Art Technology Group (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARTG]]), the Cambridge, MA-based provider of e-commerce software and services, announced today that it has acquired Seattle-based InstantService, which offers SaaS-based live chat services, for $17 million in cash. ATG said the acquisition will make it easier for its clients to offer live text-based chat with customer service agents as an … Continue reading “ATG Acquires InstantService”
Category: Boston
CardiAQ Captures $6.5M A Round Led by Former CoreValve President
[Updated and clarified—1/12/10, 2:30 pm ET, with timing of potential human study and other details] CardiAQ Valve Technologies, which is developing a catheter-based alternative to open-heart surgery for mitral valve implantation, reports today that it has raised $6.5 million in a Series A round of funding. The funding is expected to support R&D needed to … Continue reading “CardiAQ Captures $6.5M A Round Led by Former CoreValve President”
Gearing up for a Bicoastal Smackdown: Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 3 Coming February 4
Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands has become a welcome wintertime ritual in Cambridge: every January or February we get a bunch of loud, enthusiastic musicians together with a loud, enthusiastic crowd at the Middle East Night Club for a night of hot tunes, bravura performances, and audience voting. But this year—on February 4, to … Continue reading “Gearing up for a Bicoastal Smackdown: Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 3 Coming February 4”
Molecular Biometrics Scores $12.5M Second Round, Aims to Help IVF Users Avoid Octomom’s Fate
[Clarification—1/12/10, 1 pm ET] Nadya Suleman, aka the Octomom, grabbed headlines this time last year when she gave birth to octuplets conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Now, Molecular Biometrics is grabbing venture dollars for technology that could help other IVF users avoid a similar fate. The Norwood, MA-based firm raised $12.5 million in a … Continue reading “Molecular Biometrics Scores $12.5M Second Round, Aims to Help IVF Users Avoid Octomom’s Fate”
Larry Cheng on the Birth of Volition Capital
While many pundits predicted that the financial crisis of 2007-2008 would lead to a big shakeout on the venture-capital stage, there’s been remarkably little change in the cast of characters so far, at least in Boston. But Monday saw the demise of one established Boston venture fund and the birth of another, as the entire … Continue reading “Larry Cheng on the Birth of Volition Capital”
Be of Good Cheer in New Year, All Ye Entrepreneurs and Startup Founders
The National Venture Capital Association recently released a member survey that predicted: —In 2010 there will be fewer VC firms —Surviving VCs will spend most of their remaining funds on existing investments, and —Leftover funding will focus investments mostly on later-stage deals It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that things are looking very grim for … Continue reading “Be of Good Cheer in New Year, All Ye Entrepreneurs and Startup Founders”
Flurry of Early Stage Internet Deals Highlight Q4 VC Activity; Investments Slip to $5.5B
Venture investing settled in a bit during the fourth quarter of 2009, but the analysts at ChubbyBrain, the New York firm providing the data, are encouraged by the overall mix, saying, “optimism, albeit of the cautious variety, seems to have found its way back.” While the total amount of venture capital investments during the quarter … Continue reading “Flurry of Early Stage Internet Deals Highlight Q4 VC Activity; Investments Slip to $5.5B”
CitySquares Online Acquires Yokel for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=eda7d4b8-63f4-4380-a344-4ae924a56a27&Preview=1 Date 1/12/2010 Company Name Yokel Mailing Address 580 Harrison Ave 4th Floor Boston, MA 02118 Company Description Yokel.com is a search engine that makes local shopping easier than ever before. With one of the most comprehensive Internet directories of local stores and products, Yokel enables shoppers to quickly find what they … Continue reading “CitySquares Online Acquires Yokel for Undisclosed Sum”
Harvest Automation Receives $4,000,000 Series A Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=15ee45bd-48ff-4936-a969-151f52f1adde&Preview=1 Date 1/12/2010 Company Name Harvest Automation Mailing Address 154 Main St Groton, MA 01581 Company Description Harvest was founded by a seasoned technology executive and a trio of robotics experts. The Company now comprises a diverse, commited team with expertise in sales and marketing, engineering (software, hardware, electrical, mechanical), project management, … Continue reading “Harvest Automation Receives $4,000,000 Series A Round”
CardiAQ Valve Technologies Garners $6,500,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4275307f-c678-420f-83d4-9761dd96c715&Preview=1 Date 1/12/2010 Company Name CardiAQ Valve Technologies Mailing Address 1 Orient Street Winchester, MA 01890 Company Description CardiAQ Valve Technologies (CVT), a privately held company founded by heart surgeon Dr. Arshad Quadri, is developing innovative approaches to heart valve replacement and is initially focused on percutaneous mitral valve replacement (PMVR).There are … Continue reading “CardiAQ Valve Technologies Garners $6,500,000 New Funding”
Molecular Biometrics Lands $12,500,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=93a93b1a-0fb3-4fb1-a1a7-087028ae3908&Preview=1 Date 1/12/2010 Company Name Molecular Biometrics Mailing Address One Edgewater Drive Norwood, MA 02062 Company Description Molecular Biometrics, Inc. develops highly specific and sensitive analytical methodologies for molecular diagnostic and monitoring applications in medicine, and for drug discovery and development through pharmacodiagnostics. Website http://www.molecularbiometrics.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $12,500,000 … Continue reading “Molecular Biometrics Lands $12,500,000 Series B Financing Round”
Charles River Labs to Cut 300 Jobs
Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:[[ticker:CRL]]) announced today that it plans to suspend operations at its Shrewsbury, MA, facility by mid-2010, reacting to a slowdown in demand for its preclinical testing services. The Wilmington, MA-based contract research company told the online publication Mass Device that it would let go nearly 300 workers in its preclinical business. … Continue reading “Charles River Labs to Cut 300 Jobs”
BIND Hires New CEO, Raises $11M
BIND Biosciences, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of nanoparticle drugs, says today that it has appointed Scott Minick as its president and CEO. Minick was previously a managing director of ARCH Venture Partners, a major investor in BIND. The company also told Mass High Tech that it has raised $11 million in a Series C round … Continue reading “BIND Hires New CEO, Raises $11M”
India’s Innovation Front Lines 2009 (Part 5): Educating the Bottom of the Pyramid
Delhi, January 5, 2010—The biggest challenge and therefore opportunity faced by India is its demographic dividend: there are over 500 million youth under 25 years of age and 350 million under 15 years. Thirty percent of them are in cities. Only a small percentage of these youngsters will obtain university degrees. The majority will need … Continue reading “India’s Innovation Front Lines 2009 (Part 5): Educating the Bottom of the Pyramid”
Fidelity Ventures Team Forms Volition Capital
There’s a new player on the venture scene in Boston. The team behind the U.S. branch of Fidelity Ventures, the venture investing wing of Fidelity Investments, has left Fidelity and relaunched itself under the name Volition Capital, according to an announcement today. The new firm—in which Fidelity has no ownership stake—says it will invest in … Continue reading “Fidelity Ventures Team Forms Volition Capital”
Optics for Hire Buys Actuality Assets
The patent portfolio and other assets of Actuality Systems, a Bedford, MA-based maker of visualization systems for medicine, oil and gas exploration, and other applications, has been acquired by Optics for Hire, the Arlington, MA, company announced December 28. Actuality launched in 1997 after winning the MIT $50K business plan competition; its flagship product, Perspecta, … Continue reading “Optics for Hire Buys Actuality Assets”
A SeaChange for VividLogic
Acton, MA-based SeaChange International (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SEAC]]), which specializes in hardware and software for video-on-demand television, announced last week that it has acquired VividLogic of Fremont, CA, for $12 million in cash plus $8.6 million in working capital. VividLogic supplies software for home video networking and recording to cable operators, set-top box makers, and consumer electronics … Continue reading “A SeaChange for VividLogic”
AcadiaSoft Finds $4M
AcadiaSoft, which makes software for managing derivative investments, has raised $4 million in equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The Pembroke, MA-based startup told Mass High Tech that the investors in the financing included large financial institutions such as HSBC Holdings and ICAP, both of which are based in London, and New York-based JP … Continue reading “AcadiaSoft Finds $4M”
Virtify Reports $15M in A Round
Virtify, a provider of Web-based document management software for life sciences firms, has secured $15 million in an offering of Series A convertible preferred stock, according to an SEC filing. There are eight investors in the round, according to the filing, but the Cambridge, MA-based firm hasn’t yet identified them, and neither company CEO Satish … Continue reading “Virtify Reports $15M in A Round”
Progress Software Buys Savvion
Progress Software (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PRGS]]), the Bedford, MA-based maker of systems for integrating enterprise software applications, said this morning that it has acquired Santa Clara, CA-based Savvion for $49 million, net of Savvion’s cash. Savvion makes business process management software, and Progress president and CEO Richard Reidy said the acquisition “enhances our goal to provide unprecedented … Continue reading “Progress Software Buys Savvion”
Apple Eases Controls on iPhone App Development: One Local Developer’s Experiences
Downloading free or paid third-party applications has become such a key part of the Apple iPhone experience—with more than 100,000 apps now available through the iTunes App Store—that it’s easy to forget that outside apps weren’t even allowed on the device until summer 2008. But while Apple’s strategy has revolutionized consumers’ expectations about smartphones, and … Continue reading “Apple Eases Controls on iPhone App Development: One Local Developer’s Experiences”
Fund-Raising By U.S. Venture Capital Funds Fell 55% in 2009: We Have the Boston, San Diego, and Seattle Details, Too
It’s probably not much consolation for the entrepreneurs who tried to raise venture funding last year, but U.S. venture capital firms raised much less money from their institutional investors in 2009 than they have in recent years. New figures from Dow Jones LP Source show that fund-raising by venture firms in 2009 fell almost 55 … Continue reading “Fund-Raising By U.S. Venture Capital Funds Fell 55% in 2009: We Have the Boston, San Diego, and Seattle Details, Too”
Alnylam Maps Out First Steps in ‘RNA Decade’
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals CEO John Maraganore had a snappy greeting ready for our first conversation of 2010. “Happy RNA Decade,” Maraganore said. For the sake of his Cambridge, MA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]), Maraganore is wagering that this will be the decade in which scientific seeds of RNA-based therapies start to fulfill their potential. The decade-long vision … Continue reading “Alnylam Maps Out First Steps in ‘RNA Decade’”
Quattro Scooped Up By Apple, Medtronic Invests in GI Dynamics, EMC Acquires Archer, & More Boston-Area Deals News
New England’s tech and life sciences companies hit the ground running in the new year, inking a host of deals this week. —Data storage giant EMC of Hopkinton, MA, made a bold move into the market for governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) with the acquisition of Overland Park, KS-based Archer Technologies. Archer will become … Continue reading “Quattro Scooped Up By Apple, Medtronic Invests in GI Dynamics, EMC Acquires Archer, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
See You at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
It’s mid-January, and in biotech that means only one thing—it’s time for the annual industry pilgrimage known as the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. I’m here as always, attending the meeting in San Francisco’s Union Square that draws most of this fragmented industry’s major investors, biotech executives, and pharma dealmakers in one place for a frenzy … Continue reading “See You at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference”
The Intellectual Property Century
Great technology improvements over the past decade have proven again that innovation serves as the best currency for progress against our greatest challenges. Terrific new tools and applications in information technology have been on display everywhere during the holidays; green tech ideas abound offering great promise; and even in the more prolonged R&D world of … Continue reading “The Intellectual Property Century”
AcadiaSoft Secures $4,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=87052d2f-7dd7-465b-b29d-4477801d6a03&Preview=1 Date 1/11/2010 Company Name AcadiaSoft Mailing Address PO Box 1166 Lynnfield, MA 01940-1166 Company Description AcadiaSoft Inc. develops and markets derivatives and collateral management solutions for institutional investors. By listening to the market and its customers, AcadiaSoft has developed a solution that combines disparate sources of information that maximizes organizational efficiency … Continue reading “AcadiaSoft Secures $4,000,000 New Financing”
Virtify Obtains $15,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f04b87ba-4120-4f77-891d-9a110dfe9bdd&Preview=1 Date 1/11/2010 Company Name Virtify Mailing Address 55 Cambridge Parkway Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description Virtify is the market leader in Enterprise Content Compliance solutions for life sciences. Organizations rely on Virtify to reduce time-to-market, risk, and costs by managing and automating the complex regulatory compliance and content exchange requirements throughout … Continue reading “Virtify Obtains $15,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
BIND Biosciences Secures $11,000,000 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=32f1379d-cdc9-45b2-8f47-a3f53782a1de&Preview=1 Date 1/11/2010 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 $11,000,000 … Continue reading “BIND Biosciences Secures $11,000,000 Series C Round”
Dynadec Lands $350,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ebe01ea0-7523-416e-b560-b660c9fbaacc&Preview=1 Date 1/11/2010 Company Name Dynadec Mailing Address One Richmond Square Providence, RI 02906 Company Description Dynadec solutions drive operational excellence by optimizing the decisions and processes that are critical to your success. Comet™, our hybrid optimization platform, accelerates the development of high-value solutions for vehicle routing, workforce management and resource scheduling. … Continue reading “Dynadec Lands $350,000 New Financing”
CA Acquires Oblicore for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0218150a-07d1-478a-993d-255742a30b25&Preview=1 Date 1/11/2010 Company Name Oblicore Mailing Address 460 Totten Pond Road Waltham, MA 02451 Company Description Oblicore is the leading provider of Service Level Management software. Our flagship product, Oblicore Guarantee, automates, activates and accelerates the monitoring, reporting and management of all business technology service level agreements and service delivery for … Continue reading “CA Acquires Oblicore for Undisclosed Sum”
MIT MBA Students: Amazon, Google, and T-Mobile Are Hiring, Expedia Isn’t; Microsoft “Super Interesting,” Apple Is “Sterile”
[Updated 3:30pm 1/9/10 with clarification (see below)] If you want to know which companies are looking to hire top young business talent around town, just ask the group of 20 or so first-year MBA students from MIT Sloan School of Management. The students from Cambridge, MA, are in Seattle this week looking to make contacts … Continue reading “MIT MBA Students: Amazon, Google, and T-Mobile Are Hiring, Expedia Isn’t; Microsoft “Super Interesting,” Apple Is “Sterile””
Dynadec, Harvest, and Konarka: A Trio of Friday Fundings
Three New England firms rounded out the first week of the New Year with new financing rounds. —Konarka Technologies of Lowell, MA, which is famous for its flexible “Power Plastic” photovoltaic material, raised $23.8 million in Series G funding through an offering combining equity and warrants. All of the money came from a single source, … Continue reading “Dynadec, Harvest, and Konarka: A Trio of Friday Fundings”
Subscription Model Turns Rent the Runway into a Real “Dressflix”
“Netflix for designer dresses” is the elevator pitch that everyone uses to describe Rent the Runway, the New York City startup that launched in November with Series A funding from Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures. The company buys dresses from top fashion designers, then lets customers reserve them online for a four- or eight-day rental period. … Continue reading “Subscription Model Turns Rent the Runway into a Real “Dressflix””
Synta Nabs $25M in Stock Deal
Synta Pharmaceuticals, the Lexington, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has raised $25 million in a stock offering. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNTA]]) sold 5.5 million shares at $4.50 apiece—about a 17.6 percent discount from yesterday’s closing price of $5.46. Lazard Capital Markets led the offering and RBC Capital Markets served as a co-manager. … Continue reading “Synta Nabs $25M in Stock Deal”
The FCC Calls for a Standard Set-Top Box: Open Box, Open Market, Open Mind?
I may be in the minority, but I think the FCC’s recent call for an open, retail-ready set-top box standard could be a boon for incumbent service providers, their technology partners, and consumers. The cable companies, who charge a nice little fee for set-top box rentals, may say that regulation will cost them the revenues … Continue reading “The FCC Calls for a Standard Set-Top Box: Open Box, Open Market, Open Mind?”
Five Disruptive Biotech Ideas to Watch in the Coming Decade
It was a remarkable decade. There were so many advances in biotech during the first decade of the millennium that it is hard to choose the most important ones so I’d prefer to focus on five transformational biotechnologies coming in the future. 1. Who would have guessed that by the end of the decade, what … Continue reading “Five Disruptive Biotech Ideas to Watch in the Coming Decade”
Tablet Fever: How Apple Could Go Where No Computer Maker Has Gone Before
After a steady crescendo over the last several years, the talk in the mediasphere about a new tablet computer from Apple has reached deafening proportions. With an actual product announcement now expected on January 27 (at least, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites “sources in a position to know”), Apple may finally be … Continue reading “Tablet Fever: How Apple Could Go Where No Computer Maker Has Gone Before”
Agreement Between Genzyme and San Diego Activist Shareholder Suggests Truce
In what may be a pre-emptive move to turn down the heat, beleaguered Genzyme (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]) says today it has entered into a “mutual cooperation agreement” with Relational Investors, the $6 billion activist investment fund based in San Diego. The private investment firm began to acquire Genzyme shares in 2008, and Relational co-founder Ralph Whitworth … Continue reading “Agreement Between Genzyme and San Diego Activist Shareholder Suggests Truce”
Carbonite Stores Up $20M More
[Updated 5:00 p.m. 1/7/10 with information about the investors in the round] Boston-based Carbonite, which shares the market for online PC backup services with EMC’s Mozy, has raised an additional $20 million round of funding, according to a regulatory filing today. New investor Crosslink Capital of San Francisco led the round, and all of the … Continue reading “Carbonite Stores Up $20M More”
$15M for Salient Surgical
Salient Surgical Technologies of Portsmouth, NH, has raised $15 million in equity-based financing from a group of 10 unnamed investors, according to a regulatory filing published online yesterday. Established in 1999 and formerly known as Tissuelink Medical, Salient makes devices that stop bleeding and seal wounds by allowing surgeons to apply focused radio-frequency energy and … Continue reading “$15M for Salient Surgical”
Dyn Inc. Buys EveryDNS
Manchester, NH-based Dyn Inc., which provides DNS services to leading companies like Twitter, Meetup, 37Signals, and Stylefeeder, said today that it has acquired San Francisco-based rival EveryDNS. DNS services resolve customers’ URLs into Internet protocol addresses that are readable by Web servers and Internet routers. EveryDNS is 12-year-old Dyn’s first acquisition; the terms of the … Continue reading “Dyn Inc. Buys EveryDNS”
Medtronic Invests in GI Dynamics
GI Dynamics, the Lexington, MA-based maker of a device for treating obesity and diabetes, said today that the device giant Medtronic (NYSE: [[ticker:MDT]]) has made a strategic investment in the company. The amount wasn’t disclosed in a statement, although GI Dynamics submitted a regulatory filing that says it just raised $15 million from a single … Continue reading “Medtronic Invests in GI Dynamics”
Predictive Buys OncoDiagnostic Lab
Predictive Biosciences, a Lexington, MA-based developer of diagnostics, said today it has acquired Cleveland, OH-based OncoDiagnostic Laboratory. By acquiring the company, founded in 1985, Predictive has obtained a certified pathology lab that serves urologists, gastroenterologists, dermatologists and other specialty physicians around the country. The facility will provide a commercial base of operation for Predictive, which … Continue reading “Predictive Buys OncoDiagnostic Lab”
Top Five Innovations to Watch in the Coming Decade
The next decade will see the realization of many of the buzzwords of the last decade. The combination of the information era, the biotechnology revolution, and materials breakthroughs will drive new medical and cleantech inventions that will change our lives. The future of innovation in the United States is promising at its core and we … Continue reading “Top Five Innovations to Watch in the Coming Decade”
A New CEO at Mascoma
Lebanon, NH-based Mascoma, which is developing technology for making biofuels from cellulosic ethanol, said today that chemical industry veteran William Brady has been appointed chief executive officer. Brady steps into a post vacated last August by Bruce Jamerson, who became chairman of venture-backed Mascoma and its subsidiary Frontier Renewable Resources. Brady previously spent 23 years … Continue reading “A New CEO at Mascoma”
MicroCHIPS Adds $16.5 Million to Pursue Wireless Medical Implants
MicroCHIPS, the Bedford, MA-based startup developing wireless medical implants containing chemical sensors or drug reservoirs, has raised $16.5 million in Series C venture funding, according to a company announcement today. Existing investors Polaris Venture Partners, Novartis Venture Fund, Flybridge Capital Partners, Medtronic, Saints Capital, Intersouth Partners, Care Capital, and CSK Venture Capital were all on … Continue reading “MicroCHIPS Adds $16.5 Million to Pursue Wireless Medical Implants”
ZeeVee Recasts Zinc Video Browser for the Cloud—and for a New Generation of Internet-Connected TVs
By the end of the new decade—and probably a lot sooner—television will be just another application of the Internet, the way e-mail and the Web and Twitter are today. All TV sets will connect directly to the Internet, and they’ll have built-in user interfaces that help viewers navigate the universe of digital video content (which … Continue reading “ZeeVee Recasts Zinc Video Browser for the Cloud—and for a New Generation of Internet-Connected TVs”
Lycera, a Midwestern Biotech Star, Moves Head Office to Boston, Hires Biogen Vet as CEO
One of the hot biotech startups from the Midwest is setting up shop in Boston. Lycera, the Ann Arbor, MI-based company with a novel idea for attacking autoimmune diseases, has decided to move its headquarters to Cambridge, MA and is naming a young management talent as CEO. Lycera is announcing today it has hired Bill … Continue reading “Lycera, a Midwestern Biotech Star, Moves Head Office to Boston, Hires Biogen Vet as CEO”
Carbonite Lands $20,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1a72663d-97b8-4e6e-9316-13d9ba6189e4&Preview=1 Date 1/7/2010 Company Name Carbonite Mailing Address 177 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115 Company Description Carbonite sells secure Internet-based backup for personal computer and laptop owners. Website http://www.carbonite.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $20,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes This is a mezzanine round which we anticipate will accelerate our … Continue reading “Carbonite Lands $20,000,000 New Financing Round”