HealthEdge Software Receives $2,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=34176b60-7330-4cf5-8be2-b7ea3f1479ad&Preview=1 Date 6/30/2010 Company Name HealthEdge Software Mailing Address 10 Burlington Mall Road Burlington, MA 01803 Company Description HealthEdge provides health plans, TPAs, PPOs, and insurers of all sizes with unique software applications to position them for success. With patent-pending, next-generation technology, HealthEdge enables payor organizations to pursue innovative, new strategies to … Continue reading “HealthEdge Software Receives $2,000,000 New Round”

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Lands $5,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f6721959-3f82-4528-9779-e0c80caa60e5&Preview=1 Date 6/30/2010 Company Name Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 480 Arsenal Street Building 1 Watertown, MA 02472 Company Description Dicerna Pharmaceuticals is a venture-backed startup developing novel therapeutics in multiple therapeutic areas based on Dicer substrate technology, which makes use of the RNA interference mechanism. Website http://www.dicerna.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Lands $5,000,000 New Financing”

Tech Alliance’s Susannah Malarkey on Four Things Seattle Could Learn from Boston, and One Big Northwest Advantage

Susannah Malarkey, the executive director of the Technology Alliance in Seattle, spent three days earlier this month in Boston with a group of Seattle civic and business leaders as part of the 2010 Intercity Study Mission. These annual trips, organized by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce since 1983, enable Seattle business leaders to pick the … Continue reading “Tech Alliance’s Susannah Malarkey on Four Things Seattle Could Learn from Boston, and One Big Northwest Advantage”

Fear Not, Boston Entrepreneurs: Betahouse Is Expanding, Founder Says Local Techies Need More Confidence

Jon Pierce is an unassuming young man who just might hold the keys to the kingdom. The Boston tech startup kingdom, that is. OK, that’s the kind of bluster he probably hates to see, especially in the media. Pierce is about community first—and that’s why he’s particularly important. He is the founder of Betahouse, a … Continue reading “Fear Not, Boston Entrepreneurs: Betahouse Is Expanding, Founder Says Local Techies Need More Confidence”

World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode II: Rochester, NY

A confession: Graham and I recorded the first episode in this week’s video travelogue series, the interview with Mark Nelson at C.B. Fisk in Gloucester, MA, a couple of weeks ago as a dry run for our trip. Today’s episode is the first one shot en route. We left Boston early Sunday morning, June 27, … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode II: Rochester, NY”

Everyday Raises $2.8M

Everyday Solutions, an Acton, MA-based provider of GPS-powered software and hardware for monitoring school buses, has wrapped up $2.8 million in equity-based funding, according to an SEC filing. The company, whose technology tracks the location of vehicles and helps map when and where students were dropped off, lists its investors as Ascent Venture Partners, Flagship … Continue reading “Everyday Raises $2.8M”

NanoString Hires Genzyme Vet as CEO to Lead Foray Into Molecular Diagnostics

Seattle-based NanoString Technologies hasn’t had a permanent CEO for more than a year, and now the search has ended in Boston. The company, which makes instruments to help scientists perform sophisticated genetic analyses, has named Brad Gray, the former vice president of product and business development for Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme Genetics, as its new president … Continue reading “NanoString Hires Genzyme Vet as CEO to Lead Foray Into Molecular Diagnostics”

Former J&J Group Chairman’s Firm Backs BIND Biosciences in $12.4M Round

BIND Biosciences has a knack for selling high-profile investors on its idea of targeting cancer cells with nanoparticle drugs. The Cambridge, MA-based startup has added to its list of marquee backers with the closing of a $12.4 million Series C round of funding, according to the company. Endeavour Vision, the Swiss venture firm, is the … Continue reading “Former J&J Group Chairman’s Firm Backs BIND Biosciences in $12.4M Round”

Dream of an IPO, but Plan for an Acquisition

It’s now very clear to me: a successful M&A exit is far more likely for entrepreneurs than the once vaunted IPO. Structural changes in the venture-IPO ecosystem over the past 15 years have made it increasingly difficult for young companies to successfully tap the public markets to fuel their continued growth. While this fact has … Continue reading “Dream of an IPO, but Plan for an Acquisition”

Sonicbids, Run by Former Music Talent Agent, Brings Band Gig-Booking Into the Digital Age, Adds San Francisco Presence

After graduating from Berklee College of Music in the mid 1990s, Panos Panay started working at a music talent agency in Boston’s Allston neighborhood, and was eager to book his first tours. So eager that he mailed bands’ press kits across the globe and incurred an Airborne Express shipping bill in excess of $4,000 one … Continue reading “Sonicbids, Run by Former Music Talent Agent, Brings Band Gig-Booking Into the Digital Age, Adds San Francisco Presence”

BIND Biosciences Secures $1,400,000 Series C Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2371f5e4-c699-497f-a237-08fe98521b5a&Preview=1 Date 6/29/2010 Company Name BIND Biosciences Mailing Address 64 Sidney Street Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description BIND Biosciences, Inc. is a venture backed biopharmaceutical company focused on engineering targeted therapeutics. BIND’s technology was developed by world class laboratories at MIT and Harvard. Website http://www.bindbio.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,400,000 … Continue reading “BIND Biosciences Secures $1,400,000 Series C Financing”

Everyday Solutions Garners $2,800,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b72ea2e4-b95b-4e05-8e9e-aa80da4ae0f2&Preview=1 Date 6/29/2010 Company Name Everyday Solutions Mailing Address 100 Discovery Way Acton, MA 01720 Company Description We empower school districts/boards throughout the United States and Canada to eliminate wasteful spending due to hidden costs associated with transporting students and managing service vehicles. School bus contractors/operators also benefit from our solutions enabling … Continue reading “Everyday Solutions Garners $2,800,000 New Round”

Rodney Brooks, Founder of iRobot and Heartland Robotics, To Retire From MIT

Famed robotics expert Rodney Brooks, the former director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), is retiring from academic duties at MIT as of this week. The co-founder and former chief technical officer of Bedford, MA-based iRobot will be focusing full-time on his newest company, Heartland Robotics, based in Cambridge, MA. Brooks’s new … Continue reading “Rodney Brooks, Founder of iRobot and Heartland Robotics, To Retire From MIT”

World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode I: Gloucester, MA

If you don’t know where you started from, it’s harder to figure out where you’re going. That’s why we chose to kick off this week’s special video travelogue series, World Wide Wade Goes West, in a place that’s as East Coast as they come: the historic seaport of Gloucester, MA. While Gloucester is famous for … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode I: Gloucester, MA”

Tesaro: Former MedImmune CEO’s Firm Writes Check, Cancer Drug Vets Build Pipeline

Tumors are kicking our butt in the war on cancer. What’s more, big drugmakers are cutting their budgets at the expense of some cancer treatments under development. But now there’s Tesaro, a drug development outfit that formed this spring to buy some of those promising therapies for cancer in the early stages of development and … Continue reading “Tesaro: Former MedImmune CEO’s Firm Writes Check, Cancer Drug Vets Build Pipeline”

Future Biotech Winners Will Help Nurses Clean up Less (Stuff), Says Roger Longman

Savvy biotech companies developing, say, cancer drugs, will have to do more in the future than just look at whether a new drug is safe and kills tumors, according to Roger Longman. They’ll also measure things that really count for payers, like length of hospital stays, and—set aside your bowl of Cheerios—how much time it … Continue reading “Future Biotech Winners Will Help Nurses Clean up Less (Stuff), Says Roger Longman”

New England’s Under-the-Radar List: 19 Startup Financings in May You Probably Haven’t Heard About

As temperatures warmed up in New England in the month of May, so did smaller startup investments. There were 19 financings worth less than $1 million last month, and they went to companies spanning the medical devices, social media, energy, and software spaces. (A huge jump from April, when we rounded up seven such deals … Continue reading “New England’s Under-the-Radar List: 19 Startup Financings in May You Probably Haven’t Heard About”

Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals Obtains New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bca58da1-f790-41e4-bb58-1a34cf476432&Preview=1 Date 6/28/2010 Company Name Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address Undisclosed Providence, RI 02902 Company Description The company is a Providence-based drug discovery venture aiming to develop small molecule therapeutics to treat schizophrenia and other cognitive and neuropsychiatric disorders. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals Obtains New Financing”

Report: John Glaser Leaving Partners Healthcare for Siemens

[Updated—6/25/10, 4 pm Eastern time] This is sort of a coincidence. Partners HealthCare chief information officer John Glaser, who three days ago was featured on this site, is resigning from his long-time post to take over as CEO of the hospital software division of the Germany-based conglomerate Siemens, according to the HIStalk blog. (Glaser has … Continue reading “Report: John Glaser Leaving Partners Healthcare for Siemens”

26 Apps to Drive Your iPad Wild!

Being one of the earliest of early adopters—I got my first iPad about half an hour after they went on sale on April 3—I’m often asked by friends, family members, and readers about my favorite iPhone and iPad applications. I’ve written plenty of columns about iPhone apps, so now it’s the iPad’s turn. Given the … Continue reading “26 Apps to Drive Your iPad Wild!”

Third Rock Invests in Ablexis, Acceleron Grabs $8.4M, Alnylam Chief Joins Agios Board, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

Drugmakers were big newsmakers this week, with announcements of financings and personnel moves. Sylvia also wrote her column on the incompetencies often found in biotech companies that drive up the cost of drug development. —Ryan captured his interview with John Glaser, the chief information officer of Boston’s Partners HealthCare. Glaser discussed the challenges and changes … Continue reading “Third Rock Invests in Ablexis, Acceleron Grabs $8.4M, Alnylam Chief Joins Agios Board, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

Boston-Power Pulls In $60M More to Push Battery Technologies Into Electronics, Cars, and Utilities

One of New England’s most prominent cleantech companies is making strides today in a very active field. Westborough, MA-based Boston-Power, a maker of advanced lithium-ion batteries and energy storage technologies, says it has raised $60 million in Series E growth equity funding, co-led by existing investors Foundation Asset Management and Oak Investment Partners. Previous investors … Continue reading “Boston-Power Pulls In $60M More to Push Battery Technologies Into Electronics, Cars, and Utilities”

Boston-Power Garners $60,000,000 Series E Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d8fe8ece-e8ef-4f9f-94a2-526b3dd3381f&Preview=1 Date 6/25/2010 Company Name Boston-Power Mailing Address 2200 West Park Drive Westborough, MA 01581-3961 Company Description Boston-Power, Inc. ™ is an emerging portable power company answering the call for safer, longer lasting Lithium-ion batteries – today. Website http://www.boston-power.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $60,000,000 Transaction Round Series E Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Boston-Power Garners $60,000,000 Series E Financing Round”

Agios Adds Alnylam Chief to Board

The Cambridge, MA-based cancer drug developer Agios Pharmaceuticals said today it’s tapped John Maraganore, the CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, to join its board of directors. Maraganore has helped build Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALNY]]) into a leading developer of experimental gene-silencing drugs, or RNA-interference therapies. Alnylam’s major corporate partners include Novartis, Roche, and Takeda Pharmaceutical, among … Continue reading “Agios Adds Alnylam Chief to Board”

Nuxeo Finds $3.3M

Nuxeo, a maker of open source enterprise content management software, announced it has added another $3.3 million to its Series A round of funding. The new tranche was led by OTC Asset Management, and brings the round’s total to $5.9 million. Nuxeo, which is headquartered in Paris but has U.S. operations in Burlington, MA, will use … Continue reading “Nuxeo Finds $3.3M”

Startup School, Round Two: The 2010 Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators

A common trait among entrepreneurs is their distaste for working alone. Fortunately, there are programs across the country that aim to surround startups with entrepreneur comrades, seasoned execs, and investors, to provide both community and guidance. We rounded up these programs last year in the inaugural Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators, and are back again … Continue reading “Startup School, Round Two: The 2010 Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators”

Extreme Reach Raises $9M More to Improve Distribution and Tracking of Video Ads

Score one for digital video advertising. Extreme Reach, a Needham, MA-based maker of distribution software for video ads, said yesterday it has closed $9 million in Series B financing, made up of $7 million in equity and $2 million in term debt. The round was led by one of the company’s original investors, Village Ventures. … Continue reading “Extreme Reach Raises $9M More to Improve Distribution and Tracking of Video Ads”

Fixing the Broken Model: Look Inside Your Company

You know that ominous figure people always talk about, that one staggering number—$1.3 billion these days—that represents the cost to develop and market a drug? It is, to be sure, way too high and unsustainably so. The billions of dollars that have been invested to discover the next generation of blockbusters have, for the most … Continue reading “Fixing the Broken Model: Look Inside Your Company”

Massachusetts Startups Pull in $186M in May; Life Sciences Companies Take the Top Five Deals

Last month was not at all about equality, at least when it came to venture investing. Overall, monthly venture investing totals have remained pretty stable for most of the spring in Massachusetts, hovering around the $200 million neighborhood, based on data provided by private company intelligence platform CB Insights. (That’s only counting deals worth $1 … Continue reading “Massachusetts Startups Pull in $186M in May; Life Sciences Companies Take the Top Five Deals”

Greenhorn Connect, Growing Fast, Looks to Continue “Snowball Effect” of Young Tech Entrepreneurs

If you’re a young entrepreneur in the Boston area, you need to know about Greenhorn Connect. It’s a fast-growing resource site that, as its name suggests, connects entrepreneurs, college students, and recent grads with startup jobs, events, guides, and other activities. Greenhorn just launched a new job board last week that aims to help young … Continue reading “Greenhorn Connect, Growing Fast, Looks to Continue “Snowball Effect” of Young Tech Entrepreneurs”

Ablexis Maps Out New Antibody Drug Strategy with $12M From Third Rock, Pfizer

Antibodies that can zero in on specific diseased cells are some of the biggest-selling and fastest-growing fields in all of biotech. Yet after three decades of R&D, if you talk to people who try to discover these things, they’ll tell you it’s a long and risky slog to get any good candidates for clinical trials. … Continue reading “Ablexis Maps Out New Antibody Drug Strategy with $12M From Third Rock, Pfizer”

Consumer Genetics Needs More Transparency, Not Excessive Regulation

[Editor’s Note: Daniel MacArthur, a researcher at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, and the author of Genetic Future, co-wrote this post.] Are you ready for consumer genetics? Is your government? Recent announcements of federal investigations into the budding direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing industry suggest that authorities are preparing to increase regulation of … Continue reading “Consumer Genetics Needs More Transparency, Not Excessive Regulation”

Etude on the iPad—A Young Boston Developer Follows the Music to San Francisco

Dan Grover has seen a lot. He’s taken courses through the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and studied at Northeastern University in Boston. He’s had his own independent application development company since 2004. He’s been a staff developer at Boston-based uLocate (now Where) and Palo Alto, CA-based Tapulous. The Mac desktop program he built, ShoveBox, … Continue reading “Etude on the iPad—A Young Boston Developer Follows the Music to San Francisco”

Jackpot Scores $14M, MIT Startup Wins 20K-Euro Prize, Nuance Acquires ShapeWriter, & More Boston-Area Deals News

We saw news of financings for stealthy startups in healthcare and IT, as well as an acquisition in the mobile space, and a business competition prize winner. —Predictive BioSciences raised $25 million in Series C funding, to put towards selling its test for bladder cancer and for developing its diagnostics technology. New investor ProQuest Investments, … Continue reading “Jackpot Scores $14M, MIT Startup Wins 20K-Euro Prize, Nuance Acquires ShapeWriter, & More Boston-Area Deals News”

Sionyx Secures $6,300,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=80b5a711-6523-4967-be3f-9d208766a83a&Preview=1 Date 6/23/2010 Company Name Sionyx Mailing Address 100 Cummings Center Beverly, MA 01915 Company Description SiOnyx is excited to be building a team of industry leading scientists and engineers focused on revolutionizing the field of photonics. Website http://www.sionyxinc.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $6,300,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds … Continue reading “Sionyx Secures $6,300,000 New Round”

Extreme Reach Garners $9,000,000 Series B Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3adda2d9-f262-487c-b936-f80fed6074f9&Preview=1 Date 6/23/2010 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 Garners $9,000,000 Series B Financing Round”

Tatara Gets $7M

Acton, MA-based Tatara Systems, a maker of mobile convergence servers, announced it had closed a $7 million financing, led by North Bridge Venture Partners. Highland Capital Partners also contributed to the funding for Tatara, which develops platforms for mobile network integration.

Nuance Acquires ShapeWriter, Ramps Up Pressure on Seattle Startup Swype

Memo to mobile-interface companies: Nuance is on the prowl. The speech-recognition and imaging software giant (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUAN]]), based in Burlington, MA, has acquired ShapeWriter, a Silicon Valley-based spinout from the IBM Almaden Research Center, for an undisclosed sum. Nuance has not spoken publicly about the acquisition, but a message on the ShapeWriter website as of … Continue reading “Nuance Acquires ShapeWriter, Ramps Up Pressure on Seattle Startup Swype”

Last Call! Share Hellos, Goodbyes, and Beers with Wade and Greg Tonight

Just a reminder to our readers around Boston that we’d love to see you at tonight’s Xconomy beer bash. We’re welcoming Greg Huang as the new Editor of Xconomy Boston and saying farewell to Wade Roush, who starts his journey to San Francisco this weekend. The festivities start at 5:00 p.m. at the Cambridge Brewing … Continue reading “Last Call! Share Hellos, Goodbyes, and Beers with Wade and Greg Tonight”

$8M for Acceleron

Acceleron Pharma, a Cambridge, MA-based maker of genetically engineered drugs for treating conditions such as anemia and bone loss, has pulled in $8.4 million of a planned $11.5 million offering of equity, options, and warrants, according to an SEC filing.  Members of Advanced Technology Ventures, Venrock Associates, Flagship Ventures, OrbiMed Advisors, and Polaris Venture Partners … Continue reading “$8M for Acceleron”

Regulus Therapeutics, Spinoff of Isis and Alnylam, Forms $750M MicroRNA Deal With Sanofi

Regulus Therapeutics has found its second big ally from Big Pharma. The Carlsbad, CA-based company has forged what it calls its most lucrative partnership yet to discover, develop, and someday co-market microRNA drugs with Paris-based pharma giant Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]). Regulus, formed in 2008 by Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]]) and Carlsbad’s Isis Pharmaceuticals … Continue reading “Regulus Therapeutics, Spinoff of Isis and Alnylam, Forms $750M MicroRNA Deal With Sanofi”

John Glaser, Boston’s Top Hospital Geek, Talks About Obama’s Health IT Plan and Getting Booted from Catholic School

John Glaser, chief information officer of Partners HealthCare, sits atop one of the largest health IT organizations in New England. Yet beneath his corporate shell lives a scorching wit and perhaps a somewhat reformed hell-raiser. He was kicked out of his Jesuit high school in the Bay Area during his junior year for his part … Continue reading “John Glaser, Boston’s Top Hospital Geek, Talks About Obama’s Health IT Plan and Getting Booted from Catholic School”

TaskRabbit Kicks Off Errand-Running Service in San Francisco, Boston ‘Burbs

TaskRabbit—known until this April as RunMyErrand—was one of the darlings of the Bay Area investing community when it emerged from the inaugural session of Facebook’s fbFund incubator program last summer. Founding CEO Leah Busque headed out to Facebook’s Palo Alto headquarters in June 2009, and by October her Boston-born startup had picked up checks totaling … Continue reading “TaskRabbit Kicks Off Errand-Running Service in San Francisco, Boston ‘Burbs”