San Diego-based Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) has focused most of its business and resources on commercial customers who install the company’s wireless chips and related technologies in a host of cell phones, mobile devices, networking equipment, and other products. But today, a year-old Qualcomm subsidiary called Snaptracs is unveiling a new product for consumers—a lightweight tracking … Continue reading “Qualcomm’s Snaptracs—Not SnapTrack—Offers New Pet Tracking Technology to Consumers”
Category: National
Evergreen Solar Seeks Bankruptcy Protection, Slices Another 65 Jobs, Suspends MI Plant
The Evergreen Solar story keeps getting worse. The Marlboro, MA-based solar technology company revealed today that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The court documents were not available online today, but other media outlets have reported that Evergreen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ESLR]]), with assets of $424.5 million, owed its roughly … Continue reading “Evergreen Solar Seeks Bankruptcy Protection, Slices Another 65 Jobs, Suspends MI Plant”
Google and Motorola: It’s the Phones, Stupid
At Google Ventures’ summer barbeque in the Googleplex parking lot a couple of weeks ago, I was talking with an engineer from the Android team. I confessed to him that I’m an iPhone/iPad user. But I also said that because I write a lot about Android and mobile apps in general, I feel like I … Continue reading “Google and Motorola: It’s the Phones, Stupid”
Post-IPO Active Network Shows Profit, SmartDrive Raises $10M, Human Engines Goes Commercial, & More San Diego BizTech News
Software-as-a-service is driving strong growth at two San Diego Web companies, and several other tech companies raised cash last week. We’ve got the highlight reel, and our play-by-play analysis begins now. —After its May 25 IPO, San Diego’s Active Network (NYSE: [[ticker:ACTV]]) reported its first quarterly financial results, showing a $5.5 million profit on $99 … Continue reading “Post-IPO Active Network Shows Profit, SmartDrive Raises $10M, Human Engines Goes Commercial, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Startups: Always Have a Plan B
One of the key distinctions between an entrepreneur and an operating executive is an entrepreneur’s almost seamless agility in the face of changing circumstances versus an operating executive’s intense execution focus on a plan. World-class entrepreneurs learn how to combine both. WTF? Driving home over the mountains from a Coastal Commission hearing, I had time … Continue reading “Startups: Always Have a Plan B”
Gojee Finds Its Way Into the Food Spotlight, Enters Talks for First Round of Funding
Sometimes a startup needs to pivot a few times until it finds just the right idea. Similar to chefs trying out new dishes, Gojee co-founder Michael LaValle says his one-year-old company changed its own formula twice before its latest idea caught on this summer. The New York startup curates recipes based on the ingredients its … Continue reading “Gojee Finds Its Way Into the Food Spotlight, Enters Talks for First Round of Funding”
Boston’s E-Mail Apps Mini-Cluster Is Looking To Help Users Sell, Serve, Organize, and Even Play More Efficiently
The West Coast might have all the big names in e-mail platforms, but Boston’s doing plenty when it comes to building technology on top of those existing foundations. There are a number of established players that have been around and working on technology for things like managing e-mail outboxes (SMTP), bulk mailings (Constant Contact), and … Continue reading “Boston’s E-Mail Apps Mini-Cluster Is Looking To Help Users Sell, Serve, Organize, and Even Play More Efficiently”
Pulmatrix Wins $14M to Back Drug For Cystic Fibrosis And Other Lung Ailments
Pulmatrix, the Lexington, MA-based company with an unusual strategy for fighting diseases of the lungs, is announcing today that it has secured $14 million in a Series B1 venture round, bringing the total amount raised by the company to $60 million. All of Pulmatrix’s existing investors participated, including Polaris Venture Partners, 5AM Ventures, Arch Venture … Continue reading “Pulmatrix Wins $14M to Back Drug For Cystic Fibrosis And Other Lung Ailments”
Time to Cure Cancer or Stash Cash Under the Mattress?
If you dared to flip the channel to CNBC any time during the past week, it would have been hard to stay calm. The market was whipsawing all over the place, up one minute, down the next. Fear of government defaults and the potential for another recession were topics of endless debate. Fund managers were … Continue reading “Time to Cure Cancer or Stash Cash Under the Mattress?”
There Is an Incubator Bubble—And It Will Pop
This week we published the third annual edition of the Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators. It’s the only source we know of where U.S. entrepreneurs starting technology, life sciences, or energy companies can survey all of the early-stage mentoring and investment programs open to them in a single document. (You can buy the downloadable file … Continue reading “There Is an Incubator Bubble—And It Will Pop”
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Monsoon Maintenance: Roof For Two Goes After Indian Market
If you see a couple of guys riding around on a motorcycle with a weird contraption over their heads, don’t worry, it’s not the latest fraternity hazing ritual. You might have caught a glimpse of a local startup testing out what could be a very global product. Especially if it’s raining. Boston-based Roof For Two … Continue reading “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Monsoon Maintenance: Roof For Two Goes After Indian Market”
Strategy and Tactics: How Active Network’s CEO Uses Innovation to Fuel Growth
On the day after the San Diego-based Active Network reported its first quarterly financial results as a publicly traded company (NYSE: [[ticker:ACTV]]), CEO Dave Alberga was looking satisfied as he fielded questions in his office. The Active Network had just posted its first-ever profit—$5.5 million for the second quarter ended June 30. The company increased … Continue reading “Strategy and Tactics: How Active Network’s CEO Uses Innovation to Fuel Growth”
T2 Nabs $23M, Ironwood Seeks IBS Drug Approval, FDA Sets Deadline for Alkermes Drug, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
It seems that IT news has dominated this week, so we’re bringing you a short and sweet roundup of life sciences funding and drug development news from around New England. —Cambridge, MA-based Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRWD]]) and New York-based Forest Laboratories (NYSE: [[ticker:FRX]]) announced that they submitted a new drug application to the FDA for … Continue reading “T2 Nabs $23M, Ironwood Seeks IBS Drug Approval, FDA Sets Deadline for Alkermes Drug, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Adventrx Shares Plummet, Pfizer Adds UC San Diego to its Network, New RNAi Center Opens, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
San Diego’s life sciences community was teeming with news over the past week. We’ve got it all cultivated for you. —Shares of San Diego’s Adventrx Pharmaceuticals (NYSE Amex: [[ticker:ANX]]) plunged by more than 55 percent after the biotech company said the FDA refused to approve its new lung-cancer drug vinorelbine injectable emulsion (Exelbine) until a … Continue reading “Adventrx Shares Plummet, Pfizer Adds UC San Diego to its Network, New RNAi Center Opens, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
ALTe, PG&E to Partner on Powertrain Development Project
ALTe, the Auburn Hills, MI-based developer of a extended-range electric powertrains used to power light commercial vehicles, last week announced it will collaborate with the San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), one of the largest utilities in the United States, on a powertrain project for the fleet industry. ALTe will retrofit one of … Continue reading “ALTe, PG&E to Partner on Powertrain Development Project”
San Diego’s KidZui Raises $2M, Launches a “Google for Kids”
If there is a children’s book section in the local public library, shouldn’t part of the Internet also be reserved for kids? San Diego’s KidZui answered this question in 2008, when it launched its kid-friendly Internet browser (as an add-on to Firefox) that allowed kids to browse websites that were pre-screened and approved by a … Continue reading “San Diego’s KidZui Raises $2M, Launches a “Google for Kids””
Google Ventures Leads $500K Seed Round for San Diego’s Nettle
Nettle, a 10-month-old San Diego startup with a new social/local/mobile application for the global entertainment market, says it has raised $500,000 in seed financing led by Google Ventures. Advancit Capital and 500 Startups also participated, along with some angel investors that include former eBay and Qualcomm executives. Nettle co-founder and CEO Brian Dear isn’t saying … Continue reading “Google Ventures Leads $500K Seed Round for San Diego’s Nettle”
American Superconductor Cuts Staff, Scrambles to Get Finances on Track
It has been a rough spring and summer for American Superconductor. The Devens, MA-based energy tech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMSC]]) said today it has cut 30 percent of its workforce, about 150 positions, since March 31 and expects to employ nearly 600 people worldwide after the cuts. The firm also said it expects to submit a … Continue reading “American Superconductor Cuts Staff, Scrambles to Get Finances on Track”
Born from NASA, Nebula Aims to “Disrupt and Democratize” Cloud Computing
If you’re a young Silicon Valley entrepreneur, you’d probably give your Prius and your iPad, and maybe throw in your X-Men comic collection, to hear Andy Bechtolsheim ask you the question he posed to Chris Kemp this spring: “What’s the name of your company? I want to write you a check right now.” If you … Continue reading “Born from NASA, Nebula Aims to “Disrupt and Democratize” Cloud Computing”
DreamIt Ventures Brings Its Startup Accelerator Program to New York
Making their debut within throwing distance of Radio City Music Hall, the first 14 startups to graduate from the New York version of the DreamIt Ventures accelerator program presented to investors on Wednesday. Demo day brought to a close three months of mentoring that helped these fledgling companies strengthen their plans. Now that they have … Continue reading “DreamIt Ventures Brings Its Startup Accelerator Program to New York”
Harvard Accelerator Program, Proving Its Mettle with Startups and Pharma Partnerships, Looks to Raise Big New Fund
Here in Boston, we like to tout our universities, our faculty, our students. The academic community is one of the crowning strengths of the New England economy, not to mention a major driver of its global impact. But what have universities done for the local startup and business innovation community lately? I’m not going to … Continue reading “Harvard Accelerator Program, Proving Its Mettle with Startups and Pharma Partnerships, Looks to Raise Big New Fund”
Dendreon’s Blow-Up, Epigenomics Leaves Town, Presage Adds $1.5M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Just when I thought things were going to quiet down in August, and I’d catch up on planning for the fall, all hell broke loose on the Seattle biotech beat. —Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]), the region’s most valuable biotech company of the past couple years, started last week worth more than $5 billion, and ended … Continue reading “Dendreon’s Blow-Up, Epigenomics Leaves Town, Presage Adds $1.5M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
HubSpot Board Swaps In Simon for Goodman, Levin Joins MTDC, & More Tech Personnel Moves
Lots of comings and goings in the Boston technology scene in the past week. Here’s a sampling of notable high-level moves: —Michael Simon, founder and CEO of LogMeIn (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LOGM]]), has joined the board of Cambridge, MA-based HubSpot, the marketing tech company. Simon replaces former (and longtime) HubSpot board member Gail Goodman, the CEO of … Continue reading “HubSpot Board Swaps In Simon for Goodman, Levin Joins MTDC, & More Tech Personnel Moves”
Fast-Growing Zulily Adds $43M, Wants to Stand Alone in Mom & Baby Deals
Here’s one way to measure a fast-growing company: It runs through four different headquarters in about 18 months just to contain all the employees. That’s the story with Zulily, one of Seattle’s main contenders in the exploding (and crowded) marketplace for digital discount shopping. Zulily operates a members-only daily deals service targeting moms, bringing discounts … Continue reading “Fast-Growing Zulily Adds $43M, Wants to Stand Alone in Mom & Baby Deals”
Carbonite Expected to Go Through With Smaller IPO; Venture Investors See Upside
[Updated 8/10/11 5:50 pm. See below.] What’s happening with Carbonite’s IPO? The Boston-based online data backup firm is dealing with an extremely volatile stock market this week—as are a bunch of other U.S. companies trying to go public. But it’s looking like Carbonite’s initial public offering could go through tomorrow at a much reduced price, with … Continue reading “Carbonite Expected to Go Through With Smaller IPO; Venture Investors See Upside”
TIBCO’s Vivek Ranadivé on the “Death of Science,” the Rise of Pattern Recognition, and the Power of Data in Basketball
Vivek Ranadivé is one of those CEOs who was born with a silver quote in his mouth. He’s great on television, he gives entertaining speeches, and interviewing him is like bathing in a river of aphorisms and metaphors. I enjoy visiting Ranadivé at his company’s Palo Alto, CA, headquarters not just in order to catch … Continue reading “TIBCO’s Vivek Ranadivé on the “Death of Science,” the Rise of Pattern Recognition, and the Power of Data in Basketball”
New Clearwire CEO Faces Tough Road as Wireless Provider Looks for Cash
Clearwire has named Erik Prusch its new president and CEO, replacing interim chief John Stanton as the Kirkland, WA-based wireless broadband provider struggles with Wall Street doubts about its future. Prusch joined Clearwire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLWR]]) in 2009 as chief financial officer, and as the press release notes, helped the company raise more than $6 billion … Continue reading “New Clearwire CEO Faces Tough Road as Wireless Provider Looks for Cash”
New York Cloud Startup Apprenda Expanding to Seattle Area, Targets Microsoft’s Backyard
Money goes out, people come in. That’s the plan for the latest out-of-town investment by Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners, which led a $10 million growth round for Clifton Park, NY-based cloud computing startup Apprenda. I caught up with Apprenda CEO Sinclair Schuller after Tuesday’s announcement to get some more details on a nugget that wasn’t … Continue reading “New York Cloud Startup Apprenda Expanding to Seattle Area, Targets Microsoft’s Backyard”
Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators Back For A Third Year, Sixty-Four Programs Strong
You could say that the institution of the startup incubator has gotten its chance to shine this year. One way we can tell? Our third annual Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators has nearly doubled in size from the 2010 version. The big boom wasn’t a total surprise, given that this year politicians and the like … Continue reading “Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators Back For A Third Year, Sixty-Four Programs Strong”
T2 Biosystems Closes $23M More for Fast, Cheap Diagnostic Tools
Some interesting funding news in the biotech world today. Lexington, MA-based T2 Biosystems, a diagnostics technology firm, says it has closed a $23 million Series D financing round led by new investor Aisling Capital. The round also included previous investors Flagship Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, Flybridge Capital Partners, Physic Ventures, Partners Healthcare, Arcus Ventures, RA … Continue reading “T2 Biosystems Closes $23M More for Fast, Cheap Diagnostic Tools”
Helmsley Trust Funds New Boston-Based Website for Diabetes Patients
In New York, the name Leona Helmsley often evokes snarky jokes about Trouble, the pooch who inherited $12 million in 2007, when the hotel heiress known as the Queen of Mean died. So it might be a surprise to many New Yorkers to learn that Helmsley and her husband, Harry, set up a charitable trust … Continue reading “Helmsley Trust Funds New Boston-Based Website for Diabetes Patients”
Adventrx Shares Plunge After FDA Nixes Revised Application for Anti-Cancer Drug
San Diego’s Adventrx Pharmaceuticals (NYSE Amex: [[ticker:ANX]]) has sprung back from the dead before, but it will be hard for the biotech to recover from the plunge in its share price in after-hours trading yesterday—after Adventrx said the FDA has refused to accept its latest new drug application for the anti-cancer drug vinorelbine injectable emulsion … Continue reading “Adventrx Shares Plunge After FDA Nixes Revised Application for Anti-Cancer Drug”
Avalon Leads $3M Nanigans Deal, M/A-COM Seeks IPO, Bluesocket Bought by ADTRAN, & More Boston-Area Deals News
IT companies dominated New England deals this week, with word of acquisitions, financings, and potential IPOs. —M/A-COM Technology Solutions, a Lowell, MA-based wireless chip maker, said in an SEC filing that it hopes to raise up to $230 million in an initial public offering. The firm is now owned by semiconductor-focused private equity fund Gaas … Continue reading “Avalon Leads $3M Nanigans Deal, M/A-COM Seeks IPO, Bluesocket Bought by ADTRAN, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Qualcomm Gets Active with Wireless Fitness Challenge: Q&A with VP Don Jones
Qualcomm, the San Diego wireless technology giant, launched an internal “wireless fitness challenge” almost four weeks ago for a group of its employees—testing the idea of using similar workplace competitions to promote awareness of wireless health technologies. When vice president Don Jones kicked off the challenge on July 14, he wrote in a Qualcomm blog … Continue reading “Qualcomm Gets Active with Wireless Fitness Challenge: Q&A with VP Don Jones”
Video: Concur’s Steve Singh Talks Market Sell-Off and Tech Stocks with CNBC
Steve Singh, the chairman and CEO of Redmond, WA-based Concur Technologies, put the recent stock market swoon in perspective on CNBC yesterday for this “From the C-Suite” segment. While obviously worrisome, Singh takes a somewhat longer view that technology spending—by businesses in particular—will remain strong because it drives productivity. Singh said Concur (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CNQR]]), which … Continue reading “Video: Concur’s Steve Singh Talks Market Sell-Off and Tech Stocks with CNBC”
Former Avanade Chief Takes the Helm at Cloud-Services Startup Opscode
Opscode, a young Seattle company that sells cloud-computing management services, has added some executive firepower to help manage its growth—co-founder Jesse Robbins is handing over chief executive duties to Mitch Hill, founding CEO of tech-services company Avanade. Robbins, an Amazon.com veteran, is staying on board as chief community officer to guide work on Chef, Opscode’s … Continue reading “Former Avanade Chief Takes the Helm at Cloud-Services Startup Opscode”
OfficeDrop Sees Nuance Partnership Pay Off, Looks for More Deals in Digital Filing, Sharing
A local tech startup that has been toiling away for four years saw its first partnership with a big company come to fruition last week—and it could be a sign of bigger things to come. Back in February, Cambridge, MA-based OfficeDrop, a digital filing software company, inked a deal with Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUAN]]), the … Continue reading “OfficeDrop Sees Nuance Partnership Pay Off, Looks for More Deals in Digital Filing, Sharing”
Aastrom Enters Final-Stage Trial With Stem-Cell Therapy for CLI Patients
Ann Arbor, MI-based startup Aastrom (NASDAQ: ASTM) recently announced it has reached an agreement with the FDA on the terms of a Special Protocol Assessment for the design of its Phase III clinical study of ixmyelocel-T, the company’s multicell therapy for patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) who have no other treatment options. CLI is … Continue reading “Aastrom Enters Final-Stage Trial With Stem-Cell Therapy for CLI Patients”
Downgrading America?
I don’t know how most Americans feel these days, but I haven’t felt like this since just before Richard Nixon left office in 1974. Our political leaders (think “jumbo shrimp” or “military intelligence”) have just completed a grand game of chicken. They ended up in just the same position Neville Chamberlain was when he negotiated … Continue reading “Downgrading America?”
NPS Re-Jiggers Glaxo Partnership, Finds Value in Ultra-Orphan Diseases
On August 2, NPS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NPSP]]) announced that it had updated an 18-year-old licensing agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]), allowing NPS to regain rights to two experimental treatments. It wasn’t the sort of news likely to induce panting on Wall Street, as Bedminster, NJ-based NPS is developing the compounds to treat orphan diseases—those that … Continue reading “NPS Re-Jiggers Glaxo Partnership, Finds Value in Ultra-Orphan Diseases”
Second Genome Pockets $5M to Uncover the Secrets of Bugs, Good and Bad, in Your Gut
There are trillions of bacteria living in everyone’s guts, and there’s an incredible diversity and delicate balance of species in there. What’s going on in the genetics of those bugs is mostly a mystery, but now a company, Second Genome, has come along to analyze the genomes of those microorganisms in a new angle on … Continue reading “Second Genome Pockets $5M to Uncover the Secrets of Bugs, Good and Bad, in Your Gut”
ChallengePost Picks Up $4.1M in Series A Funding to Help Run Online Contests for New Ideas
Finding the best answers to big problems can mean looking to an outside party with bright ideas. The trouble is finding those fixes immediately. New York’s ChallengePost, a Web-based platform for running competitions, gives organizations and individuals a way to attract contenders who think they have got the right stuff. Brandon Kessler, CEO of ChallengePost, … Continue reading “ChallengePost Picks Up $4.1M in Series A Funding to Help Run Online Contests for New Ideas”
San Diego’s ServiceNow Driving Hard as Revenue Soars; Expands to Silicon Valley
[Updated 8/9/11, 7:20 am. See below.] ServiceNow co-founder Fred Luddy told me in January that the San Diego-based provider of Web-based IT management services was on a fast-growth track, and he saw a “clear path” to $1 billion in annual revenue. I wouldn’t say it looked clear to me then, but the company’s trajectory is … Continue reading “San Diego’s ServiceNow Driving Hard as Revenue Soars; Expands to Silicon Valley”
Startup Weekend, Sucker Punch, Dashwire: Your 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News
Last week was acquisition mania in the Seattle tech sector—but before we get to that part of our weekly review, let’s get deep for a minute. In this story, I took a look at the international growth of Startup Weekend, and how its format hits on the same mental triggers that make your favorite video … Continue reading “Startup Weekend, Sucker Punch, Dashwire: Your 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News”
Cape Cod Startup PartingGift Looks to Gamify Market Research
What do running a farm, being a mobster, and taking orders at the drive-through at Dunkin’ Donuts all have in common? They’re all experiences simulated on Facebook, thanks to game developers Zynga (maker of Mafia Wars and Farmville) and a much newer startup, PartingGift, which operates in a Massachusetts area not exactly known as a … Continue reading “Cape Cod Startup PartingGift Looks to Gamify Market Research”
Pfizer Adds UC San Diego to its Network of Innovation Centers
Pfizer has extended its chain of drug discovery innovation centers in Boston, New York, and San Francisco to include San Diego. UC San Diego Health Sciences says today it signed a partnership agreement with Pfizer that could be worth as much as $50 million in funding from the New York pharmaceutical giant over the next … Continue reading “Pfizer Adds UC San Diego to its Network of Innovation Centers”
Zendesk Takes Customer Support Upscale, Adds Enterprise Version
San Francisco-based Zendesk, a maker of Web-based customer support software, is a company I’ve been following for a few years now. That’s partly for geographical reasons—like me, the startup was based in Boston for a while, then moved west to San Francisco—and partly because they’re simply nice people who really walk the walk when it … Continue reading “Zendesk Takes Customer Support Upscale, Adds Enterprise Version”
Bloomberg vs. Men’s Health: Is Detroit a Tech Hotbed?
Amid the doom and gloom of downgraded bond ratings, debt ceilings and unemployment figures, a rare bit of good news poked through the muck last week like a crocus in springtime: According to a report by Bloomberg/BusinessWeek, Detroit ranks second in the nation for cities with the most new technology jobs. Fueling this hiring boom, … Continue reading “Bloomberg vs. Men’s Health: Is Detroit a Tech Hotbed?”
TokBox, Kiva, WalmartLabs: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
As the eyes of the world focused on the debt debacle in Washington, D.C., business churned on as usual last week along the 101/280 axis between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The brief summary: —I profiled TokBox, a San Francisco startup with technology that lets Web publishers and developers embed multi-way video chat features in … Continue reading “TokBox, Kiva, WalmartLabs: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
Moore Starts a Mini VC Fund, TakeLessons Lands $6M, Chumby Partners with BestBuy, & More San Diego BizTech News
San Diego’s innovation community saw some new startups and new money emerge last week. We’ve got it all wrapped up for you, and our briefing begins now. —Following a global-and-local Web 2.0 strategy, San Diego-based Eventful is now hosting roughly 5 million local events for roughly 20 million users, who can search the website by … Continue reading “Moore Starts a Mini VC Fund, TakeLessons Lands $6M, Chumby Partners with BestBuy, & More San Diego BizTech News”