The wireless news out of San Diego seems to have picked up in recent weeks, with Qualcomm playing a central role in most of the developments. Our briefing is ready for you now. —The world’s largest wireless chipmaker agreed to buy San Diego-based Rapid Bridge’s LiquidCell technology, used to accelerate chip design, but Qualcomm (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Qualcomm Buying Rapid Bridge Assets, Two Local Companies Get DOE Grants, Daily Deals Fuel Growth at Analog Analytics, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Category: National
PureTech Ventures Launches Tal Medical To Develop Magnetic-Field Treatment for Depression
Today a company called Tal Medical is starting up in Boston with the goal of developing an entirely new approach to treating depression, inspired by a specific type of magnetic field found in some MRI imaging machines. The research is still very early, but the treatment—developed at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA—was promising enough to … Continue reading “PureTech Ventures Launches Tal Medical To Develop Magnetic-Field Treatment for Depression”
Mike Maples and Ann Miura-Ko on The Limits of Incubators, the Right Fund Size, and the True Meaning of “Pivot”
Last week we published the first half of an extended interview with Mike Maples Jr. and Ann Miura-Ko, the co-founding partners at Palo Alto, CA-based seed stage investing firm Floodgate. The focus in that part was on big issues like how Internet technologies are accelerating startup innovation, how investors have to adapt in response, and … Continue reading “Mike Maples and Ann Miura-Ko on The Limits of Incubators, the Right Fund Size, and the True Meaning of “Pivot””
Send the Trend, Looking To Transform the Way Women Shop, Comes From Reluctant Entrepreneur
Divya Gugnani grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and told herself she’d never do that. Now, she’s CEO of two startups. One of which, she says, is out to transform the way women shop. That would be Send The Trend, a website that sells personalized accessories like jewelry and scarves. It’s one of the … Continue reading “Send the Trend, Looking To Transform the Way Women Shop, Comes From Reluctant Entrepreneur”
Gilt Groupe’s Alexandra Wilkis Wilson at XSITE This Thursday: We’ll Talk Company Culture, Challenges, Growth Strategy
It’s not often I get a chance to chat about men’s fashion in a public forum. Well, it ain’t gonna happen this time either. That’s because I know next to nothing about fashion (just ask my colleagues)—but I do know something about the technology industry, and the fascinating stories of the people behind today’s leading … Continue reading “Gilt Groupe’s Alexandra Wilkis Wilson at XSITE This Thursday: We’ll Talk Company Culture, Challenges, Growth Strategy”
Why Twitter Matters Now in Biotech, and Why Executives Can’t Ignore it Anymore
Two years ago, I caved in to the pressure and signed up for a Twitter account. I had been resisting for months. Millions of people were flocking to the 140-character microblogging service, but from what I could see then, it looked like a time-wasting fad. Hardly anybody in the business I write about, biotechnology, was … Continue reading “Why Twitter Matters Now in Biotech, and Why Executives Can’t Ignore it Anymore”
MIT’s Bob Langer Strikes Again, Wins Priestley Medal
You know you’ve accomplished something in life when somebody gives you an award named after the guy who discovered oxygen. That was the position MIT bioengineering professor Bob Langer found himself in last week, when he took home another biggie—the Priestley Medal. This prize, the highest honor given by the American Chemical Society, usually doesn’t … Continue reading “MIT’s Bob Langer Strikes Again, Wins Priestley Medal”
Ambit Raises $30M Venture Round, After Pulling Plug on IPO
San Diego-based Ambit Biosciences wasn’t able to raise the kind of money it wanted from public market investors, so it has gone back to the VC world for another $30 million. Ambit said today it has put together a Series D-2 venture round (is that supposed to sound cooler than Series E?). The financing was … Continue reading “Ambit Raises $30M Venture Round, After Pulling Plug on IPO”
Amid Groupon’s IPO Frenzy, Analog Analytics Offers Old Media a White-Label Life Ring
Much has been blogged about social couponing in recent weeks, from Chicago-based Groupon’s planned IPO, which values the company somewhere between $2 billion and the moon, to the debut of Google Offers in Portland, OR. Yet for all the lip service paid to the phenomenon that includes LivingSocial, BuyWithMe, Tippr, and perhaps hundreds of others … Continue reading “Amid Groupon’s IPO Frenzy, Analog Analytics Offers Old Media a White-Label Life Ring”
Apple: The New Headquarters of Computing
You probably thought that the biggest news out of Apple this week was about iCloud, the new cloud data sharing service unveiled at the World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco. Or maybe you’d point to iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s operating system for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, or Lion, the … Continue reading “Apple: The New Headquarters of Computing”
Aria Shows Drug Data at ASCO, Pfizer Supports Selecta, WPI Adds Big Pharma Partners, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
Massachusetts drug developers and research institutions have nabbed funding, inked partnerships, and revealed clinical data this week. —Constellation Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of epigenetic drugs, grabbed another $15 million in extensions to its Series B financing, bringing the funding round’s total to $37 million. The money comes from returning investors Third Rock Ventures, The … Continue reading “Aria Shows Drug Data at ASCO, Pfizer Supports Selecta, WPI Adds Big Pharma Partners, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
CommonAngels Leads $1.5M Seed Round for ParElastic
ParElastic, a developer of middleware for running big data applications more efficiently on the cloud, said it has closed a $1.5 million seed funding round, led by CommonAngels, with participation from Launch Capital and other investors. John Landry will be joining the company’s board of directors. The company is setting up a development center in Toronto … Continue reading “CommonAngels Leads $1.5M Seed Round for ParElastic”
Adding a Circa-2000 Amazon.com Every Day, Data Centers With No Air Conditioning, & More from Amazon Web Services’ James Hamilton
James Hamilton is obsessed with efficiency. As vice president and distinguished engineer for Amazon Web Services, Hamilton is at the forefront of the Seattle company’s massive cloud computing effort, from software and switches to air conditioning and building design. Kind of fitting for a veteran of Microsoft and IBM who also used to fix high-end … Continue reading “Adding a Circa-2000 Amazon.com Every Day, Data Centers With No Air Conditioning, & More from Amazon Web Services’ James Hamilton”
Krush Comes Out of Stealth, Driving to Own the “Product Graph” for Action Sports Fans, Brands
What do you get when you cross a Jewish guy from Argentina with a Turkish Muslim from London, and a female entrepreneur from New York who, by all accounts, shouldn’t even be alive? Answer: You get Krush. The Cambridge, MA-based Internet startup is unveiling its new site today. The company has an intriguing vision for … Continue reading “Krush Comes Out of Stealth, Driving to Own the “Product Graph” for Action Sports Fans, Brands”
Tell Us Why You’re Mad—or What Will Make You Glad: We Are Looking for Rants and Recommendations on Entrepreneurship
We know you’re out there. You have gripes about the way innovation is done, in Boston or beyond—or ideas for how to make entrepreneurship and innovation even better. Maybe one of those pet peeves is that Silicon Valley is poaching all the hot young tech talent from the East Coast. We get it. We’ve all … Continue reading “Tell Us Why You’re Mad—or What Will Make You Glad: We Are Looking for Rants and Recommendations on Entrepreneurship”
How Mike Maples and Ann Miura-Ko Are Opening the Floodgates on Early-Stage Tech Entrepreneurship
If you’re the founder of a new Internet or mobile startup and you’re looking for Silicon Valley investors who can contribute some star power and hands-on guidance along with their capital, sooner or later you’ll probably send your business plan to Floodgate Fund. Headed by Mike Maples Jr. and Ann Miura-Ko, the Palo Alto, CA-based … Continue reading “How Mike Maples and Ann Miura-Ko Are Opening the Floodgates on Early-Stage Tech Entrepreneurship”
OrganizedWisdom’s Jerry Levin to Chair New Health Entrepreneurship Program
In April, OrganizedWisdom co-founder Unity Stoakes told Xconomy that his New York-based Web company was on a mission to improve access to health and wellness information online. Former Time Warner CEO Jerry Levin had just invested in OrganizedWisdom and joined its board. Now Levin and OrganizedWisdom are making good on their promise with a new … Continue reading “OrganizedWisdom’s Jerry Levin to Chair New Health Entrepreneurship Program”
Orexigen Halts U.S. Work on Weight Loss Drug, Illumina Cuts Price for Sequencing Patient Genomes, Ambit Pulls IPO, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
As if to make up for the previous week, there’s been a lot of news from local life sciences companies over the past week. So let’s get started. —San Diego’s Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OREX]]) said it would halt U.S. development of its experimental diet pill, a combination of naltrexone and bupropion (Contrave) after regulators rebuffed … Continue reading “Orexigen Halts U.S. Work on Weight Loss Drug, Illumina Cuts Price for Sequencing Patient Genomes, Ambit Pulls IPO, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
From Lab To Incubator To Research Complex, We Have The Makings Of An Innovation Factory In Michigan
Lycera is coming home. The company recently said it will move from Plymouth, MI to the University of Michigan’s North Campus Research Complex (NCRC) in Ann Arbor. But this move is not merely just a physical relocation. In 2008, Pfizer decided to pull out of Michigan, a move the state largely greeted with dismay and … Continue reading “From Lab To Incubator To Research Complex, We Have The Makings Of An Innovation Factory In Michigan”
Bob Langer’s Selecta Wins Support From Diabetes Foundation for Research Collaboration
Ever since 2004, when the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) started a program called Industry Discovery and Development Partnership, it has awarded $75 million to 32 companies that are developing entirely new approaches to combating Type 1 diabetes. Today, the New York-based foundation announced the newest recipient of funding and research support under that program: … Continue reading “Bob Langer’s Selecta Wins Support From Diabetes Foundation for Research Collaboration”
ASCO Wrap-Up, Pathway Medical Grinds It Out, Gates Foundation’s New Digs, & More in Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
This week we had news from a couple of Seattle-area life sciences companies who appeared at a big cancer drug conference, a notable financing story, and a couple of in-depth profiles. —Kirkland, WA-based Pathway Medical Technologies, the maker of a tiny drill that clears out blockages in leg arteries, provided me with a detailed update … Continue reading “ASCO Wrap-Up, Pathway Medical Grinds It Out, Gates Foundation’s New Digs, & More in Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Marconi Society Awards Prize to San Diego’s Jacobs & Wolf
The Marconi Society, a group established in Palo Alto, CA, to recognize the creative spirit of Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi in today’s scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, has named Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and computer theorist Jack Kiel Wolf as winners of this year’s Marconi Prize. Jacobs, 77, was cited for his contributions to digital … Continue reading “Marconi Society Awards Prize to San Diego’s Jacobs & Wolf”
Ambit Withdraws IPO
San Diego’s Ambit Biosciences, which is developing anti-cancer compounds that block the activity of certain protein kinases, withdrew its IPO registration, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. The biotech filed to go public on Nov. 5, and had planned to raise more than $86 million. In a letter signed by CFO Alan Fuhrman, Ambit says … Continue reading “Ambit Withdraws IPO”
Pfizer Forms $100M Research Partnership with Boston-Area Schools and Hospitals
Let’s see if this produces some much-needed new drugs for Pfizer’s pipeline. The New York City-based pharmaceutical giant (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) announced today it is starting a five-year, $100 million research collaboration in Boston with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard University, Partners HealthCare, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts … Continue reading “Pfizer Forms $100M Research Partnership with Boston-Area Schools and Hospitals”
The Final Xpo Startup for XSITE on June 16… and What Might Have Been
What do recycling and a rectal exam have in common? Well, people tend to put off both things as long as they can. And, OK, they’re both a little more difficult (and one is a lot more uncomfortable) than you’d like them to be. I can even speak with, shall we say, recent authority on … Continue reading “The Final Xpo Startup for XSITE on June 16… and What Might Have Been”
At The Great Lakes Stem Cell (Innovation) Center, Researchers Anxiously Wait For Technology To Take Off
On the fourth floor of the TechTown science and research park in Detroit, the words “Great Lakes Stem Cell Commercialization Center” practically startle a vistor with their large, dark green lettering sprawled across a white wall. “Yeah, we’re changing the name,” James Eliason, the center’s director, tells me. “Really?” I ask. “Why?” “Well, for one … Continue reading “At The Great Lakes Stem Cell (Innovation) Center, Researchers Anxiously Wait For Technology To Take Off”
Don’t Discount Biofuels
As one who’s spent a lifetime chasing the quest of a practical, sustainable bioeconomy – I have sympathy for biofuel skeptics. Let’s face it; petroleum is an incumbent that has no match in political or economic strength. But it is hard to deny the convergence of historical and technological trends that suggest a sustainable biofuel … Continue reading “Don’t Discount Biofuels”
Assay Depot Raises $1.7M to Expand Online Commerce for Biotech Industry
Assay Depot, a five-year-old startup that provides online e-commerce platforms for contract researchers serving the life sciences industry, says it has raised $1.7 million from private investors. The company launched a public marketplace in 2008 that automates the process of hiring a contract research organization, a job that can take a principal investigator days or … Continue reading “Assay Depot Raises $1.7M to Expand Online Commerce for Biotech Industry”
The Critical Need for Lean Thinking in Healthcare Today
To borrow a term from the military, we live in a VUCA world—Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Unfortunately, healthcare’s traditional hierarchical management approach lacks the flexibility, adaptive agility, or innovative energy to meet the challenges of this new world. However, every employee at every healthcare institution has the ability to identify waste and enact long … Continue reading “The Critical Need for Lean Thinking in Healthcare Today”
Computer Science Tuition Could Rise Faster than Other Degrees Under New WA Rules
With a hot market for their skills and employers who offer top-notch salaries and benefits, should computer science students pay more for their bachelor’s degree than theater or history majors? In Washington state, the answer could soon be yes. Historically, undergraduates in this state have paid flat tuition rates based on the number of credits … Continue reading “Computer Science Tuition Could Rise Faster than Other Degrees Under New WA Rules”
Stemline Makes Headway Against Cancer Stem Cells And Proves Value of Virtual Model
On June 6, at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), a University of Pittsburgh scientist working with New York-based Stemline Therapeutics revealed that two patients in an early trial of the company’s drug had recovered from advanced malignant glioma—a deadly form of brain cancer. Another patient, a 10-year-old girl in a … Continue reading “Stemline Makes Headway Against Cancer Stem Cells And Proves Value of Virtual Model”
WaterSmart Seeks to Build Out Web-based Services to Conserve Water
[Corrected 6/8/11, 1:10 pm to show Peter Yolles is CEO, instead of Rob Steiner.] WaterSmart Software was founded two years ago in San Francisco, but co-founder Rob Steiner lives in San Diego. So when the cleantech software developer recently raised $900,000 in seed funding, I sat down with Steiner to discuss WaterSmart’s plans for developing … Continue reading “WaterSmart Seeks to Build Out Web-based Services to Conserve Water”
Pathway Medical Grinds It Out, Seeks Profit Formula, Three Years After FDA Approval
Selling expensive new medical equipment to doctors today, no matter how good it may be, is no easy thing. Just ask Pathway Medical Technologies. Almost three years have passed since the Kirkland, WA-based company won FDA approval for its first device, which drills through and sucks out tough-to-treat blockages in leg arteries. The company, founded … Continue reading “Pathway Medical Grinds It Out, Seeks Profit Formula, Three Years After FDA Approval”
General Compression Pulls In $20.4M, Constellation Nabs $15M, PolyRemedy Wraps Up $20M, & More Boston-Area Deals News
Financing news kept flowing this week from New England startups developing software, medical device, drug, and cleantech products. —Ziptr, a Burlington, MA-based maker of software focused on business privacy and compliance, pinned down $6.8 million in equity financing from 26 investors. —Lumicell Diagnostics, a portfolio company of Waltham, MA-based Kodiak Venture Partners that’s developing a … Continue reading “General Compression Pulls In $20.4M, Constellation Nabs $15M, PolyRemedy Wraps Up $20M, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Baird Venture Partners Pushes Ahead With Molecular Imaging Research Reboot
There’s luck. And then there’s pure serendipity. About a year ago, Baird Venture Partners (BVP) in Chicago had an idea. With Big Pharma increasingly parceling out drug development work to outside firms, the time seemed right for a startup that would offer specialized imaging services to companies who needed to test their therapies on small … Continue reading “Baird Venture Partners Pushes Ahead With Molecular Imaging Research Reboot”
Universities Are Key to Revitalizing Boston’s Startup Scene, Say Leaders of Angel Bootcamp, Harvard Innovation Lab, and MassChallenge
Commencement season is coming to a close, which means a lot of students and recent graduates are leaving town. That might be a good thing if you’re trying to get a seat at Crema Café near Harvard or Flour Bakery near MIT, but it ain’t good for local startups. The brain drain of Boston-area tech … Continue reading “Universities Are Key to Revitalizing Boston’s Startup Scene, Say Leaders of Angel Bootcamp, Harvard Innovation Lab, and MassChallenge”
Concur Expands in Europe with GlobalExpense Acquisition, Latest in Series of Pickups and Partnerships
Online business expense-management company Concur has been on a dealmaking tear this year, and isn’t slowing down just yet. Today, the Redmond, WA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CNQR]]) announced it would purchase London’s GlobalExpense for about $19.7 million. Performance incentives could add another $3.3 million to the price. From Concur’s description, GlobalExpense sounds like a pretty similar … Continue reading “Concur Expands in Europe with GlobalExpense Acquisition, Latest in Series of Pickups and Partnerships”
VigLink Aims to Turn Links Into Gold—But Will the Golden State Force the Company Out?
In the spring of 2009, when former Microsoft engineer Oliver Roup was finishing his second year at Harvard Business School, he entered the idea for his future company, VigLink, in the school’s annual business plan competition. During his live presentation to the judging panel, he showed off some code he’d written to help Web publishers … Continue reading “VigLink Aims to Turn Links Into Gold—But Will the Golden State Force the Company Out?”
ASCO Wrap-Up: The Skinny on Cancer News From All Corners of the U.S.
Whoever came up with the phrase “drinking from the fire hose,” could have easily been thinking of the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. The information on cancer R&D has been flowing furiously the past few days at ASCO, which draws about 30,000 cancer doctors, drug company executives, investors, and journalists. I didn’t attend … Continue reading “ASCO Wrap-Up: The Skinny on Cancer News From All Corners of the U.S.”
CityPockets, Still Couch Surfing and Managing Daily Deals, Gets Office After $500K Grab
CityPockets’ tiny team was in desperate straits this past April. The Silicon Alley startup was supposed to help users organize the flood of online vouchers and daily deals that pack the inboxes of budget foodies and fashionistas. But just a couple months ago none of the three-person team seemed likely to be indulging in discount … Continue reading “CityPockets, Still Couch Surfing and Managing Daily Deals, Gets Office After $500K Grab”
Facebook vs. Google, Polaris Skips Town, HackStars’ Unlikely Origin, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup
As the Web becomes more social, will search start to whither as a primary means for consumers to access the Internet? That’s been suggested by some folks in the tech world, as the rise of Facebook begins to create a dynamic layer on top of the “regular” Web that isn’t fully reachable by Google’s crawlers. … Continue reading “Facebook vs. Google, Polaris Skips Town, HackStars’ Unlikely Origin, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”
PolyRemedy, Pivoted from Med Device to IT-based Healthcare Service Company, Raises $20M Series C Round
PolyRemedy, a Concord, MA- and Mountain View, CA-based healthcare startup, has secured $20 million in a new Series C funding to fuel what president and CEO Mark Carbeau calls its “Netflix of wound care” business. The deal was led by new investor Delphi Ventures of Menlo Park, CA. Previous PolyRemedy backers—MedVenture Associates, Advanced Technology Ventures … Continue reading “PolyRemedy, Pivoted from Med Device to IT-based Healthcare Service Company, Raises $20M Series C Round”
Scenes from the Uplinq Conference: How Qualcomm’s Strategy is Playing Out
If there was a single moment during Qualcomm’s mobile developer conference last week that showed just how much the San Diego wireless giant has changed over the past decade, it would have to be when Qualcomm chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs introduced Nokia CEO Stephen Elop as a keynote speaker. “Up next is somebody that … Continue reading “Scenes from the Uplinq Conference: How Qualcomm’s Strategy is Playing Out”
Salesforce.com Shows Off Designs for Mission Bay Campus
The Mission Bay area of San Francisco really was a bay once, before it was filled in during the 19th and early 20th centuries to make room for railyards and slaughterhouses. It’s still one of the lowest-lying areas in the city—and barring the construction of huge levees or dikes, it will likely be inundated once … Continue reading “Salesforce.com Shows Off Designs for Mission Bay Campus”
Beyond Sakti3: Researchers in Boston, London Explore Electric-Car Battery Technologies
Sakti3 is one of Michigan’s most high-profile startups, whose solid state, lithium ion batteries have won funding from General Motors and Khosla Ventures and plaudits by MIT’s Technology Review. Such technology could revolutionize electric cars by packing more energy into a battery that occupies much less space under the hood than existing batteries. With less … Continue reading “Beyond Sakti3: Researchers in Boston, London Explore Electric-Car Battery Technologies”
UTest Brings Crowdsourced QA Testing to Early Stage Web Startups (We Have Discount Codes Too)
Southborough, MA-based uTest hit the market with its crowdsourced quality assurance testing service in a slightly unconventional order. UTest first introduced its “full strength” software-as-a-service for more mature, enterprise-level Web companies in 2008, and has nabbed big customers like Google, Microsoft, Intuit, Myspace, and Thomson Reuters. Clients indicate the type of testing they want, uTest … Continue reading “UTest Brings Crowdsourced QA Testing to Early Stage Web Startups (We Have Discount Codes Too)”
Exelixis Zeroes in on Lead Drug, Sees Activity in the Bones of Prostate Cancer Patients
Exelixis gambled a little more than a year ago, deciding to go “all-in” on its lead drug candidate for cancer after many investors lost interest in its strategy of building a broad pipeline with lots of different drugs. It was risky thing to do in a business where most drugs fail in clinical trials, but … Continue reading “Exelixis Zeroes in on Lead Drug, Sees Activity in the Bones of Prostate Cancer Patients”
New York Senator Chuck Schumer Tells Local Entrepreneurs the City Can Surpass Silicon Valley as the High-Tech Capital of America
Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer, the publicity-loving Democrat from New York, has his share of critics—but none seemed to be in attendance this morning at Internet Week New York, where he gave the kickoff keynote speech. The audience of journalists and Internet entrepreneurs ate up Schumer’s message: New York, he said, can and should surpass Silicon … Continue reading “New York Senator Chuck Schumer Tells Local Entrepreneurs the City Can Surpass Silicon Valley as the High-Tech Capital of America”
Rock Health, Say Media, Food Frenzy: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
Memorial Day observances made last week shorter than usual, but there was enough news from the local information technology sector for any week twice its length. —San Francisco-based Rock Health, a new incubator for companies focused on using digital technologies to fix inefficiencies in the healthcare system, unveiled its first class of startups. They range … Continue reading “Rock Health, Say Media, Food Frenzy: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
Accelerate Michigan Open For Business
Accelerate Michigan Innovation, the state’s top competition for high tech entrepreneurs, is now accepting applications. The contest will award $1 million in cash prizes plus business services to winners in November. Deadline for applications is August 10, for students September 21. To apply, click here.