Category: Boston

A Midwesterner’s View of Boston Tech: 4 Takeaways, 4 Stories

When it comes to building vibrant tech hubs, the scenery might look different, but the ingredients are often the same. At least, that’s been my experience so far in writing about innovation for Xconomy in both Wisconsin and Massachusetts. When I moved from Milwaukee to Boston in September, I braced myself for an eye-opening and … Continue reading “A Midwesterner’s View of Boston Tech: 4 Takeaways, 4 Stories”

Infrastructure Investments Are Key to U.S. Future

The issue that makes me most angry is the lack of investment in the infrastructure of the United States. From roads to mass transit to science to education, we are falling behind (or further behind) other regions. It’s a false economy, as lack of investment now means less capability to generate returns in the future. … Continue reading “Infrastructure Investments Are Key to U.S. Future”

Innovation vs. Healthcare Spending: Biotech’s Biggest Looming Challenge

Let’s start with the good news. We are at the beginning of a transformation in human health, treating diseases in ways that we could only speculate about in the recent past. While biology isn’t quite engineering (yet), biotech has become a technology-based, high-growth, high-wage space, all while working to cure cancer. Doing well by doing … Continue reading “Innovation vs. Healthcare Spending: Biotech’s Biggest Looming Challenge”

Semantic Machines Obtains $12,400,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4e5d12a8-3765-4392-ae3f-e74bb8206434 Date 12/28/2015 Company Name Semantic Machines Mailing Address 300 Washington St. Newton, MA 02458 USA Company Description Semantic Machines is made up of a team of proven researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs with extensive track records in AI development. Our team has unique experience, building core AI technology for Siri and Google … Continue reading “Semantic Machines Obtains $12,400,000 New Financing Round”

Five Cybersecurity Trends to Watch in 2016

To no one’s surprise, cybersecurity continued to be a key area of concern and struggle among organizations of all sizes in 2015. However, buried amongst the constant news cycle of new attacks and sophisticated breaches is the fact that more business leaders are understanding the importance of cybersecurity and its potential impact on the organization. … Continue reading “Five Cybersecurity Trends to Watch in 2016”

New Cash for Boston-Area Speech and Robotics Startups

As we head into the final week of 2015, venture investment is pouring into some traditional areas of strength in New England tech. Namely, speech recognition, artificial intelligence, and robotics: —Stealthy speech-recognition startup Semantic Machines, based in Newton, MA, has raised about $12.4 million in equity funding, according to an SEC filing. The document lists … Continue reading “New Cash for Boston-Area Speech and Robotics Startups”

Pharmabros, Designer Babies, And Other Final Words For 2015

Every three months, Oxford Dictionaries releases its new entries, and modern language mavens everywhere have a field day. A few of my favorites from the summer update: weak sauce, microaggression, cupcakery, and at the risk of perpetuating wholly unfair stereotypes about journalists, beer o’clock. With that, I kick off my final column of 2015, a … Continue reading “Pharmabros, Designer Babies, And Other Final Words For 2015”

The Scientist and the Student: Thoughts on Lessons Learned From a Mentor

What is a key relationship or turning point that helped you get to where you are today? This is a great question. I suspect because it comes up so often in interviews, we tend to underplay the importance of the topic. We get familiar with the answer and over time, lose the tacit feel for … Continue reading “The Scientist and the Student: Thoughts on Lessons Learned From a Mentor”

Flying Cars, Robots, Virtual Doctors, & More Boston Tech Headlines

Before everyone checks out for the holidays, let’s take a look at a few recent headlines in the Boston-area tech world: —Soft Robotics raised $3 million in a Series A round expected to reach $5 million, BetaBoston reported. The round is being led by Material Impact Fund, with participation by Haiyin Capital and Taylor Ventures. … Continue reading “Flying Cars, Robots, Virtual Doctors, & More Boston Tech Headlines”

Alcyone Lifesciences Receives $3,640,319 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1d78d020-03db-4785-b7cd-812bdbd2246a Date 12/24/2015 Company Name Alcyone Lifesciences Mailing Address 250 Jackson Street Lowell, MA 01852 USA Company Description Alcyone Lifesciences is focused on developing products for treatment of difficult neuropathological conditions. Website http://www.alcyonels.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,640,319 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. 20 investors … Continue reading “Alcyone Lifesciences Receives $3,640,319 New Round”

PTC Pushes Into Connected Factories With Kepware Acquisition

New England software company PTC continued its shift into providing backbone technology for the “Internet of Things” with a $100 million-plus acquisition of Kepware. The deal announced today gives Needham, MA-based PTC (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PTC]]) a foothold in factories worldwide. Kepware, a 20-year-old company based in Portland, ME, develops software that helps connect devices used in … Continue reading “PTC Pushes Into Connected Factories With Kepware Acquisition”

Bought by NetApp for $870M, Here’s Where SolidFire Came From

One of the year’s biggest tech acquisitions has a pretty interesting—and short—history. Boulder, CO-based SolidFire, a maker of data-storage systems, was acquired this week by Silicon Valley giant NetApp (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NTAP]]) for $870 million in cash. SolidFire was formed in 2009 and only began selling its flash-storage drives in 2012, according to a report in … Continue reading “Bought by NetApp for $870M, Here’s Where SolidFire Came From”

Amid Neuroscience Renaissance, BlackThorn Quietly Builds a Business

The past year has seen several new biotech companies announce ambitious goals of tackling neurological disease, a vast, complex, and frustrating region of biomedicine. The academic side of the field has had a shot in the arm, too, from National Institutes of Health funding, to scientific advances at the Allen Institute for Brain Research (now … Continue reading “Amid Neuroscience Renaissance, BlackThorn Quietly Builds a Business”

Location Everywhere: What We’ll See in 2016

2016 is going to be a pivotal year for location- and proximity-based technology solutions. Companies across industries are testing the deployment of location aware infrastructures, opening up a world of possibilities. Location technology adoption will likely mirror that of social networks over the past 10 years. On balance, and with good direction, location-enabled experiences are … Continue reading “Location Everywhere: What We’ll See in 2016”

Seventh Sense Biosystems Receives $2,060,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=13b18f05-48ff-4225-bdcb-c1ab6788c29e Date 12/23/2015 Company Name Seventh Sense Biosystems Mailing Address 200 Boston Avenue Medford, MA 02155 USA Company Description The company’s proprietary TAP Touch Activated Phlebotomy technology enables painless, convenient and safe blood collection and is the foundation for a rich pipeline of products from painless, one-step sampling to integrated collection and … Continue reading “Seventh Sense Biosystems Receives $2,060,000 New Financing”

Crowdly Garners $835,532 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=22068b21-3349-41c2-9364-d4c93f233ad8 Date 12/23/2015 Company Name Crowdly Mailing Address 355 Congress Street Boston, MA 02110 USA Company Description Crowdly is the leading social advocate management platform for Facebook that allows brands to find and rank their top advocates, more effectively engage them, and motivate them into action. Website http://www.crowdly.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Crowdly Garners $835,532 New Funding”

Acacia Aims to Go Public as Disappointing Year For Tech IPOs Closes

U.S. tech IPOs this year can probably be best described as scarce and underwhelming, but Acacia Communications will try to buck those trends with its initial public offering. The Maynard, MA-based telecommunications technology company announced intentions to go public in an SEC filing on Monday. It said it could raise up to $125 million, although … Continue reading “Acacia Aims to Go Public as Disappointing Year For Tech IPOs Closes”

Five Trends Ready to Disrupt In-Store Retail in 2016

With 2015 coming to a close, retailers are looking ahead for the next wave of technology that will impact in-store innovation. While we’re still waiting for some popular 2015 predictions to take off, including the merging of online recommendation engines with in-store visits, other trends such as e-commerce sites opening more brick and mortar locations … Continue reading “Five Trends Ready to Disrupt In-Store Retail in 2016”

The Big Value Creation Trend of 2015: Q&A with Jonathan Medved

When OurCrowd founder and CEO Jonathan Medved gives a talk about crowdfunding, as he did at the recent Stocktoberfest conference in San Diego, there is one particular slide in his deck that is something of a show stopper. Medved says it is the one slide that tells the whole story—explaining in one bar chart why … Continue reading “The Big Value Creation Trend of 2015: Q&A with Jonathan Medved”

Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals Obtains $5,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=28d69f84-6a38-45b0-b505-ef3848a80e30 Date 12/22/2015 Company Name Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 700 Main Street North Cambridge, MA 02139 USA Company Description Aquinnah Pharmaceutical’s approach is unique by integrating human genetic, human pathology and cellular biology R&D expertise, towards the development of a new therapeutic approach. Our approach has the potential to treat the majority … Continue reading “Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals Obtains $5,000,000 New Financing”

Bayer, CRISPR Therapeutics Form $335M+ Gene Editing Venture

Every day, the landmark gene editing system known as CRISPR-Cas9 inches closer towards becoming a real method of treating human disease. It’s no surprise, then, that more and more large biotech and pharmaceutical companies are taking a vested interest in its progress. The latest is Bayer, which has just aligned itself with one of the … Continue reading “Bayer, CRISPR Therapeutics Form $335M+ Gene Editing Venture”

Patient Investors, Impatient Researchers Essential for Clean Energy Future

Maybe it’s something in the Seattle air that we share, but over the last few weeks, I’ve learned that Bill Gates and I worry about similar things. In interviews with The Atlantic and The Washington Post Gates said: “Historically, it takes more than 50 years before you have a substantial shift in energy generation, but … Continue reading “Patient Investors, Impatient Researchers Essential for Clean Energy Future”

The Best Podcasts of 2015: A Guide for New Listeners

The percentage of Americans who say they’ve never listened to a podcast is steadily shrinking, but it’s still pretty large — 67 percent, according to a 2015 survey by Edison Research and Triton Digital. I’m going to assume for a minute that you’re in this uninitiated group. You know what podcasts are, and you’re vaguely … Continue reading “The Best Podcasts of 2015: A Guide for New Listeners”

Digital Business, Data-Driven Consumers, and the Dark Web

It’s that time of year again, where we look ahead to determine what tech trends will make the most significant impact in 2016. From my view, data analytics and our digital way of life will increasingly transform the world and the nature of business. Here are a few ways I see that playing out in … Continue reading “Digital Business, Data-Driven Consumers, and the Dark Web”

Psilos VC: Digital Health Will Emerge as Top Performer in 2016

As 2015 winds down, it’s a good time to look into the crystal ball for one of the toughest industries to predict: healthcare. We recently picked the brain of David Eichler, a managing partner with New York-based venture capital firm Psilos Group. Eichler (pictured) focuses on investments in digital health and medical device companies, and … Continue reading “Psilos VC: Digital Health Will Emerge as Top Performer in 2016”

The Day After His Arrest, Martin Shkreli Is Out At Turing Pharma

Martin Shkreli was arrested for securities fraud yesterday, and today he has one fewer business to run. Turing Pharmaceuticals announced this morning Shkreli has resigned his post as CEO. His departure from Turing marks the second time he has built a company, only to leave under no small amount of controversy. The federal government is … Continue reading “The Day After His Arrest, Martin Shkreli Is Out At Turing Pharma”

Months After Postponed IPO, Gelesis Nabs $31.5M And a New Investor

Gelesis shied away from an IPO last year, and instead saw its owner, PureTech Health, take the leap and start trading on the stock market in London. But now the weight-loss startup has gotten the type of financial backers that signal it might be thinking of a second attempt. Gelesis, of Boston, raised a new $31.5 million … Continue reading “Months After Postponed IPO, Gelesis Nabs $31.5M And a New Investor”

Still Years From Clinic, Navitor Gets $33M And More Pharma Friends

These are early days for Navitor Pharmaceuticals. It’ll be a few years before the Cambridge, MA-based startup can even test its idea, to hit a well-known disease target with drugs in a new way, in human volunteers. But a number of large pharma companies are paying millions of dollars to keep a close eye on … Continue reading “Still Years From Clinic, Navitor Gets $33M And More Pharma Friends”

Gelesis Garners $31,500,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1f7c9e47-fd62-4ac6-b1bd-5151f63b8be4 Date 12/18/2015 Company Name Gelesis Mailing Address 222 Berkeley St. Boston, MA 02116 USA Company Description Gelesis is a Boston-based company developing a breakthrough treatment for obesity and other related co-morbidities. Website http://www.gelesis.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $31,500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Gelesis plans to use the proceeds … Continue reading “Gelesis Garners $31,500,000 New Financing Round”

Navitor Pharmaceuticals Secures $33,000,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4ef8dd7c-5f73-4a7b-9fd9-d77e1af927ac Date 12/18/2015 Company Name Navitor Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 1030 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Company Description New scientific insights are emerging regarding the primal signaling pathways that direct an organism’s metabolic response to conditions in its environment—such as dynamic changes in the availability of nutrients, energy, oxygen and other factors—and … Continue reading “Navitor Pharmaceuticals Secures $33,000,000 Series B Financing”

West Coast Bio Roundup: Shkreli Cuffed, KaloBios Halted & More

[Updated, 9:00 am ET] As regular roundup readers know, the continuing saga of Martin Shkreli, the hedge funder-turned-drug price gouger, has a West Coast angle. Now under arrest on fraud charges, Shkreli took over Redwood City, CA-based KaloBios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:KBIO]]) last month. It soon emerged he aimed to pursue a strategy similar to his … Continue reading “West Coast Bio Roundup: Shkreli Cuffed, KaloBios Halted & More”

Fintech Startup Hyannis Turns Profit By Policing Electronic Trades

As the technologies used by the financial markets grow more sophisticated, so too do the potential disruptions to trading activity and the broader business world. The phrase “stock trade” used to conjure an image of a frenzied horde of humans shouting at each other on exchange floors. But these days, many of those trades are … Continue reading “Fintech Startup Hyannis Turns Profit By Policing Electronic Trades”

Soft Robotics Secures $4,450,764 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=527b87a5-ad73-458c-9cd0-9de2c237a7f6 Date 12/17/2015 Company Name Soft Robotics Mailing Address 737 Concord Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Company Description Soft Robotics Inc. designs and builds grippers and control systems that can manipulate items of varying size, shape and weight with a single device. By leveraging the science of soft robotic actuators, it is … Continue reading “Soft Robotics Secures $4,450,764 New Funding”

NXT-ID Obtains $1,500,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2de4392f-59ae-4a2b-9579-b3595ce9b66f Date 12/17/2015 Company Name NXT-ID Mailing Address 288 Christian Street Oxford, CT 06478 USA Company Description The founders of NXT-ID were an integral part of the senior management teams at Technest Holdings, Inc., and its subsidiary Genex Technologies. Genex Technologies was founded in 1995 to develop and commercialize the unique Rainbow … Continue reading “NXT-ID Obtains $1,500,000 New Round”

Carbonite Buys EVault, Gains 200 Employees in Data Recovery

[Corrected, 1:40 pm. See below] One of the Boston area’s technology pillars just got stronger. Carbonite, a cloud backup and data protection company, says it is acquiring San Francisco-based EVault for $14 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2016. More important, Carbonite (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CARB]]) is gaining … Continue reading “Carbonite Buys EVault, Gains 200 Employees in Data Recovery”

From Google to Novartis: Business Showed Up Big at World Climate Talks

When negotiators from 195 countries met in Paris to hammer out an agreement to fight climate change, the two-week meeting in December was notable for many reasons. In an historic accord, the nations set a goal of limiting the warming of the planet to below 2 degrees C—even as low as 1.5 degrees C. The … Continue reading “From Google to Novartis: Business Showed Up Big at World Climate Talks”

Digital Guardian Grabs $66M, Looks to Prevent Data Loss

The story of the year in Boston tech might be the growth of the cybersecurity sector. Today, an established player in data protection says it’s adding a big funding round to keep up with market demand. Digital Guardian, based in Waltham, MA, has raised $66 million in financing from a mix of new investors—LLR Partners, … Continue reading “Digital Guardian Grabs $66M, Looks to Prevent Data Loss”

Biogen, Arsia Team Up to Improve Hemophilia Drugs in $100M Pact

Protein drugs have become a critical part of healthcare. They attack diseases differently than old fashioned small molecule drugs, and have helped the biotech industry rise to prominence over the past few decades. But proteins have their limitations. Many have to be taken frequently, or infused in hospitals, to work the way they should. Lessening … Continue reading “Biogen, Arsia Team Up to Improve Hemophilia Drugs in $100M Pact”

Content Raven Secures $2,200,000 Series B Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8f8bc67b-c4f5-421b-881c-10c0b23a1e1a Date 12/16/2015 Company Name Content Raven Mailing Address 105 South Street Hopkinton, MA 01748 USA Company Description Content Raven helps you maintain content security, share documents across the cloud, protect rich media and track its usage. Website http://www.contentraven.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,200,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Content Raven Secures $2,200,000 Series B Financing Round”

Digital Guardian Obtains $66,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d0988591-f252-44e5-ac26-9defa513d646 Date 12/16/2015 Company Name Digital Guardian Mailing Address 860 Winter St. Waltham, MA 02451 USA Company Description Digital Guardian was founded with a mission – To develop a new generation of software solutions to totally protect and manage the flow of data essential to the operation of businesses on a global … Continue reading “Digital Guardian Obtains $66,000,000 New Financing Round”

Grapevine Logic Receives $385,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b10d9297-6848-4c9a-891f-de516689db64 Date 12/16/2015 Company Name Grapevine Logic Mailing Address 186 South Street 2nd Floor Boston, MA 02211 USA Company Description Grapevine connects brands with popular YouTube and Instagram influencers to drive sales, signups, and buzz. Today’s top influencers use Grapevine to find relevant products to introduce to their audience in exchange for … Continue reading “Grapevine Logic Receives $385,000 New Funding Round”

Boston Tech Watch: DraftKings, MassChallenge, Jibo, LovePop, & More

This week, we’re tracking expansions, funding deals, and legal battles in the tech community. —MassChallenge continued to expand its nonprofit accelerator program for startups to more locales outside of Boston. The newest program will be based in Switzerland’s Lake Geneva region and will launch next year, MassChallenge said in a press release on Sunday. That … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: DraftKings, MassChallenge, Jibo, LovePop, & More”

Aila Adds $4.5M, Continues Surge of Retail Tech Startups

Every year seems to be the year when brick-and-mortar stores will catch up to their online peers in terms of technology. Now there’s another tech startup on our radar trying to make that happen. Aila Technologies, formerly known as Padloc, says today it has raised $4.5 million from Romulus Capital, a Boston-based venture firm. That’s … Continue reading “Aila Adds $4.5M, Continues Surge of Retail Tech Startups”

London Notebook: Conversations Inside The Biomedical Golden Triangle

Xconomy had reporters in eight locales when I joined in the spring of 2014. Since then, we have expanded into Texas and North Carolina, adding two more locales where we cover the life sciences and much more. We’re always looking for the next place to put down roots. One big place on our radar is … Continue reading “London Notebook: Conversations Inside The Biomedical Golden Triangle”

LovePop Obtains $300,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c58a7dd9-3dbd-4c4b-a343-90770f37679d Date 12/15/2015 Company Name LovePop Mailing Address 955 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 USA Company Description LovePop sells 3D pop-up greeting cards online. Website http://www.lovepopcards.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $300,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The company intends to use the funds to continue to grow the business. M&A … Continue reading “LovePop Obtains $300,000 New Funding”

Aila Technologies Lands $4,500,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9caacf8b-4283-4f58-b5fd-9fffc602c30c Date 12/15/2015 Company Name Aila Technologies Mailing Address 111 Huron Avenue Natick, MA 01760 USA Company Description Aila has helped retailers create exceptional shopping experiences through our unique combination of customer-focused design and scalable manufacturing. Our technology not only leads our competitors, it’s changing the way brands and customers interact in … Continue reading “Aila Technologies Lands $4,500,000 New Financing”

As Whoop Whips Up More Cash, A Look at the Wearables Market

The hype over wearables may be in decline—which means it’s time for some real companies to get built. On Monday, Indian tech giant Infosys said it invested $3 million in Whoop, a Boston-based wearables startup that’s targeting elite athletes. The new money comes on the heels of a $12 million Series B round the performance-monitoring … Continue reading “As Whoop Whips Up More Cash, A Look at the Wearables Market”