Y Combinator unleashed its latest class of startups on the world yesterday at its summer Demo Day in Mountain View. The famed venture incubator, which provides mentorship, networking, investor access, and a modest cash stipend in return for an equity stake in each company, admitted a record 63 startups this time around. That’s up from … Continue reading “Y Combinator’s Summer 2011 Demo Day: The Definitive Debrief, Part 1”
Author: Wade Roush
Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco.
Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.)
I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia.
I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats.
My personal site: waderoush.com
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Flite Is Out to Build a Better Widget For the Internet Ad Industry
By early 2009, Widgetbox was a company on life support. The startup ran a platform that allowed developers to build and distribute small software applications called widgets that could be dropped into consumer or enterprise websites. But the three-year-old San Francisco firm was nearly done in by the triple whammy of the recession (which meant … Continue reading “Flite Is Out to Build a Better Widget For the Internet Ad Industry”
Hipmunk on the Make: The First-Birthday Interview
I first covered Hipmunk on August 18, 2010, the day after the online travel startup debuted its innovative time-based flight search interface. One year later, how’s the Y Combinator-backed company faring? Spectacularly well, actually. In an announcement marking its first birthday last week, the startup said that users are conducting a million combined flight and … Continue reading “Hipmunk on the Make: The First-Birthday Interview”
Sentilla Collects $15M
Redwood City, CA-based Sentilla, which makes data center analysis and planning software, said today that it has collected $15 million in Series C funding. New investor SingTel Innov8 Ventures led the round, which was joined by existing backers ONSET Ventures and Claremont Creek Ventures. The company said it will use the funds to expand sales and … Continue reading “Sentilla Collects $15M”
$3M for iScience Interventional
iScience Interventional, a Menlo Park, CA-based maker of microcatheter technology that helps surgeons reduce intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients, reported last week in a regulatory filing that it has raised $3 million in new equity-based financing. The company was founded in 1999 and has a long list of backers including Affinity Capital Management, Asset Management Company, Clarian … Continue reading “$3M for iScience Interventional”
Google, Motorola, SecondMarket: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News
While Wall Street burned last week, Silicon Valley fiddled. There was Web-wide discussion of the meaning of the week’s blockbuster technology news, Google’s announcement that it will acquire Motorola Mobility—including right here at Xconomy. —While many pundits focused on the 17,000-plus patents that Google will acquire if the Motorola deal goes through, our take was … Continue reading “Google, Motorola, SecondMarket: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News”
Digital Chocolate Eats Up Sandlot Games
San Mateo-based social game maker Digital Chocolate said this week that it has acquired Bothell, WA-based Sandlot Games, a casual game studio known for Web and mobile titles such as Cake Mania, Super Granny, Tradewinds, and Westward. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. “Sandlot has built a great reputation in casual games,” Digital Chocolate … Continue reading “Digital Chocolate Eats Up Sandlot Games”
Box.net Collects $19M in Fourth Round
Palo Alto, CA-based cloud document sharing company Box.net has upped the size of its ongoing Series D funding round to $35 million and has collected $19 million of that amount so far, according to a regulatory filing disclosed this week. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Draper Fisher Jurvetson are participating in the D round, along … Continue reading “Box.net Collects $19M in Fourth Round”
RelayRides Boosts Series A Round
RelayRides, the San Francisco-based car sharing network, said this week that it has increased its Series A2 funding round to $10 million with help from existing investors Google Ventures and August Capital and new investor Shasta Ventures. Author and entrepreneur Lisa Gansky also contributed to the round. RelayRides raised $5.1 million in Series A2 funding … Continue reading “RelayRides Boosts Series A Round”
$650K Round, New App at drchrono
A Mountain View, CA-based electronic health records startup called drchrono announced this week that it has collected $650,000 in new funding from Russian investor Yuri Milner, the founder of DST Global, and General Catalyst. Drchrono makes an iPad-based app that helps physicians’ practices handle medical records, electronic prescribing, medical billing, and patient management. Drchrono also … Continue reading “$650K Round, New App at drchrono”
And Then There Were Three: Why Microsoft Is the Vital New Underdog in Mobile Computing
Hewlett-Packard’s surprise exit from the smartphone and tablet business yesterday means that WebOS is effectively dead. That brings Palm’s long legacy to an end and leaves just four major mobile operating systems standing: Android, iOS, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7. (Symbian would have been on this list until recently, but now that Nokia … Continue reading “And Then There Were Three: Why Microsoft Is the Vital New Underdog in Mobile Computing”
Evernote Buys Skitch, Announces Developer Competition Winner
At its first-ever developer conference in San Francisco yesterday, Mountain View, CA-based online notekeeping startup Evernote announced that it has acquired Skitch. The Australian startup makes a popular Mac application used to capture, annotate, and share images. Evernote has already made the Skitch app free (it formerly cost $19.95 in the Mac App Store) and … Continue reading “Evernote Buys Skitch, Announces Developer Competition Winner”
$15M for GoodData
San Francisco-based GoodData, which offers a cloud-based business intelligence software platform, said yesterday that it has collected $15 million in new venture funding. New investor Andreessen Horowitz led the Series B round, which was joined by existing investors General Catalyst Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners, and Windcrest Partners. The firm, which was founded by Czech-born serial … Continue reading “$15M for GoodData”
SecondMarket Attempts to Sell Startups on the Value of Letting Employees Trade Their Stock
Startups usually relish disruption. For a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, there’s no brighter badge of honor than being able to say that your company reinvented a product category, sweeping away older competitors’ business models in the process. But these days, many of the disruptors are being disrupted, as the traditional system of incentive-based stock options for … Continue reading “SecondMarket Attempts to Sell Startups on the Value of Letting Employees Trade Their Stock”
Nebula, Incubators, Bubbles: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
The Google-Motorola bombshell on Monday shifted the timeline, pushing our roundup of last week’s news to today (Tuesday). —I profiled Nebula, a Palo Alto startup adapting open-source cloud computing technology from NASA to build an enterprise cloud appliance—a device that helps companies with large data centers set up private clouds similar to Amazon’s Elastic Compute … Continue reading “Nebula, Incubators, Bubbles: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
Google and Motorola: It’s the Phones, Stupid
At Google Ventures’ summer barbeque in the Googleplex parking lot a couple of weeks ago, I was talking with an engineer from the Android team. I confessed to him that I’m an iPhone/iPad user. But I also said that because I write a lot about Android and mobile apps in general, I feel like I … Continue reading “Google and Motorola: It’s the Phones, Stupid”
There Is an Incubator Bubble—And It Will Pop
This week we published the third annual edition of the Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators. It’s the only source we know of where U.S. entrepreneurs starting technology, life sciences, or energy companies can survey all of the early-stage mentoring and investment programs open to them in a single document. (You can buy the downloadable file … Continue reading “There Is an Incubator Bubble—And It Will Pop”
Born from NASA, Nebula Aims to “Disrupt and Democratize” Cloud Computing
If you’re a young Silicon Valley entrepreneur, you’d probably give your Prius and your iPad, and maybe throw in your X-Men comic collection, to hear Andy Bechtolsheim ask you the question he posed to Chris Kemp this spring: “What’s the name of your company? I want to write you a check right now.” If you … Continue reading “Born from NASA, Nebula Aims to “Disrupt and Democratize” Cloud Computing”
$16M for Link A Media
A Santa Clara, CA, maker of chips for storage systems called Link A Media said yesterday that it has closed a $16 million Series D funding round. Participating backers include Itochu Technology Ventures, Keynote Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SunAmerica Ventures, and “several strategic partners,” according to the startup. Link-A-Media makes controllers that handle error checking … Continue reading “$16M for Link A Media”
Rocket Lawyer Served $18.5M
Rocket Lawyer, a San Francisco-based provider of online legal documents and attorney-finding services, said today that has collected $18.5 million in Series D financing. The round was led by August Capital, with Google Ventures and Investor Growth Capital also participating. August Capital partner David Hornik has joined the company’s board. “We see a large market … Continue reading “Rocket Lawyer Served $18.5M”
TIBCO’s Vivek Ranadivé on the “Death of Science,” the Rise of Pattern Recognition, and the Power of Data in Basketball
Vivek Ranadivé is one of those CEOs who was born with a silver quote in his mouth. He’s great on television, he gives entertaining speeches, and interviewing him is like bathing in a river of aphorisms and metaphors. I enjoy visiting Ranadivé at his company’s Palo Alto, CA, headquarters not just in order to catch … Continue reading “TIBCO’s Vivek Ranadivé on the “Death of Science,” the Rise of Pattern Recognition, and the Power of Data in Basketball”
Couchbase Lands $14M
NoSQL database software maker Couchbase, formed from the February merger of CouchOne and Membase, has collected $14 million in Series C financing from a group including new investor Ignition Partners and existing investors Accel Partners, Mayfield Fund, and North Bridge Venture Partners, according to an announcement today. The Mountain View, CA-based startup says it will … Continue reading “Couchbase Lands $14M”
$8M for BVI Networks
San Jose, CA-based BVI Networks, a maker of business intelligence visualization software for consumer retailers, said today that it has raised $8 million in a Series B funding round. New investor August Capital led the round, which was joined by the startup’s existing investors. “While physical stores generate over 95% of all retail business in … Continue reading “$8M for BVI Networks”
Twitter Buys Bagcheck
Bagcheck, a site where consumers can list and discuss their favorite personal gear and other products, has been purchased by San Francisco-based social media giant Twitter, according to a blog post on the Bagcheck site. Bagcheck co-founder and Yahoo alum Sam Pullara has joined Twitter’s enginering team and will continue to maintain the Bagcheck site, … Continue reading “Twitter Buys Bagcheck”
Bloomspot Collects $40M
San Francisco-based Bloomspot, a Groupon-style daily-deals service featuring high-end restaurants, spas, boutiques, and other “experiential merchants,” said today that it has raised $35 million in Series B financing and $5 million in venture debt. Interwest Partners and Columbia Capital led the venture round, which was joined by Menlo Ventures, True Ventures, QED Investors, Harrison Metal, … Continue reading “Bloomspot Collects $40M”
NuvoSun Round Grows to $11.6M
An August 5 regulatory filing shows that Milpitas, CA-based NuvoSun, a maker of thin-film photovoltaic arrays, has added $8.6 million to a $3 million round first reported in January 2011. Past backers included Dow Chemical.
Say Media Buys Remodelista
Continuing its strategy of rolling up niche publishing sites into a vertical media network, San Francisco-based Say Media said today that it has acquired Remodelista, a group blog and “sourcebook” on interior design and remodeling. “Remodelista has done an incredible job aligning its brand with clean, timeless and sophisticated style,” Say Media CEO Matt Sanchez … Continue reading “Say Media Buys Remodelista”
$10M for Hotlink
Sunnyvale, CA-based Hotlink, maker of a “virtual integration” system that allows enterprise data centers to use virtualization technology from multiple vendors including VMware, Microsoft, Citrix, and Red Hat, emerged from stealth mode today and announced that it has collected $10 million in Series A financing. Foundation Capital led the round, which was joined by Leapfrog … Continue reading “$10M for Hotlink”
Zendesk Takes Customer Support Upscale, Adds Enterprise Version
San Francisco-based Zendesk, a maker of Web-based customer support software, is a company I’ve been following for a few years now. That’s partly for geographical reasons—like me, the startup was based in Boston for a while, then moved west to San Francisco—and partly because they’re simply nice people who really walk the walk when it … Continue reading “Zendesk Takes Customer Support Upscale, Adds Enterprise Version”
TokBox, Kiva, WalmartLabs: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
As the eyes of the world focused on the debt debacle in Washington, D.C., business churned on as usual last week along the 101/280 axis between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The brief summary: —I profiled TokBox, a San Francisco startup with technology that lets Web publishers and developers embed multi-way video chat features in … Continue reading “TokBox, Kiva, WalmartLabs: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
PivotLink Collects $8.1M
PivotLink, a business intelligence software firm with offices in San Francisco and Bellevue, WA, has collected $8.1 million in an equity-based financing round that could go as high as $10.3 million, according to an August 4 regulatory filing. The company, formerly known as SeaTab Software, raised $10 million in Series C funding in February 2009. … Continue reading “PivotLink Collects $8.1M”
ParAccel Round Was $10M
Last month we reported that Campbell, CA- and San Diego-based high-performance database maker ParAccel had raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Amazon, Menlo Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Bay Partners, Walden International, Tao Venture Capital Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank. An August 4 regulatory filing now shows that the amount of ParAccel’s recent financing was … Continue reading “ParAccel Round Was $10M”
Okta Brings in $16.5M
San Francisco cloud services management startup Okta has collected $16.5 million in a Series B financing, according to an announcement today. New investors Greylock Partners and Khosla Ventures led the round, with existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Floodgate Fund participating. Khosla Ventures’ David Weiden has become a board advisor. The funds, which come on top … Continue reading “Okta Brings in $16.5M”
IO Turbine Acquired by Fusion-io for $95M
San Jose-based IO Turbine, which makes software that speeds up input/output operations in virtualized computer systems using flash storage, has been acquired by memory systems maker Fusion-io (NYSE: [[ticker:FIO]]) for $95 million in cash and stock, the Salt Lake City, UT, company announced today. “IO Turbine’s software is uniquely architected to take advantage of flash … Continue reading “IO Turbine Acquired by Fusion-io for $95M”
6waves Lolapps Raise $35M
6waves Lolapps—the entity formed from the July merger of San Francisco-based social game developer Lolapps and Hong Kong-based game publisher Six Waves—has raised $35 million in an offering of equity and options, according to a regulatory filing. The investors included Tokyo-based Nexon, a maker of microtransaction-based online games, and Insight Venture Partners of New York, … Continue reading “6waves Lolapps Raise $35M”
Radio Without Radios, Books Without Bookstores: Welcome to the Era of Unbound Media
Last weekend I decided to get serious about the fact that I live in an earthquake zone, and started putting together a kit with all the food, water, and equipment I’d need to survive for a few days if local services broke down. One of the items that turns up on all of the standard … Continue reading “Radio Without Radios, Books Without Bookstores: Welcome to the Era of Unbound Media”
TokBox Works to Break Video Chat Out of Its Siloes, Flank Google+, Facebook
Imagine that “EJ,” the now-Internet-famous San Francisco resident whose home was systematically robbed and vandalized by Airbnb guests, had been able to interview her potential renters beforehand via video chat on Airbnb’s website. She might have picked up on danger signs and avoided the heartache of having her home utterly plundered and her identity stolen. … Continue reading “TokBox Works to Break Video Chat Out of Its Siloes, Flank Google+, Facebook”
$10M for Get Satisfaction
Get Satisfaction, the San Francisco startup whose software lets companies host communities of users who can respond to each others’ support requests, announced on its blog yesterday that it has collected $10 million in a Series B financing round. InterWest Partners led the round, and InterWest partner Bruce Cleveland has joined the company’s board. The … Continue reading “$10M for Get Satisfaction”
Kixeye Scores $18M
Kixeye, the San Francisco game studio behind the Facebook games Backyard Monster and Battle Pirates, said it has raised $18 million in a Series C financing round. Jafco Ventures was in the lead, and was joined by existing investors Trinity Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Jafco managing general partner Joe Horowitz has joined Kixeye’s board, … Continue reading “Kixeye Scores $18M”
$41M for Restoration Robotics’ Hair Transplant Robot
Mountain View, CA-based Restoration Robotics said yesterday (PDF) that it has raised $41 million in a Series C financing round. Clarus Ventures led the round, which was joined by existing investors Sutter Hill Ventures, Alloy Ventures, and Interwest Partners. The company is developing a computer-guided system that helps harvest healthy hair follicles for transplantation.
$20M for Leyden Energy
Fremont, CA-based Leyden Energy, which is developing longer-lasting lithium ion batteries for consumer mobile devices, electric vehicles, and energy storage, said today that it has raised $20 million in Series B financing. New investor New Enterprise Associates led the round, which was joined by existing investors Lightspeed Ventures, Sigma Partners, and Walden International. Leyden says … Continue reading “$20M for Leyden Energy”
Union Square Leads Lending Club Round
San Francisco-based Lending Club, which operates an online platform where users can invest in or obtain personal loans, said today that it has itself obtained $25 million in new financing. Union Square Ventures of New York led the round, which was joined by existing investors Morgenthaler Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and Canaan Partners. Union Square … Continue reading “Union Square Leads Lending Club Round”
$17M for Inkling for iPad Textbooks
Inkling, a San Francisco startup adapting college textbooks for the iPad, said today that it has raised $17 million in Series B financing. Tenaya Capital led the round, which was joined by Jafco Ventures, Pearson Education, and Sequoia Capital. Inkling announced two previous funding rounds of undisclosed size, in August 2010 and March 2011.
Emergence Leads Janrain Round
San Mateo, CA-based Emergence Capital, an investment fund focused purely on Software-as-a-Service companies, is the lead investor in a $15.5 million Series B financing round announced today for Janrain of Portland, OR. Existing investors Anthem Venture Partners, DFJ Frontier, RPM Ventures, Tim Draper, founder Larry Drebes, and Square 1 Bank also participated. Janrain makes single … Continue reading “Emergence Leads Janrain Round”
Cleantech Investing Stagnates, But California Clings to Lead
So far this year, venture investments in cleantech and alternative energy aren’t keeping up with the optimistic pace set in 2010. While total U.S. cleantech investments in the second quarter were up slightly from the quarter before—$1.093 billion, versus $1.014 billion—they’re lagging 44 percent behind the quarterly record set one year ago, in the second … Continue reading “Cleantech Investing Stagnates, But California Clings to Lead”
Facebook Buys Push Pop Press
Push Pop Press, the San Francisco digital media production house behind the acclaimed iPad version of Al Gore’s climate change primer Our Choice, said today on its website that it has been acquired by Facebook. “Although Facebook isn’t planning to start publishing digital books, the ideas and technology behind Push Pop Press will be integrated … Continue reading “Facebook Buys Push Pop Press”
Instructables, Assistly, Airbnb: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
There’s no such thing as the summer doldrums when it comes to Bay Area technology news—not this summer, anyway. Your recap of last week’s top stories starts here: —The National Science Foundation unveiled a new “Innovation Corps” program designed to help university researchers get their innovations from the lab bench to the commercial world. 100 … Continue reading “Instructables, Assistly, Airbnb: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
Autodesk Buys Instructables; Design Software Giant in Consumer Marketing Push
San Rafael, CA-based Autodesk (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ADSK]]), whose 3D design, graphics, and engineering software is used by more than 10 million design professionals around the world, has just made a small but interesting purchase. It has acquired Instructables, a San Francisco-based community site for DIY enthusiasts started almost six years ago by Squid Labs co-founder Eric … Continue reading “Autodesk Buys Instructables; Design Software Giant in Consumer Marketing Push”
Inside WalmartLabs: How the Former Kosmix Team Plans to Help the World’s Largest Retailer Get Social and Mobile
One of the most head-scratching tech headlines of April 2011 was the news that Kosmix, a Mountain View, CA-based startup best known for building a Twitter filtering tool called TweetBeat, had been acquired by Walmart. Yes, that Walmart—the one with 9,000 big-box stores spread across the American heartland. For one thing, Walmart already has a … Continue reading “Inside WalmartLabs: How the Former Kosmix Team Plans to Help the World’s Largest Retailer Get Social and Mobile”
GM Puts $7.5M into Sunlogics
Sunlogics, a Rochester Hills, MI-based developer of thin-film photovoltaic arrays for solar energy farms, revealed today (PDF) that it has collected $7.5 million in equity-based financing from Detroit-based General Motors Ventures. GM also committed to buy solar charging canopies for Chevrolet dealerships and other GM facilities, and to purchase power from large-scale solar arrays built … Continue reading “GM Puts $7.5M into Sunlogics”