[Updated 1/23/14, 2:23 pm.] Social media hasn’t yet changed the world for biotech and pharma companies, but I believe this year is the year that will change. For better or worse, these tools change the way people can communicate about specific things in business, politics, entertainment, and more. Online communities of cancer patients, physicians, and … Continue reading “Social Media & Cancer Drugs: Conversation, not Promotion”
Category: National
Venture Highlights of 2013: Early Stage Deals, Mobile, and New York
More venture data is coming out today, and it confirms some of the big-picture trends for 2013—namely, a modest increase in the amount of venture investing nationwide. New York’s CB Insights, a venture capital database, says in its end-of-year report that the $29.2 billion that VCs invested throughout the United States in 2013 amounted to … Continue reading “Venture Highlights of 2013: Early Stage Deals, Mobile, and New York”
Mendix Raises $25M to Expand Enterprise Software Platform
Lots of big-business software just plain sucks. Which sounds like the perfect opportunity for a startup to make some waves, of course—and a magnet for venture capital investment. Boston-based Mendix is one of the companies trying to build a big business in that niche. And as of today, it’s got another $25 million in VC … Continue reading “Mendix Raises $25M to Expand Enterprise Software Platform”
Nancy Pelosi Meets New Breed of Maker-Entrepreneurs at TechShop
The new wave of maker spaces around the country, and the startups they’re spawning, could help keep more U.S. jobs from shifting overseas, in the view of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. Entrepreneurs in San Francisco agree. But they want Pelosi’s help to make sure government regulations around issues … Continue reading “Nancy Pelosi Meets New Breed of Maker-Entrepreneurs at TechShop”
Angel Group Looks Beyond Northwest Energy With New Name: Element 8
After eight years funding a growing array of cleantech companies in the Northwest and beyond, Northwest Energy Angels is renaming itself Element 8 in a bid to signal its broader industry and geographic focus. Members of the Seattle-based group invested about $3.8 million in 13 companies last year, hailing from Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Maryland, … Continue reading “Angel Group Looks Beyond Northwest Energy With New Name: Element 8”
Lisa Suennen Leaves Psilos Group for “New Adventure” in Healthtech
Lisa Suennen, one of the leading venture investors in the San Francisco Bay Area life sciences and digital health scene, says she’s leaving Psilos Group, the life sciences-focused venture firm where she’s long been a managing member, to work as an independent consultant. Suennen co-founded the New York- and Santa Fe, NM-based firm with her … Continue reading “Lisa Suennen Leaves Psilos Group for “New Adventure” in Healthtech”
Compuware Flags Massive, Mysterious Chinese Internet Outage
[Updated 1/23/14, 12:55 p.m. See below.] It was roughly 3 p.m. in China on Tuesday when Heiko Specht, a Compuware performance specialist based in Munich, noticed a huge drop-off in Chinese Web traffic going to .com, .net, and .org domains. Detroit-based Compuware has monitors all over the globe for just such an event; according to company officials, … Continue reading “Compuware Flags Massive, Mysterious Chinese Internet Outage”
Thinkful Adds Offline Spin to Online Education for Career Advancement
Darrell Silver’s Thinkful is in the online education business, but it was a group of customers who taught the startup a new trick. The New York-based startup offers online courses and mentors for career advancement. Thinkful was founded in 2012, is backed by Peter Thiel’s FF Angel and others, and is finding ways to adapt … Continue reading “Thinkful Adds Offline Spin to Online Education for Career Advancement”
Colorado Ski Country Tries to Tap Into Entrepreneurial Talent Base
Aspen. Telluride. Breckenridge. They’re some of Colorado’s most illustrious ski resorts and are well known to winter sports enthusiasts and vacationers around the world. But recently, something new has begun to happen in those mountain resort towns. A small movement that seeks to tap into the communities’ surprising amount of technology expertise is gaining momentum. … Continue reading “Colorado Ski Country Tries to Tap Into Entrepreneurial Talent Base”
Boston Roundup: Kensho, Drizly, Change Collective, UberVu
A foursome of deals from around the region in this midweek update: —Kensho, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of financial software, says it has raised $10 million in venture capital. The startup is testing a software product called Warren, which Kensho says will allow investors to perform research with natural-language queries—kind of like a Siri approach … Continue reading “Boston Roundup: Kensho, Drizly, Change Collective, UberVu”
RenovoRx Catheter Pinpoints Destination for Injected Fluids
Ask most people what the pancreas does, and few may have a ready answer. But many people are aware that tumors of the pancreas are among the hardest to treat—a fact well known from news stories about the deaths of celebrities such as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. San Jose, CA-based startup RenovoRx is preparing to … Continue reading “RenovoRx Catheter Pinpoints Destination for Injected Fluids”
Recycling a Phone at EcoATM Is an Easy Route To Feeling Green
I’ve been standing at an EcoATM in the Pacific Place mall in Seattle for about four minutes, when the machine that promises to pay cash for phones, MP3 players, and tablets suddenly tells me something that makes me feel better about myself. “An average of three tons of toxic mining waste is generated just to … Continue reading “Recycling a Phone at EcoATM Is an Easy Route To Feeling Green”
LiveOak Ventures’ Launch Points to Stronger Texas VC Climate
Two years ago, Venu Shamapant, Krishna Srinivasan, and Ben Scott, all veteran venture capitalists in Austin, decided to follow their own entrepreneurial path and launch a new VC firm. “It was absolutely the hardest environment to raise a fund in,” Shamapant says. “People were running away from non-liquid asset classes post-bubble. That, coupled with a … Continue reading “LiveOak Ventures’ Launch Points to Stronger Texas VC Climate”
Techstars Chicago’s Troy Henikoff Intrigued by Wisconsin Startups
Wisconsin has proven a fertile recruiting area for Techstars programs nationwide, but so far no Badger State startups have gotten into the nearest Techstars startup accelerator in Chicago. Troy Henikoff wants to change that. Henikoff, the managing director of Techstars Chicago, plans to visit Milwaukee next month to meet with area startups and recruit candidates … Continue reading “Techstars Chicago’s Troy Henikoff Intrigued by Wisconsin Startups”
How Startups Can Navigate the Dynamic IT Channel
The IT industry is one of the most dynamic industries where companies are under constant pressure to keep up with the rapid pace of technological advances and trends. However, information databases on IT companies aren’t always up-to-date. Therefore, navigating the IT channel to find potential channel partners to take a product to market is often … Continue reading “How Startups Can Navigate the Dynamic IT Channel”
With Dermagraft Sale, Shire Jettisons Business Acquired 3 Years Ago
Shire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SHPG]]) engendered some high expectations after the Irish biopharmaceutical giant acquired San Diego’s Advanced BioHealing in 2011 for $750 million. Over the next year or so, Shire formed a new San Diego-based division—Shire Regenerative Medicine—and unveiled plans to spend $100 million on a new corporate campus that would serve as the cornerstone for … Continue reading “With Dermagraft Sale, Shire Jettisons Business Acquired 3 Years Ago”
Tech Wants to Ride Along, from LG’s Lifeband to Ford’s C-Max Solar
Who doesn’t want to check their heart rate while listening to music? Invading more parts of people’s lives is an ongoing goal for gadget developers. And now, more than ever, they want to come along for the ride in devices you can wear or drive. Plenty of updates of existing devices were on display at … Continue reading “Tech Wants to Ride Along, from LG’s Lifeband to Ford’s C-Max Solar”
Students Converge on Detroit for Record-Breaking Weekend Hackathon
After 36 feverish hours, the third MHacks event had finally reached its culmination late Sunday afternoon at the Qube in downtown Detroit, and this was the scene: Multi-colored towers of sleeping bags and pillows; plates of partially eaten chicken and broccoli casserole; a graveyard of empty water bottles and pop cans. Hundreds of bleary-eyed students … Continue reading “Students Converge on Detroit for Record-Breaking Weekend Hackathon”
With Biotech IPO Outlet, San Diego Venture Funding at 15-Year Low
Venture capital firms invested almost $758 million in 97 startups in the San Diego region last year, marking the slowest pace in 15 years, according to data from the MoneyTree Report. Compared with 2012, when venture firms invested more than $1.1 billion in 105 companies, the amount of venture capital invested here was down by … Continue reading “With Biotech IPO Outlet, San Diego Venture Funding at 15-Year Low”
MD Anderson Expands “Moon Shots” Immunotherapy Partnership to J&J
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Tuesday announced its second commercial partner, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, as part of its “Moon Shots” program aimed at dramatically improving the survival of cancer patients. “This is a way to maximize the value of drug pipelines already existing at the company,” says Ferran Prat, MD Anderson’s … Continue reading “MD Anderson Expands “Moon Shots” Immunotherapy Partnership to J&J”
Bolt Looks for Later-Stage Startups as Hardware Heats Up
For the past couple of years, entrepreneurs and investors have been warming to the idea that Internet-connected gadgets will spawn some of the next great technology companies. Last week, Google made an emphatic endorsement by plunking down $3.2 billion in cash for smart-thermostat maker Nest. Suddenly, in startup land, hardware is everywhere. One of the … Continue reading “Bolt Looks for Later-Stage Startups as Hardware Heats Up”
Repligen, Continuing Overhaul, Flips Rare Disease Drugs to BioMarin
Waltham, MA-based Repligen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RGEN]]) decided a few years ago that it would be better off abandoning drug development and focusing instead on bioprocessing. Today it’s cut a deal to shed some of its remaining therapeutic baggage. Repligen has licensed its portfolio of experimental, preclinical histone deacetylase inhibitors, or HDACs, to Novato, CA-based rare disease … Continue reading “Repligen, Continuing Overhaul, Flips Rare Disease Drugs to BioMarin”
The Village Walk: Trust, Relevance, and Reputation in Tech
Dawn broke quietly that morning near Eregi, in Western Kenya, apricot light chasing the indigo of night, birdcalls and soft footsteps sounding outside my farm room’s door. I shared that room with my son, then 11. We were visiting Kenya to work at a favorite childrens’ home and meet with rural entrepreneurs in the “birthplace … Continue reading “The Village Walk: Trust, Relevance, and Reputation in Tech”
Wisconsin 2013 VC Activity Drops, Shifts to Software from Biotech
Wisconsin venture capital activity in 2013 appeared to be a mixed bag, as deal flow was up year-over-year, but the amount invested shrank by more than half, according to the quarterly MoneyTree report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. Wisconsin saw $35.9 million invested in 19 deals last year, compared with $95.3 million … Continue reading “Wisconsin 2013 VC Activity Drops, Shifts to Software from Biotech”
The Big Guys Have Lost Their Iron Grip, and It’s All Good
Thinking about Big Pharma’s relationship with the biotech industry last week at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco reminded me of an old physical education teacher I had in 7th grade. This guy was feared for his patented “pinch.” He would grab misbehaving teenage boys by the clavicle, and squeeze so hard that … Continue reading “The Big Guys Have Lost Their Iron Grip, and It’s All Good”
Juno Deal Drives Standout Quarter for VC Investment in Seattle
Venture capitalists invested $893.4 million in Seattle-area companies last year, the most since 2007, according to the latest MoneyTree Report. The fourth quarter in particular was a standout with $485.2 million invested—more than half the year’s total—in 36 deals, thanks largely to the $120 million Series A round raised by cancer immunotherapy company Juno Therapeutics, … Continue reading “Juno Deal Drives Standout Quarter for VC Investment in Seattle”
Digitizing the Law: Houston’s CS Disco Aims to Reinvent E-Discovery
The legal profession is not usually associated with innovation. But one Houston computer scientist-turned-attorney saw an opportunity to reinvent a key part of a lawyer’s trade: finding and organizing the millions of documents that can be unearthed during business litigation. “We can fix the way the law is practiced by introducing great legal technology,” says … Continue reading “Digitizing the Law: Houston’s CS Disco Aims to Reinvent E-Discovery”
MoneyTree: VC Investment in Boulder/Denver Fell 23 Percent in 2013
Venture capital firms invested $404.6 million in companies located in the Boulder/Denver area last year, a 23 percent drop from 2012, according to the quarterly MoneyTree report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. The drop in this region went against the national trend: VCs invested a total of $29.4 billion in 3,995 deals … Continue reading “MoneyTree: VC Investment in Boulder/Denver Fell 23 Percent in 2013”
Murray: Better Internet Access In Seattle Is a ‘Moral Obligation’
In the aftermath of Gigabit Seattle’s flame-out, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is re-opening the door to “a municipal broadband solution,” casting it as a “moral obligation” in addition to an imperative for the city’s economic health. Gigabit Seattle was announced with much fanfare in late 2012. Gigabit Squared, the private company selected for the pilot … Continue reading “Murray: Better Internet Access In Seattle Is a ‘Moral Obligation’”
Roundup: iRule, Blackstone LaunchPad, Co-Working in Detroit
Here’s a look at some of the news you may have missed from around Southeast Michigan’s innovation community: —IRule, a Detroit-based startup that has created a smartphone-based remote control, won the Consumers Electronics Association’s Mark of Excellence award for “Control Product of the Year” at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. IRule was … Continue reading “Roundup: iRule, Blackstone LaunchPad, Co-Working in Detroit”
Google Gets a Nest, But Is It Flying Too High?
Somebody needs to say it: Google is getting too big. When one organization controls so much of the infrastructure of the digital economy, it’s not good for consumers. And when it has such an outsized influence on the resources flowing to inventors, programmers, and entrepreneurs, it’s not good for innovation. Like almost everyone else I … Continue reading “Google Gets a Nest, But Is It Flying Too High?”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Isis, Receptos, Suneva, and More
Much of San Diego’s life sciences sector is returning from the 2014 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, which ended yesterday in San Francisco. Here’s my rundown on local news over the past week. —The French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi agreed to pay $700 million for a 12 percent stake in Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) in … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Isis, Receptos, Suneva, and More”
East Coast Biotech Roundup: JP Morgan Edition
[Updated, 9:05 am ET] The biotech world’s official state of the industry lollapalooza—the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco—has come and gone, and taken along with it the sunny weather, the wall to wall investor meetings, the jam-packed presentations, and the late-night cocktail parties (back to the polar vortex for all of us East … Continue reading “East Coast Biotech Roundup: JP Morgan Edition”
MIT Sloan Students Meet Bay Area Innovators Tackling Huge Problems
I’d heard a lot about Silicon Valley, but had lived and worked in Europe and Asia until I came to MIT Sloan School of Management. Passionate about bringing new technologies to market, I wanted to do an MBA program in the U.S. because, more than anywhere else, this is where taking risk is valued as … Continue reading “MIT Sloan Students Meet Bay Area Innovators Tackling Huge Problems”
2013 VC Funding Tops $29B, and Software Continues to Eat the World
A few years ago, the technology investor Marc Andreessen wrote an essay that explained “Why Software is Eating the World”—and in 2013 venture capital investors laid out a feast to match the industry’s voracious appetite. Venture investments in both software and Internet-specific deals last year amounted to $18.1 billion, or nearly 62 percent of the … Continue reading “2013 VC Funding Tops $29B, and Software Continues to Eat the World”
Promentis’s $2.9M Series B Round to Fund Human Trials
Promentis Pharmaceuticals intends to move its novel compounds for treating central nervous system disorders into the human testing phase, thanks to a $2.9 million Series B round of financing just closed by the Milwaukee pharmaceutical startup. Promentis, founded in 2007, is developing molecules to modify brain chemistry to treat schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, autism, and other … Continue reading “Promentis’s $2.9M Series B Round to Fund Human Trials”
WSU Student-Led SIB Medical Technologies Prepares Prototype for Market
Sagor Bhuiyan and Adham Aljahmi aren’t your typical college seniors. In addition to being pre-med students, they’ve launched SIB Medical Technologies, a startup that aims to commercialize at-home stool sample collection kits that they say are simpler and less likely to expose patients to toxic materials. Bhuiyan learned of the device, which was invented by … Continue reading “WSU Student-Led SIB Medical Technologies Prepares Prototype for Market”
A Stroll through Eureka Park, a Wonderland for Startups at CES
It would not be a tech show without a peek at ideas still in the workshop. Flexible, printed circuitry, pet activity trackers, and magnetic data connections for smartphones turned Eureka Park into a gallery of emerging technology at last week’s International CES (see slideshow). The show space set aside for startups, and a few growth-stage … Continue reading “A Stroll through Eureka Park, a Wonderland for Startups at CES”
Larry Smarr Says Quantified Self is Awakening, Despite Zeo’s Failure
It’s been over six years since Wired editors Kevin Kelly and Gary Wolf asked, “What is the Quantified Self?” and nearly four years since computer guru Larry Smarr called attention to the concept of keeping track of your own personal health data. Smarr, who is founding director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information … Continue reading “Larry Smarr Says Quantified Self is Awakening, Despite Zeo’s Failure”
Scratch Wireless Rolls Out on Photon Q, Looks to Reinvent Carriers
Scratch Wireless has a dream. That one day people will talk, text, and use apps on their smartphones without having to pay $85 a month for wireless service. In fact, the Cambridge, MA-based startup believes it should be free—but good luck convincing the wireless carriers. So here’s the idea behind Scratch: build a new type … Continue reading “Scratch Wireless Rolls Out on Photon Q, Looks to Reinvent Carriers”
Announcing Our Exclusive Healthcare Summit Feb. 21: Request an Invite
Advances in genomics, mobile technology, and data collection and analysis are poised to transform healthcare from drug development to patient care and hospital management. But what will it take to realize their promise in the age of the Affordable Care Act, and what does this require of payers, providers, and patients? How can we utilize … Continue reading “Announcing Our Exclusive Healthcare Summit Feb. 21: Request an Invite”
Evocalize Raises $3M From Madrona To Spur Better Consumer Conversations
Evocalize, a startup that moved from Austin, TX, to Seattle, has raised $3 million from Madrona Venture Group to help companies ask better questions of their customers. The Series A round will allow Evocalize, formerly known as DishOpinion, to grow its base of large business customers, and its technology platform, says co-founder and chief product … Continue reading “Evocalize Raises $3M From Madrona To Spur Better Consumer Conversations”
Apple, Amazon, Samsung, & More Settle Boston Univ. Patent Lawsuits
The technology industry’s biggest names have given in and settled patent lawsuits from Boston University, which has launched an enormous legal assault in the past two years to lock down licensing fees before a key patent expires. The university announced the biggest chunk of settlements on Wednesday, noting that 25 of the companies being sued … Continue reading “Apple, Amazon, Samsung, & More Settle Boston Univ. Patent Lawsuits”
FullContact Buys Cobook, Adds Address-Book Apps and 1M Users
Denver-based startup FullContact announced today that it has acquired Cobook, a Latvia-based company that’s created a popular contact management app for Apple users. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. FullContact is a Techstars grad that’s trying to solve what CEO Bart Lorang calls the world’s contact management problem. The company wants to integrate address … Continue reading “FullContact Buys Cobook, Adds Address-Book Apps and 1M Users”
Blackboard Buys Austin Edtech Startup MyEdu for Student Profiles
MyEdu, an Austin, TX-based edtech firm, was purchased by education software giant Blackboard Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2009, MyEdu makes a free online platform where students can create profiles that highlight their coursework, job experience, and skills, such as languages or participation in mock trials, in Pinterest-like boxes. Employers … Continue reading “Blackboard Buys Austin Edtech Startup MyEdu for Student Profiles”
Announcing Mobile Madness 2014: The Next Disruptors, March 19
Mobile technology has completely changed the game for many industries. From telecom to photo sharing to hailing a cab, and from retail to healthcare, travel, and home automation, apps and devices have opened up worlds of opportunity for entrepreneurs, consumers, and businesses. In short, mobile is taking over. But which companies and investors are now … Continue reading “Announcing Mobile Madness 2014: The Next Disruptors, March 19”
At Stanford, Zuckerberg Previews Facebook’s Future
On Tuesday, Jan. 14, Mark Zuckerberg sat down with Stanford’s President John Hennessy before a packed Memorial Auditorium for a chat about Facebook, entrepreneurship, and the future. Zuckerberg, whose annual visits to the introductory Stanford computer science class CS106A have become a staple date for students to mark on their calendars, reiterated many of the … Continue reading “At Stanford, Zuckerberg Previews Facebook’s Future”
Ampio Pharmaceuticals Starts Final Study for Osteoarthritis Treatment
Ampio Pharmaceuticals thinks it has a new way to combat joint pain caused by osteoarthritis, and the growing Colorado biotech company is spending millions so it can hit the ground running if it gets FDA approval for its treatment. Greenwood Village-based Ampio (NYSE MKT: [[ticker:AMPE]]) announced Monday that it is beginning a 500-patient Phase III … Continue reading “Ampio Pharmaceuticals Starts Final Study for Osteoarthritis Treatment”
Why We Moved Our HQ: Q&A with ServiceNow CEO Frank Slootman
In a development that was widely expected, but not officially disclosed (until now), the cloud-based IT service provider ServiceNow (NYSE: [[ticker:NOW]]) has moved its headquarters to Santa Clara, CA, from San Diego, where the company was founded. ServiceNow CEO Frank Slootman confirmed the move in a recent e-mail exchange with Xconomy. The move wasn’t exactly … Continue reading “Why We Moved Our HQ: Q&A with ServiceNow CEO Frank Slootman”
San Antonio Launches HeroX Challenge By Targeting Mexican Innovators
[Corrected 1/15/14, 9:49 pm. See below.] To help boost San Antonio’s startup ecosystem, its entrepreneurs are looking south. To Mexico, that is, as part of an effort called San Antonio Mx Challenge— the “Mx” stands for Mexican Entrepreneurial Exchange. The challenge, which is officially being announced today, is the first offshoot of the HeroX competition, … Continue reading “San Antonio Launches HeroX Challenge By Targeting Mexican Innovators”