A powerful anecdote about the ills of U.S. health care this past election season was about President-elect Barack Obama’s mother, who struggled to navigate the medical system while suffering from cancer, which eventually killed her in 1995. I was reminded of this a few days ago when I talked to Anshul Amar, chief technology officer … Continue reading “Former Athenahealth, RelayHealth Leaders Form Startup Maria Health, with Venrock Headlining Investor Group”
Category: Boston
Qteros Garners $25,000,000 Series B Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2546a5af-f7f1-4243-b939-1bb13f51e46f&Preview=1 Date 11/19/2008 Company Name Qteros Mailing Address 100 Venture Way Hadley, MA 01035 Company Description Qteros began in 1996 with a walk near the Quabbin Reservoir in Western Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts microbiologist Dr. Susan Leschine and her lab assistant, Tom Warnick, were looking for a microbe that breaks down plant … Continue reading “Qteros Garners $25,000,000 Series B Funding Round”
NitroMed and Archemix to Merge
Last month, when Lexington, MA-based biotech company NitroMed announced it was selling off all the assets related to its only drug product, CEO Kenneth M. Bate said the company would concentrate on “combining, through one or more strategic transactions, with companies that have significant unrealized value or growth potential.” Apparently it didn’t take long for … Continue reading “NitroMed and Archemix to Merge”
Spark Puts Bucks into Boxee
Boston’s Spark Capital and New York’s Union Square Ventures have put $2 million each into Boxee, a New York-based startup working on “social media center” software that optimizes Internet TV shows, music, and photos for consumption on high-definition TVs, Spark announced Tuesday. Spark’s Bijan Sabet and Union Square’s Fred Wilson will join the board of … Continue reading “Spark Puts Bucks into Boxee”
SunEthanol Converts Name to Qteros, Raises $25M to Convert Non-Food Plant Materials and Waste into Ethanol
It doesn’t get much more homegrown than this one: SunEthanol—a Hadley, MA-based developer of a process to produce ethanol using a microbe discovered here in the Bay State—has changed its name to Qteros and raised $25 million in a Series B round of financing. (Mass High Tech broke the story this morning.) Qteros is one … Continue reading “SunEthanol Converts Name to Qteros, Raises $25M to Convert Non-Food Plant Materials and Waste into Ethanol”
AutoVirt Adds $4M to Series A Round
Nashua, NH-based virtualization startup AutoVirt, which makes software for file virtualization and data migration in Windows environments, announced today that it has added $4 million to a Series A round originally announced in January. Previous investors Kepha Partners and Sigma Partners provided the new funds, bringing AutoVirt’s total raised to $8.5 million. The additional funds … Continue reading “AutoVirt Adds $4M to Series A Round”
Targanta-Cubist Rivalry Brews on FDA Review of Targanta Drug
Targanta Therapeutics’ stock has made gains since the FDA yesterday posted a favorable review of Targanta antibiotic oritavancin to treat certain skin infections—the latest development in the intrastate rivalry between the Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm (NASDAQ:[[ticker:TARG]]) and Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CBST]]), headquartered in Lexington, MA. As Luke reported last month, an FDA advisory committee is scheduled … Continue reading “Targanta-Cubist Rivalry Brews on FDA Review of Targanta Drug”
Amazon Takes on Akamai with CloudFront Delivery Network
Does Amazon’s CloudFront announcement today mean a cold front is on the way for Cambridge, MA-based Akamai? Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) said a couple of months ago that it was working on a way to let users of its Amazon Web Services infrastructure speed delivery of Web graphics, software downloads, audio and video files, and other … Continue reading “Amazon Takes on Akamai with CloudFront Delivery Network”
ThingMagic Inks In-Q-Tel Deal
ThingMagic, the Cambridge, MA-based maker of radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, announced today that it has signed a strategic investment and technology development deal with In-Q-Tel, a venture firm founded by the CIA. Under the agreement, terms of which were not disclosed, ThingMagic will expand its development efforts “to facilitate the integration of RFID and … Continue reading “ThingMagic Inks In-Q-Tel Deal”
ATG Adds Click-to-Call to Video Ads
Back in 2006, Cambridge, MA-based Art Technology Group (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARTG]]) spent north of $48 million in cash and stock to acquire eStara, a maker of software that allows Web surfers to open voice-over-Internet connections with sales agents by clicking on Internet ads. Yesterday the company announced that it’s extending eStara’s capabilities to Flash-based video ads. … Continue reading “ATG Adds Click-to-Call to Video Ads”
ReGen Power Raises $5M
ReGen Power Systems announced it has raised $5 million from 21Ventures and Quercus Trust to further develop an external combustion engine that coverts heat sources into power. The New Salem, MA-based firm plans to use the new funds to design and build two prototypes of its engines, one for evaluation and testing and another to … Continue reading “ReGen Power Raises $5M”
The Scoop on Pandora for the iPhone and Other Platforms: Tim Westergren Speaks at Boston’s Apple Store
At least two of us here at Xconomy—Rebecca and myself—are huge fans of Pandora, the Oakland, CA-based streaming music company. My enthusiasm has only grown since July, when Pandora released an iPhone application that, I think many users would agree, is the single most useful and enjoyable third-party app available for the device. (It’s currently … Continue reading “The Scoop on Pandora for the iPhone and Other Platforms: Tim Westergren Speaks at Boston’s Apple Store”
Brightcove Bonds with Conde Nast, BSX Backs Brain-Implant Firm, $8 Million Shared With PeerApp, & More Boston-Area Deals News
The theme for the week was definitely video, with four different deals cut around different aspects of the technology (five, if you count all the video-playing gizmos that cycle through Second Rotation’s reselling system). Those, and the rest of the week’s Boston-area tech and life sciences deals news, below. —Second Rotation circled $6 million in … Continue reading “Brightcove Bonds with Conde Nast, BSX Backs Brain-Implant Firm, $8 Million Shared With PeerApp, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
ReGen Power Systems Obtains $5,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6798aedf-fc73-4ed4-a508-4a0189344121&Preview=1 Date 11/18/2008 Company Name ReGen Power Systems Mailing Address 113 Michael Lane New Salem, MA 01335 Company Description ReGen Power Systems, Inc., is pioneering development of industrial sized (250kW-2MW), low temperature Stirling engines to convert excess process heat and steam energy at industrial plants into electricity. The system will be powered … Continue reading “ReGen Power Systems Obtains $5,000,000 New Round”
Innovating New Winners in Established Markets
I’m attracted to the market opportunity within large, established markets. These markets already have huge spend, they have established dominant players with an inertia resistant to major change, most of the innovative talent and money is off in new market spaces, and innovation within these spaces tends to be evolutionary in nature and follow predictable … Continue reading “Innovating New Winners in Established Markets”
ZafGen Scores $14M Series B
Anti-obesity drug developer ZafGen closed a Series B financing worth $14 million, PE Hub reports, citing a regulatory filing. Third Rock Ventures and Atlas Venture supplied the funding for the Cambridge, MA-based startup, which Luke profiled in September.
IRobot Wins 6 R&D Grants
Bedford, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]), which makes small robots for home and military applications, announced today that it has secured six grants totaling $4.4 million under the Pentagon’s Small Business Innovative Research program. The grants, which are aimed at making iRobot’s Packbot and small unmanned ground vehicle (SUGV) robots easier to use and at developing … Continue reading “IRobot Wins 6 R&D Grants”
DigitalArbor, Backed by Flybridge, Offshores Digital Marketing
When you’re listing countries rich in Web development and software engineering talent, you might think of places like Estonia, Russia, Poland, and Romania. Now you can add Costa Rica to the list. That’s the location of the “offshoring” facility where a new Massachusetts-based digital advertising, marketing, and communications firm called digitalArbor will turn for low-cost … Continue reading “DigitalArbor, Backed by Flybridge, Offshores Digital Marketing”
MIT Sloan School Student One of Three Finalists in “Crazy Green Idea” Contest to Create Energy X Prize
Updated (see below): A student group at MIT’s Sloan School of Management has been named one of three national finalists in a contest seeking YouTube video proposals for the creation of a new X Prize in Energy and the Environment, the X Prize Foundation announced today. Jonathan Dreher’s 2-minute proposal, “Energy X PRIZE: Reduce Home … Continue reading “MIT Sloan School Student One of Three Finalists in “Crazy Green Idea” Contest to Create Energy X Prize”
FDA Plans To Clear Genzyme’s Myozyme Made at Large Scale
Genzyme said today the FDA plans to allow it to market alglucosidase alfa (Myozyme) made in a large-scale 2000 liter bioreactor. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]) said it first needs to agree with the agency on a risk-lowering strategy, and a post-marketing study that will look at whether the drug made at the … Continue reading “FDA Plans To Clear Genzyme’s Myozyme Made at Large Scale”
How to Handle the Downturn: Xconomy’s Top 9 List of Top 10 Lists
Death. Taxes. Advice. You can always count on the first two, as the saying goes. But advice—usually unsolicited—can be added to the “inevitables” list whenever things go sour. As in today’s economy. Said advice will be all over the map, too—everything from “cut your losses and head for the hills” to “double up and buy … Continue reading “How to Handle the Downturn: Xconomy’s Top 9 List of Top 10 Lists”
Ascent Therapeutics Climbs Out of Stealth Mode with “Pepducins”
Ascent Therapeutics wants to be known as “The Pepducin Company.” The Cambridge, MA, biotech startup, which plans to publicly unveil its science and new executive team today, says it’s the first and only developer of pepducins—a new class of drugs aimed at modulating a family of cell surface receptors that are already lucrative therapeutic targets … Continue reading “Ascent Therapeutics Climbs Out of Stealth Mode with “Pepducins””
Obama Envisions $150 Billion for “Green Energy Economy” in YouTube Address
In case you weren’t one of the 657,000 people who have watched it as of this writing, Barack Obama posted his first post-election YouTube address on Saturday, signaling a new stage in the evolution of presidential communications. The President elect, who plans to give weekly video addresses in parallel to the traditional weekly radio messages, … Continue reading “Obama Envisions $150 Billion for “Green Energy Economy” in YouTube Address”
Qualcomm Adopts Skyhook Technology
San Diego-based Qualcomm, which is famous for its CDMA wireless communications chips but is also a leading maker of GPS chips for cell phones and other devices, has signed a deal with Boston’s Skyhook Wireless that will move it toward hybrid location-finding technologies. Qualcomm will incorporate Skyhook’s Wi-Fi Positioning System—a software system that determines a … Continue reading “Qualcomm Adopts Skyhook Technology”
EMC Forms New Company, Decho, to Help Customers Take Control of Personal Data Online
EMC, the software and data-storage giant based in Hopkinton, MA, is announcing today it has formed a new company called Decho. The new organization is composed of two formerly separate EMC businesses—American Fork, UT-based Mozy and Seattle-based Pi. The merged operation will focus on cloud computing services having to do with managing people’s digital information, … Continue reading “EMC Forms New Company, Decho, to Help Customers Take Control of Personal Data Online”
Zafgen, Inc. Lands $14,000,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1b29cfec-fdeb-4141-b661-75b5c8466d73&Preview=1 Date 11/17/2008 Company Name Zafgen, Inc. Mailing Address 29 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02116 Company Description The company is developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of obesity. Website http://www.zafgen.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $14,000,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor … Continue reading “Zafgen, Inc. Lands $14,000,000 Series B Financing Round”
Global Entrepreneurship Week at MIT
Next week is Global Entrepreneurship Week at MIT. A presentation about “Smart Start-Ups” caught our eye—Sherwin Greenblatt, Director of the MIT Venture Mentoring Service, who started as Bose’s only employee and eventually became Bose’s President, will describe how Bose planned and executed its commercial strategy and remained privately held by bootstrapping its growth, and how … Continue reading “Global Entrepreneurship Week at MIT”
Early Stage Mobile Companies
“Please turn off your pagers and mobile devices during the presentation.” That seems only fair, as 10 early stage mobile companies demonstrate their new mobile products. Each new company will provide a rapid-fire 5 minute presentation, followed by a social cocktail hour with product demonstrations. Presented by Mobile Monday, Boston Chapter.
Clean Energy Connections Conference and Opportunity Fair
You’ll need energy to take in all that’s on tap at this UMass Amherst event—networking, technology, policy, careers, green jobs, funding strategies—it’s all there. The Keynote Speaker is Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress, co-author of Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy (Island Press, 2007), and co-founder of the Apollo … Continue reading “Clean Energy Connections Conference and Opportunity Fair”
The War for Water
This forum is bound to make a splash, so dive in. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) In fact, it’s billed as addressing an “important next wave in energy and climate change.” This evening forum — a joint production of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge & the MIT Energy Club — is about the opportunities and challenges … Continue reading “The War for Water”
10th Annual Massachusetts Biotechnology Investors Forum
For the first time, New England’s largest biotechnology investor forum has invited disease foundations and government grant programs to connect with the event’s traditional audiences — venture capitalists and other investment professionals, and local public and private companies. The MassBIO Investors Forum will feature a full day of programs, including expert panel discussions, individual company … Continue reading “10th Annual Massachusetts Biotechnology Investors Forum”
Web Innovators Group 20
Xconomist James Geshwiler is featured in an interactive dialog session entitled “Raising Angel Financing 101” at the December meeting of the Web Innovators Group. The program’s regular format includes self-/angel-funded startups demo’ing to the crowd in Main Dish and Side Dish showcases, and selection of an “Audience Choice” winner. The “main dish” companies presenting include: … Continue reading “Web Innovators Group 20”
Layoffs at Mascoma, Javelin
Another day, another bundle of layoffs. Boston-based biofuels startup Mascoma is laying off between five and 10 employees, according to a report today in the Boston Globe. That’s about 10 percent of the company’s staff, which numbers around 100.* Mascoma, which is building demonstration fermentation plants to convert sugars from high-cellulose material such as wood … Continue reading “Layoffs at Mascoma, Javelin”
Pfizer Starts Stem Cell R&D Unit
Drug giant Pfizer (NYSE:[[ticker:PFE]]) has announced the launch of Pfizer Regenerative Medicine, an independent research unit focused on discovering stem cell treatments for multiple diseases. New York-based Pfizer says the research unit will be co-located in Cambridge, U.K., and at its existing R&D operation— Research Technology Centre—in Cambridge, MA.
Kraft Group Plans Biotech Park
According to a report yesterday in the Sun Chronicle, a newspaper serving the Attleboro and Foxborough areas southwest of Boston, the Kraft Group is seeking tenants for a planned 1.6-million-square-foot biotech office park to be located on land near Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium. The Kraft Group owns the New England Patriots football team. It recently shut … Continue reading “Kraft Group Plans Biotech Park”
New England Biotech Group Kicks Off
The nascent New England Biotech Association, an umbrella group comprised of trade associations from all six New England states, held its first board meeting yesterday, the Boston Globe reports. The group is chaired by Paula Newton, President of the New Hampshire Bio/Medical Council. According to its website, “NEBA is committed to ensuring the region remains … Continue reading “New England Biotech Group Kicks Off”
Know What Your Tech and Life Sciences Executive Peers Are Paid? Compensation Study Tells All—Plus New Insights on Clean-Tech CEO Pay
It’s too early to know the full impact of the economic meltdown on executive compensation at private technology and life sciences companies. Alas, 2008—or at least the first three fiscal quarters of it—could be viewed next year as the end of the good old days of executive compensation. Still, for those of you who want … Continue reading “Know What Your Tech and Life Sciences Executive Peers Are Paid? Compensation Study Tells All—Plus New Insights on Clean-Tech CEO Pay”
Last Call on Registration and First Call on Presentations for Xconomy Forum on Energy Innovation
With the Xconomy Forum on Energy Innovation fast approaching (the event will be held on December 2 at the British Consulate in Cambridge), I want to give a quick update on what’s shaping up to be an exciting—and sold out (see below)—evening. I also want to put out the call to anyone who might want … Continue reading “Last Call on Registration and First Call on Presentations for Xconomy Forum on Energy Innovation”
Attention, Startups: Move to New England. Your Gay Employees Will Thank You.
If you’re trying to decide where to build your new tech startup, California obviously has a lot of attractions. You’ll be close to the heart of the venture capital community. Non-compete agreements, which are said to slow innovation in states like Massachusetts, are illegal in the Golden State. The weather is beautiful year-round. And let’s … Continue reading “Attention, Startups: Move to New England. Your Gay Employees Will Thank You.”
.406 Ventures Leads $12M Digitalsmiths Funding
Video analytics and search startup Digitalsmiths has raised $12 million in a Series B round led by Boston’s .406 Ventures, the Research Triangle Park, NC-based company announced today. Previous investors The Aurora Funds and Chrysalis Ventures also joined the round.
The Boston Tech Layoff Tracker
For the longest time, it seemed that New England was showing some measure of immunity to the economic stagnation settling over the rest of the country. Last December we wrote about a staffing crunch so severe that the region’s tech companies were having to invent creative ways to recruit employees away from one another, and … Continue reading “The Boston Tech Layoff Tracker”
Flybridge Leads $8.25M Transpera Financing
Boston venture firm Flybridge Capital Partners has led an $8.25 million Series B round of financing in Transpera, a Santa Monica, CA-based provider of software to deliver Web video and advertising to mobile phones, according to a company statement. The firm’s second round of funding included investments from new backer Labrador Ventures and repeat investors … Continue reading “Flybridge Leads $8.25M Transpera Financing”
Oral Pill May Make Tough-to-Deliver RNAi Drugs Go Down Easy, RXi Says
Everywhere he goes in biotechnology circles, RXi Pharmaceuticals’ CEO Tod Woolf hears the same criticism of RNA interference drugs. What can be done to overcome the challenge with drug delivery? The answer is, nobody knows until it’s been proven with an effective drug. But Worcester, MA-based RXi (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RXII]]) says it has obtained the exclusive … Continue reading “Oral Pill May Make Tough-to-Deliver RNAi Drugs Go Down Easy, RXi Says”
Shire Settles TKT Suit, Roche and Ensemble Together Again, BSX Backs Neuromodulation Startup, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
Will “stapled peptides” be the next RNAi? This and other highlights from the last week in Boston-area life sciences news below. —Former shareholders of Cambridge, MA-based Transkaryotic Therapies (TKT) reached a $567.5 million settlement with Irish drug maker Shire (LSE:[[ticker:SHP]]). The shareholders had originally objected to Shire’s 2005 takeover of TKT because they thought the … Continue reading “Shire Settles TKT Suit, Roche and Ensemble Together Again, BSX Backs Neuromodulation Startup, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Springpad Opened to Public
Boston’s Spring Partners, a venture-backed Web software startup founded by five former executives from mobile marketing firm Third Screen Media, announced today that it’s opening beta testing of its first product, Springpad, to the general public. Springpad is a Web-based personal information management system that helps users create annotated lists or “notebooks” around dozens of … Continue reading “Springpad Opened to Public”
Clean-Tech Firm C Change Launched
C Change Investments, a Cambridge, MA-based firm focused on investment in and development of clean technologies, has officially launched, according to a statement. The co-founders of the firm are John Preston, former director of technology development at MIT, and Russell Read, who previously served as chief investment officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System … Continue reading “Clean-Tech Firm C Change Launched”
MacTrak Posts Laptop Thieves’ Photos, Locations to Flickr
Woe to the hoodie-wearing miscreant who steals a Mac laptop equipped with MacTrak. He’s likely to find his photo plastered all over the Internet—and the police at his door. MacTrak is a beta application for Macs introduced today by Portland, OR-based GadgetTrak. It’s similar in conception to Absolute Software’s LoJack for Laptops and to Adeona, … Continue reading “MacTrak Posts Laptop Thieves’ Photos, Locations to Flickr”
Thermo Buys U.K. Company
Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:TMO]]), a Waltham, MA-based provider of scientific research tools and materials, has acquired histology and anatomical pathology lab products maker Raymond A. Lamb, of Eastbourne, U.K., according to a company statement. Thermo Fisher, which did not disclose financial terms of the buyout, reports that Raymond had 2007 revenues of $9 million and … Continue reading “Thermo Buys U.K. Company”
Boston Scientific Invests in Intelect
Boston Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:BSX]]), a Natick, MA-based medical devices firm, has led an equity round expected to total $11 milion to $13.5 million in Intelect Medical, a developer of an implantable neuromodulation system headquartered in Cleveland, Intelect reports in a statement. Intelect says, as part of the deal, it has granted Boston Scientific co-exclusive rights to … Continue reading “Boston Scientific Invests in Intelect”
How Crimson Hexagon Translates the Blogosphere’s Babel Into Wisdom
File this under “Only in Cambridge.” Before my interview last week with the founders of Crimson Hexagon, a startup using statistical methods to comb the blogosphere for the latest opinion on brand-name products, I had assumed that the company’s name came from its affiliation with Harvard, where its technical founder, Gary King, is a professor … Continue reading “How Crimson Hexagon Translates the Blogosphere’s Babel Into Wisdom”