Category: San Francisco

Svaya Nanotechnologies Receives $4,798,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9d53cc72-77d3-44fc-8b9c-0afc8418ede7&Preview=1 Date 4/6/2011 Company Name Svaya Nanotechnologies Mailing Address 275 Santa Ana Court Sunnyvale, CA 94085 Company Description Nanotechnology has the power to transform the world in ways scientists are just beginning to imagine. Svaya’s mission is to use nanotechnologies to make everyday products better and to enable revolutionary new products. Our … Continue reading “Svaya Nanotechnologies Receives $4,798,000 Series A Financing Round”

Responsys Sets IPO Terms

San Bruno, CA-based marketing management software maker Responsys submitted amended regulatory filings this week indicating that it hopes to raise $76.1 million in a public offering of 7.61 million shares at $10 apiece. The 13-year-old company makes SaaS-based software for managing marketing campaigns across e-mail, Web, social, and mobile channels. It has raised $62 million … Continue reading “Responsys Sets IPO Terms”

Optivia Gets $1.8M For Drug Interaction Study

Optivia Biotechnology, a Menlo Park, CA-based company studying how various drugs interact in the body, said today it has secured a $1.85 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Small Business Innovation Research program. The grant will support research into proteins that transport drugs across cell membranes and either enable or block their effectiveness. … Continue reading “Optivia Gets $1.8M For Drug Interaction Study”

Marseille Networks Collects $4.5M

Marseille Networks, a fabless semiconductor company in Santa Clara, CA, that designs video processing chips, said today that has closed a $4.5 million Series B funding round with participation from new and existing investors including Kumpulan Modal Perdana Sdn Bhd. The company says its “Virtual Silicon” rapid prototyping platform makes chip design faster for builders … Continue reading “Marseille Networks Collects $4.5M”

$6.6M for Rocket Fuel

Redwood City, CA-based Rocket Fuel, which provides targeting software for Web display ads, has raised $6.6 million in Series C funding in a round led by new investor Northgate Capital. Existing investors Mohr Davidow Ventures, Labrador Capital Fund, Nokia Growth Partners and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati also participated. Rocket Fuel raised $10 million in … Continue reading “$6.6M for Rocket Fuel”

Lightspeed, IVP in $400M LivingSocial Round

Lightspeed Venture Partners and Institutional Venture Partners, both of Menlo Park, CA, are among the firms contributing to a $400 million fundraising round for Washington, DC-based daily deals site LivingSocial, according to reports from Dow Jones VentureWire and other publications today. Lightspeed joined Amazon and other existing investors in the round; IVP is a new … Continue reading “Lightspeed, IVP in $400M LivingSocial Round”

Practice Fusion Gets $23 Million To Compete in “Winner-Take-All” Market for Electronic Medical Records Technology

Practice Fusion, a San Francisco startup that claims to be the fastest-growing maker of electronic medical records systems for physicians’ practices, may be able to supercharge that growth now, thanks to a $23 million infusion from Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and a posse of other investors. The Series B investment, announced today, brings Practice Fusion’s … Continue reading “Practice Fusion Gets $23 Million To Compete in “Winner-Take-All” Market for Electronic Medical Records Technology”

Sangamo Partners With CHDI

Sangamo Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGMO]]), the Richmond, CA-based drug developer, said today it has formed a collaboration with the New York-based CHDI Foundation to develop a new treatment for Huntington’s disease. Sangamo will use its targeted zinc-finger protein technology to aim at a gene that causes Huntington’s. Financial terms of the partnership weren’t disclosed.

Millennium, Sunesis Form Deal

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNSS]]), a South San Francisco-based drug developer, said today it has formed a new collaboration with Cambridge, MA-based Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company. The partnership involves development of an orally-delivered pill that inhibits a cancer target called RAF, and another drug made to block an undisclosed cancer target. Sunesis has received a … Continue reading “Millennium, Sunesis Form Deal”

Txteagle Lands $8.5M, Led by Spark Capital, for Smarter Mobile Messaging

The mobile hits keep coming—though I guess “mobile” is officially redundant in the tech world now. Boston- and San Francisco-based Txteagle, which makes a mobile-messaging platform for developing markets, has raised $8.5 million in Series A financing led by Spark Capital in Boston. The company’s other seed investors, Flywheel Ventures, RBC Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, … Continue reading “Txteagle Lands $8.5M, Led by Spark Capital, for Smarter Mobile Messaging”

Experience Project Launches BroadCause, Putting Social Media to Work for Charitable Causes—and the Corporations Backing Them

Can a company truly do well by doing good? That’s what San Francisco’s Experience Project hopes to find out with the official launch today of BroadCause. The site offers nonprofit groups free software tools to help with fundraising and administration, and makes money by selling marketing opportunities to corporations looking to promote awareness of their … Continue reading “Experience Project Launches BroadCause, Putting Social Media to Work for Charitable Causes—and the Corporations Backing Them”

As Google Retools its Search Engine, Content Farms Lose Traction

If you’ve noticed a recent change when you do an Internet search using Google, you’re not alone. Google is trying to improve the quality of the results it delivers to Web searchers and in a major way. Google is so focused on search result quality that they’re paying extra attention to items they believe negatively … Continue reading “As Google Retools its Search Engine, Content Farms Lose Traction”

CollabRx Snags ASCO Partnership

Palo Alto, CA-based CollabRx, a developer of web-based applications to help connect cancer patients and researchers, is announcing today it has formed a partnership with the largest association of cancer physicians—the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Under the collaboration, ASCO will provide CollabRx with access to all its published content, and make CollabRx’s Targeted Therapy … Continue reading “CollabRx Snags ASCO Partnership”

Rocket Fuel Secures $6,600,000 Series C Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=45be94a2-89f0-4d36-be91-239094dd090e&Preview=1 Date 4/5/2011 Company Name Rocket Fuel Mailing Address 350 Marine Parkway Redwood City, CA 94065 Company Description Rocket Fuel has built advertising distribution technology that attempts to select the best impressions for each advertisement. Website http://www.rocketfuelinc.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $6,600,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes … Continue reading “Rocket Fuel Secures $6,600,000 Series C Financing”

Oraya Therapeutics Garners $15,875,000 Series C Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=89167852-3d0a-4fe1-9740-3bf4835c6d1f&Preview=1 Date 4/5/2011 Company Name Oraya Therapeutics Mailing Address 8000 Jarvis Ave Newark, CA 94560 Company Description Founded in 2006, Oraya is funded by Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Synergy Life Science Partners, Scale Venture Partners, and Domain Associates. The company’s first commercial application, the IRay system, is currently undergoing clinical trials for … Continue reading “Oraya Therapeutics Garners $15,875,000 Series C Financing Round”

Marseille Networks Obtains $4,500,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fd58e8f6-2944-4a19-860a-a456b388a66e&Preview=1 Date 4/5/2011 Company Name Marseille Networks Mailing Address 3211 Scott Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95054 Company Description As the leader of a new wave of fabless semiconductor companies and creator of chip virtualization and Quad-HD video processing technology, Marseille has pioneered a method allowing it to bring new chips to market … Continue reading “Marseille Networks Obtains $4,500,000 Series B Financing”

Practice Fusion Secures $23,000,000 Series B Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=093512c2-0d53-4c19-b06f-bfdcb498357a&Preview=1 Date 4/5/2011 Company Name Practice Fusion Mailing Address 501 Folsom Street First Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description Practice Fusion addresses the critical needs of today’s healthcare environments by providing a revolutionary application and delivery model for physicians and patients at no cost. Website http://www.practicefusion.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Practice Fusion Secures $23,000,000 Series B Funding”

Cloudwords Lands $3,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e3abbf0a-c91b-437c-a9a0-7cb07f66a0ae&Preview=1 Date 4/5/2011 Company Name Cloudwords Mailing Address 400 Montgomery St. San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description We are a web-based translation platform with centralized project management and translation vendors rated by the community. Fast, Easy, Effective. Website http://www.Cloudwords.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds … Continue reading “Cloudwords Lands $3,000,000 New Funding Round”

Marin Software Receives $16,000,000 Series E Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=23163238-815b-4f97-ac49-87645fad383d&Preview=1 Date 4/5/2011 Company Name Marin Software Mailing Address 123 Mission Street 25th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description Marin Software was founded in April 2006 by experienced search marketers and enterprise software experts. Marin Search Marketer addresses the workflow, analysis and optimization needs of professional search marketers, saving time and … Continue reading “Marin Software Receives $16,000,000 Series E Financing Round”

Kiip Secures $4,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=97f0703d-5a90-469d-9de3-a48c476de56a&Preview=1 Date 4/5/2011 Company Name Kiip Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94123 Company Description The company designs mobile gaming advertising technologies. Website http://www.kiip.me Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The company said it would use the funding proceeds to build out its platform and product. … Continue reading “Kiip Secures $4,000,000 New Round”

Pluribus Networks Lands $17,500,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a53186a0-b836-40b6-9262-af0c745bfa5e&Preview=1 Date 4/5/2011 Company Name Pluribus Networks Mailing Address 1808 Embarcadero Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94303 Company Description The company’s mission is to drive the third wave of virtualization into the ethernet hardware market, deliver virtualized switches and distributed Netvisor operating system for true network virtualization with a fully programmable fabric, and … Continue reading “Pluribus Networks Lands $17,500,000 New Funding”

$2.8M for Autonet Mobile

Autonet Mobile, a San Francisco-based company that makes Wi-Fi hotspots for personal, corporate, and emergency vehicles, has raised $2.8 million in an offiering of equity, debt, and options, according to a regulatory filing. The investors in the round weren’t named, but Autonet’s website lists Morgenthaler Ventures and Easton Capital as previous backers. Autonet was founded … Continue reading “$2.8M for Autonet Mobile”

HelloFax, Anyleaf, Gmail Fail—The 1-Minute Summary of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News

Time for the summary of last week’s news from Xconomy San Francisco. —On the heels of Y Combinator’s climactic Winter 2011 Demo Day on March 23, I continued my profiles of “YC W11” startups with a look at HelloFax, which lets users paste signatures into digital documents, thereby hastening the demise of the fax machine. … Continue reading “HelloFax, Anyleaf, Gmail Fail—The 1-Minute Summary of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News”

The Lean LaunchPad at Stanford—Class 4: Customer Hypotheses

The Stanford Lean LaunchPad class was an experiment in a new model of teaching startup entrepreneurship. This post is part four. Part one is here, two is here and three is here. Syllabus is here. Week 4 of the Class Last week the teams were testing their hypotheses about their Value Proposition (their company’s product … Continue reading “The Lean LaunchPad at Stanford—Class 4: Customer Hypotheses”

How Gigamon’s Founders Bootstrapped a Networking Hardware Company to Profitability

Ted Ho, the CEO of Gigamon, jokes that in its early days, the Milpitas, CA-based network appliance maker had four chief financial officers: the founders’ wives. “Every time we would run out of cash, we’d go back to our wives and say ‘Hey CFO, I need more money,” Ho says. But that’s the way it … Continue reading “How Gigamon’s Founders Bootstrapped a Networking Hardware Company to Profitability”

Xconomy Expands to New York—the Country’s Hottest Hub of Tech Startups and Entrepreneurship

Every time I visit the Big Apple, a line from Stevie Wonder’s Living for the City flashes in my mind: “New York, just like I pictured it, skyscrapers and everything.” But my mental picture of New York has evolved dramatically in the last few years—not the skyscrapers part, of course, but the “everything” that’s going … Continue reading “Xconomy Expands to New York—the Country’s Hottest Hub of Tech Startups and Entrepreneurship”

Biotechies Need to Get Serious About Antibiotics, Where There is Money to Be Made

There are lots of exceptions to the rules in the biotech business, and a big one jumped out me this past week, related to antibiotics. One day, Reuters ran a story about the overall abysmal state of the world’s pipeline of new antibiotics. Next day, there were reports about how San Diego-based Optimer Pharmaceuticals appears … Continue reading “Biotechies Need to Get Serious About Antibiotics, Where There is Money to Be Made”

Autonet Mobile Lands $2,822,487 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=841405a4-20f3-4494-8bab-22ce73ada50b&Preview=1 Date 4/4/2011 Company Name Autonet Mobile Mailing Address 1700 Montgomery St. San Francisco, CA 94111 Company Description We create a wireless network that allows you to connect to the Internet using your smartphone, laptop, or any other Wi-Fi-enable device. Autonet Mobile lets up to 20 people to connect at once in … Continue reading “Autonet Mobile Lands $2,822,487 New Funding”

New York City and Boston: The Entrepreneurial Dream Team

Far too much has been written about Boston versus New York City. Sports rivalries and cultural differences have a way of coloring our world view to include startup companies and venture capital. However, the past few years tell about a much closer relationship. The real story is Boston and New York City, particularly versus Silicon … Continue reading “New York City and Boston: The Entrepreneurial Dream Team”

Gmail Fail: The Problem with Priority Inbox

I was not one the pundits who heaped immediate praise on Priority Inbox, an e-mail management feature that Google added as an option in Gmail last August. TechCrunch instantly labeled it “fantastic,” TheNextWeb called it “outstanding,” and Venturebeat said it “lives up to the hype.” I was hopeful about it, but cautious. Having been burned … Continue reading “Gmail Fail: The Problem with Priority Inbox”

$200M for Brightsource Energy

Oakland, CA-based Brightsource Energy, which is building a massive solar thermal energy plant in the Mojave Desert, said yesterday that it has collected $200 million in Series E funding. Existing investors Vantage Point Venture Partners, Alstom, CalSTRS, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DBL Investors, Chevron Technology Ventures, and BP Technology Ventures took part in the round, which also included … Continue reading “$200M for Brightsource Energy”

Gilead Antes Up for Cancer, Genentech Eye Drug Passes Big Trial, Bigger Isn’t Better, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News

This was a light news week in SF biotech, but it still flew by, as we get ready to make some small media biz news at our own little startup here on Monday. Stay tuned. —South San Francisco-based Genentech said its hit drug for eye diseases, ranibizumab (Lucentis) passed the second big pivotal trial in … Continue reading “Gilead Antes Up for Cancer, Genentech Eye Drug Passes Big Trial, Bigger Isn’t Better, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News”

Embracing Angels: A VC’s Perspective

Is there increased tension between venture capitalists (VCs) and angel investors? Lots of stories these days would lead you to that conclusion. Are angels cutting into our deals? Are they making venture capitalists less relevant, especially if some angels are raising sizable funds? Are we competing with them for LP money? The answer to each … Continue reading “Embracing Angels: A VC’s Perspective”

Gilead Inks $100M Deal With Yale

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]), the world’s largest maker of HIV drugs, said it has formed a new cancer research collaboration with Yale University. Under the deal, Foster City, CA-based Gilead will provide $40 million to support research over the first four years, and has the option to extend the collaboration for 10 years, and a … Continue reading “Gilead Inks $100M Deal With Yale”

Cloudkick Founder Alex Polvi on the Experience of Getting Acquired by Rackspace in Startup Year One

Alex Polvi is on the tech world’s express elevator. Just a few years ago, the 25-year-old computer science graduate from Oregon State University was a system administrator at Open Source Lab, the home of Linux, Apache, Drupal, and other huge open-source software projects. It’s the place developers around the world depend on to maintain and … Continue reading “Cloudkick Founder Alex Polvi on the Experience of Getting Acquired by Rackspace in Startup Year One”

Qwiki Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9dcf5a5b-3ca5-4561-8231-e623a9338c7c&Preview=1 Date 3/31/2011 Company Name Qwiki Mailing Address 470 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description The company provides a question and answer service using multimedia sources. Website http://www.qwiki.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Funding will be used to accelerate the expansion of the … Continue reading “Qwiki Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding Round”

Affine Systems Receives $5,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f6025262-1c78-4d1d-97c2-435a9eba2235&Preview=1 Date 3/31/2011 Company Name Affine Systems Mailing Address 73 Sumner Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Company Description We are a computer vision company that’s changing the way online video is viewed and sold. Our technology analyzes the visual content of videos and images — not just the metadata — to provide … Continue reading “Affine Systems Receives $5,000,000 Series B Round”

HelloFax Lets You Ditch Your Fax Machine and Sign Everything Electronically

This is the third in a series of profiles of Y Combinator Winter 2011 (YC W11) startups. You don’t run into many startups that are already planning for their own technology’s demise. But that’s the case at HelloFax, part of the Winter 2011 batch at the Y Combinator venture incubator. Ostensibly, the company’s service is … Continue reading “HelloFax Lets You Ditch Your Fax Machine and Sign Everything Electronically”

IT Employment Staging a Comeback In San Diego, Silicon Valley

Statewide employment data released last week suggest that California’s jobless rate is finally subsiding, as every major industry in the private sector added workers last month for the first time since the Great Recession began in 2007. Employers added a total of 96,500 jobs in February, reducing the statewide jobless rate to 12.2 percent from … Continue reading “IT Employment Staging a Comeback In San Diego, Silicon Valley”

Citrusleaf Launches with $2M

Citrusleaf, a Mountain View, CA, company offering “NoSQL” database software intended for high-performance, data-intensive Web and mobile applications, came out of stealth mode today and said that it has collected $2 million in Series A venture funding from Alsop Louie Partners, Kalpathi Investments and Draper Associates. The money will be used “to enhance products, expand … Continue reading “Citrusleaf Launches with $2M”

Cisco to Acquire NewScale

Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: [[ticker:CSCO]]), the San Jose, CA-based networking equipment giant, said today that it intends to buy newScale, a San Mateo, CA-based company whose portal software helps IT departments in large organizations automate cloud services provisioning. “With the acquisition of newScale, Cisco will be able to accelerate the deployment of cloud services through a … Continue reading “Cisco to Acquire NewScale”

Salesforce.com Buys Radian6

Radian6, the social media monitoring company based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, will become part of San Francisco-based Salesforce.com (NYSE: [[ticker:CRM]]) in a deal worth roughly $326 million in cash and stock, Salesforce.com announced today. Radian6’s technology helps companies see how they’re being described on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other channels, and lets them … Continue reading “Salesforce.com Buys Radian6”

Citrusleaf Garners $2,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=743e08b3-6129-43e6-ae92-2d9bcf34aba8&Preview=1 Date 3/30/2011 Company Name Citrusleaf Mailing Address 444 Castro St. Mountain View, CA 94041 Company Description Citrusleaf 2.0 is in production use today, powering user-data storage solutions for real-time bidding for digital advertising. Common deployments are terabytes of data, billions of objects, and 100K- plus transactions per second with sub-millisecond latency. … Continue reading “Citrusleaf Garners $2,000,000 Series A Financing”

Screampoint Obtains Series C Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fe4aa02e-45ce-43ae-b999-9a9c589215cc&Preview=1 Date 3/30/2011 Company Name Screampoint Mailing Address 325 Sharon Park Dr. Menlo Park, CA 94025 Company Description Screampoint, a Sequoia Capital funded company, is a global leader in providing comprehensive 5D SMART(TM) technology; a unique, dynamic web application visualization platform (patents in process) that allows government officials, master developers and corporate … Continue reading “Screampoint Obtains Series C Financing Round”

Silicon Valley Veteran To Lead Ann Arbor SPARK

Ann Arbor is getting a fresh infusion of Silicon Valley. Ann Arbor SPARK, one of four business accelerators in Southeast Michigan, said Tuesday that it named Paul Krutko president and CEO. Krutko, previously the chief development officer for San Jose, CA., will replace Mike Finney, who’s now CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Krutko … Continue reading “Silicon Valley Veteran To Lead Ann Arbor SPARK”

VMIX Unveils Technology to Rent Videos on Facebook, Watch on a Variety of Web Devices

San Diego-based VMIX says today it is offering video rentals on Facebook. Its technology enables users to watch movies, TV programs, and other video on the social networking site—or on a smartphone, tablet, PC, or Internet-connected television. VMIX, a six-year-old startup that provides a technology platform for video streaming and content management, says VMIX Social … Continue reading “VMIX Unveils Technology to Rent Videos on Facebook, Watch on a Variety of Web Devices”

Anyleaf—Putting an End to the Old Supermarket Circular

Having a computer-science background, an appetite for risk, and an eye for solvable problems put you in a decent position be an Internet entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. But there’s also a downside to these traits. You wind up seeing all the flaws and inefficiencies in everyday things and wondering how you could use Web tools … Continue reading “Anyleaf—Putting an End to the Old Supermarket Circular”