Maybe the better question is who isn’t raising a new fund? Venture fundraising seems to be picking up around town after a bleak couple of years. At least for a few prominent VC firms. We reported back in March that Bessemer, Greylock, and Summit Partners were on the fundraising trail, and now all of them … Continue reading “Which Boston VCs Are Raising New Funds? General Catalyst, Kepha Partners, and More”
Category: National
Taap.it Makes the Rounds in the New York Startup Trenches
New York’s evolving startup community offers a bevy of forums for fledgling companies to pitch their ideas to potential investors and collaborators. Duy Huynh, CEO and co-founder of startup Taap.it, has been to a menagerie of such events this summer, including the New York Venture Summit, NY Tech Meetup, and the NY Entrepreneurs Business Network. … Continue reading “Taap.it Makes the Rounds in the New York Startup Trenches”
WordStream Tries to Tame a River of Search Marketing with Software for Small Businesses
With all the hoopla around social media and other newfangled marketing tools, people sometimes forget that Google is a $30 billion business—thanks mostly to paid search advertising. Not Larry Kim. His startup, Boston-based WordStream, specializes in search engine marketing software. That means helping businesses make their paid text ads appear high up on the page, … Continue reading “WordStream Tries to Tame a River of Search Marketing with Software for Small Businesses”
How Seattle Set Out to Create a Biotech Hub and Fostered a Global Health Nexus
I recently organized a MOHAI walking tour of South Lake Union to begin to explore the roots of the museum’s new neighborhood. My original intent was to explain the importance of South Lake Union as a biotech hub but a different theme emerged in the course of my research. It is true that Seattle has … Continue reading “How Seattle Set Out to Create a Biotech Hub and Fostered a Global Health Nexus”
Gamification Startup BigDoor Media Levels Up to Bigger Digs, Keeps on Hiring
Can a company that hands out digital coins make real money? That’s the idea at Seattle’s BigDoor Media, a growing startup playing in the burgeoning field of gamification. In case you’ve missed it—which is possible, since the phenomenon is really less than two years old—gamification is the video game-inspired idea that businesses can get users … Continue reading “Gamification Startup BigDoor Media Levels Up to Bigger Digs, Keeps on Hiring”
Dendreon Wounds Are Self-Inflicted, Not the Start of a Biotech Industry Virus
Dendreon has made its share of mistakes before. But last week, the Seattle cancer drug developer achieved the biotech equivalent of fumbling the ball on the 1-yard line with time running out on the clock. The failure was so painful, so shocking, it erased two-thirds of the company’s stock value—about $3 billion. It even started … Continue reading “Dendreon Wounds Are Self-Inflicted, Not the Start of a Biotech Industry Virus”
An Open Letter to Dendreon’s Chairman
[Editor’s Note: This letter was sent today to Dendreon chairman Richard Brewer.] Dear Mr. Brewer: Just over five months ago I wrote to you expressing serious concerns about the composition of the board of directors and its oversight of Dendreon’s management. I appreciated the opportunity to discuss these views in person with management at company … Continue reading “An Open Letter to Dendreon’s Chairman”
Hopen Nabs $25M for Second Fund
Grand Rapids, MI-based Hopen Life Science Ventures has pulled in $25 million in a first close of its second fund, the venture firm announced yesterday. It’s still opening up the fund to another crop of limited partners, and hopes to close the fund at a total of $50 million by January 2012. Hopen aims to invest … Continue reading “Hopen Nabs $25M for Second Fund”
San Diego’s Wellaho Prescribes Social Networking For the Chronically Ill
A new health IT startup built around an intriguing idea will begin operating in San Diego next month. What’s the idea? Prescription-based social networking for the chronically ill. The startup, called Sanitas, was founded in San Diego last year and made its debut yesterday at “Take This Pill and Tweet Me in the Morning,” a … Continue reading “San Diego’s Wellaho Prescribes Social Networking For the Chronically Ill”
Bonfire of the Vanities: The Difference Between Marketing and Sales in Tech
When I was in my 20s, I was taught the relationship between marketing and sales over a bonfire. — Over 30 years ago, before the arrival of the personal computer, there were desktop computers called office workstations. Designed around the first generation of microprocessors, these computers ran business applications like word processing, spreadsheets, and accounting. … Continue reading “Bonfire of the Vanities: The Difference Between Marketing and Sales in Tech”
Radio Without Radios, Books Without Bookstores: Welcome to the Era of Unbound Media
Last weekend I decided to get serious about the fact that I live in an earthquake zone, and started putting together a kit with all the food, water, and equipment I’d need to survive for a few days if local services broke down. One of the items that turns up on all of the standard … Continue reading “Radio Without Radios, Books Without Bookstores: Welcome to the Era of Unbound Media”
HTC Buys Dashwire to Boost Mobile Cloud Service
[Updated 2:40 pm Pacific] This week of acquisitions in Seattle tech is going out with a bang. Taiwan-based mobile device maker HTC announced early Friday that it is buying Seattle mobile data-syncing startup Dashwire for as much as $18.5 million, making the smaller company a wholly owned subsidiary through its American unit. Dashwire’s products synchronize … Continue reading “HTC Buys Dashwire to Boost Mobile Cloud Service”
Acceleron, Celgene Take Aim at Amgen’s Multibillion-Dollar Anemia Market
Amgen became the biotech industry’s biggest company largely because of a drug it developed in the 1980s for treating anemia. Plenty have tried, and failed, to knock Amgen off that pedestal ever since. But now a deepening alliance between Summit, NJ-based Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]) and Cambridge, MA-based Acceleron Pharma is taking one, and possibly two, … Continue reading “Acceleron, Celgene Take Aim at Amgen’s Multibillion-Dollar Anemia Market”
Celgene Pumps Up Acceleron, On-Q-ity CEO Goes to Roche Unit, MSMB Eyes Amag, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
We caught some personnel updates and other news from public and private New England companies developing drugs, medical devices, and diagnostics technology. —Woburn, MA-based Pathogenetix, the diagnostics and biodefense company formerly known as U.S. Genomics, raised $4 million of a targeted $9.5 million equity financing. —Beacon Endoscopic, a Newton, MA-based startup that’s developed a fine … Continue reading “Celgene Pumps Up Acceleron, On-Q-ity CEO Goes to Roche Unit, MSMB Eyes Amag, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Amylin & Takeda Halt Obesity Drug Development
[Updated 8/4/11, 6:55 pm. See below.] San Diego’s Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMLN]]) and Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical threw in the towel today, saying they are discontinuing development of pramlintide/metreleptin for the treatment of obesity. [Updated 8/4/11, 6:55 pm to clarify explanation] Observers feared something like this might happen in March, when Takeda and Amylin suspended a … Continue reading “Amylin & Takeda Halt Obesity Drug Development”
PacBio Hits Goal in Debut Quarter With New DNA Sequencer, Stock Tanks Anyway
[Updated: 8:15 am PT] Pacific Biosciences’ investors could have been excused for chewing on their pencils, waiting for more bad news at the end of a horrible day for stocks. But that would have been overdoing it, as the Menlo Park, CA-based company met expectations in its maiden quarter with its new DNA sequencing instrument. … Continue reading “PacBio Hits Goal in Debut Quarter With New DNA Sequencer, Stock Tanks Anyway”
Complete Genomics Stock Falls on Sales Decline, as Sequencing Gets Cheaper
[Updated: 2:24 pm PT] Complete Genomics picked a bad day to have a bad day. The Mountain View, CA-based company that sequences entire human genomes lost more than one-fourth of its value today after it reported a decline in second-quarter revenue, partly driven by price decreases in its service, and a delay in getting enough … Continue reading “Complete Genomics Stock Falls on Sales Decline, as Sequencing Gets Cheaper”
Detroit Startup H2bid Connects Water Utilities, Vendors Through E-Bidding Service
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the Great Lakes State is home to the world’s largest online clearinghouse for water utility contract opportunities. H2bid.com, believed to be the only Internet business of its kind, connects water utilities with vendors through its cloud-based e-bidding services. The Detroit startup was founded in 2006 by Glenn Oliver, a former … Continue reading “Detroit Startup H2bid Connects Water Utilities, Vendors Through E-Bidding Service”
Hipcricket Acquired by Augme for $44.5M to Combine Mobile Marketing Forces
[Updated at 12:15 Pacific with Hipcricket comment] OK, it’s officially M&A week in Seattle. Today we have Kirkland, WA mobile advertising software company Hipcricket being acquired by New York-based Augme Technologies for $44.5 million upfront—$6 million in cash and the balance in Augme stock. The price also could climb by another $27.5 million if Hipcricket … Continue reading “Hipcricket Acquired by Augme for $44.5M to Combine Mobile Marketing Forces”
Vertex Sales Much Bigger Than Expected, Amylin Re-Submits Exenatide, Mini VC Fund Debuts, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
If there’s a common thread in San Diego’s biotech news over the past week, it would be perseverance. If you can persist with our briefing, you’ll see what I mean. —Cambridge, MA-based Vertex, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]), which has a sizable presence in San Diego, said it generated $74.5 million in second-quarter sales of telaprevir (Incivek), its … Continue reading “Vertex Sales Much Bigger Than Expected, Amylin Re-Submits Exenatide, Mini VC Fund Debuts, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
TokBox Works to Break Video Chat Out of Its Siloes, Flank Google+, Facebook
Imagine that “EJ,” the now-Internet-famous San Francisco resident whose home was systematically robbed and vandalized by Airbnb guests, had been able to interview her potential renters beforehand via video chat on Airbnb’s website. She might have picked up on danger signs and avoided the heartache of having her home utterly plundered and her identity stolen. … Continue reading “TokBox Works to Break Video Chat Out of Its Siloes, Flank Google+, Facebook”
Xconomist of the Week: Five Questions About Life Sciences Investing for Dennis Purcell of Aisling Capital
Dennis Purcell is the senior managing partner of New York-based Aisling Capital, one of the top venture capital firms in the life sciences industry, with $1.65 billion under management. In 2009, Aisling closed its third fund, worth $650 million. Aisling Capital’s first fund started up in 2002 with the goal of supporting startups across the … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Five Questions About Life Sciences Investing for Dennis Purcell of Aisling Capital”
GI Dynamics and Exa File for IPOs in Weight Loss Devices, Automotive Software
The IPO market seems to be heating up around the country, but will Boston get left behind? A couple of local companies are trying to do their part, joining the likes of Kayak, Carbonite, and others that have filed papers to go public. The latest ones are GI Dynamics, a medical device maker targeting obesity … Continue reading “GI Dynamics and Exa File for IPOs in Weight Loss Devices, Automotive Software”
Stéphane Bancel, Former bioMérieux CEO, Talks Future of Startups, Diagnostics, Pharma
Amid all the comings and goings and CEOs changing jobs in the past week—see Rick Reidy of Progress Software (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PRGS]]), Mara Aspinall of On-Q-ity, and others—one person flew under the radar in Boston. He is Stéphane Bancel, and until last month he was the CEO of bioMérieux, the microbiology and diagnostics firm based in … Continue reading “Stéphane Bancel, Former bioMérieux CEO, Talks Future of Startups, Diagnostics, Pharma”
BrainCells Raises $1M, Moving Ahead Without CEO Schoeneck or CSO Barlow
At this time last year, Luke reported that San Diego’s BrainCells Inc. had acquired the compound sabcomeline from London-based Proximagen, and planned to study the drug as a treatment for depression. Just a couple of months earlier, we reported that BrainCells was at a crossroads after a clinical trial showed that its lead compound for … Continue reading “BrainCells Raises $1M, Moving Ahead Without CEO Schoeneck or CSO Barlow”
Dendreon Takes Huge Hit, Stock Tanks 60% on Sales Shortfall
Dendreon failed to live up to expectations for its new prostate cancer drug, and now it is facing some brutal consequences. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) saw its stock plummet about 60 percent in after-hours trading today after it issued a surprisingly bad second-quarter financial report. The loss, if it holds up in tomorrow’s … Continue reading “Dendreon Takes Huge Hit, Stock Tanks 60% on Sales Shortfall”
Midweek Roundup: AdXpose & Griptonite Sold, Clearwire Reaches for LTE, Fundraising Tidbits
Online advertising company AdXpose is the latest Seattle-area tech firm to get snapped up by a bigger company, joining forces with comScore (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SCOR]]) in a transaction worth $22 million, mostly in comScore stock. And it sounds like the AdXpose team doesn’t have to sweat layoffs because of the buyout: CTO Greg Harrison tells Brier Dudley … Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: AdXpose & Griptonite Sold, Clearwire Reaches for LTE, Fundraising Tidbits”
Dendreon Misses Street Expectations, Plans Layoffs, Backs Away from Bullish Forecast
Dendreon is now more than a year into the product launch of its new prostate cancer drug, and it fell short of investors’ expectations today in a pretty big way. The company is now backing away from its 2011 sales forecast, and says it plans to cut expenses and make layoffs to cope with the … Continue reading “Dendreon Misses Street Expectations, Plans Layoffs, Backs Away from Bullish Forecast”
San Diego’s Eventful Looks to Put Consumers in Charge, with Backward Glance at eBay
[Corrected 8/8/11, 11:35 am. See below.] Eventful CEO Jordan Glazier likes to describe the San Diego Web-based startup as an “eBay for local events and entertainment,” and there are more than a few similarities. One of them is Glazier himself. Before joining Eventful in 2006, he spent five years as a general manager at the … Continue reading “San Diego’s Eventful Looks to Put Consumers in Charge, with Backward Glance at eBay”
New York Throws Down Silicon Gauntlet at Boston’s Feet at Tech Meetup
A bit of chest-thumping kicked off last night’s NY Tech Meetup, a large gathering of startups grown in New York. Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel took the stage with Seth Pinsky, president of the New York Economic Development Corp., at the onset to push Applied Sciences NYC—a plan to build up the … Continue reading “New York Throws Down Silicon Gauntlet at Boston’s Feet at Tech Meetup”
New York Hedge Fund Makes $378 Million Bid for Amag in Attempt to Block Poorly Received Merger
Shares of Lexington, MA-based Amag Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMAG]]) are up 10 percent today to $15.77 on news of an unsolicited takeover offer from New York-based hedge fund MSMB Capital Management. The hedge fund is offering $18 a share to acquire Amag, which markets a drug to treat iron-deficiency anemia. The bid comes in the wake … Continue reading “New York Hedge Fund Makes $378 Million Bid for Amag in Attempt to Block Poorly Received Merger”
How Game Psychology Helped Startup Weekend Become a Global Phenomenon
A couple of years ago, three guys crammed together in a Seattle condo were trying to turn a 54-hour crash-innovation meetup called Startup Weekend into something much bigger. Today, their humble little nonprofit is a global phenomenon, attracting some 36,000 people to events in about 200 cities around the world. Stocked with top mentors, touting some … Continue reading “How Game Psychology Helped Startup Weekend Become a Global Phenomenon”
Cleantech Investing Stagnates, But California Clings to Lead
So far this year, venture investments in cleantech and alternative energy aren’t keeping up with the optimistic pace set in 2010. While total U.S. cleantech investments in the second quarter were up slightly from the quarter before—$1.093 billion, versus $1.014 billion—they’re lagging 44 percent behind the quarterly record set one year ago, in the second … Continue reading “Cleantech Investing Stagnates, But California Clings to Lead”
Help Scout Looks To Boost Collaboration For Businesses’ “Catch-All” E-Mail Inboxes
It’s probably reassuring for online shoppers and the like to know that the generic-sounding address they e-mail—-usually dubbed something like help, service, or contact @xyz.com—is actually manned by people and not robots. And TechStars Boston 2011 graduate Help Scout is looking to make life easier for the humans that are responding to those queries. “We … Continue reading “Help Scout Looks To Boost Collaboration For Businesses’ “Catch-All” E-Mail Inboxes”
New York’s ZocDoc Scores $50 Million from Russia’s Yuri Milner, Plots Nationwide Expansion of Doctor-Finding Service
Amid news yesterday that Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global had poured $400 million into Twitter, another DST investment may have been easy to overlook. ZocDoc—a New York-based startup that allows patients in nine cities to book their doctors’ appointments online—scored a $50 million investment from DST. The Series C funding was a major coup, … Continue reading “New York’s ZocDoc Scores $50 Million from Russia’s Yuri Milner, Plots Nationwide Expansion of Doctor-Finding Service”
Carbonite Eyes $122M IPO, Plexxi Nabs $20M, Ambient Hits Nasdaq, & More Boston-Area Deals News
Plenty of New England startups across IT and biotech sectors inked investments from area venture capitalists this week. —Interactions, a speech and customer service technology developer of Franklin, MA, nabbed $12 million in a deal led by Sigma Partners. Interactions said it will use the money—which also comes from North Hill Ventures, Cross Atlantic Capital … Continue reading “Carbonite Eyes $122M IPO, Plexxi Nabs $20M, Ambient Hits Nasdaq, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
On-Q-ity Founder and Genzyme Vet, Mara Aspinall, Moves to Roche’s Ventana Medical
Mara Aspinall, the founder and former CEO of Waltham, MA-based On-Q-ity, has moved on to become president of Ventana Medical Systems, an Arizona-based division of healthcare giant Roche that focuses on cancer diagnostics. The appointment was announced in a press release today and is effective next month. Aspinall is well known in the diagnostics world, … Continue reading “On-Q-ity Founder and Genzyme Vet, Mara Aspinall, Moves to Roche’s Ventana Medical”
Instructables, Assistly, Airbnb: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
There’s no such thing as the summer doldrums when it comes to Bay Area technology news—not this summer, anyway. Your recap of last week’s top stories starts here: —The National Science Foundation unveiled a new “Innovation Corps” program designed to help university researchers get their innovations from the lab bench to the commercial world. 100 … Continue reading “Instructables, Assistly, Airbnb: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
Kendall Square Innovation Festival, t=0, to Feature Brad Feld, Mitch Kapor, and (Probably) Entrepreneurial Walk of Fame, September 16-18
What time is it? Time to start looking forward to September events in the Boston tech world. Xconomy has been hearing rumors about a big festival happening around Kendall Square next month. t=0, as it is being called, will kick off on the afternoon of September 16 and last through the 18th. We don’t have … Continue reading “Kendall Square Innovation Festival, t=0, to Feature Brad Feld, Mitch Kapor, and (Probably) Entrepreneurial Walk of Fame, September 16-18”
Deadline to Enter Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is August 10
The deadline is quickly approaching for those who wish to enter the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. Applications must be completed by Aug. 10 for companies and Sept. 30 for students. The awards will be announced Nov. 17 at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is a global business plan competition … Continue reading “Deadline to Enter Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is August 10”
Indie Game Studio Sucker Punch Gobbled by Sony, Will Stay in Seattle Area
Bellevue, WA’s Sucker Punch Productions is heading to the mothership. After a longtime partnership developing games for Sony’s PlayStation consoles, Sucker Punch will become Sony Computer Entertainment’s 16th studio. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, but Sony says Sucker Punch will keep its current headquarters. Sucker Punch, founded in 1997 by former Microsofties, is known … Continue reading “Indie Game Studio Sucker Punch Gobbled by Sony, Will Stay in Seattle Area”
Kiva Chooses Detroit as First City for Crowdfunded Microfinance Program
When Delphia Simmons’ boss at COTS Detroit, an organization founded in 1982 to address the city’s growing homeless crisis, came back from a trip to Philadelphia with an armload of newspapers produced and sold by homeless people there as a means of self-support, an idea started bubbling in the back of Simmons’ mind. “I had … Continue reading “Kiva Chooses Detroit as First City for Crowdfunded Microfinance Program”
You’d Better Shop Around: Doing Due Diligence on Your VC
For a first-time entrepreneur, dealing with a venture capitalist can involve an equal mix of excitement and apprehension. If the VC has any sort of reputation or prominence, entrepreneurs are often grateful simply to be pitching their idea in the first place. Should discussions get far enough along that a term sheet is offered, a … Continue reading “You’d Better Shop Around: Doing Due Diligence on Your VC”
American Idol, Startup Style: TechStars Reality Show to Debut on Bloomberg TV
TechStars, the seed-stage investment and incubator program for entrepreneurs, announced today that it will be the subject of a series starting this fall on Bloomberg TV. The show, called “TechStars” (see trailer below), follows the inaugural New York program, which ran for three months earlier this year. The show will debut September 13. TechStars holds … Continue reading “American Idol, Startup Style: TechStars Reality Show to Debut on Bloomberg TV”
San Diego’s Moore Venture Partners Seeks a Niche Amid Local VC Decline
Can a small venture firm make much of a difference in stemming the general decline that has marked venture capital funding in San Diego’s innovation economy over the past five or six years? A one-person firm created last year may not exactly fill the void in San Diego, but founder Terry Moore argues that he … Continue reading “San Diego’s Moore Venture Partners Seeks a Niche Amid Local VC Decline”
Ventrus Attracts Investors With Hemorrhoid Drug and Two Other Late-Stage Drug Candidates
Ventrus Biosciences CEO Russell Ellison jokes that he doesn’t know how his mother would have reacted if he told her 20 years ago what he’d be doing today. Jokes help when you work at a place like Ventrus (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VTUS]]), where the lead drug candidate may just become the first ever FDA-approved prescription product to … Continue reading “Ventrus Attracts Investors With Hemorrhoid Drug and Two Other Late-Stage Drug Candidates”
Arena Passes Small Study, in Bid to Answer FDA Questions About Obesity Drug
[Updated: 9:50 am ET] San Diego-based Arena Pharmaceuticals faces a lot of questions that need to be answered before it can hope to win FDA clearance to sell its obesity pill. Now the drug developer says it has at least one piece of the puzzle it hopes will satisfy U.S. drug regulators. Arena (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARNA]]) … Continue reading “Arena Passes Small Study, in Bid to Answer FDA Questions About Obesity Drug”
Facebook, Smilebox, Intellectual Ventures, & More: The 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech
The past week in Seattle tech stories at Xconomy leads off with a recap of the highest-profile project yet to emerge from Facebook‘s growing engineering office in Seattle: Skype video calling. Philip Su, the social network’s full-time engineer on the video calling project, says he spent a lot of time making the installation process virtually … Continue reading “Facebook, Smilebox, Intellectual Ventures, & More: The 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech”
Scallop Imaging Leads Micro-Cluster of Boston Companies Trying to Reinvent Camera Tech
Here in the Boston area we like hard technologies. We like companies with weird names. We like companies that have vision. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Tenebraex, SiOnyx, and MC10. They are the micro-cluster of imaging tech companies. They are working on a mix of far-out stuff and closer-in products, with a multiple-focus … Continue reading “Scallop Imaging Leads Micro-Cluster of Boston Companies Trying to Reinvent Camera Tech”
Detroit Xconomist David Cole Switches Gears with AutoHarvest
David Cole, the former chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, recently announced his new role as co-founder and chairman of AutoHarvest, a nonprofit website that aims to connect the auto industry with the local entrepreneurial ecosystem in order to market and commercialize intellectual property. Once connected, members can build personal and company profiles; participate … Continue reading “Detroit Xconomist David Cole Switches Gears with AutoHarvest”