Category: Boston

SS&C Buys TheNextRound

TheNextRound, a Framingham, MA-based startup that makes software for private equity and alternative investors, has been acquired by Windsor, CT-based SS&C Technologies for an undisclosed amount, according to an SS&C announcement today. SS&C makes financial management software for insurance companies, hedge funds, banks and credit unions, real estate companies, and other institutions.

$31.3M for Cambridgesoft

Cambridge, MA-based Cambridgesoft, which makes software for life sciences companies, disclosed in regulatory documents filed November 17 that it has raised $31.3 million in new equity-based financing. Cambridgesoft first announced the funding round (though not the amount) in a November 16 release that named new investor Health Evolution Partners and existing investor Goldman Sachs as … Continue reading “$31.3M for Cambridgesoft”

Brown, IBM Switch On Supercomputer

A new IBM supercomputer opened at Brown University’s Center for Computation and Visualization in Providence, RI, today is 50 times faster than Brown’s next best machine and is the most powerful computer in Rhode Island, according to an announcement from IBM (NYSE: [[ticker:IBM]]). Researchers at Brown and other institutions intend to use the 1,440-processor machine … Continue reading “Brown, IBM Switch On Supercomputer”

Metcalfe Reflects on $2.7B 3Com Buyout, MyPunchbowl Parent Adds New Punch, $30M More for Fate Therapeutics, & More Boston Deals News

Dealmakers appear to be getting their business done before the week of Thanksgiving—because we’ve seen a decent stream of deal closings involving Boston-area life sciences and tech companies over the past week or so. —Framingham, MA-based Punchbowl Software, which operates the party planning website MyPunchbowl.com, said it acquired technology assets of a group vacation website … Continue reading “Metcalfe Reflects on $2.7B 3Com Buyout, MyPunchbowl Parent Adds New Punch, $30M More for Fate Therapeutics, & More Boston Deals News”

Using Google’s Building Maker to Change the Face of Boston

When I was in fifth grade, I wanted to be an architect. (I also wanted to be a geneticist, a meteorologist, and an astronaut. I guess I wound up doing the next best thing to all of those sci/tech careers—writing about them.) I loved my junior builder kit, a collection of little plastic columns and … Continue reading “Using Google’s Building Maker to Change the Face of Boston”

ImmunoGen Nabs $1M From Amgen

Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IMGN]]) said today that Amgen has purchased a second license to develop a treatment that uses ImmunoGen’s technology for linking targeted antibodies to cell-killing agents that make them more potent. ImmunoGen will get $1 million upfront and could receive $34 million worth of milestone payments over time if Amgen is successful … Continue reading “ImmunoGen Nabs $1M From Amgen”

$5.3M for Corindus

Natick, MA-based Corindus has corralled $5.3 million of a proposed $10 million round of equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The firm is developing a robotic system that helps surgeons control the position of guidewires in veins in procedures to implant vascular stents, according to the firm’s LinkedIn profile. A call to company CEO … Continue reading “$5.3M for Corindus”

New Partner at Braemar Energy Ventures

Braemar Energy Ventures, a venture firm focused on investments in the cleantech sector, has named Jiong Ma a partner of the firm, according to a Mass High Tech report. She was previously a principal at the firm, which has offices in Boston and New York City, according to its website. Braemar’s portfolio includes such Boston-area … Continue reading “New Partner at Braemar Energy Ventures”

Big Energy Collaborations Seen to Jump-Start Emerging Biofuels Technologies

As startups developing next-generation biofuels emerge in San Diego, Boston, and elsewhere, a business model for rapidly expanding to commercial-scale operations already can be found in the biotech industry, experts said yesterday. The premise of presentations organized by Biocom, San Diego’s life sciences industry group, is that collaborations being formed between biofuel startups and big … Continue reading “Big Energy Collaborations Seen to Jump-Start Emerging Biofuels Technologies”

Tysabri, the MS Drug Haunted by Deadly Side Effect, Doesn’t Look So Deadly Anymore

Few doctors knew much about a rare brain infection called PML back in 2005, when two patients on a hot new multiple sclerosis drug from Biogen Idec and Elan died from the side effect. The infection, at the time, was generally considered a death sentence. But now with three years of data from more than … Continue reading “Tysabri, the MS Drug Haunted by Deadly Side Effect, Doesn’t Look So Deadly Anymore”

A Week of Woe for Genzyme, A CPR App for Your iPhone, A Better Treatment for Opioid Dependence, and More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

Believe it or not, the troubles besetting Genzyme (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]) were not the only life science stories coming out of the Boston area this week, although they sure grabbed most of the attention. So let’s get them all out of the way first: —On Friday the 13th, the FDA said bits of steel, rubber, and … Continue reading “A Week of Woe for Genzyme, A CPR App for Your iPhone, A Better Treatment for Opioid Dependence, and More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

Corindus Lands $5,300,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1f30e22b-bd5c-420c-ad03-5bf88dbf35cb&Preview=1 Date 11/19/2009 Company Name Corindus Mailing Address 11 Erie Drive Natick, MA 01760 Company Description Corindus provides intuitive robotic technologies for catheterization laboratories and radiology/special procedure suites. Allowing physicians to accurately place guide wires and precisely deploy stent systems in patient’s arteries from a comfortable workstation; enabling operators to conduct interventions … Continue reading “Corindus Lands $5,300,000 New Funding Round”

Ligon Discovery Receives $1,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=16388119-256e-4dbe-95a9-d34c53fb7865&Preview=1 Date 11/19/2009 Company Name Ligon Discovery Mailing Address 64 Sidney Street Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description Ligon Discovery’s primary technology platform, Small-Molecule Microarrays (SMMs), fundamentally transforms drug discovery by bringing the power of microarrays to target screening. Website http://www.ligondiscovery.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Ligon Discovery Receives $1,000,000 New Funding Round”

Genzyme Halts Development of New Kidney Drug; A “Very Significant” Bust, Analyst Says

Another day, another piece of bad news from Genzyme. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech giant (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]) said today it is scrapping development of a next-generation drug for kidney disease after it was unable to beat its existing treatment on the market. Genzyme’s experimental drug, called an advanced phosphate binder, didn’t appear any better at getting … Continue reading “Genzyme Halts Development of New Kidney Drug; A “Very Significant” Bust, Analyst Says”

Mobilizing the Web for the Developing World: Inside the World Wide Web Foundation with CEO Steve Bratt, Part 2

Yesterday we ran the first part of our interview with Steve Bratt, the CEO of the new World Wide Web Foundation, which was unveiled on November 15 by Web inventor Tim-Berners-Lee. The foundation aims to empower people in developing regions to access “life-critical information” on the Web using mobile phones and other simplified interfaces. Bratt, … Continue reading “Mobilizing the Web for the Developing World: Inside the World Wide Web Foundation with CEO Steve Bratt, Part 2”

NanoString Forges Closer Ties With Broad Institute to See What Genetic Tool Can Really Do

NanoString Technologies, the maker of a machine that lets scientists digitally analyze how genes are turned on or off in a tissue sample, just won a glowing endorsement from one of the biggest names in biology—Eric Lander of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The Seattle-based company has nailed down a three-year research collaboration … Continue reading “NanoString Forges Closer Ties With Broad Institute to See What Genetic Tool Can Really Do”

Founder Collective: When Entrepreneurs Form Their Own Seed-Stage Venture Firm

Managing a venture fund is hugely different from running a startup. Eric Paley told me that last year at this time his primary responsibility was at dental imaging firm Brontes Technologies, the MIT spin-off that he co-founded and where he had served as general manager after its sale to technology giant 3M (NYSE:[[ticker:MMM]]) in 2006. … Continue reading “Founder Collective: When Entrepreneurs Form Their Own Seed-Stage Venture Firm”

How Fast Is Your Cloud Connection? Apparent Networks Can Tell You

One of the great things about doing your computing in the cloud is that you don’t have to worry about which machines your jobs are running on, or whether they have the right software on them, or even what city they’re in. Indeed, that’s the whole point. But one of the less ideal things about … Continue reading “How Fast Is Your Cloud Connection? Apparent Networks Can Tell You”

On Founding a Company Fresh Out of College

On May 18th of 2009, I signed the papers to legally incorporate my first company. Three weeks later, I graduated from MIT with my BS in biological engineering. Fast forward, and after 10 months of working on the venture, it was decided to not continue. After failing to get the outcome the team had hoped for, … Continue reading “On Founding a Company Fresh Out of College”

Slam Dunk for Dunkin’ Donuts at MITX Interactive Awards

For the fourteenth year in a row, the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange—far better known as MITX (pronounced my-tex)—handed out its Interactive Awards tonight, in a sold-out ceremony at the Marriott Copley Place Hotel in Boston. The awards honor the most creative digital advertising and marketing campaigns devised by companies and agencies in the New … Continue reading “Slam Dunk for Dunkin’ Donuts at MITX Interactive Awards”

Foster Hinshaw Back in Command at Dataupia; News of Company’s Death Greatly Exaggerated, He Says

From all outward appearances, Cambridge, MA-based data warehousing appliance maker Dataupia and its founder Foster Hinshaw have both been through near-death experiences this year. Heart problems forced to Hinshaw to step down as CEO in January. Dataupia’s board brought in not just a new leader, Tony Sirianni, but a new strategy, concentrating on selling software … Continue reading “Foster Hinshaw Back in Command at Dataupia; News of Company’s Death Greatly Exaggerated, He Says”

Isis, Genzyme Cholesterol Drug Passes Test, But Investors Get Nervous About Liver Safety

The big new cholesterol-lowering drug from Genzyme and Isis Pharmaceuticals, which both companies are counting on as a future profit driver, passed its first major clinical trial, but investors didn’t like what they saw when full details were released this morning at a major medical meeting. Carlsbad, CA-based Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIS]]) fell 16 percent … Continue reading “Isis, Genzyme Cholesterol Drug Passes Test, But Investors Get Nervous About Liver Safety”

Kindle and Sharing and Mobile, Oh My! 5 More Ways to Use Xconomy

Here at Xconomy we may not be on the absolute bleeding edge of media technology—usually we’re too busy writing about the latest stuff to adopt it right away ourselves—but when there’s a cool new way to get our content out, we try to take advantage of it as soon as we can. In that spirit, … Continue reading “Kindle and Sharing and Mobile, Oh My! 5 More Ways to Use Xconomy”

TechStars Boston Gets a Jump on Summer, Switches to Spring; Applications Open Now

[Updated 9:05 a.m., 11/16/09, see below] David Cohen, the co-founder of Boulder, CO-based venture incubator program TechStars, sent Xconomy a note this morning to say that the Boston version of TechStars is coming back to town a bit earlier than expected. The 2010 session of TechStars Boston will take place in the spring, rather than … Continue reading “TechStars Boston Gets a Jump on Summer, Switches to Spring; Applications Open Now”

Steve Bratt, CEO of New World Wide Web Foundation, Details Plans To Make the Web More Usable in the Developing World

Only 25 percent of adults around the world have access to a computer that they can use to reach the Web. But 75 percent have access to a mobile phone. So the simplest way to open up the wealth of information on the Web to more people would be to make it usable via voice … Continue reading “Steve Bratt, CEO of New World Wide Web Foundation, Details Plans To Make the Web More Usable in the Developing World”

MyPunchbowl.com Acquires Group Travel Site I’m In, Transforms It Into Party Vendor Directory

Framingham, MA-based Punchbowl Software, the company behind party planning site MyPunchbowl.com, said today that it has acquired the assets of I’m In, a group vacation website formerly owned by Waltham, MA-based GroupGo. Punchbowl’s founder and CEO Matt Douglas says the local search tools created by I’m In have enabled MyPunchbowl to launch a new local … Continue reading “MyPunchbowl.com Acquires Group Travel Site I’m In, Transforms It Into Party Vendor Directory”

CloudCamp Boston

Xconomy has forged a unique partnership with CloudCamp to make December 10 an incredible day of cloud computing. Our morning forum will be followed in the afternoon by CloudCamp—a more technical examination of could computing: an unconference where early adopters-including end users, IT professionals, and vendors of cloud computing technologies-exchange ideas for the advancement of … Continue reading “CloudCamp Boston”

Report: SEC Probing 3Com for Potential Insider Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether a surge in call option trading on 3Com shares just hours before the announcement that Hewlett-Packard would take over the Marlborough, MA-based networking equipment maker for $2.7 billion was a result of insider knowledge of the deal, Bloomberg and other outlets are reporting today. Trading in call … Continue reading “Report: SEC Probing 3Com for Potential Insider Trading”

Last Day to Bid on Lord of the Rings Online Collector’s Edition! Auction Benefiits Science Club for Girls, Technology Underwriting Greater Good

It’s day 6 of our 7-day auction to raise funds for two of our favorite causes, Science Club for Girls and Technology Underwriting Greater Good. So hurry to eBay, because as of this writing you’ve only got about 20 hours left to bid on the amazing Lord of the Rings Online Collector’s Edition boxed set, … Continue reading “Last Day to Bid on Lord of the Rings Online Collector’s Edition! Auction Benefiits Science Club for Girls, Technology Underwriting Greater Good”

$875K for Swipely

Swipely, a Providence, RI-based startup that was quietly launched earlier this year, has raised $875,000 of a planned $1 million equity financing, according to an SEC document filed last week. Angus Davis—a co-founder of the voice-based Internet search and services provider Tellme Networks, which was sold to Microsoft (NASDAQ:[[ticker:MSFT]]) and became a subsidiary of the … Continue reading “$875K for Swipely”

FDA Shoots Down Genzyme’s Latest Bid for Pompe Drug Approval

Even more bad news from Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]). Following the news on Friday about new contamination found in treatments made at the Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm’s Allston, MA, plant, the company says today the FDA informed it that the agency won’t approve its application to market Pompe disease drug alglucosidase alfa (Lumizyme) made in large-scale batches … Continue reading “FDA Shoots Down Genzyme’s Latest Bid for Pompe Drug Approval”

Ex-Microsoftie Don Dodge Going to Google

It turns out that Don Dodge—famous among entrepreneurs for putting a personal face on Microsoft’s operations in New England, until his unceremonious termination earlier this month—was only in job limbo for about about an hour and a half. Dodge sends Xconomy word this morning that he has been hired by Microsoft archrival Google. Vic Gundotra, … Continue reading “Ex-Microsoftie Don Dodge Going to Google”

Alkermes to Seek FDA Approval of Anti-Addiction Drug

Cambridge,MA-based biotech Alkermes said this morning that its long-acting naltrexone injection (Vivitrol) was more effective in treating opioid drug dependence than placebo in a Phase III clinical trial. The 250-patient clinical trial compared urine samples of patients who took the firm’s once-per-month injection of naltrexone versus those who took placebo over the last 20 weeks … Continue reading “Alkermes to Seek FDA Approval of Anti-Addiction Drug”

A Day of Straight Talk on Cloud Computing, Coming December 10

Where is “the cloud”? It’s everywhere and nowhere; it’s the power of algorithms distributed across entire networks but concentrated down to the screen of your wireless laptop; it’s the sum of all the world’s on-demand computing jobs, churning away in big data centers in secure, undisclosed locations, flinging their inputs and outputs across the electronic … Continue reading “A Day of Straight Talk on Cloud Computing, Coming December 10”

Inside iRobot: A Search for Medical Droids

Robots have already found limited work in healthcare by assisting surgeons with operations and physical therapists with rehabilitating patients, among other jobs. So why can’t robots keep an eye on seniors and give them their medications? Bedford, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ:[[ticker:IRBT]]) made headlines last month with the announcement of its recently created healthcare division, which is … Continue reading “Inside iRobot: A Search for Medical Droids”

Fate Therapeutics Bags $30M Venture Deal, Led by OVP, to Develop “Industrialized” Stem Cells

Fate Therapeutics, the San Diego-based company on a quest to develop techniques that make stem cell research practical for the pharmaceutical industry, has raised $30 million in a Series B round of venture financing. Kirkland, WA-based OVP Venture Partners led the deal, which included the three venture firms that co-founded the company two years ago—Arch … Continue reading “Fate Therapeutics Bags $30M Venture Deal, Led by OVP, to Develop “Industrialized” Stem Cells”

ZoomAtlas—Helping You Reconnect With Friends from The Old Neighborhood

Say you’d like to look up an old friend from high school. You have no idea what happened to him after college, and you can’t find him on Facebook. But you do remember the address of his house down the street from your childhood home. What if there was a Web-based map where you could … Continue reading “ZoomAtlas—Helping You Reconnect With Friends from The Old Neighborhood”

Brightcove Debuts “Express” Video Hosting

To make it easier for small Web publishers to host videos on their sites, Cambridge, MA-based Brightcove will announce today that it is rolling out an “Express Edition” service starting at $99 per month. The company’s previous lowest-end offering cost several hundred dollars per month. At the new $99 monthly level—which doesn’t require a monthly … Continue reading “Brightcove Debuts “Express” Video Hosting”

Swipely Receives $875,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=770f8fdd-0b04-4daf-adf4-ff619576460d&Preview=1 Date 11/16/2009 Company Name Swipely Mailing Address 150 Chestnut Street Providence, RI 02903 Company Description Swipely is a Tech & Digital Media Community. Website http://www.swipely.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $875,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor First Round Capital

Music Hack Day

From the event website: “The main goal of Music Hack Day is to explore and build the next generation of music applications. It’s a full weekend of hacking in which participants will conceptualize, create and present their projects. Music + software + hardware + art + the web. Anything goes as long as it’s music … Continue reading “Music Hack Day”

Genzyme Shares Tank After FDA Discovers Bits of Steel, Rubber in Five Different Drugs

[Update: 6:22 pm Eastern, 11/13/09] Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for Genzyme, it did. The FDA reported today that it has found tiny bits of garbage—steel, rubber, and fiber—in vials of five of the major drugs produced by the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company. Genzyme (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]) shares fell $3.89, or about 7 … Continue reading “Genzyme Shares Tank After FDA Discovers Bits of Steel, Rubber in Five Different Drugs”

Energy Networking Groups Merge

The Renewable Energy Business Network (REBN), a networking group for cleantech professionals with 10,000 members across 17 local chapters and a strong presence in the Boston area, has merged with the Clean Economy Network Foundation (CENF), a young cleantech policy research and education organization based in Washington, DC. The news came today in an e-mail … Continue reading “Energy Networking Groups Merge”

Zoll Medical Pumps Out iPhone App for CPR Training

Here’s an iPhone application that could actually help people save lives. Zoll Medical, a maker of cardiac defibrillators and other products for the critical care market, says this morning that it has released a CPR training app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This isn’t the first iPhone app of this sort that I’ve seen—but … Continue reading “Zoll Medical Pumps Out iPhone App for CPR Training”

Xconomy Videos: Sirtris’ Westphal and Millennium’s Dunsire Talk Cures for Ills of Big Pharma

There’s new a dynamic at work in Big Pharma’s acquisitions of biotech companies in Boston and elsewhere. Drug companies don’t only want to buy biotech firms to enhance their R&D pipelines, they want to bring the innovators behind the biotechs into the fold—and often give them prominent roles in the parent company. (This is a … Continue reading “Xconomy Videos: Sirtris’ Westphal and Millennium’s Dunsire Talk Cures for Ills of Big Pharma”

Powerhouse Dynamics Raising $2 Million for Home Energy Monitoring, Report Says

When utility customers can see exactly how much energy they’re consuming, and how, they can be far smarter about using it. That’s the argument made by Powerhouse Dynamics, a Newton, MA, startup developing energy-management software that lets users observe and control the flow of power through their homes. To fund the effort, the company is … Continue reading “Powerhouse Dynamics Raising $2 Million for Home Energy Monitoring, Report Says”

Ironwood Nabs $75M in Deal With Japanese Firm, Gloucester Drug Gets FDA Approval, Alnylam Branches Into Biomanufacturing Tech, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

Several of New England’s life sciences firms had good news to report this week. —Ryan gave a run-down of the key insights to emerge from our Xconomy Forum on pharma innovation. Sirtris CEO Christoph Westphal, for example, offered insight into one of the biggest biological mysteries around the Xconomy office: how Luke manages to eat … Continue reading “Ironwood Nabs $75M in Deal With Japanese Firm, Gloucester Drug Gets FDA Approval, Alnylam Branches Into Biomanufacturing Tech, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

Massachusetts Startup Funding Slowed Way Down in October—But Early Stage Deals Gained

It wasn’t just the leaves that began to fall in the Bay State in October: last month also saw a big falloff in venture deal-making. After a (relatively) spectacular September in which $228 million was pumped into 25 Massachusetts funding deals, investors only managed to shell out $169 million in 19 deals in October. It … Continue reading “Massachusetts Startup Funding Slowed Way Down in October—But Early Stage Deals Gained”