San Diego’s Regulus Therapeutics plans to raise $57.5 million in an IPO that takes advantage of incentives for emerging growth companies provided under the Jump Start Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act passed earlier this year. In its IPO filing, the preclinical biopharmaceutical says it plans to follow reduced IPO disclosure and financial reporting requirements for … Continue reading “Regulus Therapeutics Files for IPO as ‘Emerging Growth’ Company”
Category: National
Michigan eLab Connects Silicon Valley VC to U-M Entrepreneurs
A group of University of Michigan alumni have formed the Michigan eLab, a new venture capital fund that aims to connect tech startups from the university community with Silicon Valley cash and resources. The co-founders all have significant entrepreneurial chops: Rick Bolander launched Blue Sky Ventures and has been involved with Apex Venture Partners; Scott … Continue reading “Michigan eLab Connects Silicon Valley VC to U-M Entrepreneurs”
Western Union’s Telegram to Silicon Valley: We’re Ready to Compete
Western Union built the first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861, offered the first telegraphic money transfer service in 1871, and became one of the first 11 stocks in the Dow Jones average in 1884. It invented the charge card in 1914, and launched the first fleet of commercial geosynchronous communication satellites in 1974. In other … Continue reading “Western Union’s Telegram to Silicon Valley: We’re Ready to Compete”
WhitePages IDs Growth in the Explosion of Personal Data
This is the golden age for data nerds—especially if you collect data on people. With Facebook steaming toward 1 billion users and smartphones now accounting for more than half the cell phone market in the U.S., the amount of digital information the average person generates about their lives has exploded. And it’s not going to … Continue reading “WhitePages IDs Growth in the Explosion of Personal Data”
SimpliVity Aims to Cut Clutter, Rebuild IT Infrastructure
Nearly two years ago, an SEC filing revealed that a stealthy IT company called SimpliVT had raised $9.2 million in funding. Today that company, with the slightly changed name of SimpliVity, is officially announcing it has launched. And it has just one, oh, minor goal in mind: to “simplify IT infrastructure,” says CEO Doron Kempel, … Continue reading “SimpliVity Aims to Cut Clutter, Rebuild IT Infrastructure”
GrabCAD Shifts to Collaborative Software for Design Firms, Looks to Go Big
A local startup appears to be building something like the “GitHub for CAD.” Does that mean anything to you? Well, GitHub is the open-source software hosting company that raised $100 million from Andreessen Horowitz earlier this summer. CAD is computer-aided design, which the Boston area is famous for (see SolidWorks, Parametric Technology Corporation, and others). … Continue reading “GrabCAD Shifts to Collaborative Software for Design Firms, Looks to Go Big”
Alzheimer’s R&D Isn’t Doomed, it’s Learning From Failure
The biggest hope for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in a long time just went up in smoke. The next high-profile drug candidate will probably be toast in a few weeks, analysts say. The easiest thing now would be to write off the whole field of Alzheimer’s R&D, and declare that scientists have to go … Continue reading “Alzheimer’s R&D Isn’t Doomed, it’s Learning From Failure”
U-M Program Steers Detroit Kids Toward STEM Careers
I love my job for many reasons. Among them is the fact that every week, I learn something new. This week, an invitation to watch a robotics demo put on by local high school teams at the Compuware Building in downtown Detroit led me to the Michigan Engineering Zone (MEZ), an innovative University of Michigan program that introduces … Continue reading “U-M Program Steers Detroit Kids Toward STEM Careers”
The Case of the Tilted Clubhouse: A Geographical Detective Story
Today, technologies like Google, Siri, and Wolfram Alpha can answer virtually any question in milliseconds. So it’s refreshing to come across a mystery that takes a little longer to unravel. I recently found the solution to a minor historical puzzle that’s been gnawing at me for almost two years, ever since I moved to the … Continue reading “The Case of the Tilted Clubhouse: A Geographical Detective Story”
IPOs, Biogen, Northeastern, & More From the Boston Life Sciences Roundup
IPO analysis, drug development partnerships, and new financing deals have emerged from New England’s cohort of life sciences companies. —Three of 2012’s nine biotech IPOs come from the Boston area, and the entire class is performing much more steadily than the new tech big shots on the public market, Xconomy national biotech editor Luke Timmerman … Continue reading “IPOs, Biogen, Northeastern, & More From the Boston Life Sciences Roundup”
Point, Shoot, Print: Picplum Aims to Make Photo Printing Effortless
It should be far easier to order prints of the photos you snap with your digital camera or smartphone—that’s a no-brainer. But San Francisco-based Picplum is one of the only companies that’s actually working to make the process simpler. For comparison, here’s how ordering a print works on a competing site, Yahoo’s Flickr. This will … Continue reading “Point, Shoot, Print: Picplum Aims to Make Photo Printing Effortless”
IDRI, Medicago To Test Self-Injectable Pandemic Flu Vaccine
One of the worst fears of public health officials is that a new flu strain could emerge, sweeping the world and killing millions of people, like the notorious “Spanish flu” pandemic of 1918. Now the Seattle-based Infectious Disease Research Institute and a Canadian biotech company are working on testing a flu vaccine candidate that people … Continue reading “IDRI, Medicago To Test Self-Injectable Pandemic Flu Vaccine”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Regulus, MEI Pharma, Qualcomm & More
Against a backdrop of declining VC activity in the life sciences, it’s heartening to see several financing deals come through for companies in the San Diego region. Here’s our rundown. —The Midwest isn’t the only place experiencing a drought. Venture funding for life sciences startups throughout the U.S. fell 39 percent in the second quarter, … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Regulus, MEI Pharma, Qualcomm & More”
Four SE Michigan Universities Launch TurboVote
TurboVote, a voter-assistance startup that was launched last fall while its founders were attending Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, announced yesterday that it has partnered with four Michigan universities to make voting easier for Detroiters. Just in time for the presidential election, Wayne State University in Detroit, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Marygrove College in Detroit, and Eastern Michigan … Continue reading “Four SE Michigan Universities Launch TurboVote”
Jackpot: Big Fish Games Dives into Real-Money Online Gambling
Casual game companies are already big money-makers on smartphones and social networks, often by selling power-ups and extra digital goodies that gamers can use to supercharge their play. But the industry’s next frontier is something edgier and potentially more lucrative: Real-money gambling. As of today, Seattle’s Big Fish Games is going all in. Big Fish … Continue reading “Jackpot: Big Fish Games Dives into Real-Money Online Gambling”
Mobile Startup Locately Bought by SMG in “Good Win for Boston”
Locately is one of those startups that I’ve nibbled at around the edges, never fully sinking my teeth into. Now someone else has swallowed the company whole—but that’s not the end of the story. The Boston mobile-tech company said today it has been acquired by market research firm Service Management Group (SMG), based in Kansas … Continue reading “Mobile Startup Locately Bought by SMG in “Good Win for Boston””
Shawn Broderick, Now at Murfie, Says Innovation in Digital Music Is Only Beginning
Earlier this week news broke that Xconomist Shawn Broderick (center in the photo) was leaving the virtual goods exchange startup Oomba after a few months on the job. He joined the team when it acquired play140, the social gaming startup Broderick ran after he left his gig as TechStars Boston managing director. Broderick—who lists his … Continue reading “Shawn Broderick, Now at Murfie, Says Innovation in Digital Music Is Only Beginning”
Raising the Bar for Neuroscience in the Northwest
From Alzheimer’s to depression, brain diseases are an extremely challenging area for therapeutic discovery and development. The field of neuroscience has an inadequate understanding of how the brain works and why things go wrong to cause diseases. The field is very exciting, but still relatively young, and all stakeholders could benefit from improved collaboration. When it comes to the … Continue reading “Raising the Bar for Neuroscience in the Northwest”
Xconomist of the Week: Habib Kairouz Foresees a Valuation Correction
A perhaps overused idiom in technology news is to proclaim that the latest bubble is about to burst. While there have been flashy stories about the rise and stumblings of some high profile startups, Habib Kairouz, a managing partner with venture capital firm Rho Ventures in New York, says he believes the market is entering … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Habib Kairouz Foresees a Valuation Correction”
Biogen Idec, Regulus Cut Deal to Monitor Multiple Sclerosis
Regulus Therapeutics has staked out a strategy as a developer of drugs that alter microRNA, but today it has struck a new deal with Biogen Idec to look at microRNA in a different way. The plan is to track the progress of multiple sclerosis and how patients might be responding to a given therapy. San … Continue reading “Biogen Idec, Regulus Cut Deal to Monitor Multiple Sclerosis”
Lots of Local Investors Join Livio’s Series C Round
Ferndale, MI-based Livio announced this week that it has completed a Series C round of funding for an undisclosed amount. Plenty of local investors participated in the round, including longtime backer Beringea, North Coast Technology Investors, and the First Step Fund. Rhode Island-based Angel Street Capital and Silicon Valley’s Western Technology Investment also contributed to the round. Jake … Continue reading “Lots of Local Investors Join Livio’s Series C Round”
Richard Brewer, Former Scios CEO and Dendreon Chairman, Dies at 61
[Updated: 12:55 pm PT] Richard Brewer, the veteran biotech executive who served as CEO of Sunnyvale, CA-based Scios and chairman of Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]), has died from multiple myeloma. He was 61. Most recently, Brewer had been serving as CEO of Salt Lake City, UT-based Myrexis (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MYRX]]), a company seeking to in-license drug … Continue reading “Richard Brewer, Former Scios CEO and Dendreon Chairman, Dies at 61”
YottaMark’s Investors Double Down on Food Tracing Technology
Fresh, local, organic, seasonal, sustainable—in the food world those adjectives go together so often that there’s an acronym for them, FLOSS. But if Redwood City, CA-based YottaMark has its way, there will soon be another letter to add: T, for Traceable. As a hedge against fraud, counterfeiting, relabeling, and other common supply-chain hazards, YottaMark has … Continue reading “YottaMark’s Investors Double Down on Food Tracing Technology”
Renamed West Health Institute Names CEO, Creates Health Tech Incubator
San Diego’s renamed West Health Institute has hired a new CEO and is unveiling some organizational changes today, reflecting its continuing shift away from an exclusive focus on wireless health to a broader mission that studies ways to lower healthcare costs The organization that began more than three years ago as the “West Wireless Health … Continue reading “Renamed West Health Institute Names CEO, Creates Health Tech Incubator”
Brad Feld, David Friend, Peter Stern Headline “Future of Big Data” on Oct. 24
What’s everybody talking about in the tech world? That’s easy. Big data. Big data is everywhere. Amazon and Google are big data. Twitter and Facebook are big data. Database and data storage companies are big data. Analytics and networking firms are big data. And outside of the hardcore techies, everyone from retail and marketing folks … Continue reading “Brad Feld, David Friend, Peter Stern Headline “Future of Big Data” on Oct. 24”
Hopper Hauls In $12M More, Harnesses Big Data for Travel Discovery
It’s a big day for big data. One of the local flag-bearers of the field has raised a sizable venture round as it prepares to unveil its online travel product to the world. Cambridge, MA- and Montreal-based Hopper is announcing today a $12 million Series B round led by OMERS Ventures, the VC arm of … Continue reading “Hopper Hauls In $12M More, Harnesses Big Data for Travel Discovery”
Zulily Quietly Powers Past 5M Members in Mom-and-Kid Sales
There probably isn’t a startup in Seattle as intriguing as Zulily. Founded by veterans of e-commerce jewel seller Blue Nile and backed by more than $50 million in venture capital, the company is often said to be the biggest success story among early stage Seattle companies, with supposedly remarkable revenue growth. Not that you can … Continue reading “Zulily Quietly Powers Past 5M Members in Mom-and-Kid Sales”
MeeGenius Leads Crowded Field of Interactive E-book Apps for Kids
Teaching children how to read often calls for a bit of demonstration to help them understand how words should sound and what they look like. A bevy of companies with e-reader apps want their share of the growing market of young readers, and MeeGenius in New York believes it can stand out by combining narration … Continue reading “MeeGenius Leads Crowded Field of Interactive E-book Apps for Kids”
Bill Gates Turns His Attention, and Money, to Toilet Innovation
Very little innovation has happened with toilets over the past 200 years. If Thomas Crapper, the 19th century plumber associated with commodes, were alive today “he would find the toilets we use quite familiar,” Bill Gates said yesterday afternoon. Maybe Crapper would notice an extra handle, or rolls for toilet paper, but that’s about all, … Continue reading “Bill Gates Turns His Attention, and Money, to Toilet Innovation”
A123, Acquia, Healthbox, & More Boston Deals Newsmakers
Last week was a great one for tech diversity in New England, as the week’s deals spanned the cleantech, health tech, and software industries. —The same day that Boston-Power announced it had inked a deal to sell its lithium-ion battery systems to Beijing Electric Vehicle Company, Waltham, MA-based battery maker A123 Systems announced its own bit … Continue reading “A123, Acquia, Healthbox, & More Boston Deals Newsmakers”
Northeastern University Finds a Home at ISB in South Lake Union
Northeastern University’s plan to open a graduate school in Seattle depends on delivering a lot of coursework via the Internet, but it still needs a physical location for students to occasionally meet each other and the faculty. Now it has picked a home, in one of the busiest high-tech and biotech neighborhoods in Seattle. Northeastern … Continue reading “Northeastern University Finds a Home at ISB in South Lake Union”
Gantto Helps Managers Chart a Way Around Project Delays
Say you’re making pasta with fresh marinara sauce for dinner. “It’s not uncommon to see a young, new cook spend 10 minutes chopping the vegetables and then 10 minutes cooking the sauce,” say Chris Carlson. “Then they put on the pot of water, and that takes 10 minutes just to boil. And then they add … Continue reading “Gantto Helps Managers Chart a Way Around Project Delays”
Acquia Acquires Mollom for “Community-Backed Content Moderation Platform”
Burlington, MA-based Acquia, a provider of enterprise-level software and services for the open source, social Web publishing system Drupal, is revealing this morning that it has acquired spam-blocking software maker Mollom. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but it appears that the deal is more of a strategic play for both companies than … Continue reading “Acquia Acquires Mollom for “Community-Backed Content Moderation Platform””
Visible Measures Gets $21.5M More for Data-Based Video Ad Platform
The latest Boston-area tech company to join the $50 million-plus-in-venture-funding crowd is Visible Measures. The video analytics and advertising startup has just raised $21.5 million from DAG Ventures, Advance Publications, General Catalyst, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Northgate Capital, and new investor Common Fund. Visible Measures now has well over $60 million under its financing belt, so … Continue reading “Visible Measures Gets $21.5M More for Data-Based Video Ad Platform”
SponsorHub Plays Matchmaker Between Brands and the Events They Fund
Step into most trade shows and it is easy to spot the companies that ponied up lots of cash to plaster their names all over the events. Putting a brand in front of the wrong audience, however, can be a costly waste. SponsorHub in New York has stepped in with an online marketplace to eliminate … Continue reading “SponsorHub Plays Matchmaker Between Brands and the Events They Fund”
Remove the Cap on Social Security
I am apolitical by nature. The entire process of electing representatives, from city councils to Presidents, leaves me cold. Blame my extraordinary microeconomics professor H. Scott Bierman who was at Carleton College then but now is the President at Beloit College. He helped me crystallize a handful of tangential thoughts about our system into a … Continue reading “Remove the Cap on Social Security”
Kineta Pulls in $5.8M for Autoimmune Drug
Seattle-based Kineta has continued raising cash to fuel its unconventional business model for drug development. Kineta One, a unit within the Kineta parent company, has raised $5.8 million in new equity financing from a group of 133 investors, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The money will be used to develop … Continue reading “Kineta Pulls in $5.8M for Autoimmune Drug”
Elcelyx Therapeutics Raises $4M to Treat Obesity and Diabetes
After two years of maintaining a low profile, San Diego’s Elcelyx Therapeutics says it has secured a $4 million extension on its Series B round of private equity financing. The startup, which is focused on treatments for obesity and diabetes, has been developing compounds to boost the signal along the appetite-control pathway that tells your … Continue reading “Elcelyx Therapeutics Raises $4M to Treat Obesity and Diabetes”
Smartphones at Tipping Point as Carriers Turn to Data Revenue
More than half of Americans are now carrying a smartphone—and their hunger for mobile Internet access will only grow, leading to more tiered data plans as wireless carriers search for new streams of cash. In a new market survey, relying on data from carriers, industry consultant Chetan Sharma reports that smartphones for the first time … Continue reading “Smartphones at Tipping Point as Carriers Turn to Data Revenue”
Taking the Moneyball Approach to Healthcare with ArborMetrix
It’s clear, despite pre-election uncertainty, that accurate data will be crucial to the future of American healthcare. The name of the game will soon be metrics, as in: If you don’t meet these benchmarks, we’re not going to pay you. Having the best, most up-to-date data not only helps doctors improve care, but it also … Continue reading “Taking the Moneyball Approach to Healthcare with ArborMetrix”
Relypsa Gets Another $50M for Drug to Fight Excess Potassium
Relypsa has soaked up a whole lot more venture capital to push its lead drug candidate through the later stages of clinical trials. The Santa Clara, CA-based biotech company has raised $49.7 million out of a financing round that could be worth as much as $80 million over time, according to a filing with the … Continue reading “Relypsa Gets Another $50M for Drug to Fight Excess Potassium”
The Bar Is Rising in Casual & Social Games, Says GSN’s Davin Miyoshi
If you only followed Zynga’s stock price, you might think the entire business of games on Facebook was in free-fall. But many of the big developers of social and casual games are doing just fine, according to Davin Miyoshi, vice president of social games at GSN, which operates a major game studio in downtown San … Continue reading “The Bar Is Rising in Casual & Social Games, Says GSN’s Davin Miyoshi”
Brace Yourself: Biotech IPOs Are Beating Tech’s Big Names
The average American on the street has a Facebook account, an opinion about Facebook, heard about the Facebook initial public offering, and knows it collapsed. That same person doesn’t see how their life connects with biotech, probably can’t name a single biotech company, and certainly hasn’t heard of any members of the biotech IPO class … Continue reading “Brace Yourself: Biotech IPOs Are Beating Tech’s Big Names”
Boston-based Pingup Sees Text-to-Business Service as Productivity Tool
If you’re worried about the decline of personal interactions, here’s a scary fact: 71 percent of teens prefer texting to phone calls. That’s what the founders of Boston-based Pingup tell me, citing the social media market research firm Lab 42. And that’s good news for them. “There’s irrefutable evidence out there that this is how … Continue reading “Boston-based Pingup Sees Text-to-Business Service as Productivity Tool”
TechStars Seattle: The Early Word on the Lucky Few
While most of us are enjoying the summer, one group of entrepreneurs is buckling down for three intense months of work. TechStars, the national tech startup accelerator program, has just named its latest Seattle-based class of companies. Well, most of them, anyway. Ten companies in all were chosen from a long list of applicants, and … Continue reading “TechStars Seattle: The Early Word on the Lucky Few”
Waiting for the Speakularity
In late 2010, the Nieman Journalism Lab surveyed reporters for their predictions about what 2011 would bring for the future of journalism. My favorite prediction came from Matt Thompson, an editorial product manager at National Public Radio and a widely respected evangelist for digital journalism. (I happened to meet Thompson in person around the same … Continue reading “Waiting for the Speakularity”
Genentech Gets FDA OK of Lucentis for Diabetic Eye Disease
Genentech been losing market share to a tough new competitor in the field of macular degeneration, but now it has a new avenue for growth with its successful eye drug ranibizumab (Lucentis). Genentech, the South San Francisco-based unit of Roche, said today it has gotten clearance to start selling the drug as a treatment for … Continue reading “Genentech Gets FDA OK of Lucentis for Diabetic Eye Disease”
Mapping the Cloud With Ann Arbor’s DeepField Networks
When I was talking to Craig Labovitz last week about his new big data startup, DeepField Networks, there were moments when I wished the Internet really was just a series of tubes. That would probably be easier to understand than the massive, many-headed beast that it is today, which is why Labovitz launched his company … Continue reading “Mapping the Cloud With Ann Arbor’s DeepField Networks”
Solutions, Not Ideas, Are Everything
As a lawyer who specializes in emerging companies and a member of the Boston Harbor Angels, I hear 10-20 pitches a month by entrepreneurs seeking angel funding. There are several factors that account for success or failure in a new company’s ability to attract funding. However, one common theme always rings true: all successful businesses … Continue reading “Solutions, Not Ideas, Are Everything”
Infinity & Dicerna Among the Week’s Life Sciences Newsmakers
New England-area drugmakers revealed partnership deals, stock offerings, and drug development progress this week. —Cambridge, MA-based Infinity Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:INFI]]) announced it had priced a 5.3-million-share offering of its common stock at $14.50 per share, which adds up to a preliminary total of $76.9 million. The offering, for which Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan Securities … Continue reading “Infinity & Dicerna Among the Week’s Life Sciences Newsmakers”