Veracode, a Burlington, MA, startup that looks for security flaws in software by analyzing its raw binary code, announced this week that In-Q-Tel, a venture investing group spawned by the CIA, has made a strategic investment in the company. The amount of the investment was not disclosed. But as we explained in a story last … Continue reading “In-Q-Tel Backs Veracode’s Binary Code Review Technology”
Category: Boston
Q Robotics Emerges from Stealth Mode, Tries To Go One Step Beyond Roomba
The future of robotics lies in… arranging potted plants? Surprising, but it just might be true. Tonight at the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, a small company called Q Robotics, based in Groton, MA, gave its first public presentation on the technology it has been developing for the past year and a half. Founded by … Continue reading “Q Robotics Emerges from Stealth Mode, Tries To Go One Step Beyond Roomba”
Y Combinator Alum Omnisio Joins Google’s YouTube
The latest win for Y Combinator, Paul Graham’s Mountain View, CA- and Cambridge, MA-based startup incubator, is Omnisio, a California Internet video startup that announced today that it’s been acquired by Google, which plans to fold it into YouTube. The companies didn’t report the purchase price, but TechCrunch is saying that it was in the … Continue reading “Y Combinator Alum Omnisio Joins Google’s YouTube”
Ariad Begins Clinical Trial of Breast Cancer Drug
Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARIA]]), the Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has started a mid-stage clinical trial of a breast cancer treatment designed to help patients who resist Genentech’s Herceptin. The drug, an oral pill called deforolimus, is designed to block the mTOR protein, which acts like a “master switch” for cancer … Continue reading “Ariad Begins Clinical Trial of Breast Cancer Drug”
Infinity Pharmaceuticals Starts First Clinical Trial of Oral Hsp-90 Blocker
Infinity Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:INFI]]), the Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has started its first clinical trial for IPI-493, an oral drug designed to block proteins that support tumor growth. The drug is meant to inhibit Hsp-90, like another intravenously-delivered compound, IPI-504, that’s being prepared for a pivotal clinical trial before the … Continue reading “Infinity Pharmaceuticals Starts First Clinical Trial of Oral Hsp-90 Blocker”
Heading Home, Leaving Lobsters for Crayfish—But First a Nod to Shaker Innovation and Some Thoughts on Boston vs. Silicon Valley
Realizing that my visit to the USA is coming to an end in a few days, I spent the weekend hectically sightseeing around western Massachusetts and upstate New York. Even taking into account my big win—a net gain of $1.20 after expenses—at the Saratoga raceway, the most fascinating experience was my visit to Hancock Shaker … Continue reading “Heading Home, Leaving Lobsters for Crayfish—But First a Nod to Shaker Innovation and Some Thoughts on Boston vs. Silicon Valley”
Xconomy Goes to Sweden (Anybody Got Sox Tickets for Erik?)
Xconomy is on its way to Sweden. In our hearts, at least. Today marks the last day at Xconomy Boston for our Innovation Fellow, noted Swedish technology and business journalist Erik Mellgren, who will be returning home tomorrow night to Stockholm. We figure he’s doing some advance scouting for a future expansion to the Swedish … Continue reading “Xconomy Goes to Sweden (Anybody Got Sox Tickets for Erik?)”
Cold Space with Power: [2N+1] Opens Boutique Data Center in Somerville
When I pulled up to 35 McGrath Highway in Somerville, just a couple of doors down from Sav-Mor Liquors, all I found was a squat, brown, windowless concrete building and an unpaved parking lot. It was a hot day in mid-July, and I was searching for a new data center company with the geeky name … Continue reading “Cold Space with Power: [2N+1] Opens Boutique Data Center in Somerville”
Icahn’s Nominee to Yahoo’s Board Winds up on Biogen Idec’s, Epix CEO Steps Down, Caliper Comes to Drugs’ Rescue, & More Life Sciences News
The theme of the week in New England life sciences news was tools and diagnostics. —Fresh off a proxy-battle win against activist investor Carl Icahn, Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) named former hedge fund manager Brian Posner to its board of directors. Posner was one of 10 people Icahn nominated to the board of … Continue reading “Icahn’s Nominee to Yahoo’s Board Winds up on Biogen Idec’s, Epix CEO Steps Down, Caliper Comes to Drugs’ Rescue, & More Life Sciences News”
W3C Issues Mobile Web Guidelines
A “best practices” guide for creating mobile-friendly websites, published only in draft form until now, has been released as an official “recommendation” of the Cambridge, MA-based World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). In an announcement today, W3C mobile Web activity lead Dominique Hazaël-Massieux said “Mobile Web content developers now have stable guidelines and maturing tools to … Continue reading “W3C Issues Mobile Web Guidelines”
Guidester Takes New Name, $7.5 Million in New Funding
When we last wrote about Guidester, back in January, the merchandise search company had just hired a new CEO, John Federman, and was in the process of moving from New York to the Boston area. Now it’s going through another big transformation—changing its name (for the second time in three years), raising a $7.5 million … Continue reading “Guidester Takes New Name, $7.5 Million in New Funding”
BG Medicine, Targeting Clues in Blood, Aims to Predict Whether a Drug Will Help
Most biotech companies want doctors to write lots of prescriptions for their drugs. BG Medicine, a privately held diagnostics maker in Waltham, MA, sees opportunity in saying when that’s a waste of time and money. Take, for example, Genentech’s Avastin. The drug, the first of its kind to choke off blood supply to lung, colon, … Continue reading “BG Medicine, Targeting Clues in Blood, Aims to Predict Whether a Drug Will Help”
Microsoft Research Lab Opens Quietly Next to MIT, Director Says Area’s Intellectual Climate Like “Dry Timber” Ready to Ignite
A Microsoft research lab announced in February quietly opened its doors in Kendall Square earlier this month, although the company doesn’t plan an official coming out party until late September. It’s Microsoft’s first research outpost in the United States outside the West Coast and its sixth worldwide—and the lab’s leaders have wasted no time changing … Continue reading “Microsoft Research Lab Opens Quietly Next to MIT, Director Says Area’s Intellectual Climate Like “Dry Timber” Ready to Ignite”
ThingMagic’s New RFID Reader–A Step Toward the Internet of Things
ThingMagic may sound like an oddly whimsical name for a company that makes some of the key hardware and software behind radio frequency identification (RFID) systems—machines that have serious real-world jobs like tracking the hundreds of thousands of products that pass through the dock doors of Wal-Mart warehouses and other distribution centers every day. But … Continue reading “ThingMagic’s New RFID Reader–A Step Toward the Internet of Things”
Acusphere Cuts 24 Jobs, While It Waits for FDA Decision Date
Acusphere, the Watertown, MA-based developer of the cardiovascular contrast agent Imagify, said today it has cut 24 jobs, or about 24 percent of its staff. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACUS]]) is trying to save cash while it waits for the FDA’s Feb. 28 deadline to decide on whether to approve Imagify for sale in the U.S. … Continue reading “Acusphere Cuts 24 Jobs, While It Waits for FDA Decision Date”
Epix CEO Resigns After Bumpy Road with Products for Depression, Alzheimer’s
Here’s a CEO resignation that caught me by surprise this morning. Epix Pharmaceuticals CEO Michael Kauffman stepped down as CEO and as a member of the company’s board of directors, as of last Friday, according to a statement from the Lexington, MA-based company. He left for the proverbial chance to “pursue other opportunities.” Kauffman, 44, … Continue reading “Epix CEO Resigns After Bumpy Road with Products for Depression, Alzheimer’s”
Can Creativity Be Crowdsourced?
Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society hosts a lunch talk by Jon Ippolito of the John Bell of the University of Maine. From the event listing: “The Internet both attracts and repels art institutions. Curators wonder who could possibly ensure quality control in a world where 50,000 videos are added to YouTube … Continue reading “Can Creativity Be Crowdsourced?”
Venture Returns Shrinking in 2008
Venture capital funds are still more profitable for their investors than the stock markets, according to new statistics released today bythe National Venture capital Association and Thomson Reuters. But their profitability decreased during the first quarter of 2008. One reason is the increased difficulty of making an exit in the current economic conditions. “The IPO … Continue reading “Venture Returns Shrinking in 2008”
Sophos Wants to Buy Utimaco
Boston-based Sophos, which makes software that helps IT administrators control corporate networks and keep out viruses, spam, and spyware, said today that it’s offering $340 million in cash for all outstanding shares in Utimaco Software, a maker of encryption and security software based in Oberursel, Germany, near Frankfurt. The takeover offer represents a 92 percent … Continue reading “Sophos Wants to Buy Utimaco”
Caliper Bets Future on Tools That Light Up Genes Before Researchers’ Eyes
One of the hottest cancer treatments on the market today would have died in the lab if not for a drug discovery tool made by Hopkinton, MA-based Caliper Life Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CALP]]). The story, as told by Caliper CEO Kevin Hrusovsky, goes something like this: Sugen, a small Redwood City, CA-based biotech company later acquired … Continue reading “Caliper Bets Future on Tools That Light Up Genes Before Researchers’ Eyes”
Don’t Sell It, Gazelle It: Electronics Recycling Firm Second Rotation Recycles Itself
So, you bought a first-generation iPhone last summer, but now you absolutely must have the iPhone 3G. (Hey, I’m with you, man. I already got mine.) But what to do with your old, perfectly functional iPhone? You can sell it on eBay, if you want to go through the hassle. Or, starting today, you can … Continue reading “Don’t Sell It, Gazelle It: Electronics Recycling Firm Second Rotation Recycles Itself”
GT Solar Pulls Off IPO, Esther Dyson and Tim O’Reilly Back Good Data, BioEnergy Bonds with OmniGene, & More Deals News
On the up side, the IPO drought was broken by a New England company. On the down side, the stock took a bit of a tumble. That and the rest of last week’s deals news below. —GT Solar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SOLR]]) raised about $500 million for its parent company, which sold 30.3 million shares of the … Continue reading “GT Solar Pulls Off IPO, Esther Dyson and Tim O’Reilly Back Good Data, BioEnergy Bonds with OmniGene, & More Deals News”
REBN East at the Muddy
Join the Renewable Energy Business Network – East for their networking happy hour at The Muddy Charles Pub at MIT. Jim Matheson of Flagship Ventures has generously offered to buy the first round and some pizza, so don’t be late! Jim recently posted on Xconomy about his Cleantech mission to the UK.
Tradual Raises $2.4M for Currency Trading
According to reports today in PE Hub and Mass High Tech, Boston-based stealth mode startup Tradual has collected $2.4 million of a $4 million Series A investment round. The company is building a social media website focused on international currency trading, according to the reports, and the investment round was led by Waltham, MA-based North … Continue reading “Tradual Raises $2.4M for Currency Trading”
Harvard Stem Cell Institute Wins $25 Million Investment From GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline, the world’s second-biggest drugmaker, said it agreed to invest $25 million over five years in the Harvard Stem Cell Institute for a collaboration to develop new treatments. London-based Glaxo (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]) said the collaboration will spur research at Harvard and at least four affiliated hospitals to study neuroscience, cancer, diabetes, obesity and musculoskeletal diseases. … Continue reading “Harvard Stem Cell Institute Wins $25 Million Investment From GlaxoSmithKline”
Are You Ready to Give Up Cable TV for Internet Video?
That’s the question I’ve been asking myself lately. Partly, it’s because my 12-month introductory rate from Comcast just expired, putting my yearly cable bill into the $1,000 range. That’s a lot to stomach, especially considering that about a third of the content coming down the co-ax is commercials. A friend says that I just need … Continue reading “Are You Ready to Give Up Cable TV for Internet Video?”
Biogen Idec Adds New Board Member: Another Line of Defense From Icahn?
Biogen Idec just added a member to its board of directors. Boring, you say. So what? Ok, given that the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) just emerged triumphant last month from a blistering fight with billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who wanted to take over three of the company’s 12 board seats, we couldn’t help … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Adds New Board Member: Another Line of Defense From Icahn?”
Cloud Computing: The Coming IT Cambrian Explosion
Cloud computing continues to be a very hot subject. I recently participated in Xconomy’s conference on “The Promise and Reality of Cloud Computing,” and it was clear from the discussion that something big and profound seems to be going on, although we are not totally sure what it is yet. Some of us feel that … Continue reading “Cloud Computing: The Coming IT Cambrian Explosion”
Visual I|O Brings Your Data to Life Through Visual Experimentation
In February 2006, Swedish physician, statistician, and global health expert Hans Rosling brought down the house at TED (the Technology, Entertainment, and Design conference in Monterey, CA) with a presentation on health and economic trends in developing nations. But it wasn’t the content of the presentation so much as the software he was using that … Continue reading “Visual I|O Brings Your Data to Life Through Visual Experimentation”
Cara Therapeutics Garners $12,300,000 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1304495a-224b-4dac-8464-58ea7cae3eaa&Preview=1 Date 7/25/2008 Company Name Cara Therapeutics Mailing Address One Parrott Drive Shelton, CT 06484 Company Description Cara Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapeutics to treat human diseases associated with pain and inflammation. Cara possesses both near-term clinical development opportunities combined with proprietary approaches to developing first-in-class … Continue reading “Cara Therapeutics Garners $12,300,000 Series C Round”
GT Solar Sees Partly Sunny Stock-Market Debut
Shares of GT Solar headed south after their debut this morning on the NASDAQ exchange ([[ticker:SOLR]]). Of course, making it to the public market at all is an accomplishment in this economic climate; the Merrimack, NH-based manufacturer of equipment for producing photovoltaic panels is the first venture- or PE-backed firm in the whole country to … Continue reading “GT Solar Sees Partly Sunny Stock-Market Debut”
IRobot to Send Army another $17.5 Million Worth of PackBots Under Its Hard-Won XBot Contract
IRobot, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]) of Bedford, MA, announced today that the Army has ordered 220 of its PackBot 510 robots, worth a total of $17.5 million. The bots allow soldiers to detect and investigate explosive devices and other hazards while keeping a safe distance. The new order is the fourth that the Army has made under … Continue reading “IRobot to Send Army another $17.5 Million Worth of PackBots Under Its Hard-Won XBot Contract”
Genocea Names Bakali as Board’s Executive Director
Genocea Biosciences, a privately-held vaccine developer in Cambridge, MA, said it has added Staph Bakali to its board as executive director. Bakali was formerly the chief operating officer of ID Biomedical, a Vancouver, BC-based vaccine developer that was acquired by drug giant GlaxoSmithKline in 2005 for $1.4 billion. Genocea is working on a variety of … Continue reading “Genocea Names Bakali as Board’s Executive Director”
The Ongoing Story of the Route 128 Minicomputer Industry
When we are riding a bus along Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, a man strikes up a conversation with my wife and me. “You know, I’m a ‘DEC:ie,’ that’s what we used to be called when I worked for DEC, Digital Equipment,” he tells us. It’s been 10 years since the company ceased to exist, after … Continue reading “The Ongoing Story of the Route 128 Minicomputer Industry”
Tradual Inc. Secures $2,400,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2ca774f2-1d01-476f-b7e4-c637cac0255b&Preview=1 Date 7/24/2008 Company Name Tradual Inc. Mailing Address 75 Clarendon Street #205 Boston, ME 02116 Company Description The company is social media company focused on the foreign currency exchange marketplace. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,400,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A … Continue reading “Tradual Inc. Secures $2,400,000 Series A Financing”
128 Innovation Capital Group: Nothin’ But Net
Regular meetings of the 128 Innovation Capital Group take place on the second Thursday of every month at 7:15 am. If that’s too early for you (or you’re just looking for a night out), the 4th annual “Nothin’ But Net” event may be just the thing. Unlike the morning events, there’s no formal presentation, but … Continue reading “128 Innovation Capital Group: Nothin’ But Net”
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Announces Board, Approves $7 Million in Grants
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, in charge of administering the state’s newly-enacted $1 billion, 10-year program to boost the biotech industry, announced the members of its board of directors today and, in one of its first actions, voted to approve $7 million in grants. The seven-member board includes Joshua Boger, CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Announces Board, Approves $7 Million in Grants”
Matchmine Adds Six New Partners
Matchmine—the Foxborough, MA-based startup whose recommendation engine helps consumers find songs, videos, and other content they’re likely to enjoy at various content-oriented websites, and which we profiled in September 2007 and again in April 2008—announced today that four new destination sites have signed up for its system. They are Podcast.com and Videocast.com, both owned by … Continue reading “Matchmine Adds Six New Partners”
Good Data Gets $2 Million for Cloud-Based Business Intelligence
Cambridge, MA-based Good Data wants to do for business intelligence software what Salesforce has done for customer relationship management: put it on the Web and make it easier to use. In theory, that will give more people in an organization the ability to spot business trends and make informed decisions. Today, the 30-person Web 2.0 … Continue reading “Good Data Gets $2 Million for Cloud-Based Business Intelligence”
Genzyme Pursues Multiple Sclerosis Market, Biogen Reports Progress in Same, BG Medicine Swallows $40 Million Cash Bolus, & More Life Sciences News
Lots of news from the bigger players (think Genzyme and Biogen Idec) in the Boston-area life sciences arena last week, plus a peep here and there from the startups. —Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]), a developer of RNAi-based drugs in Cambridge, MA, extended its collaboration with pharma giant Novartis (NYSE: [[ticker:NVS]]) through October 2009; the deal … Continue reading “Genzyme Pursues Multiple Sclerosis Market, Biogen Reports Progress in Same, BG Medicine Swallows $40 Million Cash Bolus, & More Life Sciences News”
Stever Robbins on How to Be A Happy Entrepreneur—One Tip, Never Trust a VC
Last Saturday I attended Podcamp Boston 3, a social media conference held at Harvard Medical School’s plush Joseph Martin Conference Center. Podcamp is hard to describe because it’s more like a Web 2.0 meetup or flash mob than like a real conference. The attendees themselves make up the agenda and lead the sessions, the audience … Continue reading “Stever Robbins on How to Be A Happy Entrepreneur—One Tip, Never Trust a VC”
Biotech Lab Building Boom in Massachusetts
A huge new biotech lab complex is being planned for Burlington, MA, according to a report in the Boston Globe. The proposed $2 billion development is the brainchild of developer Patriot Partners, which is already building out the nearby 96-acre Lexington Technology Park at the site of the old Raytheon headquarters. If realized, the Burlington … Continue reading “Biotech Lab Building Boom in Massachusetts”
Good Data Corporation Obtains $2,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b9fb412e-1e30-47f1-9a45-d8f3a6cfb1c7&Preview=1 Date 7/23/2008 Company Name Good Data Corporation Mailing Address One Broadway, 14th Floor Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description Good Data Corporation was founded with the mission to provide a platform for collaborative analytics. We believe that sharing and teamwork allows our users to move past isolated reports and arrive at the … Continue reading “Good Data Corporation Obtains $2,000,000 New Financing Round”
GT Solar Set to Break IPO Drought
The long-delayed initial public offering for Merrimack, NH-based GT Solar International is scheduled to go forward on Thursday—and so many investors are interested in the company that the offering is already oversubscribed, according to Ben Holmes, publisher at research firm Morningnotes. The stock will trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol SOLR. According … Continue reading “GT Solar Set to Break IPO Drought”
Infinity Adds Two New Members To Board of Directors
Infinity Pharmaceuticals, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:INFI]]) a Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has added two new members to its board, Martin Babler and Ian Smith. Babler is CEO of Talima Therapeutics, a privately-held drug delivery company in San Carlos, CA, and previously held senior marketing positions at Genentech (NYSE: [[ticker:DNA]]). Smith is chief … Continue reading “Infinity Adds Two New Members To Board of Directors”
Biogen Idec, Elan Say More Than 31,800 Patients Taking Tysabri For MS
Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec and its Irish partner, Elan, said today their multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri is being taken by more than 31,800 patients worldwide, and no new cases of the brain infection called PML have been detected since the drug was brought back to the U.S. market two years ago. Biogen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) is … Continue reading “Biogen Idec, Elan Say More Than 31,800 Patients Taking Tysabri For MS”
MobileSphere Exec Says Slydial “Combats Technology with Technology”
After I published my piece this morning on Slydial—the new service that lets you leave voicemail messages for mobile phone users without making their phone ring—I had a chance to talk briefly with Gavin Macomber, executive vice president of marketing and business development at MobileSphere, the Boston-based startup behind the service. I’m pretty incredulous about … Continue reading “MobileSphere Exec Says Slydial “Combats Technology with Technology””
CambridgeSoft Takes $21M from Goldman Sachs
CambridgeSoft, a Cambridge, MA-based maker of knowledge management and database software for biotech, pharmaceutical, and chemical companies, announced yesterday that it has completed a $21 million private equity investment by New York-based Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Epix Unveiling Full Alzheimer’s Results at Medical Meeting, No More Surprises
Epix Pharmaceuticals is having a wild year with its Alzheimer’s drug development program. Shares in the Lexington, MA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EPIX]]) shot up 35 percent in one day in December after it said its drug produced one of the best improvements ever in memory and thinking skills for Alzheimer’s patients in a clinical trial. One … Continue reading “Epix Unveiling Full Alzheimer’s Results at Medical Meeting, No More Surprises”
Slydial Voicemail Service Offers “The Illusion of Communication”
Sartre said “Hell is other people.” A local startup seems to be banking on that sentiment. Here’s the paradox that Boston-based MobileSphere is exploiting: We all want to own a cell phone. But a lot of the time, we don’t actually want to talk with our friends, family, co-workers, and all of those other people … Continue reading “Slydial Voicemail Service Offers “The Illusion of Communication””