Time for the daily roundup of funding and M&A news—a short one today, as I’m flying out the door to a round of meetings and conferences. —Sunnyvale, CA-based cloud communications provider 8×8 has acquired Contactual, a maker of cloud-based call center and customer interaction software, in an all-stock transaction, according to a press release. —BonitaSoft, … Continue reading “Tuesday Roundup: 8×8, BonitaSoft, Rally to Save Pier 38”
Category: San Francisco
Solta Acquires Ultrasound Body Sculpting Technology from Medicis for $35M
The big idea of removing body fat through concentrated ultrasound waves hasn’t really caught on yet, but Hayward, CA-based Solta Medical is going to take a flier on it now. Solta (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SLTM]]) said today it has agreed to pay $15 million up front, plus another $20 million in near-term payments, to acquire the Bothell, WA-based … Continue reading “Solta Acquires Ultrasound Body Sculpting Technology from Medicis for $35M”
Qualcomm Adds Femtocell Capabilities to Wi-Fi Products for Corporate Networks
In the five months since San Diego’s Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) completed its acquisition of San Jose, CA-based Atheros Communications, the two companies have been working to integrate their operations and combine their technologies. One example of how that’s playing out came into focus yesterday, with Qualcomm saying it has combined its proprietary Femtocell modem chipset … Continue reading “Qualcomm Adds Femtocell Capabilities to Wi-Fi Products for Corporate Networks”
Mobile Platform Wars: What’s Next?
This has been the month of the handset. First, Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, then HP’s effective exit from the handset business, and finally the sad news about Steve Jobs. These recent events kick off what I believe will be an accelerated pace of developments and re-shaping of the mobile device/platform ecosystem. Within the next … Continue reading “Mobile Platform Wars: What’s Next?”
GetAround Receives $3,400,000 Seed Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b35a695c-4055-49cb-b6d8-0c58be029877&Preview=1 Date 9/13/2011 Company Name GetAround Mailing Address 20 S. Akron Rd MS 20-1 Moffett Field, CA 94035 Company Description Car owners invest huge amounts of time and money into an asset they barely use. Cars are driven only 8% of the time, while potential drivers walk past block after block of … Continue reading “GetAround Receives $3,400,000 Seed Funding”
Apsalar Receives $5,000,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=55fd6e9d-a942-48d0-b5ac-47fba03312e3&Preview=1 Date 9/13/2011 Company Name Apsalar Mailing Address 480 Second Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description ApScience is a User-centric conversion analytics tool that delineates and interprets conversion funnels. By presenting developers with actionable insights for better business decisions, ApScience will bolster revenue and profitability.(Q2 2010) Website http://www.apsalar.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “Apsalar Receives $5,000,000 Series A Financing”
Ooyala Receives New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0aba2a85-9465-490d-94d5-512198f6a1ff&Preview=1 Date 9/13/2011 Company Name Ooyala Mailing Address 800 W El Camino Real Mountain View, CA 94040 Company Description Ooyala is a technology-driven company dedicated to delivering an interactive, high-quality video experience. The company is also developing content management systems and video ad serving technologies. Website http://www.ooyala.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Ooyala Receives New Funding”
Jildy Obtains $650,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2fb9e2d2-7fbb-4741-b74e-ebdb084f836c&Preview=1 Date 9/13/2011 Company Name Jildy Mailing Address 261 Hamilton Ave Palo Alto, CA 94301 Company Description Jildy is still in stealth-mode, but will be launching soon and bringing you a mobile search app that we hope you’ll find awesomely useful. Website http://www.jildy.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $650,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Jildy Obtains $650,000 New Funding Round”
Zetta Obtains $9,000,000 Series C Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=cfc7c29f-3c48-4856-a7d2-bf4fe20d1760&Preview=1 Date 9/13/2011 Company Name Zetta Mailing Address 1362 Borregas Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Company Description Zetta delivers storage solutions to enterprises that increase productivity, data availability and data protection while reducing the costs, complexities and risks of traditional storage hardware and software solutions. Website http://www.zetta.net Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Zetta Obtains $9,000,000 Series C Financing Round”
Pixim Secures $5,232,109 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=904f980c-dcb0-422b-96a1-91e494cbf2c3&Preview=1 Date 9/13/2011 Company Name Pixim Mailing Address 1395 Charleston Rd. Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description Pixim Inc. has developed an imaging platform that produces substantially higher-quality moving and still images than those available through any other existing technology. Website http://www.pixim.com Transaction Type Debt, Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,232,109 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Pixim Secures $5,232,109 New Financing”
Intuit Is Looking for the Next Mint.com
If you’re a startup working on mobile, cloud, data analytics, or social technologies and you want to get noticed by consumer-financial-tools giant Intuit, you’ve got three days to apply to join a day of “speed dating” sessions coming up at Intuit headquarters in Mountain View, CA, on October 6. Intuit says its annual Entrepreneur Day … Continue reading “Intuit Is Looking for the Next Mint.com”
Monday Deals Roundup: 10gen, Mindjet, Ebates
Time for the daily roundup of Bay Area financing and M&A news. —10gen, the San Francisco- and New York-based provider of consulting, support, and training for users of the MongoDB open source “NoSQL” database, announced today that it has raised $20 million in new funding. New investor Sequoia Capital led the round, which was joined … Continue reading “Monday Deals Roundup: 10gen, Mindjet, Ebates”
GM, Pier 38, TechCrunch: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
Though last week was a short post-holiday week, Bay Area entrepreneurs managed to pack in a lot of action. —More than 90 companies met with investors and journalists at a new demo event called Pitch San Francisco ’11 at AT&T Park. We captured seven of them on video. —Our biggest feature of the week was a … Continue reading “GM, Pier 38, TechCrunch: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
Don’t Ask for Introductions to Investors
Raising money is hard, and there’s no way to screw it up faster than going around asking, “Hey, could you introduce me to some investors?” It’s sort of like when, on the second day of school, a goofy freshman asked me if I could introduce him to any girls. Reason 1: Not every investor is … Continue reading “Don’t Ask for Introductions to Investors”
Genentech Seeks FDA Clearance for Next Skin Cancer Drug
Genentech is shipping off its latest application to the FDA to start selling a new cancer drug. This morning, the South San Francisco-based unit of Roche said it has filed paperwork for U.S. approval of vismodegib, a new drug for people with a deadly type of skin cancer that can’t be surgically removed. The drug, … Continue reading “Genentech Seeks FDA Clearance for Next Skin Cancer Drug”
Adtech Is Harmful to Consumers
If the ads on the websites and in the apps you frequent disappeared tomorrow, would you miss them? Can you think of any specific sites or apps, other than search, where introducing ads improved user experience? I happened upon these questions a few days ago while preparing the opening remarks for a FutureM event my … Continue reading “Adtech Is Harmful to Consumers”
What Most Biotechies Are Missing on Twitter: A Huge Networking Opportunity
Twitter is coming to biotech, it’s only a matter of time. And this is a truly wonderful thing. This thought occurred to me as I sat in my Seattle office, watching a video from a panel discussion of eight people in Boston—journalists, executives, venture capitalists, a PR person—who were talking about how biotechies can get … Continue reading “What Most Biotechies Are Missing on Twitter: A Huge Networking Opportunity”
Parse Secures $1,100,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a196918e-7773-4de8-85a6-ab6d43b8433c&Preview=1 Date 9/12/2011 Company Name Parse Mailing Address 1 Mongtomery St. 28th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description Our vision is a world where mobile developers never have to develop, deploy, or maintain their own server-side stack. Our simple, but powerful native mobile SDKs provide all the server-side functionality developers need … Continue reading “Parse Secures $1,100,000 New Financing”
Pixel Qi Obtains $3,000,000 Series B Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=71c7cf1f-e053-4397-9838-12e7c3611bfd&Preview=1 Date 9/12/2011 Company Name Pixel Qi Mailing Address 1001 Bayhill Drive San Bruno, CA 94066 Company Description The publishing industry is in major transition – magazines and newspapers have become too expensive to distribute via paper. But words and reading will survive: We are on the cusp of “cloud computing”. 3G … Continue reading “Pixel Qi Obtains $3,000,000 Series B Round”
Mindjet Acquires Cohuman for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a7c2651b-f8e4-48a9-b5fb-f4b7d835397e&Preview=1 Date 9/12/2011 Company Name Cohuman Mailing Address 632 Commercial St. Third Floor San Francisco, CA 94111 Company Description The company provides a cloud-based task management service. Website http://www.cohuman.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed by the parties.
Box.net Boxworks
It’s Box.net’s first annual customer conference: BoxWorks ’11, designed to help users with best practices and hands-on training through 1:1 engagement with Box experts, the Box team, and other customers. The event will feature keynote talks from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler, and “Crossing the Chasm” author Geoffrey Moore, as well … Continue reading “Box.net Boxworks”
Lars Rasmussen—Creator of Google Maps and Google Wave
Founder Community is a Silicon Valley event series by founders, for founders. We aim to inspire, educate and connect entrepreneurs of all levels. This is one you won’t want to miss! Lars Rasmussen earned a PhD in theoretical computer science from UC Berkley. In early 2003 Lars co-founded with his brother Jens a mapping related … Continue reading “Lars Rasmussen—Creator of Google Maps and Google Wave”
Defining Moments: SVB Accelerator CEO Summit
From the event announcement: Silicon Valley Bank, financial partner to technology and life science companies of all sizes worldwide, will host a day-long educational event for entrepreneurs in which they can learn from the successes and mistakes of other startup founders and CEOs. “Defining Moments: Inflection Points in the Life of a Startup” is Silicon … Continue reading “Defining Moments: SVB Accelerator CEO Summit”
Women Powering Technology Summit
From the event announcement: WITI (Women in Technology International), the leading global trade association for professional, tech-savvy women, returns to Silicon Valley October 2-4, 2011, for the Annual Women Powering Technology Summit at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in San Jose, California. The 3-day Summit will feature keynote presentations from Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Google; … Continue reading “Women Powering Technology Summit”
Silicon Valley Open Doors
From the event website: American Business Association of Russian Professionals is proud to announce 7th annual Technology Investment Conference. SVOD 2011 will take place in Computer History Museum (Mountain View, CA) on November 29-30, 2011. This year, SVOD will take place under the auspices of the Russian Innovation Center, which was recently founded by Rusnano, … Continue reading “Silicon Valley Open Doors”
DITA Fest 2011
From the event announcement: The momentum towards adoption of the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) continues unabated. As new companies adopt the standard, and as existing DITA deployments mature, many organizations are now starting to ponder… What comes next? That’s why SDL and The Content Wrangler invite you attend DITA Fest 2011, an annual educational … Continue reading “DITA Fest 2011”
Open Mobile Summit
From the event website: The Open Mobile Summit San Francisco 2011, Nov 2-4, will be the single most significant event in converging mobile, Internet, media and electronics this year. Now in its 4th year the Open Mobile Summit connects 850+ of the most powerful people in converging mobile, Internet and media. Two days of thought-leading … Continue reading “Open Mobile Summit”
App Conference and Hackathon
From the Engage Digital Media event website: App Conference and Hackathon – October 26-27, 2011 in Santa Clara – addresses key components of App development, marketing and revenue. Join us for: – Programming and design strategies from visionary developers – Best methods for marketing and revenue. – Case studies from top app developers. – Latest … Continue reading “App Conference and Hackathon”
Corporate Cash for Cleantech
As cleantech VC investing takes a plunge, large corporate investment arms are jumping in. Join us for an industry panel event focused on large corporations looking to cleantech for new business opportunities. This interactive debate will feature corporate players that are getting into cleantech and will highlight companies receiving funding from investment arms, those directly … Continue reading “Corporate Cash for Cleantech”
CrowdConf2011
CrowdConf is the first and leading conference on crowdsourcing and the future of distributed work, bringing together an international audience of scholars, executives, policy makers, artists, and technologists for a day of learning, conversation, and networking. Use Discount code: XCONSF for 20 percent off conference tickets. Early-bird pricing until September 16th! Website: www.crowdconf.com.
Play Ball! Video from the Pitch San Francisco Startup Fest at AT&T Park
Funny, I thought there were already enough startup events around the Bay Area to keep any investor or tech journalist busy eight days a week. But now there’s one more—it’s called Pitch, and it’s the result of “the challenges many startups have in getting new users, media, attention, and investors,” writes Duane Nason of Launchabl.es, … Continue reading “Play Ball! Video from the Pitch San Francisco Startup Fest at AT&T Park”
The Tech World Deserves Better Than TechCrunch
Back in April 2009, community leaders in Boston were in a tizzy over the prospect of a shutdown at the Boston Globe, where unions were resisting salary and pension cuts proposed by the paper’s owner, the New York Times Co. I didn’t quite understand the leaders’ concerns. As a longtime admirer of the Globe, I … Continue reading “The Tech World Deserves Better Than TechCrunch”
BuyWithMe Buys Daily-Deals Site TownHog, Its Sixth Purchase of 2011
BuyWithMe, the New York- and Boston-based local deals startup, said today it has acquired TownHog, a San Francisco-based daily deals site owned by Dotblu. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. This is the sixth acquisition of the year for BuyWithMe, continuing a trend of consolidation in the local deals sector. Last month, CEO Jim Crowley … Continue reading “BuyWithMe Buys Daily-Deals Site TownHog, Its Sixth Purchase of 2011”
American Innovators Lose Big in Newly Passed Patent Bill
American innovation lost big again as the U.S. Senate passed “patent reform” and caved to big business lobbyists at the expense of true innovators in small companies and universities. Bottom line: America has dominated innovation in the world for 100 years based on our patent system and protection of risk-takers. Innovation is the one thing … Continue reading “American Innovators Lose Big in Newly Passed Patent Bill”
Lending Club Obtains New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d2f9a775-fb45-49bd-9326-07b171d553ed&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2011 Company Name Lending Club Mailing Address 370 Convention Way Redwood City, CA 94063 Company Description Lending Club is an online lending community where people can borrow and lend money, bypass the banks, and get better rates. By working together, members can borrow money more easily and at a better … Continue reading “Lending Club Obtains New Financing”
Fingerprint Secures $1,400,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d69b4c1a-a991-42c9-8129-47824ce0fafa&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2011 Company Name Fingerprint Mailing Address 575 Sutter St. San Francisco, CA 94102 Company Description Fingerprint is a unique group dedicated to building the next great kids company. Website http://www.fingerprintplay.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,400,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Fingerprint will be launching applications that include features … Continue reading “Fingerprint Secures $1,400,000 New Funding Round”
Swrve Garners Seed Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fbe3bee0-f43a-4a4c-bcb4-bdbdbe926b0f&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2011 Company Name Swrve Mailing Address 450 Geary San Francisco, CA 94102 Company Description Swrve’s real-time personalization allows design, product and marketing teams to continually test and adjust their games, maximizing engagement across an unlimited range of players. Website http://www.swrve.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Seed … Continue reading “Swrve Garners Seed Round”
BuyWithMe Acquires TownHog for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e8fde384-08dd-4fd5-8ff8-498532832629&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2011 Company Name TownHog Mailing Address 343 Sansome Street San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description TownHog connects fantastic deals to people and their friends! Website http://www.townhog.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed by the parties.
Crescendo Bioscience Nabs $56M to Help Personalize Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy
South San Francisco-based Crescendo Bioscience has raked in $56 million today for a technology to help doctors and patients better decide which drug is best for them—especially when tens of thousands of dollars are on the line. Crescendo said today it has raised a total of $56 million in new capital, through a $31 million … Continue reading “Crescendo Bioscience Nabs $56M to Help Personalize Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy”
To Bring Driving into the Infotainment Age, GM’s Palo Alto Office Melds Silicon Valley Fancy with Detroit Pragmatism
I visited GM’s Advanced Technology division in Silicon Valley on August 4, the same day the Detroit giant revealed its second-quarter financial results. The numbers were far better than one might have expected, given the automaker’s troubled recent history. GM said it brought in $2.5 billion in net income in the quarter, which was a … Continue reading “To Bring Driving into the Infotainment Age, GM’s Palo Alto Office Melds Silicon Valley Fancy with Detroit Pragmatism”
Thursday Deals Roundup: Zagat, Platfora, Lending Club & More
Time for our more-or-less daily summary of key deals news in the Bay Area biztech world. —Google announced that it has acquired Zagat, the venerable and popular crowdsourced restaurant guide. Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president for local, maps, and location services, said the Zagat operation “will be a cornerstone of our local offering—delighting people with … Continue reading “Thursday Deals Roundup: Zagat, Platfora, Lending Club & More”
Caliper To Be Acquired By PerkinElmer for $600M
Waltham, MA-based life sciences tools maker PerkinElmer (NYSE: [[ticker:PKI]]) announced this morning that it has agreed to acquire a Bay State neighbor focused on imaging and detection technology, Hopkinton, MA-based Caliper Life Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CALP]]), for $10.50 per share in cash. Caliper has a major office in Mountain View, CA, as well. The purchase, which comes … Continue reading “Caliper To Be Acquired By PerkinElmer for $600M”
BigDoor Media Snaps up OneTrueFan as Gamificiation Gets Serious
Gamification as a concept in the broader business world is still in the toddler stage. But that’s soon enough for a little consolidation, right? Guess so. Today, Seattle’s BigDoor Media is announcing the acquisition of San Francisco-based OneTrueFan, a company backed by 500 Startups that uses game mechanics to help website publishers keep their audience … Continue reading “BigDoor Media Snaps up OneTrueFan as Gamificiation Gets Serious”
Xconomist of the Week: Five Questions with Biocom CEO Joe Panetta
Joe Panetta is a 30-year biotech veteran on both sides of the interface between business and government regulators. He’s spent close to half of that time as president and CEO of Biocom, the San Diego-based regional life sciences industry association. Panetta also happens to be the latest member of the local innovation community to join … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Five Questions with Biocom CEO Joe Panetta”
AlertEnterprise Garners $19,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9bb64b32-c0c7-4d8a-a71b-38af141676c2&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2011 Company Name AlertEnterprise Mailing Address 4350 Starboard Drive Fremont, CA 94538 Company Description AlertEnterprise provides true integration of physical access control systems (PACS) and logical systems to deliver real-time global control, security and enforcement of governing policies, practices and regulations. Website http://www.alertenterprise.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $19,000,000 … Continue reading “AlertEnterprise Garners $19,000,000 New Financing Round”
IndieGoGo Receives $1,500,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5b5e5b39-7dcf-4d35-91d4-5223ea800dda&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2011 Company Name IndieGoGo Mailing Address 1383A 9th Ave San Francisco, CA 94122 Company Description We founded IndieGoGo in 2008 because there are so many people in this world, with great ideas and big dreams, who are looking for the opportunity to get funding. IndieGoGo offers anyone with an idea … Continue reading “IndieGoGo Receives $1,500,000 New Financing”
eIQ Energy Secures $6,000,000 Series B Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b790ded2-5244-497d-bc54-648192ff2f96&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2011 Company Name eIQ Energy Mailing Address 525 Race Street San Jose, CA 95126 Company Description Clean power generation should be straightforward – erect solar panels in a sunny location, or turbines in a windy spot, and produce electricity. But realizing the full potential of these endeavors can be a … Continue reading “eIQ Energy Secures $6,000,000 Series B Round”
Striiv Garners $6,000,000 Series A Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=980ea046-0905-4c22-819f-e35a45231217&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2011 Company Name Striiv Mailing Address 2400 Broadway Redwood City, CA 94063 Company Description Striiv’s vision is to motivate people, and we started with a simple question: “What if?” Website http://www.striiv.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $6,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes The money will be used to … Continue reading “Striiv Garners $6,000,000 Series A Financing Round”
RingCentral Garners $10,000,000 Series D Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f75e48ff-35bd-446b-9cf6-e96e3a46cd0e&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2011 Company Name RingCentral Mailing Address 999 Baker Way Fifth Floor San Mateo, CA 94404 Company Description RingCentral provides cloud computing based business phone systems designed for today’s mobile and distributed business world. Website http://www.ringcentral.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $10,000,000 Transaction Round Series D Proceeds Purposes The Series … Continue reading “RingCentral Garners $10,000,000 Series D Funding”
Sungevity Receives $5,567,942 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1e1245dc-6444-42ff-8588-fbebfbd332b5&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2011 Company Name Sungevity Mailing Address 66 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94607 Company Description Sungevity is a solar sales company, with a mission to take solar to the mainstream market. Our company has a strong team that brings together successful start-up experience, environmental leadership and solar industry knowledge. Sungevity has … Continue reading “Sungevity Receives $5,567,942 New Funding Round”