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 My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/

$15M for Intermolecular

San Jose, CA-based Intermolecular, which helps semiconductor and clean-energy companies accelerate R&D through combinatorial chemistry, has raised $15 million out of a potential $25 million in a sale of equity and securities, according to a regulatory filing. The investors in the round were not identified, but Intermolecular’s board includes directors from CMEA Ventures, US Venture … Continue reading “$15M for Intermolecular”

Mobile Madness Speakers Dissect 4G, Enterprise Apps, New Interfaces; Zizzout Destealths with Mobile “Visual Marketplace”

If you can measure a conference’s success from the volume level during the closing cocktail hour, then Xconomy’s Mobile Madness forum yesterday in Cambridge, MA, was a smash. A record-setting crowd of more than 250 people headed to the Microsoft New England R&D Center Wednesday afternoon for the third annual edition of Xconomy’s half-day mobile … Continue reading “Mobile Madness Speakers Dissect 4G, Enterprise Apps, New Interfaces; Zizzout Destealths with Mobile “Visual Marketplace””

Startup Guru Steve Blank Says It’s Time for E-Schools, Not B-Schools

A few weeks ago I had very long lunch at Vitrine with Steve Blank, who’s famous in entrepreneurship circles as the originator of the “customer development” methodology for getting a technology startup off the ground. Here at Xconomy, we’ve been cross-posting Blank’s blog posts for a few months, but the lunch was my first chance … Continue reading “Startup Guru Steve Blank Says It’s Time for E-Schools, Not B-Schools”

Google Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Lead $32M Financing Round for HubSpot

[Updated 2:00 pm ET with additional perspective from the investors] Three Bay Area organizations are behind a big $32 million investment in Cambridge, MA-based marketing software company HubSpot. The Series D financing round, announced today, was led by Google Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Salesforce.com, with Hubspot’s existing investors General Catalyst, Matrix Partners, and Scale Venture … Continue reading “Google Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Lead $32M Financing Round for HubSpot”

LearnBoost Raises $1 Million

LearnBoost, a San Francisco startup offering online tools that help schoolteachers manage grading and lesson plans, has raised an additional $1 million in debt and securities, according to a regulatory filing. The company previously raised $975,000 in a July 2010 round that included Bessemer Venture Partners, Charles River Ventures, RRE Ventures, and Atlas Venture.

YouTube Acquires Next New Networks

San Bruno, CA-based YouTube, the online video network owned by Google (Nasdaq: [[ticker:GOOG]]), has acquired New York-based Next New Networks, the startup’s departing CEO Fred Seibert confirmed in a blog post yesterday. The four-year-old startup, which helps package and promote video content from independent producers, “will become a core component of YouTube Next, a new … Continue reading “YouTube Acquires Next New Networks”

$11.2M for Samplify

Santa Clara, CA-based Samplify, which makes signal processing systems for makers of medical and scientific equipment, said yesterday that it had raised $11.2 million in a Series B financing round joined by Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDTI), Charles River Ventures, Formative Ventures, and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB). Schlumberger software governance manager Ginger Hildebrand is joining … Continue reading “$11.2M for Samplify”

IPad 2 Unveiled, Altius Rethinks Junior College, Hipmunk Adds Hotel Search, Thrutu Reimagines the Phone Call, & More Bay Area BizTech News

While Apple’s iPad 2 announcement was the marquee event in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley tech scene last week, there was plenty of other news, including the debut of some interesting new Web and mobile applications. —My biggest project of the week was preparing an in-depth analysis of Altius Education, the venture-backed, San Francisco-based company working … Continue reading “IPad 2 Unveiled, Altius Rethinks Junior College, Hipmunk Adds Hotel Search, Thrutu Reimagines the Phone Call, & More Bay Area BizTech News”

CardioDx Raises $40M

Palo Alto, CA-based CardioDx, which developes genomic tests assessing patients’ risk of developing cardiovascular disease, has raised $40 million in a round of equity-based financing, according to a regulatory filing. New investor Longitude Capital led the Series E round, according to a report in Dow Jones VentureWire. CardioDx’s existing investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & … Continue reading “CardioDx Raises $40M”

AdGrok Emerges from Beta, Simplifying Search Engine Marketing on Google

San Francisco-based AdGrok is one of those companies that takes something that used to be hazardous for non-professionals—in this case, managing keyword-based ad campaigns on Google—and makes it into a self-service task that average businesspeople can handle without fear. The startup’s CEO, Antonio Garcia-Martinez, compares his service to TurboTax in the tax preparation arena or … Continue reading “AdGrok Emerges from Beta, Simplifying Search Engine Marketing on Google”

MyBuys Gets $20M

Redwood City, CA-based MyBuys, which helps e-commerce companies deliver personalized Web, e-mail, and mobile product offers to consumers, announced today that it has collected $20 million in Series C funding. Rho Ventures led the round, which was joined by existing investors Lightspeed Ventures and Palomar Ventures. The company said it would use the money to … Continue reading “MyBuys Gets $20M”

“Leonardo’s Notebook”—My Killer App for the iPad 2

Attention all mobile app developers: I’m about to give you an idea for a great new consumer app. I think it’s something that would appeal to any adventurous, creative, curious person—travelers, outdoorsmen, students, scrapbookers, artists, and the like. I think this is the moment to build it, since it’s something that wouldn’t have been possible … Continue reading ““Leonardo’s Notebook”—My Killer App for the iPad 2″

Thrutu Reinvents the Phone Call, Letting Smartphone Users Share Photos, Contacts, Location In-Call

When you think about it, the experience of talking on the phone hasn’t changed all that much since the world’s first telephone call in 1876 (Alexander Graham Bell’s famous “Mr. Watson, come here, I want you”). The underlying technology is completely different, of course, and today we can make calls from almost anywhere thanks to … Continue reading “Thrutu Reinvents the Phone Call, Letting Smartphone Users Share Photos, Contacts, Location In-Call”

Qwiki Relocates to SF

Qwiki, the Silicon Valley startup whose algorithsm assemble Web media into mini-documentaries on millions of subjects, has abandoned its original home—“a garage behind a rug shop in Palo Alto,” in the company’s words—for new 6,000-square-foot digs at 470 Bryant Street in San Francisco’s SoMa district. In a statement today, CEO and co-founder Doug Imbruce called … Continue reading “Qwiki Relocates to SF”

Rovi Buys SideReel

Santa Clara, CA-based Rovi (Nasdaq: [[ticker:ROVI]]), a provider of entertainment guide information and copy protection technology, announced yesterday that it has acquired San Francisco-based SideReel, a startup that provides personalized guides to online television content. Rovi said SideReel’s data will complement its new AllRovi film and music search and recommendation service. “By adding the SideReel.com website … Continue reading “Rovi Buys SideReel”

Altius Education’s Ivy Bridge Disrupts Community College Through Technology

I have a theory about what makes the best entrepreneurs so good: each one is driven by a conviction that he’s discovered some deep flaw in the world. This problem sticks in his craw as if it were a personal affront, and he simply can’t rest until he’s done something to fix it. The problem … Continue reading “Altius Education’s Ivy Bridge Disrupts Community College Through Technology”

Six iPad 2 Additions I’d Like to See: The Scorecard

[Updated 11:30 a.m. PST with details from today’s iPad 2 event, which just ended.] Earlier today, as an appetizer before Apple’s media event unveiling the iPad 2, I published encore version of my iPad 2 predictions and wish list from January 7, 2011. Now I’ve updated the post to score how well my predictions played out. … Continue reading “Six iPad 2 Additions I’d Like to See: The Scorecard”

Tibion Collects $10.2M for Bionic Leg

Sunnyvale, CA-based Tibion, maker of a bionic assist device designed to help stroke victims recover movement and strength in their legs, announced this week that it has collected $10.175 million in venture backing. Three Arch Partners and Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management led the round. Three Arch Partners principal Conrad Wang and Hambrecht & Quist … Continue reading “Tibion Collects $10.2M for Bionic Leg”

Hipmunk Takes On Hotel Search

With an elegant flight search tool that debuted last August, San Francisco-based Hipmunk essentially issued a challenge to the travel industry. Most online travel search and reservation systems, the Y Combinator-backed startup argued, are simply too complex and tedious; co-founders Adam Goldstein and Steve Huffman showed how new Web interface technologies could be used to offer … Continue reading “Hipmunk Takes On Hotel Search”

Funium Picks Up $1.2M

Funium, a San Francisco game development startup, said in its blog today that it has collected $1.2 million from individual investors to expand its geneaology-oriented Facebook game Family Village. Investors included FamilyOdyssey, half owned by Sorenson Media founder Jim Sorenson, and Paul Allen’s FamilyLink.

$11M for Guardian Analytics

Los Altos, CA-based Guardian Analytics, which uses behavioral analytics software to detect online bank fraud, said today it had closed an $11 million in Series D financing. Split Rock Partners joined as a new investor, and existing investors Foundation Capital and Sutter Hill Venture returned for the round. The company said it would use the funds … Continue reading “$11M for Guardian Analytics”

Bigfoot Unveils Wi-Fi for Gamers

Redwood City, CA-based Bigfoot Networks today unveiled a new line of PC and notebook Wi-Fi adapters optimized for gaming. Called Killer Wireless-N, the adapters include “stream detect” technology that identifies and prioritizes game, video, and audio data to minimize delays and stutter. Bigfoot says it plans to demonstrate the technology at next week’s Game Developer … Continue reading “Bigfoot Unveils Wi-Fi for Gamers”

Google, Khosla Money Rains on WeatherBill, A Startup Actually Doing Something About the Weather

You don’t often hear the words “technology” and “insurance” in the same sentence. But at a press event today, a high-tech weather insurance startup called WeatherBill announced that it has received a big infusion of Series B cash from some serious Silicon Valley investors, including Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures, for its automated system of reimbursing … Continue reading “Google, Khosla Money Rains on WeatherBill, A Startup Actually Doing Something About the Weather”

Clickatell Raises $12M

Sequoia Capital and DAG Ventures have contributed $12 million to a Series B venture round for Clickatell, a Redwood City, CA-based startup offering software that helps wireless operators deliver SMS messages across different networks in hundreds of countries and territories. The company also introduced a new SMS marketing service for small businesses called Communicator 2; … Continue reading “Clickatell Raises $12M”

Box.net Nabs $48M, BookRenter Books $40M, Transphorm Absorbs $20M, & More Bay Area BizTech News

Even though last week was a short one thanks to the Presidents’ Day holiday, there was a storm of tech news in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a few major funding announcements taking top billing. Alas, hopes for a different kind of storm didn’t pan out—snow reached only the uppermost elevations in San Francisco … Continue reading “Box.net Nabs $48M, BookRenter Books $40M, Transphorm Absorbs $20M, & More Bay Area BizTech News”

Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future-Part Two

To me, one thing seems pretty clear: the changes wrought over the coming 10 years by mobile devices are going to be even more far-reaching than those we’ve seen over the past 20 years from desktop and laptop PCs. The shifts in the ways we communicate, learn, shop, travel, and do business might not be … Continue reading “Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future-Part Two”

Room 77 Helps Travelers Pick the Best Hotel Rooms—And Get Virtual Peek Out the Windows

Why can people planning trips online “see every cabin on a cruise ship and every seat on a plane, but not every room in a hotel?” That was the rhetorical question posed to me yesterday by Kevin Fliess, an Internet travel industry veteran. The basic answer, of course, is that hotel chains use antiquated reservations … Continue reading “Room 77 Helps Travelers Pick the Best Hotel Rooms—And Get Virtual Peek Out the Windows”

Investors Bet Big on Box.net with $48M Round

Box.net may just have shattered the notion that you can build a successful Web 2.0 company without much capital. Aiming to redouble its already startling growth rate, the Palo Alto, CA-based online document sharing startup said today that it has collected a whopping $38 million in Series D funding from six top Silicon Valley venture … Continue reading “Investors Bet Big on Box.net with $48M Round”

Google Ventures Leads $20M Round for Transphorm to Battle “Hidden Tax” in Power Conversion

There’s a hidden tax when you pay your electricity bill, says Umesh Mishra, a professor in the college of engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It’s the energy lost when power is converted from the alternating current coming out of a wall socket to the direct current needed by computers, TVs, and other … Continue reading “Google Ventures Leads $20M Round for Transphorm to Battle “Hidden Tax” in Power Conversion”

BookRenter Takes In $40M, Seeks to Overtake Chegg in College Textbook Rentals

Spend very long talking with Mehdi Maghsoodnia, CEO of San Mateo, CA-based BookRenter, and you might start to think that he’s an economist running some kind of commodities trading floor. He speaks of making markets, taking positions on inventory, liquidation demand, microlending, and managing financial risk. He says things like “I am capturing dispersed demand … Continue reading “BookRenter Takes In $40M, Seeks to Overtake Chegg in College Textbook Rentals”

Traackr Obtains Series A Funding, Moves to San Francisco

Traackr, a three-year-old startup that helps marketers identify the most influential social media users in any given niche, has picked up an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from at least two Silicon Valley “super angels” and one early-stage startup fund, according to co-founder Pierre-Loïc Assayag. The company was born in Boston and later moved … Continue reading “Traackr Obtains Series A Funding, Moves to San Francisco”

Crocodoc Goes HTML5, SearchReviews and GravityEight Go Live, & More Bay Area BizTech News

Last week saw the emergence of several interesting new startups like GravityEight and SearchReviews. But some 2010-vintage startups, including Crocodoc and 1000memories, also made news. —Crocodoc introduced the world’s first embeddable HTML5 document viewer. The San Francisco startup, backed by Y Combinator and angel investors, says it wants to be “the new Adobe of the Web,” … Continue reading “Crocodoc Goes HTML5, SearchReviews and GravityEight Go Live, & More Bay Area BizTech News”

Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future—Part One

I always smile to think that we launched Xconomy on June 27, 2007, just two days before the original iPhone hit Apple stores in the U.S. That was a transformative moment in consumer information technology—as important as the launch of the Macintosh in 1984, Windows 3.0 in 1990, or Netscape in 1995. Thanks to Apple, … Continue reading “Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future—Part One”

Dynamic Signal Picks Up $8M

San Bruno, CA-based Dynamic Signal, a stealth-mode enterprise social media startup founded and led by former Adify CEO Russell Fradin, has raised $8 million in equity-based financing from a group of 30 investors, according to a regulatory filing. Trinity Ventures partner Ajay Chopra, comScore co-founder Gian Fulgoni, and Cox Enterprises vice president of business development … Continue reading “Dynamic Signal Picks Up $8M”

GravityEight: A New Online Hub for Wellbeing and the “Quantified Self”

At 44, I’m starting to understand what’s meant by the old saying that aging is a battle against gravity. But it’s not just tummies, wrinkles, and joints that need more attention as we get older. Holistic health experts say it’s equally important to invest in social connections, lifelong learning, personal finances, spirituality, and other parts … Continue reading “GravityEight: A New Online Hub for Wellbeing and the “Quantified Self””

Crocodoc Rolls Out Embeddable HTML5 Document Viewer; YC Startup Wants to Be “The New Adobe of the Web,” Sans Flash

If you’re a Web geek, you know all about the death match between Flash and HTML5. Even if you’re not, you’ve probably heard at least in passing about the controversy over Adobe’s proprietary video and animation platform, and how Apple won’t provide support for Flash videos on its mobile devices, and how Steve Jobs and … Continue reading “Crocodoc Rolls Out Embeddable HTML5 Document Viewer; YC Startup Wants to Be “The New Adobe of the Web,” Sans Flash”

1000memories, With $2.5M from Greylock and Big-Name Angels, Explores New Ways to Capture Online Memories of the Deceased

Most Silicon Valley startups with the good fortune to line up $2.5 million in Series A venture backing from a blue-chip venture firm like Greylock Partners and famous investors like Ron Conway and Mike Maples would immediately be shouting the news from the rooftops. But the founders at online memorial site 1000memories say they were … Continue reading “1000memories, With $2.5M from Greylock and Big-Name Angels, Explores New Ways to Capture Online Memories of the Deceased”

ODesk Charts the Future of Distributed Work

Consider these five trends, and then ask yourself what kind of Internet business you would create to exploit them. 1. Persistent economic uncertainty, leaving employers unwilling to hire lots of new permanent employees—but needing to get work done nonetheless. 2. The emergence of outsourcing as a mainstream, accepted, even expected corporate practice. 3. A growing … Continue reading “ODesk Charts the Future of Distributed Work”

$89.6M More for Brightsource

Brightsource Energy, the Oakland, CA, company constructing a large solar thermal plant in Ivanpah in California’s Mojave Desert, has raised $89.55 million in new equity-based financing in a round that could reach $100 million, according to a regulatory filing. Brightsource did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the sources of the round. … Continue reading “$89.6M More for Brightsource”

Accel Leads $17.5M UberMedia Round

Palo Alto, CA-based Accel Partners is the lead investor in a $17.5 million Series B round (PDF) for UberMedia, the Pasadena, CA, company rapidly rolling up a series of other social media startups. Revolution Ventures and Index Ventures also participated in the round, and Accel partner Jim Breyer has joined UberMedia’s board. Founded by Bill … Continue reading “Accel Leads $17.5M UberMedia Round”

Catch.com Catches $7M

San Francisco-based Catch.com, maker of an online notekeeping application that competes with the likes of Evernote and Springpad, has raised $7 million in Series A financing, according to a report in Dow Jones VentureWire. Boston-based Excel Venture Management was the investor. Catch.com lets users capture and save notes and thoughts via browser extensions on PCs … Continue reading “Catch.com Catches $7M”

SearchReviews’ New Web and Mobile Tool Aggregates Millions of Consumer Reviews

Every once in a while a startup pops up to lay claim to some area of search that Google, inexplicably, has not. (Yes, there are some.) This week it’s SearchReviews, a small Palo Alto, CA-based company that’s tapping the Web’s tens of millions of user-generated reviews of everything from electronic gadgets, to books to travel … Continue reading “SearchReviews’ New Web and Mobile Tool Aggregates Millions of Consumer Reviews”

500 Startups Launches Accelerator, Animoto Goes HD, Inside Astia’s Success & More Bay Area Biztech News

In startup and technology news last week, it was nearly all incubators and accelerators, all the time. —Angel investing whirlwind Dave McClure, the founder of 500Startups, took the lid off his new startup accelerator program, based in downtown Mountain View, CA. Twelve companies have already joined the program, which provides startups with mentorship, product design … Continue reading “500 Startups Launches Accelerator, Animoto Goes HD, Inside Astia’s Success & More Bay Area Biztech News”

Cooliris Dilates by $9.6M

Palo Alto, CA-based photo management startup Cooliris said today that it has raised $9.6 million in Series C venture financing from existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the T-Venture group of Deutsche Telekom, DAG Ventures, and The Westly Group. The company, known mainly for its desktop browser-based “3D Wall” interface for browsing photos, also released … Continue reading “Cooliris Dilates by $9.6M”