Category: Boston

Agios Lands Genentech Cancer Drug Leader as New CEO

Agios Pharmaceuticals has landed a big fish in the world of cancer drug development. The Cambridge, MA-based company has hired David Schenkein, the senior vice president in charge of cancer drug development at Genentech, to be its first permanent CEO, starting in August. He will replace Kevin Starr, a partner with Third Rock Ventures, who … Continue reading “Agios Lands Genentech Cancer Drug Leader as New CEO”

OutSmart Power Systems Wraps Up $2M Seed Round

OutSmart Power Systems, a Natick, MA-based startup developing systems to monitor and manage energy usage and other activities in commercial buildings, says it has closed a $2 million seed round of financing. The financing round, the first part of which was raised last year, included contributions from Bainco International Investors in Wellesley, MA, Northeastern U.S. … Continue reading “OutSmart Power Systems Wraps Up $2M Seed Round”

Vertex Starts Pivotal CF Trials

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]), the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company which has significant operations in San Diego, said today it has started a pivotal clinical trial program for its drug candidate for cystic fibrosis, a genetic lung disease. The company is running a series of three trials of VX-770, a drug that aims to be the … Continue reading “Vertex Starts Pivotal CF Trials”

Fate Therapeutics Starts First Clinical Trial of Drug to Boost Stem Cell Transplants

Fate Therapeutics plans to announce this morning that it has begun its first clinical trial of a drug built on its knowledge of stem cell biology. Rather than injecting certain kinds of adult stem cells to regenerate tissues, this treatment involves a conventional small-molecule drug that’s designed to spur growth of blood-forming stem cells that … Continue reading “Fate Therapeutics Starts First Clinical Trial of Drug to Boost Stem Cell Transplants”

Visible Measures Rides Susan Boyle’s Coattails to Viral Video Fame, But It’s Got Something Even Bigger Planned

If you followed news articles mentioning Visible Measures, you might get the impression that the Boston startup’s technology is devoted entirely to tracking viral Web videos. An article in Sunday’s New York Times, for example, cited Visible Measures’ statistics on singing sensation Susan Boyle; it turns out that clips of her performances on “Britain’s Got … Continue reading “Visible Measures Rides Susan Boyle’s Coattails to Viral Video Fame, But It’s Got Something Even Bigger Planned”

Scenic Technology Receives $1,400,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0dc43850-d33c-4612-98eb-3857b0901b3d&Preview=1 Date 5/27/2009 Company Name Scenic Technology Mailing Address Undisclosed Needham, MA 02492 Company Description Scenic is both a technology firm and acquisition firm specializing in supply chain execution software, connectivity technology, consulting and implementation services.In addition to the sce-Star Suite™, and the associated services, Scenic offers clients IT consulting, development, support … Continue reading “Scenic Technology Receives $1,400,000 New Financing Round”

Celtra Inc Lands $1,200,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c23809e9-f91d-4061-ad43-4c875b9ba303&Preview=1 Date 5/27/2009 Company Name Celtra Inc Mailing Address One Broadway, 14th Floor Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description Our mission is to provide a unique Software-as-a-Service platform for online and mobile marketing convergence, which enables brands and marketing agencies to take advantage of social communities’ engagements and extend them into the mobile … Continue reading “Celtra Inc Lands $1,200,000 Series A Financing Round”

CardiAQ Valve Technologies, Inc Lands $7,500,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=946a26cd-15ca-4f5c-8f45-947bc98cbc17&Preview=1 Date 5/27/2009 Company Name CardiAQ Valve Technologies, Inc Mailing Address Undisclosed 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 more … Continue reading “CardiAQ Valve Technologies, Inc Lands $7,500,000 New Round”

Entrepreneurship in the Age of Cloud Computing

Intuit’s Waltham, MA, office hosts an afternoon-long event at Bentley University that will bring together industry experts and successful startups to share advice on the range of issues faced by startups considering turning to cloud computing for their business’s IT infrastructures. Featured speakers include Intuit co-founder Scott Cook, Longworth Venture Partners analyst Vishy Venugopalan, and … Continue reading “Entrepreneurship in the Age of Cloud Computing”

Ward Is New CEO at Luminus

Luminus Devices, a Billerica, MA-based maker of LED-based lighting equipment, announced today that Udi Meirav, CEO since 2003, has become executive vice-chairman of the company’s board of directors and will be replaced by Keith Ward, who also takes on the title of president. Ward is a veteran of EYE Lighting International and General Electric.

Carbon Design Systems Raised $7.5M

Amended documents filed with federal regulators last week show that a 2007 Series E financing round for Acton, MA-based Carbon Design Systems, which sells a software platform used by designers of combined hardware and software systems to build virtual prototypes, brought in $7.5 million rather than the $6 million reported in a filing that year. … Continue reading “Carbon Design Systems Raised $7.5M”

Icahn Wins Key Endorsement In Proxy Fight With Biogen Idec

Carl Icahn has gotten the support of a key outside voice in his proxy fight with Biogen Idec. The billionaire investor received an endorsement from RiskMetrics Group for two of the four candidates he has nominated to the 13-member board of the Cambridge,MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]). Riskmetrics, formerly known as ISS, recommended shareholders vote … Continue reading “Icahn Wins Key Endorsement In Proxy Fight With Biogen Idec”

Dog Patch Lab—An Entrepreneur’s Kennel

Ceiling fans lolling high overhead, starfish in trawler nettings slung on one wall, funked-out wood floors, bar stools, round tables, comfy couches, a big bowl laden with fruit, huge windows overlooking the pier. No cubicles, just work areas with signs indicating where one company ends and another begins—and sometimes no signs at all. The whole … Continue reading “Dog Patch Lab—An Entrepreneur’s Kennel”

Who’s Driving Innovation in the Life Sciences Ecotope? Some Ideas for Keeping Early-Stage Venture Alive

New England is indeed a fertile ground for new technologies in healthcare and the life sciences, but the number of VCs doing the early and risky stuff is dwindling. We will probably see the number of start-ups in our space dive this year. Keeping to ol’ Darwin’s creed of adaptation, we simply have to find … Continue reading “Who’s Driving Innovation in the Life Sciences Ecotope? Some Ideas for Keeping Early-Stage Venture Alive”

Tekmira Tackles RNAi Delivery Challenge, With Alnylam, Roche Putting It to the Test

The people at Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals are widely recognized as leaders in the field of RNA interference, but they are quick to acknowledge they don’t do it all themselves. They lean on partners, including one important one in the Northwest, Vancouver, BC-based Tekmira (TSX: [[ticker:TKM]]). This Canadian company’s reputation as a key player in … Continue reading “Tekmira Tackles RNAi Delivery Challenge, With Alnylam, Roche Putting It to the Test”

What I Like About Innovation in New England

There is a lot of great stuff going on in Boston right now. Granted, there are still many signs of paralysis throughout the system, but there are also many high-quality entrepreneurs in the marketplace attempting to change the world with exciting, innovative solutions to some very large problems. June 2009 has been dubbed “Innovation Month … Continue reading “What I Like About Innovation in New England”

Making the Smart Grid Smarter Through Instant Messaging: A Talk with EnerNOC’s David Brewster

Late last month, Boston-based smart grid company EnerNOC (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ENOC]]) revealed that it’s looking to the consumer Internet for a new way of managing its “demand response” pools. These are the groups of companies and municipalities that, in return for cash payments from EnerNOC, sign up to have their electrical consumption dialed back remotely in … Continue reading “Making the Smart Grid Smarter Through Instant Messaging: A Talk with EnerNOC’s David Brewster”

Carbon Design Systems Secures $7,500,000 Series E Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f07fac67-5e82-44cb-8cd3-fee5ce71086d&Preview=1 Date 5/26/2009 Company Name Carbon Design Systems Mailing Address 125 Nagog Park Acton, MA 01720 Company Description Carbon is delivering software products that enable pre-silicon system validation, where thousands of users can simultaneously develop and test software on the ‘golden’ RTL hardware implementation model. Website http://www.carbondesignsystems.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Carbon Design Systems Secures $7,500,000 Series E Financing Round”

To Tweet or Not To Tweet

MITX, the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange, sends this word: “Everybody’s talking about Twitter today—even Oprah. But is it all hype? Will Twitter last? We think Twitter will last if businesses can understand the mix of using Twitter as an engagement, distribution and monitoring tool and thus effectively communicate through this new communication channel. Don’t … Continue reading “To Tweet or Not To Tweet”

Why Medical Devices Fail

The Medical Development Group sponsors a talk by Paul Nickelsberg, president and chief technology officer at Orchid Technologies Engineering & Consulting, on “Why Devices Fail and What You Need to Prevent It From Happening.” Information and registration here.

$6.3M Financing Deal Shines Light on Startup Digital Lumens

[Updated: See editor’s note below] It has come to light that Digital Lumens, a Salem, MA-based developer of energy-efficient lighting products, has raised $6.3 million in a round of equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The filing doesn’t specifically list investors in the round, but it does say that board members include Jon Karlen … Continue reading “$6.3M Financing Deal Shines Light on Startup Digital Lumens”

People Doing Strange Things With Soldering Irons: A Visit to Hackerspace

You might think that all of the engineering brainpower in cities like Boston, San Diego, and Seattle is sucked up by high-voltage startups or by giant employers in the software, server, or semiconductor businesses. But proof that there’s plenty of surplus technological creativity in these regions is popping up in odd places like Willoughby & … Continue reading “People Doing Strange Things With Soldering Irons: A Visit to Hackerspace”

Brad Feld’s Latest Investment: Students

Yet another Boston-area innovation institution has been hit by the recession: the summer internship. Jackie Wilbur, the director of the Career Development Office at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, says that in this year’s tight job market, many local startups that would ordinarily take on Sloan students as summer interns simply can’t afford it. Enter … Continue reading “Brad Feld’s Latest Investment: Students”

Elixir Sips $12M, Might Eventually Guzzle $500M; Evergreen Solar Offers $60M in Stock; BigBelly Bags $3.2M; & More Boston-Area Deals News

This week saw a variety of small-to-medium deals—and one potentially huge one. —Avila Therapeutics of Waltham, MA raised $5 million from existing investors in a debt and options financing that could reach up to $20 million, according to an SEC fling. Avila is developing drugs that form strong, covalent bonds with target proteins. —Ashaway, RI-based … Continue reading “Elixir Sips $12M, Might Eventually Guzzle $500M; Evergreen Solar Offers $60M in Stock; BigBelly Bags $3.2M; & More Boston-Area Deals News”

BigBelly Lands $3,200,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3264da5a-aee4-4003-8544-5c6b7c12e359&Preview=1 Date 5/22/2009 Company Name BigBelly Mailing Address 50 Brook Road Needham, MA 02494 Company Description Seahorse Power Company was founded in 2003 with a mission to reduce fossil fuel consumption through innovative cost-saving approaches to inefficient, everyday problems. Our BigBelly product was so successful, we changed our name to BigBelly Solar … Continue reading “BigBelly Lands $3,200,000 New Financing Round”

6th Annual MITX Technology Awards

The 2009 Technology Awards recognize innovative technologies developed in New England. Winners will be announced in 10 categories, including Cloud Computing, Enterprise Technologies, Mobile, and Social Media. Registration and event details can be found on the event web site.

Will 2009 Be The Year of Crowdsourcing?

Ultra Light Startups is a new meetup group in Boston that holds panel events to discuss concepts, ideas, and models that help startups launch more quickly and cheaply. I organized the first event earlier this May to discuss crowdsourcing and how companies can leverage the model. The following are ideas that emerged from the pitches … Continue reading “Will 2009 Be The Year of Crowdsourcing?”

Games for Health Conference

A two-day conference (preceded by a day of workshops) on the role of video games in health and medicine. Topics include exergaming, physical therapy, disease management, health behavior change, bio-feedback, epidemiology, training, cognitive exercise, nutrition and health education. Information and registration at the conference website.

BigBelly Digests $3.2 Million

Needham, MA-based BigBelly Solar, a maker of solar-powered, trash-compacting public waste bins that we profiled in December, has raised $3.2 million in additional funding from undisclosed investors, according to documents filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. BigBelly, formerly known as Seahorse Power, had previously raised at least $1.1 million, according to a … Continue reading “BigBelly Digests $3.2 Million”

Axcelis Cuts 20% of Workforce

Beverly, MA-based Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACLS]]), which makes ion implantation equipment for semiconductor manufacturers, said yesterday that it will lay off 235 workers, or about 20 percent of its global workforce. The company said the decision, which comes after a series of other cost-cutting moves, will save it $25 million in the coming year. “This … Continue reading “Axcelis Cuts 20% of Workforce”

Dartmouth Biz Plan Competition Elevates Novoculi, Developer of Non-Invasive Diabetes Test

There was plenty of chatter around the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition in Boston earlier this month. The Cambridge, MA-based institute is one of the world’s leading hotbeds for entrepreneurship, but it shouldn’t completely drown out the buzz we’re hearing from Hanover, NH. That’s where Dartmouth College’s Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network (DEN) named the winner of a … Continue reading “Dartmouth Biz Plan Competition Elevates Novoculi, Developer of Non-Invasive Diabetes Test”

MIT, E8 Pharmaceuticals Sue Second California Firm over Genotyping Patent

The stellar plaintiffs in a patent lawsuit over genotyping technology developed at MIT are raising the stakes by dragging a second California company into the dispute. In 2008, MIT and E8 Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, MA-based startup created by MIT biologist David Housman and Harvard biologist Richard Mulligan, sued Santa Clara, CA-based Affymetrix for allegedly including … Continue reading “MIT, E8 Pharmaceuticals Sue Second California Firm over Genotyping Patent”

CiDRA Corporation Garners $8,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=aa06700c-4ff1-43a4-aebd-37e93a79e3b7&Preview=1 Date 5/21/2009 Company Name CiDRA Corporation Mailing Address 50 Barnes Park North Wallingford, CT 06492 Company Description Founded in 1996, CiDRA is the first company to combine industrial and optical skills to deliver real time process monitoring to multiple industries. Website http://www.cidra.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,000,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “CiDRA Corporation Garners $8,000,000 New Financing Round”

Stylefeeder Raises $500K

Cambridge, MA-based Stylefeeder, which runs an online personalized shopping recommendation service, has raised $500,000 in additional venture capital, founder Philip Jacob confirmed today after word of the funding surfaced in regulatory documents published May 12. Stylefeeder’s existing investors, Highland Capital Partners and Schooner Capital, provided the funding, which brings the company’s total venture pot to … Continue reading “Stylefeeder Raises $500K”

Texting on Road Still Epidemic in MA

A year ago this week, Cambridge, MA-based speech software company Vlingo released its first study of the texting-while-driving phenomenon, finding that 28 percent of all survey respondents admitted to sending text messages while behind the wheels of their cars. It’s a hazardous habits that, with the recent Green Line trolley accident in Boston (linked to … Continue reading “Texting on Road Still Epidemic in MA”

Evergreen Solar Commences $60M Public Offering

Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ESLR]]), a manufacturer of low-cost silicon-based solar power products, will offer $60 million in common stock, the Marlboro, MA-based company announced today. Proceeds from the offering are intended for the construction of a new factory in Wuhan, China, and the expansion of a facility in Midland, Michigan. Last year Evergreen closed its Marlboro, … Continue reading “Evergreen Solar Commences $60M Public Offering”

MortgageReport.com Launches

A new startup in Newton, MA, MortgageReport.com, unveiled a Web-based service today designed to help homeowners with mortgages better understand their financial situation. The site provides users with data such as the current estimated value of their homes, advises them on whether to refinance, and directs them to available loan options. MortgageReport.com is a sister … Continue reading “MortgageReport.com Launches”

Genzyme, Isis Cholesterol Drug Reaches Goal in Pivotal Study, Paving the Way to FDA

[[Update below]] Genzyme and Isis Pharmaceuticals have bet big on a new kind of cholesterol-lowering drug, and today the companies said it worked in a pivotal clinical trial. Mipomersen, a drug designed to block production of a protein that carries LDL cholesterol in the blood, reached its goal in a study of 51 patients with … Continue reading “Genzyme, Isis Cholesterol Drug Reaches Goal in Pivotal Study, Paving the Way to FDA”

MocoSpace’s Winning Formula for Feature-Phone Social Networking

MocoSpace is one of Boston’s hidden technology success stories. The four-year-old startup, located on the second floor of a classic old office building near Boston’s South Station, has built what is probably the world’s largest standalone social network for mobile phone owners (that is, one that isn’t merely the mobile counterpart of a primarily Web-based … Continue reading “MocoSpace’s Winning Formula for Feature-Phone Social Networking”

Biogen Idec Rebuts Icahn Attack, GlaxoSmithKline Quietly Spins Off Tempero Pharmaceuticals, Knome Launches Cheaper Sequencing Service, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

New CEOs, new financings, new approvals, and new data—it was an interesting week for New England’s life sciences companies. —Cambridge, MA-based Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:MIPI]]) named a new president and CEO, Daniel Peters, just months after giving that post to co-founder John Babich. Babich will stay on as chief scientific officer of Molecular, which is … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Rebuts Icahn Attack, GlaxoSmithKline Quietly Spins Off Tempero Pharmaceuticals, Knome Launches Cheaper Sequencing Service, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

StyleFeeder Receives $500,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3b6c3d06-490a-4f6c-8b95-74c6aeae77b5&Preview=1 Date 5/20/2009 Company Name StyleFeeder Mailing Address 678 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description StyleFeeder combines the best of Web 2.0’s social and personalization aspects in the Web’s only intelligent personal shopping recommendation engine. By learning about each person’s unique sense of style, StyleFeeder helps shoppers discover new products they’ll … Continue reading “StyleFeeder Receives $500,000 New Funding”

The Innovators Summit

The Innovators Summit brings together venture capitalists, angel investors, bankers, and industry executives to explore the technology investment marketplace. The program includes panels on investment trends and opportunities, a fast pitch competition, and networking opportunities. Agenda and registration information on the event web site.

Elixir Raises $12 Million, Says Drug Trial Could Lead to Novartis Purchase

Two major pieces of news from Elixir Pharmaceuticals today: first, the Cambridge, MA-based drug maker has just completed a $12 million round of equity financing led by MPM Capital, which joins current investors ARCH Venture Partners, Oxford Bioscience Partners, the Omega Fund and Physic Ventures. Kenneth Greenberg from MPM Capital will join Elixir’s Board of … Continue reading “Elixir Raises $12 Million, Says Drug Trial Could Lead to Novartis Purchase”

RunMyErrand Is fbFund Finalist

RunMyErrand, a Boston-based “service networking” startup profiled here in February, is among an initial group of 25 finalists announced by Facebook yesterday for the company’s annual fbFund competition. The fbFund program is designed to provide seed funding for Web startups whose applications or services connect to the Facebook platform. As a finalist, RunMyErrand will receive … Continue reading “RunMyErrand Is fbFund Finalist”

Today’s XSITEing News: Beer and Prizes

Signing up for XSITE 2009, Xconomy’s Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship on June 24, ensures your access to the biggest showcase of New England technological ingenuity on either side of the Charles. Signing up early has even more benefits—and by benefits, I mean beer. And prizes. That’s because the first 50 paid registrants to … Continue reading “Today’s XSITEing News: Beer and Prizes”

Science Club for Girls’ 15th Anniversary Celebration and Catalyst Award Ceremony

Our friends at the Science Club for Girls are celebrating and honoring Catalyst Awardees Dean Evelynn Hammonds, Harvard College, and Larisa Schelkin, DOME Foundation, for their efforts to increase diversity in scientific fields. (SCFG was a beneficiary of our own fundraising at Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2.) Join them and network with Susan … Continue reading “Science Club for Girls’ 15th Anniversary Celebration and Catalyst Award Ceremony”

A Blow to the Boston VC Scene? Greylock Partners Moving HQ to Silicon Valley

Here’s a minor setback for the venture capital industry in Boston. Greylock Partners is relocating its headquarters from the Boston area—where it got started 44 years ago—to Silicon Valley, the firm announced this morning. Does this mean that the Hub is losing its edge as a haven of entrepreneurial activity? That was the question raised … Continue reading “A Blow to the Boston VC Scene? Greylock Partners Moving HQ to Silicon Valley”

Paragon Lake Out to Dazzle Jewelry Buyers with Virtual Customization

You could say that her love of jewelry brought Deborah Besemer out of early retirement. But while that might have a certain, shall we say, ring of truth to it, it’s really only one facet of the story. There were other, more important factors, such as the opportunity to challenge herself in a new arena … Continue reading “Paragon Lake Out to Dazzle Jewelry Buyers with Virtual Customization”