At QD Vision in Watertown, MA, engineers are building on nanoscale “quantum dot” technology pioneered at MIT to create a new generation of light-emitting devices (LEDs) that could eventually be used in video displays with brighter colors, blacker blacks, and far higher energy efficiency. And gradually the company has been showing up on the radar … Continue reading “QD Vision Glowing From In-Q-Tel Investment”
Category: Boston
Phoenix Technologies Acquires Touchstone Software Corp. for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1442f0d3-ab40-440b-bf47-3521535080b6&Preview=1 Date 4/10/2008 Company Name Touchstone Software Corp. Mailing Address 1538 Turnpike St. North Andover, MA 01845 Company Description TouchStone Software Corporation has been a global leader in computer diagnostics and PC update technology. Website http://www.touchstonesoftware.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Financial terms of the … Continue reading “Phoenix Technologies Acquires Touchstone Software Corp. for Undisclosed Sum”
Explosives Detection Company Gets $20 Million
Reveal Imaging, a Bedford, MA-based maker of explosives detection devices, said Tuesday that it has collected $20.3 million from a group of investors led by BBH Capital Partners III. The fund, managed by Brown Brothers Harriman of New York, put up $18.75 million, while the rest of the new money came from Reveal’s existing investors, … Continue reading “Explosives Detection Company Gets $20 Million”
Icahn Turns Up Heat, Files Suit to Force Biogen Idec to Turn Over Records of Failed Sale
Activist investor Carl Icahn launched another salvo in his battle to force a sale of Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]), filing a suit yesterday in a Delaware court demanding that the Cambridge biotech turn over documents related to its unsuccessful effort to sell itself last year. Icahn has previously charged that the sale process, which was … Continue reading “Icahn Turns Up Heat, Files Suit to Force Biogen Idec to Turn Over Records of Failed Sale”
Two Local Startups Launch Mobile Photo-sharing Networks for the Masses
If you snap photos with your camera phone, you probably mean to share them eventually. But if you’re like 75 percent of camera phone owners surveyed by Ontela, a Seattle mobile imaging firm, those pictures are still sitting in your phone’s memory, because you’ve never succeeded at transferring them to your PC, or a photo … Continue reading “Two Local Startups Launch Mobile Photo-sharing Networks for the Masses”
Patent Reform Blocked, Epix Deal Expanded, Repligen Suit Settled, & More Life Sciences News
Sure there was a venture funding, some FDA news, and a few interesting alliances last week. But for many members of the Boston-area life sciences community the big news came from Virginia… —The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia blocked a patent-reform package—vehemently opposed by the biotech and pharma industries—that would have … Continue reading “Patent Reform Blocked, Epix Deal Expanded, Repligen Suit Settled, & More Life Sciences News”
PermissionTV, Inc. Lands $3,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=adcd9b25-ade7-489c-83a3-5afff56f880f&Preview=1 Date 4/9/2008 Company Name PermissionTV, Inc. Mailing Address 1601 Trapelo Road Waltham, MA 02451 Company Description PermissionTV is a media technology company that empowers media brands and video content owners to create one-to-one relationships with their audience. Website http://www.permissiontv.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $3,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds … Continue reading “PermissionTV, Inc. Lands $3,000,000 New Funding Round”
Brighter Planet Obtains Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=45e03ed1-7bbf-4c6d-bf0e-9bd9442f804c&Preview=1 Date 4/9/2008 Company Name Brighter Planet Mailing Address 36 Main Street Middlebury, VT 05753 Company Description Brighter Planet’s proprietary technology platform helps people estimate their carbon footprint, learn ways to reduce their environmental impact, track their progress toward carbon neutrality, and see the positive impact they are making. Website http://www.brighterplanet.com Transaction … Continue reading “Brighter Planet Obtains Series B Financing”
PowerSteering Refuels with $3.5 Million
PowerSteering Software, a Cambridge, MA, startup specializing in programs that help companies manage large business and technology projects, said yesterday that it has raised $3.5 million in additional financing. The company’s products, delivered using a subscription, software-as-a-service model, are focused on helping clients comply with the Six Sigma standards for process improvement first formulated at … Continue reading “PowerSteering Refuels with $3.5 Million”
New England Private Equity Fundraising Way Up—but Venture Capital Segment Down
New England’s private equity firms raised nearly $7 billion during the first quarter of 2008, more than twice the amount raised in the same period of 2007. That’s far stronger growth than in the nation as a whole. The bad news for entrepreneurs trying to get startups off the ground is that the trend is … Continue reading “New England Private Equity Fundraising Way Up—but Venture Capital Segment Down”
How Voice Meets Web: A Voice 2.0 MashUp MeetUp
Richard Scullin from VoodooVox writes: “What is VoiceMeetup? This is a chance for Web and mobile developers to sit down and learn about how and why to incorporate phone and voice technology into their applications. We’ll discuss the recent appearance of the ‘voice mashup,’ look at different APIs and services designed to simplify the deployment … Continue reading “How Voice Meets Web: A Voice 2.0 MashUp MeetUp”
Great Things Come In Small Packages—A Nanotech Story
Barbara Heffner of Chen PR, writing to Xconomy on behalf of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, says: “The next MIT Enterprise Forum event is focused on nanotech and will be held this Weds. April 9th, starting at 6:15 p.m. The keynoter is Josh Wolfe, who is “America’s Leading Authority on Nanotechnology,” according to Forbes, … Continue reading “Great Things Come In Small Packages—A Nanotech Story”
Driving Audiences to Your Online Video Content
MITX sponsors a panel discussion on using online video content to drive website traffic. From the MITX event page: “Now that you’ve invested in and launched great online video content, your focus changes to “how will it attract an audience?” Whether your video is to entertain or to bolster your brand, making it easily discoverable … Continue reading “Driving Audiences to Your Online Video Content”
Building Social Applications & Widgets for Top Platforms
MITX sponsors a panel discussion on software development for social networking applications. From the MITX website: “Why build a social application? Developers are looking to kick-start a company or build something fun and viral. Marketers are searching for ways to appropriately target an audience for their products and services. Regardless of the motivation, with 6,000 … Continue reading “Building Social Applications & Widgets for Top Platforms”
New IDG Capital Fund Thinking Big, Thinking Global
No press release. No fanfare. Just Pat McGovern talking to VentureWire. And so, the existence of IDG Capital was brought to public attention yesterday. The IDG chairman is forming the new organization to centralize a large portion of his far-flung venture operations. And he’s beginning with the goal of raising $1 billion, as the fund … Continue reading “New IDG Capital Fund Thinking Big, Thinking Global”
Jackpot Rewards CEO Jim Miller Explains (Mostly) the Company’s About-Face on Weekly $1 Million Prizes
Newton, MA-based customer-rewards startup Jackpot Rewards says it will still hold a $1 million prize drawing every week. But as we reported yesterday, the company no longer promises that it will actually give the money away—removing one of the major incentives to join the company’s cash-back rewards program and making some existing members angry enough … Continue reading “Jackpot Rewards CEO Jim Miller Explains (Mostly) the Company’s About-Face on Weekly $1 Million Prizes”
Jackpot Rewards Drops Guaranteed $1 Million Weekly Prize; Explanation Fuzzy
Less than seven weeks after it made a big media splash by promising to donate half its profits to children’s charities, Jackpot Rewards, the Newton, MA, customer-rewards and sweepstakes startup backed by Boston investing legend Peter Lynch, has put an end to what was perhaps the most unusual (and most expensive) part of its part … Continue reading “Jackpot Rewards Drops Guaranteed $1 Million Weekly Prize; Explanation Fuzzy”
In Latest Local Venture Philanthropy Deal, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Pledges up to $37.7 More to Epix
Just a few weeks after a similar arrangement with Cambridge, MA’s Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) showed early signs of bearing fruit, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is expanding its collaboration with another local biotech, Lexington, MA’s Epix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EPIX]]). The nonprofit initially inked a research, development, and commercialization deal with Epix in 2005, aimed at … Continue reading “In Latest Local Venture Philanthropy Deal, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Pledges up to $37.7 More to Epix”
MTLC Tech Tuesday
Couldn’t make it to the parties at CES or Macworld? Went to the parties and want to share what you saw with your friends? Join your fellow geeks, tech savvy professionals, DIY-ers, press, and other industry luminaries for an informal gathering hosted by the Mass Technology Leadership Council at The Skellig in Waltham. Bring your … Continue reading “MTLC Tech Tuesday”
MIT Crushes Harvard at Google Games
Perhaps predictably, MIT students blew their Harvard counterparts out of the water at the Google Games, a day of engineering- and math-heavy challenges held Saturday at Google’s new offices in the heart of Kendall Square. Teams from MIT captured the top three slots in the competition, while the Harvard contingent had to console itself with … Continue reading “MIT Crushes Harvard at Google Games”
EMC Tangos with Conchango, MIT Media Lab Goes to the Bank, GT Solar Makes European Inroads, & More Deals News
Last week saw new filings for both an IPO and an SPO. Could the climate for exits be getting a little better? (Seems like it would be hard for it to get much worse.) Here’s the news on those filings, and the rest of the recent deals. —Codon Devices, a Cambridge, MA-based startup focusing on … Continue reading “EMC Tangos with Conchango, MIT Media Lab Goes to the Bank, GT Solar Makes European Inroads, & More Deals News”
Thinking Globally, Acting Locally…It Works In Basketball and Investing
“Thinking Globally, Acting Locally…” … this was a headline in the New York Times the other day reflecting on the recent March Madness Cinderella story of Davidson College and Coach Bob McKillop. Struggling to compete for players against bigger, more entrenched basketball programs like Duke and Georgetown, Coach McKillop started recruiting aggressively in Europe and … Continue reading “Thinking Globally, Acting Locally…It Works In Basketball and Investing”
Imprivata Says Open Sesame to $15M Third Round
Imprivata, the Lexington, MA-based maker of software and appliances for managing password-based access to corporate computer networks, said today that it has closed a $15 million series C investment round, bringing its total venture backing to nearly $50 million. SAP Ventures, the venture capital wing of German business software giant SAP AG, led the round, … Continue reading “Imprivata Says Open Sesame to $15M Third Round”
PowerSteering Software Receives $3,500,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=549713ab-15f4-4d24-89e7-4ec760ddc17e&Preview=1 Date 4/7/2008 Company Name PowerSteering Software Mailing Address 141 Portland Street, 10th Floor Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description PowerSteering Enterprise is the only On-Demand PPM software used across the enterprise. Our easy-to-use software provides executives, business users, and IT professionals with better strategy alignment, executive visibility and team productivity capabilities to … Continue reading “PowerSteering Software Receives $3,500,000 New Funding Round”
Imprivata, Inc. Receives $15,000,000 Series C Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8a671eb7-6cf7-4170-ba6b-4ef0ff6866c8&Preview=1 Date 4/7/2008 Company Name Imprivata, Inc. Mailing Address 10 Maguire Road, Building 2 Lexington, MA 02421 Company Description Imprivata develops enterprise authentication and access management solutions. Website http://www.imprivata.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $15,000,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes This investment will help Imprivata expand its reach into new … Continue reading “Imprivata, Inc. Receives $15,000,000 Series C Funding Round”
GT Solar Lands Big Contract with Dutch Solar Panel Maker
Like microchips, photovoltaic solar cells are made from one of the most common materials on earth: silicon. But it takes a lot of bulky and expensive equipment to transform raw polycrystalline silicon or “polysilicon” into the pure, flat sheets of single-crystal silicon that make up photovoltaic cells. Merrimack, NH, is home to GT Solar, one … Continue reading “GT Solar Lands Big Contract with Dutch Solar Panel Maker”
Funding, Protecting and Commercializing Clean Technology
TiE-Boston’s Cleantech and Energy SIG and FTI Consulting co-sponsor a conference on understanding the intellectual property, contractual, and financial issues inherent in the clean technology industry. The conference will feature prominent speakers from the financial, business, legal, and government communities and will focus on the best strategies for obtaining financing, identifying and protecting intellectual property … Continue reading “Funding, Protecting and Commercializing Clean Technology”
Reinventing Our Visual World, Pixel By Pixel
Every week I come across news items, tech trends, and useful gadgets and services that I know Xconomy’s readers would find interesting, but that don’t fit with our usual lineup of hyperlocal news stories about Boston’s innovation scene. To create an outlet for such random finds—and, frankly, to get me off Bob and Rebecca’s backs … Continue reading “Reinventing Our Visual World, Pixel By Pixel”
A Word About World Wide Wade—the Debut
Xconomy is all about hyperlocal coverage of the innovation community in greater Boston and New England. But we also know that our readers have many interests that reach far beyond our geography. For the most part, we leave writing about such matters to others. But, starting today, we are making an exception—and that exception is … Continue reading “A Word About World Wide Wade—the Debut”
American Ambassador Promotes Swedish Cleantech Firms to New England Investors
The U.S. ambassador to Sweden, Michael Wood, wants American investors to put their money into Swedish cleantech. This week he presented his case to New England investors and venture capital firms. “During my two years as ambassador, I have been emphasizing cooperation between Sweden and the U.S.A. in cleantech. I call this my one big … Continue reading “American Ambassador Promotes Swedish Cleantech Firms to New England Investors”
Harvard’s Guru of Tech Transfer: More Seed Funding, Industry Deals Afoot—and the Social Mission is Key
Harvard has taken a bit of a bashing over the years on the tech transfer front. After all, MIT, the champion of university technology transfer and licensing, is right down the river, and at least some business leaders and alumni feel the school should be doing more to match its neighbor in commercializing its pioneering … Continue reading “Harvard’s Guru of Tech Transfer: More Seed Funding, Industry Deals Afoot—and the Social Mission is Key”
IlluminOss Medical, Inc. Receives $11,020,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3a21b74a-b643-4d4d-8b20-4bdd4e7c3001&Preview=1 Date 4/4/2008 Company Name IlluminOss Medical, Inc. Mailing Address 993 Waterman Avenue East Providence, RI 02914 Company Description The company is a medical device startup developing technologies for orthopedic surgery applications. Website http://www.illuminossmedical.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $11,020,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. … Continue reading “IlluminOss Medical, Inc. Receives $11,020,000 Series B Financing Round”
Highland Capital Puts Out the Call for Student Entrepreneurs and Interns
Budding student-entrepreneurs awaken: Highland Capital Partners says it’s accepting applications for its second annual paid summer entrepreneurship program for undergraduates and graduate students, and for more than 20 summer internship positions at Highland-backed companies in Massachusetts. Highland launched its “Summer@Highland” program last year. Under the program, which is similar in some ways to Paul Graham’s … Continue reading “Highland Capital Puts Out the Call for Student Entrepreneurs and Interns”
No Patent Reform: Court Blocks New Patent Rules
Last summer, the US Patent Office issued a package of new rules for patent applications. On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia decided to permanently block the changes. The reactions from patent lawyers are mainly upbeat. “We are still dancing—it came out yesterday and we thought it was a cruel … Continue reading “No Patent Reform: Court Blocks New Patent Rules”
EMC’s Pricey New Offering for Chinese Consumers and Small Businesses—Bad Guanxi?
Updated, April 5, 2008—We’ve written a few times about EMC’s (NYSE:[[ticker:EMC]]) carefully crafted strategic push toward cloud computing and software as a service offerings—and how that relates to the enterprise-oriented company’s courting of small and medium businesses and consumers. Two vivid examples of this push are the Hopkinton, MA-based company’s acquisition last fall of Berkeley … Continue reading “EMC’s Pricey New Offering for Chinese Consumers and Small Businesses—Bad Guanxi?”
Vlingo’s CEO Speaks on the Yahoo Deal
Yesterday Yahoo smiled upon Harvard Square, not only picking Dunster Street startup Vlingo to provide a speech recognition system for its oneSearch mobile search program, but putting up a whopping $20 million in venture capital to finance the company’s expansion. After publishing our story on the deal, we reached Vlingo CEO Dave Grannan at the … Continue reading “Vlingo’s CEO Speaks on the Yahoo Deal”
Radius Passes Clinical Milestone, Collects $28.3 Million
Cambridge, MA-based Radius Health announced today that it has collected $28.3 million in the second tranche of its Series C financing. The new closing, which was triggered when Radius finished enrolling patients for a Phase 2 trial of its lead candidate, an osteoporosis treatment, brings the amount raised in the round to $67.5 million. All … Continue reading “Radius Passes Clinical Milestone, Collects $28.3 Million”
New England’s Cyber Economy Growing, Even as Manufacturing Shrinks
New England’s high-tech economy netted 7,600 jobs in 2006, as all six states in the region gained over the previous year. But the growth nowadays comes mainly from software and engineering services, as tech manufacturing jobs become harder to find. These were some of the major trends contained in Cyberstates 2008, a report released today … Continue reading “New England’s Cyber Economy Growing, Even as Manufacturing Shrinks”
Vlingo Scores Software Deal, Big Investment from Yahoo
Speech-recognition startup Vlingo, which had just moved into its new Dunster Street digs in Harvard Square when I visited last August, has settled in with two major wins, both relating to Yahoo. At the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas this morning, keynoter Marco Boerries, the executive vice president of Yahoo’s Connected Life division, unveiled … Continue reading “Vlingo Scores Software Deal, Big Investment from Yahoo”
From MIT Blackjack to E-Mail Databases: We Catch Up with the Other Micky Rosa
Lots of folks are excited about the movie 21, a semi-fictionalized account of the exploits of the MIT blackjack team in the 1990s. That’s clear not just from the film’s box-office-leading performance last weekend, but from the fact that so many people are coming out of the woodwork and identifying themselves as members of the … Continue reading “From MIT Blackjack to E-Mail Databases: We Catch Up with the Other Micky Rosa”
Vertex on the Rise, Sirtris on TV, an IPO (Finally) on the Table, and More Life Sciences News
The past week has offered a real variety pack of life sciences news from the Boston area. There were some clinical trials, an IPO filing, a venture financing—and a television appearance. —Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) had a nice run, boosted by encouraging (if preliminary) clinical-trials results. Last Thursday, the company announced that in … Continue reading “Vertex on the Rise, Sirtris on TV, an IPO (Finally) on the Table, and More Life Sciences News”
Vlingo Receives $20,000,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4812bd2c-9a96-4940-b41b-5c2fa2b6fd30&Preview=1 Date 4/2/2008 Company Name Vlingo Mailing Address 17 Dunster Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Company Description At vlingo we unlock access to wireless data services. We provide wireless carriers and wireless application providers a voice interface to their applications. With vlingo, instead of triple-tapping on a small keyboard, users can now simply … Continue reading “Vlingo Receives $20,000,000 Series B Financing Round”
EXFO Acquires Brix Networks for $28,500,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b9292b3c-98dc-45ac-a0b0-afd97a2872f9&Preview=1 Date 4/2/2008 Company Name Brix Networks Mailing Address 285 Mill Road Chelmsford, MA 01824 Company Description Brix Networks is the trusted provider of real-time performance management and service assurance solutions that allow carriers, service providers, cable companies, large enterprises, and government agencies to build, operate, and assure their VoIP networks and … Continue reading “EXFO Acquires Brix Networks for $28,500,000”
Roxbury, Dorchester Finally Get Pilot Wi-Fi Network
After months of postponements, Openairboston.net, a non-profit group created last year to oversee the rollout of citywide Wi-Fi broadband Internet service, held a “wire-cutting” ceremony for its first pilot network yesterday in the Grove Hall and Dudley Square areas of Boston’s Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods. Openairboston.net’s network, whose scheduled November 2007 launch was delayed by … Continue reading “Roxbury, Dorchester Finally Get Pilot Wi-Fi Network”
EMC Pays $84 Million for Conchango
Conchango, a UK-based consulting firm that specializes in custom implentations of Microsoft enterprise software, will become part of EMC’s European IT consulting practice, the Hopkinton, MA, company announced today. EMC is spending about 42 million pounds sterling or US $84 million on the acquisition.
BioTrove Seeks Big Trove in IPO
Just when you thought it wasn’t safe to go back in the water, BioTrove, a Woburn, MA-based maker of tools for life sciences research, braved the choppy IPO seas today in search of a trove of up to $75 million. (And yes, I realize there’s a strangely high incidence of the word “trove” on the … Continue reading “BioTrove Seeks Big Trove in IPO”
It’s Official: IPOs and M&As Plummeted in First Quarter—New England Exits Hard to Find
Updated and corrected, April 1, 5:15 pm—see note below It’s not like we needed a financial report to tell us that things were rotten for investors looking for an exit—but the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Financial are providing just that. Only five venture-backed firms managed to go public in the first quarter of … Continue reading “It’s Official: IPOs and M&As Plummeted in First Quarter—New England Exits Hard to Find”
Tapping the Treasure Trove of Web Videos with Veveo’s vTap
When I last wrote about Andover, MA-based Veveo, the company was promoting its vTap “incremental search” software as a faster way to search for Web video clips from a mobile device. As you enter the letters of a search query on your phone keypad, the software shows a list of available videos with matching topics … Continue reading “Tapping the Treasure Trove of Web Videos with Veveo’s vTap”
The Bank of America Deal: MIT Media Lab Opens Doors to More Sponsor Involvement in Research Direction
The Center for Future Banking announced yesterday by the MIT Media Lab and Bank of America is the trailblazing computer lab’s biggest corporate funding win in years—perhaps its biggest ever. But it also represents a new type of industry-academic collaboration for the Media Lab, one in which the company footing the bill will have more … Continue reading “The Bank of America Deal: MIT Media Lab Opens Doors to More Sponsor Involvement in Research Direction”
OurStage, Inc. Garners $13,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=24f9768a-584c-457a-bb4b-8ebe254e3352&Preview=1 Date 4/1/2008 Company Name OurStage, Inc. Mailing Address 321 Billerica Rd Chelmsford, MA 01824 Company Description OurStage is where the world’s music fans come to discover, enjoy and reward the best emerging artists – and where the world’s artists come to find their fans, get amazing gigs and launch their careers. … Continue reading “OurStage, Inc. Garners $13,000,000 Series A Funding Round”