Healthcare will no doubt shape the future of our country. And, if iRobot and InTouch Health succeed, robots may shape the future of healthcare. As Greg Huang wrote in September, iRobot has entered the healthcare field with the RP-VITA (Remote Presence Virtual + Independent Telemedicine Assistant), a robot it hopes will improve patient care by, … Continue reading “Angle and Yang to Demo Telepresence Robot at Health IT Forum Dec. 10”
Category: National
A123 Goes on the Auction Block: Here’s How It Got This Bad
[Update 12/10: Chinese firm wins A123 auction, feds must approve deal.] A123 Systems was supposed to be a leading light in the next phase of clean-energy innovation in the U.S.—hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants, state-government support in Massachusetts and Michigan, deals to supply the batteries for luxury electric cars. In 2009, the … Continue reading “A123 Goes on the Auction Block: Here’s How It Got This Bad”
Moderna, $40M in Tow, Hopes to Reinvent Biotech with “Make Your Own Drug”
Noubar Afeyan, Bob Langer, Tim Springer, and a host of other Boston biotech luminaries have been sitting on a big secret. Today we’re going to out them. Moderna Therapeutics, a stealthy startup in Cambridge, MA, is the subject of their considerable brainpower and experiments. The company is finally emerging from stealth, having raised $40 million … Continue reading “Moderna, $40M in Tow, Hopes to Reinvent Biotech with “Make Your Own Drug””
Seattle Roundup: Powerit nabs $5.5m, SEOmoz’s Portland buy, more
Holiday deal doldrums? Not yet. In addition to Smartsheet’s $26 million raise announced on Monday, a handful of other smaller financing and acquisition deals have emerged in recent days. Here are a few that caught our attention: —Powerit Solutions, which makes energy demand management technology for industrial customers, plans to use a $5.5 million Series … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Powerit nabs $5.5m, SEOmoz’s Portland buy, more”
Get Out of the Car and Start Exploring with Landmarked Detroit App
Suburbanites and tourists, we thank you for visiting Detroit and pumping some of your hard-earned cash into the local economy. We have a request, though: Next time you’re here for a Lions game or a concert at the Fox, would you consider adding an hour onto your trip to walk around downtown to see more … Continue reading “Get Out of the Car and Start Exploring with Landmarked Detroit App”
Mobile Madness NY Speakers Discuss Fresh Ideas and Kissing Frogs
Xconomy introduced the Big Apple to the Mobile Madness conference yesterday, bringing together some of New York’s most dynamic innovators in mobile and seasoned investors who back the sector. And the crowd who attended this half-day forum at the Microsoft Technology Center in Midtown, a stone’s throw away from Radio City Music Hall, got a … Continue reading “Mobile Madness NY Speakers Discuss Fresh Ideas and Kissing Frogs”
With EPOS Purchase, Qualcomm Reveals Growing Presence in Israel
Brian Sagi of San Diego’s Cerian Technology Ventures has pulled together a few disparate threads of mobile technology news that offer some interesting insights about recent initiatives by Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]), the wireless technology giant. Cerian provides a variety of services in technology-based transactions. Sagi says his firm was hired to serve as a strategic … Continue reading “With EPOS Purchase, Qualcomm Reveals Growing Presence in Israel”
ClickBerry Makes Videos Into Clickable Gateways to Shopping and Sharing
New Web technologies that once seemed like ultimate breakthroughs—such as streaming video online—may soon appear too slow or too static for our accelerating expectations. But from this impatience, new companies are often born. Entrepreneur Alex Babin’s wife was watching a cooking show video a few years ago, and she wanted to find the recipe. Babin’s … Continue reading “ClickBerry Makes Videos Into Clickable Gateways to Shopping and Sharing”
Massachusetts Water Mission to Israel Looks to “Win Inbound Innovation”
Consider, if you will, the future of water. Good old H2O gets a bum rap when it comes to hurricanes, floods, and tsunamis, but it sure comes in handy when you’re thirsty and trying to survive, irrigate crops, or flush a toilet. Over the past decade, an impending global water crisis has come to light. … Continue reading “Massachusetts Water Mission to Israel Looks to “Win Inbound Innovation””
Three Big Themes from the Personalized Medicine Conference
Hello from Boston, and from the 2012 Partners Personalized Medicine Conference, which last week brought together life science thought leaders from business, research and technology. Several themes that emerged from this year’s program: Genomes, genomes, genomes. Previous personalized medicine conferences had tended to focus on commercialization of and reimbursement for traditional molecular diagnostics. This year, … Continue reading “Three Big Themes from the Personalized Medicine Conference”
Boston Deals: Next Step, Adelphic, Ray Ozzie’s Talko, & More
Investments for startups tackling energy efficiency, mobile ads, and much more, along with some more droplets of news about a big name in tech’s next project are on the deals watch list so far this week: —Next Step Living, a Boston-based startup that analyzes and retrofits homes to help improve energy efficiency, has raised $18.2 … Continue reading “Boston Deals: Next Step, Adelphic, Ray Ozzie’s Talko, & More”
Under Seattle’s Cloud, a Big Data Cluster Grows
It’s a good time to be doing big data in Seattle. So says Ed Lazowska, the University of Washington computer science professor who played host and tour guide to the region’s big data lineup during the Washington Innovation Summit last week. He points to the region’s strengths in cloud computing, and a steady stream of … Continue reading “Under Seattle’s Cloud, a Big Data Cluster Grows”
Seamless Sees Opportunity as LivingSocial Shrinks and Consolidates
Competition may be a form of flattery but in the end, someone limps away bruised. New York’s Seamless, which developed a Web and mobile platform for ordering meals for delivery and pickup from restaurants, is sounding rather confident of its place in the market. In late November, would-be rival LivingSocial, a daily deals company in Washington, … Continue reading “Seamless Sees Opportunity as LivingSocial Shrinks and Consolidates”
Ann Arbor Startup MyFab5 Aims to Disrupt Yelp
MyFab5 co-founder Omeid Seirafi-Pour owns a house in Chicago, but when the startup bug bit him, he packed one suitcase and headed back to Ann Arbor, home of his alma mater, the University of Michigan. He had an idea, and it was directly related to his annoyance with the long-winded, often “negative just to hear … Continue reading “Ann Arbor Startup MyFab5 Aims to Disrupt Yelp”
Mobile Madness NW: Big Ticket Sale Ends Today
Want to hear from some of the best minds from around the Northwest—and beyond—as we prepare for another year of big change in mobile computing? You’re in luck: We’ve got a big sale on tickets to Mobile Madness Northwest, Xconomy’s premier year-end event. But you’ll have to hurry, because our special sale price expires after … Continue reading “Mobile Madness NW: Big Ticket Sale Ends Today”
LearnLaunch Looks to Spur Ed-Tech Startups in New England
The education tech scene is heating up in Boston. LearnLaunch, a new nonprofit focused on learning and education tech companies, is getting off the ground, led by co-founders Jean Hammond, Marissa Lowman, and Eileen Rudden. Its goal? To bring together a community of entrepreneurs, investors, teachers, educators, students, and buyers; and to offer classes, forums, … Continue reading “LearnLaunch Looks to Spur Ed-Tech Startups in New England”
NanoString Pockets $15.3M For Diagnostic Rollout
Seattle-based NanoString Technologies has pulled in another $15.3 million in investment cash to help build momentum for its new foray into the molecular diagnostic business. NanoString said Monday it took in $15.3 million in a Series E sale of preferred stock. Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and AllianceBernstein Alternative Investment Management Group led the new investment. … Continue reading “NanoString Pockets $15.3M For Diagnostic Rollout”
HHS CTO Bryan Sivak on How Government Can Spur Healthcare Innovation
It’s not every entrepreneur who even entertains the notion of moving from business to government. Bryan Sivak, though, has made the shift three times over. Sivak left his job at the company he helped create for a position in city government (as Chief Technology Officer for Washington, DC), then became Maryland’s Chief Innovation Officer, and … Continue reading “HHS CTO Bryan Sivak on How Government Can Spur Healthcare Innovation”
See You This Afternoon at Mobile Madness New York
We’re all ready to go for Mobile Madness New York, our big afternoon conference tackling the big trends and smartest ideas in the mobile computing revolution. If you’ve waited to get your tickets, do it now—pre-sales stop at 11 am, after which you’ll have to buy a walk-up ticket at the door. We’re really excited … Continue reading “See You This Afternoon at Mobile Madness New York”
Adelphic Adds $10M, Led by Google Ventures, to Merge Big Data & Mobile Ads
If the names m-Qube, Enpocket, Third Screen Media, Quattro Wireless, and Where mean anything to you, well, you are well-versed in the recent history of Boston mobile advertising companies. (All of the above were acquired in the past six years.) If Adelphic Mobile means anything to you, well, perhaps you know the future of the … Continue reading “Adelphic Adds $10M, Led by Google Ventures, to Merge Big Data & Mobile Ads”
The Power of the Pivot: A Primer
Editor’s Note: Xconomy’s Power of the Pivot event took place on December 4, 2012, at the Pake Auditorium at PARC in Palo Alto, CA. The following essay was designed as an introduction to the event’s themes. There’s been a big change in the way companies tell their origin stories. The old emphasis was on heroic … Continue reading “The Power of the Pivot: A Primer”
The Enduring Success of a Healthcare Radical
I’ve spent some time over the past few months reading about an American political figure’s transformative role in our health care system. His crusade began when his staff surveyed drug prices in 77 countries and found “of these, 28 allowed product patents and the prices of drugs in those countries were 18 to 255 times … Continue reading “The Enduring Success of a Healthcare Radical”
Flexion Therapeutics Secures $20 Million to Fight Osteoarthritis
[Corrected 12/04/12, 9:08 a.m. See below.] Flexion Therapeutics, based in Woburn, MA, said today that it has raised $20 million in a Series B financing led by Novo Ventures, a new investor. Flexion CEO Michael Clayman told me that the money will be used to start a Phase 2b clinical trial of its leading drug candidate, … Continue reading “Flexion Therapeutics Secures $20 Million to Fight Osteoarthritis”
San Diego’s Volcano Paying $36M+ for Menlo Park’s Crux Biomed
San Diego vascular device maker Volcano Corp. (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VOLC]]) today disclosed an agreement to pay at least $36 million for Menlo Park, CA-based Crux Biomedical. The Crux deal comes just a few weeks after Volcano said it was acquiring Israeli imaging software developer Sync-Rx for $17.3 million. Volcano specializes in devices that improve the diagnosis … Continue reading “San Diego’s Volcano Paying $36M+ for Menlo Park’s Crux Biomed”
Matter Ventures Aims To Launch “The Next Great Media Institutions”
Once upon a time, public radio and TV stations were the new kids on the media block, disrupting the commercial media world by offering educational, cultural, and community-based content of a type that just wasn’t available from the privately owned networks. But that was 60 years ago: the nation’s flagship public stations, WGBH and KQED, … Continue reading “Matter Ventures Aims To Launch “The Next Great Media Institutions””
1stdibs Raises $42 Million in Series B Round
[Updated 12/03/12 5:55 pm. See below.]When it comes to online shopping, you can’t get more high-end than 1stdibs, an 11-year-old online retailer based in New York that trades in very pricey antiques and luxury goods. Clearly, the site appeals to more than just the rich folks who shop there—1stdibs today said it has raised $42 … Continue reading “1stdibs Raises $42 Million in Series B Round”
Xconomist of the Week: Helen Greiner’s CyPhy Works Unveils Drones
After roughly three years in development and some $3 million in venture investment, iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner is showing off her newest robotic creations. But don’t be fooled by the cool things this new pair of aerial drones can do—the real advancement is the cable that connects them to the ground. Greiner’s robotics startup, CyPhy … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Helen Greiner’s CyPhy Works Unveils Drones”
TechTown Takes Business Acceleration Services to Brightmoor Neighborhood
The TechTown business incubator, which is affiliated with Wayne State University in Detroit, announced last month that it has received a $150,000 grant from the Marjorie S. Fisher Endowment Fund to support its efforts in the Brightmoor neighborhood in far Northwest Detroit. One reason this is notable is that it represents the first time a … Continue reading “TechTown Takes Business Acceleration Services to Brightmoor Neighborhood”
Fashion Sites Nomorerack, Rent the Runway Raise Funds
Christmas is coming early for two web-based fashion startups in New York, often referred to as the Target and the Netflix of online shopping. Nomorerack, the Target counterpart, is a discount e-commerce site that said on Friday it has raised $12 million in Series A financing, led by Giosis Gmarket, a large Asian e-market company … Continue reading “Fashion Sites Nomorerack, Rent the Runway Raise Funds”
Mobile Madness Northwest: The Big Agenda for our Dec. 12 Forum
We’re getting pretty excited here at Xconomy for Mobile Madness Northwest, next week’s power-packed afternoon conference featuring some of the best and brightest minds tackling the mobile revolution around the Seattle region—and beyond. You can still get tickets for this special event, which runs from 2 pm to 5:30 pm at Town Hall in Seattle. … Continue reading “Mobile Madness Northwest: The Big Agenda for our Dec. 12 Forum”
How Ed-Tech Companies Will Make (and Lose) a Few Fortunes
It’s bubble time in education technology. Over the past few years, investment dollars have started to flow in larger amounts. MBAs (like me and one of my co-founders) are starting to get interested, and I know of at least two separate groups in Boston alone trying to develop ed-tech incubation spaces. But for all the … Continue reading “How Ed-Tech Companies Will Make (and Lose) a Few Fortunes”
Smartsheet Lands $26m From Insight, Madrona For Online Collaboration
Smartsheet, which makes spreadsheet-based online collaboration tools, is six years old but chief executive Mark Mader says “we’re operating as a two-year-old company.” And now, a very well-funded two-year-old thanks to a $26 million investment from Insight Venture Partners and Madrona Venture Group. Two years ago, Smartsheet pivoted not to a new business, but to … Continue reading “Smartsheet Lands $26m From Insight, Madrona For Online Collaboration”
SocMetrics Reveals “TrueLens” Marketing Tech and Google VC Round
It has been interesting to watch the world of social-media analytics evolve over the past few years. Roughly speaking, tech companies have moved from sentiment analysis—getting the gist of what people are saying online—to doing more sophisticated text and language processing, to pulling out insights from huge amounts of Web data to try to help … Continue reading “SocMetrics Reveals “TrueLens” Marketing Tech and Google VC Round”
Mobile Madness New York Tomorrow Afternoon—Hope You Can Make It
We are down to the wire for our Mobile Madness New York half-day forum tomorrow afternoon—Xconomy’s first mobile event in the Big Apple. We hope you can grab a ticket—we have special rates for students, and anyone at a startup. The event takes place from 2-5:30pm at the Microsoft Technology Center in midtown. Get your … Continue reading “Mobile Madness New York Tomorrow Afternoon—Hope You Can Make It”
Where’s the Can-Do Spirit in Biotech? It’s Alive, Deep Down
How many people in the biotech industry today really feel like they are part of something special, something bigger than themselves? How many people feel such camaraderie with their co-workers that they’d show up to meet them at a reunion five years from now? How many people in biotech feel the task in front of … Continue reading “Where’s the Can-Do Spirit in Biotech? It’s Alive, Deep Down”
AMRI Closes Bothell R&D Site, Sending Jobs to Singapore, NY
AMRI, the contract research firm also known as Albany Molecular Research, is closing its research and development center in Bothell, WA that employs 24 people. AMRI (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMRI]]) said today it is moving the Bothell site’s drug discovery capabilities to a company facility in Singapore, while certain analytical work will be consolidated at the company’s … Continue reading “AMRI Closes Bothell R&D Site, Sending Jobs to Singapore, NY”
Seattle Roundup: TechStars’ Bizible, Amazon, Conductiv, CENTRI, Avvo
A Seattle TechStars grad landed funding in what should be the first of several closed deals from the Fall 2012 class of the startup accelerator, while Amazon got the green light to more than double its Seattle headquarters footprint, and other local tech companies pulled in equity investments in recent days. —Bizible, a Seattle startup … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: TechStars’ Bizible, Amazon, Conductiv, CENTRI, Avvo”
Maximizing Value and Minimizing Risk with Remote Workers
For me, being able to work remotely is one of the greatest gifts of the information age. It allowed me to help raise my daughters in the ’80s and ’90s, live almost four hours from a major airport, and now I’m able to visit my granddaughters in Chicago at the drop of a hat, all … Continue reading “Maximizing Value and Minimizing Risk with Remote Workers”
Only Two Complimentary Startup Tickets Left for Mobile Madness NY
We’re in the final countdown to Mobile Madness New York—only four more days. We are looking forward to insightful conversation with some of the leading minds in mobile computing, from VCs like Google Ventures General Partner (and Android co-founder) Rich Miner and IA Ventures founder Roger Ehrenberg to entrepreneurs like Eric Koester of Zaarly and … Continue reading “Only Two Complimentary Startup Tickets Left for Mobile Madness NY”
Five Characteristics VCs Look For in a Marketing Exec
Venture capitalists are paying more attention to the structure of the marketing teams they invest in. Why? Because marketing plays an increasingly influential role in the success of their portfolio companies. To ensure that the marketing department can generate the kind of leads that drive sales, they want to see a particular profile in a … Continue reading “Five Characteristics VCs Look For in a Marketing Exec”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Selecta, Rib-X, Cambridge, & More
Big Pharma expanded its love affair with biotech startups this week, making investments and doing deals, while Cambridge continued to be the place to do business for emerging life sciences companies. New York, on the other hand, is hosting an awful lot of clinical trials. —On Thursday, Rib-X Pharmaceuticals of New Haven, CT, closed the … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Selecta, Rib-X, Cambridge, & More”
Photo Books from Blurb: A High-Tech Gift Idea with Low-Tech Charm
SPOILER ALERT: If your name is Paul or Patricia Roush and you live in Central Lake, MI, stop reading now or you’ll ruin one of the surprises under the Christmas tree this year. Really. You’ve been warned! Every year I put “Amazon gift certificate” on my holiday and birthday wish lists so that I can … Continue reading “Photo Books from Blurb: A High-Tech Gift Idea with Low-Tech Charm”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Acadia, RQx, and Venture Funding
Venture funding for life sciences startups has been gradually declining in recent years, and Xconomy’s Luke Timmerman took a look at what that means in biotech hubs in San Diego and elsewhere. We have that news and more. —The price of shares in Acadia Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: [[ticker:ACAD]]) more than doubled (to more than $5 a … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Acadia, RQx, and Venture Funding”
The Icos Impact: Some Great Memories & Photos
At Icos, there was an on-site day care center to make it easier for working parents to pull long hours in the lab. There was a tolerance for different personal styles, even when that meant a certain scientist could roam the labs with no shirt on. And nobody ever strangled anybody, at least as far … Continue reading “The Icos Impact: Some Great Memories & Photos”
FDA Approves First Drug for Exelixis of South San Francisco
The Food and Drug Administration today approved the Exelixis (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXEL]]) compound cabozantinib for the treatment of patients with progressive, metastatic thyroid cancer, giving the 18-year-old company its first marketable drug. The FDA decision is an important watershed for the South San Francisco company. However, the marketing approval in medullary thyroid cancer opens no immediate gateway to … Continue reading “FDA Approves First Drug for Exelixis of South San Francisco”
U-M’s MCubed Seed Grants Fund 50 Researcher-Led Innovation Projects
The University of Michigan today announced the first 50 research projects to receive seed funding as part of the new MCubed program. MCubed is a first-of-its-kind, two-year, $15 million initiative that puts university professors in charge of divvying up immediate startup funds for “novel, high-risk, and transformative research projects.” The MCubed grants come just days after the … Continue reading “U-M’s MCubed Seed Grants Fund 50 Researcher-Led Innovation Projects”
Rib-X Closes First Tranche of $67.5 Million Preferred Stock Financing
[Updated 11:21 a.m.] Rib-X Pharmaceuticals of New Haven, CT, said today that it closed the first tranche of a $67.5 million Series 2 preferred stock financing, with a second tranche expected to close by year end. The company says it will use the money to fund a Phase 3 clinical trial of delafloxacin, an antibiotic for … Continue reading “Rib-X Closes First Tranche of $67.5 Million Preferred Stock Financing”
Science Exchange Creates a Trading Post for Research Services
Elizabeth Iorns is the daughter of successful computer industry entrepreneurs, but as a New Zealand schoolgirl she swerved from the path taken by her mom and dad. Building on an early fascination with biology, she rocketed through her college years winning awards and scholarships, took a PhD at a prestigious cancer research center in London, … Continue reading “Science Exchange Creates a Trading Post for Research Services”
“Pre-IPO” Acquia Lands Another $30M, Sees Sales Topping $56M
With so much focus on the rise of mobile devices, apps, and networks, it can be easy to forget that there’s still life left in the good old website, that basic element of the original Internet revolution. One of the companies proving that notion is Burlington, MA’s Acquia. Founded in 2007, Acquia offers a wide … Continue reading ““Pre-IPO” Acquia Lands Another $30M, Sees Sales Topping $56M”
Wavii Builds a Facebook-Style Feed for All the World’s News
After talking with the guys behind Wavii, a Seattle startup that has built a Facebook-style feed for all the world’s events, I had two somewhat conflicting impressions: Wavii is potentially good medicine for information overload, and at the same time another sign that this modern affliction has us tightly in its grasp. Wavii delivers a … Continue reading “Wavii Builds a Facebook-Style Feed for All the World’s News”