Massachusetts “digital gaming” companies have total revenues exceeding $2 billion, according to a survey being released today by the Mass Technology Leadership Council. And those companies are hiring aggressively, with plans to increase their head counts by an average of 20 percent in 2009, the survey found. The gaming industry employs roughly 1,200 people across … Continue reading “Video Games Add $2 Billion to Massachusetts Economy, Tech Group Says”
Category: Boston
Vivox, Bringer of Voice to Virtual Worlds, Strikes Major Deal with Electronic Arts
For a long time, Second Life was stuck in the cyber equivalent of the silent-movie era: people communicated by typing, and their words showed up in little thought bubbles above their avatars’ heads. All of that changed drastically around 2007, when Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, hired an obscure outfit called Vivox to … Continue reading “Vivox, Bringer of Voice to Virtual Worlds, Strikes Major Deal with Electronic Arts”
Brown U. and Johns Hopkins Researchers Form Sentient Bioscience to Improve Liver Cancer Treatment
Most people diagnosed with liver cancer are unlikely to live more than a few years, so there’s plenty of room for new innovative treatments. That’s why Tim Murphy, an interventional radiologist at Rhode Island Hospital and his colleagues at Brown University and Johns Hopkins University have formed Providence, RI-based Sentient Bioscience to develop treatments that … Continue reading “Brown U. and Johns Hopkins Researchers Form Sentient Bioscience to Improve Liver Cancer Treatment”
Bing Is the Buggiest (But Second-Best) Search Engine, Say Software Testers in uTest Report
Tomorrow, Boston-based uTest, a startup that crowdsources software quality-assurance projects to a global community of 19,000 freelance testers, is expected to announce the official results of its first “Search Engine Bug Battle.” Xconomy got an early look at the data today, and the folks in Redmond and Bellevue, WA, may not be happy about the … Continue reading “Bing Is the Buggiest (But Second-Best) Search Engine, Say Software Testers in uTest Report”
Mascoma Inks Biofuels Deal with Chevron Technology Ventures
Lebanon, NH-based Mascoma announced today that it has entered into a two-year biofuels processing and supply deal with Chevron Technology Ventures. Under the agreement, the terms of which were not disclosed, CTV will supply feedstock that Mascoma will convert to cellulosic ethanol. A byproduct of that conversion is energy-rich lignin, which Mascoma will then provide … Continue reading “Mascoma Inks Biofuels Deal with Chevron Technology Ventures”
EMC Snags Intel Exec, Shuffles Top Office to Deliver Blended Technologies
EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]), the Hopkinton, MA-based information infrastructure company that anchors Boston’s infotech industry, today unveiled a series of executive-level changes intended to better integrate its disparate businesses, which range from storage, content management and archiving, security, and IT management to cloud computing services. Most significantly, the company said it has hired veteran Intel executive … Continue reading “EMC Snags Intel Exec, Shuffles Top Office to Deliver Blended Technologies”
Tervela Adds $18M
Tervela, a New York, NY- and Acton, MA-based maker of network messaging hardware that carries market data for a number of large financial services companies, announced today that it has collected $18 million in new financing from Goldman Sachs, Sigma Partners, Acartha Group and North Hill Ventures. The money brings the company’s total venture pot … Continue reading “Tervela Adds $18M”
ULocate Releases Traffic App
Boston-based uLocate, maker of the “Where” platform for location-based applications on mobile devices, today announced the launch of a new iPhone application called Traffic.com. Using maps and data from Navteq’s website of the same name, the application detects the user’s location and shows which local roads and highways are congested. The app, which appeared in … Continue reading “ULocate Releases Traffic App”
GreenBytes Closes Round, Rolls Out Storage Appliance
Battery Ventures of Waltham, MA, said today that it has completed an $8 million Series A funding round for GreenBytes, an Ashaway, RI, startup specializing in energy-efficient storage devices that reduce storage requirements through data deduplication. Xconomy reported the funding in May, based on a regulatory filing. In a second announcement today, GreenBytes unveiled a … Continue reading “GreenBytes Closes Round, Rolls Out Storage Appliance”
Highland Leads $9M InXpo Deal
Highland Capital Partners of Boston led a $9 million first round of financing for InXpo, the Chicago-based startup announced. Founded in 2004, InXpo creates virtual events and virtual business environments for corporate clients including AAA, Cisco, Procter & Gamble, and SAP as well as publishers such as Forbes Media, PennWell, TechTarget, and Ziff Davis. “In … Continue reading “Highland Leads $9M InXpo Deal”
Soane Energy Raises Funds
Soane Energy, a Cambridge, MA, startup that says it’s applying polymer chemistry and surface science to the development of cleaner and more efficient techniques for extracting oil and gas, announced today that it has obtained Series A venture backing from Intervale Capital and CTTV Investments, the venture arm of Chevron Technology Ventures. The amount of … Continue reading “Soane Energy Raises Funds”
Innovative Spinal Technologies’ Assets Sold
The story of ill-fated spinal implant startup Innovative Spinal Technologies of Mansfield, MA, appears to be drawing to a close. Integra Life Sciences Holdings (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IART]]) of Plainsboro, NJ, said today that its subsidiary Integra Spine has acquired “substantially all of the assets” of IST in a bankruptcy auction for $9.25 million in cash. As … Continue reading “Innovative Spinal Technologies’ Assets Sold”
Funding for Massachusetts Startups Slower, but Still Strong, in August; Early-Stage Deals Predominate
The pace of everything in Massachusetts seems to slow in August, and startup financings were not an exception this year. But despite the tail off from July’s big deal-making surge, investments in Bay State startups looked pretty good last month. All told, VCs pumped $179.2 million into 21 deals, according to data provided to Xconomy … Continue reading “Funding for Massachusetts Startups Slower, but Still Strong, in August; Early-Stage Deals Predominate”
MIT Spinoff, 1366 Technologies, Reaches Efficiency Goal, Shines More Light on its Solar Cell Design
Back in February, Lexington, MA-based solar energy startup 1366 Technologies won an award from the U.S. Department of Energy worth as much as $3 million. The catch: it had to show that its techniques for making more efficient photovoltaic cells, born in the laboratory of MIT mechanical engineer Emanuel “Ely” Sachs, would actually work on … Continue reading “MIT Spinoff, 1366 Technologies, Reaches Efficiency Goal, Shines More Light on its Solar Cell Design”
Marathon Hopes to Go the Distance with New CEO
In 2004, Marathon Technologies abandoned its old hardware business to focus on “fault tolerance” software for Windows servers—programs that switch computing work from one server to another almost instaneously in the case of a hardware failure. Last year, in a move to adapt to the virtualization movement sweeping through the corporate IT world, Marathon brought … Continue reading “Marathon Hopes to Go the Distance with New CEO”
GreenBytes Secures $8,000,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0136a31c-90e9-40f0-9368-74d4e316b073&Preview=1 Date 9/14/2009 Company Name GreenBytes Mailing Address 15 Gray Lane Ashway, RI 02804 Company Description GreenBytes is the most efficient data storage system on the market today. An ultra high-efficiency NAS. Website http://www.green-bytes.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. … Continue reading “GreenBytes Secures $8,000,000 Series A Financing”
Soane Energy Obtains Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=78c84633-2125-44e3-9b39-83d200e2f70f&Preview=1 Date 9/14/2009 Company Name Soane Energy Mailing Address 35 Spinelli Place Cambridge, MA 02138 Company Description The company operates an oil extracting plant. Website http://www.soaneenergy.com/ Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Undisclosed
Apperian Builds iPhone App to Lead You to New England Hikes—and Timberland Retailers
Chuck Goldman, CEO of Boston-based mobile app development house Apperian, called me this week to let me know about the launch of Timberland Expedition. The new iPhone application, which went live in Apple’s iTunes App Store today, was designed by Apperian to appeal to the outdoor-enthusiast types whom Stratham, NH-based Timberland (NYSE: [[ticker:TBL]]) considers the … Continue reading “Apperian Builds iPhone App to Lead You to New England Hikes—and Timberland Retailers”
$5M for Akorri Networks
Akorri Networks, a Littleton, MA-based provider of software for physical and virtual IT infrastructure, has raised $5 million in equity financing of a proposed $5.9 million round of private capital, according to an SEC filing. The news website PE Hub reports that Akorri has previously raised more than $45 million from BlueStream Ventures, Matrix Partners, … Continue reading “$5M for Akorri Networks”
TechStars’ First Class of Boston Startups Launched at Microsoft-Hosted Gala
One of the big tickets in town last night for the tech startup community was the TechStars Investor Evening at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge. (The other was a big Polaris-hosted party at Fenway Park for Woburn, MA-based LogMeIn, celebrating its July IPO.) The TechStars event, where the Boulder, CO-based venture … Continue reading “TechStars’ First Class of Boston Startups Launched at Microsoft-Hosted Gala”
AstraZeneca Plans Local Job Cuts, Report Says
London-based drug giant AstraZeneca (LON:[[ticker:AZN]]) plans to eliminate 113 jobs at its Westborough, MA, plant next month due to generic drug competition for its asthma drug budesonide (Plumicourt), the Boston Globe reports. Our Boston Tech Layoff Tracker has been updated accordingly. AstraZeneca also has a large R&D operation in Waltham, MA, where the company recently … Continue reading “AstraZeneca Plans Local Job Cuts, Report Says”
Pops Back as Alkermes’ CEO
Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm Alkermes (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALKS]]) said this morning that its chairman and former CEO Richard Pops is resuming the role of president and chief executive of the company. Pops, 47, was previously CEO of Alkermes between 1991 and April 2007. He replaces David Broeker, who has resigned from the CEO job and his seat … Continue reading “Pops Back as Alkermes’ CEO”
Acceleron, Bucking Conventional Wisdom, Pushes Ahead Drug For Bone Loss, Anemia
A basic search of scientific literature says that Cambridge, MA-based Acceleron Pharma is trying to do something that won’t work. Past experiments suggest that a drug like its lead candidate is more likely to cause people to get anemia, not help treat it. But Acceleron has witnessed the unexpected in small human studies, and it’s … Continue reading “Acceleron, Bucking Conventional Wisdom, Pushes Ahead Drug For Bone Loss, Anemia”
Seven Projects to Stretch Your Digital Wings: Part Two
Whether the fall is back-to-school season for you or not, there’s always more to learn. In last week’s column I outlined three fun weekend projects involving new technologies for digital self-expression. My suggestions covered art (digital “finger painting” with an iPhone app called Brushes), writing (“lifestreaming” with Posterous and Friendfeed), and photography (building three-dimensional photographic … Continue reading “Seven Projects to Stretch Your Digital Wings: Part Two”
Federal Judge Rules in Biogen Idec’s Favor, Sepracor Agrees to $2.8B Buyout, FDA Panel Endorses Gloucester Pharma Drug, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
The buyout of Sepracor was probably the biggest piece of New England life sciences news this past week, but it certainly wasn’t the only one. —Cambridge, MA-based Quanterix named David Okrongly its new CEO. Founding CEO Nicholas Naclerio will continue to server as chairman of the company, which is developing single-molecule analysis tools for diagnosing … Continue reading “Federal Judge Rules in Biogen Idec’s Favor, Sepracor Agrees to $2.8B Buyout, FDA Panel Endorses Gloucester Pharma Drug, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Akorri Networks Lands $5,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7ab7d580-a2a9-4b5b-a102-ecc8c0e56aaa&Preview=1 Date 9/11/2009 Company Name Akorri Networks Mailing Address 305 Foster Street Littleton, MA 01460 Company Description Akorri is the first to enable IT organizations to intelligently balance application performance and infrastructure utilization. Akorri delivers sophisticated analytics software unifying the management of siloed infrastructure components. Website http://www.akorri.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Akorri Networks Lands $5,000,000 New Financing”
Dog Patch Labs Is Just the Latest in a Rash of New Initiatives to Help Boston Entrepreneurs—And It All Seemed to Start When Y Combinator Left Town
[Updated October 5, 2009—see below] Today was a good day for Boston area entrepreneurs, as Polaris Venture Partners announced the opening of a new startup incubation and geek hangout space, Dog Patch Labs Cambridge, which will open next week on Third Street not far from Kendall Square. Dog Patch Cambridge, which I wrote about earlier … Continue reading “Dog Patch Labs Is Just the Latest in a Rash of New Initiatives to Help Boston Entrepreneurs—And It All Seemed to Start When Y Combinator Left Town”
Polaris to Open Dog Patch Labs Incubator in Cambridge
Boston entrepreneurs, start your yipping. Polaris Venture Partners is announcing today that it is opening a counterpart to its fast-growing San Francisco-based Dog Patch Labs startup incubator near Kendall Square here in Cambridge, MA. Dog Patch Labs Cambridge, as it’s aptly called, will officially open for business next week and will be housed in the … Continue reading “Polaris to Open Dog Patch Labs Incubator in Cambridge”
Jobzle.com Launched in Providence by Brown U. Students to Help College Kids Get Jobs
Brown University student Walker Williams is leading the launch of a new online job service for college students, Jobzle.com, through a marketing campaign that began this week in Providence and is expected to spread to other universities in Rhode Island in the days and weeks ahead. Jobzle is initially focusing on serving students in the … Continue reading “Jobzle.com Launched in Providence by Brown U. Students to Help College Kids Get Jobs”
Baseball, the Red Sox, and the (Swedish) Innovation Economy
The Baseball World Cup qualification series started this week over here in Sweden, as well as in several other countries in Europe. South Korea, Canada, the Dutch Antilles, and Sweden will meet each other at a field in the Stockholm suburb Sundbyberg. The finals will take place at the end of the month in Italy. … Continue reading “Baseball, the Red Sox, and the (Swedish) Innovation Economy”
Startups Gear Up for Scavenger Hunt of Boston’s Innovation Hotspots, to Benefit Young Entrepreneurs
Boston-area technology entrepreneurs may not get much work done on Friday, October 9. If Highland Capital Partners can drum up enough interest, hundreds of high-tech employees will be spending that afternoon combing Boston for digital clues as part of what it is calling “The Quest for Innovation.” It’s a high-tech scavenger hunt intended to raise … Continue reading “Startups Gear Up for Scavenger Hunt of Boston’s Innovation Hotspots, to Benefit Young Entrepreneurs”
EnterpriseDB Corporation Secures $3,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=03c7f28f-d056-4b12-a427-f256afe35f71&Preview=1 Date 9/10/2009 Company Name EnterpriseDB Corporation Mailing Address 235 Littleton Road Westford, MA 01886 Company Description EnterpriseDB provides and supports enterprise-class database products that are based on time-tested open source, that are broadly compatible with proprietary databases and that are robustly reliable and scalable. Website http://www.enterprisedb.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount … Continue reading “EnterpriseDB Corporation Secures $3,000,000 New Funding”
Calling All WordPress/PHP/Apache/Linux Gurus—Particularly the Ones With Pagers
As we’ve grown Xconomy.com over the last few years, we’ve prided ourselves on keeping our operations lean and mean, in no small part by making the most of DIY technologies and virtual working arrangements. But every once in a while—say when a bitchy little worm wiggles its way through WordPress sites across the Web—we’re reminded … Continue reading “Calling All WordPress/PHP/Apache/Linux Gurus—Particularly the Ones With Pagers”
Mzinga Adds $6.1 Million
Mzinga, the Burlington, MA, startup that offers tools for online community management and corporate learning management, has raised $6.1 million in new equity financing, according to regulatory forms filed yesterday. Executives told Mass High Tech that the financing is an extension of Mzinga’s $32.5 million Series A round of March 2008 and involved two existing … Continue reading “Mzinga Adds $6.1 Million”
$20M for Verivue
Verivue, the Westford, MA-based maker of multimedia distribution switches for cable and telecom operators, has raised $20.1 million in an equity offering, according to regulatory forms filed yesterday. PE Hub, citing a Venture Wire report, says new investor Sigma Partners took the lead in the round. Verivue raised a $40 million Series B round in … Continue reading “$20M for Verivue”
Spire Sells Off Catheter Biz
Spire Corp. of Bedford, MA, said today it is divesting its hemodialysis catheter business in order to focus exclusively on making equipment for solar photovoltaic module manufacturing. Bard Access Systems is buying the catheter division for $15 million. “The divestiture of the hemodialysis catheter business at this time is clearly in Spire’s best strategic interest,” … Continue reading “Spire Sells Off Catheter Biz”
A123 Unveils IPO Terms: The Power of Nine?
A123Systems, the Watertown, MA-based advanced battery manufacturer that hopes to provide lithium ion batteries for the next generation of electric and hybrid vehicles, today revealed the expected stock price for its initial public offering. The company will seek to sell 25 million shares of its common stock at $8.00 to $9.50 per share, according to … Continue reading “A123 Unveils IPO Terms: The Power of Nine?”
Online Video Best Practices: Engagement and Storytelling
This MITX event focuses on video storytelling practices for entrepreneurs. The event description: “Online video has surpassed traditional text-based online content in becoming one of those most powerful and effective ways to communicate and engage with online audiences on deeper level than ever before. One of the most compelling online video strategies today is storytelling, … Continue reading “Online Video Best Practices: Engagement and Storytelling”
CEOs to Follow on Twitter, What Tweaks VCs, What Entrepreneurs Should Copy, Making Cleantech Pay, & Other Recent Boston Blog Posts to Peruse
Coming out of the long weekend, with summer vacations over, I can feel the pace of entrepreneurial action quicken. With a lot of people out of town or chillin’ the past few weeks, I thought it might be a good time to highlight some interesting recent blog posts you might have missed from various local … Continue reading “CEOs to Follow on Twitter, What Tweaks VCs, What Entrepreneurs Should Copy, Making Cleantech Pay, & Other Recent Boston Blog Posts to Peruse”
Targeted Genetics Survives Brush With Death, Sells Gene Therapy IP to Genzyme for $7M
Targeted Genetics needed a lifeline and it got one at the last possible minute. The Seattle-based mainstay of gene therapy, which has been running on fumes for months, has struck an 11th-hour deal to stay alive another year by selling off its most valuable intellectual property for $7 million to Genzyme (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]). Many of … Continue reading “Targeted Genetics Survives Brush With Death, Sells Gene Therapy IP to Genzyme for $7M”
09/09/09: A Big Day in the Life of the Boston Video Game Industry
It’s a banner day for the Boston-area gaming industry. In what’s either a bizarre coincidence, a piece of arcane marketing numerology, or just a sign that the enormous PAX gaming conference in Seattle has ended, three local companies in the console and online gaming markets picked 09/09/09 to take the lid off big new products. … Continue reading “09/09/09: A Big Day in the Life of the Boston Video Game Industry”
VeriVue Secures $20,000,000 Series C Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=30312a8d-a5d3-4d9f-8899-d4f2a6e84e75&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2009 Company Name VeriVue Mailing Address 3 Carlisle Road Westford, MA 01886 Company Description The growth and popularity of digital media has created a whole new set of challenges for network operators. Delivering large files at high bit rates from ever-expanding content libraries drives rapid and unpredictable growth in video … Continue reading “VeriVue Secures $20,000,000 Series C Financing Round”
Mzinga Garners $6,100,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c5cf65a2-8d05-4c95-ad71-ee6d24e34ad4&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2009 Company Name Mzinga Mailing Address 154 Middlesex Turnpike Burlington, MA 01803 Company Description Mzinga is the leading provider of business social media solutions to drive growth, innovation, and learning. Its combination of highly scalable technology, rich domain expertise, and moderation services enables businesses to harness the collective intelligence of … Continue reading “Mzinga Garners $6,100,000 New Financing”
Web Innovators Group 23 + An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Bootstrapping PR
The 23rd meeting of the Web Innovators Group will feature the usual array of “main dish” and “side dish” presentations by pre-venture-funded startups, plus plenty of opportunities for networking. But as a bonus, organizer David Beisel is putting together a post-session panel scheduled for 8:00 pm on how technology entrepreneurs can reach out to the … Continue reading “Web Innovators Group 23 + An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Bootstrapping PR”
PlumChoice Plucks $14.7M
PlumChoice, a Billerica, MA-based company that provides remote technical support to home and business computer users, announced today that it has raised $14.7 million in Series E funding from existing investor Edison Venture Fund and others. An unnamed limited partner at Edison also provided “a substantial first-time investment,” according to the company. PlumChoice most recently … Continue reading “PlumChoice Plucks $14.7M”
Heartland Robotics Confirms $7M Funding Round; Charles River Ventures in Lead Role
Heartland Robotics confirmed today that it has raised $7 million in a Series A-1 venture financing round, a story first reported by Xconomy on August 21. The lead funder in the round was Charles River Ventures of Waltham, MA, according to Heartland president Patrick Sobalvarro. Bezos Expeditions, the Seattle-based venture investing operation of Amazon founder … Continue reading “Heartland Robotics Confirms $7M Funding Round; Charles River Ventures in Lead Role”
Facet Rejects Biogen Takeover Bid
Facet Biotech (NASDAQ: [[ticker:FACT]]), the Redwood City, CA-based biotech company, said today that its board has rejected Biogen Idec’s hostile takeover offer of $14.50 a share, or about $355 million. The two companies are partners in developing daclizumab, an antibody for multiple sclerosis. Facet says Biogen is seeking to buy full rights to the drug … Continue reading “Facet Rejects Biogen Takeover Bid”
170 Systems Sold to Kofax
Irvine, CA-based Kofax (LSE: [[ticker:KFX]]), which helps businesses digitize paper-based work flows, said today that it has acquired 170 Systems, a Bedford, MA, startup that makes software for automating accounts payable, accounts receivable, and other financial processes. Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, MA, put $14 million into 170 Systems back in 2002. Kofax said it … Continue reading “170 Systems Sold to Kofax”
Rennie to Lead IBM in MA
The Boston Globe is reporting today that IBM has picked Alistair Rennie, currently a vice president of development and technical support for the company’s collaboration software division, to replace Mohamad Ali as IBM’s senior executive in Massachusetts. Ali left IBM in July for a position as senior vice president of corporate development at Avaya. Rennie … Continue reading “Rennie to Lead IBM in MA”
Imaginatik’s Technology Helps Companies Keep Their Crowdsourcing Initiatives Inside the Box
Evidently, a lot of companies have trouble innovating—or there wouldn’t be so many startups offering “enterprise crowdsourcing” and “innovation management” tools to help them. Several of these startups are right here in New England and have been featured in Xconomy. For example, there’s Innocentive, which helps companies stage international competitions to solve discrete problems like … Continue reading “Imaginatik’s Technology Helps Companies Keep Their Crowdsourcing Initiatives Inside the Box”