Category: Boulder/Denver

Craft Brewers and Hackers to Share Insights over Pints at CU Event

There’s a set of companies in Colorado that’s spinning off one innovative startup after another. Their products and unique style are having an impact across their industries, and some of the most influential people and organizations have roots in the area. Collectively, they’ve created an ecosystem that’s studied, admired, and even envied. No, we’re not … Continue reading “Craft Brewers and Hackers to Share Insights over Pints at CU Event”

Clovis Oncology Closes $275M Offering Following Two Pivotal Weeks

Clovis Oncology’s big two weeks came to an end Monday with the closing of a secondary public offering of $275 million for the Boulder, CO.-based biopharmaceuticals company’s $275 million public offering. Since the start of June, Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLVS]]) has watched its stock price more than double in value, following its announcement at the … Continue reading “Clovis Oncology Closes $275M Offering Following Two Pivotal Weeks”

Trendspotting: Commerce on Facebook

Social media’s impact on global e-commerce is being felt everywhere. By promoting products via social media outlets, e-commerce companies have invited customers to spread interest and awareness of their brands through liking, reviewing, and sharing products with their network of friends. Commerce on social media has become a hot trend for many e-commerce firms to … Continue reading “Trendspotting: Commerce on Facebook”

Uvize Secures $20,000 Seed Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d2a154b8-5b28-4de7-9163-d3964b23c729&Preview=1 Date 6/18/2013 Company Name Uvize Mailing Address 1321 College Ave Boulder, CO 80302 Company Description We give veterans the unfair advantage in college. Website http://www.uvize.com Transaction Type Accelerator Transaction Amount $20,000 Transaction Round Seed Proceeds Purposes The company will use the proceeds to accelerate its initial development. M&A Terms Venture Investor … Continue reading “Uvize Secures $20,000 Seed Round”

Caring in Place Secures Seed Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6f8199eb-4f0b-46f6-b270-8234f9a8f251&Preview=1 Date 6/18/2013 Company Name Caring in Place Mailing Address 1867 Spring Water Lane Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 Company Description Caring in Place is a technology solution for the family caregiver. See how much easier care coordination can be while improving your loved one’s health outcomes. For more information or to be … Continue reading “Caring in Place Secures Seed Funding Round”

GutCheck Secures $4,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=33d1fc72-e63f-46c5-86d8-7a94eb254de2&Preview=1 Date 6/15/2013 Company Name GutCheck Mailing Address 1422 Delgany Street Denver, CO 80202 Company Description GutCheck is the leader in DIY qualitative market research. By making qualitative accessible to the masses, we are giving marketers and others the unique opportunity to surround any of their ideas, concepts, strategies, etc… with feedback. … Continue reading “GutCheck Secures $4,000,000 Series B Round”

Mile High Roundup: DSW Plans, Brains for Robots, and Schooling CFOs

Welcome to the Mile High Roundup, a fortnightly review and recap of some of the interesting things that have happened over the past two weeks in the tech scene in Boulder, Denver, and around Colorado. It’s no secret tons of cool stuff is happening around the state, and this is a chance to catch up. … Continue reading “Mile High Roundup: DSW Plans, Brains for Robots, and Schooling CFOs”

Denver Startup GutCheck Has Its Moment, Raises $4M Series B

Here’s an example of the rare “gut check moment” that’s a pleasant thing. GutCheck, a market-research startup based in Denver, has raised a $4 million Series B round. Everyone gets the idea of the gut check—when you have to face an unpleasant truth or hear what you don’t want to hear. GutCheck helps companies and … Continue reading “Denver Startup GutCheck Has Its Moment, Raises $4M Series B”

Don’t Panic, But We’ve Passed Peak Apple. And Google. And Facebook.

After the dot-com crash in 2001, the tech world needed a few years to regroup. But starting around 2004, the year Facebook was founded and Google went public, the winds of innovation in consumer- and business-facing technology began to pick up again. In 2007 or so, they reached hurricane speed, and minus a short lull … Continue reading “Don’t Panic, But We’ve Passed Peak Apple. And Google. And Facebook.”

Satellite Imagery Provider DigitalGlobe to Expand, Stay in Colorado

DigitalGlobe, Colorado’s highest-flying tech company—literally—reportedly plans to add more than 500 jobs and is considering relocating its corporate headquarters within the Denver-Boulder area. DigitalGlobe (NYSE: [[ticker:DGI]]) is one of the world’s leading satellite imagery and geospatial information companies, with a market cap of $2.25 billion and 2012 profit of $39 million. The Longmont, CO-based company … Continue reading “Satellite Imagery Provider DigitalGlobe to Expand, Stay in Colorado”

Brews & Geeks: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurship Scenes

The University of Colorado Law School’s Silicon Flatirons Center hosts a discussion of two renowned Colorado startup scenes: craft brewing and technology. The event features an all-star roster of brewers from Colorado’s best breweries, including Odell Brewing Company and Upslope Brewing Company. More information and registration information is available here.

CU-Denver Business Plan Competition and Luncheon

The 12th Annual Bard Center for Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition and Luncheon is the University of Colorado-Denver’s annual business plan competition. Six teams will compete for the $50,000 in cash and in-kind awards from area businesses that is on the line. Register here.

TEDxMileHigh 2013

TEDxMileHigh is committed to “Ideas Worth Spreading” in the Mile High region. The TEDxMileHigh 2013 (#TEDxMH13) theme “Values and Instincts” explores questions fundamental to human experience and existence, with TED Talks from 15 Colorado innovators and entrepreneurs. Ticket prices are $69.50. More information and tickets are available here.

Clovis Oncology Boosts Public Offering to $240M After Stock Booms

Clovis Oncology’s great start to June might be getting better, with the Boulder, CO-based biopharmaceutical company announcing late Tuesday it was upsizing its underwritten public offering to $240 million. Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLVS]]) announced the offering Monday, but set the target amount at $170 million. Clovis will offer 3,333,334 million shares of common stock at … Continue reading “Clovis Oncology Boosts Public Offering to $240M After Stock Booms”

The Right Now Economy: The Next Wave of Startup Success

[Editor’s Note: Mark Siegel, managing director at Menlo Ventures, was the keynote speaker at IBF’s Venture Capital Investing Conference today in San Francisco. The post below summarizes his talk, in which he argued that the convergence of mobility, cloud infrastructure, social and big data—what he calls the Right Now Economy—sets the stage for $500 billion in … Continue reading “The Right Now Economy: The Next Wave of Startup Success”

Fundraising Is a Means, Not an End

For many entrepreneurs “raising money” has replaced “building a sustainable business” as their goal. That’s a big mistake. When you take money from investors their business model becomes yours. One of my ex students came out to the ranch to give me an update on his startup. When I asked, “What are you working on?” … Continue reading “Fundraising Is a Means, Not an End”

Clovis Oncology to Raise $170M as Stock Price Booms Following ASCO

Clovis Oncology is riding high following last week’s American Society of Clinical Oncology conference, and today the Boulder, CO-based company announced it will try to raise $170 million in an underwritten public offering. Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLVS]]) emerged from ASCO as one of the breakout companies, with its stock price more than doubling and now … Continue reading “Clovis Oncology to Raise $170M as Stock Price Booms Following ASCO”

Salaries Up for IT Security Managers, Systems Analysts, Says Mondo

Anxious to put technology to work reaching audiences, marketers helped shoot adrenaline into IT workers’ salaries, according to a recent study. Technology recruiting firm Mondo in New York last week released findings of a survey based on IT job placements the company made in 2012 and 2013. Among the professionals surveyed, experienced IT security managers … Continue reading “Salaries Up for IT Security Managers, Systems Analysts, Says Mondo”

Profiles in Long-Termism: Sarepta Therapeutics CEO Chris Garabedian

Biotech is a long-term business, in a world that places more value on short-term thinking. Pharma companies often cut long-term R&D budgets, or do disastrous mega-mergers, mainly to juice their profits for a quarter or two. But sometimes people come along who are willing and able to buck the trends. They have a strategy for … Continue reading “Profiles in Long-Termism: Sarepta Therapeutics CEO Chris Garabedian”

Tumblr, Foursquare Execs Map Out New Directions, Tools for Brands

Senior executives from Tumblr and Foursquare headlined the first day of Gnip’s Big Boulder Conference on “social data” on Thursday, and while they didn’t have much to say about the news that’s put their companies in the headlines in the past few months, they did lay out what products their companies are betting on for … Continue reading “Tumblr, Foursquare Execs Map Out New Directions, Tools for Brands”

Coffee Goes from Folger’s, to Starbucks, to Tech-Driven ‘Third Wave’

There’s change brewing in the world of coffee. Over the last 10 years or so, an assortment of independent “third wave” coffee roasters has appeared in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Austin, and Boulder—in other words, the same high-tech hubs we cover here at Xconomy. Each Xconomy editor has his or her … Continue reading “Coffee Goes from Folger’s, to Starbucks, to Tech-Driven ‘Third Wave’”

Digabit Garners $2,385,297 Series A Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fde799d7-a001-49e9-8573-7b8d997b3825&Preview=1 Date 6/7/2013 Company Name Digabit Mailing Address 215 Union Blvd Lakewood, CO 80228 Company Description Technical documentation is part of the information explosion of this era. Companies understand that they will eventually drown in this data unless it is moved into web-accessible databases. Accordingly, Documoto represents an obvious application of database/web … Continue reading “Digabit Garners $2,385,297 Series A Funding”

SkyFuel Receives $1,750,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a7896e4b-72ed-4ef9-942e-e839e732d13c&Preview=1 Date 6/7/2013 Company Name SkyFuel Mailing Address 18300 W. Hwy 72 Arvada, CO 80007 Company Description SkyFuel delivers solar-power that is cost competitive in many applications. We deliver turn-key, large-scale solar plants that use Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) to produce steam for power generation, desalination, waste water treatment, and other industrial … Continue reading “SkyFuel Receives $1,750,000 New Round”

StillSecure Executives: Sale, Pivot an Attempt to Capitalize on BYOD

StillSecure announced Wednesday that it has sold its managed security services division to Connecticut-based SilverSky for an undisclosed amount. That’s obviously significant news for the Superior, CO-based company, but in the long run it might be less important to StillSecure’s future than its announcement it will now focus exclusively on its network access control (NAC) … Continue reading “StillSecure Executives: Sale, Pivot an Attempt to Capitalize on BYOD”

StillSecure Sells Off Managed Services Division, Promotes New CEO

Big changes appear to be happening at StillSecure, which announced today it has sold its managed security services division to a Connecticut-based company for an undisclosed price and has named a new CEO. StillSecure is a network security company based in Superior, CO. StillSecure struck the deal with SilverSky, which develops cloud-based security software and … Continue reading “StillSecure Sells Off Managed Services Division, Promotes New CEO”

ASCO Wrap-Up: Cancer News from the East, South, & Rockies

The herds who attended the American Society of Clinical Oncology have now gone home after a frenzied few days of absorbing what’s new in cancer R&D. Yesterday, I wrapped up some of the big news from cancer drugmakers on the West Coast, and now I’m attempting to hit the highlights of companies from the other … Continue reading “ASCO Wrap-Up: Cancer News from the East, South, & Rockies”

Cyber Security Firm LogRhythm Setting Tempo for March to an IPO

Logging in to a network, whether for work, to check your bank balance, or to play video games, has become one of life’s routine hassles. But if you think logging in is a hassle, try running a network that must track thousands or millions of people trying to get access—and instantly predicting who has bad … Continue reading “Cyber Security Firm LogRhythm Setting Tempo for March to an IPO”

We Owe it to Patients to Provide a Reliable Supply of Medicines

Too often in recent years, medicines for life-threatening conditions have been in short supply. It is unnecessary and avoidable for patients, their families, and health care professionals to experience and worry about medicine availability on top of the anxiety caused by their medical conditions. A reliable supply of high-quality medications is something all drug makers … Continue reading “We Owe it to Patients to Provide a Reliable Supply of Medicines”

DeVice Wins the Hack4Colorado Pot for App that Helps Feed ‘Vices’

What do you get when you put 100 Denver-area hackers together for about 48 hours and give them access to loads of data about hiking trails, where city dwellers can plant urban farms—and where you can buy marijuana legally? You get 18 apps that can help rescuers find injured hikers, connect urban farmers to buyers, … Continue reading “DeVice Wins the Hack4Colorado Pot for App that Helps Feed ‘Vices’”

Biodesix’s VeriStrat Test for Cancer Treatment Passes Phase 3 Trial

Biodesix, a Boulder, CO-based company that develops molecular diagnostic tests, said today that it has passed a key clinical trial that shows its VeriStrat test can give physicians a better idea of what to do next after the first round of treatment for non-small cell lung cancer has failed. The result of the trial, from … Continue reading “Biodesix’s VeriStrat Test for Cancer Treatment Passes Phase 3 Trial”

TechStars Austin Will Complement City’s Vibrant Startup Scene

When TechStars last month announced that Austin would be home to its next outpost, many of us had the same thought: We thought you would have been there long ago. After all, the Texas capital is not a Johnny-come-lately on the technology scene. “It’s not for a lack of awareness about Austin, but more about … Continue reading “TechStars Austin Will Complement City’s Vibrant Startup Scene”

The Biotech IPO Scorecard: Who’s Up, Who’s Down in 2013

Remember Plexxikon? The Berkeley, CA-based company had a lot of talent for structural biology-based drug design, an impressive new treatment for melanoma, and a strong management team. Two years ago, nobody on Wall Street cared one whit. Plexxikon flirted with the idea of going public, found little interest, and sold itself off to Japan-based Daiichi … Continue reading “The Biotech IPO Scorecard: Who’s Up, Who’s Down in 2013”

With Big Bucks Chasing Big Data, Will Consumers Get a Cut?

As consumers, we’re often told a stampede of “big data” will soon make our lives better. Safer and cheaper healthcare, more effective government, lower prices at the corner store—it’s all possible when big companies start digging into the digital information produced by a constantly connected society. Today, the central bargain underwriting most of those lofty … Continue reading “With Big Bucks Chasing Big Data, Will Consumers Get a Cut?”

Galvanize, Denver Startup Week Win Plaudits from Denver’s Old Guard

Denver’s old-school business establishment tipped its hat this week to the leaders of the city’s burgeoning entrepreneurial scene. Galvanize, the coworking space that’s quickly become the hub for Denver’s top tech startups, and Denver Startup Week both received awards from the Downtown Denver Partnership, one of Colorado’s largest economic vitality groups. The annual awards historically … Continue reading “Galvanize, Denver Startup Week Win Plaudits from Denver’s Old Guard”

11 Reasons Why Flickr, Not Facebook, Is the Place to Put Your Photos

What’s the best way to put your pictures on the Internet these days? There are at least two answers to that question. If you’re just asking which photo sharing service is the most popular, then Facebook is the hands-down winner. People upload roughly 350 million photos to the social network every day. Snapchat isn’t far … Continue reading “11 Reasons Why Flickr, Not Facebook, Is the Place to Put Your Photos”

Why Not Test a Supply Chain Model? What We’ve Got Isn’t Working

I find myself siding more with Flagship’s Noubar Afeyan than with Katrine Bosley in the intriguing conversation emerging in Xconomy in recent weeks over the supply chain model for early stage biotech. Today neither biotech nor pharma are producing a sufficient supply of new products. If we can’t figure out a way to profitably finance … Continue reading “Why Not Test a Supply Chain Model? What We’ve Got Isn’t Working”

Ailing ARCA Biopharma Seeks $20M to Fund Trials, Stay in Business

ARCA biopharma announced today it will try to raise $20 million in an equity offering to stay afloat while it continues Phase 2 and 3 trials of its treatment for atrial fibrillation. The Broomfield, CO-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ABIO]]) is small pharmaceutical developer focused on genetically targeted therapies for cardiovascular diseases. Its lead product is bucindolol … Continue reading “Ailing ARCA Biopharma Seeks $20M to Fund Trials, Stay in Business”

Oncothyreon Nabs $10M, Pays $10M, For Array Biopharma Cancer Drug

[Updated: 6:35 am PT 5/31] Seattle-based Oncothyreon disappointed a lot of people last year who were betting that it had found a promising new immunotherapy for patients with lung cancer. But even when that drug failed in December, the company still had plenty of cash left, and it is using some of the money to obtain … Continue reading “Oncothyreon Nabs $10M, Pays $10M, For Array Biopharma Cancer Drug”

Top 20 Under-the-Radar Trends in Innovation

What’s the most important trend in innovation that nobody is talking about? We at Xconomy reached out across our national network of innovation leaders (the Xconomists) to get some answers to this question, and to spur some intercity discussion. What we got back was astounding for its diversity and depth. And while it’s no longer … Continue reading “Top 20 Under-the-Radar Trends in Innovation”

At a Startup, Does Being the Only Woman in the Room Matter?

It’s hardly a secret that the male-dominated world of high-growth entrepreneurship doesn’t boast a treasure trove of women. Despite the fact that female-led start-ups have a track record of driving success, businesses founded by women account for less than 9 percent of venture funding. Considering that 50 percent of the people walking the earth are … Continue reading “At a Startup, Does Being the Only Woman in the Room Matter?”

Assigning Credit and Blame to Biopharma R&D Chiefs

There’s been an awful lot of turnover lately among Big Biopharma R&D chiefs, with departures from Merck, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Roche, and AbbVie. Their average tenure in this position was less than 7 years; the range was from less than 2 to 12. That’s similar to the average CEO tenure, which is only 8.4 … Continue reading “Assigning Credit and Blame to Biopharma R&D Chiefs”

Hackers Challenged to Tackle Social Problems in Upcoming Hackathons

The government knows an awful lot about you, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, at least in the eyes of the organizers of the National Day of Civic Hacking. The day is an attempt to bring entrepreneurs, software developers, and activists together with government agencies to take on close-to-home problems like pollution monitoring or … Continue reading “Hackers Challenged to Tackle Social Problems in Upcoming Hackathons”

NVCA: Venture Capital Finally Returned More Than It Took in 2012

It’s no secret that venture capital has struggled since the dot-com implosion. The latest dispatch from the industry’s U.S. trade group, however, says there might be some promising signs of better performance. In a new report wrapping up the 2012 performance for VCs, the National Venture Capital Association says the broad industry finally returned to the … Continue reading “NVCA: Venture Capital Finally Returned More Than It Took in 2012”

Applying “Innovation Arbitrage” to Develop Novel Medicines in China

[Editor’s Note: This post was co-authored by Jessica Yingling of Little Dog Communications.] Loosely defined, arbitrage is striking a combination of matching deals that capitalize upon an imbalance. Profit is gained from the difference between the market prices. With the Chinese government focusing on innovation through forward-looking national agendas for economic development, the opportunity to … Continue reading “Applying “Innovation Arbitrage” to Develop Novel Medicines in China”