Category: National

Mobile Madness 2014: The Photos and Trends

In honor of our sixth annual Mobile Madness conference, here are six takeaways from Wednesday, to go along with photos from the event: 1. “Mobile” is redundant. Possibly no one under the age of 25 uses the word. 2. The rest of us should be more specific when we say “mobile.” Do we mean smartphones? … Continue reading “Mobile Madness 2014: The Photos and Trends”

App Competition Open to Wayne State Students, Faculty, Alumni

Blackstone LaunchPad, a Wayne State University program funded by the New Economy Initiative and the Blackstone Charitable Foundation that offers resources and guidance to student entrepreneurs and inventors, is on a mission to spur the creation of apps. The LaunchPad is teaming up with the university’s office of economic development in a new competition open … Continue reading “App Competition Open to Wayne State Students, Faculty, Alumni”

Gilead Following Multiple Paths Toward HIV “Functional Cure”

The first researchers who tried to stop the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s were faced with a terrifying virus that invaded key cells of the immune system, forced them to make many copies of itself, and burst the cells open in the process, leaving the human host defenseless against an onslaught of HIV and other … Continue reading “Gilead Following Multiple Paths Toward HIV “Functional Cure””

Boston Tech Roundup: Flybridge, Globoforce, Boston Seed, & More

The past week was a busy one in Boston-area innovation. Here’s a bunch of financing news, from startups, established companies, and investors, that cropped up around the region: —Flybridge Capital Partners is trying to raise $125 million for its fourth fund, according to a new SEC filing. That’s a lot smaller than Flybridge’s $280 million … Continue reading “Boston Tech Roundup: Flybridge, Globoforce, Boston Seed, & More”

AMRI to Acquire API Manufacturer Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals for $41M

Cedarburg Hauser Pharmaceuticals, the Grafton, WI-based contract developer and manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for the drug industry, will be acquired for $41 million by Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI), the two companies announced today. Albany, NY-based AMRI (NASDAQ:[[ticker:AMRI]]), a global contract drug discovery, development, and manufacturing firm, said it is paying $38.2 million … Continue reading “AMRI to Acquire API Manufacturer Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals for $41M”

Major Foundation Grant to Support Entrepreneurial Researchers at UW

The Washington Research Foundation (WRF), a private nonprofit group that funds research and initiatives to commercialize innovations in the state, is making a large, long-term grant to University of Washington efforts in data science, clean energy, protein design, and neuroengineering. Four programs will share in upwards of $30 million over five years, WRF CEO Ronald … Continue reading “Major Foundation Grant to Support Entrepreneurial Researchers at UW”

A ‘Sleeper’ No More: Actifio Raises $100M, Deferring IPO Plans

About a year ago, after his company raised $50 million and was valued at $500 million, Actifio CEO Ash Ashutosh had an IPO pretty clearly in his sights. “The enterprise space is all about being a public company,” Ashutosh said, adding that Actifio was preparing to file for a public offering in the next 18 months … Continue reading “A ‘Sleeper’ No More: Actifio Raises $100M, Deferring IPO Plans”

Little Insights About ‘Big Data’

A little over a year ago I became the CEO of a company in the “big data” space that is developing predictive analytics software. My CTO is the “data guy,” and I’m the “business guy.” While my background is technical, I had very little experience in data or analytics and only knew about big data … Continue reading “Little Insights About ‘Big Data’”

San Antonio’s Geekdom Fund Aims to “Pre-Seed” Tech Entrepreneurs

Austin gets a lot of the startup spotlight in these parts, especially as the spring brings in the hordes of South By Southwest. But about an hour south, in San Antonio, boosters are working more quietly on a number of programs to kick-start entrepreneurship in South Texas. Among those efforts is Geekdom, an Alamo City-based … Continue reading “San Antonio’s Geekdom Fund Aims to “Pre-Seed” Tech Entrepreneurs”

San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Digirad, AMN Healthcare, and More

With the exception of a new buyout-focused diagnostics company, it seemed to be the week for relatively small deals for San Diego’s life sciences companies. Here’s my roundup. —Former Gen-Probe CEO Carl Hull and strategist Eric Tardif have formed Maravai Life Sciences and entered into a partnership with GTCR, a Chicago private equity firm, to … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Digirad, AMN Healthcare, and More”

Semyon Dukach Goes From VC Outsider to Techstars Boston Head

It’s a time of transition for Techstars Boston—and the local startup ecosystem. The Boston branch of the seed-stage fund and accelerator program is getting a new managing director. He is Semyon Dukach: a fast-rising angel investor, the former CEO and current chairman of e-mail marketing firm SMTP (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SMTP]]), and a former leader of the … Continue reading “Semyon Dukach Goes From VC Outsider to Techstars Boston Head”

Synthesio to Put $20M Round Towards New Hires & California Expansion

This seems to be the age of helping marketers better understand data from social media. New York-based Synthesio, a developer of software for analyzing comments about brands in the social sphere, recently said it raised $20 million in a Series B round led by Idinvest Partners. With that new funding, the company plans double its … Continue reading “Synthesio to Put $20M Round Towards New Hires & California Expansion”

Detroit’s 6th Man Apps Scores With Advanced Basketball Analytics

NCAA bracketeers, are you shaking your fists at the sky over Ohio State’s massive crap-out yesterday? Don’t feel bad—I had OSU going to the Elite 8 because my brain was obviously malfunctioning when I filled out my bracket. (But I’ll make up for that error in judgment when the Michigan State Spartans win the whole … Continue reading “Detroit’s 6th Man Apps Scores With Advanced Basketball Analytics”

The Missing Middle Class: Jobs in the Second Machine Age

Technological change is not a tide that lifts all boats in our economy. The truth is that it’s more like a tsunami. It threatens to overturn all the boats and drown their occupants, sparing only the lucky few who have already reached safety in the hills. That’s the kind of admission you won’t often see … Continue reading “The Missing Middle Class: Jobs in the Second Machine Age”

RunKeeper Not Spooked by New Apple, Google Health Push

If you’re an independent tech company based on mobile health and fitness data, this might have been a week that made you nervous. With back-to-back leaks and announcements, the two most important companies in mobile confirmed that their sights were set squarely on digital health. On Monday, there was the carefully revealed news that Apple … Continue reading “RunKeeper Not Spooked by New Apple, Google Health Push”

Roundup: Tableau, Alibaba, Techstars Seattle, Startup Initiative

Spring is upon Seattle, and, in addition to cherry blossoms, the air must smell like money to some folks out there. This week, Simply Measured hauled in a $20 million round of new financing. Alder BioPharmaceuticals is planning a $115 million IPO. Mindbloom, maker of mobile healthcare apps, was bought by Denver-based Welltok for an … Continue reading “Roundup: Tableau, Alibaba, Techstars Seattle, Startup Initiative”

East Coast Biotech Roundup: Proteon, Ataxion, NY Genome/Watson, & More

Deals, deals, and more deals on the East Coast this week. Some came together, some fell apart. Some might help change the face of cancer treatment—or they could fall flat. That’s the nature of dealmaking. Those stories and more below. —Sometimes an option-to-buy deal never leads to a buyout: see Cambridge, MA-based Proteon Therapeutics. A … Continue reading “East Coast Biotech Roundup: Proteon, Ataxion, NY Genome/Watson, & More”

What Four High-School Kids Taught Me About the Future of Mobile

“E-mail doesn’t really exist in our generation,” said Caitlin Cheng, a junior at Milton Academy. Oh, just you wait, I thought, as I listened to a panel of Boston-area high-school students talk about how they use mobile devices. We keep hearing that e-mail is going away—kids don’t use it except for school—yet whenever a new … Continue reading “What Four High-School Kids Taught Me About the Future of Mobile”

Harvard Business School Rolls Out Online Education Platform, HBX

The Harvard-MIT rivalry is heating up in online-learning land. The two institutions collaborate on the nonprofit edX, but each also has its own efforts in digital learning, including massive open online courses (MOOCs). Earlier this week we reported on an effort at MIT to blend online and offline features in an entrepreneurship class offered through … Continue reading “Harvard Business School Rolls Out Online Education Platform, HBX”

Lessons From Pat McGovern for Entrepreneurs

Very sad about the passing of Pat McGovern, the Chairman of International Data Group (IDG). He was my mentor and friend for over 30 years, and a giant in the technology, media, market research, and venture capital fields. Today, I took some time to reflect on what Pat taught me as an entrepreneur and investor. … Continue reading “Lessons From Pat McGovern for Entrepreneurs”

Austin Mobile Apps Firm Phunware Nets $26M for Expansion

Phunware, which develops mobile apps for multinational corporations, has raised $26.2 million in a Series E financing round. The Austin, TX-based company said in a press release yesterday that it expects to close on an additional amount in the next 60 days to bring the total funding to $30 million. At that point, the five-year-old … Continue reading “Austin Mobile Apps Firm Phunware Nets $26M for Expansion”

Advanced Engine Maker EcoMotors Aquires Katech

When we caught up with Allen Park, MI-based EcoMotors earlier this month, Amit Soman, the company’s president and chief operating officer, told us to expect an acquisition soon. That came to fruition this week when EcoMotors announced it has acquired Katech, a Clinton Township, MI-based manufacturing company known for developing advanced engines and powertrains. The … Continue reading “Advanced Engine Maker EcoMotors Aquires Katech”

One Laptop Per Child CEO: “We Have Achieved Our Goals”

When MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte announced to the world in 2005 that his new One Laptop Per Child initiative would produce $100 laptops for students in poor nations, the resulting hullabaloo—a mixture of shock, skepticism, and enthusiasm—went on for several years. It was impossible to build a useful computer for that price, cynics … Continue reading “One Laptop Per Child CEO: “We Have Achieved Our Goals””

Branch2 Raising Seed Funding to Grow Staff, Build Health IT Apps

Branch2, a Madison, WI-based startup that intends to build healthcare software applications in collaboration with hospital systems, is looking to raise $500,000 in seed funding, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Branch2 has raised $40,000 from two investors so far in the offering of debt and options or warrants to … Continue reading “Branch2 Raising Seed Funding to Grow Staff, Build Health IT Apps”

Welltok Acquires Seattle-based Mobile Health Developer Mindbloom

[Updated 3/20/14 11:35 am. See below.] Welltok, a Denver-based health IT startup, has bought Seattle-based Mindbloom for an undisclosed price in an all-cash deal, the company announced Thursday. Welltok develops software that healthcare providers and insurers can use to encourage consumers to live healthy lives. [Sentence edited for clarity.] Mindbloom specialized in developing mobile healthcare apps like … Continue reading “Welltok Acquires Seattle-based Mobile Health Developer Mindbloom”

Denver-based Adtech Startup Choozle Raises $1.8M Seed Round

Choozle, an adtech startup based in Denver, has raised a $1.8 million seed round, the company announced today. Great Oaks Venture Capital, which is based in New York City, led the round, which included other, unnamed strategic partners, a release from Choozle said. The money will be used to support Choozle’s expansion and investments in … Continue reading “Denver-based Adtech Startup Choozle Raises $1.8M Seed Round”

San Diego Industry Study Leads to Cybersecurity Center of Excellence

[Updated 3/20/14 11:45 am. See below.] A group of San Diego civic and network security leaders, angling to catch a rising wave in the computer security industry, are establishing a Cyber Center of Excellence here to help accelerate the regional growth of cybersecurity jobs and technologies. The new center reflects a growing nationwide demand for … Continue reading “San Diego Industry Study Leads to Cybersecurity Center of Excellence”

NinePoint Gets $34M From Corning, Others, For Medical Imaging Tech

NinePoint Medical made it from seedling to commercial-stage company on the strength of a $33 million round. Now, with its optical imaging device starting to trickle into hospitals across the country, the Cambridge, MA-based company has reloaded with a fresh batch of cash. NinePoint is announcing today that it’s raised a $34.5 million Series B … Continue reading “NinePoint Gets $34M From Corning, Others, For Medical Imaging Tech”

Exact Sciences’ Colon Cancer Test Clears Key Hurdle, FDA Next

Wall Street was pleased today with the newly published results of a pivotal study of Exact Sciences’ non-invasive screening test for colorectal cancer. Next step for the Madison, WI, company: FDA approval. Exact (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXAS]]) announced top-line data of its 10,000-patient study in April 2013, but the full results were officially published Wednesday in a … Continue reading “Exact Sciences’ Colon Cancer Test Clears Key Hurdle, FDA Next”

First Class of Connected Devices Debuts from R/GA Accelerator

Lock a few startups in a room with some hardware for 90 days and they might come out with something big. That was the hope with the inaugural class of the R/GA Connected Devices Accelerator, which held a demo day on Tuesday in New York. The accelerator, formed as a partnership between digital marketing agency … Continue reading “First Class of Connected Devices Debuts from R/GA Accelerator”

Former Gen-Probe CEO Partners with PE Firm in Hunt for Buyout Deals

Carl Hull, who was Gen-Probe CEO when Bedford, MA-based Hologic agreed to pay $3.7 billion to acquire the San Diego diagnostics company in 2012, has embarked on a new venture backed by GTCR, the Chicago private equity firm. Hull and Eric Tardif, a former investment banker who was a managing director at Gen-Probe, founded San … Continue reading “Former Gen-Probe CEO Partners with PE Firm in Hunt for Buyout Deals”

Go Code Colorado Looks to Reward Apps Built Around Government Data

Hey, hackers, the state of Colorado wants to talk to you—and maybe give you some money. This week marks the start of Go Code Colorado, a competition sponsored by the state government. It is intended to reward teams of software developers for making apps that use public data collected by government agencies like the Secretary … Continue reading “Go Code Colorado Looks to Reward Apps Built Around Government Data”

Sakti3 Named Affiliate of Joint Center for Energy Research Storage

Sakti3, an Ann Arbor advanced battery startup named as one of the world’s 50 most innovative companies in 2012 by the MIT Technology Review, has become affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR). JCESR, which is run by Argonne National Lab, is an important research organization that unites … Continue reading “Sakti3 Named Affiliate of Joint Center for Energy Research Storage”

UW-Milwaukee Students to Design Healthcare Apps for MCW

A searchable database of open clinical trials, a mobile calculator and calendar for helping patients on steroids decrease their dosage over time, and a mobile tracker for blood donors were among the winning ideas for apps pitched on Tuesday at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). Twenty-two teams of mostly physicians and medical researchers from … Continue reading “UW-Milwaukee Students to Design Healthcare Apps for MCW”

Keiretsu Forum Northwest Invested $21.2M in 35 Companies Last Year

Angel investors in Keiretsu Forum Northwest chapters plowed $21.2 million into 35 companies in 2013, according to a tally set for release today. Most of the funding went into startups based in the Pacific Northwest. That’s up slightly compared with 2012, when the group backed some 34 companies to the tune of $20.1 million. In … Continue reading “Keiretsu Forum Northwest Invested $21.2M in 35 Companies Last Year”

Coursolve and edX Blend Online, Offline in MIT Startup Course

Here’s a snapshot of something happening at the intersection of crowdsourcing, online education, and entrepreneurship. Boston-based edtech startup Coursolve is working with MIT and edX, the online education nonprofit, on a new Web class called “Entrepreneurship 101: Who is your customer?” The course is trying to connect students interested in entrepreneurship with companies and organizations … Continue reading “Coursolve and edX Blend Online, Offline in MIT Startup Course”

Alder BioPharmaceuticals Hits IPO Trail Looking for $115M

Alder BioPharmaceuticals grabbed some headlines late last year when a rheumatoid arthritis drug it’s been developing with Bristol-Myers Squibb showed some early signs that it might have a chance to challenge established treatments for the ailment. Now the Bothell, WA-based company is trying to ride that momentum into the public markets. Alder intends to raise … Continue reading “Alder BioPharmaceuticals Hits IPO Trail Looking for $115M”

Boston VCs See Madison Healthtech Play Following Nashville’s Path

There’s been plenty of rosy talk lately from entrepreneurs and stakeholders in Madison, WI, about the area’s potential for becoming a national hub for healthtech startups. On Tuesday, Madison got an endorsement from Boston venture capitalists who are starting to take notice of the entrepreneurial activity happening here, including in health information technology. Local optimists … Continue reading “Boston VCs See Madison Healthtech Play Following Nashville’s Path”

Simply Measured Raises $20M to Continue Social Media Analysis Growth

Simply Measured, which helps companies understand what’s being said about them on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, is raising $20 million in a Series C round led by Trinity Ventures. The investment round, joined by earlier backers including Bessemer Venture Partners, Four Rivers Group, and MHS Capital, brings total funding for the Seattle … Continue reading “Simply Measured Raises $20M to Continue Social Media Analysis Growth”

Mendelson Urges Detroit Startup Community to Reach Out, Collaborate

When Jason Mendelson came to Ann Arbor in 2005, he was armed with a list of qualities he thought a city needed in order to foster an entrepreneurial culture: A creative class of people (especially on the technical side); strong universities spinning off people and ideas; capital; management talent; an engaged community with a desire … Continue reading “Mendelson Urges Detroit Startup Community to Reach Out, Collaborate”

See You Wednesday at NERD for Mobile Madness 2014

How has the Boston mobile ecosystem grown up? Who will be the next big acquisition in town? How do high-school kids use smartphones and tablets? What do they expect from the technology in the future? What does the future of mobile health, retail, automotive, and payments look like? What’s actually hot, and what’s just hype? … Continue reading “See You Wednesday at NERD for Mobile Madness 2014”

Seth Green-Backed Shodogg Learns New Tricks After Pivoting

It is not easy to drop the idea that brought a startup to market and then chart a new course. When I first came across Shodogg at International CES 2012, the company had unveiled its software for consumers to share videos between TVs and other connected devices. The startup hit the annual trade show along … Continue reading “Seth Green-Backed Shodogg Learns New Tricks After Pivoting”

Cross-Border Innovation Groups Establish Manufacturing Accelerator

An effort to strengthen San Diego’s tech startup community by working more closely with the innovation ecosystem in Tijuana has led to the formation of HardTech Labs, a cross-border accelerator program intended to give startup founders access to low-cost manufacturing. HardTech Labs would initially operate as a kind of virtual umbrella group to help entrepreneurs … Continue reading “Cross-Border Innovation Groups Establish Manufacturing Accelerator”

Get the Heck Out of the Building in Founder’s School: Part 2

With a ~$2 billion endowment the Kauffman Foundation is the largest non-profit focused on entrepreneurship in the world. Giving away $80 million to every year (~$25 million to entrepreneurial causes) makes Kauffman the dominant player in the entrepreneurship space. Kauffman launched Founders School – a new education series to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses during … Continue reading “Get the Heck Out of the Building in Founder’s School: Part 2”

ITS Compliance Gets $5.75M From Chicago, NY Private Equity Firms

ITS Compliance, a Wisconsin tech-enabled services provider for truck fleets, has received a $5.75 million investment that it says will help improve its software platform and expand its services. The funding deal announced Monday was co-led by First Analysis and Argentum, private equity firms based in Chicago and New York, respectively. ITS Compliance was founded … Continue reading “ITS Compliance Gets $5.75M From Chicago, NY Private Equity Firms”

Calithera Targets Otherworldly Metabolism of Tumor Cells

The astronauts rejoiced after their safe landing on the planet they’d come to transform into Earth’s first space colony. But within a few weeks, their leader was struck with a disturbing malady. More and more, his cells were taking on strange traits seen in a one-celled fungus that people on Earth called “brewer’s yeast.” By … Continue reading “Calithera Targets Otherworldly Metabolism of Tumor Cells”

Cracking K-12 Edtech: Lessons From TenMarks, Panorama, & Playrific

The state of the union in education technology is noisy and bewildering. Consider the many factions. There are online distance-learning efforts to reach students, such as MOOCs (massive open online courses); Web-based tools for teachers and administrators; content-publishing plays ranging from games and apps to e-textbooks; collaborative interfaces for students and teachers; skills-assessment software for … Continue reading “Cracking K-12 Edtech: Lessons From TenMarks, Panorama, & Playrific”

Proteon, Looking Past Ill-Fated Novartis Deal, Goes it Alone

You often hear about option-to-buy deals in biotech, where a big firm will pay a fee for the right to acquire a smaller company later on. But as the phrase suggests, it’s no guarantee that a buyout will take place. Sometimes, for one reason or another, talks break down, and the little guy has to … Continue reading “Proteon, Looking Past Ill-Fated Novartis Deal, Goes it Alone”