The company said … Continue reading “$5.25M Series B For 8D”
Thermo Fisher Buys Dionex for $2.1B
Waltham, MA-based Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:TMO]]), a provider of products and services for scientific research labs, will buy all outstanding shares of Dionex, for a total of $2.1 billion in cash, the companies announced today. Thermo will pay $118.50 per share for Sunnyvale, CA-based Dionex (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNEX]]), a maker of liquid chromatography and sample … Continue reading “Thermo Fisher Buys Dionex for $2.1B”
V.i. Labs’ Technology Could Turn Software Pirates Into Paying Customers, for Software Vendors Big and Small
The best solution to software piracy isn’t shutting down the offenders, but finding out who they are, says Michael Goff, marketing director at V.i. Labs. The Waltham, MA-based company makes software for other software vendors to find out who’s using—and misusing—their product, and to turn them into paying customers. V.i. was started in 2002 and … Continue reading “V.i. Labs’ Technology Could Turn Software Pirates Into Paying Customers, for Software Vendors Big and Small”
Molecular Insight Announces Ch. 11, Restructuring
Cambridge, MA-based drug developer Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MIPI]]) announced today that it has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and will reorganize with a $45 million financing commitment from private investment firm Savitr Capital. The investment comes as common stock at $0.45 per share, and is subject to Molecular Insight emerging from the corporate … Continue reading “Molecular Insight Announces Ch. 11, Restructuring”
BG Medicine Reveals IPO Plans
Waltham, MA-based diagnostics company BG Medicine revealed its plans for a 4.75 million-share initial public offering, at a price range of $13 to $15 per share, according to documents filed with the SEC. UBS Investment Bank will act as the sole book-running manager for the deal, which could raise up to $71.25 million for the … Continue reading “BG Medicine Reveals IPO Plans”