So the iPhone may be the prettiest, the Blackberry may boast the biggest smartphone market share, and the Windows Mobile platform is, um, around, but it’s Android that’s best for developing apps. Or at least it was the Android developers who best defended their platform at the smartphone smackdown during our Mobile Madness event on … Continue reading “Android Developers Win Smackdown Vs. iPhone, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile, Microsoft Asserts It Has Promising Smartphone Future, & More Mobile Madness Highlights”
Category: Boston
March Mobile Madness at Microsoft—The Day in Pictures
Though it was just one small part of Mass Mobile Month, a multi-week series of mobile technology events around Boston, Tuesday’s Mobile Madness forum at Microsoft was the highlight for us here at Xconomy. Today it’s time to share some of the images captured by our volunteer photographer Kevin Vogelsang. Kevin wasn’t able to arrive … Continue reading “March Mobile Madness at Microsoft—The Day in Pictures”
Mobile Madness—The Slide Show
NEXT IMAGE >> Rapt Audience — Xconomy’s Mobile Madness forum attracted a standing-room only crowd of 225 people to Microsoft’s New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge. photo by Kevin Vogelsang
Battery Ventures Closes $750M Fund
Battery Ventures, which has offices in Waltham, MA, Menlo Park, CA, and Herzeliya, Israel, said today that it has closed its latest fund at the targeted level of $750 million. The firm says it plans to invest the fund—its ninth—in Internet, digital media, financial and information services, cleantech, software, enterprise IT, semiconductors, and industrial technologies. … Continue reading “Battery Ventures Closes $750M Fund”
Really Smart (and Social) Energy: GroundedPower’s System Pinpoints User Motivations to Lower Home Energy Consumption
These days, it seems there’s nothing that can’t be accomplished by the use of online social communities. Even lowering energy consumption. That’s the approach taken by GroundedPower, a Gloucester, MA-based startup that produces a system that monitors consumers’ real-time energy consumption and spurs them with goal-setting and online community engagement to lower that consumption over … Continue reading “Really Smart (and Social) Energy: GroundedPower’s System Pinpoints User Motivations to Lower Home Energy Consumption”
Rapid7 Lands $2,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d8f6e1d6-f7bf-42b3-907d-31227f5b7387&Preview=1 Date 3/11/2010 Company Name Rapid7 Mailing Address 545 Boylston Street Boston, ME 02116 Company Description Rapid7 is the leading provider of NeXpose Unified Vulnerability Management (UVM) Solutions. Website http://www.rapid7.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Bain … Continue reading “Rapid7 Lands $2,000,000 New Funding”
Fluidnet Receives $9,100,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3f07d607-f98c-42d2-8211-96fdbba66eed&Preview=1 Date 3/11/2010 Company Name Fluidnet Mailing Address 1 New Hampshire Avenue Portsmouth, NH 03801 Company Description The result of this customer input evolved into a simple, low cost infusion pump that contains the IV bag within it. Fluid gently, continuously and accurately “leaks” to the patient with precise monitoring of the … Continue reading “Fluidnet Receives $9,100,000 New Round”
A Heartfelt Thanks to Mobile Madness Speakers, Sponsors, and Underwriters—and our New Backup Service!
Xconomy held another sold out forum yesterday afternoon, with more than 225 people pouring into Microsoft’s New England Research & Development Center for our Mobile Madness conference. A writeup and photo spread of the afternoon’s events and the insights provided by the great array of speakers—including the results of the Mobile Smackdown between iPhone, Android, … Continue reading “A Heartfelt Thanks to Mobile Madness Speakers, Sponsors, and Underwriters—and our New Backup Service!”
Amylin, Alkermes Sit in Suspense For FDA Verdict on Once-Weekly Diabetes Drug
It’s pins-and-needles time for employees and investors at San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Waltham, MA-based Alkermes. The FDA has a deadline of Friday, March 12, to say whether it has approved a new drug from Amylin and Alkermes (oh yeah, and Eli Lilly too) which seeks to transform diabetes treatment with the first once-weekly injectable … Continue reading “Amylin, Alkermes Sit in Suspense For FDA Verdict on Once-Weekly Diabetes Drug”
World Wide Web Consortium Must Seize High Ground on Web Standards Earlier, Says New CEO Jeffrey Jaffe
[Corrected 3/12/10, see below] When Tim Berners-Lee and colleagues from CERN proposed the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) and the hypertext markup language (HTML) as Internet-wide standards back in the early 1990s, they didn’t face much resistance, because there weren’t any competing ideas for doing what Berners-Lee wanted to do—that is, setting up a global network … Continue reading “World Wide Web Consortium Must Seize High Ground on Web Standards Earlier, Says New CEO Jeffrey Jaffe”
Elliott Makes $2B Bid for Novell, Summit Partners Leads $23M Investment in Cloudmark, Stemgent Backs Scottish Startup, & More Boston-Area Deals News
Deal flow was a bit slow among New England’s tech and life sciences firms this week. Perhaps folks were too distracted by the unexpected appearance of that warm glowing ball in the sky to attend to contracts and negotiations? —Stemgent of Cambridge, MA, and San Diego announced plans to invest $4.5 million over the next … Continue reading “Elliott Makes $2B Bid for Novell, Summit Partners Leads $23M Investment in Cloudmark, Stemgent Backs Scottish Startup, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
A123 Nabs Navistar EV Deal
A123 Systems (NASDAQ:[[ticker:AONE]]) reports today that it will supply its advanced lithium-ion battery systems for Warrenville, IL-based Navistar, which plans to use the batteries in electric trucks it is developing in a joint venture with Tokyo-based Modec. Watertown, MA-based A123 says that it expects to manufacture the batteries for the Navistar (NYSE:[[ticker:NAV]]) vehicles at its … Continue reading “A123 Nabs Navistar EV Deal”
PatientsLikeMe Launching Transplant Community
PatientsLikeMe, a Cambridge, MA-based provider of a social networking website for patients, reports today that the Swiss drug giant Novartis is supporting the startup’s development of a new online community for people who have received organ transplants. No financial details about the startup’s deal with Novartis were revealed. Novartis, which has a large R&D organization … Continue reading “PatientsLikeMe Launching Transplant Community”
Ruffolo New CEO at Crossbeam
Crossbeam Systems, a Boxborough, MA-based provider of network security software, says today it has named Michael Ruffolo as its new president and CEO. Ruffolo’s appointment follows the company’s announcement in December that its previous chief executive, Pete Fiore, passed away after his bout with cancer. Ruffolo was previously chairman and chief executive of Waltham, MA-based … Continue reading “Ruffolo New CEO at Crossbeam”
ULocate Launches Ad Network for Location-Aware Mobile Devices
Boston’s uLocate Communications, known up to now mainly as the creator of the Where local search and recommendation app popular with many smartphone owners, is turning into something more. Today it announced the launch of a geographically targeted mobile advertising network called Where Ads that other mobile publishers can also use to sell local ads … Continue reading “ULocate Launches Ad Network for Location-Aware Mobile Devices”
Phase Forward Offering Pharmas One-Stop Shopping for Clinical Research Software
Phase Forward has been one of the success stories in the Route 128 tech cluster during the past decade, and has grown to be one of the largest health IT companies in Massachusetts. But a big question about the firm on Wall Street is how—or whether—its growth spurt will continue. The Waltham, MA-based firm (NASDAQ:[[ticker:PFWD]]) … Continue reading “Phase Forward Offering Pharmas One-Stop Shopping for Clinical Research Software”
Venture Funding Down, Overall Deal Flow Up for Boston Mobile Industry in 2009
Venture investments in Boston-area mobile technology companies decreased in both volume and value in 2009, plummeting to levels not seen since 2005. But payouts from mergers and acquisitions hit a record level, raising overall deal flow to an unprecedented $1.5 billion, according to data compiled by Mobile Monday Boston. Venture investing started out strong in … Continue reading “Venture Funding Down, Overall Deal Flow Up for Boston Mobile Industry in 2009”
Terrafugia Says Flying Car Likely to Take Off in Massachusetts, But Might Land Elsewhere
Terrafugia, the Woburn, MA-based company out to produce the first practical flying car—or street legal airplane, to use the company’s term— said today it plans to build its first commercial vehicle next year in the Bay State. But CEO Carl Dietrich also said that while the company hopes to stay in Massachusetts and create hundreds … Continue reading “Terrafugia Says Flying Car Likely to Take Off in Massachusetts, But Might Land Elsewhere”
SensAble Pulls in $8M
SensAble Technologies, a Woburn, MA-based maker of 3D modeling and haptic systems for product design, medical modeling, dental restoration, and digital content creation, has pulled in $8 million in a mixed equity offering, according to an SEC filing. Existing SensAble investor HLM Venture Partners led the round, which also included North Bridge Venture Partners and … Continue reading “SensAble Pulls in $8M”
Roche, Biogen Halt Arthritis Study
Roche and Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec are halting development of an experimental drug for rheumatoid arthritis because of safety concerns, according a report today by Bloomberg News. The drug, ocrelizumab, was designed to hit the same protein target on cells as the hit antibody ritxumimab, (Rituxan), albeit in a form thought to be more conducive … Continue reading “Roche, Biogen Halt Arthritis Study”
DataXu Raises $11M More for Ad-Buying Platform
Boston-based DataXu, whose bidding engine helps online advertisers decide which advertising purchases are most likely to pay off in the form of conversions or click-throughs, has raised $11 million in new funding, according to an announcement today. New investor Menlo Ventures of Menlo Park, CA, led the round, which was joined by existing investors Flybridge … Continue reading “DataXu Raises $11M More for Ad-Buying Platform”
Mobile Madness Innovation Showcase
Here at Xconomy we love organizing forums and events—in fact our next one, Mobile Madness: The New Future of Computing, is tomorrow. There are only two downsides to putting on events. They’re relatively small (reaching hundreds of people rather than thousands, the way we can online), and pretty soon, they’re over. To counteract those two … Continue reading “Mobile Madness Innovation Showcase”
Vertex Maps Out Combo Drug Game Plan for Treating Hepatitis C
HIV has taught the pharmaceutical industry that the best way to fight an infectious virus that resists a single drug is to make a cocktail that attacks the virus in more than one way. Vertex Pharmaceuticals and its competitors are now following a similar formula with new therapies for hepatitis C. Vertex, the Cambridge, MA-based … Continue reading “Vertex Maps Out Combo Drug Game Plan for Treating Hepatitis C”
Berners-Lee to Share Reins at World Wide Web Consortium with Former IBM, Lucent, Novell Exec
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and director of the Cambridge, MA-based World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which oversees the standards underlying the global network, has a new co-captain. It’s Jeffrey Jaffe, a technology industry veteran who served most recently as chief technology officer and executive vice president of products at Waltham, … Continue reading “Berners-Lee to Share Reins at World Wide Web Consortium with Former IBM, Lucent, Novell Exec”
SensAble Receives $8,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=58b1f5fc-5499-4e09-adae-1473c415aed9&Preview=1 Date 3/8/2010 Company Name SensAble Mailing Address 15 Constitution Way Woburn, MA 01801 Company Description Founded in 1993, SensAble Technologies is a leading developer of 3D touch-enabled (force feedback) solutions and technology that allow users to not only see and hear an on-screen computer application, but to actually ‘feel’ it. The … Continue reading “SensAble Receives $8,000,000 New Funding”
Postabon Secures $1,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b04693f2-c1a3-4ab9-9520-a22e1f57c796&Preview=1 Date 3/8/2010 Company Name Postabon Mailing Address 61 Garfield Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Company Description Postabon was founded by three Harvard students in 2009…because nothing inspires a search for discounts like student loans. We’ve since connected with a number of like minded “deal finders” who’ve helped us with our tech and … Continue reading “Postabon Secures $1,000,000 New Funding”
Dataxu Garners $11,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dc87031a-92d2-4c92-807a-cf40e3191aeb&Preview=1 Date 3/8/2010 Company Name Dataxu Mailing Address 711 Atlantic Avenue Boston, MA 02111 Company Description DataXu is a cutting-edge Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company formed by MIT alums and professionals. Our product will cause the next revolution in Internet advertising by disrupting how advertising is bought and sold on the Internet. Our proprietary … Continue reading “Dataxu Garners $11,000,000 New Funding Round”
Register Now for Mobile Madness—Only a Handful of Seats Left; Plus, A Mass Mobile Month Video
The impressive lineup of speakers we’ve assembled for next Tuesday’s Xconomy Forum, Mobile Madness: The New Future of Computing, is doing the trick–we’ve sold most of the available seats at Microsoft’s New England R&D Center, and only have about 20 more available. Now’s your chance to secure one of the last seats. If you missed … Continue reading “Register Now for Mobile Madness—Only a Handful of Seats Left; Plus, A Mass Mobile Month Video”
Where’s World Wide Wade? Four Encores
I regret to report that both I and my column are going on a bit of a hiatus, as I’ve been seated as a juror on an extended civil trial in Boston. To fill some airtime, I thought I’d direct you to a few old columns that are special favorites of mine or that have … Continue reading “Where’s World Wide Wade? Four Encores”
Una Ryan Searching for Riches to Deliver Inexpensive Diagnostics to the Poor
This week I spoke with veteran biotech executive Una Ryan at her office about her strategy for raising money to advance the cause at the Harvard spinout Diagnostics For All. So it was no surprise to spot her just a few hours later at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, networking with accomplished … Continue reading “Una Ryan Searching for Riches to Deliver Inexpensive Diagnostics to the Poor”
An Entrepreneur’s First Co-Founder: The Community
To do great work, you need community. I don’t think people generally comprehend just how important it is. If you’re not the social type, perhaps you can get more work done today and tomorrow working behind closed doors. But if you do this long enough, you start to lose touch with the world. Your work … Continue reading “An Entrepreneur’s First Co-Founder: The Community”
Avila Sets Out to Take on Vertex, CombinatoRx Nails FDA Approval, Millipore Opts for Merck KGaA over Thermo Fisher, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
Stories of drugmakers, deals, health IT companies, and even some nonprofits made it a busy life sciences news week for us. —Waltham’s Avila Therapeutics is on a quest to outdo well-known Boston drugmaker Vertex Pharmaceuticals when it comes to treating hepatitis C, Luke wrote last week. The company’s drugs rely on forming covalent bonds to … Continue reading “Avila Sets Out to Take on Vertex, CombinatoRx Nails FDA Approval, Millipore Opts for Merck KGaA over Thermo Fisher, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Summit, Ignition Back Cloudmark
Cloudmark, a mobile-messaging security firm based in San Francisco, has raised $23 million in growth equity led by Boston-based Summit Partners and joined by Nokia Growth Partners, Ignition Partners, and Industry Ventures. Bellevue, WA-based Ignition was an existing investor, along with Industry Ventures, while Summit and Nokia are new investors. The deal is Cloudmark’s first … Continue reading “Summit, Ignition Back Cloudmark”
Merck to Move U.S. Chem. Unit to Bay State
The chairman of Germany-based Merck KGaA told the Boston Globe this week that the company plans to move the headquarters of its U.S. chemical business from New Jersey to Billerica, MA, following his firm’s deal to purchase Billerica-based life sciences firm Millipore for $7.2 billion. The Massachusetts-based division will be called EMD Millipore, Merck chairman … Continue reading “Merck to Move U.S. Chem. Unit to Bay State”
Soane Energy’s Oil-Grabbing Polymers Could Make a Necessary Industry Less Noxious
When you hear the phrase “cleantech,” you generally think of green hills studded with wind turbines, or buildings sheathed in shiny solar panels. The oil sands of Alberta—where mining companies foul vast amounts of freshwater while extracting crude oil from surface deposits, leaving behind huge, toxic tailings ponds—don’t usually come to mind. But the way … Continue reading “Soane Energy’s Oil-Grabbing Polymers Could Make a Necessary Industry Less Noxious”
Tolerx, After a Decade and $150M, Eagerly Awaits Data from Big Diabetes Trial
By the end of this year, the people at Tolerx will have a good sense of what they’ve created with $150 million of investment over the past decade. If the Cambridge, MA-based company has played its cards right, it should have positive results from a pivotal clinical trial of a drug with an unorthodox approach … Continue reading “Tolerx, After a Decade and $150M, Eagerly Awaits Data from Big Diabetes Trial”
The Resurrection of Project Finance Panel
Examine the ways clean energy entrepreneurs can get around the lack of capital they so often encounter, at this event sponsored by the New England Clean Energy Council. A panel of CEOs, investors, consultants, and lawyers in the clean energy space will discuss financial incentives, and debt and equity structures that project developers should consider … Continue reading “The Resurrection of Project Finance Panel”
Start Here Open House: HubSpot
Start your morning with breakfast at Cambridge’s HubSpot, makers of software to help small businesses get discovered by shoppers on the Web. CEO and founder Brian Halligan will talk about why his company got its start in the Bay State, at this startup open house organized by the New England Venture Capital Association. Register for … Continue reading “Start Here Open House: HubSpot”
Isis Biopolymer Finds $3M
Isis Biopolymer, a Providence, RI-based developer of drug-delivery devices, has raised $3 million in equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The document does not list the investors in the round, and company CEO Emma Durand was not immediately available for comment this afternoon. The company says on its website that it was founded in … Continue reading “Isis Biopolymer Finds $3M”
$2B Bid for Novell
Novell has received an unsolicited offer from one of its largest stockholders to acquire all of the Waltham, MA-based network software maker’s outstanding shares for $5.75 a share, the company confirmed in a press release. The bid from Elliott Associates, which owns 8.5 percent of Novell common stock, represents a 49 percent premium over Novell’s … Continue reading “$2B Bid for Novell”
Start Here Open House: Kiva Systems
Check out the makers of the robots that are working the distribution centers of retailers from Staples to Walgreens to Gap. Kiva Systems will open its Woburn facility for a tour and demonstration to reveal what goes into its robotic order fulfillment system.
Stemgent Betting $4.5M on Scottish Biotech
Stemgent, a provider of biological materials for life sciences research with offices in Cambridge, MA, and San Diego, reports this morning it will invest $4.5 million over the next three years in the Dundee, Scotland-based biotech firm Ubiquigent. Ubiquigent is producing biological products developed by the Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling at the University of … Continue reading “Stemgent Betting $4.5M on Scottish Biotech”
Prominent Flatley Family Launches Boston Nonprofit for Cystic Fibrosis Drug Research
When a rare disease strikes one of their own, some families take it upon themselves to find a cure. Unsatisfied with treatment options for the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis, the Flatleys have become one of those families. John Flatley, a Braintree, MA, real estate developer, is spearheading his family’s effort to find a cure for … Continue reading “Prominent Flatley Family Launches Boston Nonprofit for Cystic Fibrosis Drug Research”
Announcing the Official Mass Mobile Month iPhone App, from Swift Mobile
On the third official day of Mass Mobile Month, we’re extremely pleased to unveil the official Mass Mobile Month iPhone app. Created by Swift Mobile of Cambridge, MA, and available at no cost through Apple’s iTunes App Store, the app includes the full list of Mass Mobile Month events, as well as a map guiding … Continue reading “Announcing the Official Mass Mobile Month iPhone App, from Swift Mobile”
Marathon and Zafgen Add to Series B Rounds, Athenahealth and Sermo Announce Partnership, Sensata Sets IPO Terms, & More Boston-Area Deals News
Early round venture funding dominated the deals news this week, but there were still announcements of partnerships, acquisitions, and IPOs to mix it up. —Newton, MA-based energy storage company General Compression announced it had closed more than $17 million in commitments to its Series A round, but did not reveal how much of that money … Continue reading “Marathon and Zafgen Add to Series B Rounds, Athenahealth and Sermo Announce Partnership, Sensata Sets IPO Terms, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Isis Biopolymer Obtains $3,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c36dfdaa-1d0b-49bc-8fff-2e1a2d35df95&Preview=1 Date 3/3/2010 Company Name Isis Biopolymer Mailing Address 233 Richmond Street Providence, RI 02903 Company Description Isis Biopolymer, Inc. is an early stage, Rhode Island-based medical device company. Isis has developed a major advance in intelligent non-invasive drug delivery, the Isis Patch™. The Isis Patch is a personalized, single-use, flexible, ultra-thin, … Continue reading “Isis Biopolymer Obtains $3,000,000 New Financing Round”
$5.4M for Desktone
Desktone, a maker of virtual desktop software, has raised $5.4 million out of a nearly $12.2 million equity offering, an SEC filing revealed today. The Chelmsford, MA-based company didn’t immediately respond to a request for confirmation on what round the financing represents, but the filing notes that 15 investors have participated. In 2007, Desktone closed $17 million … Continue reading “$5.4M for Desktone”
Amicas Warms Up to Merge Healthcare’s Buyout Bid
Amicas has changed its tune about its competitor Merge Healthcare’s efforts to buy the Boston-based software firm. After criticizing those efforts last month, Amicas’s board says that Merge’s updated buyout offer is superior to the one it had agreed to accept from the private equity group Thoma Bravo in December. Milwaukee-based Merge is offering to … Continue reading “Amicas Warms Up to Merge Healthcare’s Buyout Bid”
Konarka Gets A $20M Power Boost From Konica Minolta For Photovoltaics
Konarka Technologies, a Lowell, MA, developer of flexible, nanotechnology-based “Power Plastic” that converts light to energy, will receive $20 million from Konica Minolta in an R&D and investment agreement announced today. The companies will jointly develop and distribute organic thin-film photovoltaics. Konarka brings to the table its simplified, roll-to-roll manufacturing process, which the firm says … Continue reading “Konarka Gets A $20M Power Boost From Konica Minolta For Photovoltaics”
TransMedics Wraps Up $35.4M
TransMedics, an Andover, MA, developer of systems for transporting organs for transplant, has pulled in $35.4 million in an equity offering that includes about $9 million from convertible debt, according to an SEC filing. Partners of Flagship Ventures, Foundation Capital, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers are listed as directors on the filing, which the … Continue reading “TransMedics Wraps Up $35.4M”