Google is changing its mind about what’s relevant. In a sweeping technical overhaul that will start to go into effect today, the search giant is altering the way it ranks search results to highlight content that users have shared, or that has been shared with them. If you’re logged into Google (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GOOG]]), links to … Continue reading “Google Revamps Search Results To Feature Personal and Social Content”
Category: National
BuzzFeed Nabs $15.5M for Viral News Site
New York-based BuzzFeed announced that it has brought in $15.5 million to build its increasingly popular social news publishing platform. New Enterprise Associates (NEA) led the round, with participation from Lerer Ventures, Hearst Media, Softbank, and RRE. BuzzFeed, founded in 2008, aggregates popular Web content and posts it under categories with names like “OMG,” “Cute,” … Continue reading “BuzzFeed Nabs $15.5M for Viral News Site”
Mobile News: From Apperian to Zmags, Jumptap to Mitt Romney
Some interesting news tidbits in Boston-area mobile and marketing/ad tech today. —Zmags, the Boston-based mobile and social commerce company, has raised $7 million from Square 1 Bank and existing investors OpenView Venture Partners and Northcap Partners. Zmags makes a software platform to help brands and retailers design marketing and merchandising campaigns across mobile devices, tablets, … Continue reading “Mobile News: From Apperian to Zmags, Jumptap to Mitt Romney”
Foundation Medicine and Sanofi Form Cancer Discovery Pact
Back in May, Xconomy wrote that two-year-old Foundation Medicine was making friends in high places, and today the Cambridge, MA-based startup did it yet again. Foundation announced that it has teamed with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]) to identify genetic biomarkers for oncology drug candidates, and potentially develop companion diagnostics that would help match the … Continue reading “Foundation Medicine and Sanofi Form Cancer Discovery Pact”
Warp Drive Bio Launches With $125M from Third Rock, Greylock, Sanofi
Today a new company called Warp Drive Bio is starting up in Cambridge, MA, with a simple and powerful premise: Mother Nature may be the best source of blockbuster drugs—if only we can find new methods for unlocking her secrets. Warp Drive’s plan is to use genomics technology incubated at Boston-based Third Rock Ventures to … Continue reading “Warp Drive Bio Launches With $125M from Third Rock, Greylock, Sanofi”
Forma Reels In J&J With $700M Deal; 2nd Cancer Drug Discovery Partner in a Week
Forma Therapeutics has the hot hand among biotech startups in the early days of 2012. Today, it is announcing it has struck its second alliance with a Big Pharma company that wants Forma’s help discovering cancer drugs. The Watertown, MA-based biotech company is announcing today that Janssen Biotech, a unit of New Brunswick, NJ-based Johnson … Continue reading “Forma Reels In J&J With $700M Deal; 2nd Cancer Drug Discovery Partner in a Week”
New York’s Venture Emergence: The Agenda
The startup scene in New York is red hot, with a plethora of financings in e-commerce, ad technology, and yes, sometimes even biotechnology. The innovators in these cutting-edge industries are helping drive New York commerce in new directions—a major priority of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is on a mission to diversify the city’s economy. It is … Continue reading “New York’s Venture Emergence: The Agenda”
Join Us Friday for a Tweetchat with Evernote Board Member Gary Little
If you tune your Twitter client to the hashtag #xcevernote this Friday at 11:00 am Pacific time / 2:00 pm Eastern time, you’ll be able to join me and Gary Little, a partner at Morgenthaler Ventures in Menlo Park, for a public conversation about what it takes to build startups that will survive and thrive … Continue reading “Join Us Friday for a Tweetchat with Evernote Board Member Gary Little”
Of Patent Rats and Blaming Teachers
[Editor’s Note: We asked selected Xconomists a series of questions designed to zero in on the big issues of the year, including “What issues would you be willing to throw a punch over?”] There are two. The first is the state of the patent system, particularly as it affects computing hardware and software (broadly construed). … Continue reading “Of Patent Rats and Blaming Teachers”
TaskRabbit Burrows Further Into New York, Buys SkillSlate
Entrepreneurs in the crowdsourced-services niche must be feeling a lot like the knights battling the killer rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail these days. San Francisco service-networking site TaskRabbit, fresh off a $17.8 million funding round, is eating up the competition. According to an e-mail received Tuesday night from TaskRabbit marketing staffer Johnny … Continue reading “TaskRabbit Burrows Further Into New York, Buys SkillSlate”
Par8o, from Sermo Founders, Aims to be Patient-Physician Matchmakers
[Updated 1/11/12 5:15 pm. See below.] “Sermo has been my baby, my blood and tears,” its former CEO Daniel Palestrant told me in a phone call last week. So it was pretty shocking last week when news surfaced that the founder of the Cambridge, MA-based online community for doctors was moving onto a new Web … Continue reading “Par8o, from Sermo Founders, Aims to be Patient-Physician Matchmakers”
Canaan Partners Survives VC Turmoil, Raises New $600M Tech/Biotech Fund
Canaan Partners was fortunate to raise its last big venture fund just before the global financial crisis hit in 2008, and now it has a real reason to be thankful again. The Menlo Park-based venture firm is announcing today that it has closed on Canaan IX, a new $600 million venture fund. Canaan plans to … Continue reading “Canaan Partners Survives VC Turmoil, Raises New $600M Tech/Biotech Fund”
Ford to Open New Research Lab in Silicon Valley
The Ford Motor Company announced Friday that it plans to open its first-ever dedicated R&D center on the West Coast in Silicon Valley early this year—a move in line with the automaker’s vision of becoming a company that builds mobile computers on wheels. K. Venkatesh Prasad, senior technical leader for open innovation with Ford Research and … Continue reading “Ford to Open New Research Lab in Silicon Valley”
San Diego BizTech Roundup: Active Network, Accelrys, Entropic, & More
—San Diego’s Active Network (NYSE [[ticker:ACTV]]), which provides online event registration and related services, acquired Philadelphia-based StarCite for about $51 million in stock and cash. StarCite, which provides Web-based event management services for companies around the world, has about 300 employees. The Active Network said StarCite will become part of its newly launched “Business Solutions” … Continue reading “San Diego BizTech Roundup: Active Network, Accelrys, Entropic, & More”
Neolane, DataXu, ClickSquared Ink Deals in Digital Marketing
[Updated 12:20 pm] Here are a couple of notable Boston-area deals in digital advertising and marketing, each with a certain je-ne-sais-quoi European flair. Plus one more local company worth watching… —Neolane, a social marketing tech company based in Paris with North American headquarters in Newton, MA, has closed a $27 million financing round led by … Continue reading “Neolane, DataXu, ClickSquared Ink Deals in Digital Marketing”
LogMeIn Buys Bold Software for $16.5M, Expands in Customer Care
Some business software news this morning. LogMeIn (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LOGM]]), the Woburn, MA-based remote access and customer support tech company, said it has acquired Kansas-based Bold Software for $16.5 million, including retention-based bonuses over time. Bold makes software for live-chat systems and click-to-call customer service. The move is intended to strengthen and expand LogMeIn’s offerings in … Continue reading “LogMeIn Buys Bold Software for $16.5M, Expands in Customer Care”
Lack of Funding For Innovative Biotech Companies
[Editor’s Note: We asked selected Xconomists a series of questions designed to zero in on the big issues of the year, including “What would you be willing to throw a punch over?”] The most important issue facing Aastrom and many other companies in biotechnology is the lack of adequate funding to support innovative new companies, … Continue reading “Lack of Funding For Innovative Biotech Companies”
Knome Names New CEO, Cuts Deal With Johns Hopkins to Analyze 1,000 Genomes
Like a lot of biotech executives focused on developing drugs, Martin Tolar has long been skeptical of the value of genomics in bringing about personalized medicine. But over the past few months of scoping out new opportunities, he’s become enough of a believer to jump into genomics with both feet, as the new CEO of … Continue reading “Knome Names New CEO, Cuts Deal With Johns Hopkins to Analyze 1,000 Genomes”
NYC Tech Startup Fundings: Maxymiser, Contently, Zeel
The rapidly growing tech startup scene in New York has started 2012 with a funding boom. Here are some of the financings revealed just in the last few days. —Web optimization provider Maxymiser announced January 6 that it has raised a $12 million Series B round from Investor Growth Capital, with participation from existing investor Pentech … Continue reading “NYC Tech Startup Fundings: Maxymiser, Contently, Zeel”
Young Entrepreneur Social: Seattle Has to Stop Eating its Young
Brayden Olson was frustrated. After a couple of years spent beating the bushes for successful young entrepreneurs in the Seattle area, the 24-year-old says he could only find a few people he considered peers. And even worse, Olson says, was the lack of generosity he found among the 30-something generation of Seattle entrepreneurs that came … Continue reading “Young Entrepreneur Social: Seattle Has to Stop Eating its Young”
Bayer, Keeping Tabs on the ‘Hood, to Open Labs For Mission Bay Startups
Bayer has been working hard the past couple years to get its finger on the pulse of innovation in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, and today it’s making another move in that direction by offering up some of its lab space to startups. The Germany-based pharmaceutical company, which already has about 65 people in its … Continue reading “Bayer, Keeping Tabs on the ‘Hood, to Open Labs For Mission Bay Startups”
Safari Books Buys Threepress, Forges Ahead In Digital Publishing Jungle
What is the future of electronic books and digital publishing in Boston? We might be getting a glimpse of it today. The news is that Safari Books Online, a joint venture between O’Reilly Media and Pearson Education, is acquiring Threepress, a Boston-area software and consulting shop specializing in tools for digital publishing. Terms of the … Continue reading “Safari Books Buys Threepress, Forges Ahead In Digital Publishing Jungle”
Benefits and Roadblocks of Corporate Partnering for Startups
Fifteen years ago, the expansion model of a startup was fairly linear: The first three years were dedicated to building the business domestically. Year four generally saw European expansion. And by year five, the company was starting to explore the Asian markets. The emergence of the Web as a viable commerce vehicle, though, brought about … Continue reading “Benefits and Roadblocks of Corporate Partnering for Startups”
Five Myths You’ll Hear This Week at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
Biotech pilgrims are gathering today for the biggest industry frenzy of the year, the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. This confab in San Francisco’s Union Square is the singular place each year where essentially all industry mover/shakers—and many wannabes—gather for a marathon week of investment scouting, dealmaking, publicity seeking, job-hunting, and schmoozing. I’ve been going to … Continue reading “Five Myths You’ll Hear This Week at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference”
Astellas Scraps Antibiotic Partnership With Theravance
South San Francisco-based Theravance said today that Astellas Pharma, its longtime partner in marketing a new antibiotic, has decided to walk away from its collaboration. Theravance (NASDAQ: [[ticker:THRX]]) said Japan-based Astellas has exercised its right to terminate its worldwide license agreement to co-market telavancin (Vibativ) as a once-daily injectable drug for bacterial infections. Astellas has … Continue reading “Astellas Scraps Antibiotic Partnership With Theravance”
Founder’s Co-Op Closes $8M Second Fund
Founder’s Co-op, the Seattle-based early stage investment group headed by Andy Sack and Chris DeVore, has closed its second fund at just under $8 million. That’s a significant step up from the first Founder’s Co-op fund, which DeVore says was about $2.5 million—a shift that reflects both the growth of Seattle’s startup scene, and a … Continue reading “Founder’s Co-Op Closes $8M Second Fund”
Seattle Rewind: Ozzie’s Startup, Mobile Predictions, Big Questions
We’re back in the swing of things after the holidays, which means this is your first weekly rewind of the new year. Read on, especially if you were too busy catching up on e-mails and meetings to pay attention to the Seattle-area headlines the first time around: —Former Microsoft software chief Ray Ozzie resurfaced this … Continue reading “Seattle Rewind: Ozzie’s Startup, Mobile Predictions, Big Questions”
Tech Startup Deals: GrabCAD, Krush, Moontoast, & More
It’s probably a good sign for the Boston tech startup community that we have to round up all these decent-sized financings just to keep up with the news. On the other hand, it’s just money raised in pursuit of bigger goals. —GrabCAD, based in Cambridge, MA, raised $4 million more from existing investors, bringing its … Continue reading “Tech Startup Deals: GrabCAD, Krush, Moontoast, & More”
PacBio CEO Hugh Martin Resigns, Being Replaced by Mike Hunkapiller
Pacific Biosciences is bringing in an industry pioneer, Michael Hunkapiller, as its new CEO after a disappointing first year on the market with its new breed of DNA sequencing instrument. The Menlo Park, CA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PACB]]) said today that CEO Hugh Martin has resigned effectively immediately, and is being replaced by Mike Hunkapiller, who … Continue reading “PacBio CEO Hugh Martin Resigns, Being Replaced by Mike Hunkapiller”
Piazza, Klout, Lithium: Bay Area BizTech Deals by the Numbers
Time for our first deals roundup of 2012. As usual, we’re gathering some of this week’s most interesting investment and M&A updates from around the San Francisco Bay Area, and arranging them in order of descending value. $75 million—The size of a planned IPO by San Mateo, CA-based health benefit management firm Extend Health. $53.4 … Continue reading “Piazza, Klout, Lithium: Bay Area BizTech Deals by the Numbers”
DailyWorth Gets $2M in Round Led by Joanne Wilson and Howard Lindzon
DailyWorth.com in New York, an online community and daily e-mail which offers women personal finance and career information, raised $2 million, according to a press release. Joanne Wilson and Howard Lindzon, the co-founder of StockTwits, led the round. Thus far DailyWorth has raised more than $3 million, which includes backing from angel investor group Robin Hood … Continue reading “DailyWorth Gets $2M in Round Led by Joanne Wilson and Howard Lindzon”
Gathering Around the Tablet: A Glimpse of the Future
How will the media habits of families, especially those with young kids, evolve in the era of the tablet computer? I got an interesting perspective on that question over the holidays, which I spent with my brother and his family in Alaska. Jamie and his wife Jen Athey have two loveable children, aged four (Kieran) … Continue reading “Gathering Around the Tablet: A Glimpse of the Future”
Langer, Farokhzad Start New Combo Drug Company, Blend Therapeutics
Some people set a goal of losing weight in the new year, but if you’re Bob Langer and Omid Farokhzad, it’s apparently time to start another new biotech company. The prolific biotech entrepreneurs (Langer is from MIT, while Farokhzad is at Harvard Medical School), along with colleague Stephen Lippard of MIT, said today they have … Continue reading “Langer, Farokhzad Start New Combo Drug Company, Blend Therapeutics”
Civitas Charts Positive Data on Inhaled Parkinson’s Drug
Chelsea, MA-based Civitas Therapeutics announced today that its inhaled form of L-dopa—the drug that many Parkinson’s disease patients take to relieve shaking and other debilitating symptoms—performed well in a Phase 1 clinical trial. The trial was designed to test whether the drug, called CVT-301, is safe, and whether delivering it to the lungs gets it … Continue reading “Civitas Charts Positive Data on Inhaled Parkinson’s Drug”
Gene Security Network, Now Natera, Adds $20M For Prenatal Tests
A little more than 4 million children are born in the U.S. every year, and quite a few of those prospective parents are curious about potential genetic defects in their offspring. And so a group of investors are betting $20 million today that Redwood City, CA-based Gene Security Network is going to make some serious … Continue reading “Gene Security Network, Now Natera, Adds $20M For Prenatal Tests”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Isis, Elevation, Proacta, and More
As the time draws near for the annual J.P. Morgan Global Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, it seems as if there has been a surge in deals for local life sciences companies. Here’s our rundown: —Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) agreed to pay Carlsbad, CA-based Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIS]]) $29 million, with the potential for more … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Isis, Elevation, Proacta, and More”
Alnylam, Aveo, Biogen, & More Boston Life Sciences Newsmakers
Clinical trial results and drug collaborators made up the New England life sciences news this week. —New Jersey-based drugmaker Merck announced backing a few Boston-area companies in the past few weeks. Its Global Health Innovation Fund led a $10 million financing for Cambridge, MA-based Daktari Diagnostics, a developer of technology for testing small quantities of blood and … Continue reading “Alnylam, Aveo, Biogen, & More Boston Life Sciences Newsmakers”
Mirador Biomedical Gets FDA Green Light to Expand Use of Digital Sensor
Seattle-based Mirador Biomedical has won FDA clearance to market its medical device for a new set of uses, which doctors have been asking about for months. Mirador said today that its digital pressure sensor technology, which it calls its Compass platform, is now cleared by the FDA for a half dozen different medical uses. The … Continue reading “Mirador Biomedical Gets FDA Green Light to Expand Use of Digital Sensor”
RealNetworks CFO Stepping Down
RealNetworks, which recently installed a new CEO, is looking for a new financial chief. The company says CFO Michael Eggers is leaving effective April 15, via a filing with federal regulators (hat tip to John Cook at GeekWire for spotting). Eggers has been at RealNetworks (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RNWK]]) for 14 years, according to the SEC filing—quite … Continue reading “RealNetworks CFO Stepping Down”
CytoPherx Raises $34M Toward Finishing Clinical Trial
Ann Arbor-based CytoPherx, a medical device company focusing on inflammation-based diseases, announced yesterday that it has raised $34 million in a new round of financing. A large group of investors participated in the round, including Ohio-based Early Stage Partners, California-based Onset Ventures, and Wisconsin-based Capital Midwest Fund. This latest round of funding comes on top … Continue reading “CytoPherx Raises $34M Toward Finishing Clinical Trial”
Merck Pours $17M Into Physicians Interactive’s Web Tools for Docs
Marlborough, MA-based Physicians Interactive Holdings announced today that it has formed a deal with Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, a unit of the Whitehouse Station, NJ-based drug giant. Merck (NYSE: [[ticker:MRK]]) has pledged $8.5 million up front and another $8.5 million in milestone payments to Physicians Interactive, which was founded in 2008 and makes a range of … Continue reading “Merck Pours $17M Into Physicians Interactive’s Web Tools for Docs”
Survey: Tech Executives Saw More Pay in 2011, Life Sciences Inched Up
[Updated 1:45 p.m. ET] Executive compensation held relatively steady in 2011 among privately-held life sciences companies, while their peers in the technology sector continued to see salary increases, according to the annual CompStudy survey produced by executive search firm J. Robert Scott and law firm WilmerHale in collaboration with Noam Wasserman, associate professor of business administration … Continue reading “Survey: Tech Executives Saw More Pay in 2011, Life Sciences Inched Up”
Ray Ozzie’s Next Big Thing: Cocomo
Since when is naming your startup and posting a job ad news? When your name is Ray Ozzie, that’s when. The former Microsoft chief software architect and Lotus veteran has surfaced after a year of working behind the scenes. Ozzie reached out to the Boston Globe‘s Scott Kirsner with a teaser about his new project: … Continue reading “Ray Ozzie’s Next Big Thing: Cocomo”
Dendreon Surprises With $82M in Fourth Quarter Sales, Stock Booms
[Update: 6:58 am PT] Dendreon greatly disappointed investors in 2011, but it ended up closing the year out on a stronger note than expected. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) said today it generated $82 million in fourth quarter gross product revenues for sipuleucel-T (Provenge), its immune-boosting therapy for prostate cancer. The company hasn’t yet … Continue reading “Dendreon Surprises With $82M in Fourth Quarter Sales, Stock Booms”
CircuLite Attracts Big Support for Tiny Heart-Assist Device
Yesterday Saddle Brook, NJ-based CircuLite announced it received a $950,000 grant to develop a device for patients whose hearts have been weakened by pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare and potentially fatal disease. The award, which came from the Cardiovascular Medical Research and Education Fund, was the latest vote of confidence in CircuLite’s core technology—a miniscule, … Continue reading “CircuLite Attracts Big Support for Tiny Heart-Assist Device”
At Freestyle, Investing Is A Family-Friendly Alternative to Startup Life
Josh Felser has three kids. Dave Samuel has four. You won’t hear any highfalutin business-speak from these former tech entrepreneurs about why they started Freestyle Capital, their San Francisco-based seed-stage investing fund. They say they did it because they recognized that it’s pretty hard to create a business and be an involved parent at the … Continue reading “At Freestyle, Investing Is A Family-Friendly Alternative to Startup Life”
With StarCite Deal, Active Network Deepens Focus on Business Events
[Updated 1/5/12 8:05 am. See below.] San Diego’s Active Network (NYSE: [[ticker:ACTV]]) made roughly 50 acquisitions since it was founded (in 1998), but the company has become more deliberate about its deals since it paused in 2010 to overhaul its Software as a Service technology and prepare for last year’s IPO. The Active Network provides … Continue reading “With StarCite Deal, Active Network Deepens Focus on Business Events”
Forma Cuts $65M Deal With Boehringer Ingelheim to Discover Cancer Drugs
Another six months have gone by, so it must be time for another deal for Forma Therapeutics. Sure enough, Watertown, MA-based Forma is announcing today it has struck a partnership to discover new cancer drugs with Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim. The deal provides $65 million to Forma in a combination of upfront cash and four years’ … Continue reading “Forma Cuts $65M Deal With Boehringer Ingelheim to Discover Cancer Drugs”
Startup Weekend Shuts Down Eight-City Startup Foundation Project
Startup Weekend, the Seattle-based nonprofit that runs an international network of hackathon events, is shutting down its effort to create a sister organization called the Startup Foundation. That project, first reported by Xconomy back in June, aimed to create a more permanent presence in individual cities that could help stimulate the entrepreneurial community. When I … Continue reading “Startup Weekend Shuts Down Eight-City Startup Foundation Project”
FirstFuel Software Selected for DoD Energy Efficiency Initiative
Lexington, MA-based FirstFuel Software is among a crop of experimental energy projects picked to help the Department of Defense curb its energy output across military installations, the company announced yesterday. The startup was one of 27 teams selected as part of the DoD’s Installation Energy Test Bed initiative, a program designed to help emerging energy technologies … Continue reading “FirstFuel Software Selected for DoD Energy Efficiency Initiative”