Just when the hype of big data is wearing off is when real businesses are getting built. Take a look at RapidMiner, a German analytics company that’s setting up U.S. headquarters in the Boston area as it looks to expand in North America. RapidMiner (formerly known as Rapid-I) has been around since 2006 but has … Continue reading “RapidMiner Reels In $5M, Makes Big Push in Boston for Big Data”
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Boston Tech Roundup: Narvii, Q Factor, SiteSpect, & More
This week is, shall we say, eventful in Boston. There’s the MassChallenge awards gala tonight, something else going on at Fenway, and the MassTLC unConference on Friday. Apart from all that, here’s the news: —Q Factor Communications, a Waltham, MA-based startup working on software to improve video (and other rich media) delivery to smartphones and … Continue reading “Boston Tech Roundup: Narvii, Q Factor, SiteSpect, & More”
Harvest Automation Hauls In $11.75M More to Advance Ag Robots
Score one for the Boston robotics scene. And for the future of agricultural robots. Harvest Automation, the pride of North Billerica, MA, has raised $11.75 million in Series C funding led by Mousse Partners Limited of New York. Harvest’s previous investors, which include Life Sciences Partners, Cultivian Ventures Founder Collective, and MassVentures, also participated in … Continue reading “Harvest Automation Hauls In $11.75M More to Advance Ag Robots”
Red Sox Nutritionist on Sports, Stress, & Segterra (and World Series)
Like a lot of people in New England, Tara Mardigan didn’t get much sleep Sunday night. “It’s 1 a.m. and you’re still thinking about Jonny Gomes sending it out of the park,” she says. (The dramatic home run pushed the Red Sox to a 4-2 victory over St. Louis, tying the World Series at two … Continue reading “Red Sox Nutritionist on Sports, Stress, & Segterra (and World Series)”
From Flybridge to Foundation: Michael Greeley Talks VC Transition
Seismic shifts are occurring in the venture capital world. Here in Boston, the tectonic plates of healthcare and software/IT funds just moved a little farther apart. Longtime healthcare technology VC Michael Greeley is leaving Flybridge Capital Partners, the firm he co-founded in 2001 (as IDG Ventures Atlantic), to join Foundation Medical Partners, a Connecticut-based venture … Continue reading “From Flybridge to Foundation: Michael Greeley Talks VC Transition”
Marginized No More: Nextly Wants to Be Your Guide to Web Content
After a proverbial pivot, Ziad Sultan is back on the trail, looking to harness the social Web to help people browse information more efficiently. The founder of Cambridge, MA-based Marginize has morphed his company into a new entity. It’s called Nextly, and it has raised $1.5 million from Sultan’s previous investors (on top of about … Continue reading “Marginized No More: Nextly Wants to Be Your Guide to Web Content”
Andy Ory Leaves Oracle, Talks Thinking Phones & Acme Packet Sale
Andy Ory has surfaced at last. The wildly successful tech entrepreneur, he of Acme Packet CEO fame, has left Oracle as of the end of August and is taking what he calls a “sabbatical” of six to nine months to recharge and get ready for the next big thing. In case you forgot, Bedford, MA-based … Continue reading “Andy Ory Leaves Oracle, Talks Thinking Phones & Acme Packet Sale”
Nutonian CEO: Business and Science Face Same Big-Data Problem
Is “big data” starting to fade away as a tech-business theme? Hardly. A couple of Boston-area startups in the field just announced Series A funding rounds this week. Sqrrl, a Cambridge, MA-based company founded by former NSA scientists, raised $5.2 million from Atlas Venture and Matrix Partners. The startup has developed a new kind of … Continue reading “Nutonian CEO: Business and Science Face Same Big-Data Problem”
Gazelle, Apple, and Amazon: The Future of “Recommerce”
At some point, most successful startups run into this problem: a tech giant moves into their sector and threatens to wipe them out. It’s a sign that the startup is on to something big—but it’s also a major existential challenge. Meet Gazelle, a Boston-based company that has built a business around buying used smartphones and … Continue reading “Gazelle, Apple, and Amazon: The Future of “Recommerce””
Xconomy Healthcare Summit: The Photos
It was a beautiful fall day in Lincoln, MA. The leaves were turning, panels were churning, ideas were burning in our brains. Which is to say our inaugural Healthcare Summit was a smash hit. From Bill Sahlman’s apocalyptic view of the industry to Mark Levin’s notion of a big-data knowledge network across disease states, from … Continue reading “Xconomy Healthcare Summit: The Photos”
New D2 Speakers: Sandy Pentland, Wayne Chang, Katie Rae on Nov. 21
November 21 is shaping up to be special. We are convening top experts from Boston and beyond for a half-day technology conference called “D2: The Future of Data and Devices.” It’s all happening at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology in Boston, near South Station. Tickets have been going fast, but you can still register … Continue reading “New D2 Speakers: Sandy Pentland, Wayne Chang, Katie Rae on Nov. 21″
Twitter’s Purchase of Crashlytics & Bluefin Labs: Prices Confirmed
In Twitter’s IPO filing, one of the interesting nuggets has to do with the acquisition prices of Boston-area startups Bluefin Labs and Crashlytics. Or rather, what Twitter is saying about those prices (and what it’s not saying). I have confirmed with two sources who have knowledge of the deals that the values I originally reported … Continue reading “Twitter’s Purchase of Crashlytics & Bluefin Labs: Prices Confirmed”
Apperian Founder Goldman on Joining Great Hill to Do Mobile Rollups
Any time a founder leaves a startup, it makes news. That’s why we were interested to hear that Apperian founder Chuck Goldman has joined Great Hill Partners as an executive-in-residence (see news brief here). Goldman, a former Apple executive who helped launch the original iPhone, started Boston-based Apperian in 2009 and led the company from … Continue reading “Apperian Founder Goldman on Joining Great Hill to Do Mobile Rollups”
Xconomy Boston’s Top 10 Stories from Q3 2013: Editor’s Picks
Herpes, PowerBars, and IPOs. Apple, Amazon, and acoustics. What more can you ask? Well, we’ve seen them all around town in the past three months. It’s the end of the third quarter, and with that, I’d like to highlight my 10 favorite Xconomy Boston stories from the period. They are a mix of company profiles, … Continue reading “Xconomy Boston’s Top 10 Stories from Q3 2013: Editor’s Picks”
Dunnhumby Ventures, Led by Balter, Looking for a Few Good Retail Startups
In case you’ve been wondering what Dave Balter is up to, I have the answer: running a new seed-stage investment fund out of Boston. Balter (pictured) was the founder and CEO of BzzAgent, the Boston-based marketing firm that was acquired by Dunnhumby (a subsidiary of U.K. retail giant Tesco) in 2011. He’s a well-known angel … Continue reading “Dunnhumby Ventures, Led by Balter, Looking for a Few Good Retail Startups”
“D2: The Future of Data and Devices” Coming to Boston Nov. 21
Big data, schmig data. Let’s talk about how the field has really evolved in the past year. Big data has morphed from visionary hype to economic reality. As more companies and industries try to make sense of ever-expanding worlds of information—with mixed results so far—a few key sectors are winning mindshare and investment: product design, … Continue reading ““D2: The Future of Data and Devices” Coming to Boston Nov. 21″
No Titles, No Problem: Stackdriver Scores $10M for Cloud Monitoring
Stackdriver. Love the name. Love the concept, though it’s kind of technical. Bear with me. You know how every Web company seems to run its business on Amazon Web Services or Rackspace? That means every Web company also needs to monitor its IT environment—its application performance, website speed, and so forth—in the public cloud. Or … Continue reading “No Titles, No Problem: Stackdriver Scores $10M for Cloud Monitoring”
Cognii Chasing “Siri for Education” at LearnLaunchX & TiE Challenge
This is a story about one entrepreneur, two accelerators, and three big ideas. The first idea is how to make money at an education-tech startup. The second is how to do automated assessment of students’ written responses. The third is how the technology is aiming to become something like “Siri for education.” All of the … Continue reading “Cognii Chasing “Siri for Education” at LearnLaunchX & TiE Challenge”
Slow Down to Speed Up: Startup Advice from Feld, Miner, & Yesware
It was April Fool’s Day, 2011. Matthew Bellows walked into a board meeting for his startup, Yesware. In the room were Brad Feld and Rich Miner, prominent venture capitalists from Foundry Group and Google Ventures, respectively, who had just led seed investments in Yesware. Bellows, the startup’s CEO, had previously started WGR Media and sold … Continue reading “Slow Down to Speed Up: Startup Advice from Feld, Miner, & Yesware”
Salsify Blooms With $8M in Skok Brothers’ First VC Deal
One of the most intriguing young Boston startups is having its coming-out party this week. Salsify, named after a plant that is “beautiful, low maintenance, and spreads like wildfire,” is trying to reinvent the fundamental data flow that is crucial to e-commerce businesses. Salsify is announcing it has raised an $8 million Series A round … Continue reading “Salsify Blooms With $8M in Skok Brothers’ First VC Deal”
Juan Enriquez, Mark Levin, Phil Sharp to Speak at Healthcare Summit Oct. 15
October 15 is shaping up to be an incredible day. School will have settled into a rhythm, the leaves will be changing, and we are convening a killer group of healthcare experts for our first-ever Xconomy Healthcare Summit. This is an invitation-only event that features the world’s leading innovators, entrepreneurs, scientists, practitioners, and investors in … Continue reading “Juan Enriquez, Mark Levin, Phil Sharp to Speak at Healthcare Summit Oct. 15”
Paydiant Banks $15M, Shows Patience in Mobile Payments
You hear a lot about the Series A funding crunch for startups these days. But just as telling, maybe even more so, is the Series B crunch. And the Series C crunch. For New England tech startups, there’s a fair bit of seed funding going around—and growth capital, too—but less money seems to be flowing … Continue reading “Paydiant Banks $15M, Shows Patience in Mobile Payments”
No More Rock Stars: Startups Like Swipely Are Hiring Collaborators
This is the story of a student, a mentor, a school, and a startup. Together they highlight the ways in which recruiting and talent development at New England companies have changed over the past decade. Bart Flaherty was an undergrad at Northeastern University. His major was communication studies, but halfway through he started taking computer … Continue reading “No More Rock Stars: Startups Like Swipely Are Hiring Collaborators”
EMC’s Eric Herzog on Bullseyes, Red-Eyes, and Tech Paranoia
A big EMC product announcement is a good excuse to get to know the company’s higher-ups. Lord knows, I can’t keep up with the trade press and tech blogs that will dissect the data storage giant’s latest and greatest offering. But I can tell you about the man leading the charge today. He is Eric … Continue reading “EMC’s Eric Herzog on Bullseyes, Red-Eyes, and Tech Paranoia”
Extreme Reach Goes to Extreme Lengths With $485M DG Deal
Before autumn arrives in full swing, let’s take a closer look at one of the biggest deals of the summer. I’m talking about Needham, MA-based Extreme Reach, a video-ad delivery startup, buying the TV advertising business of Digital Generation (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DGIT]]), based in Irving, TX, for $485 million in cash. Here’s why the deal is … Continue reading “Extreme Reach Goes to Extreme Lengths With $485M DG Deal”
Quanttus and the Rise of Boston’s Personal Healthtech Cluster
File this one under “the start of something big… maybe.” A stealthy, year-old startup out of MIT is working on new kinds of sensors and software that it hopes will transform personal health and wellness. Its name is Quanttus, it’s very early stage, and it isn’t talking to the press yet. But if it succeeds, … Continue reading “Quanttus and the Rise of Boston’s Personal Healthtech Cluster”
Agero Talks Analytics, Acquisitions After $530M Connected-Car Sale
How sexy is emergency roadside assistance, as a tech sector? Well, if you break down on a deserted road straight out of a Stephen King novel, you’ll be glad to get your car fixed and be on your way. Or if you’re involved in a serious accident, you’ll want help to arrive on the scene … Continue reading “Agero Talks Analytics, Acquisitions After $530M Connected-Car Sale”
Joule Swaps CEOs, Raises $50M More for Renewable Fuels
If there’s a high-risk, high-reward startup in town, it’s Joule Unlimited. The Bedford, MA-based company got started in 2007, has raised more than $160 million in total funding, and is trying to reinvent the fuel and chemical industries from the ground up. Or, more accurately, from the sun down. Now the company is going through … Continue reading “Joule Swaps CEOs, Raises $50M More for Renewable Fuels”
Industry, Vioby, & Voice Dream: Three Mobile Entrepreneur Stories
Mobile technology is becoming a redundant term—almost everything is mobile these days—but the classification is still useful. It helps organize trends and themes that otherwise cut across swaths of different industries. Consider the wide range of mobile entrepreneurs in the Boston area. There are well-established mini-clusters around mobile advertising, marketing, and enterprise apps. There’s a … Continue reading “Industry, Vioby, & Voice Dream: Three Mobile Entrepreneur Stories”
Agero, Pride of Medford, Sells Texas Business to SiriusXM for $530M
An interesting automotive deal today involves people and companies in at least three states. Medford, MA-based Agero is selling off its connected-vehicle business, based mostly in Irving, TX, to radio broadcaster Sirius XM, based in New York City. The price tag is $530 million in cash, and the deal is expected to close in the … Continue reading “Agero, Pride of Medford, Sells Texas Business to SiriusXM for $530M”
IBM Back on the Prowl in MA, Snaps Up Trusteer in Security
IBM is making a major new investment in cybersecurity, involving a Boston- and Tel Aviv-based startup. Big Blue (NYSE: [[ticker:IBM]]) said today it is acquiring Trusteer, a software company that specializes in protecting organizations against data breaches and financial fraud. Terms of the deal weren’t given, although one report (sourced from Israel) pegs the price … Continue reading “IBM Back on the Prowl in MA, Snaps Up Trusteer in Security”
End of an Era: Jumptap Bought by Millennial Media for $200M+
Call them the Big Five, and please fill in the blank: Third Screen Media, Enpocket, Quattro Wireless, Where, …? The fifth spot belongs to Jumptap, the Boston-based mobile advertising company that is being acquired by rival Millennial Media (NYSE: [[ticker:MM]]), based in Baltimore. Those four previous Boston-area mobile-ad companies were acquired in the past several … Continue reading “End of an Era: Jumptap Bought by Millennial Media for $200M+”
Wanderu: The Next Big Travel Company? $2.45M Says Yes
The Boston area has a rich tradition of Internet travel companies. But the future is uncertain. Who will follow in the huge footsteps of ITA Software (now part of Google), Kayak (acquired by Priceline, with an engineering team near Boston), and TripAdvisor (independent again, and now one of the East Coast’s biggest Web companies)? Could … Continue reading “Wanderu: The Next Big Travel Company? $2.45M Says Yes”
OpenView, Data Point Capital Betting on Metrics in Fickle VC World
A quiet trend has taken hold in the world of venture capital. Call it the “Moneyball” approach, data-driven VC, or what have you: startup investors are increasingly using metrics, algorithms, and data science in an effort to support their portfolio companies, make better decisions, and gain a competitive edge. This is neither surprising nor new. … Continue reading “OpenView, Data Point Capital Betting on Metrics in Fickle VC World”
Amid Edtech Trends, Boundless Rolls Out Paid Content and Tools
For those of you wondering what the future of online education looks like for students, well, a lot of Boston-area companies are working on that. One of them, Boundless, has been focusing on college kids and their study needs. More specifically: out with the textbooks, and in with the free course materials on the Web. … Continue reading “Amid Edtech Trends, Boundless Rolls Out Paid Content and Tools”
Wayfair Buys DwellStudio, Expands Retail Vision in Home Goods
Good time to check in on the Wayfair express. The Boston e-retailer, specializing in home furnishings, is one of the big innovation stories of the past decade. Wayfair (fka CSN Stores) is also the biggest venture-capital bet in New England tech, with $200 million raised, all in the last couple of years. Today the company … Continue reading “Wayfair Buys DwellStudio, Expands Retail Vision in Home Goods”
Leaf Looks to Kill the Cash Register, Own “Entire Merchant Experience”
Point of sale is moving to the cloud. In other words, the Internet revolution, which has disrupted massive industries such as advertising, retail, and entertainment, is finally coming to your corner store. You’ve seen inklings of it already. From daily deals to mobile check-ins and payments, companies of all sizes have been vying for a … Continue reading “Leaf Looks to Kill the Cash Register, Own “Entire Merchant Experience””
Objective Logistics Beats Funding Crunch, Gains $5.3M, Loses Beard
Here’s a snapshot of one of the few Boston tech startups able to fight its way through the Series A funding crunch. Note the “financing beard” (like a hockey playoff beard) on the CEO in the photo. Objective Logistics, which makes software to help restaurants and retailers track employee performance, has hauled in $5.3 million … Continue reading “Objective Logistics Beats Funding Crunch, Gains $5.3M, Loses Beard”
Intel’s Diane Bryant Blazing Trail From Data Centers to Next Era of IT
In a world of apps, big data, and cloud connectivity, it can be hard to remember that there’s more to tech innovation than just software. Then you meet someone like Diane Bryant, and your worldview shifts. Bryant is senior vice president and general manager of the datacenter and connected systems group at Intel. You know, … Continue reading “Intel’s Diane Bryant Blazing Trail From Data Centers to Next Era of IT”
Amar Bose, Legendary MIT Acoustician, Dead at 83
I was sad to learn today that Amar Bose, the founder of Bose Corporation and an iconic figure at MIT, has passed away. He was 83. Bose founded the company that bears his name in 1964, when he was a young professor at MIT. His research interests included acoustics, sound perception, electronics, nonlinear systems, communications, … Continue reading “Amar Bose, Legendary MIT Acoustician, Dead at 83”
Yottaa, Going the Last Mile in Mobile, Lands $16M More in VC
Yottaa is a new variation on an old Boston theme. It’s a Web infrastructure startup working on a tough technical problem. It’s trying to outmaneuver competitors in a new era of cloud and mobile devices. It has eschewed the popular “lean startup” methodology by building a larger, globally distributed team designed to go big from … Continue reading “Yottaa, Going the Last Mile in Mobile, Lands $16M More in VC”
Aveksa Acquired by EMC in Enterprise Security Deal
Aveksa is one of those enterprise technology companies you might have forgotten about over the years. But no longer. The Waltham, MA-based security software and identity management firm has been acquired by EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]), the data storage giant based in Hopkinton, MA. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Aveksa will operate within EMC’s … Continue reading “Aveksa Acquired by EMC in Enterprise Security Deal”
Xconomy Boston’s Top 20 Stories of Q2 2013: Editor’s Picks
Here we are at the midpoint of 2013. Time to look back over the previous quarter and highlight some of the top stories we’ve done at Xconomy Boston. As is my quarterly tradition, these are editor’s picks—my favorite stories from April through June 2013—and they exemplify what Xconomy tries to do, day in and day … Continue reading “Xconomy Boston’s Top 20 Stories of Q2 2013: Editor’s Picks”
GrabCAD and Autodesk Team Up on Product Design in the Cloud
The world of computer-aided design, known as CAD, can seem esoteric. Until you realize almost every gadget or device you use, from your car to your phone, starts out as a draft in someone’s computer. Increasingly those designs are moving to the Internet, where they can be shared and worked on more efficiently by teams … Continue reading “GrabCAD and Autodesk Team Up on Product Design in the Cloud”
XSITE 2013 (Boston’s Tech Revival): The Photos
They came, they saw, they got their money’s worth. XSITE 2013, our fifth annual flagship innovation conference, did not disappoint. The theme was Boston’s Tech Revival. And between laying out the Boston tech scene’s strengths and weaknesses, lessons from the MIT Blackjack team applied to building companies, and hearing pitches from 10 emerging startups and … Continue reading “XSITE 2013 (Boston’s Tech Revival): The Photos”
PeerTransfer Racks Up $6.4M More as Global Tuition Payments Grow
Iker Marcaide always sounds like he’s having a good time. Maybe it’s because he’s often talking to me from Spain, his native country. Marcaide is the founder and CEO of peerTransfer, a Boston-based education finance startup. The 40-person company, which makes software for handling international tuition payments, has just raised $6.4 million from new backers … Continue reading “PeerTransfer Racks Up $6.4M More as Global Tuition Payments Grow”
10 Highlights From XSITE 2013: Akamai, Blackjack, Crashlytics, & More
Digging out from our fifth annual XSITE innovation conference at Babson College yesterday…huge thanks to all of our speakers, sponsors, attendees, and hosts for an inspiring day indeed. I saw at least part of every session, and wanted to highlight a few things that stood out to me. Let’s start from the end of the … Continue reading “10 Highlights From XSITE 2013: Akamai, Blackjack, Crashlytics, & More”
QWave Makes First Startup Investments, Talks Quantum Venture Strategy
Time travel. Invisibility cloaks. Quantum supercomputers? QWave isn’t doing any of that stuff. But it’s a good way to begin a story that involves investments in quantum physics and materials science companies. QWave, aka Quantum Wave Fund, is a young venture firm based loosely in Boston and Moscow. Started last year, it has raised nearly … Continue reading “QWave Makes First Startup Investments, Talks Quantum Venture Strategy”
Healthbox, Busy in Boston, Expands & Diversifies Amid Seed-Stage Flood
It has been a busy morning for Nina Nashif. The CEO and founder of Chicago-based Healthbox is in town for the accelerator program’s second “innovation day” in Boston. Nine health IT startups will present their pitches this afternoon to a crowd of healthcare industry executives, entrepreneurs, and investors at the Revere Hotel near Boston Common. … Continue reading “Healthbox, Busy in Boston, Expands & Diversifies Amid Seed-Stage Flood”
10 Xpo Startups at XSITE: CareSolver, Cloze, Crunchbutton, & More
We do it once a year. And every year, it’s one of the big highlights of the day. I’m talking about the “Startup Xpo,” a showcase of some of the most intriguing young companies around Boston. It’s all part of XSITE, our fifth annual innovation conference happening this Wednesday, June 19, at Babson College. The … Continue reading “10 Xpo Startups at XSITE: CareSolver, Cloze, Crunchbutton, & More”