Category: Boston

Cubist Maintains Growth Streak, As Investors Fear Generic Threat, Thin Pipeline

Cubist Pharmaceuticals has grown into one of the big success stories in biotech industry of the past few years, based almost entirely on the sales of a single product. The Lexington, MA-based company’s big hit is an intravenous antibiotic for deadly infections called daptomycin (Cubicin). Even though this has propelled Cubist into profitable territory, the … Continue reading “Cubist Maintains Growth Streak, As Investors Fear Generic Threat, Thin Pipeline”

Top Trends for the Decade Ahead in Venture, Tech, Genomics, IP, and More Innovative Fields

We hit a nerve last month when we asked leading innovators in high-tech, biotech, cleantech, and venture capital to write guest editorials about the transformational changes they see coming in their fields over the next decade. We got so many thoughtful submissions from the advisers we call “Xconomists,” and other tech leaders, that we figured … Continue reading “Top Trends for the Decade Ahead in Venture, Tech, Genomics, IP, and More Innovative Fields”

Mimecast Garners $21,000,000 Series B Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0659588e-3746-4e8d-9b37-1fb4fa18a2c2&Preview=1 Date 1/25/2010 Company Name Mimecast Mailing Address 275 Grove Street Building 2 Newton, MA 02466 Company Description Mimecast is a rapidly expanding Software as a Service (SAAS) company. We provide an online technology platform that radically improves the way companies manage their most important business communication and data. Website http://www.mimecast.com Transaction … Continue reading “Mimecast Garners $21,000,000 Series B Funding Round”

Harvest Power Secures New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fd97ce83-a4d6-46f8-b54a-8571adccb6f6&Preview=1 Date 1/25/2010 Company Name Harvest Power Mailing Address 610 Lincoln St 3rd Floor Waltham, MA 02451 Company Description Harvest’s superpowered products and capabilities give us the opportunity to create a new life-cycle for organics. We assist communities with source separation programs, build renewable energy facilities and utilize our best-in-class technologies to … Continue reading “Harvest Power Secures New Financing”

VideoIQ Garners $6,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=feef9375-4512-47cf-b63c-b0a29f94789d&Preview=1 Date 1/25/2010 Company Name VideoIQ Mailing Address 213 Burlington Road Bedford, MA 01730 Company Description VideoIQ acts as digital guard that transforms video surveillance into a dynamic, real-time, intelligent system for guarding against intruders, and gaining early warning of security breaches. It delivers the industry’s best detection accuracy and far fewer … Continue reading “VideoIQ Garners $6,000,000 New Funding Round”

New Surveys Suggest Venture Investing Reset at Lower Level in 2009; We Break Out Data for Boston, San Diego, & Seattle

The picture of venture capital investments in U.S. startups filled in a bit this week, with the results of two more VC surveys aligning generally with the findings we reported earlier this month from ChubbyBrain, the New York data services company that tracks the innovation economy. New surveys from Dow Jones VentureSource and the MoneyTree … Continue reading “New Surveys Suggest Venture Investing Reset at Lower Level in 2009; We Break Out Data for Boston, San Diego, & Seattle”

Mobile World Congress 2010 – Debrief and Debate the News from Barcelona

For those who weren’t able to travel to Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress, this event brings the news and content from the world’s largest mobile conference to you.  This roundtable discussion will feature perspectives from those who attended the industry gathering in Barcelona, followed by a series of debate and questions on hot topics … Continue reading “Mobile World Congress 2010 – Debrief and Debate the News from Barcelona”

Time Inc. Scoops Up StyleFeeder, Ironwood Sets Sights on Potential $266.7 M IPO, FloDesign Reveals $34.5M Financing, & More Boston-Area Deals News

It was a short week, but the list of deals that New England’s tech and life sciences firms inked in that span is a long one. Let’s dive in: —StyleFeeder, the Cambridge, MA-based personalized shopping website, was acquired by New York magazine publishing giant Time Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Lexington, MA-based Highland Capital Partners … Continue reading “Time Inc. Scoops Up StyleFeeder, Ironwood Sets Sights on Potential $266.7 M IPO, FloDesign Reveals $34.5M Financing, & More Boston-Area Deals News”

American Well CEO Shares Vision on Future of Virtual Doctor Visits and How Healthcare Reform Will Boost His Company

A little more than a year ago, American Well was still waiting for its first customer to launch its Web-based system, which enables real-time interactions between patients and doctors over the Internet. Then on January 15, 2009, after much anticipation, the system went live for the Hawaii Medical Service Association, the Hawaii franchise of Blue … Continue reading “American Well CEO Shares Vision on Future of Virtual Doctor Visits and How Healthcare Reform Will Boost His Company”

A Very Brief Follica Update for Our Loyal Readers

Ever since it announced its $5.5 million Series A funding round in January 2008, we have covered the news of Follica, the Boston area startup out to bring a scientific approach to developing novel ways of treating and, perhaps one day even curing, baldness and other hair-follicle disorders. These stories, including news of Follica’s $11 … Continue reading “A Very Brief Follica Update for Our Loyal Readers”

Friend or Foe: How Apple Is Forcing Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and AT&T to Raise Their Game

Apple’s increasing overlap with other technology companies—including mainstays of the Seattle and Boston scenes—is one of the biggest business trends of the year. It doesn’t matter whether you are the world’s biggest software company (Microsoft), a Web search and advertising titan (Google), an online retail giant (Amazon), a wireless carrier (AT&T), a digital music startup … Continue reading “Friend or Foe: How Apple Is Forcing Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and AT&T to Raise Their Game”

$12M for Unidesk

Marlborough, MA-based Unidesk, a stealth-mode company that provides virtual desktop management solutions, has raised $12 million in new equity financing, according to an SEC filing. North Bridge Venture Partners and Matrix Partners, both of Waltham, MA, are listed as company investors on Unidesk’s website. Unidesk was founded in 2007.

Thinking Phone Calls in $1.2M

Cambridge, MA-based Thinking Phone Networks, a developer of hosted customer communication and relationship management platforms, has raised $1.17 million of a $1.67 million round of equity mixed with options and warrants, an SEC filing shows. President and CEO Steven Kokinos told Mass High Tech that the funding comes from Capstone Partners, a Boston investment bank, … Continue reading “Thinking Phone Calls in $1.2M”

Bluesocket Wraps Up $8M

Bluesocket, a Burlington, MA-based developer of mobile access and security products, has raised $8 million in equity-based financing, according to an SEC filing. The company, whose products include a virtual wireless LAN technology, declined to provide further details on the equity round.  Bluesocket’s Bay State investors include Vesbridge Partners,  Ascent Venture Partners,  Ironside Ventures, and … Continue reading “Bluesocket Wraps Up $8M”

Another $3M for QD Vision

Little more than a month after announcing a $10 million round of venture financing, nanotech lighting startup QD Vision of Watertown, MA, said today that it has raised an additional $3 million from DTE Energy Ventures, a subsidiary of Detroit, MI-based power company Detroit Edison.“QD Vision’s Quantum Light platform will help lighting and display manufacturers … Continue reading “Another $3M for QD Vision”

A Meeting of the Minds: Game Companies and the VCs that Fund Them

Thought game companies were all just fun and, well, games? Think again. Last year game startups raised more than $600 million, helping to fuel job creation and future innovation in the booming industry, according to VentureBeat.com. Game industry veterans and venture capitalists will dish their perspectives on the future of the industry, at this event … Continue reading “A Meeting of the Minds: Game Companies and the VCs that Fund Them”

FDA to Rule on Genzyme Drug in Six Months

The FDA has told Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) that the agency plans to make a decision on its application for approval of Pompe drug alglucosidase alfa (Lumizyme) made in 4,000-liter batches by June 17, according to the company. The agency decided not to approve the treatment in November, citing lingering issues at Genzyme’s Allston Landing … Continue reading “FDA to Rule on Genzyme Drug in Six Months”

Merck’s Alan Sachs, on RNAi’s Big Challenge: Delivery, Delivery, Delivery

Merck hasn’t said much in public about what it’s doing in the field of RNA-based therapies, since it paid the jaw-dropping sum of $1.1 billion to acquire Sirna Therapeutics back in October 2006. So when I had the chance last week to sit down for an exclusive interview in San Francisco with Merck’s RNA therapeutics … Continue reading “Merck’s Alan Sachs, on RNAi’s Big Challenge: Delivery, Delivery, Delivery”

6 Goals for Fixing Genzyme: Xconomy’s Q&A With Relational Investors’ Ralph Whitworth

Former T. Boone Pickens protégés David H. Batchelder and Ralph V. Whitworth co-founded San Diego-based Relational Investors in 1996, and their privately owned asset management firm now serves some of the largest pension funds in the world. Whitworth, a lawyer who was president of the Washington D.C.-based United Shareholders Association before joining Batchelder in San … Continue reading “6 Goals for Fixing Genzyme: Xconomy’s Q&A With Relational Investors’ Ralph Whitworth”

Genomics Laid the Foundation for Big Global Health Advances To Come This Decade

In science, success is often measured in small advances in understanding. But in the past decade, technology has led to large leaps of new knowledge that has been well utilized in the battle against global infectious disease. And, this decade holds even greater promise. Genomics is an excellent example. We’ve seen the genomics revolution begin … Continue reading “Genomics Laid the Foundation for Big Global Health Advances To Come This Decade”

Disruption in the Wind: Talking with FloDesign’s New CEO, Lars Andersen

On Tuesday, FloDesign Wind Turbine of Wilbraham, MA, announced that it has raised $35 million in Series B funding from a list of marquee venture capital firms and hired a new CEO to go along with the new money. Both moves are aimed at setting the company on the path to commercialization of its unusual … Continue reading “Disruption in the Wind: Talking with FloDesign’s New CEO, Lars Andersen”

Thinking Phone Garners $1,170,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ac1ba100-5cce-4a0f-a354-0550f1208125&Preview=1 Date 1/21/2010 Company Name Thinking Phone Mailing Address 54 Washburn Ave Cambridge, MA 02140 Company Description As customer communications have expanded from primarily voice to include email, web, and IM, businesses have been forced to manage multiple independent systems to remain competitive and responsive to their customers. Along with the proliferation … Continue reading “Thinking Phone Garners $1,170,000 New Round”

SmartEquip Lands $18,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7ebe842d-103b-47f2-b0ad-0ca9518082fa&Preview=1 Date 1/21/2010 Company Name SmartEquip Mailing Address 20 Glover Avenue 5th Floor Norwalk, CT 06850 Company Description SmartEquip is the leading supplier of innovative software products serving manufacturers, dealers, and fleet owners in the construction, industrial equipment and power tools industries. Users of SmartEquip technology receive competitive advantage in the form … Continue reading “SmartEquip Lands $18,000,000 New Funding Round”

Bluesocket Obtains $8,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0c3a9c71-a5a5-4ea8-83ae-8ad2d0200e55&Preview=1 Date 1/21/2010 Company Name Bluesocket Mailing Address 10 North Avenue Burlington, MA 01803 Company Description Bluesocket Inc., a supplier of products that secure and manage wireless networks (WLANs). Website http://www.bluesocket.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor … Continue reading “Bluesocket Obtains $8,000,000 New Financing”

Unidesk Receives $12,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b5742c1d-1286-497f-940c-ca6bafc9edc4&Preview=1 Date 1/21/2010 Company Name Unidesk Mailing Address 313 Boston Post Road West Marlborough, MA 01752 Company Description Unidesk is focused on building innovative new software solutions that will dramatically reduce costs, increase IT control, and enhance the end user desktop computing experience for enterprise customers. Website http://www.unidesk.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Unidesk Receives $12,000,000 New Funding”

QD Vision Receives $3,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8469525c-d1b3-4829-8437-f7ce89ed129d&Preview=1 Date 1/21/2010 Company Name QD Vision Mailing Address 313 Pleasant St Watertown, MA 02472 Company Description Our leading edge solutions will give customers decisive performance and manufacturing advantages in the competitive market for flat panel displays. Because our solutions use standard OLED device structures, customers with installed manufacturing equipment can leverage … Continue reading “QD Vision Receives $3,000,000 New Financing Round”

CrisisCamp Haiti Relief Hacker Session

Having trouble figuring out how to contribute to the Haiti aid effort from where you are? Look to CrisisCamp, an event that will bring together Boston-area volunteers to collaborate on technology projects targeted toward Haiti relief efforts in the earthquake aftermath. The projects aim to provide data, information, maps, and technical assistance to non-governmental organizations, relief agencies, … Continue reading “CrisisCamp Haiti Relief Hacker Session”

“CrisisCamp” Hacker Session Planned in Cambridge to Help Haiti

Crisis Commons, a non-governmental organization formed last year to apply information technology to disaster management and humanitarian relief efforts, will mount a “CrisisCamp” session for Boston-area developers this Saturday in Cambridge. It’s the second weekend in a row the group has organized such sessions; similar camps took place last weekend in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., … Continue reading ““CrisisCamp” Hacker Session Planned in Cambridge to Help Haiti”

Amag Pharma to Sell 3M Shares

Amag Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:AMAG]]), a Lexington, MA-based firm with a lead product for patients with chronic kidney disease, announced yesterday that it plans to sell 3 million shares of common stock in a public offering. Additionally, the firm is allocating 450,000 shares for underwriters to cover potential over-allotments. The company’s stock traded at $49.03 per share … Continue reading “Amag Pharma to Sell 3M Shares”

Apperian Buys DS Media Labs

Apperian, a Boston-based developer of consumer and enterprise iPhone applications, announced today that it has acquired DS Media Labs, an 8-employee interactive design and development agency in West Palm Beach, FL. Apperian said the acquisition would give it the ability to develop applications for all major mobile platforms. “This team will also allow us to … Continue reading “Apperian Buys DS Media Labs”

First Friday Bioscience Luncheon Seminar

The North Shore Technology Council organizes this monthly meet-and-greet luncheon for local life sciences entrepreneurs. Industry members discuss the science behind their companies and executives talk about how they navigate business challenges. Visit the NSTC’s website for more information on this event, which meets alternately at the Woburn location and the Cummings Center in Beverly, MA.

5th Annual MIT Energy Conference

This student-run conference gathers executives, policy makers, industry experts, and scholars together under one roof to seek solutions to some of the globe’s major energy challenges. Panel topics include China’s role in leading energy technology, the future of electric vehicles, the commercialization of solar power, and unconventional natural gas. Friday’s events are free and open … Continue reading “5th Annual MIT Energy Conference”

Knome Challenged to Keep in Step with Falling Genetic Sequencing Prices

Knome, the personal genomics startup co-founded by leading Harvard geneticist George Church, is navigating rapid change in its business. The Cambridge, MA-based launched in 2007 to make whole-genome sequencing and analysis a personal luxury item rather than just a marvel of modern science, but now it’s facing more competition on the sequencing side of its … Continue reading “Knome Challenged to Keep in Step with Falling Genetic Sequencing Prices”

Hardware vs. Software: The Defining Technology Battle of This Decade

History repeats itself, it seems, because the defining technology battle of this decade is going to come straight from the 80s: it’s hardware versus software. [tweet] Every decade brings substantial advancements to both software and hardware, but in certain decades the strategic importance of one versus the other shifts dramatically in many segments. I’m using … Continue reading “Hardware vs. Software: The Defining Technology Battle of This Decade”

Performable Wants to Take the Guesswork Out of Web Marketing

Being a large Web company has its benefits. If you have hordes of visitors to your website and hordes of programmers on staff, you can afford to study potential site changes using “multivariate testing”—a fancy term for presenting different pages to different visitors and measuring which ones induce the behaviors you want, be it clicking … Continue reading “Performable Wants to Take the Guesswork Out of Web Marketing”

IkaSystems Raises $120M, New CEOs of Qteros, Bind, and Quanterix Dish the Dirt, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

This week Ryan and Luke had several great interviews with some of the newest CEOs in New England life sciences. Those and the rest of the week’s biotech, devices, and health IT news below. —Luke caught up with Steve Gullans, a managing director with Excel Venture Management, who reports that his Boston-based venture firm is … Continue reading “IkaSystems Raises $120M, New CEOs of Qteros, Bind, and Quanterix Dish the Dirt, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

BuyWithMe Secures $5,500,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dfcb0618-05cb-4b5f-98fb-d5ff77d1eb33&Preview=1 Date 1/20/2010 Company Name BuyWithMe Mailing Address PO Box 990749 Boston, MA 02199 Company Description We, the BuyWithMe team, are the most avid fans of the businesses featuring deals on this site. We take pride in working to handpick and help curate the promotions, partnering with businesses of all types to … Continue reading “BuyWithMe Secures $5,500,000 New Financing”

Kolltan Pharmaceuticals Obtains $10,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e03294f4-00a2-4dd3-8fa1-b8e405f5c81c&Preview=1 Date 1/20/2010 Company Name Kolltan Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 300 George St New Haven, CT 06511 Company Description Kolltan is a development-stage company advancing therapeutics that target well-defined and validated molecular mechanisms of disease in areas of critical clinical need. Website http://www.kolltan.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $10,000,000 Transaction Round Series … Continue reading “Kolltan Pharmaceuticals Obtains $10,000,000 Series B Round”

Lumigent Closes $3M from North Bridge

Lumigent Technologies, an Acton, MA-based company that produces automated governance, risk and compliance software, announced that it has closed $3 million in funding from Waltham, MA-based North Bridge Venture Partners. The new Lumigent funding comes on top of a $6 million Series A funding round from North Bridge, secured in January 2009, a company spokeswoman said.

FloDesign Wind Turbine Gets $35 Million and a Danish CEO

Wilbraham, MA-based FloDesign Wind Turbine, whose radical jet-engine-like design for a new form of wind turbine has whisked it from the world of student business plan competitions to national prominence in under three years, says it has raised a big chunk of new cash and installed a new chief executive. In an announcement today, FloDesign … Continue reading “FloDesign Wind Turbine Gets $35 Million and a Danish CEO”

Thermo Fisher’s $145M Buyout of Ahura Scientific Good News for Arch, Castile, and Other Venture Backers

Waltham, MA-based research products giant Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:TMO]]) has agreed to pay $145 million in cash to acquire venture-backed Ahura Scientific, according to a press release. The proposed deal is expected to close later this quarter, and it’s big a potential payday for Wilmington, MA-based Ahura’s venture backers such as Arch Venture Partners, which … Continue reading “Thermo Fisher’s $145M Buyout of Ahura Scientific Good News for Arch, Castile, and Other Venture Backers”

Final Entry Deadline for 29th Annual NEDMA Awards for Creative Excellence

Did your blog draw a crowd worth bragging about? Does your Twitter campaign have everyone tweeting? Show those innovative marketing strategies off by entering the New England Direct Marketing Association’s Awards for Creative Excellence. The 29th annual contest has added two new award categories, Interactive and Technique. The organization will also give out a “Best … Continue reading “Final Entry Deadline for 29th Annual NEDMA Awards for Creative Excellence”

Atlas Venture’s Fagnan Describes Consolidation as Tactical, Not Strategic

Atlas Venture, an early stage venture investing firm with offices in Waltham, MA, and London, announced today that it will consolidate its operations, downsize its UK office, and bring almost all of its active investment professionals together under one roof in the Boston area. That roof likely won’t be Atlas’s current office 890 Winter Street … Continue reading “Atlas Venture’s Fagnan Describes Consolidation as Tactical, Not Strategic”

Breakfast Seminar: Measuring Social Media campaigns with Katie Paine

Learn how to quantify the effectiveness of social media, public relations campaigns, and blogs at this breakfast seminar put on by the Mass. Technology Leadership Council. Katie Paine, dubbed “the queen of measurement,” will discuss the tools and techniques for measuring these marketing strategies and how to set objectives for social media programs. Event details … Continue reading “Breakfast Seminar: Measuring Social Media campaigns with Katie Paine”

HLM Venture Partners Closes $65M Round for Third Fund

Boston-based HLM Venture Partners has closed a $65 million first fundraising round for its third fund, Dow Jones VentureWire reported today. The firm, which focuses on investments in medical-device firms and healthcare information technology and services, hopes to raise a total of $200 million for its HLM Venture Partners III LP fund. The first round, … Continue reading “HLM Venture Partners Closes $65M Round for Third Fund”

Cardiorobotics Finds $5M

Cardiorobotics, a Middletown, RI-based developer of robotic devices for medical and non-medial uses, has raised $5 million in equity investments, according to an SEC filing. The startup, which was founded by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, announced in summer that it closed a $11.6 million Series A round of venture … Continue reading “Cardiorobotics Finds $5M”