Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=927a4ca1-d4a8-4f58-ad51-caae2d48792b Date 10/8/2014 Company Name Proteostasis Therapeutics Mailing Address 200 Technology Square 4th Floor Cambridge, MA 02139 USA Company Description Proteostasis Therapeutics is discovering and developing novel small molecule therapeutics designed to control the body’s Proteostasis Network, which maintains the body’s natural protein homeostasis to protect us from numerous diseases. Website http://www.proteostasis.com … Continue reading “Proteostasis Therapeutics Garners $5,000,000 New Financing Round”
Category: Boston
MiniLuxe Secures $23,000,000 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=75f1d1a9-6d8a-4289-9e2b-d39dc820dd89 Date 10/8/2014 Company Name MiniLuxe Mailing Address 296 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02115 USA Company Description Taking care of yourself is about more than just looking good. It’s about feeling good. A mini-respite at MiniLuxe provides the me time you need to be your best self. Website http://www.miniluxe.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “MiniLuxe Secures $23,000,000 Series C Round”
Catch Google “Big Picture” Data Leader Viégas at The Tech Agenda
The big idea behind our next big innovation conference, the Tech Agenda 2015, is deceptively simple. Get a bunch of smart people who are building the future of their industries. Separate the brilliant from the bogus, and find out what’s really driving change in technology, business, and society. Wrap it all up with bold predictions for what you should pay attention to—or … Continue reading “Catch Google “Big Picture” Data Leader Viégas at The Tech Agenda”
Food Tech Startup Pantry Labs Taps RFID for Smart Vending Machine
Anybody who has searched for dinner in a vending machine at work or in a hospital knows how unappealing the typical choices of candy bars and snack foods can be. Using hyped-then-forgotten RFID technology, Pantry Labs has developed a smart refrigerator that makes fresh food available to consumers who can’t get to a restaurant or … Continue reading “Food Tech Startup Pantry Labs Taps RFID for Smart Vending Machine”
So Far, Little Proof That Digital Health Is Healthy. Does It Matter?
Digital health is popular among investors, there’s no doubt. But is it good for us? Products such as fitness wristbands and online wellness coaching are generating buzz, and as a techno-skeptic I often roll my eyes at the trendy accessories and general assumption that life is easier online. Meanwhile, the funding keeps rolling in. Through … Continue reading “So Far, Little Proof That Digital Health Is Healthy. Does It Matter?”
Smart-Bug Maker Synlogic Nabs $5M From Gates Foundation
Synlogic, one of the newer biotech startups to come out of Cambridge, MA, already strung together nearly $30 million when it announced its launch in July. Now it’s topping off that round with some financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help tackle some of the world’s bigger health problems. Synlogic says … Continue reading “Smart-Bug Maker Synlogic Nabs $5M From Gates Foundation”
What Seattle Needs (Part 2): Dealing With Amgen’s Upcoming Departure
Reality bites: Amgen’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]) decision to leave Washington state is a serious blow to our local bioscience ecosystem. Those who think that all of those people who got laid off (or choose not to relocate) will be able to find biopharma jobs here in Seattle are kidding themselves. Our community is not large and … Continue reading “What Seattle Needs (Part 2): Dealing With Amgen’s Upcoming Departure”
Synlogic Lands $5,000,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6b5415d4-af1e-47ac-907d-c2473b049fe0 Date 10/7/2014 Company Name Synlogic Mailing Address 25 First Street Cambridge, MA 02141 USA Company Description Synlogic leverages the most advanced technology platform available for the creation of synthetically engineered, therapeutic microbes with the potential to make significant advancements in the treatment of disease. Website http://www.synlogictx.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Synlogic Lands $5,000,000 Series A Financing”
East Coast Biotech Roundup: Intarcia, Atlas, Visterra, & More
The oft-trodden path for a startup biotech is to aim for either a buyout or an IPO—or at minimum, a partnership with a big pharmaceutical company—before dealing with the hefty price tag of a Phase 3 study. One local biotech, however, took on the risk of bucking that trend—and succeeded. That story and much more … Continue reading “East Coast Biotech Roundup: Intarcia, Atlas, Visterra, & More”
Grove Labs Builds a High-Tech Indoor Gardening Box
If you’re into locally grown organic food and it’s January in Boston, your options are pretty limited. Startup Grove Labs wants to bring the farm to you, using technology to make indoor gardening more productive. The Somerville, MA-based company recently began testing prototypes of its “groves,” or indoor growing boxes, and is currently working on … Continue reading “Grove Labs Builds a High-Tech Indoor Gardening Box”
Taking a Hachette to Amazon in the Market for Dead Trees
There’s a strange battle going on right now. Weird enough to fit into the science fiction and fantasy section of your local bookstore, but with enough intrigue to make for a good thriller. One of the big five traditional New York publishing houses, Hachette, is mired in a guerrilla campaign against mega online retailer Amazon. … Continue reading “Taking a Hachette to Amazon in the Market for Dead Trees”
What Seattle Needs (Part 1): “Semi-Successful” Biotech Companies
I know what you’re thinking: that’s a pretty strange headline. Why would a city want to attract or build companies that are only “semi-successful?” Wouldn’t it want companies that are flourishing or expanding rapidly? Actually, here in Seattle, we don’t. Semi-successful companies are exactly what we need here as the river of economic change washes … Continue reading “What Seattle Needs (Part 1): “Semi-Successful” Biotech Companies”
Innovation Hub: Niche Social Networks
When most people think of social networks, they think of Facebook. But apart from Mark Zuckerberg’s behemoth, which has 1.3 billion active users at last count, we’re seeing a rise in niche-based online communities, tailored to our personal or professional interests. Gina Bianchini is an expert on building custom social networks. She started Ning with … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: Niche Social Networks”
Why This Tesla Motors Co-founder Loves Electric Garbage Trucks
Ian Wright designed what may be one of the coolest street-legal cars of all time: the electric X1 looked like a Formula 1 racecar and went from zero to 60 in a breathtaking 2.9 seconds. Now, though, all Wright wants to talk about is trucks, especially the workaday delivery trucks and garbage trucks that ply city … Continue reading “Why This Tesla Motors Co-founder Loves Electric Garbage Trucks”
Inside eBay, Decide.com Team Leads Seller Insights, Startup Outreach
I’m in the market for a new refrigerator. A little more than a year ago, I would have turned to Decide.com, the Seattle startup that crunched review and pricing data from the Web to help shoppers know what and when to buy. It was acquired by eBay in September of last year and this extremely … Continue reading “Inside eBay, Decide.com Team Leads Seller Insights, Startup Outreach”
Leveling Information Silos in the Workplace
Today’s mobile device technology has made it possible for both professionals and consumers to have nearly all of the information they need right at their fingertips. Moreover, the types of information now available to them are limitless—it could be work e-mail, travel itineraries, social media updates, or even the answer to that trivia question that’s … Continue reading “Leveling Information Silos in the Workplace”
Atlas Venture Splits: A Sharp Change in Less Than 18 Months
Since closing its ninth fund in mid-2013, Boston-area venture capital firm Atlas Venture has seen big changes in its personnel roster and scored some notable returns on its investments. Today, the firm announced even bigger news: It’s splitting its life sciences and IT business, sending the tech investors off to form a new, still-unnamed fund sometime next year. … Continue reading “Atlas Venture Splits: A Sharp Change in Less Than 18 Months”
“Downstream Solar” Heats up, Consolidates with Pure Energies Buy
Power company NRG Energy acquired startup Pure Energies today to accelerate its push into residential solar, a sign of how software is becoming increasingly important to the solar industry. Princeton, NJ-based NRG Energy today announced it bought Toronto-based Pure Energies for an undisclosed price to get access to its Web-based system for determining whether a … Continue reading ““Downstream Solar” Heats up, Consolidates with Pure Energies Buy”
The Second Xconomy Boston Healthcare Summit: Request An Invitation
A lot has happened in healthcare over the past year. For starters, Healthcare.gov, the federal website for buying insurance under the Affordable Care Act, has gone up, crashed and burned, and been resurrected. For many, so has the possibility of affordable healthcare for the masses. For many others, not so much. Meanwhile, though, digital health … Continue reading “The Second Xconomy Boston Healthcare Summit: Request An Invitation”
Sourcewater Builds an eBay for Recycling Fracking Water
Entrepreneur Josh Adler was attending a lecture on fracking at MIT’s Sloan School of Management when the magnitude of the domestic oil and gas boom hit him. Like many Americans, he had no idea that fracking had exploded—there’s on the order of 20 times more drilling with fracking—in just the last six years. “I just … Continue reading “Sourcewater Builds an eBay for Recycling Fracking Water”
Wayfair Raises $319M in Quiet IPO Market, Leads Way Nationally
[Updated, 4:30pm. See below] Twelve years in the making, Boston e-commerce company Wayfair will be publicly traded as of today. The online retailer of furniture and home goods priced its initial public offering at $29 a share (above the projected range of $25-28) and sold 11 million shares, bringing in $319 million. Wayfair is valued … Continue reading “Wayfair Raises $319M in Quiet IPO Market, Leads Way Nationally”
MedAware Garners $1,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4fcf3368-8d23-47d1-ab4a-aa473bea9a39 Date 10/2/2014 Company Name MedAware Mailing Address 5 Sparks Avenue Nantucket, MA 02554 USA Company Description MedAware creates a safety net for healthcare professionals. Our software solutions save lives and reduce cost by identifying and preventing prescription errors in real-time. Website http://www.medaware.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “MedAware Garners $1,000,000 New Financing”
Visterra Obtains $30,000,000 Series B Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f90574ae-d9a1-4090-ba06-d866e6079876 Date 10/2/2014 Company Name Visterra Mailing Address One Kendall Square Cambridge, MA 02139 USA Company Description Visterra, Inc. is dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative products for the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of infectious diseases. The Company focuses on technologies that can interrogate how pathogens interact with human cells, … Continue reading “Visterra Obtains $30,000,000 Series B Funding”
Twitter Bankrolls MIT Research with $10M, Wide-Open Data Access
MIT is mining its close connections with the technology industry to build a new research lab that hopes to harness social media for the public good. Twitter says it’s committing $10 million to sponsor social-media research at the renowned university and giving it access to the two most coveted streams of Twitter data: its “firehose” of real-time tweets and the entire archive of every … Continue reading “Twitter Bankrolls MIT Research with $10M, Wide-Open Data Access”
Circle’s Bitcoin Service is Free—But Someone’s Gotta Pay
If bitcoin goes mainstream, companies like Circle Internet Financial will probably lead the way. The Boston-based startup isn’t banking on techno-libertarian visions of a unregulated financial system. Instead, Circle is hoping to bring the emerging digital currency trend to everyday consumers by giving it the familiar feel of online banking, complete with trusted-middleman protections. The … Continue reading “Circle’s Bitcoin Service is Free—But Someone’s Gotta Pay”
Alios’s Corporate Venture Backers Ride RSV (And Hep C) To Big Payday
The venture arms of Big Pharma have helped hold up early stage biotech funding the past few years. The acquisition of Alios BioPharma, announced Tuesday, could be the biggest win yet for that group. Alios, a South San Francisco, CA-based developer of antiviral drugs, went to Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: … Continue reading “Alios’s Corporate Venture Backers Ride RSV (And Hep C) To Big Payday”
Xconomy Boston’s Top Stories of Q3 2014: Editor’s Picks
It’s the start of a new quarter: time to look back on some of our top stories from July to September. A lot has happened in the Boston-area innovation scene, and this fall is shaping up to be a doozy. This installment of editor’s picks spans tech, life sciences, and energy. The stories concern some … Continue reading “Xconomy Boston’s Top Stories of Q3 2014: Editor’s Picks”
One Week to Boston’s Life Science Disruptors—Check Out the Agenda
It’s just one week to our annual fall biotech event—where the founders and lead investors of three of Boston’s hottest companies share their stories of trying to build great companies out to make a real difference in people’s health. The event is called Boston’s Life Science Disruptors. And in this case, the stories are from … Continue reading “One Week to Boston’s Life Science Disruptors—Check Out the Agenda”
Cognoptix Secures $15,000,000 Series D Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=509c06c5-2a27-443a-a467-44afd7ce768c Date 10/1/2014 Company Name Cognoptix Mailing Address 20 Main Street Acton, MA 01720 USA Company Description Cognoptix, a medical technology company, is focused on developing and commercializing an in-office, drug/device diagnostic system as an aid in the early detection of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Website http://www.cognoptix.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Cognoptix Secures $15,000,000 Series D Funding”
SproutsIO’s Microfarming Units Can Turn Your Apartment Into a Garden
I often say that moving to Detroit was the best decision I made last decade, but there is one thing I left behind that I constantly pine for: My garden. There’s a beautiful, well-tended community garden in my neighborhood, but good luck getting a spot in it—nobody ever gives theirs up. Apartment rules prevent me … Continue reading “SproutsIO’s Microfarming Units Can Turn Your Apartment Into a Garden”
Well-Traveled Rhodes Leaves Epizyme For Atlas Venture Partnership
One month after his resignation from Epizyme was announced, Jason Rhodes says he’s becoming a partner at Atlas Venture. At Cambridge, MA-based Epizyme, Rhodes was chief financial officer and president as he helped the firm turn its exploration of epigenetics, a cutting-edge area of biomedical science, into a clinical pipeline and a spot on the NASDAQ. Epizyme … Continue reading “Well-Traveled Rhodes Leaves Epizyme For Atlas Venture Partnership”
Ex-Elan Trio Grabs Their Former Employer’s Kinase Inhibitor Program
Elan lives on. No, former CEO Kelly Martin isn’t swooping back in his infamous corporate jet. Elan was a high-profile Irish-American biotech that created the multiple sclerosis treatment natalizumab (Tysabri), developed the promising but unsuccessful Alzheimer’s treatment bapineuzumab, and built a billion-dollar drug-delivery business. But a long boil of shareholder discontent over management practices (the … Continue reading “Ex-Elan Trio Grabs Their Former Employer’s Kinase Inhibitor Program”
East Coast Biotech Roundup: GliaCure, Civitas, T2, & More
Biotechs have been parading into the public markets at a record-setting pace over the past few years, particularly in Boston. But one local startup decided against independence at the last minute this week, choosing M&A, and a definitive payout for its shareholders, instead. We’ve got that story and plenty more in a packed week on … Continue reading “East Coast Biotech Roundup: GliaCure, Civitas, T2, & More”
Innovation Hub: Techies Fix Government
No one had heard of Mike Krieger when he responded to a call to organize San Francisco’s crime data. He was in his early 20s, working on his coding, and he created an app to help visitors and city-dwellers alike know when they had entered a high-crime area. A few years later, Krieger and a … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: Techies Fix Government”
PPD Acquires Drug Discovery Startup X-Chem
Contract research organization PPD has acquired biotechnology startup X-Chem, buying the remaining shares of the company that it did not already own a little more than a month before its option to acquire that stake expired. Waltham, MA-based X-Chem has a drug discovery platform that includes a proprietary library of compounds, as well as drug … Continue reading “PPD Acquires Drug Discovery Startup X-Chem”
Blessed By Angels, GliaCure Tests New Alzheimer’s Approach In Humans
Giant pharmaceutical companies have spent billions of dollars trying to crack Alzheimer’s disease, only to come up empty time after time. For small, cash-strapped biotechs, the challenge is even harder. Tufts University professor Philip Haydon is trying to make the improbable journey anyway. Haydon has created GliaCure, a tiny startup run out of his Boston … Continue reading “Blessed By Angels, GliaCure Tests New Alzheimer’s Approach In Humans”
Cohealo Secures $3,100,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6c74dd21-e662-4126-b972-7c278b6a45d1 Date 9/26/2014 Company Name Cohealo Mailing Address 109 State Street 2nd Floor Boston, MA 02109 USA Company Description Cohealo provides our partners, healthcare providers and facilities, a software platform and a logistics service that optimizes the consumption of their medical equipment. Our clients utilize us to drive incremental case revenue, cost … Continue reading “Cohealo Secures $3,100,000 New Funding Round”
Baidu’s Push into AI Hints at Why Google Loves Robots
One of the big mysteries in the tech industry is why Google has acquired eight robot companies. The activity of Baidu—Google’s main rival in China—in artificial intelligence suggests that tech companies’ interest in robotics could be motivated as much by software as hardware. Baidu believes that in five years, half of all Internet searches will … Continue reading “Baidu’s Push into AI Hints at Why Google Loves Robots”
The Risks and Opportunities in a Startup: Age 0-2 Years
It’s a great time to start a tech company. The economy is recovering. The business opportunities are immense. And thanks to the boom in seed investments and crowd-funding it’s easier than ever to raise money for the business. Meanwhile, cloud computing has leveled the playing field by minimizing upfront costs, while social media has made … Continue reading “The Risks and Opportunities in a Startup: Age 0-2 Years”
Centage Receives $9,500,000 Series A Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0c8a40af-a72e-41c5-b3ad-17c36d754fdc Date 9/25/2014 Company Name Centage Mailing Address 24 Prime Parkway Natick, MA 01760 USA Company Description Centage Corporation is the world leader in automated, budgeting and planning software solutions for small to medium-sized organizations. Website http://www.centage.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $9,500,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes The cash … Continue reading “Centage Receives $9,500,000 Series A Financing Round”
Accuris Networks Secures $15,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6b0b09b6-1b75-422f-808b-4d7632e85a90 Date 9/25/2014 Company Name Accuris Networks Mailing Address 4 Meadowview Road Boston, MA 02043 USA Company Description The AccuROAM platform is designed to enable Communication Service Providers to have integrated and disruptive solutions by connecting current and emerging mobile broadband networks such as GSM CDMA, LTE and Wi-Fi , which includes … Continue reading “Accuris Networks Secures $15,000,000 New Financing Round”
HCA Acquires PatientKeeper for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=122364ea-ff3e-4183-ad71-e0bcab1c01f3 Date 9/25/2014 Company Name PatientKeeper Mailing Address 880 Winter Street Waltham, MA 02451 USA Company Description PatientKeeper, Inc. provides physicians with software that delivers clinical and financial benefits. Only PatientKeeper is designed to support a physician through the entire day. Website http://www.patientkeeper.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds … Continue reading “HCA Acquires PatientKeeper for Undisclosed Sum”
Zendesk CEO Mikkel Svane on IPO Honeymoon, Wisconsin Growth
Zendesk’s first two employees hired in Madison, WI, were originally supposed to relocate to the company’s San Francisco headquarters. They never ended up moving. After several months, co-founder and CEO Mikkel Svane took notice of the small Midwestern city’s strong talent pool, budding startup community, and humble, hard-working culture that reminds him of his home … Continue reading “Zendesk CEO Mikkel Svane on IPO Honeymoon, Wisconsin Growth”
Dmitry Grishin Talks Ugly Robots and Mistakes Hardware Startups Make
Robots may be tiptoeing closer to the mainstream, but they have some ways to go before they are in every household. Dmitry Grishin, a prominent tech investor, sees big potential in startups building robots for the consumer market—if they come up with appealing designs and clear other hurdles. “Nobody will buy ugly robots,” he says. … Continue reading “Dmitry Grishin Talks Ugly Robots and Mistakes Hardware Startups Make”
Peter Thiel to Harvard MBAs: Value Mission Over Money
Investor Peter Thiel took his book promotion tour to Harvard Business School last week, predicting the university will be safe from online college degrees and advising entrepreneurs to drive toward a goal besides making money. In an on-stage interview, Thiel recapped some of the arguments in his book Zero to One: the most successful businesses … Continue reading “Peter Thiel to Harvard MBAs: Value Mission Over Money”
Alkermes Spinoff Civitas, Poised for IPO, Sells to Acorda for $525M
Civitas Therapeutics was all set to become the latest in the long line of biotechs in 2014 to go public. Then, apparently, it got an offer from Ardsley, NY-based Acorda Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACOR]]) that it couldn’t refuse. Acorda today agreed to pay $525 million in cash to acquire Civitas, the Chelsea, MA-based company developing an … Continue reading “Alkermes Spinoff Civitas, Poised for IPO, Sells to Acorda for $525M”
The Story Behind GrabCAD’s Acquisition: MakerBot, Motives, & More
The price was reportedly $100 million in cash, but the reasons are always personal. I’m talking about startup acquisitions—in this case, 3D printing giant Stratasys swooping in and buying Cambridge, MA-based GrabCAD, a maker of design software and convener of mechanical engineers. The deal closed Tuesday. Back in January, I put GrabCAD on my short … Continue reading “The Story Behind GrabCAD’s Acquisition: MakerBot, Motives, & More”
Merrimack, Baxter Ink $970M+ Deal for Pancreatic Cancer Drug
It’s been an up and down year for Merrimack Pharmaceuticals. On one hand, the Cambridge, MA-based company succeeded in a Phase 3 trial in the notoriously tough field of pancreatic cancer, and has a chance to win FDA approval for its first drug, MM-398. On the other hand, Merrimack lost Sanofi as a partner for … Continue reading “Merrimack, Baxter Ink $970M+ Deal for Pancreatic Cancer Drug”
Olin College President Rick Miller on Reengineering Engineering
[Corrected, 9/26/14. See below] Every day in business, we hear how technology is disrupting the old guard. Uber disrupts the cab industry. Airbnb disrupts hotels, and so on. And in education, MOOCs (massively open online courses) are supposedly upending education. But let’s take the case of education. What about non-technology disruptions? What about new ways … Continue reading “Olin College President Rick Miller on Reengineering Engineering”
Corindus Vascular Robotics Obtains $26,666,425 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=16741199-046b-4ec1-9f4a-da044d812b6d Date 9/24/2014 Company Name Corindus Vascular Robotics Mailing Address 309 Waverley Oaks Road Waltham, MA 02452 USA Company Description Corindus provides intuitive robotic technologies for catheterization laboratories and radiology/special procedure suites. Website http://www.corindus.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $26,666,425 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC … Continue reading “Corindus Vascular Robotics Obtains $26,666,425 New Financing Round”