Let’s get personal: about medicine, healthcare, and how it’s delivered, that is. Join us for “Precision Medicine to Precision Management,” where we will bring together healthcare innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors who will share how they are transforming the way our care is being developed and consumed. This elite, invitation-only summit will feature an interactive discussion … Continue reading “Precision Medicine Healthcare Summit on Feb. 21: Here’s the agenda”
Category: National
Ericsson Acquires Boston Startup Azuki in Internet TV Wars
The Boston tech scene’s first big acquisition of 2014 just happened. Telecom giant Ericsson said today it is acquiring Azuki Systems, an Acton, MA-based maker of video-delivery software. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but it could be an important one for the New England tech community. Azuki chairman Chris Lynch, reached by phone, declined … Continue reading “Ericsson Acquires Boston Startup Azuki in Internet TV Wars”
Heads Up, Silicon Valley: UT Innovators Headed Your Way, Want Cash
For years, Silicon Valley capital has come to Austin in search of innovation. Now, a group of University of Texas professors are headed there to showcase campus-based innovations they think are worthy of investment. UT has some embedded help familiar with the local terrain: the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Texas Exes alumni … Continue reading “Heads Up, Silicon Valley: UT Innovators Headed Your Way, Want Cash”
Bespoke and Digital: Arden Reed Tailors New Looks With 3D Scans
It is getting easier to turn the physical world into data. But what can you do with that data? Technology to capture three-dimensional visual information is finding its way into more industries—even tailor shops. The folks at Arden Reed in New York, for example, are making precisely fitting dress suits, thanks to 3D body scanners. … Continue reading “Bespoke and Digital: Arden Reed Tailors New Looks With 3D Scans”
To Attract Tech Workers, Developer Envisions the City in the Suburbs
Can a real estate developer create the feeling of an urban neighborhood, complete with its grit and culture, in the suburbs? Assuming it’s possible would such a place attract the kind of employees that technology companies today are competing to hire? That’s the challenge venerable Seattle real estate developer Wright Runstad & Company has set … Continue reading “To Attract Tech Workers, Developer Envisions the City in the Suburbs”
Eleven Prices IPO Below Projected Range, Grabs $50M
Eleven Biotherapeutics wants to prove that a drug it’s developing can go toe to toe with Allergan’s big-selling dry eye disease drug, Restasis. Wall Street, however, was tepid about the Cambridge, MA-based startup’s prospects to do so. Eleven has priced its IPO, selling 5 million shares to public investors at $10 apiece, raising a total … Continue reading “Eleven Prices IPO Below Projected Range, Grabs $50M”
5 Practical Tips for Startups to Develop a Solid Brand Reputation
Every company wants to build a strong brand. However, for startups in today’s crowded marketplace, it can be quite challenging to get a brand noticed and recognized. I believe it’s always a good idea to study the best brands in the world, and see how they do things. So here are a few key tips … Continue reading “5 Practical Tips for Startups to Develop a Solid Brand Reputation”
Relypsa Aims to Delay Need for Costly Dialysis in Kidney Patients
These days, drug developers are trying to do more than persuade the FDA that their products work well in patients. To increase the market appeal of their products, it also helps to compile evidence that they will save money for the health plans that approve expenditures on new drugs. As commercial insurance companies, employers, and … Continue reading “Relypsa Aims to Delay Need for Costly Dialysis in Kidney Patients”
Vaccine Developer Genocea Prices IPO at $12 Per Share
If the question was how would public investors view a vaccine developer in today’s hot biotech IPO market, the answer Genocea Biosciences got last night was: cautiously. Cambridge, MA-based Genocea sold 5.5 million shares to public investors at $12 apiece, raising a total of $66 million before discounts due to underwriters. It marks a lukewarm … Continue reading “Vaccine Developer Genocea Prices IPO at $12 Per Share”
Punchbowl CEO: It’s All About Phones and Tablets, Not “Mobile”
It’s nice to connect the dots and spot important trends in the tech industry. Sometimes you only need one dot, though. In this case, it’s a company called Punchbowl. Founded in 2006, the Framingham, MA-based consumer software firm is surfacing with a couple bits of news today. One is that it has formed an exclusive … Continue reading “Punchbowl CEO: It’s All About Phones and Tablets, Not “Mobile””
TakeLessons Nets Betterfly, Boosts Web Learning Platform
TakeLessons CEO Steven Cox is thinking like Amazon. After starting the San Diego Web company eight years ago as an online marketplace that connects certified music instructors to students, TakeLessons says today it has completed its first acquisition—of Chicago-based Betterfly. As Cox told me by phone yesterday, TakeLessons is following a strategy similar to the … Continue reading “TakeLessons Nets Betterfly, Boosts Web Learning Platform”
Not All Student Entrepreneurs Drop Out
Today’s generation of students has a high exposure to the Internet, smartphones, social and many other technologies from a very young age. It is not uncommon to see college students tinkering with technology, starting digital startups, and making millions (and occasionally even billions). Some drop out of school to build their business, but not all. … Continue reading “Not All Student Entrepreneurs Drop Out”
Bounce.io Raises $4.8M to Make Bounce Messages a Thing of the Past
It’s always annoying when you send someone an e-mail message and it bounces back with a cryptic note declaring that it couldn’t be delivered. Why can’t someone turn those bounce messages into something clearer and more useful? Colorado-based startup Bounce.io thinks it can do that, and it just raised a $4.8 million Series A round … Continue reading “Bounce.io Raises $4.8M to Make Bounce Messages a Thing of the Past”
With Nadella, Microsoft Avoids Drastic Change at CEO
The announcement of longtime Microsoftie Satya Nadella as the company’s new CEO was no surprise when it finally, officially came Tuesday. Last week’s early reports of the choice ensured that the Microsoft board’s plans were fully floated before the cameras and conference calls were set into motion. So there was no big reaction from Wall … Continue reading “With Nadella, Microsoft Avoids Drastic Change at CEO”
TeamSnap Talks About Growth Strategy, Mobile, and $7.5M Round
TeamSnap has added to its roster and raised new money, and now it is ready to add to its base of 5 million users by focusing on features for mobile users. TeamSnap is a Boulder, CO-based startup that makes software that helps coaches of youth and adult sports teams as well as league officials manage … Continue reading “TeamSnap Talks About Growth Strategy, Mobile, and $7.5M Round”
Myriad Genetics Acquires Crescendo Bioscience for $270M
[Updated 4 pm PT] Myriad Genetics telegraphed its plan to acquire Crescendo Bioscience three years ago, and now it has followed through on the deal. The Salt Lake City, UT-based diagnostics company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MYGN]]) said today it has agreed to acquire South San Francisco-based Crescendo Bioscience for $270 million in cash, minus a $25 million … Continue reading “Myriad Genetics Acquires Crescendo Bioscience for $270M”
Co-working Spaces: Not Just for Big Cities Anymore
In 2011, when Todd Luhtanen opened up Metro Work Space in Livonia, MI, a suburb of Detroit, he did so with the idea of offering startups in the suburbs the same kind of coworking facility that can be found in big cities. On Monday, he opened a second location a few miles to the north … Continue reading “Co-working Spaces: Not Just for Big Cities Anymore”
Acucela Pins Down $162M IPO in Japan to Develop Eye Drugs
Acucela founder and CEO Ryo Kubota is a native of Japan, and now he’s got a lot more investors supporting his work there. Seattle-based Acucela is selling 9.2 million shares of stock at $17.65 apiece in an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, according to a regulatory filing. The deal is bringing in … Continue reading “Acucela Pins Down $162M IPO in Japan to Develop Eye Drugs”
Disrupting Unemployment
The global market for unemployment care is huge, waiting to be disrupted. The US alone spends ~$100 billion yearly on unemployment benefits. But the value of under-used resources is much bigger than that. Less than half of all Americans have paid work. Of those who have, many have jobs that don’t do justice to their … Continue reading “Disrupting Unemployment”
Localytics Lands $16M, Leads Way for Mobile Startups in the Middle
For all the talk about tech startups and big exits, there needs to be more discussion about companies in the middle. The ones that have been working away for five or six years, trying to break through and become real, sustainable businesses. Localytics is one of those. The Boston mobile-tech company got started in 2008. … Continue reading “Localytics Lands $16M, Leads Way for Mobile Startups in the Middle”
Colorado Legislators Aim to Reward Angel Investors with Tax Credit
Colorado could join the list of states that offer tax credits to angel investors if a bill currently before the Colorado General Assembly is passed. Supporters of House Bill 14-1012, the Advanced Industry Investment Income Tax Credit, believe it would encourage more high-net-worth individuals to try their hands at angel investing and increase the amount … Continue reading “Colorado Legislators Aim to Reward Angel Investors with Tax Credit”
Peregrine Semiconductor Bets Big on Industry Shift in Wireless Chips
A few months ago, San Diego’s Peregrine Semiconductor (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PSMI]]) acknowledged that it was no longer the sole supplier of a specialized wireless chip that is a key component in Apple’s new iPhone 5S and 5C. While Peregrine would continue to supply all of the “diversity RF switch” chips in the new iPhone models, Peregrine … Continue reading “Peregrine Semiconductor Bets Big on Industry Shift in Wireless Chips”
PillPack Starts Offering Online, Personalized Prescription Service
TJ Parker grew up in a pharmacy family. And when running a drug store is the family business, your first jobs include delivering medications to people’s homes—the kind of up-close view of the American healthcare system that many people never get. That’s where Parker first got familiar with the elaborate routines that some people have … Continue reading “PillPack Starts Offering Online, Personalized Prescription Service”
Austin’s ClearBlade Seeks to Better Connect Mobile and Enterprise
On TV commercials, the Geico insurance pig touts how easy it is to check on claims via an app on his tablet. But getting to that one-click functionality requires costly specialized software, says Eric Simone, a longtime Austin developer. That’s because large companies like those in insurance or banking must develop mobile apps that can … Continue reading “Austin’s ClearBlade Seeks to Better Connect Mobile and Enterprise”
Keane D’Souza VC Fund Likely Dead
A $50 million venture capital fund that prominent Milwaukee-area investors Tim Keane and Trevor D’Souza have been trying to pull together since 2012 is almost certainly dead, Xconomy has learned. Keane and D’Souza are both members of Golden Angels Investors, a group of about 100 Wisconsin and Illinois investors that Keane founded in 2002 and … Continue reading “Keane D’Souza VC Fund Likely Dead”
Esser Taps Former Wisconsin Funeral Trust Advisors for New Fund
Teresa Esser, a well-known Milwaukee angel investment manager, has raised $1.5 million for a new venture capital fund that is being co-managed by two investment advisors formerly with the financially troubled Wisconsin Funeral Trust, Xconomy has learned. Esser has formed Greenpoint Global Mittelstand Fund I LLC with Michael and Patrick Hull, brothers who formerly worked … Continue reading “Esser Taps Former Wisconsin Funeral Trust Advisors for New Fund”
$2B Wayfair Valuation a Big Statement in Winner-Take-All E-Commerce
Snow flurries are flying in the Northeast, but the competition in home furnishings e-commerce seems to be getting hotter by the moment—and Boston-based Wayfair is making a pretty convincing case to be the leader, even if you have to read between the lines to see it. Last week, San Francisco-based home-goods seller One Kings Lane … Continue reading “$2B Wayfair Valuation a Big Statement in Winner-Take-All E-Commerce”
Detroit Encore Entrepreneurs Blaze New Trail With LithFire-X
Gerry Flood has spent his career pioneering and selling preparedness. For 20 years, he was a salesman for AAA. He also started his own metro Detroit-based company, called CeaseFire, which manufactured automatic fire suppression products. CeaseFire garnered such a reputation for expertise that when ValuJet flight 592 crashed in the Everglades in 1996 after a … Continue reading “Detroit Encore Entrepreneurs Blaze New Trail With LithFire-X”
Austin’s Capital Factory, VC Firms Launch New Funding Match
Capital Factory in Austin today announced an investment matching program with two venture capital firms that could bring in an additional $100,000 for startups. The program requires that a startup joins the Austin-based co-working space and incubator, and that the entrepreneurs can convince two Capital Factor partners to personally invest $25,000 each. Then, Capital Factory … Continue reading “Austin’s Capital Factory, VC Firms Launch New Funding Match”
London Medtech Firm Buys Austin’s ArthroCare for $1.7B
Smith & Nephew, a London-based medical technology business, announced today it has purchased ArthroCare, an Austin medical device company, for $1.7 billion. The deal, which is one of the biggest for a Texas company this year, shines a spotlight on a growing medical device industry in Austin, which is usually more known for its IT … Continue reading “London Medtech Firm Buys Austin’s ArthroCare for $1.7B”
Light Reading Co-Founder Stephen Saunders Gets Company Back from UBM
More than eight years after selling Light Reading in New York to UBM, co-founder Stephen Saunders has repurchased his company. Light Reading announced the deal Monday; terms were not disclosed. The company, founded in 2000, provides research and analysis on the telecommunications industry, publishing content across a network of websites. Saunders has said Light Reading … Continue reading “Light Reading Co-Founder Stephen Saunders Gets Company Back from UBM”
Biopharmaceutical Haiku
Patients ask doctors Can you sequence my genome? Enter brave new world One word description Newly approved cancer drugs Unaffordable Hot biotech trend Virtual drug companies Who will do research? Can’t be denied now Obamacare launch shaky Improvements needed Biosimilars Challenges remain ahead Gold mine, or fools gold? Hype is … Continue reading “Biopharmaceutical Haiku”
The $1K Genome? So What? Illumina Is On a Quest for World Domination
People can argue all day about whether Illumina has, at last, given us the $1,000 genome. The answer does matter, because the cheaper it gets to sequence a whole human genome, the easier it will be to gather lots of them. That will help us understand what makes people different, and shed light on what … Continue reading “The $1K Genome? So What? Illumina Is On a Quest for World Domination”
More Nuance From Moz CTO on AWS, Private Cloud Decision
Moz’s chief technology officer says the Seattle marketing technology company is still using Amazon Web Services (AWS), and other public cloud computing services, for some specific tasks. The comments from CTO Anthony Skinner add nuance to Thursday’s post from CEO Sarah Bird, in which she described Moz’ decision to move off of AWS in a … Continue reading “More Nuance From Moz CTO on AWS, Private Cloud Decision”
Detroit-Based Inventev Wins Big at Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship
The Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship conference was held yesterday in Livonia, MI, drawing startups and investors from around the state of Michigan. At the conference, the winners of the Great Lakes Entrepreneurship Quest (GLEQ) business plan competition were announced. Startups also competed in an elevator pitch contest. Conference organizers say that more than 200 entrepreneurial … Continue reading “Detroit-Based Inventev Wins Big at Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship”
Romotive’s iPhone on Wheels Gets Kids Riled Up About Robotics
The little girl screamed and tried to run faster as the robot closed in behind her. It may sound like a scene from a cheap horror movie. And if I told you that the little girl in question was my 3-year-old niece, and that I provided the robot, you might think me a very bad … Continue reading “Romotive’s iPhone on Wheels Gets Kids Riled Up About Robotics”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Accelrys, Celladon’s IPO, and More
A buyout offer for Accelrys, a new stem cell center of excellence, and an IPO. Not bad for one week of life sciences news. But wait, there’s more… —French software developer Dassault Systèmes agreed to pay $750 million in cash to buy San Diego’s Accelrys (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACCL]]), a smaller American rival that specializes in scientific … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Accelrys, Celladon’s IPO, and More”
Enigma Raises $4.5M Series A Round Led by Comcast Ventures
Public records can be useful to various enterprises, but they’re not always easy to get ahold of. New York-based Enigma has developed software to dig up publicly available, yet hard-to-reach records and help users figure out how different pieces of information in those records are related. The startup also makes its API (application programming interface) available … Continue reading “Enigma Raises $4.5M Series A Round Led by Comcast Ventures”
East Coast Biotech Roundup: Dicerna, J&J, Neurophage, & More
[Updated, 8:44 am ET] Local biotechs were out for cash this week. One company saw its share price triple in its first day on the Nasdaq. Three others lined up stock offerings. And one large healthcare conglomerate promised to open its data vault to a group of university researchers. Those stories and more below: —Watertown, … Continue reading “East Coast Biotech Roundup: Dicerna, J&J, Neurophage, & More”
Propeller Health Makes Mobile Monitoring Easy for Seniors
With an aging U.S. population and the push to control healthcare costs, entrepreneurs are rushing to develop innovative consumer health products that could help patients avoid expensive hospital visits. But for some healthtech startups, a key question is how to design products for a wide range of ages, including some older folks who don’t own … Continue reading “Propeller Health Makes Mobile Monitoring Easy for Seniors”
Hunting For Brain Plaques, Neurophage Turns to a Virus
Scientists still have a lot to learn about what’s really going wrong, in the underlying biology, of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. That’s a big reason why it’s such a minefield for little biotech startups and big pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs in those areas. But it also provides room for some creative … Continue reading “Hunting For Brain Plaques, Neurophage Turns to a Virus”
Moz Dumps Amazon Web Services, Citing Expense and ‘Lacking’ Service
[Updated, 1/31/14, 12:01 pm] Seattle marketing technology company Moz had a worse-than-expected 2013 in terms of profitability and products. But what really jumped out at me in the privately held company’s startlingly frank review of the year was new CEO Sarah Bird’s blunt criticism of Amazon Web Services (AWS), which she says the company is … Continue reading “Moz Dumps Amazon Web Services, Citing Expense and ‘Lacking’ Service”
Dicerna Shares Triple on First Trading Day, Close at $46
Investors in Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DRNA]]) are likely a very happy group today. Dicerna priced its IPO last night at $15 per share, already eclipsing the $11 to $13 per share range it had set coming into the offering. Shares then began trading at double that figure, $30 per share. By the time trading wrapped … Continue reading “Dicerna Shares Triple on First Trading Day, Close at $46”
Houston’s OrthoAccel Mouthpiece Can Make Braces Work Faster
Sometimes an entrepreneur comes up with an innovation. Sometimes the innovation finds the entrepreneur. The latter certainly seems to be the case for Michael Lowe, president and CEO of Houston-based OrthoAccel. His story beings with an orthodontic technology sitting in a tech transfer office in Chicago that would eventually win an award at the Rice … Continue reading “Houston’s OrthoAccel Mouthpiece Can Make Braces Work Faster”
Will the Next Great Boston Tech Company Please Stand Up?
Here we are in early 2014, and it feels like a zeitgeist-y moment for the Boston tech scene. So I wanted to weigh in and connect a few dots around town—and get people thinking. Last Friday, Care.com became the first local tech company—a consumer-facing Web firm at that—to IPO since 2012. While nine Boston-area life … Continue reading “Will the Next Great Boston Tech Company Please Stand Up?”
Bogusky Hopes to Capitalize on Ad Tech Boom with New Accelerator
A new startup accelerator co-founded by advertising legend Alex Bogusky is launching in Boulder, CO, with big plans to disrupt the advertising and marketing industries. The accelerator, named Boomtown, plans to support startups that are changing how consumers and brands use technology to interact with each other. It was unveiled Thursday, and is accepting applications … Continue reading “Bogusky Hopes to Capitalize on Ad Tech Boom with New Accelerator”
France’s Dassault Systèmes to Buy San Diego’s Accelrys for $750M
Dassault Systèmes, a French software developer specializing in 3D product design and product lifecycle management, has agreed to acquire Accelrys (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACCL]]), the San Diego scientific software developer, for roughly $750 million in cash. The acquisition extends Dassault Systèmes’ software lineup in a variety of product lifecycle management industries, including consumer packaged goods and food-and-beverage, … Continue reading “France’s Dassault Systèmes to Buy San Diego’s Accelrys for $750M”
GutCheck Raises Another $4M to Streamline Online Market Research
Maybe four million is becoming the magic number for GutCheck, a Denver-based startup that develops online market research tools for companies launching new products and marketing campaigns. GutCheck recently closed a $4 million Series C round, which comes on the heels of a $4 million Series B round the company closed in June. GutCheck has … Continue reading “GutCheck Raises Another $4M to Streamline Online Market Research”
Eric Schadt, Acorda’s Cohen Join NY’s Life Science Disruptors Lineup
Over the past year, New York City has gone to great lengths to stamp itself as one of the nation’s big centers for genomics research. The New York Genome Center, for instance, came together because of a massive collaboration largest between Manhattan’s various medical institutions. Now, we’re happy to say that Eric Schadt, one of … Continue reading “Eric Schadt, Acorda’s Cohen Join NY’s Life Science Disruptors Lineup”
ZappRx Gets $1M From Atlas, SR One to E-Prescribe Specialty Meds
Getting specialty medications can be a big hassle. Dozens of pages of forms are required. Patients rely on call centers to find out the status of their prescriptions, and can go days wondering exactly when the next refill is coming. What if you could handle it all, instead, with just a few clicks on a … Continue reading “ZappRx Gets $1M From Atlas, SR One to E-Prescribe Specialty Meds”