Alan Frazier has been on record for a long time saying that the traditional biotech venture model is broken, and in severe need of updating. He’s been working on a new strategy for the past seven years or so, but the approach is facing its biggest test ever as Frazier prepares to raise his first … Continue reading “Frazier Healthcare Aims for First Biotech VC Fund After Financial Crisis”
Category: Boston
OpenView Labs Aims to Prime Portfolio Companies for Big Growth
“Money is money, anyone can do that,” says Brian Zimmerman, managing director of Boston-based OpenView Venture Partners. Go on. “We have this idea of providing real value to our portfolio companies. If we’re going to call ourselves partners, we really need to be partners.” he says. Plenty of venture capitalists say they like to take … Continue reading “OpenView Labs Aims to Prime Portfolio Companies for Big Growth”
Brass Monkey Obtains $750,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=15d238ed-a2a6-44fc-8ad0-3116208fd285&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name Brass Monkey Mailing Address 2 Harris Ave Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 Company Description Brass Monkey is video game console that uses smartphones as controllers and any screen with a web browser as the main display. Website http://www.playbrassmonkey.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $750,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed … Continue reading “Brass Monkey Obtains $750,000 New Financing Round”
SeeWhy Garners $1,449,943 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f452a223-d498-4d27-b36f-86f478353451&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name SeeWhy Mailing Address 10 Milk Street Andover, MA 02108 Company Description SeeWhy delivers breakthrough improvements in website conversion with its Abandonment Tracker family of “on demand” services. Re-marketing to abandoned visitors using the SeeWhy service re-converts up to 50% of visitors who abandon their shopping carts, online … Continue reading “SeeWhy Garners $1,449,943 New Funding Round”
On The Spot Systems Receives $750,000 Seed Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=99a17d76-749c-4a9a-807d-a8f451482491&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name On The Spot Systems Mailing Address 14 Buswell Park Newton, MA 02458 Company Description On The Spot Systems develops mobile data collection systems with a real-time business intelligence platform to enable businesses to gather customer insights, service feedback, and achieve field data collection needs wherever and whenever … Continue reading “On The Spot Systems Receives $750,000 Seed Funding”
Constant Contact Acquires CardStar for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3ad052a1-5f98-4133-88c4-a0c903201553&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name CardStar Mailing Address 110 Chauncy St. Boston, MA 02111 Company Description CardStar lets you easily store and quickly retrieve loyalty, reward and club membership cards, where they can be scanned directly from your screen at most merchants. Website http://www.mycardstar.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round … Continue reading “Constant Contact Acquires CardStar for Undisclosed Sum”
Community Engagement Lessons from the Travel Industry
Join MITX on a Thursday evening to learn what it takes to build a community that fosters customer engagement and drives purchases. Marketers from the travel industry, including TripAdvisor’s CMO, Barbara Messing, will share their experiences with content curation, community building, and increasing customer engagement and trust. Register here.
Tech Tuesday: Developers Wanted
MassTLC is hosting 2012’s first Tech Tuesday, an evening filled with networking and job opportunities with more than 15 technology organizations and startups. Learn what these companies are working on and meet other students and developers. Register here.
Five Questions on Tech in NYC for North Bridge VC Dayna Grayson
Dayna Grayson, principal at North Bridge Venture Partners in Waltham, MA, has been spending a lot of time in New York City of late. North Bridge wants to participate in the Big Apple’s technology renaissance, so Grayson has been spending one to two days a week scouting for investment opportunities. North Bridge’s New York investments … Continue reading “Five Questions on Tech in NYC for North Bridge VC Dayna Grayson”
Flagship, Joule, Constellation, and More of The Week’s Boston Dealmakers
Web startups, venture firms, life sciences companies, and a biofuels developer rounded out the deals news this week. —Cambridge, MA-based Flagship Ventures announced it had closed a $270 million fund, surpassing the $250 million it had originally targeted for its fourth fund. —Extreme Reach, a Needham, MA-based startup developing cloud storage technology for delivering video … Continue reading “Flagship, Joule, Constellation, and More of The Week’s Boston Dealmakers”
What Should Students Study? Read the Xconomist Report on Education
Yesterday Bob told you about a special report we put together by canvassing the Xconomists—some of the world’s leading innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors—for their thoughts on what students should study to be prepared for the future. Well, the report is now live, here, with 22 thought-provoking responses. Computing, the scientific method, culture, Chinese, and how to start … Continue reading “What Should Students Study? Read the Xconomist Report on Education”
The World is Your Campus: Study with Rigor, Be Entrepreneurial
Two trends are driving the current job market: globalization, where everybody is becoming part of the economy, and innovation, which increases productivity and allows fewer people to do the same jobs. These two trends will not slow down during the next few decades. How should students train in college to build careers under these conditions? … Continue reading “The World is Your Campus: Study with Rigor, Be Entrepreneurial”
Merging Hand and Mind
My pat answer is mathematics (the universal language), biology (in order to master non-linear, dynamic thinking especially related to complex systems and ecosystemic issues) and Chinese (since in 10 years Chinese will be even more important than it is today in both the commercial and scientific domains). But let’s peek around the corner. Both design … Continue reading “Merging Hand and Mind”
Critical Thinking and the Scientific Process First—Humanities Later
If luck favors the prepared mind, as Louis Pasteur is credited with saying, we’re in danger of becoming a very unlucky nation. Little of the material taught in schools today is relevant to the future. Consider all the science and economics that has been updated, the shifting theories of psychology, the programming languages, political theories, … Continue reading “Critical Thinking and the Scientific Process First—Humanities Later”
Turning Data into Meaning
More than anything, they should be studying math, including statistics and probability, and programming. No matter what the subject, we will have huge amounts of data about it, and will need these tools to get meaning from the data. The areas I’m thinking of include medicine, genetics, nutrition, and neuroscience; human behavior; energy management and … Continue reading “Turning Data into Meaning”
Not All Tech Companies Are Alike
From cloudy Seattle to the vast suburbs of Silicon Valley, we covered a lot of ground on MIT Sloan’s recent technology trek, which concluded with a leg in Boston. The first stop was Seattle where it was predictably raining. Visiting Amazon, Microsoft, and Adobe, we came away with an appreciation for how much tech activity … Continue reading “Not All Tech Companies Are Alike”
Learning Across Disciplines and Cultures
The world is only going to become more technological and more global in the next decade. Students should be getting a solid enough grounding in mathematics, probabilistic thinking, physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering that they understand these ways of thinking and the values of these fields. They also need a liberal arts grounding and, particularly, … Continue reading “Learning Across Disciplines and Cultures”
CS + X, for all X
The impact of information-based technologies will continue to grow—probably at an accelerating rate. In nearly every segment of society, we see both quality and productivity improvements because of increased use of automation and digital communication. The impact is obviously huge in some sectors such as finance and publishing. And it will only grow in the … Continue reading “CS + X, for all X”
From AI to Bioengineering
First of all, students should be studying what they are passionate about. Clearly, computer science will continue to spread into all aspects of human life. Within computer science, I believe machine learning and AI are perhaps the biggest study opportunity today. Biology and medicine are also undergoing vast changes. Personalized medicine will become a big … Continue reading “From AI to Bioengineering”
Study the Boomers!
The Who once sang, “I hope I die before I get old.” Despite their best efforts to exit the planet early, most of them didn’t. They and their fellow Baby Boomers represent the greatest technology and business opportunity of the 21st Century. It is typical for each of us to be drawn to areas for … Continue reading “Study the Boomers!”
The Convergence of Biology, Medicine, and Engineering
I think learning the fundamentals of a discipline is the most important thing that students can do to prepare themselves for jobs both today and tomorrow. That discipline may be biology, bioengineering, chemistry, chemical engineering or others. I also think doing research is great preparatory experience. Furthermore, I believe the opportunities offered by the convergence … Continue reading “The Convergence of Biology, Medicine, and Engineering”
Computing and-Chinese
My initial response to this question was, “Chinese!” I was only half joking. English is the most popular second language in the world and in our increasingly connected world, the people who have an understanding of other languages—particularly Chinese—will be better equipped. As far as computers go, I studied computer languages in school and even … Continue reading “Computing and-Chinese”
Writing, Literature, and Computer Science
Whether you major in it or not, a fairly non-trivial amount of computer science would be helpful. The other thing is communication. One of the main things we look for when we are hiring people is their ability to write. It’s something that the average person is pretty poor at, but so much of every … Continue reading “Writing, Literature, and Computer Science”
Anything They’re Passionate About
Anything that interests them and they are passionate about today. What they will need to know in 10 years does not exist now, given the exponential growth of knowledge.
Data Analysis and Sensing
How to sense and make sense of subtler factors that govern our behaviors, the choices we make as individuals and as part of groups. The point here is that there are some obvious physically measurable; things like body weight, miles driven, CO2 let out, around which we can develop diagnostics and policies. But these measurables … Continue reading “Data Analysis and Sensing”
Learn to Learn, and Embrace Serendipity
Here is my advice to students considering pursuing science: —Learn how to learn (science is progressing so rapidly that whatever field you are focused on today will inevitably be different 10 years from now) —Learn how to develop focused attention (i.e. avoid modern day distractions like Twitter) —Master multiple science disciplines—If you can bridge disciplines … Continue reading “Learn to Learn, and Embrace Serendipity”
Learn By Starting Things
Students should be studying how to start things-how to create and grow new products, initiatives, ventures, and enterprises-a skill set that never goes out of style and that is fundamental to our nation’s future well-being and prosperity. And the best way to learn how to start things is to actually try to start things-whether it … Continue reading “Learn By Starting Things”
Marrying the Humanities and the Sciences
Liberal science and technology. We need a new major that prepares the future workforce for constant change by teaching broad-based knowledge in many disciplines. This major would consist of, among other disciplines, the basics of engineering, biology, chemistry, physics, law, business, humanities and communications. This curriculum should be group-based, where students teach each other, which … Continue reading “Marrying the Humanities and the Sciences”
RaNA Raises $20.7M From Atlas, SR One, Monsanto, for RNA-Based Tech
Generations of high school kids have been taught that only about 3 percent of the human genome is actually useful—meaning it contains genes that code proteins—and the rest is “junk DNA.” Cambridge, MA-based RaNA Therapeutics was founded on the idea that the so-called junk is actually gold, because it contains a type of RNA that … Continue reading “RaNA Raises $20.7M From Atlas, SR One, Monsanto, for RNA-Based Tech”
Engaging “Productive Stupidity”
I recently came across an article in Cell Science that intrigued me and gets to the core of this question. The title—“The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research”—was reason alone to pique my curiosity. What I didn’t expect was to find a powerful insight into student learning in today’s highly uncertain world. Martin A. Schwartz, … Continue reading “Engaging “Productive Stupidity””
Be Students of Life
Themselves. Technology, markets, financial vehicles, business methodology, government regulations, entertainment, media, and so on, all aspects of our professions and our entire lives will change at a continuously increasing rate in perpetuity. Which technology, market, industry should I commit to? I don’t believe this is the most relevant question for a student. More relevant questions … Continue reading “Be Students of Life”
Biology 101
Biology 101 and beyond. I would take as much biology as possible, it’s exploding and changing faster than anyone could have expected. Especially our understanding of the “central dogma” itself, where RNA is playing a more critical role than ever thought before. WOW!
Culture, Science, and Problem Solving
As a father of two girls, I have actually been thinking about this quite a bit. In general, I want my kids to be prepared for a world that is going to be very, very different from the world I grew up in, largely due to the travel, communications, and the Internet. I would recommend … Continue reading “Culture, Science, and Problem Solving”
Meta-Processing
Both what we are teaching and learning, and how we are teaching and learning, are changing, very, very rapidly. The notion that there is a gold standard—a favored text or tome, a single subject-matter expert, or a single corporation with the single best practice, in any discipline—is really outdated. The ‘new normal’ is generation of … Continue reading “Meta-Processing”
Global Healthcare
College undergraduates today are faced with many choices of where to concentrate their studies. It is important to look down the road to determine where the major unmet needs of society will be. The healthcare industry offers many opportunities and challenges over the coming decades. As I look to the future of healthcare, there are … Continue reading “Global Healthcare”
RaNA Therapeutics Receives $20,700,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a8e68987-f9a2-4191-8a3c-45137754fe5c&Preview=1 Date 1/18/2012 Company Name RaNA Therapeutics Mailing Address 25 First Street Cambridge, MA 02141 Company Description RaNA was initially named IncRNA Inc., possibly a reference to intergenic non-coding RNA, the RNA that doesn’t make proteins but still performs a cellular function. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $20,700,000 Transaction … Continue reading “RaNA Therapeutics Receives $20,700,000 Series A Funding”
Xconomists Peer into the Future, Suggest How Students Should Prepare
[Updated, Jan. 18, 2012—The Xconomist Report on the Future of Education is live—click here.] As the presidential race picks up steam, you know that we will be hearing a lot—a lot more, that is—about the need to create jobs. But where will those jobs come from, and what fields are really likely to spur growth … Continue reading “Xconomists Peer into the Future, Suggest How Students Should Prepare”
Joule Socks Away $70M For New Mexico Green Fuel Facility
Joule Unlimited, a biofuels startup located in Bedford, MA, announced today that it has pocketed $70 million in financing to put toward a facility underway in Hobbs, NM, that will demonstrate Joule’s process for converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into fuels such as diesel and ethanol. The new money brings Joule’s funding total to more … Continue reading “Joule Socks Away $70M For New Mexico Green Fuel Facility”
1stdibs CEO Seeks Queries For VCs Wilson, Dagres at Xconomy Forum
Day in and day out, venture capitalists ask questions of entrepreneurs—some might say grill them. But on February 1, at Xconomy’s New York Venture Emergence forum, former DoubleClick CEO David Rosenblatt, who’s now CEO of luxury online marketplace 1stdibs and chairman/co-founder of Group Commerce, will help us turn the tables. Rosenblatt will be the moderator … Continue reading “1stdibs CEO Seeks Queries For VCs Wilson, Dagres at Xconomy Forum”
Genentech Pours $95M Into Constellation’s Drug Platform
Cambridge, MA-based Constellation Pharmaceuticals is announcing today that it has formed a major partnership with Roche’s Genentech unit, based in South San Francisco, to develop treatments for cancer and other diseases. The deal is worth $95 million to Constellation in the form of an up-front payment and research support over the next three years. Constellation—which … Continue reading “Genentech Pours $95M Into Constellation’s Drug Platform”
Reinventing the Board Part III: The Agenda
CEOs, investors, and board members frequently complain about ineffective board meetings. Steve Blank, Jeff Bussgang, Brad Feld, and Fred Wilson each have suggested board meetings could be improved by changing the format, process, or content. Having good meetings starts by having the right people in the room (as discussed in the first installment of this … Continue reading “Reinventing the Board Part III: The Agenda”
Sanofi CEO Viehbacher on Stirring Innovation in the Era of R&D Cutbacks
Chris Viehbacher has seen plenty of ideas come and go from people trying to shake up the pharma R&D model. No matter how much people have tried to fix things, it still takes a notorious amount of time, money, and risk to create new drugs. Now, as the CEO of Paris-based Sanofi (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]), Viehbacher … Continue reading “Sanofi CEO Viehbacher on Stirring Innovation in the Era of R&D Cutbacks”
Joule Unlimited Garners $70,000,000 Series C Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=aef6bbfc-aa1d-4ab5-877f-d7257a41e6fa&Preview=1 Date 1/17/2012 Company Name Joule Unlimited Mailing Address 83 Rogers St. Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description Joule is pioneering the production of Liquid Fuel from the Sun, surpassing today’s barriers to abundant, sustainable, cost-competitive supply. Website http://www.jouleunlimited.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $70,000,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes The … Continue reading “Joule Unlimited Garners $70,000,000 Series C Funding Round”
JP Morgan: Where the Boys Are…And Not the Girls
I set off for five straight days at the annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference last Monday, but on the way drove the carpool to my daughter’s high school that morning in a last ditch attempt to act like a responsible and caring parent. My poor daughter gets completely abandoned during JP Morgan week every year … Continue reading “JP Morgan: Where the Boys Are…And Not the Girls”
Five Companies Making Noise: ByteLight, HeyWire, Rapid7, Tap Lab, & Vivox
Heading into the holiday weekend, I thought I’d pull out a few highlights from recent discussions I’ve had with some Boston-area tech companies that are generating buzz. None of them will be taking the holiday off, I’m guessing. So here’s a snapshot of five companies in different fields, and at different stages (with some common … Continue reading “Five Companies Making Noise: ByteLight, HeyWire, Rapid7, Tap Lab, & Vivox”
With TV App, Dijit Hopes to Ride Out the Coming Apple Revolution in TV
I have a lot of Apple gear, and I’m pretty happy with it. There’s just one problem. The better Apple’s stuff gets, the less patience I have for everyone else’s clunky hardware and software. Televisions and all the boxes we hook up to them are the worst offenders. No two TV manufacturers or set-top-box makers … Continue reading “With TV App, Dijit Hopes to Ride Out the Coming Apple Revolution in TV”
How to Turn a Mobile Health Application into a Real Business
2011 has been a big year for health sciences technology and, specifically, mobile health. Venture capital investors, looking for the next big thing, are beginning to invest in companies developing mobile applications in the health and wellness sector. Smartphones are making new health care applications feasible, and one doesn’t have to look far to see … Continue reading “How to Turn a Mobile Health Application into a Real Business”
The Boston Life Sciences Newsmakers: Civitas, Blend, Forma, & More
Development deals, clinical advances, startup funding, and new hires made up the New England life sciences news this week. —Chelsea, MA-based Civitas Therapeutics, a spinout from the Waltham, MA, biotech Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]), said that its inhaled form of the Parkinson’s disease drug L-dopa performed well in a Phase 1 clinical trial. The study aimed … Continue reading “The Boston Life Sciences Newsmakers: Civitas, Blend, Forma, & More”
PlatformQ Obtains $2,400,000 Series B Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6fcb18ea-d827-4091-91b1-616b3a748d95&Preview=1 Date 1/13/2012 Company Name PlatformQ Mailing Address 100 Crescent Road Needham, MA 02494 Company Description PlatformQ is the leading producer of live online events for audiences from 500 to 50,000. PlatformQ brings attendees, thought leaders, and product and service providers together in engaging interactive environments. PlatformQ provide marketers with measurable, targeted, … Continue reading “PlatformQ Obtains $2,400,000 Series B Funding”
Extreme Reach Obtains $9,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e389cb06-c50e-4461-ac4f-908fb382b005&Preview=1 Date 1/13/2012 Company Name Extreme Reach Mailing Address 75 2nd Avenue Needham, MA 02494 Company Description Our video advertising technology platform enables advertisers and agencies to manage, execute and track video campaigns across all video mediums (broadcast, cable, online publishing, mobile, VOD). Unlike other platforms, Extreme Reach provides a single-source solution … Continue reading “Extreme Reach Obtains $9,000,000 New Financing”