When I met last month with James Fowler, the UC San Diego expert on social networks, one of several topics we discussed was the role that Twitter played—or might have played—in the recent political revolutions that overturned governments in Egypt and Tunisia. A lot of research will be coming out on the topic, Fowler said, … Continue reading “In Anatomy of Revolutions, UCSD’s Fowler Points to the “Strong Ties” of Online Social Networks”
Category: National
Fandor Launches Indie Movie Rentals—Sundance Meets Netflix
The inspiration for Fandor, an online movie service for independent and international films, came in late Spring of 2009, as two of its cofounders were bemoaning the fact that neither had been able to see many films lately. Dan Aronson had hardly made it to any of the films he wanted to see at the … Continue reading “Fandor Launches Indie Movie Rentals—Sundance Meets Netflix”
Optimer Inks Potential $47.5M-Plus Deal with Cubist to Help Sell Antibiotic
On the heels of a favorable FDA advisory panel vote on its experimental antibiotic, San Diego-based Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:OPTR]]) says today that Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CBST]]) has agreed to help sell the drug in the U.S. The deal calls for Lexington, MA-based Cubist to co-promote the Optimer antibiotic, fidxomicin (Dificid), for two years; the drug is … Continue reading “Optimer Inks Potential $47.5M-Plus Deal with Cubist to Help Sell Antibiotic”
Yipit Cuts Through the Noise Of Daily Deals with Kayak-Like Filtering
This is another story of a New York City duo that left the finance industry to start a tech company, but didn’t quite know where to begin. (For our first take on this theme, read my profile on StellaService yesterday.) “The only problem was we didn’t know what we were doing, and realized very early … Continue reading “Yipit Cuts Through the Noise Of Daily Deals with Kayak-Like Filtering”
If Michigan Were a Stock, I’d Buy a Bunch of Options
Maybe it’s a line they hand out to every Michigander, because I have heard it several times in various configurations. But it’s heartfelt. It’s a message to people around the country complaining about current economic conditions. The gist goes something like this: “You think you had it bad? Michigan’s recession began years ago—and it was … Continue reading “If Michigan Were a Stock, I’d Buy a Bunch of Options”
AT&T’s Buyout of T-Mobile & the Future of Seattle-Area Wireless Innovation: The View from VC Tom Huseby
AT&T’s blockbuster $39 billion bid for Bellevue, WA-based T-Mobile is easily among the biggest stories of this year in Seattle-area tech. But the deal won’t be consummated for a year or more as government regulators consider the massive industry consolidation at stake. As you’d expect, there’s been a fair bit of teeth-gnashing associated with the … Continue reading “AT&T’s Buyout of T-Mobile & the Future of Seattle-Area Wireless Innovation: The View from VC Tom Huseby”
From Aprigo to CloudLock: Data Protection Startup Talks Strategy Shift, New Name
Do we really need another tech company with “cloud” in its name? Apparently the answer is yes. But Waltham, MA-based CloudLock offers lessons far beyond the merits of its name. The company, formerly known as Aprigo, has officially changed its product focus as well as its moniker. All told, this is an interesting snapshot of … Continue reading “From Aprigo to CloudLock: Data Protection Startup Talks Strategy Shift, New Name”
Anne DeGheest on Where the Action is Heading in Healthcare: Delivery, Delivery, Delivery
Talking with the angel investor Anne DeGheest the other day was humbling. After all, I sweat out long days and nights digging up news and features on what I think often represents the leading edge in healthcare capitalism—new drugs, medical devices, diagnostics, etc. All that innovation is worthy of attention—she apparently didn’t want to hurt … Continue reading “Anne DeGheest on Where the Action is Heading in Healthcare: Delivery, Delivery, Delivery”
Phreesia Keeps Data Digital When Patients Check In
The United States is investing billions of dollars to get doctors to use electronic health records for patients at their practices. Why then, Phreesia CEO Chaim Indig asks, are patients being handed the same old clipboards with papers to fill out when they arrive for appointments? New York-based Phreesia, which Indig co-founded in 2005, aims … Continue reading “Phreesia Keeps Data Digital When Patients Check In”
San Diego Venture Group Hires VC David Titus in New Role to Raise the Tide of Capital, Innovation
After spending the past two years studying the ebb of innovation capital in San Diego, David Titus hopes to now do something about it—by stepping into a new role as the first full-time president of the San Diego Venture Group, a local non-profit networking group. Until now, the SDVG has operated mostly as the host … Continue reading “San Diego Venture Group Hires VC David Titus in New Role to Raise the Tide of Capital, Innovation”
Jumptap Grabs $20M, EMC Buys NetWitness, Txteagle Ties Down $8.5M, & More Boston-Area Deals News
This week we continued to see big financings for mobile technology firms, and acquisitions in the software, cleantech, and life science spaces. —Movik Networks, a Littleton, MA-based maker of products for helping mobile devices more speedily load Internet content, raised $25 million in a Series C financing. The round was led by new investor Oak Investment … Continue reading “Jumptap Grabs $20M, EMC Buys NetWitness, Txteagle Ties Down $8.5M, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Expedia To Roll Out New Hotel iPhone App Designed By Mobiata
Ben Kazez needs a place to live. Preferably a warehouse loft he can rent somewhere in Ann Arbor, MI. A quiet place where he can finally grab some ZZZZs. You can forgive Kazez for neglecting his living situation. Since selling his startup Mobiata to online travel giant Expedia (Nasdaq:[[ticker:EXPE]]) last fall, Kazez has been hard … Continue reading “Expedia To Roll Out New Hotel iPhone App Designed By Mobiata”
Optimer Wins FDA Panel Nod, Still Wrestling With Language to Describe Benefit
San Diego-based Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OPTR]]) won the blessing of an FDA advisory panel today for its novel antibiotic, but now the big issue will likely be how the benefit of the drug will be communicated to doctors and patients. Advisors to the FDA at a meeting in Silver Spring, MD voted 13-0 in favor … Continue reading “Optimer Wins FDA Panel Nod, Still Wrestling With Language to Describe Benefit”
PopCap’s New Indie Label 4th & Battery, the Sandbox For a Death-Metal Horse Romp & Other “Really Strange or Marginal Ideas”
Chalk up another sign of the explosive growth in mobile and casual gaming—Seattle’s PopCap Games, makers of the hit games Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, has set up an “experimental” second label for feeding their weirder side. Yes, even weirder than a Zombie bobsled team. The new studio and label is called 4th & Battery, … Continue reading “PopCap’s New Indie Label 4th & Battery, the Sandbox For a Death-Metal Horse Romp & Other “Really Strange or Marginal Ideas””
Come Celebrate 65 Years of Venture Capital in America: Xconomy’s VC65 Blowout at MIT Tomorrow
We are down to the wire, and up to some 900 guests and counting. That’s the expected attendance at tomorrow’s VC65 event celebrating the 65th anniversary of the birth of venture capital in America—and 65 years of innovation in how to help support great entrepreneurs. Get your tickets and see the full agenda here. This … Continue reading “Come Celebrate 65 Years of Venture Capital in America: Xconomy’s VC65 Blowout at MIT Tomorrow”
New York: Show Me The Money
Last year was a watershed year for the NYC tech scene. In the spring of 2010, the hottest startup in the country was located here in NYC and was being breathlessly courted by some of the biggest venture capitalists in VC from Silicon Valley and Boston. In June, Andreessen Horowitz became the winner of the … Continue reading “New York: Show Me The Money”
Practice Fusion Gets $23 Million To Compete in “Winner-Take-All” Market for Electronic Medical Records Technology
Practice Fusion, a San Francisco startup that claims to be the fastest-growing maker of electronic medical records systems for physicians’ practices, may be able to supercharge that growth now, thanks to a $23 million infusion from Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and a posse of other investors. The Series B investment, announced today, brings Practice Fusion’s … Continue reading “Practice Fusion Gets $23 Million To Compete in “Winner-Take-All” Market for Electronic Medical Records Technology”
StellaService, Backed By Big NY Investors, Looks to Recognize E-Tailers For Star Customer Service with Zagat-Style Marks
Jordy Leiser and his friend John Ernsberger left their jobs in the financial industry in 2008 with an appetite for starting a company around the subject of transparency. But that inspiration didn’t turn itself into a company right away. “We spun our wheels for a long time,” says Leiser. So they did what any self-respecting … Continue reading “StellaService, Backed By Big NY Investors, Looks to Recognize E-Tailers For Star Customer Service with Zagat-Style Marks”
Txteagle Lands $8.5M, Led by Spark Capital, for Smarter Mobile Messaging
The mobile hits keep coming—though I guess “mobile” is officially redundant in the tech world now. Boston- and San Francisco-based Txteagle, which makes a mobile-messaging platform for developing markets, has raised $8.5 million in Series A financing led by Spark Capital in Boston. The company’s other seed investors, Flywheel Ventures, RBC Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, … Continue reading “Txteagle Lands $8.5M, Led by Spark Capital, for Smarter Mobile Messaging”
Experience Project Launches BroadCause, Putting Social Media to Work for Charitable Causes—and the Corporations Backing Them
Can a company truly do well by doing good? That’s what San Francisco’s Experience Project hopes to find out with the official launch today of BroadCause. The site offers nonprofit groups free software tools to help with fundraising and administration, and makes money by selling marketing opportunities to corporations looking to promote awareness of their … Continue reading “Experience Project Launches BroadCause, Putting Social Media to Work for Charitable Causes—and the Corporations Backing Them”
Allen vs. Gates and Ballmer, Amazon Takes on Apple, Intellectual Ventures Whips Up a Market, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup
A juicy excerpt from billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen‘s new autobiography caused plenty of chatter around Seattle and the broader tech world this past week, and considering that he’s starting a book tour, I guess that’s the point. The stunning vignette, in the excerpt published in Vanity Fair, was a scene in which Allen writes that … Continue reading “Allen vs. Gates and Ballmer, Amazon Takes on Apple, Intellectual Ventures Whips Up a Market, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”
Tom Maniatis, Molecular Biology Pioneer, Seeks to Help Build a Kendall Square in NYC
Tom Maniatis doesn’t fit the profile of a typical New York economic booster, who is usually a politician or big-time businessman. Maniatis is one of the pioneers of modern molecular biology, who wrote a definitive how-to manual on genetic engineering in the early 1980s. He spent 30 years at Harvard University and co-founded one of … Continue reading “Tom Maniatis, Molecular Biology Pioneer, Seeks to Help Build a Kendall Square in NYC”
Words of Wisdom from the Dumbest Guy in the Room: A Q&A with San Diego Serial Entrepreneur Neil Senturia
The way Neil Senturia talks about his “rules” for entrepreneurship reminds me of the way the Pirates of the Caribbean adhere to the pirate code—which is to say the code of conduct among buccaneers is really more what you would call guidelines than actual rules. Senturia describes his rules as immutable and inviolate. But if … Continue reading “Words of Wisdom from the Dumbest Guy in the Room: A Q&A with San Diego Serial Entrepreneur Neil Senturia”
As Google Retools its Search Engine, Content Farms Lose Traction
If you’ve noticed a recent change when you do an Internet search using Google, you’re not alone. Google is trying to improve the quality of the results it delivers to Web searchers and in a major way. Google is so focused on search result quality that they’re paying extra attention to items they believe negatively … Continue reading “As Google Retools its Search Engine, Content Farms Lose Traction”
Biotix Raises $2M to Help Fund Growth
Biotix, a San Diego company that supplies pipette tips, reagent reservoirs, and other laboratory consumables, has raised $2 million of a planned $4 million Series B equity round, according to a recent regulatory filing. Biotix plans to use the proceeds “to help with the growth that we’ve experienced and expand our current operations,” spokeswoman Mickie … Continue reading “Biotix Raises $2M to Help Fund Growth”
Movik, Fresh With $25M and Telecom Vet as CEO, Looks to Connect with Carriers to Speed Up Internet Content on Mobile Devices
Last week news hit that Littleton, MA-based mobile IT startup Movik Networks scored $25 million in a Series C financing, so I caught up with CEO John St. Amand to figure out just what the company is going to do with all that money. The company, founded in 2007, develops hardware boxes for wireless operators … Continue reading “Movik, Fresh With $25M and Telecom Vet as CEO, Looks to Connect with Carriers to Speed Up Internet Content on Mobile Devices”
Countdown to Michigan 2031: Release The Hackers!
Something is brewing in Southeastern Michigan, and it smells more like innovation than beer. Inside a former brewery in Ann Arbor, MI just northeast of Kerrytown, a group of techies and recent college graduates stare at computer screens, sustained by a copious supply of Diet Coke and fruit juice boxes. There are no leases or … Continue reading “Countdown to Michigan 2031: Release The Hackers!”
HelloFax, Anyleaf, Gmail Fail—The 1-Minute Summary of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News
Time for the summary of last week’s news from Xconomy San Francisco. —On the heels of Y Combinator’s climactic Winter 2011 Demo Day on March 23, I continued my profiles of “YC W11” startups with a look at HelloFax, which lets users paste signatures into digital documents, thereby hastening the demise of the fax machine. … Continue reading “HelloFax, Anyleaf, Gmail Fail—The 1-Minute Summary of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News”
Christoph Westphal Leaving GSK’s SR One to Focus on Longwood Founders Fund
[Update: 3:12 pm ET] Christoph Westphal, the Boston-based biotech mover/shaker, is leaving GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]) later this year to focus on Longwood Founders Fund and other business interests, according to a press release this morning. Westphal is currently president of SR One, GSK’s venture capital arm. London-based GSK is also an investor in Longwood Founders … Continue reading “Christoph Westphal Leaving GSK’s SR One to Focus on Longwood Founders Fund”
The Lean LaunchPad at Stanford—Class 4: Customer Hypotheses
The Stanford Lean LaunchPad class was an experiment in a new model of teaching startup entrepreneurship. This post is part four. Part one is here, two is here and three is here. Syllabus is here. Week 4 of the Class Last week the teams were testing their hypotheses about their Value Proposition (their company’s product … Continue reading “The Lean LaunchPad at Stanford—Class 4: Customer Hypotheses”
Sony Consolidates Gaming, San Diego’s Slow Recovery, Connect’s Hall of Fame Inductee, & More San Diego BizTech News
As part of the anticipatory celebration for today’s official debut of Xconomy’s sixth website in New York City, I profiled New York’s Enterproid, which was Qualcomm’s grand prize winner in its 2011 QPrize competition. Get that and catch up on the rest of San Diego’s innovation news. —Andrew Toy, Alexander Trewby, and David Zhu founded … Continue reading “Sony Consolidates Gaming, San Diego’s Slow Recovery, Connect’s Hall of Fame Inductee, & More San Diego BizTech News”
EMC Buys NetWitness to Bolster RSA Security
Consider this the latest round in the Boston-area data security war. Hopkinton, MA-based EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]), the data storage giant, said today it has acquired NetWitness, a Virginia-based network security company. Financial terms weren’t given, but EMC says the deal is not expected to have a material impact on the firm’s revenue or earnings per … Continue reading “EMC Buys NetWitness to Bolster RSA Security”
Forerun, Smarterer Raise New Venture Rounds to Aid Doctors, Job Seekers
Catching up on a couple of small Boston-area company financings, while we wait to hear from mobile-ad firm Jumptap on what’s up with its latest $20 million (or something) equity round. —Waltham, MA-based Forerun, a maker of patient-charting software for doctors in emergency departments, said it has raised $2 million in Series C financing led … Continue reading “Forerun, Smarterer Raise New Venture Rounds to Aid Doctors, Job Seekers”
Columbia University’s Tech Transfer Guru, Orin Herskowitz, on Turning IT, Biotech, and Cleantech Ideas Into Businesses
Orin Herskowitz, executive director of Columbia Technology Ventures, is sipping gourmet coffee at a bistro across the street from the Manhattan Mall, but he hardly needs the caffeine to amplify his excitement about the innovation scene at his college. Columbia Technology Ventures—the Ivy League university’s main technology-transfer initiative—has chalked up an impressive list of accomplishments … Continue reading “Columbia University’s Tech Transfer Guru, Orin Herskowitz, on Turning IT, Biotech, and Cleantech Ideas Into Businesses”
How Gigamon’s Founders Bootstrapped a Networking Hardware Company to Profitability
Ted Ho, the CEO of Gigamon, jokes that in its early days, the Milpitas, CA-based network appliance maker had four chief financial officers: the founders’ wives. “Every time we would run out of cash, we’d go back to our wives and say ‘Hey CFO, I need more money,” Ho says. But that’s the way it … Continue reading “How Gigamon’s Founders Bootstrapped a Networking Hardware Company to Profitability”
The World’s Most Social City Meets Social Media: Why One Hot Investor Thinks New York Is on Fire as a Tech Startup Hub
It’s no secret to anyone looking at venture activity that New York has blossomed over the past few years as a startup mecca. Riding a wave of investments in Web , media, and advertising startups, the city has recently climbed past Boston to become the second greatest center (after the Bay Area) of high-tech deal … Continue reading “The World’s Most Social City Meets Social Media: Why One Hot Investor Thinks New York Is on Fire as a Tech Startup Hub”
Xconomy Expands to New York—the Country’s Hottest Hub of Tech Startups and Entrepreneurship
Every time I visit the Big Apple, a line from Stevie Wonder’s Living for the City flashes in my mind: “New York, just like I pictured it, skyscrapers and everything.” But my mental picture of New York has evolved dramatically in the last few years—not the skyscrapers part, of course, but the “everything” that’s going … Continue reading “Xconomy Expands to New York—the Country’s Hottest Hub of Tech Startups and Entrepreneurship”
Fast Gets Faster: Zipline’s Moai Seeks to Speed Up Mobile Game Development by Knocking Down Language Barriers
It seems like the pace of mobile and casual game development is already pretty fast. But the folks at Seattle’s Zipline Games think it could be faster. Today, the startup is unveiling the beta version of its new Moai mobile-game development platform. The idea is to take friction out of game-building by offering a single … Continue reading “Fast Gets Faster: Zipline’s Moai Seeks to Speed Up Mobile Game Development by Knocking Down Language Barriers”
Biotechies Need to Get Serious About Antibiotics, Where There is Money to Be Made
There are lots of exceptions to the rules in the biotech business, and a big one jumped out me this past week, related to antibiotics. One day, Reuters ran a story about the overall abysmal state of the world’s pipeline of new antibiotics. Next day, there were reports about how San Diego-based Optimer Pharmaceuticals appears … Continue reading “Biotechies Need to Get Serious About Antibiotics, Where There is Money to Be Made”
Dendreon Faces Internet-Fueled Shareholder Uprising, Led by a Little Guy in Kansas
Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) has a passionate base of fans and detractors all over the web, but now it has a new and potentially volatile issue on its hands—an Internet-driven shareholder uprising that aims to shake up the company’s board of directors. Battles for control of corporate boardrooms that hit the press are usually waged … Continue reading “Dendreon Faces Internet-Fueled Shareholder Uprising, Led by a Little Guy in Kansas”
Jumptap Takes In $20M More for Mobile Ads
The mobile company financings continue around town. Cambridge, MA-based Jumptap, a mobile advertising software firm, has raised about $20 million in equity financing out of a total offering of $27.9 million, according to an SEC filing today. The investors in the round were not disclosed, and Jumptap hasn’t confirmed the funding amount yet. We’ll update … Continue reading “Jumptap Takes In $20M More for Mobile Ads”
New York City and Boston: The Entrepreneurial Dream Team
Far too much has been written about Boston versus New York City. Sports rivalries and cultural differences have a way of coloring our world view to include startup companies and venture capital. However, the past few years tell about a much closer relationship. The real story is Boston and New York City, particularly versus Silicon … Continue reading “New York City and Boston: The Entrepreneurial Dream Team”
Meet Xconomy’s New Social Media Marketing Intern, Omri Mor
We have another new member of the team at Xconomy Seattle that I’m happy to introduce. Starting today, Omri Mor is the new social media marketing intern at Xconomy. Omri is a junior at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, where he is part of the prestigious Lavin Entrepreneurial Program. He comes to … Continue reading “Meet Xconomy’s New Social Media Marketing Intern, Omri Mor”
English Majors Can Do More Than Teach. U-M Liberal Arts Students Push For Entrepreneurial Classes
Rebecca Weisz was looking forward to studying entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan. A freshman in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA), she was hoping to apply what she learned from her communication studies to running the custom-made accessories business she launched earlier in the school year. To her dismay, Weisz learned … Continue reading “English Majors Can Do More Than Teach. U-M Liberal Arts Students Push For Entrepreneurial Classes”
No April Fools: A Rundown of Babson, BU, Tufts, Harvard, and MIT Business Plan Contests
Besides snow and rain (and other April Fool’s jokes), ‘tis the season for business plan competitions around Boston. You might know all about MIT’s $100K contest and Harvard Business School’s equivalent, but there’s a lot more going on out there—and a lot of talented young people vying for a taste of entrepreneurial success. Here’s a … Continue reading “No April Fools: A Rundown of Babson, BU, Tufts, Harvard, and MIT Business Plan Contests”
Gmail Fail: The Problem with Priority Inbox
I was not one the pundits who heaped immediate praise on Priority Inbox, an e-mail management feature that Google added as an option in Gmail last August. TechCrunch instantly labeled it “fantastic,” TheNextWeb called it “outstanding,” and Venturebeat said it “lives up to the hype.” I was hopeful about it, but cautious. Having been burned … Continue reading “Gmail Fail: The Problem with Priority Inbox”
Gilead Antes Up for Cancer, Genentech Eye Drug Passes Big Trial, Bigger Isn’t Better, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News
This was a light news week in SF biotech, but it still flew by, as we get ready to make some small media biz news at our own little startup here on Monday. Stay tuned. —South San Francisco-based Genentech said its hit drug for eye diseases, ranibizumab (Lucentis) passed the second big pivotal trial in … Continue reading “Gilead Antes Up for Cancer, Genentech Eye Drug Passes Big Trial, Bigger Isn’t Better, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News”
New York’s Enterproid and the Great Divide, Where Rivers (of Data) Change Direction
When Andrew Toy, Alexander Trewby, and David Zhu worked together at Morgan Stanley in 2007, they collectively managed the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for the global financial services company and its 60,000 employees. At that time, Morgan Stanley’s implementation of the corporate platform for e-mail messaging, calendaring, and collaborating was considered to be the largest in … Continue reading “New York’s Enterproid and the Great Divide, Where Rivers (of Data) Change Direction”
Vertex CF Drug Delivers, Follica Patent Application Reveals Tech, RXi Buys Apthera, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
This week we’ve seen news of acquisitions and funding, as well as longer articles on strategy and research moves for New England’s life sciences firms. —BL Healthcare, a provider of telemedicine products that is based in Foxboro, MA, has bumped its Series A funding round up to $4.9 million, with another $2 million in equity-, … Continue reading “Vertex CF Drug Delivers, Follica Patent Application Reveals Tech, RXi Buys Apthera, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Sony Axes 205 Jobs in West; Closes Bellevue Game Office, Other Work Shifts to San Diego
A downer in local tech-job news: Sony Online Entertainment is closing its game development office in Bellevue, WA, part of a broader downsizing that also includes the shutdown of offices in Denver, CO and Tucson, AZ. The company’s statement also says it is stopping work on the undelivered game “The Agency” to focus efforts on … Continue reading “Sony Axes 205 Jobs in West; Closes Bellevue Game Office, Other Work Shifts to San Diego”