Category: Boston

UsTrendy Receives $1,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=175e43f2-591c-494f-8217-de7392598736&Preview=1 Date 5/9/2011 Company Name UsTrendy Mailing Address Undisclosed Cambridge, MA 02421 Company Description The company provides an online independent fashion marketplace. Website http://www.UsTrendy.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Draper Associates

How Do You Like to Get Your Xconomy Content? Check Out Our New Look on Facebook

Facebook, for me at least, has mainly been about looking for newly updated photos of my two-year-old nephew who lives two time zones away in the Midwest. But I’m well aware this isn’t a mainstream point of view, and that many of the online social network’s 600 million global users really like to get their … Continue reading “How Do You Like to Get Your Xconomy Content? Check Out Our New Look on Facebook”

The News Embargo Is Dead. TechCrunch Killed It. Let’s Move On.

My passion is for storytelling, and the stories that fascinate me most are about new technologies, how they’re brought into being, and how they’re changing everyday life. But there’s a wrinkle that’s been distracting me from doing my best work and getting it out to the readers who will appreciate it most. It’s called the … Continue reading “The News Embargo Is Dead. TechCrunch Killed It. Let’s Move On.”

A Rundown of Can’t-Miss Boston-Area Innovation Events: MIT Sloan CIO, MassTLC, Angel Bootcamp, XSITE, and More

[Updated 5/8/11. See below] It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of events, it was the age of allergies, it was the epoch of objectivity, it was the epoch of PR and self-promotion, it was the season of writing stories, it was the season of prescription … Continue reading “A Rundown of Can’t-Miss Boston-Area Innovation Events: MIT Sloan CIO, MassTLC, Angel Bootcamp, XSITE, and More”

GroupMe Acquires Sensobi for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0cb34924-1f6e-4997-91ca-8eea9b6dc2d7&Preview=1 Date 5/6/2011 Company Name Sensobi Mailing Address Undisclosed Cambridge, MA 02451 Company Description The company has created applications that analyze a user’s phone calls, e-mails and text messages and displays a ranking of the people that a person communicates with. Website http://www.sensobi.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds … Continue reading “GroupMe Acquires Sensobi for Undisclosed Sum”

Sensobi Acquired by GroupMe for Group Texting

Cambridge, MA-based Sensobi, a startup that makes an address book for the BlackBerry, has been acquired by New York-based GroupMe. Financial terms of the deal weren’t given. Sensobi started in 2009 and was a member of the inaugural class of TechStars Boston. Its co-founders, Ajay Kulkarni and Andy Cheung, have joined GroupMe, itself a mobile-messaging … Continue reading “Sensobi Acquired by GroupMe for Group Texting”

PerkinElmer Acquires Geospiza, Beefing Up Software for DNA Analysis

Geospiza has been around the block a time or two in the bioinformatics business, and now after 14 years in the game, it has come to the end of the road. The Seattle-based company, which makes software for scientists who analyze data from genetic experiments, said today it has agreed to be acquired by Waltham, … Continue reading “PerkinElmer Acquires Geospiza, Beefing Up Software for DNA Analysis”

Harvard Innovation Lab Head, Gordon Jones, Talks Goals and Challenges in Creating the Newest Incubator in Town

He says he is “part entrepreneur, part educator…part ambassador, part politician.” Who is this masked man? He’s Gordon Jones, the inaugural director of the Harvard Innovation Lab, and until last week many people in the startup community might not have known who he was. I’m just starting to get to know him, having talked with … Continue reading “Harvard Innovation Lab Head, Gordon Jones, Talks Goals and Challenges in Creating the Newest Incubator in Town”

Vertex Signs Boston Lease

Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals will be known as Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the not so distant future. The biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) said today it has signed a 15-year lease to occupy new labs and offices being built at Boston’s Fan Pier, according to a regulatory filing. The lease will take effect when the buildings … Continue reading “Vertex Signs Boston Lease”

Amidst Google Lawsuits, Skyhook Sees Victories With App Developer Deals and Press on Privacy Concerns—And Isn’t Looking to be Acquired Just Yet

It’s no secret that some big West Coast players have shown interest in Boston’s homegrown mobile technology lately. In the past few weeks, San Jose, CA-based eBay (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EBAY]]) has bought Where, a location-based mobile advertising and recommendations provider, and mobile payments startup Fig Card, to roll into its PayPal division. But Boston-based Skyhook Wireless … Continue reading “Amidst Google Lawsuits, Skyhook Sees Victories With App Developer Deals and Press on Privacy Concerns—And Isn’t Looking to be Acquired Just Yet”

Jumptap Confirms $25M Financing for Mobile Ads

Cambridge, MA-based Jumptap, a maker of mobile advertising software, said today it has raised $25 million from new and existing investors. The new investors were not disclosed, but AllianceBernstein, General Catalyst, Redpoint Ventures, Summerhill Ventures, Valhalla Partners, WPP, and Cyber Communications are among the firm’s previous backers. About a month ago, Xconomy (and other outlets) … Continue reading “Jumptap Confirms $25M Financing for Mobile Ads”

Zipcar Cofounder Robin Chase Bids Adieu to U.S., Launches Car Sharing Startup in France

Oh là là. Pronouncing the European market far more primed for a transportation revolution than the U.S., Zipcar cofounder Robin Chase has quietly left GoLoco, her Cambridge, MA-based ride sharing company, to fend for itself and launched a car sharing startup in Paris. Called Buzzcar, the company began pilot testing in two French cities a … Continue reading “Zipcar Cofounder Robin Chase Bids Adieu to U.S., Launches Car Sharing Startup in France”

Welltok Obtains $1,727,288 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=eba43352-c8a4-4c88-bce2-8899738aa6f7&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2011 Company Name Welltok Mailing Address 6 Samson Rock Dr. Madison, CT 06443 Company Description Our social platform allows health plans to rapidly participate in the health care community in a new and powerful way, thus strengthening engagement and collaboration with their members. Website http://www.Welltok.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Welltok Obtains $1,727,288 New Funding”

I’mOK Obtains $250,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4bcf8a54-5347-43ce-bf3f-a061db7323b1&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2011 Company Name I’mOK Mailing Address 62 Lyons Plains Road Westport, CT 06880 Company Description I’mOK was founded in October 2010, animated by the idea that we could use technology to improve family life and the quality of the communication we have with our kids. Website http://www.imok.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “I’mOK Obtains $250,000 New Funding”

Helium Secures $10,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fa30c740-689c-457f-85c7-0dda00e2537a&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2011 Company Name Helium Mailing Address 200 Brickstone Square Andover, MA 01810 Company Description Helium is the online destination to learn what you need and share what you know. Helium goes beyond search, bringing together real advice from real people on a wide variety of topics. Helium combines citizen journalism … Continue reading “Helium Secures $10,000,000 New Funding”

Sophos Acquires Astaro for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8c2d7e42-5d1e-4898-85a6-f4a37d5eae2f&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2011 Company Name Astaro Mailing Address 260 Fordham Rd Wilmington, MA 01887 Company Description The company delivers Network Assurance appliances to secure networks for businesses worldwide. Website http://www.astaro.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

RPX, Defensive Patent Firm, Goes from Zero to $160M IPO in Less than Three Years—Thoughts from Boston Investor CRV

As examples of ultra-fast growth in the tech world, people like to talk about Groupon and Zynga. While they are phenomenal success stories, neither of those companies is publicly traded yet—nor, for that matter, are Twitter or Facebook. Well, how about a different kind of tech company that started in 2008 and held its IPO … Continue reading “RPX, Defensive Patent Firm, Goes from Zero to $160M IPO in Less than Three Years—Thoughts from Boston Investor CRV”

Varian Bought By Applied Materials

Santa Clara, CA-based Applied Materials (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMAT]]) said today it was buying Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VSEA]]), a Gloucester,MA-based provider of ion implantation products for semiconductor chips, in a definitive merger agreement, paying $63 per share in cash. The $4.9 billion transaction represents a 38 percent premium on Varian’s 30 day average closing stock price, and … Continue reading “Varian Bought By Applied Materials”

Toyota Invests in WiTricity, Gambling.com Goes for $2.5M on Sedo, eBay Buys FigCard to Roll Into PayPal, & More Boston-Area Deals News

Acquisitions and financing headlines were prominent this week for companies in the Web, mobile, and enterprise IT spaces. —TA Associates and Summit Partners, growth equity firms with offices in Boston and Silicon Valley, nabbed a controlling share of the Germany-based online gaming company Bigpoint, by investing $350 million in recapitalization financing. Previous Bigpoint shareholder Comcast … Continue reading “Toyota Invests in WiTricity, Gambling.com Goes for $2.5M on Sedo, eBay Buys FigCard to Roll Into PayPal, & More Boston-Area Deals News”

Charles River VC, a $300M Investor in Intellectual Ventures, Says Patents Are Huge Market, Not a “Dirty World”

Quick, which Boston- and San Francisco-area venture firm has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the burgeoning—and controversial—market of intellectual property and patent protection over the past five years? If you said Charles River Ventures, you are correct. In fact, CRV is the only big venture investor behind Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue, WA-based firm … Continue reading “Charles River VC, a $300M Investor in Intellectual Ventures, Says Patents Are Huge Market, Not a “Dirty World””

PlumChoice Lands $25,600,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1213ca2b-cc29-4627-a97e-477fe65da95a&Preview=1 Date 5/4/2011 Company Name PlumChoice Mailing Address 5 Federal Street Billerica, MA 01821 Company Description PlumChoice’s premium remote computer and technology service is available to home and business PC users, business travelers, telecommuters, college students, persons with limited mobility and any PC user with Internet access. The company’s remote services include … Continue reading “PlumChoice Lands $25,600,000 New Funding”

SustainX Garners $5,600,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=517c8957-6151-4ecc-813e-8afb59644b11&Preview=1 Date 5/4/2011 Company Name SustainX Mailing Address 7 Commerce Ave. West Lebanon, NH 03784 Company Description SustainX is an energy storage technology developer whose solution is cost effective, low maintenance, non-toxic, and highly efficient. The technology is being developed to provide a solution for enhancing the value of renewable energy, commercial … Continue reading “SustainX Garners $5,600,000 New Funding”

TaskRabbit Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7852f995-8da3-49cb-8e94-9d2ddec475ac&Preview=1 Date 5/4/2011 Company Name TaskRabbit Mailing Address 102 Bartlett St. Charlestown, MA 02129 Company Description The company operates a website that enables users to find people to do tasks for them. Website http://www.TaskRabbit.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Capitalizing on its success in … Continue reading “TaskRabbit Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing Round”

RamenCamp: The Art of Bootstrapping

This artfully named event will tackle the subject of bootstrapping. Entrepreneurs can learn how to cheaply market their bootstrapped product, where to find cheap tools for building, how to build a team without a budget, and more, from others who have successfully bootstrapped before them. Register here.

Fueling the Digital Economy’s Growth Engine

Come to CSN Stores for this free event, where Flybridge Capital Partners’ Jeff Bussgang will lead government and industry leaders in a discussion on what can be done to support the digital economy in the state. Later on, event attendees will break up in smaller groups to brainstorm. Register here.

Software Equity Group Sees Improving Valuations, M&A Activity, in Software Sector

There were 394 software buyouts and mergers around the world during the first three months of 2011, with the cumulative value of all deals totaling $8.3 billion, according to a M&A tracking report from the San Diego-based Software Equity Group. That was down from the 421 M&A deals that amounted to a total value of … Continue reading “Software Equity Group Sees Improving Valuations, M&A Activity, in Software Sector”

Kleiner Perkins’ Organic Waste-to-Energy Play, Harvest Power, Bets $150M on Turning Compost Into Natural Gas

The team at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers gets inundated with pitches from entrepreneurs who dream of winning support for their own big ideas. But once in a while, the big VC firm turns the tables by hatching the idea, crafting the business plan, and recruiting the founding management team to make it into a … Continue reading “Kleiner Perkins’ Organic Waste-to-Energy Play, Harvest Power, Bets $150M on Turning Compost Into Natural Gas”

Tego Garners $2,139,600 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fe55a0b7-c22a-4f61-a9bc-ad592616487a&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Tego Mailing Address 375 Totten Pond Road Waltham, MA 02451 Company Description Tego is a fabless designer and producer of passive RFID tags with substantially higher memory and functionality than that offered by any competitor. Our proprietary RFID tag architecture incorporates recent advances in memory design and … Continue reading “Tego Garners $2,139,600 New Funding Round”

Tryton Medical Obtains $5,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b2b85dfd-8055-4cb8-b323-5cee2b3deabd&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Tryton Medical Mailing Address 1000 Park Forty Plaza Durham, MA 27713 Company Description Tryton Medical, Inc. is the leading developer of stents that are designed to definitively treat bifurcation lesions. 540,000 bifurcation coronary lesions are sub-optimally treated every year with a variety of time consuming and technically … Continue reading “Tryton Medical Obtains $5,000,000 New Funding Round”

CareInnovators Healthtech 2011

This all-day event will look at how technology is driving innovation in healthcare. Panels will discuss how health IT plays a part in healthcare reform, fitness and nutrition, mobile health, healthcare delivery, and more. Register here.

EU Product Launch Workshop

This event, hosted by the Almac Group, aims to give biotech firms a rundown of key considerations when looking to get a product out on the European market. It will spotlight the steps from applying for approval to distributing an approved drug to customers, so register here to check it out.

PayPal’s Pickup of Fig Card, the End of Eons, and the Bose-MIT Lovefest—Some Thoughts

I’ve been flat-out for the past week or so. Here are three pieces of Boston-area tech news that are worth catching up on, and a few thoughts on each: —Fig Card, the mobile payments company that just started last year, was acquired by eBay, via its PayPal division, for an undisclosed sum. Co-founders Max Metral … Continue reading “PayPal’s Pickup of Fig Card, the End of Eons, and the Bose-MIT Lovefest—Some Thoughts”

Fiksu Looks to Help Brands Like Gilt, Barnes & Noble, Groupon Spend Less to Get More Mobile App Customers

You could say Fiksu, one of Boston’s most buzz-worthy mobile startups, took the lemons its first product gave it, and made lemonade. The firm, founded in 2008 under the name Fluent Mobile, rolled out a news aggregator mobile app in 2009, to help consumers track and read publications from their smartphones. “What happened with the … Continue reading “Fiksu Looks to Help Brands Like Gilt, Barnes & Noble, Groupon Spend Less to Get More Mobile App Customers”

Semyon Dukach, the MIT Blackjack King, Takes SMTP Public in Latest Effort to Fight the Power

An intriguing Boston-area tech company is going public after more than 10 years—and it’s not too late to shake things up in its market. I’m not talking about Zipcar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZIP]]), which had its long-awaited IPO a couple weeks ago. I’m talking about SMTP, a pioneering e-mail software firm based in Cambridge, MA. Yes, the … Continue reading “Semyon Dukach, the MIT Blackjack King, Takes SMTP Public in Latest Effort to Fight the Power”

Considering a Career in Biotech? How About Trying Computer Science Instead

Sometimes biotech really feels like an industry in danger of being left behind. Take last Friday afternoon for example. I was at a networking reception at the University of Washington, chatting with undergraduates from all kinds of engineering fields about the job market. People were finding jobs, but nothing much to brag about, until I … Continue reading “Considering a Career in Biotech? How About Trying Computer Science Instead”

My 33 Months at Xconomy, a Nano-Memoir (of Sorts)

By the time you read this, I’ve probably already wrapped up my work as a correspondent for Xconomy, turned in my key to office on Rogers Street in Cambridge, MA, and taken a deep breath in anticipation of my exciting new role as an executive editor for the life sciences group at FierceMarkets. I’m really … Continue reading “My 33 Months at Xconomy, a Nano-Memoir (of Sorts)”

Invoke Brings In $3.8M

Invoke Solutions, a Waltham, MA-based provider of software for marketing research, has pinned down $3.8 million in equity-based funding from two investors, an SEC filing shows. The company’s previous investors include Bain Capital Ventures, BEV Capital, North Atlantic Capital, and the BRM Group. Last summer the company raised $1.8 million in an equity and options … Continue reading “Invoke Brings In $3.8M”

Harvard Innovation Lab Appoints Director

Harvard University announced today that Gordon Jones will be the inaugural director of the Harvard Innovation Lab, a $20 million community center for entrepreneurship that’s slated to open this fall at WGBH-TV’s former offices in Allston. The goal of the lab is to foster startups and interactions among students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and the local community. … Continue reading “Harvard Innovation Lab Appoints Director”

From Smartphones to Smart Spaces: SRI’s Vision of Computer Evolution

If the future is here but unevenly distributed, as William Gibson said, then where is it concentrated? One place, certainly, is the contract research giant SRI International. Created by Stanford University in 1946, it’s the organization we have to thank for inventions like automated check processing, the computer mouse, hypertext, the ARPANET (which evolved into … Continue reading “From Smartphones to Smart Spaces: SRI’s Vision of Computer Evolution”

FDA Panel OKs Vertex Drug, Dyax Works With FivePrime, Genzyme Amends Anika Lawsuit, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

New England biotechs made news this week with approvals from FDA advisory panels, licensing deals, collaboration agreements, and lawsuits. —An FDA advisory panel unanimously recommended the FDA approve telaprevir, the thrice-daily pill for hepatitis C from Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]). The FDA, which usually takes the recommendations of these panels, is scheduled to make … Continue reading “FDA Panel OKs Vertex Drug, Dyax Works With FivePrime, Genzyme Amends Anika Lawsuit, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

Eons Bought by Crew Media

When is an eon only half a decade? When you’re talking about Eons, the social networking site for baby boomers launched in 2006 by Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor. San Francisco-based media services company Crew Media, which operates a boomer-focused advertising agency called Continuum Crew, said today that it has acquired Eons and its associated advertising … Continue reading “Eons Bought by Crew Media”

Vertex Wins FDA Panel’s Recommendation for New Hepatitis C Drug

Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ bid for FDA approval of its new drug for hepatitis C has been treated by most observers as a slam dunk, and the company, as expected, nailed its high percentage shot on goal today. Cambridge, MA-based Vertex (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) received a unanimous 18-0 endorsement from an FDA advisory panel, which said the company’s … Continue reading “Vertex Wins FDA Panel’s Recommendation for New Hepatitis C Drug”

David Cancel, Stephen Kaufer, Katie Rae, and Others Join XSITE Program on June 16

As we hurtle towards XSITE 2011, our full-day conference on June 16 at Babson College, a few thoughts come to mind. The theme this year is “the entrepreneurship era”—the idea that there is increased attention to startups and company-building as a key to revitalizing the U.S. economy. But now that entrepreneurship is at the top … Continue reading “David Cancel, Stephen Kaufer, Katie Rae, and Others Join XSITE Program on June 16”

NYC’s Vivaldi, Allied With Harvard and San Francisco VC Firm, Forge a New Way to Fight the Flu

Vivaldi Biosciences is a rare and highly sought after property in New York City: a promising biotech startup. Why rare? Because office space is so expensive, and wet-lab space so hard to find, that most biotech companies that originate in NYC end up fleeing for some other city that has more to offer them. But … Continue reading “NYC’s Vivaldi, Allied With Harvard and San Francisco VC Firm, Forge a New Way to Fight the Flu”