Our strange, icy winter has finally given way to spring here in Texas, a perfect opportunity to reflect back on Xconomy Texas’ most notable stories of the last three months. Many of these stories attracted your attention as well, as measured by readership. These entrepreneurs and their innovations span the range of the Texas economy … Continue reading “Lone Star Innovation: Xconomy Texas’ Top Stories of Q1 2014”
Category: National
Countdown to the Rock Stars of Innovation Summit: Whats Going On
We’re just a few days away from “The Rock Stars of Innovation Summit,” which is bringing together San Diego’s best and brightest innovation leaders to talk about the ideas spinning out of our local clusters in the life sciences, wireless technologies, and active lifestyle industries. The show begins at 8 a.m. this Friday, April 4, … Continue reading “Countdown to the Rock Stars of Innovation Summit: Whats Going On”
Forma Gets $225M More, And a Potential Buyout, From Celgene
When Forma Therapeutics cozied up to Celgene last year, it looked like the Watertown, MA-based company had added another name to its list of partners and set itself up to potentially sell its own drugs someday, rather than just discover them for others. As it turns out, though, Forma got one more thing out of … Continue reading “Forma Gets $225M More, And a Potential Buyout, From Celgene”
Tech Startups Bringing Information, Action to Disaster Recovery
When calamity strikes, emergency responders offer the most vital form of relief to those affected—but technology can also lend a helping hand. New tools are being created to find out what happened in a disaster and then take action, thanks to innovations startups have developed. That can mean anything from getting quick access to live … Continue reading “Tech Startups Bringing Information, Action to Disaster Recovery”
WaitTime Hopes to Find Shortest Beer Line at the Ballpark
Today is the home opener for the Detroit Tigers, a day when busloads of suburbanites descend upon downtown to engage in extreme day drinking and related mayhem to celebrate the start of the Major League Baseball season. Wouldn’t it be great if revelers could pull up an app to check which beer lines in Comerica … Continue reading “WaitTime Hopes to Find Shortest Beer Line at the Ballpark”
Xconomy Boston’s Top Stories of Q1 2014: Editor’s Picks
A lot has happened in the first three months of 2014. Now that the first quarter is ending, and we’re all more than ready for spring, it’s time to look back on our top stories. As usual, these are my subjective picks. In many cases, but not all, they were high-traffic stories. Together they paint … Continue reading “Xconomy Boston’s Top Stories of Q1 2014: Editor’s Picks”
Google Ventures-backed Cool Planet Closes $100M Series D Round
Cool Planet Energy Systems, a Colorado-based developer of “green fuels,” announced Monday it has closed a $100 million Series D round that shows the alternative fuels industry might still have life left in it. Cool Planet, which is based in Greenwood Village, uses biomass such as corn cobs and dead or dying trees to create … Continue reading “Google Ventures-backed Cool Planet Closes $100M Series D Round”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Zogenix, Arena, Sorrento, and More
San Diego’s Zogenix ran up against new political opposition to its opioid pain-killer, Zohydro. I have a rundown on the latest chapter in the ongoing Zohydro saga, along with the rest of the local life sciences news. —Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick declared a statewide public health emergency last week to combat the growing abuse of … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Zogenix, Arena, Sorrento, and More”
FDA Lifts Clinical Hold on Curis Cancer Drug, Shares Surge
Curis’ cancer drug just got a second lease on life. Now the Lexington, MA-based company will have to make something of it. Curis (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRIS]]) said today that the FDA has lifted the partial clinical hold on CUDC-427, the experimental cancer drug it licensed from Genentech a few years ago. The FDA’s decision takes CUDC-427 … Continue reading “FDA Lifts Clinical Hold on Curis Cancer Drug, Shares Surge”
Learn the Future of New England Innovation: Announcing Boston 2034
What will the New England innovation scene look like in 20 years? What needs to happen for the region to maintain and even enhance its position as one of the world’s great technology and life sciences clusters? What major challenges are leading entrepreneurs and investors today thinking of that will not just create sustainable businesses … Continue reading “Learn the Future of New England Innovation: Announcing Boston 2034”
How Airports Became Ground Zero in the Rental Car Startup Wars
When Rujul Zaparde started running his company’s new peer-to-peer car rental service at San Francisco International Airport last year, it came with a heavy dose of entrepreneurial hustle. Glitz and glamour, not so much. “It was me, greeting you at the car in a terrible-looking green vest,” he says with a laugh. “It was pretty … Continue reading “How Airports Became Ground Zero in the Rental Car Startup Wars”
Appearing Briefly at Your Next Conference: “Whac-A-Mole” Speakers
Whac-A-Mole, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is a fast-paced arcade game in which mechanical moles pop quickly in and out of holes on a large board. You earn points by whacking them with a giant hammer whenever they pop out of their holes. You need really good reflexes to do … Continue reading “Appearing Briefly at Your Next Conference: “Whac-A-Mole” Speakers”
4 IT Mistakes All Startups Should Avoid
Information Technology (IT) can be a startup’s biggest asset. Take, for instance, the cloud, mobile devices, and social media—they have all opened up exciting new business opportunities for startups, while also offering them the tools to grow their business powerfully. Yet, we have seen multiple startups make critical IT mistakes. Consequently, their business operations become … Continue reading “4 IT Mistakes All Startups Should Avoid”
West Health Investment Fund Sinks $7.5M into Reflexion Health
The Gary and Mary West Health Investment Fund said it has invested $7.5 million in Reflexion Health, a San Diego startup developing a system that uses Microsoft’s Kinect motion sensing system to help physical therapy patients with their rehab. Reflexion Health raised $4.25 million in seed funding from the same investment fund when the company … Continue reading “West Health Investment Fund Sinks $7.5M into Reflexion Health”
18 Ways to Kill a Startup: Bad Teams and Ideas, Arrogance, and More
How can you screw your startup? Let us—and Jason Mendelson—count the ways. Mendelson is a managing director of the Foundry Group, a venture capital firm based in Boulder, CO, and he knows startups. As a VC or mentor, he’s worked with hundreds, so he’s seen up close what works and what doesn’t. Mendelson focused on … Continue reading “18 Ways to Kill a Startup: Bad Teams and Ideas, Arrogance, and More”
AirStrip Acquires Sense4Baby for Monitoring High-Risk Pregnancies
AirStrip, a mobile healthtech company based in San Antonio, TX, has acquired FDA-approved technology developed by San Diego’s Sense4Baby that enables doctors and other healthcare providers to monitor maternal-fetal vital signs on a smartphone or tablet. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The San Diego-based Gary and Mary West Health Investment Fund put … Continue reading “AirStrip Acquires Sense4Baby for Monitoring High-Risk Pregnancies”
Boston Tech Roundup: Oculus, Circle, HourlyNerd, Communispace
Boston-area venture capitalists scored a big win this week, while startups raised some more cash and an established company expanded its efforts: —Facebook‘s surprising acquisition of virtual reality headset maker Oculus looks like a quick victory for Boston-area venture firms Spark Capital and Matrix Partners, which both invested in Oculus last year. Bloomberg has the details, … Continue reading “Boston Tech Roundup: Oculus, Circle, HourlyNerd, Communispace”
CPXi Raises $30M, in Its First Funding Round, for Digital Ad Tech
Digital media holding company CPXi has raised $30 Million, its first outside funding. The sole investor in the round was the Business Development Corporation of America. On top of its funding news, New York-based CPXi also promoted chief marketing officer Jeff Hirsch to be its president. He will retain responsibility for overseeing marketing at the … Continue reading “CPXi Raises $30M, in Its First Funding Round, for Digital Ad Tech”
Think Like a Founder Before Becoming One
February 2014 will go down in history as a month with two huge startup exits: Nest (acquired by Google for a whopping $3.2 billion) and WhatsApp (acquired by Facebook for an even more whopping $19 billion). If you haven’t caught the startup bug, there’s a good chance you will have caught it after this. What’s … Continue reading “Think Like a Founder Before Becoming One”
East Coast Biotech Roundup: Neurophage, Boston Biotech, Insmed, & More
After two years of good vibes, rising valuations, and booming IPOs, biotech stocks finally began feeling the heat this week. Since last Friday, when politicians hammered Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]) for the price of its new hepatitis C drug, sofosbuvir, the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index has plummeted 10 percent. Is the worst over, or is a … Continue reading “East Coast Biotech Roundup: Neurophage, Boston Biotech, Insmed, & More”
Sugary Foods Are Killing Us. The Internet, Not So Much.
When I’m jittery from too much caffeine, I don’t blame it on Starbucks. It’s not entirely Hershey’s fault that I have an unhealthy love of chocolate. And if, in a moment of idleness, I click on a headline like 35 Foods From Your Childhood That Are Extinct Now, I don’t blame BuzzFeed for wasting three … Continue reading “Sugary Foods Are Killing Us. The Internet, Not So Much.”
San Diego’s RuiYi Raises $15M for Pipeline of Biologic Therapeutics
San Diego-based RuiYi said has raised $15 million to advance its lead biologic drug candidate in China, and to expand its technology for generating additional monoclonal antibodies that represent a potential new class of biologics for treating a variety of diseases. In a statement yesterday, RuiYi says its lead compound, RYI-008, is the vanguard in … Continue reading “San Diego’s RuiYi Raises $15M for Pipeline of Biologic Therapeutics”
Syndax Plots $69M IPO For Cancer Drug’s Stretch Run
Syndax Pharmaceuticals raised about $27 million in private financing last year to gear up for a late-stage clinical trial. Now, on the doorstep of that lengthy, 600-patient study, the Waltham, MA-based company is looking to Wall Street to get it to the finish line. Syndax late Thursday revealed plans to raise up to $69 million … Continue reading “Syndax Plots $69M IPO For Cancer Drug’s Stretch Run”
FDA Panel Gives Exact’s Colon Cancer Test Ringing Endorsement
It was all smiles and congratulatory handshakes for Exact Sciences president and CEO Kevin Conroy this afternoon after a panel of physicians and medical experts unanimously endorsed the Madison, WI-based company’s colon cancer screening test for FDA approval. The FDA advisory committee voted 10-0 on all three questions, indicating panelists’ belief that Cologuard—Exact’s non-invasive, stool … Continue reading “FDA Panel Gives Exact’s Colon Cancer Test Ringing Endorsement”
Washington Lawmakers Ax Life Sciences Fund, Tech Incentives
Life sciences innovators in Washington state are hoping Gov. Jay Inslee vetoes a budget item that would close the Life Sciences Discovery Fund after its current grant commitments are fulfilled. That’s one of two big disappointments to emerge from the 2014 Washington legislative session for backers of Washington’s innovation sectors. The other is the failure … Continue reading “Washington Lawmakers Ax Life Sciences Fund, Tech Incentives”
MI Roundup: MGCS, XanEdu, A2B Bikeshare, Self.conference
Here’s a look at news from around Michigan’s innovation communities that you may have missed: —There is less than one week to apply for the annual Michigan Growth Capital Symposium (MGCS), where 90 high-growth, innovative ventures will compete to secure one of the 40 slots to present at this year’s event. Applications for presenting companies … Continue reading “MI Roundup: MGCS, XanEdu, A2B Bikeshare, Self.conference”
U.S. Deputy CTO Looking for a Few Good Data Fellows in Boston
Nick Sinai is coming back to Boston. The Harvard University grad and former Polaris Partners venture capitalist is in town Thursday for an evening event at hack/reduce, the big-data workspace in Cambridge, MA. Sinai is U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House, where he has served for the past three years. His specialties … Continue reading “U.S. Deputy CTO Looking for a Few Good Data Fellows in Boston”
GenSpera’s Targeted “Death Carrot” Toxin in Trials for Two Cancers
Craig Dionne has a record of experience in drug development and a lot of friends in the pharmaceutical industry. But when his friends first heard about the experimental drug he started working on some years ago, he says their initial reaction was alarm—to put it mildly. “They told me I was a fool,” Dionne says … Continue reading “GenSpera’s Targeted “Death Carrot” Toxin in Trials for Two Cancers”
What’s Hot in Boston Biotech: Here’s the Agenda for April 16
There are plenty of reasons Wall Street is jittery that a biotech bubble is about to pop. But this bull market formed for a reason: innovative new science is sprouting up all over the biotech world, and some of it is on the verge of potentially delivering some real new treatment options for patients. With … Continue reading “What’s Hot in Boston Biotech: Here’s the Agenda for April 16”
Houston’s RedLabs Creates Prep Program for New Summer Accelerator
At RedLabs, we found that having an accelerator isn’t enough to support student entrepreneurs. A brief background: The University of Houston founded RedLabs in 2012 to serve as the hub for technology entrepreneurship by helping students either launch startups or encourage them to join startups as early employees. Our first class joined the accelerator last … Continue reading “Houston’s RedLabs Creates Prep Program for New Summer Accelerator”
Wisconsin Startups Join War of Apartment-Hunting Websites
When CoStar Group acquired Apartments.com for $585 million in early March, it was quite the endorsement for the 17-year-old website. But the company hardly has the field to itself. In addition to the listings on venerable Craigslist, a dizzying array of apartment-hunting websites already exists, from HotPads and StreetEasy (both acquired by Zillow, for $16 … Continue reading “Wisconsin Startups Join War of Apartment-Hunting Websites”
Rock Stars of Innovation Present: Have You Ever Seen the Rainmakers?
Not everyone who goes into the biopharmaceutical business gets to catch lightning in a jar. It took Carol Gallagher only about 28 months to experience one of those life-changing moments as the CEO of Seattle’s Calistoga Pharmaceuticals—and she has a story to tell. So does Tom Lee, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University, … Continue reading “Rock Stars of Innovation Present: Have You Ever Seen the Rainmakers?”
Detroit’s LithFire-X on Lithium-Ion Battery Fires and Flight 370
On March 18, pilot Chris Goodfellow wrote a widely shared op-ed for Wired detailing what he believed happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8. He had no doubt, he wrote, that the plane experienced a catastrophic fire, which explains why the plane’s communications systems … Continue reading “Detroit’s LithFire-X on Lithium-Ion Battery Fires and Flight 370”
Why Internal Ventures Are Different from External Startups
This post follows directly on Steve Blank’s earlier excellent post, Why Companies are not Startups. The question of how corporations can be more innovative is one I have wrestled with for a long time. For those who don’t know, I wrote the book Open Innovation in 2003, and followed it with Open Business Models in … Continue reading “Why Internal Ventures Are Different from External Startups”
Indix Raises $8.5M, Wants to Enable “Product-Aware Apps”
Indix, the startup based in Seattle and Chennai, India, compiling a comprehensive database of product information, is raising $9 million in additional funding to sell its services and advance what co-founder and CEO Sanjay Parthasarathy calls a new category of “product-aware apps.” The company has closed $8.5 million of this Series A-1 round, led by … Continue reading “Indix Raises $8.5M, Wants to Enable “Product-Aware Apps””
SmartAsset Gets $5.2M to Deliver Answers to Financial Questions
With a $5.2 million Series A round in its pocket, SmartAsset in New York said Tuesday it plans to add new features to its software that answers personal finance questions. Founded in 2011, SmartAsset is a graduate of the summer 2012 Y Combinator class and is also backed by North Bridge Venture Partners. The latest funding … Continue reading “SmartAsset Gets $5.2M to Deliver Answers to Financial Questions”
Austin’s Phunware Plans Aggressive Global Expansion with New Funds
Five years after its founding in the depths of the Great Recession, Phunware has done more than survive. Its mobile apps are now spread so wide that founder and CEO Alan Knitowski says the company’s software has been a part of 1 trillion transactions over mobile devices worldwide. And that was before a $26.2 million … Continue reading “Austin’s Phunware Plans Aggressive Global Expansion with New Funds”
Dyn Buys Nettica, Ninth Acquisition Since 2010
Some consolidation in the Web infrastructure market today. Dyn, a once-bootstrapped tech company from Manchester, NH, says it has acquired Nettica, a managed DNS (Domain Name System) provider in Atlanta. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but at least some of Nettica’s team will be joining Dyn at its headquarters. Dyn has been on an … Continue reading “Dyn Buys Nettica, Ninth Acquisition Since 2010”
Bill Aulet To Talk Entrepreneurship in Madison and Milwaukee
Can entrepreneurship really be taught? This is just one of the questions that we’ll be exploring in Wisconsin on April 17 in two separate roundtable discussions featuring Boston-area entrepreneurship guru Bill Aulet. Xconomy is hosting the events in Madison and Milwaukee in partnership with gener8tor and Startup Milwaukee. The roundtables will be our first events … Continue reading “Bill Aulet To Talk Entrepreneurship in Madison and Milwaukee”
Calling All Angels: Practically Anyone Can Be an Angel Investor
I’m a big fan of angel investing. The thrill of helping innovative entrepreneurs launch their dreams is as exciting as anything I’ve ever done. I once heard someone say your life is divided into thirds—you spend the first third learning, the second third earning, and the last third returning. I like that. For me, angel … Continue reading “Calling All Angels: Practically Anyone Can Be an Angel Investor”
Y Combinator’s Winter 2014 Class: Be Impressed, Don’t Say “Invest”
At yesterday’s Y Combinator Demo Day, startups gave their final pitches to an audience of several hundred flamingos. There were lots of venture flamingos, as always, and quite a few angel flamingos. In fact, the whole day was designed to give the entrepreneurs finishing their 12-week term at Y Combinator a chance to meet flamingos … Continue reading “Y Combinator’s Winter 2014 Class: Be Impressed, Don’t Say “Invest””
Carcode’s Prize-Winning App Allows Customers to Text Car Dealerships
It’s an auto industry pain point that might seem simple: How do car dealerships communicate with potential customers through text messaging? A startup called Carcode based in Seattle and Ann Arbor, MI, thinks it has the answer, and its solution won the grand prize last month at a hackathon sponsored by car-shopping website Edmunds.com. For … Continue reading “Carcode’s Prize-Winning App Allows Customers to Text Car Dealerships”
Ariosa Takes Pre-Natal Genetic Test to Wall Street, Eyes $69M IPO
San Jose, CA-based startup Ariosa Diagnostics has grown to become one of the key players in an emerging industry battle to market pre-natal genetic tests, where parents can figure out whether the child they’re about to have is likely to have a chromosomal abnormality such as Down Syndrome. Now, however, it’s about to seek Wall … Continue reading “Ariosa Takes Pre-Natal Genetic Test to Wall Street, Eyes $69M IPO”
Houston Medtech Firm Procyrion Aims to Help Heart Heal Itself
Procyrion says it’s developed a crutch for your heart. The Houston medtech startup’s device is called Aortix, a circulatory support pump that is thinner than a pencil and can be implanted in the aorta, the major artery coming from the heart, through a catheter threaded up from the thigh through the femoral artery. The device … Continue reading “Houston Medtech Firm Procyrion Aims to Help Heart Heal Itself”
Columbia University Startup Lab Coming to WeWork SoHo West
Summer in the city will see a new home emerge for entrepreneurs to get dirty and gritty, working on their ideas. Come June, a lab for New York startups founded by Columbia University grads will open its doors, says Richard Witten, special advisor to the university’s president. Mentors and programs drawn from university and alumni … Continue reading “Columbia University Startup Lab Coming to WeWork SoHo West”
Neurophage Nabs $17M More to Hunt Down Brain Plaques
Neurophage has spent years developing a way to break up disease-causing plaques in the brain, based on lessons it learned from a virus that infects bacteria. Today, it raised enough cash to begin testing that method out in its first clinical trial. Cambridge, MA-based Neurophage closed out a $17 million Series D round from both … Continue reading “Neurophage Nabs $17M More to Hunt Down Brain Plaques”
Austin Software Firm Spanning Works to Back Up the Cloud
More and more companies are doing business on the cloud, but is that information safe? One Austin, TX, company is offering an insurance policy of sorts for data in the cloud. “People are starting to realize the risk that their data is facing,” says Jeff Erramouspe, Spanning’s CEO. “There are all kinds of ways that … Continue reading “Austin Software Firm Spanning Works to Back Up the Cloud”
Global Analytics Buys Workpays.me, Plans “Disruptive” Entry in U.S.
When San Diego-based Global Analytics raised $30 million in debt financing last summer, CEO Michael Thiemann said he planned to introduce its online financial services business in the United States once its Zebit operating company was well established in England. Today Global Analytics is announcing a slight change in plans. The San Diego financial analytics … Continue reading “Global Analytics Buys Workpays.me, Plans “Disruptive” Entry in U.S.”
Seattle’s KinDex Gets $5M to Fight Diabetes, Burn Fat With Hops
Hops give a distinctive bitter taste to beer, which has been known to cause many a drinker to pack on an extra pound or two. But a Seattle-based startup called KinDex Pharmaceuticals thinks a chemical in these plants might just help people shed weight–and even control their diabetes. KinDex is announcing today that it’s raised … Continue reading “Seattle’s KinDex Gets $5M to Fight Diabetes, Burn Fat With Hops”
TakeLessons Takes in $7M to Expand Its Online Market for Classes
San Diego’s TakeLessons might just be one of those startups that works for years before suddenly becoming an overnight success. It’s been eight years since the company was founded as an online marketplace where music teachers could find students and vice versa. Today TakeLessons says it has raised $7 million in new funding to continue … Continue reading “TakeLessons Takes in $7M to Expand Its Online Market for Classes”