Time for our data-driven roundup of business and technology news and deals in the San Francisco Bay Area. From biggest to smallest: $6.3 billion—the aggregate value of the 101 merger-and-acquisition deals involving venture-backed companies in the third quarter of 2011—an 8 percent increase over the second quarter, according to data released today by Thomson Reuters … Continue reading “Intel, Mobeam, Coupons.com: Bay Area BizTech News By the Numbers”
Category: National
Blueprint Health, New Incubator in NYC, Looks to Nurture Health IT Startups
When Brad Weinberg started up his first company, ShapeUp, in 2006, incubator programs like TechStars and Y Combinator were barely off the ground. So Weinberg and his colleagues were left pretty much on their own to develop their software platform, which combines social networking, gaming, and financial incentives to promote wellness. The company has done … Continue reading “Blueprint Health, New Incubator in NYC, Looks to Nurture Health IT Startups”
ServiceNow Hires New CTO From Microsoft Cloud
[Corrected 10/3/11, 10:25 am. See below.] ServiceNow CEO Frank Slootman said in August that he was accelerating hiring as the Web-based provider of IT services makes its transition from a fast-growth startup to an established leader in the Software as a Service industry. [Updated to correct and clarify Luddy’s role] Today the San Diego company … Continue reading “ServiceNow Hires New CTO From Microsoft Cloud”
Sangamo Fails Diabetic Neuropathy Study, Falls Back on HIV, Other Programs
Sangamo Biosciences’ lead drug candidate has flunked its biggest test yet in clinical trials, and the company said this morning that it’s time to move on to other programs. The Richmond, CA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGMO]]) said today that SB-509 failed in a study of 170 patients that randomly assigned patients with diabetic neuropathy to a … Continue reading “Sangamo Fails Diabetic Neuropathy Study, Falls Back on HIV, Other Programs”
Lee Davenport, A Technological Hero, Dies at 95: Here are His 7 Rules for Fostering Innovation
Over the weekend, I learned that one of my heroes, Lee Davenport, had just passed away. Lee died of cancer at the age of 95 in his longtime home of Greenwich, CT. That’s where I first met him in 1994, when I was researching a book about the MIT Radiation Laboratory, the World War II … Continue reading “Lee Davenport, A Technological Hero, Dies at 95: Here are His 7 Rules for Fostering Innovation”
A Glimpse in Photos at the Xconomy Xchange: Consumers, the Cloud, and Beyond—New Rules for Innovation
VCs are wrong most of the time—and often it’s because they over-think a deal. That’s just one of the points I took away from our event this past Monday night, Xconomy Xchange: Consumers, the Cloud, and Beyond — New Rules for Innovation. If you want to catch some more themes from the panel—which featured venture capitalists … Continue reading “A Glimpse in Photos at the Xconomy Xchange: Consumers, the Cloud, and Beyond—New Rules for Innovation”
Why Universities Are Key to the Future of Biotech, and How UCSF’s Chief is Showing the Way
These are hard times at universities in America. State support is dwindling, tuition is booming, and federal research dollars are in jeopardy. Morale has taken a beating. But U.S. academic research centers are still the driving force for innovative new medicines, like always. And anyone who cares about U.S. universities should pay attention to what’s … Continue reading “Why Universities Are Key to the Future of Biotech, and How UCSF’s Chief is Showing the Way”
Reinventing the Board
Imagine a world where technology companies are more successful and grow faster because of the strategic help and guidance from their boards of directors. Or, at least imagine a world where they don’t suffer from unhelpful, or worse, problematic boards that consume management’s precious time. Some commentators like Steve Blank, Jeff Bussgang, Brad Feld, and … Continue reading “Reinventing the Board”
Vinod Khosla: A Brutally Honest VC Tells Startup Weekenders to Make an Impact
Vinod Khosla admits he’s not really known as a polite guy. But he comes by it honestly. “I sort of had a habit at age 12 of insulting priests in India, because it was fun for me. I was a troll,” Khosla said Friday. “There is fun in that. If there’s a lot of conventional … Continue reading “Vinod Khosla: A Brutally Honest VC Tells Startup Weekenders to Make an Impact”
Geron Names Chip Scarlett, Former Proteolix, Tercica Boss, as New CEO
Geron has found a new CEO as it moves ahead in the new world of clinical trials with embryonic stem cells. Menlo Park, CA-based Geron (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GERN]]) said that biotech veteran John “Chip” Scarlett has been named the company’s new CEO and member of the board. Scarlett, an endocrinologist by training, is best known for … Continue reading “Geron Names Chip Scarlett, Former Proteolix, Tercica Boss, as New CEO”
Psilos, Box, Blekko: Bay Area BizTech By the Numbers
It’s time for our data-driven news roundup. From the biggest number to the smallest: $400 million—The target size of a new venture fund being raised by health IT investor Psilos Group, according to a report today in PE Hub. The firm has offices in Corte Madera, CA, New York, and Santa Fe, NM. Psilos partner … Continue reading “Psilos, Box, Blekko: Bay Area BizTech By the Numbers”
Genomic Health Wins Medicare Coverage for High-Priced Colon Cancer Test
Health insurers usually aren’t wild about paying big bucks for diagnostic tests, and things probably won’t get easier for diagnostic companies as Medicare’s budget comes under increasing pressure. But Redwood City, CA-based Genomic Health has found a way to persuade that very big insurer that its test for predicting the risk of colon cancer recurrence … Continue reading “Genomic Health Wins Medicare Coverage for High-Priced Colon Cancer Test”
A Few Details Surface on Tribeca Venture Partners
A new venture firm focused on early-stage technology companies in New York has debuted, according to reports by Fortune and Dow Jones VentureWire. Because of regulatory rules, Brian Hirsch, managing director of New York’s GSA Venture Partners, could not discuss the birth of Tribeca Venture Partners when contacted by Xconomy, but Tribeca’s website offers a … Continue reading “A Few Details Surface on Tribeca Venture Partners”
Can Crowdsourcing Make a Dent in Unemployment? Ask MobileWorks
Jobs are the single biggest political issue of the day in the U.S., and rightly so. As of August, the official unemployment rate in the United States stood at 9.1 percent. That was down one point from the October 2009 peak of 10.1 percent, but still higher than at any time since the 1930s, with … Continue reading “Can Crowdsourcing Make a Dent in Unemployment? Ask MobileWorks”
RXi Splits Up, Zeo Launches Mobile Sleep-Tracking App, Karuna Licenses Schizophrenia Compounds, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
This week’s New England life sciences news spanned companies targeting cancer, schizophrenia, sleep improvement, and genomic analysis. —Newton, MA-based health IT startup Zeo announced it added a mobile app version of its sleep tracking and coaching system. The company hopes the tool, which pushes sleep data gathered from a sensor-laden headband to a user’s mobile … Continue reading “RXi Splits Up, Zeo Launches Mobile Sleep-Tracking App, Karuna Licenses Schizophrenia Compounds, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Cardiac Dimensions Wins EU Approval for Heart Failure Device, Aims for Market in 2012
Kirkland, WA-based Cardiac Dimensions, after 10 years of developing a new device to tighten up leaky heart valves in heart failure patients, is now ready to roll with its first product approved for sale in Europe. Cardiac Dimensions said today it has been granted permission by European Union regulators to start selling its Carillon Mitral … Continue reading “Cardiac Dimensions Wins EU Approval for Heart Failure Device, Aims for Market in 2012”
Notes from TEDxDetroit: Time for Action
Thinkers, doers, artists, hipsters, nerds, movers, and shakers gathered at the Max M. Fisher Music Theatre yesterday for TEDxDetroit, a beautifully organized confab of metro residents who have planted their flags firmly in the Motor City’s terra firma. These are the folks who are dedicated to pushing the city forward, whether through a “living” robot-tech … Continue reading “Notes from TEDxDetroit: Time for Action”
3Tier Cuts Deal With Bloomberg to Bring Wind Energy Tool to Wall Street
Seattle-based 3Tier, the company that uses supercomputers to map the best spots in the world for setting up solar and wind energy projects, has found a way to put its tool in front of a lot more people with money to bankroll the work. 3Tier said today it has formed a partnership with Bloomberg New … Continue reading “3Tier Cuts Deal With Bloomberg to Bring Wind Energy Tool to Wall Street”
Tippr’s Federal Patent Lawsuit: 14 Daily Deals Players Targeted, Now All Quietly Settled
It’s been a wild few months for companies peddling daily deals. As market leader Groupon faces criticism for its accounting and turmoil in its executive ranks, bigger competitors continue to expand or kill their efforts, while smaller fish get gobbled up in a spree of consolidation. If that’s not enough churn, you can also add some … Continue reading “Tippr’s Federal Patent Lawsuit: 14 Daily Deals Players Targeted, Now All Quietly Settled”
Elevation Partners Grabs $17M, NanoSort Wins Grants, NIH Collaborates with Afraxis on Rare Disease R&D, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
Funding needed to advance innovative technologies came in small dollops for several local life sciences startups last week, although one company got a big serving. Our weekly briefing begins now. —San Diego’s Elevation Partners, which has been developing a long-lasting aerosol drug for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, took in a $17 million tranche in … Continue reading “Elevation Partners Grabs $17M, NanoSort Wins Grants, NIH Collaborates with Afraxis on Rare Disease R&D, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
Three Companies to Watch: BetterLesson, Wikets, and PeerApp Raise Funds
On a dismal day in Boston, here are a few tech-related company financings worth mentioning (one in mobile/social, one in video, and one in education): —BetterLesson, a Cambridge, MA-based startup that helps teachers organize and share lesson plans and curricula online, has closed a new $1.6 million financing round from Highland Capital Partners, General Catalyst … Continue reading “Three Companies to Watch: BetterLesson, Wikets, and PeerApp Raise Funds”
Knome Moves Beyond the Mega-Rich With Genome Analysis Service
There just aren’t that many rich people who want to do scientifically adventurous things like fly in outer space or get their entire genomes sequenced. Fortunately for Cambridge, MA-based Knome, it has found a way to keep its genomic analysis business alive by doing something more than appealing to the curiosity, or vanity, of the … Continue reading “Knome Moves Beyond the Mega-Rich With Genome Analysis Service”
Sonar, Pearescope, and Other NYC Companies Take Aim in Battle to Connect New Contacts
When New York startup Sonar rolled out the latest version of its networking app on Sept. 15, it included for—the first time—data from LinkedIn. Now armed with contact information gleaned from a business-oriented social network, Sonar’s app is trying to attract more professionals to the ranks of its users. This is the latest competitive move … Continue reading “Sonar, Pearescope, and Other NYC Companies Take Aim in Battle to Connect New Contacts”
Lithium Helps Companies Rev Up Customer Support by Deputizing ‘Superfans’
If you need help with a glitchy Logitech mouse or webcam and you happen to stop by the company’s online support forum, you might notice a bunch of posts from a guy calling himself KachiWachi. Since 2006, when he started contributed to the forum, KachiWachi has answered more than 45,000 questions from Logitech customers. He … Continue reading “Lithium Helps Companies Rev Up Customer Support by Deputizing ‘Superfans’”
UW Scores $40M for Biofuels, Cocrystal’s Fight Against HepC, The Women’s Biotech Network, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
We had an unusual mix of headlines this week on RNA interference, biofuels, and a quiet little startup in Bothell with Icos pedigree. —There weren’t any major life science company financings to report this week, but the state’s academic centers had something to crow about with $80 million in new federal grants going to the … Continue reading “UW Scores $40M for Biofuels, Cocrystal’s Fight Against HepC, The Women’s Biotech Network, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Excerpt from “The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in America”
No particular group, right or left or somewhere else, is immune from the sense that change is accelerating at an ever faster pace with each passing year. The experience of too-rapid change, whether trivial or profound, is a characteristic of modernity. Information technologies are perhaps the sentinel sources and examples of what Alvin Toffler called “future shock” in 1970, right … Continue reading “Excerpt from “The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in America””
Intel Capital Leads $13M Round for SweetLabs in Bid to Re-Invent Desktop Experience
SweetLabs scored what could be construed as a Google seal of approval in April 2010 when the San Diego startup, then known as OpenCandy, landed $5 million in a Series B round of venture funding led by Google Ventures. Today, the four-year-old startup says it has scored a similar coup—raising $13 million in a Series … Continue reading “Intel Capital Leads $13M Round for SweetLabs in Bid to Re-Invent Desktop Experience”
The Polaris Express: Dogpatch Labs Says Goodbye Pier 38, Hello Palo Alto and Dublin
It’s official: Waltham, MA-based Polaris Venture Partners is announcing a couple of moves related to its network of Dogpatch Labs startup incubators. One bit of news involves the fate of the original Dogpatch in San Francisco. The other piece is about a brand new (and long-awaited) international site that is opening today. (Dogpatch Labs already … Continue reading “The Polaris Express: Dogpatch Labs Says Goodbye Pier 38, Hello Palo Alto and Dublin”
Xconomist of the Week: Pfizer’s Barbara Dalton to Speak at Our NY Life Sciences 2031 Forum
As Pfizer’s vice president of venture capital, Barbara Dalton will bring two valuable perspectives to Xconomy’s Life Sciences 2031 panel discussion on October 13: that of a VC and that of a pharma executive. Dalton, who was trained in immunology and virology at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, began her career as a research scientist … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Pfizer’s Barbara Dalton to Speak at Our NY Life Sciences 2031 Forum”
Netezza CEO Jim Baum Out at IBM, On to New “Non-Competitive” Venture
Former Netezza chief executive Jim Baum has left IBM, Xconomy has learned. Baum was the CEO of Marlborough, MA-based Netezza since early 2009 and oversaw the “big data” analytics company’s $1.7 billion acquisition by IBM almost exactly a year ago. Baum was not reachable for comment, but a spokesperson for IBM (NYSE: [[ticker:IBM]]) confirmed that … Continue reading “Netezza CEO Jim Baum Out at IBM, On to New “Non-Competitive” Venture”
Connect Lists Finalists for San Diego’s Most Innovative Product Awards
Connect, the San Diego nonprofit group for innovation and entrepreneurship, says it has selected three finalists in eight categories for the region’s 24th annual Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Awards competition. The 24 finalists were culled from more than 140 nominations submitted, according to a statement from Connect. The finalists in each category are evaluated … Continue reading “Connect Lists Finalists for San Diego’s Most Innovative Product Awards”
Stealthy Karuna Licenses Schizophrenia Drugs from Vanderbilt
When Xconomy first reported the launch of a new biotech company called Karuna Pharmaceuticals in January, the Boston startup declined to reveal much about what it was working on, except to say it had two drug-development initiatives in schizophrenia. Last week, Karuna unveiled one of those programs: a group of compounds that it has licensed … Continue reading “Stealthy Karuna Licenses Schizophrenia Drugs from Vanderbilt”
CustomMade, With New Bucks Under Its Belt, Revamps Online Model for Customization
First of all, please don’t call CustomMade a “mass customization” startup. That phrase refers to the cluster of companies, many of them in the Boston area, that specialize in offering consumers personalized goods online—everything from clothing to jewelry to artwork. No, CustomMade is different. At least that’s what co-founder and CEO Mike Salguero would have … Continue reading “CustomMade, With New Bucks Under Its Belt, Revamps Online Model for Customization”
Seed Funding, .300 Batting Averages, Overthinking Investments, & More Takeways from Xconomy’s Consumers, the Cloud, and Beyond
Here’s a good cure for the Mondays: an evening panel of venture capitalists whose collective portfolio includes companies like Zynga, DataXu, Backupify, HubSpot, Grockit, and more. I’m talking about our Xconomy Xchange: Consumers, the Cloud, and Beyond—New Rules for Innovation, held this past Monday night at WilmerHale in Boston. The panel featured Jeff Fagnan of … Continue reading “Seed Funding, .300 Batting Averages, Overthinking Investments, & More Takeways from Xconomy’s Consumers, the Cloud, and Beyond”
UW, WSU Get $80M Federal Grants to Spur Biofuels Industry
We have a lot of biomass here in the Northwest (i.e., trees) and a lot of smart scientists at the University of Washington and Washington State University. Now the federal government is kicking in some money to see what the Northwest can do to combine the biomass and the brain mass to produce the kind … Continue reading “UW, WSU Get $80M Federal Grants to Spur Biofuels Industry”
Onyx Turns in FDA Application for Second Cancer Drug
Onyx Pharmaceuticals was delayed a bit in its quest to start selling another cancer drug in the U.S., but now it has gotten its application together and hit the ball into the FDA’s court. South San Francisco-based Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONXX]]) said today it has turned in its application to start selling carfilzomib in the … Continue reading “Onyx Turns in FDA Application for Second Cancer Drug”
Moneyball—It’s Not Just About Baseball
Are we trying to sell jeans here or are we trying to win baseball games?—Billy Beane, Oakland A’s General Manager Baseball scouts used to judge players on looks. Moneyball, as a method, revolutionized the evaluation of baseball talent. It correlates, connects and coagulates all performance metrics (aka stats) to determine offensive or defensive production per player. … Continue reading “Moneyball—It’s Not Just About Baseball”
Flite Builds an App Store for Advertisers
Back in August I wrote about Flite, a San Francisco startup that transformed itself from a developer of Web widgets into a cloud-based platform for rich-media, interactive ads. Today the company is taking another step, introducing a marketplace for ad components or mini-apps where advertisers will be able to pick and choose which apps to … Continue reading “Flite Builds an App Store for Advertisers”
Achievers, Yammer, Zenverge: Bay Area BizTech By the Numbers
Time for our periodic rendition of the local deals keeping the Bay Area technology sector humming. $300 million—The amount of fresh capital being handed over to newly independent Investor Growth Capital of New York and Menlo Park, CA, by its parent company Investor AB, as Xconomy’s Arlene Weintraub explained yesterday. $160 million—The valuation San Francisco- … Continue reading “Achievers, Yammer, Zenverge: Bay Area BizTech By the Numbers”
Sailthru Turns $8M Series A, Led by RRE Ventures, Into Plan to Double Staff
New York’s Sailthru plans to expand with its freshly minted $8 million Series A funding and nearly double its staff within 12 months, according to its CEO and founder Neil Capel. The startup announced last week it completed the financing round, which was led by RRE Ventures with participation from AOL Ventures, DFJ Gotham Ventures, … Continue reading “Sailthru Turns $8M Series A, Led by RRE Ventures, Into Plan to Double Staff”
San Diego’s Innovation Economy, and What it Takes to Recruit “The Young and Restless”
As the chief operating officer of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. (EDC), Lauree Sahba says, “Our region’s future as a technology center of excellence depends on our ability to attract and retain the next generation of innovators and young talent.” Yet Sahba frets that the renowned research institutions and balmy weather that drew … Continue reading “San Diego’s Innovation Economy, and What it Takes to Recruit “The Young and Restless””
Why Amazon’s Tablet Matters: It’s Not a Computer. It’s a Store.
Updated 11 am Pacific The tech world is going into hype-tastic overdrive today with the release of Amazon’s new tablet computer. If the predictions and previews are correct, the new device could be a big competitor to the market-defining Apple iPad and cement Amazon as a major player in the computing game. But this isn’t … Continue reading “Why Amazon’s Tablet Matters: It’s Not a Computer. It’s a Store.”
Join Us for a Live ‘Tweetchat’ on the Future of RNAi, With Guest John Maraganore of Alnylam
Usually when I want to chat with someone, I still pick up that 19th century contraption called the telephone or sometimes meet in person. Each of those communications methods has its merits, but you can bring a lot more voices to a conversation through a real-time chat like the ones happening now on Twitter. So … Continue reading “Join Us for a Live ‘Tweetchat’ on the Future of RNAi, With Guest John Maraganore of Alnylam”
Investor Growth Capital Starts Anew as Independent VC Firm, With Evergreen Fund Worth $1.3B
Today Investor Growth Capital (IGC), which has offices in New York City and Menlo Park, CA, announced that it is breaking free of its parent company, Stockholm, Sweden-based Investor AB. The newly independent IGC is hitting the ground with $300 million in fresh capital from Investor AB and a portfolio of companies with a total … Continue reading “Investor Growth Capital Starts Anew as Independent VC Firm, With Evergreen Fund Worth $1.3B”
TechStars Pins Down $24M, Visible Measures Gets $13M Series D, Yesware Announces Seed Funding, & More Boston-Area Deals News
The IT space accounted for most of the deal-making we tracked in New England over the last week. —Boulder, CO-based TechStars said it pulled in $24 million in new funding, which will go to giving each company in its startup incubator programs (in Boulder, Boston, Seattle, and New York) another $100,000 in the form of … Continue reading “TechStars Pins Down $24M, Visible Measures Gets $13M Series D, Yesware Announces Seed Funding, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
From the Kinect to AIDS Vaccines: Rick Rashid Reflects on 20 Years of Microsoft Research
How many top-level Microsoft executives have been in the same job for 20 years? By Rick Rashid’s count, he’s the only one. That sort of continuity says a lot about Microsoft Research, the in-house invention factory that Rashid was recruited from Carnegie Mellon to run in 1991. It’s still growing—up to about 850 PhDs and … Continue reading “From the Kinect to AIDS Vaccines: Rick Rashid Reflects on 20 Years of Microsoft Research”
Accelerate Michigan Announces 53 Semi-Finalists
The 53 semi-finalists in the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition have been announced. The global business-plan competition targets mid-to-late-stage business startups with the potential to generate an immediate impact on Michigan’s economy, as well as student concepts with longer-term business viability. (Students can still register up until the September 30 deadline.) At stake is more than … Continue reading “Accelerate Michigan Announces 53 Semi-Finalists”
MongoDB Wizards Work to Make 10gen the Red Hat of Databases
Database designers are the secret wizards of the Web revolution, and they’ve been busy writing new spells. Deep inside the castle at each of today’s leading Web companies there’s at least one custom “NoSQL” database keeping things running: Google has Big Table, Amazon has Dynamo, Facebook built Cassandra, and LinkedIn has Project Voldemort. Seriously. In … Continue reading “MongoDB Wizards Work to Make 10gen the Red Hat of Databases”
Siluria Pockets $20M For Making Cleaner Plastics, Fuels
San Francisco-based Siluria Technologies has raised another $20 million to build on its early lab work, in turning one of the most abundant substances on the planet into a renewable resource for making plastics, fuels, and specialty chemicals. Siluria said today it has raised $20 million in a Series B financing led by The Wellcome … Continue reading “Siluria Pockets $20M For Making Cleaner Plastics, Fuels”
Yesware Talks About Hiring Plans and Seed Funding from Google Ventures, Foundry Group
Yesware, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of e-mail plug-ins for salespeople, announced today that its $1 million first-round funding came from Google Ventures, Foundry Group, Golden Venture Partners, and angel investors Geoffrey Hyatt, Colby Wood, Mike Baker, David Cohen, Mike Dornbrook, and Will Herman. The money will go toward developing Yesware’s technology for helping salespeople contact … Continue reading “Yesware Talks About Hiring Plans and Seed Funding from Google Ventures, Foundry Group”