Yesterday was a dark day on Wall Street, and, according to many observers, a dark day for our political system. But what does the financial crisis mean for innovation, and what are the key things that investors, entrepreneurs, and big companies should do or not do during such an upheaval? Xconomy asked this question of … Continue reading “What Does the Financial Crisis Mean for Innovation? Xconomists Weigh In”
Category: Boston
Progress Through Innovation Conference at the Legatum Center
The Legatum Center at MIT will bring together BBC World News Presenter, Nisha Pillai, entrepreneurs from Africa, India and Afghanistan, an unprecedented panel of 4 Nobel Laureates in Economics and a lunch keynote address by Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream to address the power of entrepreneurship to transform the developing world. … Continue reading “Progress Through Innovation Conference at the Legatum Center”
REBN East Monthly Networking
The Renewable Energy Business Network and the Boston chapter of Young Professionals in Energy are co-hosting this month’s networking event at Flat Top Johnny’s in Kendall Square. They’re expecting a “good mix of cleantech and traditional energy professionals.” Rack ’em up.
Janius to Replace Sayer as CEO of ImmunoGen
ImmunoGen (NASDAQ:[[ticker:IMGN]]), a Waltham, MA-based biotech firm, announced today that its board of directors has approved a succession plan in which company president and COO Daniel Junius will become CEO on Jan. 1, 2009. He replaces long-time CEO Mitchel Sayer, who will continue to serve as chairman after Junius takes over the chief executive post.
Indevus Puts New Acromegaly Treatment Head-to-Head with Novartis Treatment in Phase 3 Trial
Indevus Pharmaceuticals, a Lexington, MA, maker of specialty drugs, says it has launched a Phase 3 clinical trial of an implant designed to provide long-term treatment of patients with acromegaly, a rare and potentially life-threatening condition caused by the overproduction of growth hormone. The company (NASDAQ:[[ticker:IDEV]]) plans to use its patented “hydron polymer technology” in … Continue reading “Indevus Puts New Acromegaly Treatment Head-to-Head with Novartis Treatment in Phase 3 Trial”
$5M for Tungle from Commonwealth Capital
Waltham, MA-based Commonwealth Capital Partners is the lead investor in a $5 million Series A venture round for Tungle, a maker of free Web-based calendar groupware, the Montreal-based startup announced today. Existing investors JLA Ventures and Desjardins Venture Capital also contributed to the round, which will be used to—you guessed it—“accelerate the company’s marketing and … Continue reading “$5M for Tungle from Commonwealth Capital”
Globespan Part of $100M Solar Power Financing
Boston-based Globespan Capital Partners is among a group of investors and lenders contributing to a $100 million financing round for Solar Power Partners (SPP) of Mill Valley, CA, the company announced today. SPP develops and operates small solar-power installations and sells the electricity to facilities such as data centers, retail stores, hospitals, universities, and municipalities. … Continue reading “Globespan Part of $100M Solar Power Financing”
CombinatoRx Judgment Day Coming Soon, Arthritis Drug Results On the Way
CombinatoRx is coming to one of those defining moments where it will either vault into becoming an emerging biotech industry player or it will take a big leap backwards. The Cambridge, MA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRXX]]) will find out within the next four weeks whether its experimental combination drug for arthritis is likely to become a … Continue reading “CombinatoRx Judgment Day Coming Soon, Arthritis Drug Results On the Way”
LuckyCal, Winner of Facebook Grant, Makes Your Calendar into a Connector
You get home from a big business trip to San Francisco, you’re talking with a friend from out of town, and you find out that he was just there too. If you’d known, you could have met up! It’s a common scenario—and it shouldn’t happen as often anymore. After all, you probably keep an electronic … Continue reading “LuckyCal, Winner of Facebook Grant, Makes Your Calendar into a Connector”
Link Medicine Corporation Obtains $40,000,000 Series C Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6de1e77b-74e7-488e-9cfb-5b63910952fe&Preview=1 Date 9/30/2008 Company Name Link Medicine Corporation Mailing Address 161 First Street Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description Link Medicine Corporation is focused on utilizing innovative mechanisms to identify and develop disease-modifying neurodegenerative therapies for patients. Website http://www.linkmedicine.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $40,000,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes The … Continue reading “Link Medicine Corporation Obtains $40,000,000 Series C Funding Round”
Aircuity, Inc. Garners $6,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d5e03b88-0546-4df1-b7dd-3dcce62b4b87&Preview=1 Date 9/30/2008 Company Name Aircuity, Inc. Mailing Address 39 Chapel Street Newton, MA 02458 Company Description Aircuity is the leading manufacturer of integrated sensing and control solutions that cost-effectively reduce building energy and operating expenses while simultaneously improving its indoor environmental quality. Website http://www.aircuity.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $6,000,000 … Continue reading “Aircuity, Inc. Garners $6,000,000 New Funding”
Sage Science, Inc. Obtains $1,500,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=788aec60-2864-4642-aa97-41dfb3221f45&Preview=1 Date 9/30/2008 Company Name Sage Science, Inc. Mailing Address 32 Tozer Road Beverly, MA 01915 Company Description Sage Science develops and manufactures convergent instrumentation and consumable products which we sell directly to scientists and through bioscience tools suppliers. We seek to consolidate labor and new engineering and chemistry technologies to create … Continue reading “Sage Science, Inc. Obtains $1,500,000 New Funding”
Authoria Acquired by Bedford Funding
Authoria, a Waltham, MA company that makes software used in employee recruiting and retention, said Monday that it will be bought by White Plains, NY-based private equity firm Bedford Funding for $63.1 million. Bedford has also agreed to put $8 million in working capital into the company.
MetaCarta Rolls Out Geo-Search Platform
MetaCarta, a Cambridge, MA-based MIT spinoff funded in part by the CIA’s venture wing, In-Q-Tel, said today that a new software product called the MetaCarta Geographic Search and Referencing Platform (GSRP) is ready for sale. The software takes text content that contains place names in English, French, Spanish, Russian, or Arabic and tags it so … Continue reading “MetaCarta Rolls Out Geo-Search Platform”
Clinical Data Inks $25M Stock Deal
Newton, MA-based biotech firm Clinical Data (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CLDA]]) said today that it has inked a deal to raise some $25 million in a private placement of stock and warrants. The agreement, with affiliates of Clinical Data board chair Randal J. Kirk, includes some 1.5 million newly issued shares of common stock and warrants on another 757,000 … Continue reading “Clinical Data Inks $25M Stock Deal”
Gusts Picking Up for Two New England Wind Companies
Last week’s incessant rain across New England brought with it some good news for two area wind power companies. In Rhode Island, the state government picked the subsidiary of a Newton, MA, wind company to build a $1 billion offshore wind farm, and a Vermont company developing a new, more efficient type of wind turbine … Continue reading “Gusts Picking Up for Two New England Wind Companies”
Covidien Cuts Costs in All Four Business Units, Corporate
Covidien, the Bermuda-based healthcare products company that is one of the largest life sciences companies in Massachusetts, said today it is implementing a restructuring program that includes projects in all four of its business segments and in corporate. The company didn’t disclose any job cuts, although it said it plans to take a $200 million … Continue reading “Covidien Cuts Costs in All Four Business Units, Corporate”
Avant Changes Name to Celldex Therapeutics, Hires Marucci as Permanent CEO
Avant Immunotherapeutics said today it is changing its name to Celldex Therapeutics as part of the merger the two companies announced in the first quarter. The Needham, MA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVAN]]) will change its ticker symbol to (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLDX]]), starting Oct. 1. The company’s board also announced that Anthony Marucci, who has worked as interim … Continue reading “Avant Changes Name to Celldex Therapeutics, Hires Marucci as Permanent CEO”
Genzyme Thinks Small, and Big, With Cholesterol-Lowering Drug Mipomersen
Genzyme has built an empire by thinking small—treating diseases that affect tiny groups of patients. Now it’s seeking to capitalize on a cholesterol-lowering drug that requires it to think small and big at the same time. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]) is starting to show how it intends to make mipomersen into a … Continue reading “Genzyme Thinks Small, and Big, With Cholesterol-Lowering Drug Mipomersen”
Highland Digs Digg, Oak Investment Partners Charges Up Greenvolts, U.S. Genomics Befriends Becton Dickinson, & More Boston-Area Deals News
This last week was a good one for smaller-scale deal making among New England’s tech and life sciences firms. —Oak Investment Partners of Westport, CT, put $30 million into San Francisco cleantech startup Greenvolts, which is developing solar energy farms that use vast arrays of reflectors to concentrate the sun’s rays on high-efficiency photovoltaic cells. … Continue reading “Highland Digs Digg, Oak Investment Partners Charges Up Greenvolts, U.S. Genomics Befriends Becton Dickinson, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Wind Power Holdings Inc. Obtains $37,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2cb07025-9709-4348-8a45-41e58278dd69&Preview=1 Date 9/29/2008 Company Name Wind Power Holdings Inc. Mailing Address Undisclosed Barre, VT 05630 Company Description Northern Power (owned by Wind Power Holdings) has been delivering innovative wind energy solutions in a changing landscape for over 34 years. The company’s commitment to performance, reliability and cutting-edge technology has made it a … Continue reading “Wind Power Holdings Inc. Obtains $37,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
Future Forward Retreat
You too can see the future, but you’ll need an invitation. Each year a high-level group of entrepreneurs, CIOs, CTOs, CEOs, researchers, and investors convene to look ahead at a one-day retreat that includes session topics like “What Matters Next: A Debate Among Boston’s Top Tech Forecasters.” For more information, and to request an invitation, … Continue reading “Future Forward Retreat”
$1M Gratuity for TipJoy
Cambridge, MA, startup Tipjoy, a Y Combinator-launched company whose technology allows Web surfers to leave small payments at the blogs of their favorite content creators, announced on its own blog this week that it has closed a $1 million Series A funding round. The round was led by New York-based seed stage investor Betaworks and … Continue reading “$1M Gratuity for TipJoy”
Boston Unblurred: Debunking the Google Maps Censorship Myth
Having written an appreciative column a few weeks ago about the endangered Pacific Northwest tree octopus, a tongue-in-cheek hoax site, I am not about to denounce the Internet as a cesspool of misinformation. But I’m still puzzled by the way certain salacious memes persist on the Internet, even though they’re easily disproved—for example, the myth … Continue reading “Boston Unblurred: Debunking the Google Maps Censorship Myth”
Hal Abelson’s Android Class at MIT Expands to Nokia and Windows Mobile Phones—But No iPhone
What do you do when the experimental class you offered in designing applications for Google’s Android mobile phone operating system brings your students $300,000 and unprecedented experience in creating real-world-ready applications? If you’re MIT professor Hal Abelson, you expand it to phones and other mobile devices made by Microsoft and Nokia. But not Apple’s iPhone … Continue reading “Hal Abelson’s Android Class at MIT Expands to Nokia and Windows Mobile Phones—But No iPhone”
GI Dynamics Device Helps Obese Patients Shed 30 Pounds
Promising results are continuing to trickle in from GI Dynamics. The Lexington, MA-based maker of a gut-lining sleeve that mimics the effect of gastric-bypass surgery without all the slicing and dicing, is reporting that its device helped obese patients drop an average of 30 pounds after three months in a clinical trial, compared with about … Continue reading “GI Dynamics Device Helps Obese Patients Shed 30 Pounds”
RockPort Flexes New Cleantech Fund to Back Sustainable Spaces in $6M Round
RockPort Capital Partners of Boston and Menlo Park, CA, has made an early bet with money from its new $450 million cleantech fund, co-leading a $6 million investment in San Francisco-based “home performance services” firm Sustainable Spaces. Sustainable Spaces provides energy audits and environmental tests such as carbon monoxide checks for the home market. The … Continue reading “RockPort Flexes New Cleantech Fund to Back Sustainable Spaces in $6M Round”
With Backing From MPM and Kleiner Perkins, EpiZyme Aims to Turn Genes On and Off
MPM Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers see a big idea for medicine emerging from the science of epigenetics. The two venture firms are building a startup, called EpiZyme, to take advantage of research that looks at how genes can be turned on or off without any alteration to the underlying sequence. I got … Continue reading “With Backing From MPM and Kleiner Perkins, EpiZyme Aims to Turn Genes On and Off”
Tipjoy Lands $1,000,000 Series A Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5a699972-2811-4113-9c74-eb07e11767c4&Preview=1 Date 9/26/2008 Company Name Tipjoy Mailing Address Undisclosed Cambridge, MA 02138 Company Description Tipjoy makes it easy for people to leave tips for things they love online, and easy for content owners to be rewarded for making the stuff people love. Website http://www.tipjoy.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction … Continue reading “Tipjoy Lands $1,000,000 Series A Round”
Concert Pharmaceuticals Enters Clinical Trials with Drug for Hot Flashes
Concert Pharmaceuticals is moving ahead with a drug that it hopes will be the first of its kind to treat the hot flashes women get during menopause, without exposing them to the well-documented risks of hormone-replacement therapy. The Lexington, MA-based company said today it has begun its first clinical trial with a drug candidate called … Continue reading “Concert Pharmaceuticals Enters Clinical Trials with Drug for Hot Flashes”
Boston Scientific Wins FDA Approval of Stent for Smaller Blood Vessels
Boston Scientific said today it has won clearance from the FDA to market the Taxus Express2 Atom Stent System. The new device, which props open clogged heart arteries, emits a small dose of a chemotherapy drug designed to minimize scarring around the implant. It is the only device approved for vessels as small as 2.25 … Continue reading “Boston Scientific Wins FDA Approval of Stent for Smaller Blood Vessels”
New Biotech Biz Models (and the Tested Bob Langer-Terry McGuire Approach) Emerge at Xconomy Forum
We could have called it the “New Biotech Business Model Expo.” Xconomy’s forum—How to Build a Life Sciences Company—attracted venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from around the Boston area (and a few from across the country) to the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge on Tuesday morning to showcase the strategies they’ve used to form … Continue reading “New Biotech Biz Models (and the Tested Bob Langer-Terry McGuire Approach) Emerge at Xconomy Forum”
HealthPort Acquires ChartOne
Burlington, MA-based ChartOne, which makes software used by hospitals to manage the distribution of confidential paper and electronic medical records, was acquired by Alpharetta, GA-based HealthPort in a deal that closed on Monday, HealthPort said in an announcement. ChartOne was HealthPort’s closest competitor, according to the statement, which did not reveal the terms of the … Continue reading “HealthPort Acquires ChartOne”
IRobot To Deliver 165 More PackBots, Spare Parts to U.S. Army
The orders keep rolling in for iRobot. The Bedford, MA-based robot maker announced today that it has received two more orders from the U.S. Army involving its PackBot 510. The first is a $5.8 million order for spare parts and accessories for the robot, which soldiers use to detect roadside bombs and other hazards. The … Continue reading “IRobot To Deliver 165 More PackBots, Spare Parts to U.S. Army”
As Facebook Redefines the Social Web, Platform Manager Dave Morin Talks About the Coolest Facebook Apps From Boston and Seattle
It’s September in Boston, and that can only mean one thing—conferences, conferences, conferences. Xconomy’s own life sciences event was on Tuesday, and I spent most of the day yesterday at EmTech 08, the big annual tech-fest put on by MIT’s Technology Review magazine. One highlight was a lively panel led by Robert Scoble, renowned technology … Continue reading “As Facebook Redefines the Social Web, Platform Manager Dave Morin Talks About the Coolest Facebook Apps From Boston and Seattle”
Highland Leads $28.7M Digg Round
Lexington, MA-based Highland Capital Partners led a $28.7 million Series C funding round in Digg, the San Francisco-based social news site announced today. Existing Digg investors Greylock Partners, SVB Capital, and Omidyar Network joined the round, which will be used to finance an ambitious expansion that includes doubling Digg’s staff to 150 by the end … Continue reading “Highland Leads $28.7M Digg Round”
LaughNetwork Joins Pangea
Pangea Media, a Watertown, MA company that operates a network of casual gaming sites including QuizRocket.com and Quibblo.com, said yesterday that it has acquired LaughNetwork, a Kentucky startup whose network of entertainment sites attracts more than 1 million page views per day. Pangea didn’t say how much it paid in the deal.
Sirtris Settles in at GSK, Alnylam Raises IP Questions on Bio Bill, Targanta Takes on Cubist’s Market, & More Life Sciences News
We were lucky enough to have both Luke and Ryan in town for a couple of days this week, so there was a bumper crop of up-close, in depth stories on local life sciences firms. Enjoy! —Luke caught a glance of Lexington, MA-based Pulmatrix as the startup emerged from stealth mode. Drawing on the expertise … Continue reading “Sirtris Settles in at GSK, Alnylam Raises IP Questions on Bio Bill, Targanta Takes on Cubist’s Market, & More Life Sciences News”
Xconomy Forum: A Big Thank You to Our Sponsors, Speakers, and Guests
Xconomy held its first half-day life sciences forum yesterday—How to Build A Life Sciences Company—and it was a rousing success. All told, nearly 200 people attended the event, which featured, among other things, case studies on five startups with different funding strategies that illustrate the innovative approaches needed to launch and sustain life sciences companies … Continue reading “Xconomy Forum: A Big Thank You to Our Sponsors, Speakers, and Guests”
Don’t Put That DVD In the Mail: Wistia Helps Companies Share Video Over the Internet
We’re always on the lookout for companies to add to our periodic “industry cluster” overviews, which so far include the Boston Music and Technology Cluster, the Boston Internet Video Cluster, the Greater Boston Robotics Cluster, the Boston Health 2.0 Cluster, and the Greater Seattle Gaming Cluster. And recently I came across a new addition for … Continue reading “Don’t Put That DVD In the Mail: Wistia Helps Companies Share Video Over the Internet”
Governor’s Life Sciences Agency Makes Key Hire with MIT and Pharma Connections
The agency charged with running Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s $1 billion life sciences initiative has tapped an executive with venture capital experience to help form relationships with key industry players. Luis Barros, an MIT Sloan School alum and veteran of the VC arm at drug giant Eli Lilly (NYSE:[[ticker:LLY]]), Lilly Ventures, has accepted the newly … Continue reading “Governor’s Life Sciences Agency Makes Key Hire with MIT and Pharma Connections”
Genzyme Expects FDA Review of Myozyme Factory by Thanksgiving Weekend
If Genzyme gets its way, it will be able to start selling larger amounts of Myozyme in the U.S. by the end of this year. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]) said it expects the FDA to make a decision on whether to approve supplies of the product (a treatment for Pompe disease) made … Continue reading “Genzyme Expects FDA Review of Myozyme Factory by Thanksgiving Weekend”
Safeguard Gives Swaptree $3.35 Million
Swaptree, a Boston-based Web startup that helps people trade used books, CDs, DVDs, and video games, has obtained $3.35 million in Series C funding from Wayne, PA-based Safeguard Scientifics, according to a release today from Safeguard. The company’s advertising-supported Swaptree.com site matches up people who want to swap media items and helps them print out … Continue reading “Safeguard Gives Swaptree $3.35 Million”
CityVoter Raises $2.6 Million
Cambridge, MA-based CityVoter, which provides local and national online publishers with city-specific content such as restaurant, event, and business recommendations, announced yesterday that it has closed a $2.6 million Series B financing round. The round was led by Allen & Company and by return investor Dace Ventures.
U.S. Genomics Gets $4.5M, Enters Partnership
Woburn, MA-based U.S. Genomics, a maker of single-molecule technologies for biodefense and diagnostics, announced today it has raised $4.5 million in private equity funding from Becton, Dickinson & Co. The deal marks the start of a strategic partnership between the firms to develop an infectious-disease diagnostic platform.
SiCortex: High Performance Computing Without the High Electric Bills
The Assabet River these days rushes through Maynard, MA, without lending any of its liquid muscle to local industry. But for more than a century, the river supplied power to the Assabet Woolen Mill, a vast brick complex that, in its heyday, was the largest source of wool for U.S. military uniforms. I went to … Continue reading “SiCortex: High Performance Computing Without the High Electric Bills”
Third Rock Ventures Heads “Back to the Basics,” Nurtures Disruptive Life Sciences Companies
It has been almost exactly a year since Third Rock Ventures burst onto the local innovation scene with a $378 million life sciences fund, and now its strategy is becoming clear. Third Rock has backed Agios Pharmaceuticals, a company that starves cancer cells of essential nutrients. Zafgen, another in the Third Rock portfolio, is developing … Continue reading “Third Rock Ventures Heads “Back to the Basics,” Nurtures Disruptive Life Sciences Companies”
“The Best Place in the World” for Interdisciplinary Research: A Talk with Microsoft’s Jennifer Chayes
After publishing my story yesterday about the opening of Microsoft’s newest research lab in Cambridge, MA—where social scientists and computer scientists will work side by side to understand technology-mediated phenomena such as social networking—I attended a Microsoft-sponsored launch symposium at MIT and had the opportunity to meet with the lab’s director, Jennifer Chayes. Though Bob … Continue reading ““The Best Place in the World” for Interdisciplinary Research: A Talk with Microsoft’s Jennifer Chayes”
Swaptree.com Secures $3,350,000 Series C Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=96cb2a5a-3ff7-4bb4-bf92-e495b2532815&Preview=1 Date 9/23/2008 Company Name Swaptree.com Mailing Address 62 Summit Avenue Brookline, MA 02446 Company Description Swaptree.com is a new and innovative way for people to easily trade books, CDs, DVDs and video games for free with other users. Website http://www.swaptree.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,350,000 Transaction Round Series C … Continue reading “Swaptree.com Secures $3,350,000 Series C Financing”
U.S. Genomics Receives $4,500,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e4e6ae3a-339b-4535-b984-f10d46a40c0d&Preview=1 Date 9/23/2008 Company Name U.S. Genomics Mailing Address 12 Gill Street Woburn, MA 01801 Company Description U.S. Genomics has pioneered commercial applications of single molecule DNA, RNA and protein analysis. The company’s innovative technologies address high value unmet needs in bio-security, human diagnostics, and food and drug contaminant monitoring. Addressable segments … Continue reading “U.S. Genomics Receives $4,500,000 New Funding”