Khan Academy founder and executive director Salman Khan wants to democratize education so anyone, anywhere can get a great education. Today, Khan had to settle for Denver. But it’s safe to say he accomplished his mission. Khan gave the keynote speech for the annual Colorado Innovation Network Summit, a gathering of the Mile High State’s political … Continue reading “Sal Khan Wants to Teach Everyone: Here Are 6 Lessons for Innovators”
Category: National
Nest Labs Fills Spot in Austin’s Emerging Cleantech Cluster
Nest Labs has opened a technical support and customer service center in Austin. The Palo Alto-based maker of smart thermostats plans to hire 125 agents in conjunction with Spot BPO, an Austin business management consultancy, which will provide technical support services. Nest’s move to Austin, which was announced yesterday afternoon, is part of the development … Continue reading “Nest Labs Fills Spot in Austin’s Emerging Cleantech Cluster”
Relume Technologies Acquired by Revolution Lighting for $15M
Connecticut-based Revolution Lighting Technologies (NASDAQ: RVLT) is paying $15 million in cash and stock to acquire Oxford, MI-based Relume Technologies, a manufacturer of outdoor LED lighting products and smart grid control systems. “Revolution is doing a roll-up in LED lighting, picking up the platforms it doesn’t have,” explains Michael Gross, managing director of Beringea‘s Michigan office … Continue reading “Relume Technologies Acquired by Revolution Lighting for $15M”
Announcing Oct. 15 Xconomy Healthcare Summit: Request An Invitation
There’s hardly an issue that is more of a hot button than healthcare—and there’s hardly an issue that is surrounded by as much poorly understood, misguided, or outright misleading information. Yet neither are there many sectors as fundamentally important to our economy and future growth. To get to some real answers (or at least valuable … Continue reading “Announcing Oct. 15 Xconomy Healthcare Summit: Request An Invitation”
Glooko Helps Patients Manage Diabetes Digitally
When Yogen Dalal, Sundeep Madra, and Chamath Palihapitiya founded Glooko, the diabetes management tool company, in June 2010, they had a clear goal: to liberate all the data measured by blood glucose meters. Diabetics relied on the devices to keep their insulin levels regulated, but beyond single readings, they weren’t of much use. They didn’t … Continue reading “Glooko Helps Patients Manage Diabetes Digitally”
Uber Sued Again Over Tip-Skimming Claims, Case Could Go National
Car-hailing startup Uber, which just raised an enormous amount of money from Google Ventures and other investors, will have to earmark some of that new cash for legal bills. The San Francisco-based company is being sued again in federal court, this time over claims that it’s stiffing drivers on tips. A similar case was previously … Continue reading “Uber Sued Again Over Tip-Skimming Claims, Case Could Go National”
Microsoft Research Grabs More Room for Data Science in Silicon Alley
The New York branch of Microsoft Research, where computer scientists are brewing up new ideas in machine learning, prediction engines, and other fields, is getting space to bring in more collaborators. Though Microsoft maintains a massive office on the Avenue of the Americas, the research lab moved this month to a permanent new 22,000-sq.-ft. home … Continue reading “Microsoft Research Grabs More Room for Data Science in Silicon Alley”
Enteris Emerges From the Ashes of Unigene, Hunts for Deals
What’s in a new name? More than usual for Enteris Biopharma. That’s because the Boonton, NJ-based biotech is part of what remains of Unigene Laboratories, a three-decade old company best known both for a way to turn injectable peptide drugs into pills, and disappointing Wall Street investors. Unigene is now in the biotech graveyard, having … Continue reading “Enteris Emerges From the Ashes of Unigene, Hunts for Deals”
San Diego’s Carolus Therapeutics Taps Advocate Group for R&D Support
In an approach that taps the resources of a patient advocacy group, San Diego’s Carolus Therapeutics says it is now working with The Alpha-1 Project (TAP) of Miami to accelerate pre-clinical research focused on diseases associated with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Alpha-1 antitrypsin is a protein that protects the lungs and other tissue from destructive enzymes … Continue reading “San Diego’s Carolus Therapeutics Taps Advocate Group for R&D Support”
4 Lessons from Google for Entrepreneurs Day in Denver
Google is in Denver today at Galvanize for its “Google for Entrepreneurs” event. More than 350 people are registered for the event, which features speakers from the team Google created to reach out to entrepreneurs. The first few presentations have been about Google’s global strategy and some products, but afternoon sessions will discuss building business … Continue reading “4 Lessons from Google for Entrepreneurs Day in Denver”
AutoHarvest Tapped by New Supply Chain Initiative to Lead Online Component
AutoHarvest, a Southeast Michigan-based nonprofit website that aims to connect the auto industry with entrepreneurs and inventors, announced this week that is has been selected to facilitate the online efforts the new National Supply Chain Network Initiative (NSNI) pilot program, which came out of the Clinton Global Initiative. Other partners in the regional pilot program … Continue reading “AutoHarvest Tapped by New Supply Chain Initiative to Lead Online Component”
Copia’s E-Reader Finds Audience in Classrooms After Shift to Edtech
As students reluctantly get into back-to-school mode, the likelihood of them finding digital platforms such as e-readers in classrooms is increasing. More companies want in on the education technology (edtech) scene, and Copia Interactive in New York believes lessons it learned from the consumer e-reader market can help it ace this subject. Taking a device-agnostic … Continue reading “Copia’s E-Reader Finds Audience in Classrooms After Shift to Edtech”
Syndax Pockets $26.6M For Final Stage Push With Cancer Drug
Syndax Pharmaceuticals has spent eight years trying to show it can make existing cancer drugs work better by switching off certain enzymes implicated in tumor mutation. Now, it has landed enough cash to see if its first drug testing that concept can clear its biggest hurdle yet—a late-stage clinical trial. Waltham, MA-based Syndax is announcing … Continue reading “Syndax Pockets $26.6M For Final Stage Push With Cancer Drug”
“Do or Die” Moment for Foes of Retroactive Tax in California
After a 2012 court ruling invalidated an old tax break for small-business investors, California entrepreneurs laid siege to Sacramento. They persuaded allies in the California Senate to whip up a bill that would rescue them from an estimated $120 million in back tax payments, only to see the bill watered down by amendments. Now, as … Continue reading ““Do or Die” Moment for Foes of Retroactive Tax in California”
CO Everywhere App Traces a New Way to View Neighborhoods
Boston startup Block Avenue formed around the idea of helping people unearth information about their neighborhoods. But eventually, the young company found the real stars of the show: the people living in those places. Equipped with super-smart devices and ever-faster broadband connections, those everyday folks are now publishing an exponentially growing array of content through … Continue reading “CO Everywhere App Traces a New Way to View Neighborhoods”
Histogen Wins Legal Ruling in Saga of Entrepreneurial Perseverance
[Corrected 8/27/13, 5:50 pm. See below.] Back in 2011, when a federal judge in San Diego issued a summary judgment for San Diego-based Histogen in a patent dispute, CEO Gail Naughton proclaimed, “We are happy now to have this matter officially behind us.” That didn’t exactly turn out to be the case. SkinMedica, the Carlsbad, … Continue reading “Histogen Wins Legal Ruling in Saga of Entrepreneurial Perseverance”
Colorado Innovators to Celebrate Risking and Recovering from Failure
Failure in the business world is a funny thing. Entrepreneurs who take risks and build innovative companies against long odds are celebrated, and their failures become part of their legend. But for a huge number of talented people with great ideas, fear of getting labeled with the other F word holds them back. “Failure has … Continue reading “Colorado Innovators to Celebrate Risking and Recovering from Failure”
SXSW Seeks Input on Cleantech, Education, Film and Music Panels
Voting is underway for panels at South By Southwest Interactive, as well as for SXSW Music, SWSW Film, and SXSWedu. More than 4,000 panel ideas have been submitted for the four conferences on topics ranging from technology and women’s empowerment to virtual health and how to use “big data” for just about everything. The SXSW … Continue reading “SXSW Seeks Input on Cleantech, Education, Film and Music Panels”
Detroit’s Silith.IO Takes Its Mobile Collaboration Tool to Silicon Valley
Brian Clark, co-founder of Silith.IO, is on the adventure of a lifetime. A few weeks ago, he quit his full-time job, sold nearly everything he owned, and headed to San Francisco, his earthly possessions reduced to a suitcase and a laptop. Clark is in the Bay Area officially representing his company at the NewME accelerator, … Continue reading “Detroit’s Silith.IO Takes Its Mobile Collaboration Tool to Silicon Valley”
Why Good Drugs Sometimes Fail: The Bexxar Story
Quite a few biotech entrepreneurs go to work each day operating under the assumption that clinical trial data is king. If you put together a rock-solid dataset from a big clinical trial that says your experimental drug beats today’s standard of care, then you’re onto something big, or so the line of thinking goes. Everything … Continue reading “Why Good Drugs Sometimes Fail: The Bexxar Story”
Amgen Agrees to Buy Onyx for $125 Per Share, or $10.4B
[Updated: 6:15 pm PT] Amgen got what it wanted from Onyx Pharmaceuticals in the end. The Thousand Oaks, CA-based biotech giant (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]) said today it has agreed to acquire South San Francisco-based Onyx Pharmaceuticals for $125 a share in cash, for a total value of $10.4 billion. Amgen said it is making a tender … Continue reading “Amgen Agrees to Buy Onyx for $125 Per Share, or $10.4B”
Garaizar Aims to Elevate Houston Angels’ Profile and Outreach
Juliana Garaizar joined the Houston Angel Network as managing director just as the group was seeking to revamp its operations and take a more prominent role in the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The first challenge Garaizar confronted was the fact that the angel network, founded in 2001, had historically been a bit insular, even demure about … Continue reading “Garaizar Aims to Elevate Houston Angels’ Profile and Outreach”
Mile High Roundup: Spaceships, SomaLogic Stays Silent, and SanDisk
Welcome to the Mile High Roundup, a look at some of the interesting things that have happened over the past two weeks in the tech scene in Boulder, Denver, and around Colorado. In this edition, NASA tests out a Colorado-made spaceship, SomaLogic quietly raises $10 million, and SanDisk finishes its deal for Smart Storage Systems. … Continue reading “Mile High Roundup: Spaceships, SomaLogic Stays Silent, and SanDisk”
Trada Takes Inc.’s Top Spot for Fastest Growing Colorado Companies
Colorado companies did well on this year’s Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies, with 134 making the list. Dozens of tech companies from Boulder, Denver, and the surrounding areas made this year’s list, with the top spot for Colorado companies going to Boulder’s own Trada. Colorado held its own when compared to other … Continue reading “Trada Takes Inc.’s Top Spot for Fastest Growing Colorado Companies”
Ballmer Out: Amid Microsoft’s Big Shift, Will it Satisfy Wall St.?
Steve Ballmer’s surprising retirement as Microsoft CEO comes at a very turbulent time for the company, in almost every possible sense. After becoming legendary in corporate circles for its warring internal factions, Microsoft has just embarked on a huge reorganization, championed by Ballmer, that attempts to unify control of the company. That follows a seismic … Continue reading “Ballmer Out: Amid Microsoft’s Big Shift, Will it Satisfy Wall St.?”
Help Wanted: Microsoft Seeks CEO as Ballmer Announces Retirement Plan
By this time next year, Microsoft will be led by someone other than Steve Ballmer. The longtime chief executive this morning announced his decision to retire after 33 years with the Redmond software giant. Ballmer, 57, has led the company since 2000, when he took over the CEO title from co-founder and chairman Bill Gates. … Continue reading “Help Wanted: Microsoft Seeks CEO as Ballmer Announces Retirement Plan”
Misfit Shine and the Pros and Cons of Wearable Fitness Trackers
I don’t like being encumbered. That’s why I stopped wearing a wristwatch years ago, around the time I got my first mobile phone. That’s also why I’ve long looked askance at activity-tracking bracelets like the Fitbit Flex, the Nike FuelBand, and the Jawbone UP. I liked the idea of having more data about my exercise … Continue reading “Misfit Shine and the Pros and Cons of Wearable Fitness Trackers”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Vical, Sequenom, Sophiris, and More
There was a lot of news for this cowboy to round up in San Diego’s life sciences sector this week. Applied Proteomics and Acutus Medical each raised $28 million from venture investors, while Vical and Sequenom disclosed substantial staff cuts. Here’s my rundown of the good, bad, and ugly. —San Diego’s Vical (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VICL]]) said … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Vical, Sequenom, Sophiris, and More”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Mana, Medivizor, Regado, & More
With Boston’s biotech scene enduring a bit of a lull as the summer winds down, healthcare IT startups in New York grabbed some of the spotlight this week. That and more below: —New York City-based Mana Health won a contract from the New York eHealth Collaborative to design a patient portal—an online application for patients … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Mana, Medivizor, Regado, & More”
Roundup: Funding for Gratafy; Inside Social; Sinofsky to a16z; UW Prof. on MIT TR35
[Updated 7:55 p.m.] The summer doldrums are upon us—so much so that the Nasdaq stock exchange flat-lined for a few hours today. (Because of an as-yet unexplained technical glitch.) In addition to news this week of a significant funding round for Portland’s Jama Software and the bad news at Big Fish Games, there are a … Continue reading “Roundup: Funding for Gratafy; Inside Social; Sinofsky to a16z; UW Prof. on MIT TR35”
Ajubeo Raises Third Round from Private Equity Investors to Go Global
Cloud infrastructure provider Ajubeo has raised an undisclosed amount from a Boulder, CO-based private equity firm and plans to use the financing to expand nationally within the next year and increase its international clientele. Ajubeo (pronounced a-joo-bee-oh) is a cloud infrastructure-as-a-service provider based in Boulder. It has clients in the healthcare, financial services, and online … Continue reading “Ajubeo Raises Third Round from Private Equity Investors to Go Global”
Bonus.ly Platform Lets Managers Put Employee Rewards Up for Voting
For bosses who hate poring over performance ratings to decide just how much of a bonus each employee deserves, a startup in Brooklyn has created a Web app that can put part of the task in the hands of the staff. The nitty-gritty of telling workers which skills they need to improve may always reside … Continue reading “Bonus.ly Platform Lets Managers Put Employee Rewards Up for Voting”
Stitch Together Your Micro-Videos With One Second Epic
Blame it on our narcissism or our latent desire to be Ansel Adams, but modern humans are crazy for tools that help them document their lives in pictures. But while still images hold incredible appeal, as Instagram’s 130 million active users would surely attest, the latest must-have apps focus on the ability to film and … Continue reading “Stitch Together Your Micro-Videos With One Second Epic”
Sift Science Uses Machine Learning to Weed Out Credit Card Fraud
Google has team of 120 engineers dedicated solely to fighting fraud and webspam. Its leader, Matt Cutts, is probably the most familiar face at the company, after founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and chairman Eric Schmidt. Up in Seattle, Amazon has more than twice as many full-time fraud-fighters. And when you consider that online … Continue reading “Sift Science Uses Machine Learning to Weed Out Credit Card Fraud”
Tissue Regeneration Systems Nabs $4.6M to Improve Facial Surgeries
Tissue Regeneration Systems, a startup with offices in Kirkland, WA and Ann Arbor, MI, has raised $4.6 million to see if it can come up with a product to make life a little easier for patients who need significant bone replacement as part of complex facial and jaw surgeries. The company has picked up its … Continue reading “Tissue Regeneration Systems Nabs $4.6M to Improve Facial Surgeries”
Agero Talks Analytics, Acquisitions After $530M Connected-Car Sale
How sexy is emergency roadside assistance, as a tech sector? Well, if you break down on a deserted road straight out of a Stephen King novel, you’ll be glad to get your car fixed and be on your way. Or if you’re involved in a serious accident, you’ll want help to arrive on the scene … Continue reading “Agero Talks Analytics, Acquisitions After $530M Connected-Car Sale”
Boston Roundup: Locu, Second Wind, Benu Networks, HubSpot
Acquisitions, product releases, and some stealthy fundraising make up this quick trip through tech-industry headlines around the Boston area: —Locu, a San Francisco-based startup that was hatched out of MIT, has been acquired by online hosting company GoDaddy. The price wasn’t disclosed, but AllThingsD reports the deal was worth about $70 million. The startup was … Continue reading “Boston Roundup: Locu, Second Wind, Benu Networks, HubSpot”
DermTech Raises $5.6M to Develop New Test for Deadliest Skin Cancer
San Diego-based DermTech, which is developing a non-invasive diagnostic test for the deadliest form of skin cancer, said it has raised $5.6 million in Series B funding. Jacobs Investment Co., the Del Mar, CA-based investment arm of Qualcomm scion Gary Jacobs, led the new round of financing, which was joined by new and existing individual … Continue reading “DermTech Raises $5.6M to Develop New Test for Deadliest Skin Cancer”
Techstars Austin’s First Class: Startups in E-Commerce, Health, and 3D printing
Techstars Austin introduced its first startup class this week, with entrepreneurs innovating in health care, retail, and wearable technology, among other sectors. More than 850 startups applied for the 10 slots available for the three-month accelerator program. The companies will end the program by participating in a demo day in late October. Boulder-based Techstars announced … Continue reading “Techstars Austin’s First Class: Startups in E-Commerce, Health, and 3D printing”
Applied Proteomics Snags $28M to Look for Disease Markers in Blood
San Diego’s Applied Proteomics, founded in 2007 to automate the process of accurately measuring all the protein fragments in a drop of blood, has raised $28 million in a Series C round of financing. With the addition of the latest round of financing, Applied Proteomics has now raised a total of $57 million over the … Continue reading “Applied Proteomics Snags $28M to Look for Disease Markers in Blood”
Big Fish Cuts Bait on Cloud Service, Lays Off 49 in Seattle
Big Fish Games, despite being profitable and eyeing an 11th consecutive year of record revenue growth, is cutting up to 140 jobs—49 in its Seattle headquarters—and closing some of its international offices to focus the casual games maker and distributor on its best businesses. To continue the company’s momentum, “we need to realign our resources … Continue reading “Big Fish Cuts Bait on Cloud Service, Lays Off 49 in Seattle”
Apple, Samsung, or BlackBerry? A Smartphone Model for VC Strategy
[Updated 9:20pm] After many years as a boutique investment class dominated by well-known names, the venture capital business is hitting some turbulence. Average returns for the past decade-plus have been lackluster, and there have been consequences—notable investors pulling back their checkbooks, and firms that can’t make the grade shrinking or disappearing entirely. At the same … Continue reading “Apple, Samsung, or BlackBerry? A Smartphone Model for VC Strategy”
Roundup: Motozuma Opens Detroit Office, WSU Student Ventures Snag Funding
A few items to catch up on around town: —Motozuma has reportedly opened up an office in Detroit. The Naperville, IL-based startup allows users to set up free online savings accounts where they can put money towards a new car and invite friends and family to help contribute. Motozuma users are rewarded for their savings … Continue reading “Roundup: Motozuma Opens Detroit Office, WSU Student Ventures Snag Funding”
Join Us, and Boston’s “Life Science Disruptors,” on Oct. 2
If you want to be successful in biotech, incremental gains aren’t the way to go—you’ve got to shoot higher. One of Celgene’s top executives, George Golumbeski, said it best when I spoke with him recently: the company is always on the prowl for something ‘disruptive.’ Disruptive science capable of shaking up the biotech world. Disruptive … Continue reading “Join Us, and Boston’s “Life Science Disruptors,” on Oct. 2”
Medivizor Takes on WebMD, Dr. Google, With Customized Health Service
When people are diagnosed with a disease, the first move they, or their family members typically make is to book a long appointment with Dr. Google or WebMD. A New York-based startup named Medivizor thinks they’re making a mistake. Now it will get its shot to prove it. Yesterday, the one-year old startup began offering … Continue reading “Medivizor Takes on WebMD, Dr. Google, With Customized Health Service”
Cellscape Hunts for Fetal Cells in Mom, Pushing Diagnostic Frontier
[Correction: 3:15 pm PT] You can learn a lot about a potential human being if you can get your hands on a few red blood cells from a developing fetus. The thing is, these cells are fragile and hard to obtain. More than 50 companies have tried and failed to create a reliable, noninvasive way … Continue reading “Cellscape Hunts for Fetal Cells in Mom, Pushing Diagnostic Frontier”
Meet the 45 New Y Combinator Startups: From Bitcoins to Bots
[Headline updated to reflect accurate startup count of 45, not 46. That’ll teach you not to do math in your head at 2 in the morning.] One secret to getting through yesterday’s Y Combinator Demo Day, if you were one of the 800 people enduring three hours of presentations at the Computer History Museum in … Continue reading “Meet the 45 New Y Combinator Startups: From Bitcoins to Bots”
U-M’s TechStart Interns Help Guide University Startups to Market
By day, Mark Maynard is the marketing manager for the University of Michigan’s Office of Technology Transfer. After hours, he dedicates a big chunk of his time to overseeing the university’s TechStart internship program, which is just finishing its 13th year. Each summer, TechStart takes a handful of U-M’s best and brightest graduate students from … Continue reading “U-M’s TechStart Interns Help Guide University Startups to Market”
$60.2M from ’90s Startups Make Boulder’s Polis 7th Richest U.S. Rep
Jared Polis, former tech entrepreneur, Techstars co-founder, longtime figure in Colorado’s tech scene, and now Boulder’s representative in Congress, is the seventh wealthiest lawmaker in Washington, according to rankings released today by the Hill, a print and online publication that covers politics and government. The Democratic Congressman’s personal wealth is an estimated $60.2 million, according … Continue reading “$60.2M from ’90s Startups Make Boulder’s Polis 7th Richest U.S. Rep”
Techstars Pieces Together Connected Devices Accelerator with R/GA
The hardware sector, regarded by some as the black sheep of the innovation world, is enjoying a bit of renewed interest from the startup community. On Monday the folks at Techstars in Boulder, CO latched on to this rising trend, announcing a new connected devices accelerator that will be in partnership with digital marketing agency … Continue reading “Techstars Pieces Together Connected Devices Accelerator with R/GA”