BitSight Technologies wasn’t looking to raise more money from investors when GGV Capital came calling in April. The cybersecurity ratings startup still had nearly $20 million stashed in the bank from the Series B funding round it raised in June 2015, says Tom Turner, BitSight’s chief operating officer and president. But BitSight executives decided they … Continue reading “BitSight Nabs $40M as Cybersecurity Ratings Sector Picks Up Steam”
Category: National
Recommended Read: Fishkin on What Went Wrong at Moz
When I profiled Moz and its co-founder Rand Fishkin a few years back, the story focused on the Seattle-based company’s “TAGFEE” culture—the first letter of which stands for “transparent.” Fishkin and his successor as CEO, Sarah Bird, have gone well beyond what most privately held tech companies do in that regard, regularly penning in-depth blog … Continue reading “Recommended Read: Fishkin on What Went Wrong at Moz”
Aerie Shares Rocket As Glaucoma Drug Hits Mark in Phase 3
For people dealing with the creeping blindness of glaucoma, the most effective treatments are eye drops called prostaglandin analogues, or PGAs. They’re not a cure, but taken chronically, they’re the best way to slow the progression of the disease, which is why they’ve been the standard of care for glaucoma for more than two decades. … Continue reading “Aerie Shares Rocket As Glaucoma Drug Hits Mark in Phase 3”
Boston Healthtech Lab Links Startups with Hospitals, Bose, & Others
Pulse@MassChallenge, the new Boston “lab” for healthcare technology startups, revealed more details Wednesday about its strategy and how the program fits into a broader initiative attempting to make Massachusetts the world’s digital health hub. The lab is run by MassChallenge, the Boston-based nonprofit that operates startup accelerator programs around the world. The lab’s inaugural session … Continue reading “Boston Healthtech Lab Links Startups with Hospitals, Bose, & Others”
Fund Worth Up To $100M Seeks to Increase Diversity in Tech Workforce
A first-of-its-kind fund has launched with the mission to increase diversity in the tech industry by removing financial barriers and increasing access to tech education for anyone interested in pursuing it. The Tech Opportunity Fund is a partnership between the Iron Yard and Code Fellows, which offer tech training, and the financial literacy organization Operation … Continue reading “Fund Worth Up To $100M Seeks to Increase Diversity in Tech Workforce”
SAP Doubles Down, Commits Another $1B to Sapphire Ventures
Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sapphire Ventures, whose ancestry traces back to the former corporate venture investing arm of German software giant SAP, said today it has secured $1 billion in capital from SAP. That adds up to $2.4 billion in assets under management for Palo Alto, CA-based Sapphire—-all pledged by SAP SE (NYSE: [[ticker:SAP]]), … Continue reading “SAP Doubles Down, Commits Another $1B to Sapphire Ventures”
UW-Madison Awarded $12M NCI Grant to Study Cellectar Cancer Drug
The National Cancer Institute has awarded a $12 million grant to the University of Wisconsin-Madison that the school will use to study Cellectar Biosciences’ leading drug candidate, the company said Monday. Cellectar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLRB]]), which is also located in Madison, said in a news release that the university will study CLR 131, a therapeutic Cellectar … Continue reading “UW-Madison Awarded $12M NCI Grant to Study Cellectar Cancer Drug”
Sofinnova, Atlas Put $35M Into Delinia to Tackle Autoimmune Diseases
Autoimmune diseases occur when our immune systems mistakenly start fighting parts of our own bodies, rather than foreign invaders. The trick is to stop the attack without weakening our body’s defenses. That’s the idea behind a new startup that launched this morning called Delinia. The company, with operations in Cambridge, MA, and San Francisco, CA, … Continue reading “Sofinnova, Atlas Put $35M Into Delinia to Tackle Autoimmune Diseases”
Accenture-Backed Applause Takes $35M Bow, Expands App Testing Service
Software is at the heart of most interactions between companies and their customers these days, from mobile apps to e-commerce, and beyond. And that has spawned a big industry around the testing of digital products. The latest sign is a fresh $35 million investment in Applause, the Framingham, MA-based provider of digital testing services for … Continue reading “Accenture-Backed Applause Takes $35M Bow, Expands App Testing Service”
New Relay Therapeutics Aims Supercomputers, $57M At Protein Motion
Nearly ten years ago, academics at Stanford University trying to divine how proteins fold into their complicated shapes—an action that can take a millionth to a thousandth of a second—began recruiting people at home to volunteer their computers in the off hours. Back then, crowdsourced computing muscle was necessary to probe the mystery of a … Continue reading “New Relay Therapeutics Aims Supercomputers, $57M At Protein Motion”
Millendo Launches Phase 2b Study of PCOS Drug After Year of Growth
Millendo Therapeutics, the Ann Arbor, MI-based biotech company developing drugs to treat endocrine diseases, last month began Phase 2b clinical trials for MLE4901, a non-hormonal therapy for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). There currently aren’t any approved therapies for PCOS, which is the most common endocrine disease in women. Julia Owens, president and … Continue reading “Millendo Launches Phase 2b Study of PCOS Drug After Year of Growth”
From Art Collecting to Allego: Meet the Busiest CEO in Boston Tech
Yuchun Lee has a plan, or a thesis, for everything. The tech entrepreneur is perhaps best known for leading Unica, a marketing software company that went public and was bought by IBM for $480 million in 2010. He was also a member of the famed MIT blackjack team in the ‘90s, and is still barred … Continue reading “From Art Collecting to Allego: Meet the Busiest CEO in Boston Tech”
Roundup: Qentelli, Health Wildcatters, Fannin, & Texas Disruptors
Let’s get caught up with the latest innovation news from Xconomy Texas. —Qentelli wants to make the quality assurance process in software development more agile by bringing in modern methodology to testing practices. The Dallas startup has built a process that will test QA during the development process rather than after the software has been … Continue reading “Roundup: Qentelli, Health Wildcatters, Fannin, & Texas Disruptors”
New York Tech Meetup Puts Comedy Hack Day Finalists at Center Stage
There will probably always be apps that serve little real-world use, or are so focused on technology that it is extremely hard for the average person to understand what they are for. At last night’s New York Tech Meetup, a happy middle ground of mirth was found with a batch of apps created with comedy … Continue reading “New York Tech Meetup Puts Comedy Hack Day Finalists at Center Stage”
Cybersecurity Startup MedCrypt Gets $750K to Defend Health Devices
MedCrypt, a healthtech cybersecurity startup founded near San Diego, has raised $750,000 in a seed financing round led by Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE: [[ticker:SFE]]), a private equity fund in suburban Philadelphia that invests in healthcare, fintech, and digital media. (Safeguard Scientifics also is an investor in Sotera Wireless, the San Diego-based maker of wireless devices for … Continue reading “Cybersecurity Startup MedCrypt Gets $750K to Defend Health Devices”
Agtech Startup Crop Enhancement Reaps $8.5M for Plant Coating Tech
Pesticides are a challenging agricultural problem, because rain washes them off of plants and the resulting runoff can poison other plants, animals, and water systems. Agricultural biotech startup Crop Enhancement is testing a plant protection product that could reduce pesticide use and perhaps do away with these chemical treatments altogether. Today, the company is announcing … Continue reading “Agtech Startup Crop Enhancement Reaps $8.5M for Plant Coating Tech”
For Fledgling San Antonio Companies, Startup Resources Trickling In
San Antonio—Echolase, a young startup with a product that crosses over between technology and life sciences, is on the brink of getting its first outside funding from a local investment group. But with the future of the company dependent on getting more money—Echolase needs funds to further test its medical imaging device, to rent office … Continue reading “For Fledgling San Antonio Companies, Startup Resources Trickling In”
Octiv Snags Backing from GE Ventures, Plans to Continue Expansion
Octiv, the Indianapolis-based startup working on productivity tools for sales teams, announced last week that it has secured investment capital from GE Ventures, which has offices in Boston, San Francisco, and other cities across the country. The amount contributed by GE Ventures, the venture capital arm of General Electric (NYSE: [[ticker:GE]]), was undisclosed. The funding … Continue reading “Octiv Snags Backing from GE Ventures, Plans to Continue Expansion”
HealthMyne Brings On New CEO, Eyes 2017 For Commercial Launch
HealthMyne, a healthcare IT startup based in Madison, WI, has named Arvind Subramanian as its new chief executive, the company said Monday. Subramanian’s first day at HealthMyne was Aug. 1, he said in a phone interview. Subramanian replaces Praveen Sinha, who co-founded HealthMyne in 2013. Sinha will now be vice president of business development, the … Continue reading “HealthMyne Brings On New CEO, Eyes 2017 For Commercial Launch”
3 Startups to Watch From MIT’s Delta V Accelerator
Anyone who thinks they can look at a dozen startups and accurately pick out the one or two that will become successful businesses is kidding themselves. But it’s still fun to try. On Friday, MIT lifted the curtain on 14 student-led teams that worked throughout the summer building technology startups aimed at solving problems in … Continue reading “3 Startups to Watch From MIT’s Delta V Accelerator”
Sanofi, Verily Fund Diabetes Startup With $500M
[Updated, 9/12/16, 2:35 p.m. See below.] French healthcare giant Sanofi (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]) and Verily, the life-science group within Google’s parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GOOG]]), are each putting nearly $250 million into a new startup, Onduo, that will develop diabetes treatments. Onduo will be based in Cambridge, MA, and run by a former big-box superstore executive, … Continue reading “Sanofi, Verily Fund Diabetes Startup With $500M”
Disruptors 2016: The Future of Software, Transportation Tech & More
Houston—Texas is synonymous with cars: wide roadways that extend into open spaces. The state hosts the Cadillac Ranch (a public art installation made up of the iconic automobile), and, course, the city of Houston is home to the global oil and gas industry. Plenty of innovation in the transportation sector is also taking place in … Continue reading “Disruptors 2016: The Future of Software, Transportation Tech & More”
Arrowhead, Accuray, & SKY Imaging: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist
Catch up on the latest happenings in Wisconsin’s innovation community: —Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARWR]]) said on Wednesday that it had dosed the first patient in the next stage of a “Phase 1/2 study” of a drug aimed at treating chronic hepatitis B virus infection. The company—which is based in Pasadena, CA, but houses its research … Continue reading “Arrowhead, Accuray, & SKY Imaging: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist”
Celgene Touts Data From Early Study of Oral GI Drug
For a few years now, Celgene has been trying to show that the $710 million it shelled out for a gastrointestinal drug from Ireland’s Nogra Pharma was money well spent. Data released this morning from an early study are meant to help boost its case. Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]), of Summit, NJ, said this morning that … Continue reading “Celgene Touts Data From Early Study of Oral GI Drug”
Grab the Early Bird Rate for What’s Hot in Boston Healthtech
Leaders across the medical, digital health, and biotechnology industries are coming together for this special event on November 17 at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA. Join us for interactive panels, keynote talks, and presentations from an elite group of leaders discussing how technology is changing the healthcare industry. Check out our confirmed speakers—and keep … Continue reading “Grab the Early Bird Rate for What’s Hot in Boston Healthtech”
How We Won $50,000 in SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Contest
Recently, the student accelerator program mystartupXX, a joint program of UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management and the Jacobs School of Engineering, won a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration as a Growth Accelerator Fund Competition winner. We were one of 68 winners announced Aug. 31 in the nationwide contest. This was … Continue reading “How We Won $50,000 in SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Contest”
Seeking to Join Editas, Intellia, CRISPR Tx Makes Long Awaited IPO Push
Investors hoping to buy into the vast, yet still unproven drugmaking potential of the gene editing system CRISPR-Cas9 will soon have three different companies to choose from. CRISPR Therapeutics filed for an IPO on Friday, meaning it could soon join Boston-area rivals Editas Medicine and Intellia Therapeutics in the expanding club of publicly traded CRISPR-Cas9 … Continue reading “Seeking to Join Editas, Intellia, CRISPR Tx Makes Long Awaited IPO Push”
Start Garden Spins Off Venture Fund Focused on Early-Stage Startups
Start Garden, the Grand Rapids, MI-based accelerator working to boost West Michigan’s startup ecosystem, has spun out its investing arm into a private, independent entity called Wakestream Ventures. Wakestream will be led by Amway scion Rick DeVos, Start Garden’s founder, and will make venture investments primarily in technologies with high growth potential, including “hardware-software convergence … Continue reading “Start Garden Spins Off Venture Fund Focused on Early-Stage Startups”
MIT’s Bhatia Refocuses Spotlight on Gender Diversity in Biotech
Sangeeta Bhatia has been talking about the woeful lack of diversity in the life sciences and other high-tech industries since the late 1980s, when she was an undergraduate studying biomedical engineering at Brown University. She thinks the situation is improving, but not nearly fast enough. “I think the statistics are all getting better. What I … Continue reading “MIT’s Bhatia Refocuses Spotlight on Gender Diversity in Biotech”
Chrono Therapeutics Scores $47.6M to Advance Anti-Smoking System
Digital health company Chrono Therapeutics has landed $47.6 million from investors to fund its drive toward FDA approval of a wearable quit-smoking system it hopes will rival products like Pfizer’s drug Chantix. Chrono’s product combines a programmed patch delivering tailored doses of nicotine with a motivational app to deal with the psychological aspects of addiction … Continue reading “Chrono Therapeutics Scores $47.6M to Advance Anti-Smoking System”
Spurred by New Law, ConsortiEX Snags $2.5M for Supply Chain Software
In 2012, a fungal meningitis outbreak at the New England Compounding Center, a pharmacy in Framingham, MA, ultimately claimed the lives of 64 patients. The cause of their deaths is believed to be contaminated steroid injections they received from the pharmacy, according to reporting by Newsweek and other publications. The following year, President Barack Obama … Continue reading “Spurred by New Law, ConsortiEX Snags $2.5M for Supply Chain Software”
Seattle Week in Review: A Unicorn Spotted in the Wild
Not that it matters, but we have the first privately held Seattle-area company in a long time to claim a valuation north of $1 billion. OfferUp is that rare, mythical beast, the unicorn. All without publicly disclosing a business model for its mobile marketplace connecting local buyers and sellers. Other Seattle tech news we’re reviewing … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: A Unicorn Spotted in the Wild”
Organovo to Test Pre-Clinical Drugs on Bio-Printed Kidney Tissue
It’s been almost two years since Organovo (NYSE: [[ticker:ONVO]]) created a new business—using its bio-printing technology to create 3-D samples of living human liver tissue for use in testing the toxicity of pre-clinical drug candidates. Since then, the San Diego company has built a thriving business as a contract research organization (CRO) that tests experimental … Continue reading “Organovo to Test Pre-Clinical Drugs on Bio-Printed Kidney Tissue”
Houston’s Arundo Taps Into the Industrial Internet for Energy Firms
Houston—Oilfield operations are increasingly digitized, with each piece of equipment loaded with software and sensors spitting out reams of data. “Heavy equipment is becoming instrumented. Now, what do I do with all of that information?” asks Stuart Morstead, COO at Houston-based Arundo Analytics. He says the company can help oil and gas companies, as well … Continue reading “Houston’s Arundo Taps Into the Industrial Internet for Energy Firms”
Business Leaders Convene for What’s Hot in Boston Healthtech on Nov. 17
Boston has something special going on in terms of health-related technologies and applications: world-renowned medical facilities, training institutions, academic researchers, health IT companies, startups, and investors. Yet the future of healthtech—and Boston’s place in it—is uncertain. As things like health analytics, genomics, telemedicine, and wearables become more integrated into hospitals and home life, new opportunities … Continue reading “Business Leaders Convene for What’s Hot in Boston Healthtech on Nov. 17”
Bio Roundup: Cancer Wishes and Shopping Lists, Allergan Pricing & More
[Corrected, 9/12/16, 4:28 p.m. See below.] What do cancer experts want? The moon, perhaps. As part of the Obama administration’s “cancer moonshot” program, a panel of scientists this week presented a set of broad, ambitious recommendations to speed up the pace of cancer research, treatment, and prevention. The scientific goals, writ large, included nationwide data … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Cancer Wishes and Shopping Lists, Allergan Pricing & More”
Tyler Jacks, Cancer Moonshot Panel Co-Chair, Discusses Roadmap
The Obama administration wants to speed up cancer research with its “Cancer Moonshot” program—packing 10 years’ worth of work on prevention and treatment programs into five is one of its rallying cries. Agreeing on what to do, and how to do it, is the first step. The FDA agreed this summer to reorganize the way … Continue reading “Tyler Jacks, Cancer Moonshot Panel Co-Chair, Discusses Roadmap”
StartingBlock Reaches Funding Goal, Moves Closer to Groundbreaking
StartingBlock Madison, a still-to-be-built entrepreneurial center just east of downtown in Wisconsin’s capital city, took another major step forward this week. The nonprofit organization says it has met its $3 million fundraising goal and, with that piece in place, can continue working toward a groundbreaking planned for later this year. The City of Madison contributed … Continue reading “StartingBlock Reaches Funding Goal, Moves Closer to Groundbreaking”
SessionM Snags $35M From General Atlantic, Salesforce, & Others
It’s a busy week for mobile tech in the Boston area. After text-messaging app firm HeyWire was sold to Salesforce, now comes mobile-marketing startup SessionM announcing it has received a $35 million investment. The “strategic growth” round was led by General Atlantic. New investor Salesforce Ventures also contributed, along with previous backers Causeway Media Partners, … Continue reading “SessionM Snags $35M From General Atlantic, Salesforce, & Others”
OfferUp Raises $119M to Pursue Faster Growth in Local Marketplaces
Bellevue, WA-based OfferUp announced today a $119 million investment from Warburg Pincus, the private equity firm, with participation from new investors GGV Capital and Altimeter Capital. The company—which runs a mobile-first marketplace for local goods, in competition with Craigslist and neighborhood garage sales, among others—is growing fast and hoovering up cash. This latest investment, which … Continue reading “OfferUp Raises $119M to Pursue Faster Growth in Local Marketplaces”
Enterprise Software Startup DroneDeploy Closes $20M Series B Round
San Francisco’s DroneDeploy, a cloud-based software startup serving the commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market, closed on a $20 million Series B round late last month. Scale Venture Partners led the round, with participation from High Alpha Capital and a host of previous investors. As part of the deal, Rory O’Driscoll, Scale Venture Partners co-founder … Continue reading “Enterprise Software Startup DroneDeploy Closes $20M Series B Round”
San Antonio Tech Academy Creates Cybersecurity Course for Veterans
San Antonio—A technical career school affiliated with Rackspace is announcing a new training program focused on cybersecurity, a move that comes as more companies around the nation are seeking workers with highly technical training, especially in Internet security. The Rackspace Open Cloud Academy is starting a 12-week course on cybersecurity for job-seeking veterans with experience … Continue reading “San Antonio Tech Academy Creates Cybersecurity Course for Veterans”
Salesforce Buys HeyWire to Help Businesses Reach Customers Via SMS
Salesforce has made another Boston-area acquisition, scooping up HeyWire in a deal that underscores the growing importance of mobile messaging among the ways that businesses communicate with customers. The deal’s terms weren’t disclosed, but it’s surely much smaller than the $2.8 billion that San Francisco-based Salesforce (NYSE: [[ticker:CRM]]) paid earlier this year for Burlington, MA-based … Continue reading “Salesforce Buys HeyWire to Help Businesses Reach Customers Via SMS”
Owl Manor’s Regenerative Medicine Veterinary Tech Lands $1.2M Round
Regenerative medicine techniques offer ways to tap into the body’s own healing abilities to treat injuries. Owl Manor Veterinary says its technology offers a better alternative to other biological treatments for joint damage in horses and dogs and now the medical device company has $1.2 million in capital to advance its efforts. Warsaw, IN-based Owl … Continue reading “Owl Manor’s Regenerative Medicine Veterinary Tech Lands $1.2M Round”
Detroit in Tech Aims to Boost Diversity, Connect Startups to Resources
A new project to support minority entrepreneurs by highlighting their work and connecting them with the resources they need to grow their companies has launched in the Motor City. Detroit in Tech, a collaboration between Grand Circus, Google for Entrepreneurs, and Code2040, seeks to even the playing field in a growing ecosystem. According to Detroit … Continue reading “Detroit in Tech Aims to Boost Diversity, Connect Startups to Resources”
The Power of Polymers
Throughout history, innovative humans have developed technology to overcome or adapt to challenges in the natural world. As it turns out, some of our most important advances were actually inspired by a naturally occurring group of materials: polymers. Derived from Greek words meaning “many parts,” the word polymer refers to a large molecule composed of … Continue reading “The Power of Polymers”
Everyone Counts Voting System Accredited for Federal Elections, But…
When the San Diego voting technology company Everyone Counts closed on a $20 million financing deal a year ago, executive chairman Tom Tullie said the company needed funding in “a pretty big way” to get ready for the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. Among other things, Everyone Counts needed to get its eLect Quad Audit voting … Continue reading “Everyone Counts Voting System Accredited for Federal Elections, But…”
Boston Tech Watch: GE, PillPack, Tech IPOs, Lola, Amazon, & More
[Updated 9/8/16, 4:46 pm. See below.] This week in Boston tech, we’re tracking the prospects for the state’s second tech IPO of the year, GE’s investments in 3D printing, new investments in pharmacy technology, software talent on the move, and more. Read on for details. —Online pharmacy and medication-management firm PillPack has raised $31.1 million … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: GE, PillPack, Tech IPOs, Lola, Amazon, & More”
Retrophin Drug Licensed by Shkreli Shows Positive Phase 2 Results
Retrophin, the drug developer founded by controversial former biotech executive Martin Shkreli, has posted positive results from a midstage study for its treatment for a rare kidney disease. San Diego-based Retrophin said that its drug, sparsentan, outperformed another drug sometimes used to manage a rare kidney disease, called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), in a Phase … Continue reading “Retrophin Drug Licensed by Shkreli Shows Positive Phase 2 Results”
Julep CEO Disputes Attorney General’s Account of Settlement
Julep Beauty settled a lawsuit brought by the Washington state attorney general stemming from its recurring monthly makeup subscriptions—which it enticed customers to sign up for with a free or discounted initial shipment, but which some customers had trouble cancelling. The settlement was announced by the attorney general’s office Tuesday. The attorney general’s complaint alleged … Continue reading “Julep CEO Disputes Attorney General’s Account of Settlement”