Texas state leaders have approved legislation that would revive and reform the embattled Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, but have left one question unanswered: What about the companies with pending grant applications? CPRIT (pronounced “sip-rit”), was created by a 2007 amendment to the Texas state constitution with the mission of funding cancer research … Continue reading “Texas Cancer Agency Resuscitated, But Fate of Pending Grants Unknown”
Category: National
Boston Roundup: Grousbeck, ConnectEDU, Certica, Content Raven
Updated 2 pm Some interesting bits of fundraising and buyout news from around the Boston-area innovation scene: —Boston Celtics CEO and co-owner Wyc Grousbeck is starting a new investment fund focusing on sports and sports media. Reports of the new fund started surfacing this spring, but Grousbeck and his partners—Bob Higgins of Highland Capital and … Continue reading “Boston Roundup: Grousbeck, ConnectEDU, Certica, Content Raven”
Immune Design, NY Non-Profits Team Up to Boost Cancer Drugs
Seattle-based Immune Design took a big step forward as a company in 2010 when it struck a deal to let AstraZeneca’s MedImmune unit test out its proprietary vaccine boosters, or adjuvants. Now, it’s got a bigger goal in mind: using a broad collaboration with two big non-profit organizations to break into the hot field of … Continue reading “Immune Design, NY Non-Profits Team Up to Boost Cancer Drugs”
Scouting for a Summer Camp for the Kids? Camperoo, Sigby Offer Aid
School is almost out. Do you know what your kids will be doing this summer? If you haven’t already locked in a place at Camp Longhorn or Camp Waldemar, and are at loose ends where to send the kiddoes, Houston entrepreneur Emmie Chang says she has a solution: Camperoo, her startup that offers one-stop shopping … Continue reading “Scouting for a Summer Camp for the Kids? Camperoo, Sigby Offer Aid”
Acquisition Rumors About MakerBot Aside, 3-D Printing Poised to Grow
A hornet’s nest of gossip buzzed up over the weekend about alleged talks between desktop 3-D printer producer MakerBot Industries in Brooklyn and Minnesota’s Stratasys. Though neither company will comment, the rampant speculation about an acquisition deal speaks to the fast rise of 3-D printing. Zack Schildhorn, vice president and director of operations with New … Continue reading “Acquisition Rumors About MakerBot Aside, 3-D Printing Poised to Grow”
Detroit Startup Rippld Finds New Life in Silicon Valley
On a recent rainy summer morning, Adrian Walker, co-founder of the Detroit and now San Francisco-based startup Rippld, described how he almost threw in the towel on the fledgling team-building network he built for creative professionals. It was December 2012, and Rippld was nearly out of money, behind schedule on its public launch, and had recently … Continue reading “Detroit Startup Rippld Finds New Life in Silicon Valley”
UCSD “Entrepreneur Challenge” Awards Top Honors to DevaNano, GrollTex
A student-led startup with technology for encapsulating enzymatic drugs in nano-size wiffle balls won the top prize in the biotech and medical technology category, while a team with technology to produce enormous sheets of thin-film graphene conductive electrodes took the first-place technology prize in the 2013 UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge. The first-place winners, selected … Continue reading “UCSD “Entrepreneur Challenge” Awards Top Honors to DevaNano, GrollTex”
Fundraising Is a Means, Not an End
For many entrepreneurs “raising money” has replaced “building a sustainable business” as their goal. That’s a big mistake. When you take money from investors their business model becomes yours. One of my ex students came out to the ranch to give me an update on his startup. When I asked, “What are you working on?” … Continue reading “Fundraising Is a Means, Not an End”
UW Tech Turns Home WiFi Network Into Gesture Control System
If they weren’t outdated already, 1980s innovations like the Clapper and the medical alert pendants of “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” fame may have met their 21st century match in a new gesture sensing technology developed by University of Washington researchers. The WiSee parses and interprets small disruptions in a WiFi signal caused … Continue reading “UW Tech Turns Home WiFi Network Into Gesture Control System”
CustomMade, SageCloud Raise Series Bs in Commerce, Storage
A busy morning for Series B tech financings already… —Cambridge, MA-based CustomMade has pulled in $18 million led by new investor Atlas Venture and previous investor Google Ventures. That brings the company’s total raised to more than $24 million, by my count. CustomMade runs an online marketplace that connects consumers with regional makers of furniture, … Continue reading “CustomMade, SageCloud Raise Series Bs in Commerce, Storage”
Agios Files For IPO With Plans to Raise $86M
Agios Pharmaceuticals turned heads in 2010 when it reeled in $130 million from Celgene still years away from testing one of its drugs in human beings. Three years later, on the verge of its first clinical trial, Agios hopes to have the same type of impact on public investors. Cambridge, MA-based Agios filed a Form … Continue reading “Agios Files For IPO With Plans to Raise $86M”
Clovis Oncology to Raise $170M as Stock Price Booms Following ASCO
Clovis Oncology is riding high following last week’s American Society of Clinical Oncology conference, and today the Boulder, CO-based company announced it will try to raise $170 million in an underwritten public offering. Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLVS]]) emerged from ASCO as one of the breakout companies, with its stock price more than doubling and now … Continue reading “Clovis Oncology to Raise $170M as Stock Price Booms Following ASCO”
GM Opens Developer Portal Ahead of 4G Car Launch
People were buzzing at least week’s Telematics Update conference about the dawn of the 4G car, made possible starting in 2014 thanks to a partnership between General Motors and AT&T. In my informal, off-the record poll, executives running some of the world’s largest mobile technology companies said they considered it to be the biggest thing … Continue reading “GM Opens Developer Portal Ahead of 4G Car Launch”
Salaries Up for IT Security Managers, Systems Analysts, Says Mondo
Anxious to put technology to work reaching audiences, marketers helped shoot adrenaline into IT workers’ salaries, according to a recent study. Technology recruiting firm Mondo in New York last week released findings of a survey based on IT job placements the company made in 2012 and 2013. Among the professionals surveyed, experienced IT security managers … Continue reading “Salaries Up for IT Security Managers, Systems Analysts, Says Mondo”
AstraZeneca Nabs Redwood City-based Pearl Therapeutics For Up to $1.15B
Pearl Therapeutics’ investors are a happy group today. AstraZeneca (NYSE: [[ticker:AZN]]), the British pharmaceutical giant, has agreed to pay $560 million up front for all of Pearl’s stock. Pearl and its investors could ultimately make more than double that amount, however. AstraZeneca could pay Pearl another $450 million should it hit certain milestones tied to … Continue reading “AstraZeneca Nabs Redwood City-based Pearl Therapeutics For Up to $1.15B”
Edtech Acclerator LearnLaunchX Names First Class
Summer’s here, but that doesn’t mean the focus on schooling stops—at least not in the Boston area, where education is big business and a driving force in regional culture. Today, a few entrepreneurs hoping to leave their mark on the system are being welcomed into LearnLaunchX, an accelerator program for edcuation-focused startups. LearnLaunchX follows a … Continue reading “Edtech Acclerator LearnLaunchX Names First Class”
Tips from TravelNerd Offer a Smoother Ride Through the Airport
There are tons of travel apps out there to help you plan for everything from booking tickets to translating foreign languages to finding your way through museums. But TravelNerd offers something a little different: an app that will help improve what’s often the most chaotic part of any trip—the journey through the airport—-by directing you to the … Continue reading “Tips from TravelNerd Offer a Smoother Ride Through the Airport”
FDA Declines To Approve Aveo’s Drug For Kidney Cancer
As expected, the hammer came down on Aveo Oncology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVEO]]) today as the FDA denied its application to approve tivozanib as a kidney cancer treatment. The complete response letter issued by the FDA closes the book on a chapter the Cambridge, MA-based biotech surely would like to forget. The FDA, in its letter, called … Continue reading “FDA Declines To Approve Aveo’s Drug For Kidney Cancer”
San Antonio Startup Leto, Winner of $100K, Builds Cooler Prosthetics
For Gary Walters, the entrepreneurial brainstorm came while mowing his lawn on a hot San Antonio day. An Iraq war veteran, Walters lost his right leg below the knee in a bomb blast eight years ago, and he has suffered from excessive heat and sweating where his prosthesis is joined to his leg, a common … Continue reading “San Antonio Startup Leto, Winner of $100K, Builds Cooler Prosthetics”
Profiles in Long-Termism: Sarepta Therapeutics CEO Chris Garabedian
Biotech is a long-term business, in a world that places more value on short-term thinking. Pharma companies often cut long-term R&D budgets, or do disastrous mega-mergers, mainly to juice their profits for a quarter or two. But sometimes people come along who are willing and able to buck the trends. They have a strategy for … Continue reading “Profiles in Long-Termism: Sarepta Therapeutics CEO Chris Garabedian”
Tumblr, Foursquare Execs Map Out New Directions, Tools for Brands
Senior executives from Tumblr and Foursquare headlined the first day of Gnip’s Big Boulder Conference on “social data” on Thursday, and while they didn’t have much to say about the news that’s put their companies in the headlines in the past few months, they did lay out what products their companies are betting on for … Continue reading “Tumblr, Foursquare Execs Map Out New Directions, Tools for Brands”
Floored’s CEO Talks About Bringing 3-D Image Modeling to Real Estate
Injecting new technology into a long-established industry is a big enough task for most new companies. So is tying your fortune to a brand-new technology application that is still finding its place in the market. New York-based Floored must like a good challenge—it’s trying to climb both of those mountains. The startup’s aim is to … Continue reading “Floored’s CEO Talks About Bringing 3-D Image Modeling to Real Estate”
365 Retail Markets on the Future of Vending Machines
Last month, the Troy, MI-based startup 365 Retail Markets scored a financing round led by Ann Arbor’s Plymouth Venture Partners for an undisclosed amount. Plymouth Management Company partner Jeff Barry says the fund was attracted to 365 because of its 300 percent annual growth rate. 365’s CEO, Joe Hessling, expects that explosive growth to continue because … Continue reading “365 Retail Markets on the Future of Vending Machines”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Zogenix, Isis, Cellana, and More
Much of the life sciences news this week was coming out of the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. Yet San Diego somehow managed to generate a lot of other news as well. —Finland’s Biotie Therapies said it has an exclusive option to acquire San Diego’s Neurelis, a biotech that specializes in developing … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Zogenix, Isis, Cellana, and More”
AbbVie Jumps Into $11.4M Series B For Avaxia Biologics
Avaxia Biologics’s big plan has been to create a line of drugs that go after the same protein, tumor necrosis factor, that AbbVie’s adalimumab (Humira) does—just in a different, more localized way. Clearly, its approach has gotten AbbVie’s (NYSE: [[ticker:ABBV]]) attention. Lexington, MA-based Avaxia announced today that it has closed an $11.4 million Series B … Continue reading “AbbVie Jumps Into $11.4M Series B For Avaxia Biologics”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: ASCO, Follica, Aveo, & More
All eyes may have been on ASCO to start the week, but that wasn’t the only news emanating from biotechs on the East Coast. We’ve got all the details here: —Luke Timmerman, Xconomy’s National Biotech Editor, had the winners, losers, and everything in between in his two-part wrap of this year’s annual meeting of the … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: ASCO, Follica, Aveo, & More”
Coffee Goes from Folger’s, to Starbucks, to Tech-Driven ‘Third Wave’
There’s change brewing in the world of coffee. Over the last 10 years or so, an assortment of independent “third wave” coffee roasters has appeared in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Austin, and Boulder—in other words, the same high-tech hubs we cover here at Xconomy. Each Xconomy editor has his or her … Continue reading “Coffee Goes from Folger’s, to Starbucks, to Tech-Driven ‘Third Wave’”
Johnson & Johnson’s New Innovation Center Part of Broader Initiative
Investing in biotechnology is a riskier bet these days. The community of life sciences venture capital firms is contracting, despite scientific advances across many fields like genomics, immunology, and diagnostics. Many promising new enterprises fail to produce marketable drugs, and even successful therapies may struggle to gain markets in an environment of health care cost … Continue reading “Johnson & Johnson’s New Innovation Center Part of Broader Initiative”
UW Spinout Cardiac Insight Wins FDA OK for Heartbeat Monitor
[Updated: 3:55 pm PT] Medical device startups often need to live on shoestring budgets as a lot of venture capital has dried up in the wake of the Great Recession, but Bellevue, WA-based Cardiac Insight has proven that you can sometimes come up with innovative new devices for less than $2 million. The company, a … Continue reading “UW Spinout Cardiac Insight Wins FDA OK for Heartbeat Monitor”
StillSecure Executives: Sale, Pivot an Attempt to Capitalize on BYOD
StillSecure announced Wednesday that it has sold its managed security services division to Connecticut-based SilverSky for an undisclosed amount. That’s obviously significant news for the Superior, CO-based company, but in the long run it might be less important to StillSecure’s future than its announcement it will now focus exclusively on its network access control (NAC) … Continue reading “StillSecure Executives: Sale, Pivot an Attempt to Capitalize on BYOD”
UMass Amherst Wins $100.5M in Grants From MA Life Sci Initiative
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s $1 billion life sciences initiative has just signed its biggest check to date—and it’s not going to Cambridge. Patrick and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center today pledged $100.5 million to two research projects in Western Massachusetts through the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative. The University of Massachusetts Amherst won a $95 million … Continue reading “UMass Amherst Wins $100.5M in Grants From MA Life Sci Initiative”
Verastem Switches CEOs as Westphal Steps Into Chairman Role
[Updated, 7:50 pm ET]Christoph Westphal co-founded Verastem in August 2010, invested in it, ran it as chairman and CEO in its early days, and took the company public last year. Now he’s officially stepping back a bit from the day-to-day responsibility of running the show. That’s the message Westphal gave Wednesday as he stepped down … Continue reading “Verastem Switches CEOs as Westphal Steps Into Chairman Role”
Socrata Powers—and Benefits From—Open Data Movement in Government
Drawing on an unprecedented amount of government data that is easier to access than ever before, more than 11,000 software developers, entrepreneurs, students, and others across the country devoted part of last weekend to building technologies designed to help local, state, and federal governments solve problems and improve their communities. The first National Day of … Continue reading “Socrata Powers—and Benefits From—Open Data Movement in Government”
Facebook Ad Startup Brand Networks Gets $68M to Fuel Growth
A year after Facebook went public in the most anticipated tech IPO of its generation, money is pouring into companies that might help the social network deliver more profits to its shareholders. Boston-based Brand Networks is among those reaping the benefits. Today, the small Facebook advertising company says it has received a $68 million growth … Continue reading “Facebook Ad Startup Brand Networks Gets $68M to Fuel Growth”
Miguel de Icaza, Wayne Chang, Founders’ Stories, & Blackjack: XSITE June 19
Just under two weeks to go before our blowout event of the year: XSITE 2013: Boston’s Tech Revival at Babson College on Wednesday, June 19. (Full agenda here.) Tom Leighton, the CEO and co-founder of Akamai, will set the table with a historical perspective on Kendall Square and the Boston-area tech community, followed by a … Continue reading “Miguel de Icaza, Wayne Chang, Founders’ Stories, & Blackjack: XSITE June 19”
NanoRacks Seeks Better Quality Protein Crystals Born in Microgravity
Canadian Commander Chris Hadfield wasn’t just spending his time in space communing with an Earth-bound Captain Kirk and learning to play guitar in microgravity. The astronaut, who last month returned to terra firma after five months in orbit at the International Space Station, gained international fame with his extracurricular projects, which also included a music-video … Continue reading “NanoRacks Seeks Better Quality Protein Crystals Born in Microgravity”
Cellana Cuts Algae Biofuel Deal with Finland Oil Giant
Algae biofuel was hot, then cold. Now it looks to be warming up again—kinda, sorta, maybe. San Diego-based Cellana is the latest example of an aspiring algae biofuel company that has been given a chance to turn things around, after the hype of the past few years died down. The company (previously known as HR … Continue reading “Cellana Cuts Algae Biofuel Deal with Finland Oil Giant”
CytomX Snags $25M From Pfizer to Make Souped-Up Antibodies
Pfizer was tripped up a couple years ago, when safety concerns emerged around the first drug ever approved that could combine the targeting ability of an antibody with a toxin to give it more tumor-killing kick. But the New York-based pharma giant still sees potential in the field of souped-up antibody drugs, and it’s seeking … Continue reading “CytomX Snags $25M From Pfizer to Make Souped-Up Antibodies”
FDA Delay on New Drug Triggers Layoffs at San Diego’s Zogenix
Pressed by unexpected delays in a ruling from the FDA, San Diego-based Zogenix (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGNX]]) says it has laid off 55 employees—or 37 percent of its workforce—in an effort to conserve cash through the summer. The pharmaceutical company, which specializes in developing drugs for pain and central nervous system disorders, had expected the FDA to … Continue reading “FDA Delay on New Drug Triggers Layoffs at San Diego’s Zogenix”
Mobisante Grabs $4.2M for Mobile Ultrasound Tools
[Updated 5:42 pm PT] Redmond, WA-based Mobisante has pulled in some new cash to support its dream of making ultrasound technology available on low-cost, lightweight smartphones and tablets. Mobisante has raked in $4.2 million of equity financing out of a deal that could ultimately be worth as much as $5.3 million, according to a filing … Continue reading “Mobisante Grabs $4.2M for Mobile Ultrasound Tools”
Another Way SaaS Changes Everything
There are a lot of “new rules” in enterprise software sales. We discussed many of them in depth at a recent industry forum: it’s now a buying process and not a selling process, the steak dinner and golf game are out, the length of the sales cycle has shortened, and so on. Many of the … Continue reading “Another Way SaaS Changes Everything”
StillSecure Sells Off Managed Services Division, Promotes New CEO
Big changes appear to be happening at StillSecure, which announced today it has sold its managed security services division to a Connecticut-based company for an undisclosed price and has named a new CEO. StillSecure is a network security company based in Superior, CO. StillSecure struck the deal with SilverSky, which develops cloud-based security software and … Continue reading “StillSecure Sells Off Managed Services Division, Promotes New CEO”
New Rock Health Startups Focus on Data, Sensors, Patients
San Francisco’s Rock Health startup accelerator unveiled its latest class of startups this week. It’s the fifth group admitted to the digital health program, which provides each of its companies with a $100,000 investment and four months of intensive entrepreneurship training, networking, and product design and development help. The 11 companies are working on problems … Continue reading “New Rock Health Startups Focus on Data, Sensors, Patients”
Can “Civic Hackers” Help the City of Detroit Make Business Run Smoother?
At last Saturday’s National Day of Civic Hacking pain pitch event, held at the Boll YMCA in downtown Detroit, I was hoping to see the place flooded with representatives from Detroit city government. After all, it was an event where government and nonprofit entities were invited to get up in front of a room full … Continue reading “Can “Civic Hackers” Help the City of Detroit Make Business Run Smoother?”
SAP Snaps Up E-commerce Tech Biz Hybris, Plans to Keep It Independent
Enterprise software company SAP announced Wednesday it acquired e-commerce software company hybris, which has its U.S. headquarters in New York and offices in Boston. The deal is expected to close by the third quarter with hybris operating as an independent business within its new parent company. Germany-based SAP said it plans to combine its technology … Continue reading “SAP Snaps Up E-commerce Tech Biz Hybris, Plans to Keep It Independent”
Houston Group eHRI Forms to Promote HealthTech Collaboration
Houston is home to one of the world’s most innovative medical clusters, but the institutions within still have work to do in using technology to reach more patients more efficiently. That’s the view, at least, of the eHealth Research Institute, a newly formed consortium aimed at finding and commercializing overlaps in information systems and medical … Continue reading “Houston Group eHRI Forms to Promote HealthTech Collaboration”
Boston Roundup: Affirmed Networks, BitSight, Mobiquity, Spark Capital
It’s suddenly a busy week for fundraising news around the Boston-area innovation scene, and it’s only half over: —Affirmed Networks, an Acton, MA-based startup that sells software for improving wireless networks, has raised $51 million in Series C financing. The investment was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, and included KCK Group and the company’s previous … Continue reading “Boston Roundup: Affirmed Networks, BitSight, Mobiquity, Spark Capital”
Aveo Rests Fate on Remaining Mid-Stage Trials For Cancer Drug
Executives of Cambridge, MA-based Aveo Oncology today further defended their decision to cut the majority of their company’s rank and file, while largely pinning the biotech’s hopes on two key clinical trials that should wrap up by the end of 2014. “This is an incredibly sad day for Aveo,” president and CEO Tuan Ha-Ngoc said … Continue reading “Aveo Rests Fate on Remaining Mid-Stage Trials For Cancer Drug”
Second Genome Gets J&J Deal, $6.5M, to Explore Bugs of the Gut
Scientists have been blown away by things they’ve learned the past couple years about the trillions of bacterial friends and enemies that we human beings live with every day. Now we’re seeing pharmaceutical companies showing more interest in finding new ways to exploit the growing base of knowledge. San Bruno, CA-based Second Genome, a startup … Continue reading “Second Genome Gets J&J Deal, $6.5M, to Explore Bugs of the Gut”
ASCO Wrap-Up: Cancer News from the East, South, & Rockies
The herds who attended the American Society of Clinical Oncology have now gone home after a frenzied few days of absorbing what’s new in cancer R&D. Yesterday, I wrapped up some of the big news from cancer drugmakers on the West Coast, and now I’m attempting to hit the highlights of companies from the other … Continue reading “ASCO Wrap-Up: Cancer News from the East, South, & Rockies”