If you ask people who don’t follow biotech too closely what they know about CRISPR, you might get two answers: genetic editing and a big patent fight. But a new CRISPR patent highlights a lower-profile potential use for the biotechnology: genetic detection and analysis. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the patent Tuesday to … Continue reading “Caribou Bio’s New CRISPR Patent Isn’t About Gene Editing”
Category: National
Austin Startup Vyopta Nets $5M Series A from AVX Partners
Austin, TX-based Vyopta, which provides a video conferencing system dashboard for businesses, has raised $5 million as the startup seeks to expand its reach. Vyopta helps businesses ranging from Stanford Health Care to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs better manage the many Internet-enabled conference calls their employees participate each year. Ivan Montoya, Vyopta’s vice … Continue reading “Austin Startup Vyopta Nets $5M Series A from AVX Partners”
In Return to Roots, Understory Raises $7.5M & Relocates HQ to WI
Understory is coming home to Wisconsin with $7.5 million in tow. The weather technology startup, formerly known as Subsidence, was founded in Madison, WI, in 2012 and went through Wisconsin startup accelerator Gener8tor’s first session. A year later, the company received an investment and hands-on mentorship from Bolt in the hardware venture firm’s Boston space. … Continue reading “In Return to Roots, Understory Raises $7.5M & Relocates HQ to WI”
Detroit-Based Weyn Accepted into Silicon Valley Game Accelerator
It can be challenging for Detroit startups to attract the attention of Silicon Valley’s power players, especially when they’re competing in sectors that are firmly planted in the Bay Area. That’s why it’s big news that Weyn, a Motor City mobile gaming company, has been accepted into the Core Labs Game Accelerator, which is affiliated … Continue reading “Detroit-Based Weyn Accepted into Silicon Valley Game Accelerator”
OnKöl, VC Ranking, & Stem Cells: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist
A Silicon Valley tie-up, a new, nine-figure fund, and some flattering venture capital news are among these recent headlines from Wisconsin’s innovation community: —OnKöl, a Milwaukee-based startup whose flagship product is aimed at older adults, and ties together myriad home and health-monitoring devices, said it has been selected as a finalist for a 2016 Edison … Continue reading “OnKöl, VC Ranking, & Stem Cells: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist”
Tour of Texas: Cars, Insurance, E-commerce & Cloud Demo Day
Greetings, readers. We’re mixing up the usual rotation of roundup news to bring you an innovation “Tour of Texas”—stories on venture capital activity, startup re-branding, e-commerce, and a study of entrepreneurship—from around the state’s major metro areas. Austin: —The Zebra has set its sights on the murky confines of the insurance industry. Founder Adam Lyons … Continue reading “Tour of Texas: Cars, Insurance, E-commerce & Cloud Demo Day”
Akili CEO Gives Inside Look at Startup’s Therapeutic Video Game Play
Akili Interactive Labs is a medical device company that makes mobile video games—and not the other way around. That’s an important distinction for co-founder and CEO Eddie Martucci. “We’re not a consumer company, nor do we want to be,” Martucci told me recently, as we chatted in a conference room at Akili’s new downtown Boston … Continue reading “Akili CEO Gives Inside Look at Startup’s Therapeutic Video Game Play”
Health VR Startup MindMaze Claims Unicorn Status with $100M Raise
MindMaze has a long-term plan to transform medical care using imaging techniques such as virtual reality and augmented reality, and now it has $100 million from investors to explore those possibilities. The startup, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, is making San Francisco its U.S. headquarters, drawn here by the Bay Area’s active virtual reality community and … Continue reading “Health VR Startup MindMaze Claims Unicorn Status with $100M Raise”
Drones, Bots & More at Robo Madness: The A.I. Explosion, 3/31
If you follow emerging technologies and startups, you’ll notice that “machine learning” seems to be everywhere. So are natural language processing and computer vision. So are drones and connected devices. We’re putting all those things together for a business audience at a very special event on March 31, called Robo Madness: The A.I. Explosion. It’s … Continue reading “Drones, Bots & More at Robo Madness: The A.I. Explosion, 3/31”
Alcohol Delivery App Thirstie Pours Itself a Double, Acquires DrinkFly
The race to be the top app that people use to order alcohol for delivery took a new turn on Wednesday. New York-based Thirstie has acquired DrinkFly, a Chicago-based company also in the alcohol delivery business. With this deal, Thirstie gets into four new markets, bringing its coverage to more than 22 cities, says CEO Devaraj Southworth. The … Continue reading “Alcohol Delivery App Thirstie Pours Itself a Double, Acquires DrinkFly”
In Murky Regulatory Filings, Idaciti Seeks to Bring Transparency
Scouring public financial documents for information can be a true test of will, with countless pages of numbers and jargon battling to lull a reader to sleep at every glance. Idaciti, a Denver-based startup, is launching a software product today that it contends will do that difficult research for you, while also presenting the findings … Continue reading “In Murky Regulatory Filings, Idaciti Seeks to Bring Transparency”
Dallas Fintech Firm StoneEagle Raises $76M for Payments System
Dallas — A Dallas area fintech company has raised $76 million from San Francisco-based venture firm FTV Capital. StoneEagle Services sells virtual “credit cards” for business-to-business payments to the healthcare and automotive industries, among others. The idea is to digitize traditional processes, such as insurance company payments to healthcare providers or reimbursements for automobile warranty claims. “If … Continue reading “Dallas Fintech Firm StoneEagle Raises $76M for Payments System”
Synlogic Nabs $40M, Prepares To Put Modified Microbes Into Patients
Synlogic just inked its first partnership, with AbbVie, last week. Today the Cambridge, MA-based startup got the cash needed to get to another first: tests of its genetically altered microbes in human patients. Synlogic has raised a $40 million Series B round led by new investor Orbimed HealthCare Fund Management. The company—founded in 2014 by … Continue reading “Synlogic Nabs $40M, Prepares To Put Modified Microbes Into Patients”
BetterLesson Grabs $6M to Make Teacher Development More Personal
When former teachers Alex Grodd and Erin Osborn started BetterLesson in 2008, their startup was part of a surge of companies creating online repositories of lesson plans and helping educators collaborate with peers near and far. Now, the Cambridge, MA-based company has its sights set on another growing trend in education technology: personalized professional development … Continue reading “BetterLesson Grabs $6M to Make Teacher Development More Personal”
Medical Devices Tie-up: Stryker to Buy Physio-Control for $1.28B
Physio-Control, a progenitor of the Seattle-area medical devices industry, will again become part of a large public company headquartered elsewhere. Kalamazoo, MI-based Stryker (NYSE: [[ticker:SYK]]) has agreed to buy the maker of automated external defibrillators and other devices for $1.28 billion in cash. For Stryker, Physio-Control is the third acquisition announced this month and its 20th since 2010. Stryker … Continue reading “Medical Devices Tie-up: Stryker to Buy Physio-Control for $1.28B”
Gusto, Growing in Denver, Looks to Add 1,000 Area Employees
Striding into the new Gusto office in the heart of Denver’s frantic LoDo neighborhood feels a bit like stepping into a daycare center. But not in the snotty-nosed-kid way. More like the prototypical Silicon-Valley-startup way. Just three stories above the bustling 16th Street Mall, the tricked-out lobby area boasts massive, floor-to-ceiling maps of the region … Continue reading “Gusto, Growing in Denver, Looks to Add 1,000 Area Employees”
As Innovation Economy Grows, San Diego Seeks Dorm Room Entrepreneurs
San Diego’s innovation economy has come a long way since the bitter winter of 2009. As the great recession deepened, venture investments in the region fell to a 12-year low in the first quarter, with less than $101 million invested in 17 companies, according to one venture industry survey. As a point of contrast, venture … Continue reading “As Innovation Economy Grows, San Diego Seeks Dorm Room Entrepreneurs”
Dallas E-commerce Startup FanPrint Connects Athletes to Fans
Dallas — Jerseys of professional athletes, the player’s number featured prominently on the back, are a staple in sports memorabilia. But a Dallas startup wants to make those shirts more personal for those who are wearing them. FanPrint, which was founded in 2012, uses social media to market sports-themed apparel. About 80 percent of its … Continue reading “Dallas E-commerce Startup FanPrint Connects Athletes to Fans”
A.I. Startup Talla Tracks Down $4M From Avalon, Others
The funding deals keep coming for startups developing businesses around artificial-intelligence technologies. The latest is Talla, which is working on a text-based virtual assistant for corporate functions such as recruiting and human resources. We first reported that Cambridge, MA-based Talla was raising a seed round. That deal appears to have closed, as a regulatory filing … Continue reading “A.I. Startup Talla Tracks Down $4M From Avalon, Others”
“Innovation” in a Competitive Startup Economy
Seventy-three percent of U.S. adults agree that we’re living in an age of significant innovation. Indeed, the pace at which new products and services are being developed is truly incredible. In 2014 alone, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted a record 300,678 utility patents – the most issued in a single year, ever. … Continue reading ““Innovation” in a Competitive Startup Economy”
For Grabs: $1.5M To Edtech Startups That Fill Math Learning Gaps
An edtech startup with a great idea to improve math instruction might find the competition pretty daunting by now. Crowds of math products are already vying with each other for teachers’ attention and school district dollars. Yet NewSchools Ignite, a non-profit edtech accelerator that helps young companies fill gaps across the digital learning landscape, announced … Continue reading “For Grabs: $1.5M To Edtech Startups That Fill Math Learning Gaps”
Startup RewardStock Points the Way to Credit Card Rewards & Travel
If someone offered you a way to take a free tropical vacation, you might think it was too good to be true. But Jon Hayes traveled to a tropical island for free. His global jaunts also include trips throughout South America and Europe, all taken for free or relatively little cash cost. Hayes left a … Continue reading “Startup RewardStock Points the Way to Credit Card Rewards & Travel”
Seven Bridges Gets $45M, Begins Test Run for Cancer Genomics Tool
When President Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative last year ears perked up at Seven Bridges Genomics, one of a number of startups that helps researchers store, analyze, and interpret huge amounts of genomic data. The announcement meant more large-scale genomic data projects were on the way for the Cambridge, MA-based startup to fight for. … Continue reading “Seven Bridges Gets $45M, Begins Test Run for Cancer Genomics Tool”
Biotech’s Recent Headlines, Reimagined In Verse and On Stage
Dear Theranos, I noticed recently that you’re looking for a writer to work in your Palo Alto office. Please don’t tell my bosses at Xconomy, but I’m throwing my hat in the ring. In your job posting, the final requirement in particular made me think I’d be a good fit: Bold experimentation in different … Continue reading “Biotech’s Recent Headlines, Reimagined In Verse and On Stage”
Got Your Back End: Exis, 4 Other Startups in Gener8tor’s New Class
Last month, Facebook announced it was shuttering Parse, a platform for software developers that the social network acquired in 2013 for a reported $85 million. The news came as both a rush and a blow to Dale Willis, co-founder and CEO of Exis, a Madison, WI-based startup. Like Parse, Exis makes tools and services to … Continue reading “Got Your Back End: Exis, 4 Other Startups in Gener8tor’s New Class”
Seattle Week in Review: Space, VR, Machine Intelligence
Welcome to Xconomy Seattle’s new Week in Review. Today, we’ll look back at significant happenings from the Seattle area and beyond, in space, virtual reality, and machine intelligence. The idea is to give you a quick, visual way to digest some of the week’s news. As we all know, dealing with information overload is an … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: Space, VR, Machine Intelligence”
NYTM Recap: Digital Drawings, Dinosaurs, & an App That Fines Tardiness
Judging by the audience’s reaction, people who visit the New York Tech Meetup want to draw in new dimensions, talk to dinosaurs, and make their friends pay money if they are chronically late to events. Those were a few of the extremely varied demos (see slideshow) presented this week at the monthly gathering for new … Continue reading “NYTM Recap: Digital Drawings, Dinosaurs, & an App That Fines Tardiness”
Campless Morphs Into StockX, a “Stock Market” for Sneakers
In October, we brought you the news that Campless, a Philadelphia-based website calling itself the “Kelley Blue Book for sneakers,” had relocated to Detroit at the behest of investor Dan Gilbert. On Monday, Campless morphed into a new venture called StockX, which CEO Josh Luber described as the world’s first online “stock market of things,” … Continue reading “Campless Morphs Into StockX, a “Stock Market” for Sneakers”
Smart Choice MRI Receives $3M from ThedaCare for Midwest Expansion
Merging with a rival often makes a lot of business sense. Investing in a company that provides competing services, by contrast, may require more explanation. Today, most magnetic resonance imaging scans are done at hospitals. But they’re being challenged by companies like Mequon, WI-based Smart Choice MRI, which charges patients a flat $600 rate for … Continue reading “Smart Choice MRI Receives $3M from ThedaCare for Midwest Expansion”
Asics Buys Runkeeper as Apps & Athletic Gear Continue to Merge
[Updated 2/12/16, 3:32 p.m., to include deal price and details from Asics’s press release.] Japanese shoemaker Asics just acquired one of Boston’s best-known consumer tech companies, Runkeeper, for $85 million, as the virtual and physical worlds continue to collide in athletics. Runkeeper co-founder and CEO Jason Jacobs announced the acquisition in a Medium blog post … Continue reading “Asics Buys Runkeeper as Apps & Athletic Gear Continue to Merge”
The Companies: San Antonio’s Techstars Cloud 2016 Demo Day Pitches
[Corrected 2/15/16, 2:15 p.m. See below.] San Antonio — One company lets you send encrypted, secure e-mails. Another finds the meaning in your mounds of unfiltered data. Saw a photo online of a dress that you loved but can’t find? At the Techstars Cloud Demo Day in San Antonio, there was a company that proposed … Continue reading “The Companies: San Antonio’s Techstars Cloud 2016 Demo Day Pitches”
West Coast Biotech Roundup: Grail, Juno, Amgen, Imprimis & More
The continuing market selloff has been brutal to biotech stocks. Barron’s reports that the SPDR S&P Biotech exchange traded fund and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF are both in bear territory, having dropped 50 percent and 39 percent, respectively, since their summer peaks. Yet in San Diego, at least, the preceding boom has enabled a … Continue reading “West Coast Biotech Roundup: Grail, Juno, Amgen, Imprimis & More”
With Free Headsets, Nearpod Enticing Schools to Try Virtual Reality
Education is often mentioned as one of the many future uses of virtual reality technology, though most observers predict that gamers will dominate VR’s early years. But edtech startup Nearpod saw VR’s potential for instruction, and decided, why wait? The company, whose core business is a course-creation platform for teachers, developed an inexpensive way to … Continue reading “With Free Headsets, Nearpod Enticing Schools to Try Virtual Reality”
Constant Contact Cuts 15 Percent of Staff After Its Acquisition
[Updated 2/12/16, 2:57 p.m. See below.] Constant Contact laid off about 15 percent of its employees worldwide this week, casualties of the integration process with its new parent company, Endurance International Group Holdings. Endurance (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EIGI]]) confirmed the job cuts in an e-mail to Xconomy Thursday night, two days after Burlington, MA-based Endurance’s $1.1 billion … Continue reading “Constant Contact Cuts 15 Percent of Staff After Its Acquisition”
Can Innovation Improve Lives of Vulnerable Children and Families?
Technological innovation is rare in the human services field because most service providers operate with limited resources and they are forced to choose between serving more families or investing in technology. In addition, most funding in human services comes from government sources, which rely on paper processes for accountability. More specifically, social service providers lack … Continue reading “Can Innovation Improve Lives of Vulnerable Children and Families?”
The Zebra Aims to Help Consumers Navigate the Insurance Jungle
Austin — One of the biggest promises of the Internet is its ability to make clear obscure corners of the marketplace. The Zebra, an Austin, TX startup, has set its sights on the murky confines of the insurance industry. “From early on, the goal was the simplify insurance,” says Adam Lyons, Zebra’s founder and CEO. “I … Continue reading “The Zebra Aims to Help Consumers Navigate the Insurance Jungle”
DataRobot Downloads $33M as Machine Learning Eats the World
Machine learning is the new big data. Combine the two fields, and you really have something. Boston-area startup DataRobot has raised a $33 million Series B round, led by New Enterprise Associates. Other participating investors included Accomplice, Intel Capital, and IA Ventures. The new money brings the company’s total raised to more than $57 million. … Continue reading “DataRobot Downloads $33M as Machine Learning Eats the World”
Diffbot Raises $10M To Expand AI Engine That Mines The Web
Diffbot, an artificial intelligence company that helps clients extract and combine data from multiple Web sources, announced today it raised $10 million from investors including Tencent and Felicis Ventures to expand its “knowledge-as-a-service” offerings to businesses and consumer apps. The Palo Alto, CA-based startup, founded in 2009, still has a tiny staff of 14. But … Continue reading “Diffbot Raises $10M To Expand AI Engine That Mines The Web”
Latest Techstars Cloud Startup Class Presents Today in San Antonio
San Antonio — For 11 early stage businesses in San Antonio, TX, three months of planning, trepidation, and retooling business plans is coming to a head. The participants of the Techstars Cloud accelerator program are holding their Demo Day today in the Alamo City. Techstars is the Boulder, CO-based mentorship accelerator that offers versions of … Continue reading “Latest Techstars Cloud Startup Class Presents Today in San Antonio”
BrightStar Reveals Phoenix Investment, Sale of $500K in Tax Credits
BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation has made its first investment of 2016 and has sold $500,000 in “early-stage seed” tax credits to several individuals, the foundation said this week. Phoenix Nuclear Labs, a Madison, WI-based startup that has developed particle accelerator technology with applications in areas like medical imaging and weapons inspection, is raising a funding round … Continue reading “BrightStar Reveals Phoenix Investment, Sale of $500K in Tax Credits”
Boston Tech Watch: Disney, DraftKings, Carbon Black, MassChallenge
[Updated 2/11/16, 10:52 a.m., to include the DataCamp announcement.] This week, we’re tracking the latest news about DraftKings, Disney’s local research lab, startup funding announcements, and layoffs at tech companies. Read on for details. —Disney is closing its Cambridge, MA, research lab that opened five years ago, the Boston Herald reported. The lab, one of … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Disney, DraftKings, Carbon Black, MassChallenge”
SOLS Takes a New Step to Find Its Stride in 3D-Customized Products
Will ExoSOLS give a maker of 3D-printed foot care products a boost in scaling up? On Thursday, New York-based SOLS introduced a new app, revised website, and ExoSOLS, the chief product in its new “science of comfort” line. When we first got introduced to SOLS, its focus was on 3D-printed medical orthotics and custom insoles … Continue reading “SOLS Takes a New Step to Find Its Stride in 3D-Customized Products”
East Coast Biotech Roundup: Scangos, CRISPR, Yumanity, Synlogic & More
Biotech and pharma executives from across the country descended on frigid midtown Manhattan this week for the BIO CEO & Investor Conference, and we’ve got a few tidbits from the festivities—as well as the rest of your East Coast headlines—below. But first, a programming note. The East Coast roundup has moved to a weekly Thursday … Continue reading “East Coast Biotech Roundup: Scangos, CRISPR, Yumanity, Synlogic & More”
Proteostasis Cuts Price But Heads to Nasdaq After $50M IPO
The stock markets haven’t been kind to biotech companies this year whether the companies are already public or trying to be. Proteostasis Therapeutics, a developer of drugs for cystic fibrosis and other diseases, is the latest example. It had to significantly discount its IPO demands to make it to the Nasdaq. Cambridge, MA-based Proteostasis raised … Continue reading “Proteostasis Cuts Price But Heads to Nasdaq After $50M IPO”
TRImaran Licenses WSU Compounds to Develop Neuro Drugs
TRImaran Pharma aims to take on a group of neurological diseases, like depression, by developing drugs that impact three different types of neurotransmitters in the brain. Those drug prospects come from Wayne State University, which licensed a group of molecules to the company this week for an undisclosed sum. Aloke Dutta, a pharmaceutical sciences professor … Continue reading “TRImaran Licenses WSU Compounds to Develop Neuro Drugs”
Homeyou Takes Page From Wayfair Playbook for Home-Contractor Site
Quick, name this Boston-area consumer Web company: It flew under the radar for years, bootstrapped its way to a thriving business built on technology developed in-house and a sharp emphasis on customer service across multiple websites, and then rose to new heights after rebranding itself. If you said Wayfair, you’re right. Another correct answer: Homeyou. … Continue reading “Homeyou Takes Page From Wayfair Playbook for Home-Contractor Site”
A Slice of DFJ’s New $350M Fund Intended for Northwest Entrepreneurs
[Corrected 2/11/16, 9:00 pm. See below.] Bill Bryant is something of an anomaly in Pacific Northwest venture capital: He’s a full-fledged investing partner in a big, storied Silicon Valley firm—Draper Fisher Jurvetson, which just announced a $350 million 12th venture fund—who is based permanently in Seattle and focused squarely on investments in the region. Bryant, a … Continue reading “A Slice of DFJ’s New $350M Fund Intended for Northwest Entrepreneurs”
Teaching Innovation: Rice Professor Reviews Accelerator Programs
Houston — Entrepreneurship is considered the fuel that drives economic growth. But what are the best ways to help entrepreneurs be more successful—and what are best practices for startup accelerator programs? Those are questions, among others, that Rice University professor Yael Hochberg wants to try to narrow down. She is investigating which parts of the educational … Continue reading “Teaching Innovation: Rice Professor Reviews Accelerator Programs”
Rabble On: Tech Startup Aims to Boost Local Music Through Libraries
In July, Amazon supplanted Walmart (NYSE: [[ticker:WMT]]) as the nation’s most valuable retailer, as measured by market capitalization. Those who follow technology trends could have told you they had seen this change as inevitable. Even if the news didn’t come as a huge surprise, it was yet another indicator of the impact e-commerce has had … Continue reading “Rabble On: Tech Startup Aims to Boost Local Music Through Libraries”
Top Engineer Behind Google’s Rise Will Lead Grail In Cancer-Test Quest
Grail wants to develop a blood test that detects early stage cancer in seemingly healthy people, an ambitious and daunting proposition that I wrote about in detail last week. After a month in the public spotlight without an official CEO, the new biotech company has named to the top spot not a cancer expert, but … Continue reading “Top Engineer Behind Google’s Rise Will Lead Grail In Cancer-Test Quest”