Category: Boston

Startup Profile: MicroCHIPS—A Once-Reluctant CEO Moves to Balance Breadth and Depth

When John Santini co-founded innovative biosensor and drug-delivery firm MicroCHIPS eight years ago, he had no expectation of managing the company he helped create. “I was never CEO. It was not my expectation to be CEO,” says Santini, now the company’s CEO. These days Santini, who just turned 35, is finding the role to his … Continue reading “Startup Profile: MicroCHIPS—A Once-Reluctant CEO Moves to Balance Breadth and Depth”

Getting Gamers to Spend More Time Online

Hardcore players of World of Warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies, Warhammer, and the other big massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) can spend dozens of hours online every week. But they aren’t always “in-world” warring against enemies, winning territory and treasure, or trading weapons and spells. According to studies, serious gamers spent up to one-third of … Continue reading “Getting Gamers to Spend More Time Online”

GreenFuel Secures Bridge Financing of $5.5 Million

This just in, thanks to a quick e-mail update from Bob Metcalfe: Struggling GreenFuel Technologies has secured a $5.5 million bridge loan from its preferred shareholders led by Access Industries, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Polaris Venture Partners (Metcalfe’s company). Metcalfe last month became interim CEO of Cambridge-based GreenFuel after a series of setbacks sent the … Continue reading “GreenFuel Secures Bridge Financing of $5.5 Million”

Today’s IPOs: You Win Some, You Lose Some

Today marks the debut of two local IT firms on the Nasdaq: Lexington-based BladeLogic and Woburn’s Monotype Imaging Holdings. For six-year-old BladeLogic (BLOG), it’s a really good day. Shares of the maker of data-center-automation software opened at $24.25—well above the $17 offering price and the initial $12 to $14 estimate—and closed at $25.07. Investors in … Continue reading “Today’s IPOs: You Win Some, You Lose Some”

Wind Power When the Wind Ain’t Blowin’

No one would spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a coal, gas, or nuclear power plant and then leave it idle two-thirds of the time. Yet that’s the prospect faced by wind-farm operators, who consider themselves lucky if there’s enough wind to keep the turbines spinning eight hours a day. Wind is one … Continue reading “Wind Power When the Wind Ain’t Blowin’”

Bioenvision Update: Merger Foe Stops Blogging After Genzyme Subpoena; Board Battle Continues

Faced by a wide-ranging subpoena from Genzyme (GENZ), individual Bioenvision shareholder Adam Shay, whose website and blog helped galvanize opposition to the Cambridge company’s merger plans with New York-based Bioenvison (BIVN), has stopped his commentary and will no longer update his site. Shay’s site, www.rejectgenzymetenderoffer.com, will apparently remain live, at least for the time being. … Continue reading “Bioenvision Update: Merger Foe Stops Blogging After Genzyme Subpoena; Board Battle Continues”

The $100 (Well, $175) Laptop Goes Into Mass Production

When the One Laptop Per Child foundation won’t even let a reporter in the front door, you know they’re busy. I stopped by One Cambridge Center in Kendall Square yesterday afternoon to see if I could snag an interview with someone at the project, the brainchild of MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte. I was … Continue reading “The $100 (Well, $175) Laptop Goes Into Mass Production”

New England’s Top 10 Q2 Venture Deals

Yesterday we told you about the largest second-quarter venture deals in Massachusetts. Today we’re feeling more expansive, so below are the top 10 for New England. (Thanks again to Dow Jones VentureOne for the data, and for double-checking it before we hit the “publish” button.) One thing’s for sure, the Connecticut biomedical scene is bustling. … Continue reading “New England’s Top 10 Q2 Venture Deals”

EMC’s VMware IPO: Striking While the Iron is Hot

One of the most-watched technology IPOs of the summer will be the sale by Hopkinton, MA-based storage giant EMC (NYSE:EMC) of about 10 percent of VMware, its red-hot California “virtualization” subsidiary. The division makes software that allows a single computer or server to function as if it were many machines—running multiple applications on top of … Continue reading “EMC’s VMware IPO: Striking While the Iron is Hot”

Can Harvard Match MIT at Tech Transfer?

Change is afoot at Harvard University’s technology transfer operation. As Harvard spokesperson B.D. Colen puts it: “There’s no question that there is a new emphasis here on getting out into the world technologies that can benefit the public and that have too often been languishing on the shelf.” Most recently, a faculty committee studying the … Continue reading “Can Harvard Match MIT at Tech Transfer?”

GamerDNA Garners $600,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1daa0f91-1a56-4802-bb8f-13c12a3f6d42&Preview=1 Date 7/24/2007 Company Name GamerDNA Mailing Address 585 Massachusetts Ave, 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description GamerDNA is building a community for the millions of people around the world who are passionate about the immersive, engaging experiences that can be found through games. Website http://www.gamerdna.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “GamerDNA Garners $600,000 New Financing”

Top 10 Second-Quarter Venture Deals in Massachusetts

The second-quarter wasn’t good for Boston area venture investing, at least in overall dollar terms. The area didn’t do so well in big individual deals, either. Whereas in Q1, two area firms ranked among the nation’s 10 largest venture deals—Targanta Therapeutics (tied for fourth with $70 million in funding) and Internet video company Brightcove (10th, … Continue reading “Top 10 Second-Quarter Venture Deals in Massachusetts”

Boston Blows Northeast Lead in VC Investment, New York Takes Over

It’s bad enough with the real Yankees breathing down the Red Sox’s neck. Now, taking advantage of a nearly 50 percent nosedive in Boston-area venture investing from Q1 to Q2, the Yankees of venture capital have surpassed this region’s VCs in both deals made and dollars invested in the second quarter—becoming, at least temporarily, the … Continue reading “Boston Blows Northeast Lead in VC Investment, New York Takes Over”

Patent Reform Will Stifle Innovation

I believe the proposed patent reform act would stifle innovation, which already has many hurdles to overcome, particularly in the earliest stages (when foundational patents are filed). To arbitrarily limit damages and to make it easier to challenge patents shifts the balance further in favor of large companies and lowers the incentive of innovators and … Continue reading “Patent Reform Will Stifle Innovation”

Clean Energy: Can There Be Too Much Capital?

Thursday night I competed for chips and salsa with a standing-room-only crowd of clean-energy enthusiasts at a Kendall Square happy hour put on by the Renewable Energy Business Network. The mood was upbeat—lubricated, of course, by beer and the Red Sox’s (alas, short-lived) lead over the White Sox on the big TVs at Flat Top … Continue reading “Clean Energy: Can There Be Too Much Capital?”

Learning from Esther Dyson’s Genome

If you volunteer for Harvard Medical School professor George Church’s Personal Genome Project, you’d better be ready to have your full medical records along with your full gene sequence (once completed) made public. But why would anyone want that kind of exposure? Famous venture capitalist Esther Dyson explained her reasons for being one of Church’s … Continue reading “Learning from Esther Dyson’s Genome”

Startup Profile: HealthTalker Wants to Harness the Power of Patients to Spread the Word About Prescription Drugs

Next month marks an important anniversary for the pharmaceutical industry, and for HealthTalker founder Andy Levitt: In August 1997 the FDA eased restrictions on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs so that the ads could actually say what the drugs were for. Remember those Claritin ads that spread like ragweed that summer? Blame Levitt. He was … Continue reading “Startup Profile: HealthTalker Wants to Harness the Power of Patients to Spread the Word About Prescription Drugs”

Adimab, Inc. Receives $6,000,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ad20375f-027b-442f-8997-ec7e5dfce8f8&Preview=1 Date 7/20/2007 Company Name Adimab, Inc. Mailing Address 16 Cavendish Court Lebanon, NH 03766 Company Description Adimab–which stands for Antibody Discovery Maturation Biomanufacturing–is developing a platform that’s deliberately engineered to minimize and potentially eliminate third party royalties, offering a one-stop-service-shop to a select few Big Pharma partners. Website http://www.adimab.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Adimab, Inc. Receives $6,000,000 Series A Round”

Can Biogen’s New Incubator Help Fill the Drug Pipeline?

Back in 1981, a firebrand MIT spinoff named Biogen moved into its first building, not far from campus at 241 Binney Street. Fast-forward a quarter-century, and the pioneering biotech company, today’s Biogen-Idec, is still headquartered in Cambridge. The Binney Street building has been sold, but is now being leased back. And today, Biogen is renovating … Continue reading “Can Biogen’s New Incubator Help Fill the Drug Pipeline?”

Spark Capital’s Media-Entertainment-Technology Play, The Sequel

Investors are so eager to get behind Boston-based venture firm Spark Capital—which has focused its $260 million Spark I fund exclusively on early-stage companies at the crossroads of media, entertainment, and technology–that the company has had little trouble raising an even larger amount of money for its second fund, Spark II. After rounding up $360 … Continue reading “Spark Capital’s Media-Entertainment-Technology Play, The Sequel”

Think Big. Collaborate. Media Lab’s Moss Says Boston Area Can Lead the World.

Get this—Silicon Valley is thinking too small. Web 2.0? Small. Social networking? Small potatoes. Google, Yahoo, YouTube, iPhone—all too small, at least in Frank Moss’s view. A little over a year ago, Moss took over as director of MIT’s Media Lab. He had some big shoes to fill. Moss’s charge was to return the lab … Continue reading “Think Big. Collaborate. Media Lab’s Moss Says Boston Area Can Lead the World.”

Netezza, Seeking $100M in IPO, Builds “Superior” Data Warehousing Gadgets

[UPDATE Thursday 7/19/07: Trading of Netezza (NZ) shares opened today at $12 per share, slightly higher than the company’s original target price, and had risen to $16.85 by 2:00 pm EDT. -eds.] It’s a big day for Framingham-based Netezza, which makes uber-data devices used by large enterprises like Amazon and Nieman Marcus to combine storage, … Continue reading “Netezza, Seeking $100M in IPO, Builds “Superior” Data Warehousing Gadgets”

UMass: The Gateway to Asia?

If MIT is the MIT of Massachusetts, then Tsinghua University is the MIT of China—a research and innovation powerhouse likely to drive much of that nation’s economic progress in the coming century. Links to laboratories and projects at Tsinghua could give Boston-area scientists and entrepreneurs access to local collaborators and local markets. And that’s why … Continue reading “UMass: The Gateway to Asia?”

Genzyme Fires Back, Says It Will Block Addition of New Bioenvision Board Members

Genzyme, coming off the defensive after its failed attempt to acquire a majority of New York-based Bioenvision’s stock, rejected SCO Capital’s claim to two Bioenvision board seats—and says it will move to block the addition of any new directors at this time. It was a clear sign that the fight for control of the New … Continue reading “Genzyme Fires Back, Says It Will Block Addition of New Bioenvision Board Members”

Startup Profile: Harvard Patents in Hand, Nano-Terra is Driving Industrial Applications of Nanotech

Nano-Terra, a start-up founded by legendary Harvard chemistry professor George Whitesides, might be dealing on the small scale, working with materials measured in nanometers and microns, but the company is imagining a big future. That’s not surprising, given that Whitesides has founded a number of successful companies, notably Genzyme, the biotech giant now worth more … Continue reading “Startup Profile: Harvard Patents in Hand, Nano-Terra is Driving Industrial Applications of Nanotech”

Shake Up at Bioenvision: Two Board Members Resign

Two Bioenvision board members associated with the Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical Fund have resigned, the New York biotech firm announced today. The move could clear the deck for minority shareholder SCO Capital to fill the slots and continue its fight against a Genzyme takeover. Andrew N. Schiff and Steven A. Elms were advisors to the Perseus-Soros fund, … Continue reading “Shake Up at Bioenvision: Two Board Members Resign”

Something’s up at Sermo. Maybe CEO Daniel Palestrant Will Tell Us What it Is…

Something’s up at Sermo. I gather this about 15 minutes into my visit to the Kendall Square startup when CEO Daniel Palestrant excuses himself for an impromptu “three minute” call with his board—as if there is such a thing—leaving me to hang out with Sermo Director of Communications Greg Shenk and several of the staff … Continue reading “Something’s up at Sermo. Maybe CEO Daniel Palestrant Will Tell Us What it Is…”

Intel Joins One Laptop Per Child Initiative

The One Laptop Per Child project has reached an agreement with long-standing skeptic Intel Corp. to work together to explore ways to get computer technology into the hands of children in developing nations. The move, announced yesterday, is a great vindication for the Cambridge-based OLPC and its founder, Nicholas Negroponte, who told me only a … Continue reading “Intel Joins One Laptop Per Child Initiative”

Who’s Cashing in on Bioenvision Sale to Genzyme: The List

We’ve covered at length the attempted sale of Bioenvision to Genzyme led by its board of directors and management—a move soundly rejected earlier this week by other shareholders. In the end, Genzyme captured 22 percent of the New York-based biotech’s common stock, far short of the 50 percent it needed to force a merger. As … Continue reading “Who’s Cashing in on Bioenvision Sale to Genzyme: The List”

Telecom’s New Epicenters: India and China

The acquisition of BCGI (Nasdaq) by Megasoft (Bombay Stock Exchange) for $65M that was announced yesterday continues the trend of Indian telecom software companies acquiring European and North American companies. Driving the trend is the growth of telecom, particularly wireless telecom services in emerging markets, particularly China and India. China now has 400M+ subscribers and … Continue reading “Telecom’s New Epicenters: India and China”

Ariad Inks Cancer-Drug Deal with Merck, Hopes to Realize $1 Billion

Cambridge-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has formed a major joint development and commercialization collaboration with Merck; the deal focuses on an Ariad cancer-drug candidate, AP23573, that’s now in Phase 1 and 2 trials. In a conference call, Ariad chairman and CEO Harvey Berger called the agreement a “transformation event for the company” and … Continue reading “Ariad Inks Cancer-Drug Deal with Merck, Hopes to Realize $1 Billion”

Akamai Joins the S&P 500—the Inside Story

As the stock market opens today, home-grown Internet-backbone company Akamai will join the S&P 500, taking the slot previously held by joint-replacement manufacturer Biomet. Joining the bellwether index is quite an achievement, especially in Akamai’s case. The company was an original dotcom high-flyer that suffered some staggering blows before making it to this point. We … Continue reading “Akamai Joins the S&P 500—the Inside Story”

Public Offerings, Robotic Arm Aids, Automatic Ice Cream, & More

The last few days have seen a flurry of news from local tech companies. Here are a few of the items that piqued our interest—and our appetites: —The board of India’s Megasoft Limited approved a deal to acquire Bedford, MA-based Boston Communications Group for $65 million, potentially ending what has been a rough ride for … Continue reading “Public Offerings, Robotic Arm Aids, Automatic Ice Cream, & More”

Muddy Dirt: General Catalyst Hires Rising MIT Star to Help Move it into Nano, Energy

The Muddy Charles Pub is MIT’s legendary watering hole. Perched in a corner of the Walker Memorial building looking out over Memorial Drive, it’s bare bones to say the least. Think plain wooden tables, industrial carpet, and a spartan bar off to one side. But the place buzzes with campus news and the entrepreneurial spirit, … Continue reading “Muddy Dirt: General Catalyst Hires Rising MIT Star to Help Move it into Nano, Energy”

Bioenvison Shareholder Calls for New Board, Revocation of Genzyme’s License

This morning brings yet another spiral around the drain for Genzyme’s attempted acquisition of Bioenvision: New York investment firm SCO Capital has just filed a letter with the SEC calling for an overhaul of Bioenvision’s leadership—and the revocation of Genzyme’s existing rights to the company’s coveted leukemia drug. “You might expect that you would hear … Continue reading “Bioenvison Shareholder Calls for New Board, Revocation of Genzyme’s License”

Nanotech Pioneer to VCs: You Don’t Get It

When Tim Swager talks about the future of nanomaterials, people listen. And when the respected nanotech leader says venture capitalists don’t get it when it comes to nano startups, you can’t help but sit up and take notice. Swager is the head of MIT’s Department of Chemistry and the winner of this year’s prestigious $500,000 … Continue reading “Nanotech Pioneer to VCs: You Don’t Get It”

No New Shares Tendered in Bioenvision Deal; Genzyme Still Hopes for Merger

Genzyme today confirmed what has been glaringly obvious over the last few days: its extended tender offer for Bioenvision has fallen flat. A Genzyme spokesperson verified that no new shares had been tendered as of the deadline at 12:01 this morning. With Bioenvision’s stock trading at almost $6 a share yesterday, nearly 40 cents per … Continue reading “No New Shares Tendered in Bioenvision Deal; Genzyme Still Hopes for Merger”

How Kendall Square Became Hip: MIT Pioneered University-Linked Business Parks

Today, the Technology Square business park next to MIT is home to Dyax, Novartis, Forrester, the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology, and many other startups, bigcos, and research labs alike. Soon after World War II, however, Lever Brothers shut down its soap plants at this very location and shifted work to cheaper and more modern sites … Continue reading “How Kendall Square Became Hip: MIT Pioneered University-Linked Business Parks”

EMC Selling VMware Stake to Intel for $218.5 Million

Storage leader EMC Corp. will sell a $218.5 million piece of its virtualization software subsidiary VMware to Intel Capital, the investment arm of the giant chipmaker, the companies announced yesterday. The news came in the midst of EMC’s bigger move to sell about 10 percent of VMware to the public in an offering expected to … Continue reading “EMC Selling VMware Stake to Intel for $218.5 Million”

Genzyme’s Second Try for Bioenvision Will Also Fail, Sources Predict; Institutional Investors Seek Higher Price

Last week wasn’t exactly good times for Genzyme. Two of its clinical trials reported poor results, and on Friday the stock fell some 6 percent on the bad news. At 12:01 a.m. tomorrow morning, when the company’s extended tender offer for New York-based Bioenvision expires, the company’s stockholders aren’t likely to find anything to cheer … Continue reading “Genzyme’s Second Try for Bioenvision Will Also Fail, Sources Predict; Institutional Investors Seek Higher Price”

How Big a Deal is Roche and Alnylam’s Big Deal?

The news wires are buzzing with today’s announcement of a deal between Alnylam and Roche that will give Roche nonexclusive access to Alnylam’s technology for developing RNAi-based therapeutics. The deal involves cash, equity, and royalties that could total over $1billion—a figure that some analysts who talked to us and other media outlets said seemed high. … Continue reading “How Big a Deal is Roche and Alnylam’s Big Deal?”

High-Court “Common Sense” Decision Portends Big Changes for High-Tech Patenting; Many Existing Patents at Risk

High-tech patent holders take note: legal experts are calling the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in KSR v. Teleflex the most important patent ruling in decades, throwing into question the validity of many existing patents, especially in the e-commerce and biotech fields. Some IP watchers, like Audrey Millemann, a patent attorney at Sacramento-based firm of … Continue reading “High-Court “Common Sense” Decision Portends Big Changes for High-Tech Patenting; Many Existing Patents at Risk”

Constant Contact Files to Go Public

E-mail marketing and online survey firm Constant Contact of Waltham has filed papers for an IPO. The company, which was incorporated in 1995 as Roving Software, plans to be traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol CTCT. With more than 100,000 customers, mainly small businesses and organizations, the company reported 2006 sales of $27.55 … Continue reading “Constant Contact Files to Go Public”

Phase III Trial Yields More Bad News for Genzyme

For the second time this week, Genzyme is announcing disappointing clinical-trial results. In a Phase 3 study, tolevamer liquid—a polymer-based treatment for Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea—failed to perform against the standard antibiotic treatment. Bloomberg has a nice summary of the trial and how it fits into Genzyme’s recent efforts to diversity its pipeline. Genzyme shares … Continue reading “Phase III Trial Yields More Bad News for Genzyme”

Live Earth Concert Could Fuel Ridesharing Startup

Tomorrow marks the debut of Live Earth, a 24-hour-long series of concerts in eight cities around the world that’s bringing together everyone from Al Gore to Kelly Clarkson and 100 other artists to raise awareness of global warming. And for Cambridge startup GoLoco, it’s also a big opportunity to demonstrate that its social-networking ridesharing service … Continue reading “Live Earth Concert Could Fuel Ridesharing Startup”

Google Acquisition Spree Misses Boston Area

It’s hard to overlook the Google acquisition machine. Just last month, the search giant gobbled up its latest company, Fremont, CA-based Grand Central Communications. By one count, anyway, it was Google’s 23rd California purchase, vesus a nearly identical number outside the company’s home state. Where does Boston figure in all this? Just about nowhere, it … Continue reading “Google Acquisition Spree Misses Boston Area”