Category: Boulder/Denver

GlobeImmune Secures $15,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f9206fa2-9096-4de0-bdfa-0b17afcee0ca Date 7/2/2014 Company Name GlobeImmune Mailing Address 1450 Infinite Drive Louisville, CO 80027 USA Company Description GlobeImmune, Inc. (NASDAQ: GBIM), is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery, development and manufacturing of potent, targeted molecular immunotherapy products called Tarmogens for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Website http://www.globeimmune.com Transaction Type IPO … Continue reading “GlobeImmune Secures $15,000,000 New Financing Round”

Climbing the Mountain: Or, Life as a Black Founder in Tech

Please give me a minute to talk about diversity in tech, even though I know whenever anyone talks about diversity in the tech industry, there are two types of responses I typically hear: The first is tokenism or the defensive argument. People will usually point to one example of the “diverse” person they hired, funded, … Continue reading “Climbing the Mountain: Or, Life as a Black Founder in Tech”

Gnip, Twitter, Datalogix, and VC Rounds Top Colorado Stories for 2Q

It was a good spring for Colorado’s startups and tech companies, with Twitter’s acquisition of Gnip and big venture rounds earning headlines. Here’s recap of some of the second quarter’s biggest stories. -Twitter Buys Gnip Gnip, a Boulder-based startup founded in 2008, and Twitter have been partners for years. This April, that relationship got closer … Continue reading “Gnip, Twitter, Datalogix, and VC Rounds Top Colorado Stories for 2Q”

MiRagen Therapeutics Lands $7,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=024b30d8-ead8-48bb-8f40-8349b54c3eb5 Date 7/1/2014 Company Name MiRagen Therapeutics Mailing Address 6200 Lookout Rd Boulder, CO 80301 USA Company Description Miragen was founded in 2007 to exploit recent discoveries showing that specific perturbations in microRNA expression are correlated with various forms of cardiovascular disease. Website http://www.miragentherapeutics.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $7,000,000 Transaction … Continue reading “MiRagen Therapeutics Lands $7,000,000 Series B Round”

May 10,000 Cloud Startups Bloom

The cloud services market has fueled a boom of immensely successful startups, most of which have raised millions in venture funding. Take analytics platform company Birst, which started off in the high end financial sector, raised $64 million in venture capital, and is now growing fast as a regular Silicon Valley-style pre-IPO company. Technology Business … Continue reading “May 10,000 Cloud Startups Bloom”

Saying Nothing With Style: The 2014 BioPharma Edition of BS Bingo

Several years ago, I wrote an article venting my frustrations with having to sift through the fog and jargon of poorly written analyses of the biotech/pharmaceutical industry. I recounted that, “years ago, a thoughtful co-worker passed along to me a copy of a game called ‘BS Bingo’ that was designed to keep you awake during … Continue reading “Saying Nothing With Style: The 2014 BioPharma Edition of BS Bingo”

New Partnership Will Ease Startup Accelerator Application Process

Surviving the intense months it takes to go through a startup accelerator is hard. But getting in might be harder. A new partnership between UP Global, a Seattle-based nonprofit, and the Boulder, CO-based Global Accelerator Network might make the latter a bit easier. The duo announced today they are creating new events that will give … Continue reading “New Partnership Will Ease Startup Accelerator Application Process”

Bulb Obtains $1,000,000 Series A Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a73b2a2d-ee03-44b3-b297-3601187cdfe8 Date 6/30/2014 Company Name Bulb Mailing Address 110 N College Ave. Fort Collins, CO 80524 USA Company Description Bulb was created in Fort Collins, Colorado by a group of people who believe that the world can be better and that sharing ideas can help make it so. Website http://www.bulbapp.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Bulb Obtains $1,000,000 Series A Funding”

UrgentRx Secures $17,500,000 Series C Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=86eb9ba0-3015-4f39-a76e-fb0084d66162 Date 6/30/2014 Company Name UrgentRx Mailing Address 1610 Wynkoop St. Denver, CO 80202 USA Company Description UrgentRx is a line of fast-acting, portable OTC medications providing right now relief for today’s busy, on-the-go consumer. UrgentRx Fast Powders come in an innovative, fast-acting flavored powder format available in convenient, single-dose, credit-card-sized packets … Continue reading “UrgentRx Secures $17,500,000 Series C Funding”

Boomtown Accelerator Graduates First Class, Announces Device Lab

Startups in Boulder, CO, might be getting a little more connected. The Boomtown Accelerator hosted its first demo day Friday. Six startups showed off their work and pitched investors at the Boulder Theater, and Boomtown announced it will open up a new “connected device lab” in the city. The accelerator hopes to make Boulder a … Continue reading “Boomtown Accelerator Graduates First Class, Announces Device Lab”

Langer, Led Zeppelin, and Hookups: Three Days Behind the BIO Scenes

Don’t let the blind men groping the elephant fool you. No one can get their arms around the massive, 15,000-attendee BIO conference, the industry’s annual flagship convention, and tell you what the real zeitgeist is. It’s all selection bias: If, say, you’ve been keenly following cancer immunotherapy the past couple years, you probably went to … Continue reading “Langer, Led Zeppelin, and Hookups: Three Days Behind the BIO Scenes”

Innovation Hub: Is America Becoming the Next Japan?

For much of its history, the U.S. has been a place of innovation, where new ideas and products could flourish. But that era may be coming to an abrupt end, warns Clayton Christensen, who coined the term “disruptive innovation” and teaches at Harvard Business School. Christensen, author of “The Capitalist’s Dilemma,” believes that American business … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: Is America Becoming the Next Japan?”

Colorado Company Gets $2.9M Grant to Develop Test for Ebola Virus

A Colorado-based developer of diagnostic medical tests is continuing the fight against the Ebola virus. Corgenix Medical (OTC: [[ticker:CONX]]) announced Thursday the National Institutes of Health has awarded the company a three-year, $2.9 million grant to further development of the its test for the Ebola virus. Corgenix’s goal is to create a test that will … Continue reading “Colorado Company Gets $2.9M Grant to Develop Test for Ebola Virus”

Five Annoying Tech Problems for the Next Hot Startup to Solve

Why is it that we can put a man on the Moon, but we can’t figure out how to screen jet passengers without making everyone take their shoes off? Well, the truth is, we can’t even put a man on the Moon—not anymore. It’s not a technical impossibility, but reconstituting the technologies that helped a … Continue reading “Five Annoying Tech Problems for the Next Hot Startup to Solve”

MiRagen Therapeutics Raises $7M, Extends Deal with France’s Servier

MiRagen Therapeutics, a Boulder, CO-based drug discovery company focused on developing microRNA-targeting therapies for cardiovascular and muscle diseases, has extended its collaboration with French pharmaceutical company Servier through October 2016, the company announced Wednesday. The biotech also has raised $7 million, according to an SEC filing submitted Wednesday. Servier and MiRagen are collaborating on pre-clinical … Continue reading “MiRagen Therapeutics Raises $7M, Extends Deal with France’s Servier”

Could Fallout from Aereo Ruling Have “Chilling Effect On Startups”?

Aereo’s legal war ended in the chambers of the U.S. Supreme Court, but other startups should be wary. In spite of CEO Chet Kanojia’s audacity, on Wednesday the New York-based company that thought it could trump television broadcasters lost its closely watched case. Since its introduction to the public in 2012, doubts swirled whether Aereo’s … Continue reading “Could Fallout from Aereo Ruling Have “Chilling Effect On Startups”?”

BIO 2014: Innovations in 3-D Tissue for Disease and Drug Discovery

Editor’s Note: Sharon Presnell discussed the use of bioprinting and 3D tissue to improve predictability in preclinical drug discovery this week at the BIO 2014 convention in San Diego. —BVB The human race consists of a large population of genetically diverse organisms. This inherent diversity is compounded daily by the individualistic way we go about … Continue reading “BIO 2014: Innovations in 3-D Tissue for Disease and Drug Discovery”

TruEffect Lands $4,999,996 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1467826c-9e90-4007-ad96-1aebcd1c2e09 Date 6/26/2014 Company Name TruEffect Mailing Address 10170 Church Ranch Way Westminster, CO 80021 USA Company Description TruConnect’s Relationship Advertising transforms the way you engage with your customers. With TruConnect, you can stop wasting over 99% of your display media broadcasting blindly, and see exactly where your customers and prospects intersect … Continue reading “TruEffect Lands $4,999,996 New Funding”

King of BIO: The Chairwoman of Biotech’s Top Trade Org Talks Policy

Rachel King is CEO of GlycoMimetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GLYC]]), a Gaithersburg, MD-based drug developer, and the current chairwoman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. As a heavily regulated industry, biopharma’s interactions with politicians and policy makers are crucial, and BIO has grown in recent years to become a Washington, DC power broker. Look no further for proof … Continue reading “King of BIO: The Chairwoman of Biotech’s Top Trade Org Talks Policy”

MVPs in Health: Minimum Viable Product or Mightily Vexing Problem?

One thing the tech software industry is great at is failing fast. This concept of “failing fast” means, at least in part, rapidly bringing a “minimum viable product” to market, even if it’s a little rocky and feature-light, and then fixing it as it gets adopted by iterating with new releases. We see this all … Continue reading “MVPs in Health: Minimum Viable Product or Mightily Vexing Problem?”

BIO 2014: Two Cities, One Economy, and a Unique Innovation Ecosystem

Editor’s note: Mary Walshok will discuss how Mexican policy is using public-private partnerships to spur biotech innovation and investment in a breakout session Thursday at the BIO 2014 convention in San Diego. —BVB One of the under-appreciated features of the San Diego innovation ecosystem is the increasing significance of its proximity to one of North … Continue reading “BIO 2014: Two Cities, One Economy, and a Unique Innovation Ecosystem”

Don’t Want Google in Your House? Some Home-Tech Startups to Watch

Google’s thirst for connected-home products means that entrepreneurs in the growing sector have another deep-pocketed competitor to outfox. But they’ve also got a new sales pitch: We’re not Google. “We certainly have not been shy,” says Jason Hanna, CEO of home heating-automation startup Embue. “It’s definitely something that we talk about.” Questions about the advertising … Continue reading “Don’t Want Google in Your House? Some Home-Tech Startups to Watch”

CEOs on Colorado’s Advantages, Challenges, and Boulder vs. Denver

Life is good in Colorado, both for tech startups and the people who run and work for them. At least that’s the opinion of five of Colorado’s leading entrepreneurs who sounded off about running tech companies in the state. They spoke last week at the Colorado Venture Summit in Denver. The summit brought together CEOs … Continue reading “CEOs on Colorado’s Advantages, Challenges, and Boulder vs. Denver”

BIO 2014: Training Bio-Entrepreneurs to Use Coffee, Yoga, and Data

Editor’s note: Court Turner was a speaker in the bootcamp for biotechnology entrepreneurship at this week’s BIO 2014 Convention in San Diego. —BVB As a venture partner at San Diego’s Avalon Ventures, I divide my work day into three distinct activities: Coffee (at the best coffee shop in San Diego); Yoga (at a studio near … Continue reading “BIO 2014: Training Bio-Entrepreneurs to Use Coffee, Yoga, and Data”

Colorado Venture Summit Pairs Top Entrepreneurs, Out-of-State VCs

Last Thursday, the Colorado Venture Summit brought together the CEOs from some of Colorado’s top startups and tech companies and the partners of venture capital firms from across the country. The goal was to help connect promising or thriving companies with investors who are not familiar with Colorado, according to David Gold, chair of the … Continue reading “Colorado Venture Summit Pairs Top Entrepreneurs, Out-of-State VCs”

Innovation Beers: 8 Great Tasting, Low ABV Brews

Summer is (gleefully for me) upon us. As the heat rises, innovators need fuel of all types—but perhaps most especially the beer type. At least that’s the way I see it. But not all beers fit the mold, so to speak, for what I have in mind: to be innovation beers, they need to be … Continue reading “Innovation Beers: 8 Great Tasting, Low ABV Brews”

BIO 2014: Antisense and Disruptive Technologies for Drug Discovery

Editor’s note: The BIO 2014 convention begins today in San Diego. Stanley Crooke is among the speakers at a breakout session Wednesday titled Blazing New Trails in Disruptive Innovation: Stem Cells, RNA and Epigenetics-Based Therapeutics. —BVB For the past 25 years I, with my colleagues at Isis Pharmaceuticals, have persevered in the creation and validation … Continue reading “BIO 2014: Antisense and Disruptive Technologies for Drug Discovery”

Spacecraft Maker Sierra Nevada Corp. Buys Wisconsin Supplier Orbitec

Sierra Nevada Corp., which is building the Dream Chaser spacecraft in Colorado, has acquired Madison, WI-based supplier Orbital Technologies Corp. for an undisclosed price. Orbital Technologies, commonly known as Orbitec, makes rocket engines that run on environmentally friendly fuel, as well as systems that moderate temperature and humidity in spacecraft, among other products. It has … Continue reading “Spacecraft Maker Sierra Nevada Corp. Buys Wisconsin Supplier Orbitec”

Innovation Hub: Stop Listening to the Same People

How do you break out of your old mindset, in a way that will fuel innovation? Try heading to 16th-century Florence, according to Frans Johansson, the best-selling author of The Medici Effect. Johansson notes that the wealthy Medici family corralled a truly diverse set of thinkers, put them in the same place, and watched creativity … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: Stop Listening to the Same People”

Pogoplug: One Service to Back Up All Your Devices

I’m a little obsessive when it comes to backups. In my Windows days, in the early 2000s, I used to make complete CD-ROM copies of my PC’s hard drive every couple of months. Until last year, I had two separate online backup services running on my Macbook Pro—Carbonite and Backblaze—along with an external hard drive … Continue reading “Pogoplug: One Service to Back Up All Your Devices”

LED Technologies Garners $1,129,923 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1a70dfc3-481e-49ee-83ab-6c002f262115 Date 6/20/2014 Company Name LED Technologies Mailing Address P.O. Box 2269 Elizabeth, CO 80107 USA Company Description LED Technologies is an OTC medical device company partnered with fashion & beauty icon Kathy Ireland in creating reVive Light Therapy. Our FDA-cleared devices are based on NASA Scientific Research and deliver exceptional healing, … Continue reading “LED Technologies Garners $1,129,923 New Financing”

Amazon’s Fire Phone: One Big Piece of a Real-World Shopping Push

Anyone who’s fallen into a wormhole of product recommendations can testify that buying things on Amazon.com is already pretty easy. With an Internet connection and a bank card, just about anything you can dream up is available around the clock, ready to be shipped to your door. But some things haven’t changed all that much … Continue reading “Amazon’s Fire Phone: One Big Piece of a Real-World Shopping Push”

Dallas Tech Startup Chui Crowdfunds an ‘Intelligent’ Doorbell

Smart gadgets are infiltrating many parts of our lives, but two Dallas entrepreneurs are focusing on a forgotten, but key, device we all use: the doorbell. Shaun Moore and Nazare Chafni founded 214 Technologies last year to manufacture Chui, a so-called “smart doorbell” that uses facial recognition to tell you who’s at the door. Chui, … Continue reading “Dallas Tech Startup Chui Crowdfunds an ‘Intelligent’ Doorbell”

BIO 2014: An Industry Surrounded by Insurmountable Opportunity

Biotech is riding the crest of a wave of public and private financial interest unparalleled in the 36-years since the founding of Genentech. Since 2012 public markets have committed $10.3 billion to more than 100 life-sciences IPOs, an industry record. Pharma has been buying/partnering with biotech on an unprecedented scale. Research breakthroughs from cancer immunotherapy … Continue reading “BIO 2014: An Industry Surrounded by Insurmountable Opportunity”

Galvanize Receives $18,000,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c177094c-76d9-4025-812d-bbf97b5a10ea Date 6/19/2014 Company Name Galvanize Mailing Address 1062 Delaware St. Denver, CO 80204 USA Company Description Galvanize is a Denver-based startup focused on coalescing communities of early stage technology companies through the three pillars of Community, Curriculum and Capital. The first Galvanize facility, located in the 30,000 sf historic Rocky Mountain … Continue reading “Galvanize Receives $18,000,000 Series A Round”

Galvanize CEO Opens Up About $18M Round, Plan to Create Ed Startup

Ever since Jim Deters and his co-founders launched Galvanize in Denver in October 2012, they’ve emphasized what they call the three C’s: community, capital, and curriculum. But, given Galvanize’s impressive co-working spaces in Denver, San Francisco, and Boulder, CO—as well as the Galvanize Ventures seed fund expected to total $7 million that it has quietly … Continue reading “Galvanize CEO Opens Up About $18M Round, Plan to Create Ed Startup”

“We Have to Find Our Way”: Eric Topol of Scripps on Connected Health

Eric Topol wears many hats. He is a practicing cardiologist, genomic researcher, chief academic officer of Scripps Health, and the head of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, one of more than 60 biomedical centers supported through an ambitious National Institutes of Health program created nearly 10 years ago to move basic medical research into the … Continue reading ““We Have to Find Our Way”: Eric Topol of Scripps on Connected Health”

Cloud Elements Garners $3,100,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a973269e-e27d-49d1-b876-76e87b14ce63 Date 6/18/2014 Company Name Cloud Elements Mailing Address 1062 Delaware St. Denver, CO 80204 USA Company Description Cloud Elements is a cloud API integration and aggregation service that developers use to integrate, monitor and maintain leading cloud services at a fraction of the cost and time. Website http://www.cloud-elements.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “Cloud Elements Garners $3,100,000 Series A Round”

Ibotta Secures $20,000,000 Series B Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b039926c-5aa5-4d79-bb56-e9187940267b Date 6/18/2014 Company Name Ibotta Mailing Address 1660 17th St. Denver, CO 80202 USA Company Description Ibotta is a technology company building tools to empower consumers and simplify their daily lives. We’ve done this by completely reimagining the way consumers learn about and interact with their favorite brands. Website http://www.ibotta.com Transaction … Continue reading “Ibotta Secures $20,000,000 Series B Funding”

Scott McNealy’s Social Media Startup Wayin Tees Up $12.1M Round

Scott McNealy’s Denver-based social media startup Wayin has raised at least $12.1 million in a Series C round, according to a recent SEC filing. McNealy, the co-founder and longtime CEO of Sun Microsystems, and other Sun alumni launched Wayin in 2011, and McNealy is its chairman. The startup’s software collects social media postings from sites … Continue reading “Scott McNealy’s Social Media Startup Wayin Tees Up $12.1M Round”

Cloud Elements Closes $3.1M A Round to Make App Integration Easier

Cloud Elements, a Denver-based startup that makes software that developers can use to integrate their custom applications with cloud services like Dropbox and Salesforce, has closed a $3.1 million Series A round. Grotech Ventures and Icon Venture Partners led the round. Denver-based Galvanize Ventures also invested. Cloud Elements co-founder and CEO Mark Geene said his … Continue reading “Cloud Elements Closes $3.1M A Round to Make App Integration Easier”

Wayin Lands $12,115,277 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=30595533-123f-40cd-a4c2-d2f52506b6a5 Date 6/17/2014 Company Name Wayin Mailing Address 1623 Blake Street Denver, CO 80202 USA Company Description Wayin, based in Denver, is a leading mobile and web engagement platform that enables conversations between individuals, brands, and enterprises with their fans, customers and employees. Website http://www.wayin.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $12,115,277 … Continue reading “Wayin Lands $12,115,277 New Round”

Consolidation in CO: Level 3 to Acquire TW Telecom in $7.3B Deal

In a move sure to shake up the telecom industry—locally as well as globally—Level 3 Communications announced Monday that it will acquire TW Telecom for about $7.3 billion in a cash and stock deal. The companies are both based in Colorado and are among the leaders in the state’s tech industry, as well as the … Continue reading “Consolidation in CO: Level 3 to Acquire TW Telecom in $7.3B Deal”

The Future of Work, Plus or Minus E-mail

I. Too Much of a Good Thing I’ll begin by admitting my biases. I don’t like electronic mail. In the pre-Internet days of the 1970s, when e-mail as we know it was invented, it may have been a decent solution to a certain problem—namely, the need for users logged into a single mainframe, server, or … Continue reading “The Future of Work, Plus or Minus E-mail”

Innovation Hub: Twitter’s Deb Roy Sees More Change Ahead for TV

It’s fair to say that Deb Roy is obsessed with Twitter. In 2008, he started Bluefin Labs to understand the power and influence of social media. He looked at how the public viewed political candidates, brands, and TV shows. And the data he gathered was so valuable that last year, Twitter gobbled up Bluefin, making … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: Twitter’s Deb Roy Sees More Change Ahead for TV”

How I Conquered My Reading List Using Pocket

If you’re a student, a researcher, a knowledge worker, or an entrepreneur, you probably swim in ideas all day long. Like it or not, replenishing those ideas through reading is a huge part of your job. After all, it’s hard to make new knowledge without old knowledge; it’s impossible to see new connections unless you … Continue reading “How I Conquered My Reading List Using Pocket”

CannaBuild Lands $225,000 Seed Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=babfcb7b-be21-4278-ab9f-ec500aa39af9 Date 6/13/2014 Company Name CannaBuild Mailing Address Undisclosed Denver, CO 80110 USA Company Description Provide measurable customer service via chat, live video or text all in a secure environment. Securely communicate with your patients and customers as if they were in-store. Easy integration to publish products multiple places online for easy … Continue reading “CannaBuild Lands $225,000 Seed Financing”

Ibotta Raises $20M for Mobile App that Delivers Rebates to Consumers

Ibotta, a Denver-based startup, specializes in helping users of its mobile savings app earn cash. The company itself has been pretty good at raising money since its founding in 2011, and it just closed a $20 million round, according to a recent SEC filing. Ibotta makes a free app for iOS and Android that, it … Continue reading “Ibotta Raises $20M for Mobile App that Delivers Rebates to Consumers”