Category: National

Lantos Raises $3.8M to Push 3D Ear Scanner Closer to Market

When Cambridge, MA-based Lantos Technologies filed SEC documents earlier this month indicating that it raised $3.8 of a planned $6.6 million funding round, the company was pretty much mum on the matter—no press releases or announcements of any kind. But when Xconomy reached Doug Hart, the MIT mechanical engineering professor who founded the company in … Continue reading “Lantos Raises $3.8M to Push 3D Ear Scanner Closer to Market”

Xamarin Beckons Windows Developers to Build iOS and Android Apps

Nat Friedman was nearing the end of an 18-month trip through Uganda, Thailand, and Cambodia with his new wife Stephanie when he got an urgent call from his old business partner Miguel de Icaza. Back in 1999, Friedman and de Icaza had co-founded a startup called Ximian. The company was best known for launching an … Continue reading “Xamarin Beckons Windows Developers to Build iOS and Android Apps”

Detroit’s Savorfull Applies Birchbox Model to “Free-From” Food

Who doesn’t love getting a box of surprises shipped to them? Birchbox, the subscription service that sends members a box of beauty samples each month based on their preferences, pioneered the model. Now, Detroit-based startup Savorfull is taking that model and applying it to “free-from food” (as in dairy-free, gluten-free, etc.) as a way to … Continue reading “Detroit’s Savorfull Applies Birchbox Model to “Free-From” Food”

Allan Jones, the Force Behind Paul Allen’s Vision for Brain Science

Nowhere along his life journey did Allan Jones appear destined to do big things as a biotech CEO. He was born into a family of musicians, not scientists. He passed on a chance to go to the Ivy League, thinking it too stuffy. He doesn’t seek attention. He deflects credit to others. He’s short. When … Continue reading “Allan Jones, the Force Behind Paul Allen’s Vision for Brain Science”

Tout’d Puts $1.4M Seed Round toward Updating Recommendation Platform

A plethora of apps and websites try to help users figure out where to shop and eat but New York-based Tout’d believes it has trumped its rivals by focusing on what friends rather than strangers recommend. This month the company announced it raised $1.4 million in a seed round led by Warner Hill Angels. The … Continue reading “Tout’d Puts $1.4M Seed Round toward Updating Recommendation Platform”

Harvest Power CEO Talks Sustainable Startups & Lessons from Farming

In case you’re wondering why there aren’t more entrepreneurs tackling really big problems like alternative energy and sustainability, consider Paul Sellew. Here’s a guy who was never tempted by dot-com fame and fortune. Instead, he has built a successful career around cleantech and the environment—while also making a lot of money in his businesses. Sellew … Continue reading “Harvest Power CEO Talks Sustainable Startups & Lessons from Farming”

As Zynga Eyes Gambling, Betable Offers Small Devs Some Action

Could those addictive crop-farming and city-building games on Facebook dispense real money someday? It’s coming, and sooner than you might think. On Wednesday afternoon, amid a poor quarterly earnings report, social game leader Zynga said it plans to incorporate real-money gambling for players outside the U.S. next year. And, although the regulations are still not … Continue reading “As Zynga Eyes Gambling, Betable Offers Small Devs Some Action”

Diffbot Is Using Computer Vision to Reinvent the Semantic Web

You know how the Picturephone, a half-billion-dollar project at AT&T back in the 1960s and 1970s, turned out to be a huge commercial flop, but two-way video communication eventually came back with a vengeance in the form of Skype and FaceTime and Google Hangouts? Well, something similar is going on with the Semantic Web. That’s … Continue reading “Diffbot Is Using Computer Vision to Reinvent the Semantic Web”

Bluebird Bio Snags $60M From Existing VCs and Newcomers Like Shire

Cambridge, MA-based Bluebird Bio said today it raised $60 million in an oversubscribed Series D financing to further development and testing of its gene therapy platform to treat severe genetic diseases. The round included existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, Third Rock Ventures, TVM Capital, and Forbion Capital Partners, along with new investors Deerfield Partners, RA … Continue reading “Bluebird Bio Snags $60M From Existing VCs and Newcomers Like Shire”

Pet Dogs Help Biotech Startups Find New Weapons to Fight Cancer

A few weeks back, a black-and-white terrier mix named Chance entered a clinical trial for a drug that may offer a completely new way to combat cancer—not only in dogs, but in people, too. The drug, made by San Diego-based Genelux, uses a genetically engineered virus to annihilate tumor cells. Genelux made two different versions … Continue reading “Pet Dogs Help Biotech Startups Find New Weapons to Fight Cancer”

Kayak, VMware, 3M, & More Names from the Boston Deal Roundup

We’ve seen deals in the past week involving New England software makers, health IT startups, and biotechs. —Framingham, MA-based application performance management software maker Correlsense said it raised $3 million in Series C funding. The money comes from Accel Partners, Vertex Venture Capital, ProSeed Venture Capital Fund, eXeed Technology, and Technion Research & Development Foundation. —Sermo, … Continue reading “Kayak, VMware, 3M, & More Names from the Boston Deal Roundup”

Big Fish Games Hooks New Revenue Streams with Cloud Service

Seattle’s Big Fish Games, a multimillion-dollar company that publishes and distributes casual video games, is taking a big step into the future of connected entertainment. After months of work, Big Fish is unveiling a streaming game service called Big Fish Unlimited that lets players move seamlessly between their laptop, tablet, and smartphone. The subscription service, … Continue reading “Big Fish Games Hooks New Revenue Streams with Cloud Service”

Auto Supplier Faurecia Delves Into Social Media Marketing

French auto supplier Faurecia, which has its North American base of operations in Auburn Hills, MI, is taking a page out of the social media marketing playbook that has served its automaker clients so well. Last week, the company announced a new car interior-design contest open to Pinterest users. It represents one of the fist … Continue reading “Auto Supplier Faurecia Delves Into Social Media Marketing”

Domain, Rusnano Alliance Pumps $20M into SD’s CoDa Therapeutics

Domain Associates turned some heads in the venture capital world in March when it struck a deal with Rusnano, a Russian state technology firm, to jointly invest $760 million in biotech companies in the U.S. and Russia. Now the first investment from that collaboration is going to a Domain portfolio company not far from its … Continue reading “Domain, Rusnano Alliance Pumps $20M into SD’s CoDa Therapeutics”

The Forlorn Server; or, Don’t Mistake Unrequited Love for an Actual Deal

If there’s only one passionate party in a relationship it’s unrequited love. Here’s how I learned it the hard way. The Dartmouth Football Team After Rocket Science I took some time off and consulted for the very VCs who lost lots of money on the company. The VCs suggested I should spend a day at … Continue reading “The Forlorn Server; or, Don’t Mistake Unrequited Love for an Actual Deal”

Boston Entrepreneur’s $20M Ferrari Collection Up For Auction: Photos

Every great entrepreneur dreams of changing the world, but most also dream of changing their own lives, too—by making some money and, perhaps, giving themselves the means to pursue a few passions they might not otherwise be able to afford. Sure seems like Sherman Wolf, who died this spring at the age of 86, was … Continue reading “Boston Entrepreneur’s $20M Ferrari Collection Up For Auction: Photos”

Students Connect Outside the Classroom in Piazza’s Online Forums

This spring, Piazza founder and CEO Pooja Sankar accepted an invitation to an event at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., celebrating the achievements of women. The Naval Observatory is better known as the Vice President’s Residence. Sankar knew that she would have about 10 seconds in the receiving line to explain Piazza to … Continue reading “Students Connect Outside the Classroom in Piazza’s Online Forums”

Sarepta’s Muscular Dystrophy Drug Improves With Time; Stock Booms

[Updated: 2:30 pm PT] Sarepta Therapeutics, the company formerly known as AVI Biopharma, has gone through a rough patch ever since its experimental drug for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy generated mixed clinical results in April. But now the story is taking a new twist, as the drug is starting to look more effective as a small … Continue reading “Sarepta’s Muscular Dystrophy Drug Improves With Time; Stock Booms”

Vook Puts E-Book Publishing Power in More Hands

Just one year after moving from San Francisco to New York, Vook is enhancing its cloud-based e-book publishing platform this week. Vook, which has made its name by enabling non-techie types to publish their work electronically, is now rolling out features such as an HTML5-based reader that will let many tablets and smartphones pull up … Continue reading “Vook Puts E-Book Publishing Power in More Hands”

Illumina, Leaning on Amazon, Looks to Be Hub of Genomic Computing

[Updated: 11:35 am PT] Illumina wants to be not just a hardware company, but really an integrated hardware/software company that’s the Apple of the genomics business. Now the San Diego-based company is moving that direction, in a bid that could help the genomics community grow, by offering lots of free storage and processing of DNA … Continue reading “Illumina, Leaning on Amazon, Looks to Be Hub of Genomic Computing”

Histogenics Brings In $49M for Tissue Regeneration—and Recapitalization

This is one of the bigger venture deals of the year for Boston. Histogenics, a regenerative medicine company based in Waltham, MA, has closed $49 million in new financing led by Sofinnova Ventures. New investors Split Rock Partners, BioMed Ventures, and FinTech GIMV Fund also participated in the round, along with previous investors ProChon Holdings, … Continue reading “Histogenics Brings In $49M for Tissue Regeneration—and Recapitalization”

Mobile Game Startup Z2Live Gets New CEO

Z2Live, a publisher of top-grossing mobile games, is getting a leadership change. The company says it has promoted operations chief Lou Fasulo to CEO, with co-founder and previous CEO David Bluhm moving into the role of chairman. In its announcement about the change, Z2Live says Bluhm will “focus on working with Z2Live’s board and Lou … Continue reading “Mobile Game Startup Z2Live Gets New CEO”

Bay Area BizTech News by the Numbers

The last week has been a busy one for startups and venture firms San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Here are a few of the items that caught our eye, arranged from biggest to smallest: $3.23 billion—Total venture-capital investments in Silicon Valley for the second quarter of 2012, according to data in the quarterly PriceWaterhouse/NVCA MoneyTree report, … Continue reading “Bay Area BizTech News by the Numbers”

Cloudant, Born from Big Science, Looks to Build Big Database Business

Big science and big technology work hand in hand. Without the World Wide Web, an idea conceived by scientists at CERN (the European Center for Nuclear Research), we wouldn’t have technologies people use every day, like social media, e-commerce, or Internet cat videos. And, as my colleague Wade argued, without the Web, scientists probably wouldn’t … Continue reading “Cloudant, Born from Big Science, Looks to Build Big Database Business”

Detroit Venture Investments Down, U.S. Investments Up in Second Quarter

According to a new report from the analysts at CB Insights, VCs invested $8.1 billion in more than 800 deals in the second quarter of 2012, the highest total since the dot-com era. The findings were generally confirmed by the latest MoneyTree survey, which reported that venture firms invested just over $7 billion in 898 deals across … Continue reading “Detroit Venture Investments Down, U.S. Investments Up in Second Quarter”

Woeful Websites: How to Guarantee Your Startup Won’t Get Funding

You don’t have to work in venture capital to know that many biotech startups are having a difficult time raising money. The economy remains in the tank, and the former Olympic-sized pool of accessible cash now more closely resembles a wading pool. There are an enormous number of reasons why a company will have difficulty … Continue reading “Woeful Websites: How to Guarantee Your Startup Won’t Get Funding”

Scarcity of Samples Threatens Personalized Medicine

Plenty of factors can conspire to slow down progress in molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine. There’s never enough money to run all the experiments scientists can imagine, it’s hard to gather data that squares with traditional medical evidence standards, and society is willing to pay a lot more money for drugs than diagnostics. But there’s … Continue reading “Scarcity of Samples Threatens Personalized Medicine”

Have New York Startups Matured Enough to Train Interns for Tech Jobs?

The crop of companies being born in New York and relocating here has revived the city’s entrepreneurial spirit with the potential to transform the economy. Projects such as Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to establish an engineering campus on Roosevelt Island could help populate the city with more tech-savvy people, but that is still years in … Continue reading “Have New York Startups Matured Enough to Train Interns for Tech Jobs?”

Food Tech Startup Trend Takes Hold in Michigan

As concerns about the effects of globalization on the food supply and genetically modified “frankenfood” grow, locavores are having their moment in the spotlight. More and more, consumers want to know where their food comes from, and they want it to be fresh, local, and free of harmful chemicals. They’re also willing to pay a premium … Continue reading “Food Tech Startup Trend Takes Hold in Michigan”

Onyx Gets FDA Approval For New Myeloma Drug; Stock Climbs

[Updated 12:35 pm PT] Onyx Pharmaceuticals just went from being a one-drug company, to a two-drug company. The South San Francisco-based cancer drug developer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONXX]]) won clearance from the FDA to start selling carfilzomib (Kyprolis) as a new treatment for patients with multiple myeloma, who have gotten at least two prior treatments. Shares of … Continue reading “Onyx Gets FDA Approval For New Myeloma Drug; Stock Climbs”

Seattle Genetics, Millennium Get EU Recommendation for Lymphoma Drug

Seattle Genetics won FDA approval for its first cancer drug last August in the U.S., and now its partner appears close to getting that same clearance in Europe. The Bothell, WA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) said today that its partner, Cambridge, MA-based Millenium: The Takeda Oncology Company, got a positive recommendation for brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics, Millennium Get EU Recommendation for Lymphoma Drug”

Can Anyone Catch Khan Academy? The Fate of the U in the YouTube Era

Traditional American universities are suddenly running scared of the Internet, and for good reason. They successfully weathered the rise of online, open-enrollment degree programs like the University of Phoenix, but now they’re confronting a much more terrifying enemy: YouTube. Not just YouTube, of course—there’s also Vimeo and 5min and iTunes U and TED and the … Continue reading “Can Anyone Catch Khan Academy? The Fate of the U in the YouTube Era”

The Slog Continues…

Last week the National Venture Capital Association (where I am on the Executive Committee) and Thomson Reuters announced the 2Q12 fundraising data for venture firms—don’t worry, you are excused if you did not see the results. Not pretty. The data has some potentially troubling implications for entrepreneurs. While the headline looked encouraging with $5.9BN raised … Continue reading “The Slog Continues…”

Alnylam, Galenea, Gen9, & More from the Boston Life Sciences Roundup

This week’s New England life sciences news consisted of venture funding news, a research partnership, a health IT acquisition, and more. —Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) saw its stock climb more than 40 percent on Monday after it released positive data on its experimental drug ALN-TTR02, a treatment for the rare disease TTR amyloidosis. The Cambridge, MA-based company is … Continue reading “Alnylam, Galenea, Gen9, & More from the Boston Life Sciences Roundup”

San Diego Startups Raise Over $300M From VCs in Second Quarter

[Corrected 7/20/12, 10:55 am. See below.] It wasn’t the best of times for venture capital activity in San Diego. But it wasn’t the worst of times, either. Venture capital firms invested $304.8 million in 27 startups during the three months that ended June 30, according to regional data released as part of the MoneyTree Report … Continue reading “San Diego Startups Raise Over $300M From VCs in Second Quarter”

Software Surge Drives Up U.S. Venture Activity—and Top 10 Deals

Overall venture capital activity turned up sharply during the three months that ended June 30, with venture firms investing just over $7 billion in 898 deals throughout the United States, according to the latest MoneyTree survey. The study generally confirms the improving trend in VC activity that was highlighted in the quick take from CB … Continue reading “Software Surge Drives Up U.S. Venture Activity—and Top 10 Deals”

GM, RelayRides, OnStar Partner in New Car Sharing Program

On Tuesday, GM, OnStar, and peer-to-peer car-sharing service RelayRides teamed up to give 6 million OnStar subscribers the ability to instantly rent out their vehicles through the RelayRides marketplace. RelayRides users will be able to access their reserved cars using any mobile device. “It’s very exciting,” Shelby Clark, RelayRides founder and chief community officer, says of the … Continue reading “GM, RelayRides, OnStar Partner in New Car Sharing Program”

Sermo, After Raising $40M+, Bought by WorldOne For Undisclosed Sum

Cambridge, MA-based Sermo, the provider of an online physician community, announced today that it has been acquired by New York-based healthcare insights company WorldOne. The purchase price of the deal was not disclosed. Sermo has pulled in at least $40 million since being founded in 2005. It raised a $26.7 million Series C round in 2007, … Continue reading “Sermo, After Raising $40M+, Bought by WorldOne For Undisclosed Sum”

The Key to Fantasy Sports Startups? Marketing & Data, Says DraftKings

The latest seed investment to be announced by Cambridge, MA-based Atlas Venture is DraftKings, an online fantasy sports startup in Boston. Atlas led a $1.4 million financing round for the company earlier this year, but today the founders are saying more about what they’re building. Fantasy sports is kind of an odd duck. It’s male-dominated … Continue reading “The Key to Fantasy Sports Startups? Marketing & Data, Says DraftKings”

Is Mobile Photo Sharing Still Broken? Kicksend Thinks So

It’s really, really hard for people immersed in the technology world to remember a day when they weren’t so savvy about gadgets and software and the Interwebs. To you and me, the idea that someone might have trouble e-mailing the vacation photos on their smartphone to a friend or family member seems snicker-worthy. But to … Continue reading “Is Mobile Photo Sharing Still Broken? Kicksend Thinks So”

New CEO for Lighter Capital, Founder Sack Moves to Exec Chairman

Seattle’s Lighter Capital exists to fill some holes in the usual models for financing young companies. And with that mission comes some criticism of the venture capital playbook—namely, a VC’s focus on billion-dollar opportunities and constant search for lucrative exits. So it’s a little interesting that the alternative-financing startup had recruited a former VC to … Continue reading “New CEO for Lighter Capital, Founder Sack Moves to Exec Chairman”

From One Japanese Backer to Another: Galenea Advances Brain Drugs

When Cambridge, MA-based Galenea wrapped up a five-year, $90 million partnership with Japanese pharma company Otsuka in 2011, CEO Mark Benjamin feared the biotech’s days might be numbered. “We thought if we didn’t get a VC in the door within a few months, we’d be done,” Benjamin says. Much to Benjamin’s surprise, Galenea not only … Continue reading “From One Japanese Backer to Another: Galenea Advances Brain Drugs”

Mark Cuban-backed Condition One Zooms in on New Angles in Video

As much as the camera-loving public enjoys capturing the moment in video, the proverbial “big picture” often gets lost. Sure, there’s a focal point in every scene, but the context of the surroundings may be cut off when played back. Condition One, a graduate of this spring’s TechStars NYC class, developed a platform that can … Continue reading “Mark Cuban-backed Condition One Zooms in on New Angles in Video”

San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Life, BioSurplus, Obalon, & More

[Updated 7/10/12 9:25 am. See below.] It seemed as if much of San Diego’s life sciences industry took the past week off, and I plan to join them next week. If you can’t hold your breaking news until I return on July 30, send your bulletins to editors at Xconomy.com. —Life Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIFE]]) bought … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Life, BioSurplus, Obalon, & More”

Biotech VCs, in Shadow of Tech, Start Delivering More Hits

A strange thing has happened during an otherwise bleak time for biotech venture capital. Life science venture capitalists are apparently hitting more of their investments out of the park. There were 17 so-called “Big Exits” for investors in privately held biotech companies, and 18 in the medical device business in 2011, the most of any … Continue reading “Biotech VCs, in Shadow of Tech, Start Delivering More Hits”

TourSphere Offers Do-It-Yourself Mobile Apps For Visitor Destinations

Mobile apps have grown so big that there’s now no shortage of companies selling software to help other companies build their own applications. But Boston-based TourSphere is tackling a very specific niche of that space—museums and historic and cultural tours, and the like. One of the more exciting projects built on its platform: The Metropolitan … Continue reading “TourSphere Offers Do-It-Yourself Mobile Apps For Visitor Destinations”

Steve Blank on Detroit’s Renaissance and Why Startups Aren’t Cool

Xconomist and startup guru Steve Blank swept into Detroit last night for a sold-out, wide-ranging discussion at the Madison Building. (Kudos to Bizdom, Detroit Venture Partners, Startup Michigan, and Grow Detroit for packing the auditorium with over 100 people on less than 24 hours notice of Blank’s appearance.) Prone to tangents that are no less insightful … Continue reading “Steve Blank on Detroit’s Renaissance and Why Startups Aren’t Cool”

Eventbrite Passes $1 Billion Mark; Learn from Its Founders on Aug. 7

San Francisco-based Eventbrite clearly doesn’t use summertime as an excuse to slack off on its mission to democratize the event business. In the last couple of months the company has overhauled its iPhone app, geared up its operations in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal, and celebrated passing the $1 billion mark in gross ticket … Continue reading “Eventbrite Passes $1 Billion Mark; Learn from Its Founders on Aug. 7”