Adobe, maker of the widely used Photoshop digital photo-editing software, has acquired New York-based Aviary, a private company that offers its own photo editing apps for mobile devices. The new unit will advance Adobe’s moves toward the use of mobile devices as creative workstations, on par with the desktop computers now used by most design … Continue reading “Adobe Buys Aviary To Speed Push Into Mobile”
Category: National
Wisconsin Roundup: Shoutlet, Exact Sciences, Echometrix, DuPont, & More
Here’s a quick rundown of recent notable announcements from Wisconsin’s innovation and tech community: —Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin became the first Wisconsin insurer to announce coverage of Madison-based Exact Sciences’ recently approved DNA-based screening test for colorectal cancer, Cologuard. Exact (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXAS]]) is one of Madison’s more closely watched biotech companies right … Continue reading “Wisconsin Roundup: Shoutlet, Exact Sciences, Echometrix, DuPont, & More”
Luxury Travel Startup Inspirato Closes $20M Growth Equity Round
Luxury vacation homes are proving to be a very promising business for Inspirato, a Denver travel startup that has caught the eye of some of Silicon Valley and New York’s biggest investors. Inspirato announced Wednesday that it has raised a $20 million growth equity round. W Capital Partners is a new investor in the round, … Continue reading “Luxury Travel Startup Inspirato Closes $20M Growth Equity Round”
TVC Leads $9.5M Round for Centage to Expand Financial Software
The San Diego private equity firm TVC Capital specializes in software deals, but TVC is not a venture investor. TVC says it invests in high-growth companies with untapped potential. You could say that Jeb Spencer, TVC’s co-founder and managing partner, views prospective early stage deals in the white-hot consumer Web sector as all sizzle and … Continue reading “TVC Leads $9.5M Round for Centage to Expand Financial Software”
Aimee Mullins, L’Oréal Talk Progress for Women in Innovation
If you ask Aimee Mullins how to drive innovation, she responds with an athlete’s point of view. Exploring new ideas should be part of a routine, like training for a sport, not just done in a crisis, the athlete and model told me in an interview at L’Oréal USA’s NEXT Generation Awards in New York. … Continue reading “Aimee Mullins, L’Oréal Talk Progress for Women in Innovation”
U-M Social Venture Fund Invests in Detroit’s Loveland Technologies
The University of Michigan today announced that its Social Venture Fund has backed Detroit-based startup Loveland Technologies as part of a Series AA round of financing. An SEC filing shows that Loveland has raised about $780,000 from seven investors, although the company declined to say how much it had raised or name other investors. The … Continue reading “U-M Social Venture Fund Invests in Detroit’s Loveland Technologies”
How the Google X Moonshot Idea Factory Works
It’s not often that a company actively seeks out new problems. But that’s exactly the purpose of Google X, the secretive lab that’s hatched Google Glass, package-delivering drones, and high-altitude balloons that beam Internet service to people not yet online. Astro Teller, the captain of moonshots at Google X, says the company created the research … Continue reading “How the Google X Moonshot Idea Factory Works”
Nexage Joins Parade of Boston Mobile-Ad Acquisitions, for $107.5M
[Updated 4pm, see below.] The Boston area has an impressive history of mobile-advertising startups being acquired for large sums (usually $100 million-plus): Third Screen Media, Enpocket, Quattro Wireless, Where, Jumptap. Now add Nexage to that list. The mobile-ad exchange is being acquired by Millennial Media, the Baltimore-based advertising giant that also bought Jumptap last year. … Continue reading “Nexage Joins Parade of Boston Mobile-Ad Acquisitions, for $107.5M”
With FDA Nod, T2 Bio’s Sepsis Test Heads to Commercial Proving Ground
T2 Biosystems believes that its quick method for testing patients for dangerous viral and bacterial infections could save the healthcare system a lot of money, and save some lives as well. With a key regulatory decision now in the bag, the Lexington, MA-based company will get its chance to prove it. The FDA late Monday … Continue reading “With FDA Nod, T2 Bio’s Sepsis Test Heads to Commercial Proving Ground”
Kinvey Lands $10.8M Series B, Hot on Heels of VMware Partnership
If you want to make hay as an independent mobile backend service company, it helps to have a big partner and some extra cash. Boston-based startup Kinvey can now cross both of those items off its to-do list. Today, the company is announcing a $10.8 million Series B investment, led by new backers NTT Docomo … Continue reading “Kinvey Lands $10.8M Series B, Hot on Heels of VMware Partnership”
“100K” Marathon: A Decades-Long Health Study Makes Its Business Case
For the past several months, 108 people, most of them in the Seattle area, have been under constant biomedical surveillance. And they like it. They’ve agreed to submit to a battery of medical tests that began this year but could stretch for 25 years or more in a landmark study organized by Seattle’s Institute for … Continue reading ““100K” Marathon: A Decades-Long Health Study Makes Its Business Case”
The Rabble Aims to Make the Library Your Go-To Local Music Source
Amazon, iTunes, and other online music marketplaces make millions of songs available to consumers with just the click of a button. That gives small bands trying to grow their fan base beyond their moms and local groupies an easier path to people’s stereos, but it also raises a big question: how do they stand out … Continue reading “The Rabble Aims to Make the Library Your Go-To Local Music Source”
San Diego Meets the Xconomists: A Real-World Innovation Commons
The heat wave broke with impeccable timing, and we were grateful that “California weather” was back as San Diego’s innovation leaders gathered for Xconomy’s sixth annual networking event. Xconomy founder and CEO Bob Buderi also returned to San Diego for the reception, which brings together local startup founders, investors, and innovators in a real-world realization of … Continue reading “San Diego Meets the Xconomists: A Real-World Innovation Commons”
Boston Tech Roundup: Wayfair, Flashnotes, Ubersense, & More
A little more detail about a big IPO and news of some smaller private deals, from seed funding up to an acquisition, to get you caught up this week: —Wayfair, the Boston-based e-commerce company that focuses on home goods, has set a price range for its upcoming IPO. In an SEC filing, the company says it may price its shares at $25-$28 … Continue reading “Boston Tech Roundup: Wayfair, Flashnotes, Ubersense, & More”
Avalon-GSK Collaboration Generates Two More Startups in San Diego
San Diego’s Avalon Ventures is taking the wraps off two new startups today, with each one getting as much as $10 million in Series A financing through the partnership that Avalon established early last year with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]). Silarus Therapeutics is targeting a recently discovered hormone, erythroferrone, for treating disorders involving iron regulation in … Continue reading “Avalon-GSK Collaboration Generates Two More Startups in San Diego”
Cree CEO Tells Illuminating Tale of LED Bulbs, Innovation
Cree’s entry into the consumer LED light bulb market sent waves through a lighting community that knew the Durham, NC, company as a supplier, not a seller of LED lighting components. The announcement last year was also news to a smaller group intimately familiar with Cree (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CREE]])—the company’s employees. Companies often develop new products … Continue reading “Cree CEO Tells Illuminating Tale of LED Bulbs, Innovation”
Colorado Tech Roundup: Dream Chaser, Mars Mission, Web Security
There was some big news—and bad news—for Colorado’s startups and tech companies this week. The biggest was NASA’s decision to cut off funding for the Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser spacecraft, putting the future of the program in doubt. Meanwhile, a Colorado-built satellite is about to enter orbit around Mars, security experts gather in Denver, … Continue reading “Colorado Tech Roundup: Dream Chaser, Mars Mission, Web Security”
Brad Feld, Blackstone, & ViaWest: Denver Tech Leaders Talk Community
Along with the parties, networking, and workshops, Denver Startup Week is an opportunity to take a look at the city as a startup community, evaluate what it needs, and generate ideas about what should be done going forward. That was the topic Thursday, when influential leaders in the Colorado tech industry sat down to talk … Continue reading “Brad Feld, Blackstone, & ViaWest: Denver Tech Leaders Talk Community”
Epic Hopes WI Campus Can Help in Talent War with Apple, Facebook
Epic Systems’ massive, rapidly expanding campus tucked away in the Madison, WI, suburb of Verona is well known among locals and those who follow the electronic health records software industry. It’s probably less familiar to many tech executives in Silicon Valley, even though Epic designed it partly to beat them in the war for young … Continue reading “Epic Hopes WI Campus Can Help in Talent War with Apple, Facebook”
Roundup: New A&M Center, Funds for Ortho Kinematics, Encore Vision
Here is the latest innovation news from Texas: —Texas A&M University Thursday opened a national pandemic influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in Bryan, TX, the first part of a Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, which is a cluster of research and development institutions that the university is currently building. GSK is the largest … Continue reading “Roundup: New A&M Center, Funds for Ortho Kinematics, Encore Vision”
After Early Successes, The Hatch Incubator at MSU Doubles in Size
Two years ago, Spartan Innovations was launched to help nurture and commercialize startups founded by Michigan State University students and faculty or from technology developed at MSU. This week, the MSU Innovation Center announced that The Hatch, its early-stage incubator and co-working space, is expanding. “The growth has been exponential,” says Paul Jacques, the director … Continue reading “After Early Successes, The Hatch Incubator at MSU Doubles in Size”
Forum Highlights Innovators Working in Global Public Interest
Turning a valuable technology invention into a successful product is a lot like solving what public transit experts call the “last mile problem.” No matter how good your network of buses and trains, people won’t ride them if the bus stop or station isn’t a reasonable distance from their homes. The same goes for information … Continue reading “Forum Highlights Innovators Working in Global Public Interest”
Cleantech Incubator Greentown Labs Makes Friends With Big Companies
If there’s one thing that many cleantech startups have come to realize, it’s the importance of having access to companies with deep pockets. In energy and water, big corporations, or “strategic partners,” can provide the funding and expertise that’s often needed to push a startup’s prototype closer to production—and sales. The cleantech incubator Greentown Labs … Continue reading “Cleantech Incubator Greentown Labs Makes Friends With Big Companies”
SAP to Buy Travel and Expense Software Maker Concur for $8.3B
Concur Technologies, the Bellevue, WA-based maker of software for managing corporate travel and expenses, will become part of German enterprise software giant SAP in a deal that values the 21-year-old company at about $8.3 billion, the companies said. SAP, through subsidiary SAP America, has agreed to buy Concur at a price of $129 per share, … Continue reading “SAP to Buy Travel and Expense Software Maker Concur for $8.3B”
How To Respond When the Media Calls
Startups and emerging companies raising money almost always have to confront this question: How to respond when the media calls? Media coverage can be great for a startup—especially one that is trying to get traction on the use of its product. However, when companies are raising money, they have to understand the “rules of the … Continue reading “How To Respond When the Media Calls”
West Coast Biotech Roundup: Halozyme, Nektar, Allozyne, Novo & More
We’ll kick off this week’s roundup with two more FDA approvals of drugs brought to market by Big Pharma companies but originated in biotech labs. Biotechs have come to represent a big part of medicines that come to market, especially when innovation and medical need come into play most clearly. According to this Nature study … Continue reading “West Coast Biotech Roundup: Halozyme, Nektar, Allozyne, Novo & More”
Austin’s Famigo Helps Parents Police Kids’ Internet, App Browsing
Software to keep the Internet kid-friendly is a big business. One Austin startup wants to bring those guardrails to the app store as well. Famigo has developed software that outfits mobile devices with a vetted app directory culled from among the millions available on both Apple and Android systems. “It locks down the devices and … Continue reading “Austin’s Famigo Helps Parents Police Kids’ Internet, App Browsing”
Sold For Parts, Accelerator Grad Allozyne Reaches End of the Line
With barely a whisper, Seattle biotech Allozyne has been broken up for parts, with most of its assets sold off earlier this summer to a previous licensing partner, Xconomy has learned. The buyer was MedImmune, the biotech division of the multinational drug company AstraZeneca (NYSE: [[ticker:AZN]]), and the deal effectively ends the nine-year run of … Continue reading “Sold For Parts, Accelerator Grad Allozyne Reaches End of the Line”
Code Fellows Plans to Open Detroit Office, Help Fill Talent Pipeline
As part of Detroit Homecoming, three days of events devoted to luring expats back to the Motor City, more than 150 former residents were invited back to learn more about how they can participate in the city’s revitalization. (Allow us to digress: One of the announcements made as part of Detroit Homecoming was that Austin, … Continue reading “Code Fellows Plans to Open Detroit Office, Help Fill Talent Pipeline”
New Ideas for Media and Edtech Surface at Matter’s NYC Demo Day
Creating change in the media world sometimes means connecting with other sectors. From the start, the Matter accelerator in San Francisco has been about nurturing media startups. Some of the companies in the program’s third class, though, are putting their ideas to work in the education market. Matter held a demo day in New York … Continue reading “New Ideas for Media and Edtech Surface at Matter’s NYC Demo Day”
Ping Identity Raises $35M Round Led By Private Equity Giant KKR
Everyone in Colorado’s tech industry has been expecting Ping Identity to make a big news this year or next, and the Denver-based network security company has done just that by raising a $35 million growth equity round. KKR (NYSE: [[ticker:KKR]]), a major international private equity firm, led the financing, and Ten Eleven Ventures joined as a … Continue reading “Ping Identity Raises $35M Round Led By Private Equity Giant KKR”
A Prescription for the Achilles Heel of Healthcare IT
What keeps doctors from sleeping at night? Electronic Health Records (EHRs). More specifically, the “homework” these essential-but-sometimes-inefficient systems generate is enough to cause nightmares. In a recent study that observed physician behavior, primary care providers spent 40 percent of their patient visit time focused on their computer screens, clicking and scrolling through the patient’s EHR. … Continue reading “A Prescription for the Achilles Heel of Healthcare IT”
End Your Year Right: Xconomy’s Tech Agenda 2015, Dec. 2
If the cooler days and earlier sunsets weren’t enough of a clue, the flurry of tech-company product announcements should really seal the deal: time is running out on 2014. And if you’re not careful, it’s easy to wind up with a headful of spin, hype, and just plain nonsense. We’re here to help. On Dec. 2, Xconomy is … Continue reading “End Your Year Right: Xconomy’s Tech Agenda 2015, Dec. 2”
New Bioforward CEO Touts Gov’t, Economic Development Background
Bioforward, Wisconsin’s top life sciences trade group, has hired a new CEO with significant experience in local government and business-development posts. Laura Bray was named to the post today, succeeding Bryan Renk, who stepped down from Madison-based Bioforward in July. Bray spent a decade as executive director of the Menomonee Valley Partners, a nonprofit organization … Continue reading “New Bioforward CEO Touts Gov’t, Economic Development Background”
Are Angel Investors Filling a VC Gap for North Carolina Startups?
Investor purse strings loosened to fund North Carolina companies to the tune of $266 million in the first half of 2014, up more than 31 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a new report. But perhaps more surprising than the dollars are the investment trends suggested by the report. Angel investment … Continue reading “Are Angel Investors Filling a VC Gap for North Carolina Startups?”
Report from Techonomy Detroit: Bridging the Digital Divide
[Correction, 9/24/2014, 9:36 a.m. See below.] Detroit’s bankruptcy, while humbling and damaging to the city, has also brought “extraordinary” national interest to the Motor City, evidenced this week by the lineup of boldface technology names gathered at the Techonomy Detroit conference this week. “It’s a sad event in some sense, but it dramatically increased attentiveness … Continue reading “Report from Techonomy Detroit: Bridging the Digital Divide”
CyPhy Works Lands Military Deal For “Pocket Drone”
CyPhy Works has been awarded a contract with the Air Force to build a small drone for search-and-rescue operations, its second military contract. The Danvers, MA-based company said today that it will design and test the Extreme Access Pocket Flyer, a drone that’s about 7 inches by 7 inches wide and few inches thick. That … Continue reading “CyPhy Works Lands Military Deal For “Pocket Drone””
Halozyme Gets Key Validation of Enzyme Tech in HyQvia Approval
Shakespeare wrote, “The course of true love never did run smooth,” and San Diego’s Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HALO]]) could say pretty much the same thing about the FDA approval process. When the FDA said Friday that it was approving HyQvia for adult patients with primary immune disorders, you could practically hear the uplifting music swelling … Continue reading “Halozyme Gets Key Validation of Enzyme Tech in HyQvia Approval”
Heidi Messer, Alan Patricof, Others on What It Takes to Grow in NYC
At a gathering of players from the New York innovation scene, there was blunt talk and optimism about the city’s future in technology. This week, AlwaysOn founder Tony Perkins hosted the annual OnMedia NYC summit at the NASDAQ Marketsite in Times Square. The event brought out the honchos of Collective[i], Greycroft Partners, First Round Capital, … Continue reading “Heidi Messer, Alan Patricof, Others on What It Takes to Grow in NYC”
Former Barnes & Noble CEO Goes Long on Smart Home
The smart home is a product category marked by hype and unfulfilled promises. Now, entrepreneurs and investors think improved technology will get consumers to finally bite on home automation. Earlier this month, Savant Systems said it raised $90 million from private equity firm Kohler Kravis Roberts (KKR) to expand its product line and ramp up marketing. … Continue reading “Former Barnes & Noble CEO Goes Long on Smart Home”
Spurned by Salesforce, HubSpot Aims for Revenge with Sales Software
A little more than a year ago, Salesforce announced it was paying $2.5 billion to acquire marketing software company ExactTarget. It was the largest in a string of buyouts meant to make Salesforce more competitive in digital marketing, giving it more ammunition against huge names like SAP, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft. Analysts praised the deal, … Continue reading “Spurned by Salesforce, HubSpot Aims for Revenge with Sales Software”
Tokai Bags $97M For Prostate Cancer Drug in Upsized IPO
Tokai Pharmaceuticals may be trying to break into an increasingly crowded field of prostate cancer drugs, but Wall Street investors clearly like its chances to make an impact. Cambridge, MA-based Tokai priced its IPO at $15 per share, the top of its projected range. It also sold 6.48 million in the offering, over a million … Continue reading “Tokai Bags $97M For Prostate Cancer Drug in Upsized IPO”
MyoKardia, Sanofi Ink $200M+ Deal for Targeted Heart Drugs
Third Rock Ventures started up MyoKardia in 2012 around the idea of making genetically targeted drugs for certain forms of heart disease. Two years and $38 million in venture funding into the effort, French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi is buying into the concept. South San Francisco, CA-based MyoKardia announced this morning that it’s inked a collaboration … Continue reading “MyoKardia, Sanofi Ink $200M+ Deal for Targeted Heart Drugs”
New Seattle Angel Fund Forming to Back Northwest Startups
Seattle Angel, which over the last three years has focused on introducing more qualified people to angel investing, plans a Northwest-focused investment fund set to begin early next year. The investments will made through the Seattle Angel Fund, a separate legal entity managed by Susan Preston, who is also general partner of the CalCEF Clean … Continue reading “New Seattle Angel Fund Forming to Back Northwest Startups”
Proteon, Moving on From Ill-Fated Novartis Deal, Files IPO Pitch
It wasn’t too long ago that Proteon Therapeutics looked to be a piece of Novartis’ portfolio. That deal flamed out, however, leading the Waltham, MA-based biotech to retrench, find some new investors, and—as the company as just disclosed today—chart a course for Wall Street. Proteon has unveiled plans to go public, aiming primarily to finance … Continue reading “Proteon, Moving on From Ill-Fated Novartis Deal, Files IPO Pitch”
McClure Delivers Harsh Truths, Advice to Begin Denver Startup Week
Dave McClure isn’t interested in being a cheerleader. If you were at his speech that kicked off Denver Startup Week on Monday, you didn’t get a pat on the back, but rather a kick in the ass—and maybe other parts of the anatomy. “There’s a lot of rainbows and unicorns bullshit that goes on, and … Continue reading “McClure Delivers Harsh Truths, Advice to Begin Denver Startup Week”
SVB Invests $3M in Startup Institute as Financial Firms Back Techies
Banks and financial institutions are getting deeper into the startup world—now by investing in them at an early stage. Silicon Valley Bank has led a $3 million Series A funding round for Boston-based Startup Institute, which is looking to expand globally. Previous investors in the company include seed-stage firms Project 11 and Boston Seed Capital. … Continue reading “SVB Invests $3M in Startup Institute as Financial Firms Back Techies”
EvoNexus Demo Day Draws Crowd as Incubator Gets Bigger, Better
A little more than five years ago, CommNexus CEO Rory Moore called a news conference outside the former Leap Wireless headquarters to announce the formation of a pro-bono, non-profit incubator for San Diego tech startups. At that time, venture funding in San Diego was in critical condition—especially in the tech sector—and Moore acknowledged that “it’s … Continue reading “EvoNexus Demo Day Draws Crowd as Incubator Gets Bigger, Better”
New MC10 CEO Hopes to Drive More Products for Wearable Electronics
Pioneering wearable electronics company MC10, which makes flexible sensors that can wirelessly monitor biological data while sticking close to the skin, has recruited a new leader to help it bring more products to market. Cambridge, MA-based MC10 is announcing today that it has hired former Broadcom executive Scott Pomerantz as its new CEO. He replaces … Continue reading “New MC10 CEO Hopes to Drive More Products for Wearable Electronics”
Wisconsin Roundup: Uber, Lyft, Epic, BioTechnique
Here’s a quick rundown of recent news from Wisconsin’s technology and innovation community: —A federal judge rejected a request by Milwaukee taxi groups to halt a new city law that lifts the cap on taxi permits and provides a pathway to legalization for ride-booking apps like Uber and Lyft, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal. … Continue reading “Wisconsin Roundup: Uber, Lyft, Epic, BioTechnique”