The Ann Arbor-based startup Seelio, which has developed an online networking platform to help students and fledgling professionals showcase their talent, announced this week that it has raised $900,000 in seed financing. Contributing to the round are the Detroit-based First Step Fund, the state-administered Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, and a group of angel investors, including Steve Fireng, … Continue reading “Seelio Raises $900K For Online College Student Network”
Category: National
Shapeways, MakerBot, and Lux Capital Stoke Ambitions for 3-D Printing
Layer by layer, 3-D printing continues to build up its presence as more funding lands in a local player’s pockets. On Tuesday morning, New York’s Shapeways, which makes products on demand with its printers, announced it had raised $30 million in a Series C round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Later that afternoon, Shapeways CEO Peter … Continue reading “Shapeways, MakerBot, and Lux Capital Stoke Ambitions for 3-D Printing”
Avalon Ventures’ $495M Deal Grew from GSK Quest for Academic Inroads
The partnership between Avalon Ventures and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]), which is intended to invest as much as $495 million in 10 early stage life science companies in San Diego was a confluence of many factors, and the culmination of months of negotiation. A key element of the deal, though, is that the venture firm founded … Continue reading “Avalon Ventures’ $495M Deal Grew from GSK Quest for Academic Inroads”
NY’s Venture Challenge Is Tomorrow—Last Chance to Get Tickets
We’re really excited about tomorrow morning’s Xconomy Forum—New York’s Venture Challenge: Building Big to Last. Tickets have been selling fast, and today is the last chance to get yours without paying the walk-in rate. The event starts at 9:30 am, with networking and coffee beginning an hour before that. So grab those last tickets and … Continue reading “NY’s Venture Challenge Is Tomorrow—Last Chance to Get Tickets”
Gen9, Synthetic Biology Startup, Snags $21M from Agilent
[Updated: 1:15 pm ET] Scientists have been able to order up custom-synthesized genes on demand for quite a few years now. But if synthetic biology is going to move beyond small lab experiments and disrupt whole industries like its proponents say, it needs to get faster, cheaper, and larger-scale. One startup in the field, Gen9, … Continue reading “Gen9, Synthetic Biology Startup, Snags $21M from Agilent”
The Devil is in the Details: What BioPharma Press Releases Don’t Say
While my primary focus is on the research side of the business, I have to admit that for many biotechs, their survival may be tied to the art of the deal. Kevin Kinsella of Avalon Ventures shared his thoughts with Xconomy readers awhile back on the increasingly hard bargains that Big Pharma is extracting from … Continue reading “The Devil is in the Details: What BioPharma Press Releases Don’t Say”
Online Resources Will Upend the Textbook Industry
Can a free tablet app render traditional textbooks and publishers obsolete? Will new software for grading papers and short essays replace teachers? Education has experienced a wave of progress in recent times thanks to open education resources, online colleges and mobile computing. Not only have students and teachers benefited from access to resources, but even … Continue reading “Online Resources Will Upend the Textbook Industry”
Report: Google Buying Seattle Startup Wavii to Augment Knowledge Graph
Wavii, a Seattle startup that makes a Facebook-style feed for whatever you’re interested in, has been scooped up by Google for “more than $30 million,” according to TechCrunch, citing “a legitimate source.” We’ve asked founder and CEO Adrian Aoun for comment and will update as appropriate. As part of the deal, Aoun and Wavii’s two … Continue reading “Report: Google Buying Seattle Startup Wavii to Augment Knowledge Graph”
Here’s What It Looks Like When an Entire Country Loses the Internet
When you deliver nearly a third of global Web traffic, you get to see a lot of crazy stuff happen. Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AKAM]]), the global Internet traffic provider, is giving us a glimpse at some of those wild scenarios today in its latest “State of the Internet” report. The company, based in Cambridge, MA, … Continue reading “Here’s What It Looks Like When an Entire Country Loses the Internet”
Azuki, Led by Wu-Lynch Clan, Looks to Go Big in Mobile TV Market
Television is in the air these days—quite literally, as more people are watching video on mobile devices via wireless networks. The Boston area is also abuzz with the news that Aereo, the IAC-backed Internet TV startup, is bringing its streaming service to the area in May. But another video-tech company that starts with “A” is … Continue reading “Azuki, Led by Wu-Lynch Clan, Looks to Go Big in Mobile TV Market”
Canadian Software Firm Red Piston Happy to be in Detroit
Developing a mobile game featuring flying penises might not sound like prestigious work, but for Red Piston it was a pretty big deal. The Windsor, ON-based software company with a new Detroit office created “Dave and Chuck the Freak’s Kick-Ass Game” for the notorious local radio hosts Dave Hunter and Charles Urquhart. It quickly went … Continue reading “Canadian Software Firm Red Piston Happy to be in Detroit”
An Entrepreneurship Competition Turns 5: Lessons Learned at CU-Boulder
The New Venture Challenge Championships at the University of Colorado, which wrapped up last week (see Xconomy’s coverage here), were magic. An April snowstorm did not deter more than 200 individuals from the community from packing the finals. Few things inspire like seeing entrepreneurs—especially students—solve problems by creating new companies. And the teams were great. … Continue reading “An Entrepreneurship Competition Turns 5: Lessons Learned at CU-Boulder”
Dropcam’s Beef with Brogramming, Late Nights, and Free Dinners
Dropcam, a four-year-old startup in San Francisco, has never lost an employee. I’ll say that again so that you won’t think it’s a typo: no one who has taken a job at Dropcam has ever left. It’s not that they’re being monitored everywhere they go. (The company makes Wi-Fi-enabled cameras for home video surveillance.) Rather, … Continue reading “Dropcam’s Beef with Brogramming, Late Nights, and Free Dinners”
DuckDuckGo Pushes Its Privacy-Geared Search Engine at Gel Conference
Many search engine providers try to balance the privacy of users with leveraging the wealth of data they can collect—but not the developer of DuckDuckGo. CEO and founder Gabriel Weinberg simply does not want to know what people are looking for on the Web when they use his platform. He spoke in New York about … Continue reading “DuckDuckGo Pushes Its Privacy-Geared Search Engine at Gel Conference”
A Few Free Startup Tix Left for Thurs Event With Tumblr, Warby Parker
We are getting down to the wire for this Thursday’s New York Venture Challenge: Building Big to Last—and we are pumped here at Xconomy. The core of the morning event will be three entrepreneur-investor stories featuring the founders of Warby Parker, Tumblr, and Everyday Health alongside one of their main venture capital backers (Joel Cutler … Continue reading “A Few Free Startup Tix Left for Thurs Event With Tumblr, Warby Parker”
Kendall Square’s New Rules
With the events surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing last week, I have found it difficult to think about much else. Xconomy had previously invited me to write about the upcoming transformation MIT is bringing to Kendall Square. When it came time to sit down and write this piece, my first reaction was to pass. But … Continue reading “Kendall Square’s New Rules”
Biotech Execs Aren’t Ready to Prove Drugs Have Value, E&Y Says
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act last year as constitutional. President Obama won re-election. After years of runaway spending on healthcare, the well established policy on healthcare in this country is that access needs to go up, and costs need to come down. While many other groups are coming to terms with … Continue reading “Biotech Execs Aren’t Ready to Prove Drugs Have Value, E&Y Says”
GlaxoSmithKline and Avalon Ventures Agree to Startup Collaboration
Avalon Ventures founder Kevin Kinsella has been saying for some time that pharmaceutical companies should be striking deals with VC firms that know how to organize biotech startups—and it now appears a Big Pharma was listening. The Wall Street Journal reports this afternoon on its (subscription-based) website that GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]) has agreed to provide … Continue reading “GlaxoSmithKline and Avalon Ventures Agree to Startup Collaboration”
PivotDesk Expands to Help NYC, SF Startups Solve Real Estate Needs
When building a company, entrepreneurs have enough challenges, like perfecting their product and finding customers. Playing the guessing game about how much office space they need shouldn’t have to be one of them. That’s what David Mandell, co-founder and CEO of PivotDesk, thinks. The Boulder, CO.-based company and TechStars Boulder 2012 alum has created an … Continue reading “PivotDesk Expands to Help NYC, SF Startups Solve Real Estate Needs”
Roundup: VC Investment, Tableau Q1, Greenest Building, Asteroids, & More
On Earth Day, the world’s “greenest office building” is opening in Seattle, providing a model for commercial developers weighing the costs and benefits of sustainability. Meanwhile, Northwest venture investment was down in the first quarter; Tableau Software updated its IPO registration statement with first-quarter results; Planetary Resources landed a big partner and investor in Bechtel; … Continue reading “Roundup: VC Investment, Tableau Q1, Greenest Building, Asteroids, & More”
Bind Therapeutics, AstraZeneca Collaborate on Cancer Drug
A little less than four months into 2013, and Bind Therapeutics has already struck its third partnership. Cambridge, MA-based Bind Therapeutics said today it has formed a collaboration with London-based AstraZeneca to co-develop and co-market a cancer drug candidate that uses Bind’s proprietary nanoparticle delivery technology. Bind stands to collect as much as $69 million … Continue reading “Bind Therapeutics, AstraZeneca Collaborate on Cancer Drug”
Coupa Gains on Competitors in Expense Management
Three decades into the PC revolution and nearly two decades after most businesses joined the Internet, you’d think that software makers would already have identified every conceivable inefficiency in the way companies work, and that they’d be running out of ideas for how businesses can use technology to save more money. Not even close. Take … Continue reading “Coupa Gains on Competitors in Expense Management”
GrabCAD Leads Surge in Boston-Area Hardware Design Startups
Is hardware the next big thing? That’s certainly the impression you get in local tech circles. The question is, what are companies actually doing to advance the sector? Historically, device firms have needed lots of time and money to get off the ground. Especially as compared to software startups, which, in the past five to … Continue reading “GrabCAD Leads Surge in Boston-Area Hardware Design Startups”
From Assets to Zen: Building Successful Drug Hunting Relationships
[Editor’s Note: This post was co-authored by Jessica Yingling, founder of Little Dog Communications.] A wise person once said, “Select your partner wisely. Because that person will be either 90 percent of your happiness or 90 percent of your misery.” While she presumably was referring to partners in love, this could also easily apply to … Continue reading “From Assets to Zen: Building Successful Drug Hunting Relationships”
U-M’s Student-Led Social Venture Fund Invests in Mytonomy
The University of Michigan’s student-run Social Venture Fund announced last week that it has invested in Mytonomy, an ed tech startup based in Washington, D.C. NewSchools Venture Fund led the round and Kapor Capital also participated. The Social Venture Fund makes early-stage investments of up to $100,000 in innovative socially or environmentally responsible companies. This is the third … Continue reading “U-M’s Student-Led Social Venture Fund Invests in Mytonomy”
Boston-Area Deals: Life Image, MC10, Gizmox, Nanigans, Verivo
Updated 3:45 p.m. Several private companies around Massachusetts are making fundraising news: —Newton-based Life Image has raised $15 million in fresh capital. The company says the Series C round includes previous investors Galen Partners, Cardinal Partners, and Long River Ventures. Life Image provides a network for securely sharing medical images like X-ray and MRI scans. (The … Continue reading “Boston-Area Deals: Life Image, MC10, Gizmox, Nanigans, Verivo”
Roger Ehrenberg to “Unpack” the Founder-Investor Bond at NY Venture Challenge
Want a chance to watch Roger Ehrenberg, managing partner of IA Ventures, pick the brains of Spark Capital’s Bijan Sabet and Tumblr founder David Karp? Join Xconomy this Thursday, April 25, at our “New York’s Venture Challenge” event where Ehrenberg will lead a discussion about what it takes to create the right dynamic to nurture startups … Continue reading “Roger Ehrenberg to “Unpack” the Founder-Investor Bond at NY Venture Challenge”
SolidWorks Founder Joins MIT Blackjack Reunion Panel at XSITE June 19
As the Boston area tries to get back to some semblance of normalcy, there’s an event I’d like to put on your radar. The theme is “Boston’s Tech Revival,” which seems appropriate today. The time and place is June 19 at Babson College. The occasion is Xconomy’s fifth annual XSITE conference, in which we bring … Continue reading “SolidWorks Founder Joins MIT Blackjack Reunion Panel at XSITE June 19”
Supporting Startup Communities: Some Reflections on ‘Brant’s Rant’
I’ve had the pleasure of being part of San Diego’s entrepreneurial tech community since the ‘70s when, armed with my fresh Harvard doctorate, I joined a little company called Linkabit (the practice run for Qualcomm). I quickly learned what a start-up company was from San Diego’s finest entrepreneur, Irwin Jacobs. Since entrepreneurship is infectious, like … Continue reading “Supporting Startup Communities: Some Reflections on ‘Brant’s Rant’”
A Biotech Innovation Supply Chain: Reality or Fantasy?
Biotech has always been a bit like an open-air market bazaar. Now the industry needs to become a little more stable, more predictable. It ought to be part of something you could call an “innovation supply chain.” At least, that’s the view of Noubar Afeyan, the managing partner of Cambridge, MA-based Flagship Ventures. Biotech is … Continue reading “A Biotech Innovation Supply Chain: Reality or Fantasy?”
While Windows Slowly Shifts, Office Drives Forward
A good chunk of the technology industry spent the end of this week gorging on the performance of Microsoft’s Windows unit, which pulled off relatively flat growth despite some doomsday predictions of a collapse in PC sales. Another narrative was tucked into the background: Microsoft’s software applications, driven by its Office suite, continue to be … Continue reading “While Windows Slowly Shifts, Office Drives Forward”
Venture Funding in Detroit Down in Q1, Still Higher Than 2011
According to MoneyTree data released today, first-quarter venture funding in southeast Michigan was down compared to the first quarter of 2012, though the deal count rose by one. Compared to last year, funding in Q1 2013 was down by almost two-thirds, with venture capitalists investing $17.6 million in 13 deals. However, 2012 was a record-high … Continue reading “Venture Funding in Detroit Down in Q1, Still Higher Than 2011”
VC Investment in Boulder/Denver Companies Declines in First Quarter
[Updated 4/23/13 2:30 pm. See below.] The year is off to a slow start in terms of venture capital investing, both for companies in the Boulder/Denver area and around the country, according to the MoneyTree Report released today. Sixteen companies in the Boulder/Denver region raised $77 million in the first quarter, which is the lowest quarterly … Continue reading “VC Investment in Boulder/Denver Companies Declines in First Quarter”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Thermo, Alkermes, Acorda, Epizyme
One big story—the Boston Marathon bombing—dominated the news this week. Boston’s healthcare system rose to the challenge of treating so many injured victims, as reported in this terrific post by Atul Gawande of the New Yorker. While the investigation into the tragedy continues, many East Coast biotech companies carried on with their business and accomplished … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Thermo, Alkermes, Acorda, Epizyme”
When iMovie Isn’t Enough, Amateur Video Producers Can Go Pro
When you hear people in the tech world talking about “consumerization,” they’re usually referring to complex business software that’s been overhauled to look and feel more like personal technology. But consumerization is washing over other parts of the software market too. One of them is professional media creation and editing. Photoshop is a great example. … Continue reading “When iMovie Isn’t Enough, Amateur Video Producers Can Go Pro”
San Diego Venture Funding Remains Flat in Q1 MoneyTree Data
Venture capital activity in the San Diego region has remained flat for two consecutive quarters, with funding levels and deals for the first three months of 2013 coming in almost exactly the same as the last three months of 2012, according to data from the MoneyTree Report released today. VCs invested $178.3 million in 26 … Continue reading “San Diego Venture Funding Remains Flat in Q1 MoneyTree Data”
Venture Slowdown Squeezes Bay Area Startups
It turns out that Bay Area startups aren’t immune to the national slowdown in venture investing. In the first quarter of the year, total venture investments going to San Francisco Bay Area companies fell to their lowest level in the past year, according to the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association … Continue reading “Venture Slowdown Squeezes Bay Area Startups”
Venture Funding Slows as VC Industry Contracts, & Top 10 Deals List
Overall venture capital activity slowed in the U.S. during the first three months of 2013, with venture capitalists investing $5.9 billion in 863 deals nationwide, according to the MoneyTree Report released today. Compared with the previous quarter, VC funding was off nearly 12 percent and the deal count was down almost 15 percent. Venture firms … Continue reading “Venture Funding Slows as VC Industry Contracts, & Top 10 Deals List”
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Booms on Cystic Fibrosis Combo Drug Study
[Updated: 12:55 pm ET 4/19] Vertex Pharmaceuticals isn’t willing to settle for coming up with one great drug for 4 percent of patients with cystic fibrosis. The Cambridge, MA-based company wants to treat a whole lot more children and adults with this deadly genetic disease, and today it offered some more evidence that it’s on … Continue reading “Vertex Pharmaceuticals Booms on Cystic Fibrosis Combo Drug Study”
Flowboard App Is Platform For ‘Touch Publishing’ on iPad
The debate rages on: are tablets good for creating content, or just consuming it? The iPad and other touch-enabled tablets are undeniably awesome for browsing the Web, viewing photos and videos, shopping, playing games, reading (for some people), and consuming other digital media. But they are often knocked as clunky when it comes to creating … Continue reading “Flowboard App Is Platform For ‘Touch Publishing’ on iPad”
Algae Harvesters, Online Market for Teachers Share CU Biz Plan Title
Converting the carbon dioxide gas produced by craft breweries into expensive dietary supplements might seem like a far-fetched idea. But a startup with just such a business plan was named a co-champion of the University of Colorado’s New Venture Challenge. The company, Superior EcoTech, shared top honors yesterday with TeacherMaps, an education tech company creating … Continue reading “Algae Harvesters, Online Market for Teachers Share CU Biz Plan Title”
Boston Briefs: Wayfair, Proletariat, Iora Health, Pixability
[Updated 5:10 pm to correct dollar figure to orders in first item.] Private companies big and small are making fundraising headlines this week: —Online home furnishings retailer Wayfair reported that its first-quarter sales grew by 40 percent since last year. The company also tells the Boston Globe that orders for its goods reached nearly $200 million during … Continue reading “Boston Briefs: Wayfair, Proletariat, Iora Health, Pixability”
David Tisch Asks NYU Prez How Schools Can Help Student Entrepreneurs
In a fireside chat, David Tisch, managing founder of early-stage investment fund BoxGroup, asked New York University President John Sexton how universities can be more in line with the needs of students who want to launch startups. Tisch, an NYU alum and former managing director of TechStars NYC, spoke with Sexton last week as part … Continue reading “David Tisch Asks NYU Prez How Schools Can Help Student Entrepreneurs”
AlertWatch Offers New Way to Monitor Patients in the OR
Watching the real-time feed of AlertWatch patients in the operating room at the University of Michigan hospital is a hypnotic experience. In fact, CEO Justin Adams admits that at least one surgeon he knows watches it almost exclusively at home. AlertWatch makes software developed at U-M’s Venture Accelerator to monitor patients in the operating room, … Continue reading “AlertWatch Offers New Way to Monitor Patients in the OR”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Life’s M&A Deal, Santarus, & More
By far, the biggest life sciences news in the San Diego region over the past week was Thermo Fisher Scientific’s $13.6 billion acquisition of Life Technologies. I’ve compiled a special edition roundup of the deal, along with everything that happened in San Diego. —In one of the biggest corporate buyouts San Diego has seen, Thermo … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Life’s M&A Deal, Santarus, & More”
Boulder Startup Tries to Relieve the Pain of Mobile Salesforce Users
Tracking contacts with customers and managing conference-call invitations is never going to be fun, but it could be less of a chore, especially for the increasing number of people whose smartphones are their lifeline to clients and the home office. The goal of MobileDay is to build the tools smartphone users need to take some … Continue reading “Boulder Startup Tries to Relieve the Pain of Mobile Salesforce Users”
Bootstrapping With A Paycheck
Entrepreneurs looking to launch their startups are often faced with myriad difficult decisions, chief among them being the question of seed financing. If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “How can I fund this?” or “Can I fund this on my own, while I’m still holding my current job?” the answer is yes—you absolutely can. Vasu … Continue reading “Bootstrapping With A Paycheck”
Acquired or Acq-hired, Xpenser Adds Expertise to Coupa’s Web Services
Some startups are born great, some achieve greatness—and some get acquired. Getting acquired can mean different things, however. In the case of Xpenser, a consumer Web startup based in Del Mar, CA (just north of San Diego), the buyout disclosed last week by San Francisco-based Coupa Software was more like getting hired. Founded in 2008 … Continue reading “Acquired or Acq-hired, Xpenser Adds Expertise to Coupa’s Web Services”
UW Spinoff Impel Neuropharma Passes Key Nose-to-Brain Clinical Trial
Seattle-based Impel Neuropharma has been working for five years to show it can quickly deliver drugs through the nose, directly to the brain, for the treatment of central nervous system disorders. The animal data so far has been encouraging, but now the company has got key confirmation that it can do its thing in human … Continue reading “UW Spinoff Impel Neuropharma Passes Key Nose-to-Brain Clinical Trial”
Cue Ball Capital Adds $30M to “Evergreen,” Unconventional VC Fund
Cue Ball Capital, an unconventional Boston venture fund that counts some well-known business and media names among its investors, has added another $30 million to its ongoing investment fund. The new fundraising follows a significant deal for Cue Ball’s portfolio: scientific publisher Reed Elsevier’s acquisition of Knovel, a provider of online engineering software. The Knovel … Continue reading “Cue Ball Capital Adds $30M to “Evergreen,” Unconventional VC Fund”