Location-based marketing and loyalty programs are things that our kids will probably take for granted someday. The only question is how annoying and intrusive they will be (the programs, not the kids—well, never mind). A young tech startup called Adored, based in Manchester, NH, has just raised a $2.3 million seed round to get ahead … Continue reading “Boston Investors Back Adored’s iBeacon App, Mobile Loyalty Vision”
Category: National
Wisconsin Roundup: Exact Sciences, State Budget, Lucigen, & More
Here are a few of the latest updates from Wisconsin’s tech and innovation community: —Middleton-based Lucigen was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue developing a DNA cloning product used in protein expression, according to a press release. The company makes a variety of tools for life sciences research, … Continue reading “Wisconsin Roundup: Exact Sciences, State Budget, Lucigen, & More”
Backstitch Flips Switch on Service Aiming to Cut Through Web’s Noise
Backstitch, the Detroit-based software startup that automatically curates content and organizes the noise of the Internet according to users’ preferences, went live last week with expanded tools and services, the culmination of about a year’s work teasing out what its customers truly want, the company said. Co-founder Jordan Warzecha said that Backstitch still offers a … Continue reading “Backstitch Flips Switch on Service Aiming to Cut Through Web’s Noise”
Costanoa Closes $135 M Second Fund To Back Cloud, Data Startups
Costanoa Venture Capital, an early stage investment firm founded in late 2012 with $100 million to manage, enjoyed a quick score by late 2014 when one of its first portfolio companies, Westminster, CO-based Datalogix, drew an acquisition bid from Oracle and shortly sold for a reported $1.2 billion. With that short track record, Palo Alto, … Continue reading “Costanoa Closes $135 M Second Fund To Back Cloud, Data Startups”
UCSD Asks Court to Restore Custody and Control of Alzheimer’s Data
If there’s anything that’s clear in the recent donnybrook between UC San Diego and the University of Southern California, it’s that a 24-year study known as the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) is suddenly not very cooperative anymore. UC San Diego filed a civil lawsuit last week against USC and former UCSD scientist Paul Aisen, … Continue reading “UCSD Asks Court to Restore Custody and Control of Alzheimer’s Data”
Green Park & Golf Brings Swedish Medtech “Cooling Cap” to Dallas
Dallas’s Green Park & Golf Ventures has invested $850,000 in a Swedish medtech firm, which will now open its U.S. headquarters in the North Texas city. Dignitana has developed a scalp-cooling system that, when used during chemotherapy, can reduce hair loss. The product is already in use in Europe, Latin America, and Australia, the venture … Continue reading “Green Park & Golf Brings Swedish Medtech “Cooling Cap” to Dallas”
Aimmune May Seek Up To $115M in IPO for Allergy Therapy Drug
Only a few months after raising $80 million in a Series B financing, Aimmune Therapeutics is hoping that its goal of creating a pharmaceutical-grade therapy for peanut and other allergies will help it raise as much as $115 million in an initial public offering. The Brisbane, CA-based company, which changed its name to Aimmune from … Continue reading “Aimmune May Seek Up To $115M in IPO for Allergy Therapy Drug”
Vote (Mostly) Online Shuts Down (For Now)
Vote (Mostly) Online, a civic-minded startup that aimed to help streamline the voting process for Wisconsin residents, has shut down operations. But co-founder Mike Fenchel says this might not be the end for the Madison, WI, startup’s idea. He’s trying to find people with the time and resources to restart the project. Vote (Mostly) Online—we’ll … Continue reading “Vote (Mostly) Online Shuts Down (For Now)”
FDA Cuts Limit on Esperion Cholesterol Drug, Considers Competitors
[Corrected 7/8/15, 1:40 p.m. See below.] As the FDA considers whether to approve two new cholesterol drugs with blockbuster potential, the agency also removed a “partial clinical hold” on the amount the maker of a third competing drug can test in clinical trials. Esperion Therapeutics, based in Ann Arbor, MI, announced Tuesday that the FDA removed … Continue reading “FDA Cuts Limit on Esperion Cholesterol Drug, Considers Competitors”
Intern Season is Here—But Companies Need A Better Hiring Strategy
It’s summer and that means intern season is in full swing. According to a recent Washington Post piece by Jeffrey Selingo, “More than 70 to 80 percent of new hires at big companies like Facebook, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and eBay come through their internship programs now, compared to about half or less just a decade ago.” … Continue reading “Intern Season is Here—But Companies Need A Better Hiring Strategy”
Panorama Expands School Surveys, Brings Insights to Education
Good data is hard to find. Whether you’re applying it to business intelligence or security, across industries like retail, travel, or healthcare, the quality of information used to make decisions is crucial. To solve this expanding problem, a number of technology companies have emerged around cleaning and organizing data, making it more shareable, and understanding … Continue reading “Panorama Expands School Surveys, Brings Insights to Education”
Google’s Self-Driving Car Roams, and Maps, the Streets of Austin
Now, this might make Austin, TX, traffic more bearable. Google said Tuesday that it has been testing its self-driving car in the Texas state capital in recent weeks, the first spins outside the company’s Mountain View, CA, headquarters. (The Lexus RX 450h is not exactly driverless; two Google employees are in the car at all … Continue reading “Google’s Self-Driving Car Roams, and Maps, the Streets of Austin”
WeWork Anchoring $380M Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Project
Known for its coworking spaces across country and overseas, New York–based WeWork on Monday said in an e-mail statement sent to Xconomy it had partnered up with developers and the city’s administration to occupy a large chunk of a 675,000-square-foot building to be constructed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. There are already lots of coworking spaces … Continue reading “WeWork Anchoring $380M Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Project”
Chiasma Seeks $75 Million and FDA Approval for Acromegaly Orphan Drug
Chiasma, a Newton, MA-based biopharma company trying to develop oral drugs for orphan diseases typically treated with injectables, is seeking to sell shares in an initial public offering worth about $75 million. The company plans to sell 5.36 million shares for $13 to $15 each in the IPO, according to a document filed with the … Continue reading “Chiasma Seeks $75 Million and FDA Approval for Acromegaly Orphan Drug”
West Coast Biotech Roundup: Juno, UCSD v. USC, Natera, LSDF & More
It was a short work week leading up to the 4th of July, but it was long on news out West. There were plenty of fireworks of the legal, political, and financial variety, with an academic lawsuit in Southern California, a legislative defeat for the Washington state life sciences community, a big Bay Area IPO, … Continue reading “West Coast Biotech Roundup: Juno, UCSD v. USC, Natera, LSDF & More”
BioCardia Files for $50M IPO for Cell-Based Cardiovascular Therapies
BioCardia, a San Carlos, CA-based company expecting to enter its lead cell-based therapy for cardiovascular disease into a Phase 3 trial this year, filed paperwork saying it hopes to raise about $50 million in an initial public offering. The company wants to sell 3.85 million shares for $12 to $14 per share, according to an … Continue reading “BioCardia Files for $50M IPO for Cell-Based Cardiovascular Therapies”
Telluride Accelerator Launches Startups in Colorado’s Ski Country
A haven for skiing and snowboarding in the winter, mountain biking and bluegrass in the summer—that’s the perception of Telluride, a town in southwest Colorado that is one of the most exclusive (and expensive) resort areas in the Rockies. But some locals would like to add entrepreneurial to that list, and they might be making … Continue reading “Telluride Accelerator Launches Startups in Colorado’s Ski Country”
Data Gatherer Turned Drug Developer 23andMe Raises $79.1M, Wants More
23andMe, the data gatherer turned drug developer, appears to be raising $150 million of new funding, according to a document filed July 2 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has sold $79.1 million in the offering so far, according to the document, which shows at least part of the funding was for Series … Continue reading “Data Gatherer Turned Drug Developer 23andMe Raises $79.1M, Wants More”
ONL Therapeutics Promotes New Lead Drug, Expands Clinical Program
ONL Therapeutics, a University of Michigan spin-out working on sight-preserving therapies for retinal diseases, announced that it has changed course in its drug development program. The company has promoted a new lead drug candidate and has expanded its planned clinical studies to include both dry and wet forms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). John Freshley, … Continue reading “ONL Therapeutics Promotes New Lead Drug, Expands Clinical Program”
San Diego’s Fleet Matrix Raises $1M, Changes Name to Acculitx
Acculitx, a San Diego startup founded several years ago as Fleet Matrix, said it has raised $1 million from a local investment firm to advance its data analytics technology for scoring motorists according to their driving behavior. The company says it’s working with major insurance companies to redefine usage-based insurance by ranking drivers based on … Continue reading “San Diego’s Fleet Matrix Raises $1M, Changes Name to Acculitx”
Salsify Scores $16.6M More, Looks to Boost Product Content Online
An important deal at the intersection of e-commerce and content management kicks off our post-holiday tech news. Boston-based Salsify, a startup that makes product-content management software, says it has raised a $16.6 million Series B round led by new investor Venrock. Previous investors Matrix Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners also participated, along with Michael … Continue reading “Salsify Scores $16.6M More, Looks to Boost Product Content Online”
East Coast Biotech Roundup: Vertex, Biogen, Sarepta, Juno, & More
What a week it was for life sciences. Two deals worth more than $1 billion dollars each, FDA approval for a long-awaited potential cystic fibrosis drug, and plenty of other news from new and established biotech companies. And all this happened while Xconomy’s Deputy Biotech Editor Ben Fidler is out of the office. Here’s a … Continue reading “East Coast Biotech Roundup: Vertex, Biogen, Sarepta, Juno, & More”
Roundup: Water Innovation, RevTech, RideScout, & Money for Startups
The end of the 4th of July long weekend means we can start the third quarter in earnest. Let’s kick things off with the latest innovation news from Xconomy Texas: —Accelerate H20, a San Antonio-based accelerator promoting technologies related to what it says is Texas’s $9 billion water market gathered last week in Austin for … Continue reading “Roundup: Water Innovation, RevTech, RideScout, & Money for Startups”
Deeper Issues Underlie UC San Diego Lawsuit Over Raid by USC
[Updated 7/6/15 11:14 am with statements from UCSD and USC below.] A lawsuit that UC San Diego filed last week against the University of Southern California and a prominent Alzheimer’s disease researcher may have ramifications for a concerted effort to create a major new hub for life sciences innovation in Los Angeles. The lawsuit (posted at … Continue reading “Deeper Issues Underlie UC San Diego Lawsuit Over Raid by USC”
Biopharmaceutical Haiku, Round Two
Ebola doctors Heroic efforts admired Angels of mercy! Genome sequencing Compare normal with patient Secrets revealed Next-gen sequencing One big issue still out there Interpretation Republicans rule Eye Affordable Care Act Newly covered screwed? 2.3 percent Medical devices tax Soon to disappear? Advertised widely Personalized medicine More substance, less hype … Continue reading “Biopharmaceutical Haiku, Round Two”
Nordic Innovation House Nurtures Challenger To Apple’s Garage Band
One of the great things about reporting on tech in the Bay Area is that the world comes to you. People of all nationalities have shaped the history of Silicon Valley, and they’re still coming. Today I’m catching up with some news from our Scandinavian contingent. Soundtrap, a startup from Stockholm, Sweden, announced the launch … Continue reading “Nordic Innovation House Nurtures Challenger To Apple’s Garage Band”
Seattle Roundup: State Budget, Unikrn, Skykick, & Korner
Heading into Independence Day weekend, Washington state still has a functioning government. The budget deal reached this week had implications for life sciences, the tech industry—including a tax increase specifically targeting Microsoft—cleantech, education, and much more. There were also a spate of smaller funding deals for Korner, Unikrn (not yet valued at “tres commas,” as … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: State Budget, Unikrn, Skykick, & Korner”
Dispatch from the Deep: Diving in a Developmental Submersible
ABOARD CYCLOPS 1, ELLIOTT BAY—I catch a last, harbor seal’s glimpse of the Seattle Aquarium and downtown skyline beyond through the dome-shaped hatch of the submersible. The pilot turns on the life support systems and opens a valve. Air releases from the ballast tank with a gasp. “OK, everybody, we’re going to go under,” says … Continue reading “Dispatch from the Deep: Diving in a Developmental Submersible”
Weyn Seeks to Develop Mobile Games Targeting Women, People of Color
Ida Byrd-Hill first came to Xconomy’s attention in 2011 for her efforts to introduce Detroit kids to the “wild, wild world of intellectual property” through a board game called Fluke: The Wealth Building Game of Accidential Inventions. Now, Byrd-Hill is taking the same approach—teaching people about wealth through gaming—and putting a digital spin on it. … Continue reading “Weyn Seeks to Develop Mobile Games Targeting Women, People of Color”
FDA Approves Vertex’s Two-Drug Combo For Cystic Fibrosis
[Updated 7/2/15, 2:55 p.m. See below.] The long-expected approval of Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ new combination drug for cystic fibrosis is finally here. The FDA approved the therapy regimen in a letter it sent to the Boston-based company Thursday. The drug’s approval was all but certain, and paves the way for potential billions of dollars in future sales. … Continue reading “FDA Approves Vertex’s Two-Drug Combo For Cystic Fibrosis”
Biogen Offers Up To $1 Billion for AGTC’s Ophthalmology Gene Therapy
Biogen’s revitalized interest in gene therapy continues with a deal the Cambridge, MA-based biotech giant announced this morning. Biogen has agreed to pay $124 million upfront (including about $30 million that came as an equity investment) and as much as $1.1 billion in future milestones to Gainesville, FL-based AGTC (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AGTC]]) for access to its … Continue reading “Biogen Offers Up To $1 Billion for AGTC’s Ophthalmology Gene Therapy”
Zagster Adds $3.5M to Expand Targeted Bike-Sharing Programs
Bikes are hot. The sharing economy is hot. So Zagster is hot. The Cambridge, MA-based bicycle-sharing company said today it has raised $3.5 million in new venture funding. The money comes from previous investors LaunchCapital, Fontinalis Partners, Clean Energy Venture Group, LaunchPad Venture Group, and Boston-area angel investors, as well as new investor Otter Consulting. … Continue reading “Zagster Adds $3.5M to Expand Targeted Bike-Sharing Programs”
XRpro Resurrects Icagen With Buy of Some Pfizer Ion Channel Assets
[Updated 7/2/15, 10:38 am. See below.] Finding new drugs can be challenging, time consuming, and expensive. But Cambridge, MA, drug discovery company XRpro Sciences believes it can make the process faster and more efficient, and it’s scooping up some North Carolina-based assets from Pfizer to do it. XRpro said today it has acquired drug discovery … Continue reading “XRpro Resurrects Icagen With Buy of Some Pfizer Ion Channel Assets”
Why I Killed Noncompetes at My Startup—And You Should, Too
There’s a battle brewing in Boston that every local startup founder and employee is closely watching, but the outcome will have implications far beyond Massachusetts. As our state legislature weighs several bills that would ban noncompete agreements, the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) and many entrepreneurs, including myself, are arguing that the time is … Continue reading “Why I Killed Noncompetes at My Startup—And You Should, Too”
Cisco-OpenDNS Deal Shows Importance of DNS in Security, Dyn CEO Says
Cisco is paying $635 million for privately held OpenDNS, a company founded in 2005 by David Ulevitch, to further build out its cloud-based security business. But the deal is also a sign of the times, according to a prominent player in Web infrastructure. The purchase of San Francisco-based OpenDNS shows that there is still a … Continue reading “Cisco-OpenDNS Deal Shows Importance of DNS in Security, Dyn CEO Says”
Dallas’s KeepTrax Offers Travelers a Diary for the Digital Age
The family vacation has gone digital. KeepTrax, a Dallas-based mobile app, is an online travel diary, aiming to make sense of all the various photos and check-ins we post online. Founder and CEO Kedar Benegal says he wants to remember the places he travels to on trips, but he found that social media sites require … Continue reading “Dallas’s KeepTrax Offers Travelers a Diary for the Digital Age”
What’s On Tap? Hardin Design & Development
With everyone getting ready to enjoy a long holiday weekend—and perhaps raise a cold brew or two in salute to Old Glory—it’s a good time to bring you another installment in our ongoing series exploring the beers on tap at the headquarters of Wisconsin tech companies. Up next: Hardin Design & Development. The 21-person company, … Continue reading “What’s On Tap? Hardin Design & Development”
Spire, Planet Labs Shrug Off Launch Disaster For Elon Musk’s SpaceX
This week began shakily for the aerospace industry with news that an unmanned rocket launched by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX had exploded shortly after launch on Sunday. What Musk described on Twitter as “an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank” scuttled one of the company’s missions to take supplies to astronauts at … Continue reading “Spire, Planet Labs Shrug Off Launch Disaster For Elon Musk’s SpaceX”
WA Life Sciences Industry Faces Future of Diminished State Support
[Updated 7/1/15 4:58 pm with comments from Gov. Inslee. See below.] There was no last-minute veto by Gov. Jay Inslee this time, and so Washington state’s 10-year-old program to support early stage life sciences research and commercialization is coming to an end. The defunding of the Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) combined with the failure to … Continue reading “WA Life Sciences Industry Faces Future of Diminished State Support”
Classy Raises $18M in Round Led by Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital
Classy, a four-year-old San Diego startup that provides online fund-raising services for Teach for America, Oxfam, and other nonprofit organizations, has raised $18 million in a growth-funding round led by Mithril Capital Management, according to a statement from the company. Mithril is the San Francisco investment firm founded in 2012 by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel … Continue reading “Classy Raises $18M in Round Led by Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital”
CE Week Report: Are Robots Limping Forward or Finding Their Stride?
Perhaps a love of science fiction has ingrained unrealistic expectations in me about the prospects for robots. At CE Week, an annual consumer electronics conference held last week in New York, a variety of robots skittered around among the other gadgets in the showroom area (see slideshow), under the command of their human operators. Whether … Continue reading “CE Week Report: Are Robots Limping Forward or Finding Their Stride?”
Prenatal Tester Natera Now Shooting for $175M IPO
Natera of San Carlos, CA, has bumped the fundraising goal for its upcoming IPO to $175 million, according to a document filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The maker of noninvasive prenatal diagnostics wants to sell 10 million shares between $17 and $18 each. The offering, which could come as early as tonight, … Continue reading “Prenatal Tester Natera Now Shooting for $175M IPO”
Doctors See Big Cybersecurity Risks, Compliance as Key for Hospitals
Cybersecurity and healthcare IT are both burgeoning areas of business. Put them together and you have a volatile mix of emerging technologies, security and privacy risks, and regulatory requirements—but also a lot of opportunity for growth and improvements. It’s no surprise that doctors and hospital administrators are concerned with security. The healthcare industry is a … Continue reading “Doctors See Big Cybersecurity Risks, Compliance as Key for Hospitals”
Boston Coders Build “Yeah Buoii” to Prevent Illegal Fishing at High Sea
Coders may be used to hacking problems related to phishing, but one international contest that a group from Boston is hoping to win is tackling fishing itself. Four Bostonians have written algorithms and built a prototype buoy that is intended to detect, identify, and track ships on the high seas that enter “no-fish zones” in … Continue reading “Boston Coders Build “Yeah Buoii” to Prevent Illegal Fishing at High Sea”
Wisconsin Roundup: VC Funding, StartUp Health, Stem Cells, & More
Here’s a collection of recent headlines from Wisconsin’s innovation community: —Waukesha-based Elli Health has changed its name to Intellivisit and tacked nearly $400,000 on to a funding round that previously raised about $780,000, according to SEC filings. The company’s software enables virtual doctor visits. —Madison-based Health eFilings raised $934,500 in a seed funding round that … Continue reading “Wisconsin Roundup: VC Funding, StartUp Health, Stem Cells, & More”
Dallas’s RevTech Announces Startups for New Accelerator
Dallas’s RevTech accelerator—formerly known as VentureSpur—has announced the startups that will make up its first class as a retail- and restaurant-focused program. The five startups are working on innovations related to gambling, loyalty marketing, digital printing, and other industries. Each will receive $40,000 in seed capital and participate in a 14-week program at the Dallas … Continue reading “Dallas’s RevTech Announces Startups for New Accelerator”
WA Tech Group Happy to Trade R&D Incentive for Education, for Now
Despite failing to renew high-technology tax incentives for research and development, the $38.2 billion two-year budget passed by Washington lawmakers this week represents “an amazing compromise,” according to the head of the state’s tech trade group. “A lot of the things that need to be done are being addressed,” says Michael Schutzler, CEO of the … Continue reading “WA Tech Group Happy to Trade R&D Incentive for Education, for Now”
Foundry Group Looks to Raise New $225M Fund Following Fitbit IPO
The Foundry Group is raising another venture capital fund, according to SEC documents. The Boulder, CO-based VC firm is looking to raise $225 million. The fund, named Foundry Venture Capital 2016, is the firm’s fifth. The new fund would bring the total amount of money managed by the Foundry Group to $1.125 billion. All of … Continue reading “Foundry Group Looks to Raise New $225M Fund Following Fitbit IPO”
AstraZeneca Working with Eolas Therapeutics on Anti-Addiction Drug
Eolas Therapeutics, a Carlsbad, CA-based startup developing new drugs for treating addiction, said it has signed a global licensing and partnership agreement with AstraZeneca (NYSE: [[ticker:AZN]]) to advance development of its experimental drug, designed to block a neuropeptide associated with addiction to nicotine and stimulants such as cocaine, opiates, and alcohol. Details concerning the deal … Continue reading “AstraZeneca Working with Eolas Therapeutics on Anti-Addiction Drug”
Amag Seeks New Chapter With $700M Cord Blood Registry Purchase
Amag Pharmaceuticals is trying to climb out of a midlife crisis, and it’s using acquisitions to do so. The Waltham, MA-based company split from long-time CEO Brian Pereira in 2011, a few weeks after its ill-fated attempt to merge with Allos Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALTH]]) was voted down by shareholders. Amag (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMAG]]) tried to move … Continue reading “Amag Seeks New Chapter With $700M Cord Blood Registry Purchase”