San Diego-based Genomatica has raised $45 million in a Series C round of venture funding that will allow the company to scale up production of its sustainable chemical technology to 15,000 liters a day, according to an item today in VentureWire. Genomatica said last summer it had successfully scaled up technology that uses genetically engineered … Continue reading “Genomatica Raises $45M as it Moves to Higher Production Volumes”
Category: National
Hipmunk Takes On Hotel Search
With an elegant flight search tool that debuted last August, San Francisco-based Hipmunk essentially issued a challenge to the travel industry. Most online travel search and reservation systems, the Y Combinator-backed startup argued, are simply too complex and tedious; co-founders Adam Goldstein and Steve Huffman showed how new Web interface technologies could be used to offer … Continue reading “Hipmunk Takes On Hotel Search”
NeuroPhage Nets $12.4M to Tackle Alzheimer’s and Other Brain Disorders
Score one for neurodegenerative disease therapies. Cambridge, MA-based NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals said today it has closed $12.4 million in Series B financing led by Mérieux Développement, the healthcare investment arm of French firm Institut Mérieux. Irish biopharma Shire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SHPGY]]) also participated in the round as a new investor. This is the first round of institutional … Continue reading “NeuroPhage Nets $12.4M to Tackle Alzheimer’s and Other Brain Disorders”
Agrivida, Developer of Cheap Biofuel Tech, Seeks Deals to Broaden Commercial Horizons
Agrivida scientists plan to be at an event this week supported by the U.S. Department of Energy in the Washington, DC, area, where the startup will show industry leaders its way of providing cheap sugar for making cellulosic biofuels and chemicals. The Medford, MA-based firm has been on somewhat of a roll as of late. … Continue reading “Agrivida, Developer of Cheap Biofuel Tech, Seeks Deals to Broaden Commercial Horizons”
Tippr’s Legal Intrigue, PhotoRocket’s Debut, Untangling Earmarks, and More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup
It lives! Now that Xconomy Seattle has a full-time tech writer again (yours truly), we’re bringing back a weekly roundup to help our far-too-busy readers catch up with what’s been on our minds and percolating in the Seattle-area scene lately. Highlights from the past week or so: —Tippr, the Seattle-based group-deals site that emphasizes its … Continue reading “Tippr’s Legal Intrigue, PhotoRocket’s Debut, Untangling Earmarks, and More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”
Mzinga Nabs New CEO, Alan Nugent, to Raise Its Game in Social Business Software
Some more activity is bubbling up in social software for businesses. Mzinga, a social software firm based in Waltham, MA, is announcing today it has hired a prominent techie, Alan Nugent, as its new CEO. He succeeds former chief executive Barry Libert, Mzinga’s co-founder and chairman. (Former co-CEO Rick Faulk left the company in 2009 … Continue reading “Mzinga Nabs New CEO, Alan Nugent, to Raise Its Game in Social Business Software”
Plexxikon, Creator of Hot Melanoma Drug, Bought by Daiichi Sankyo for $805M Upfront
Plexxikon, one of the Bay Area’s breakout biotech success stories of the past year, has concluded with a happy ending. The Berkeley, CA-based cancer drug developer said today it has agreed to be acquired by Japan-based Daiichi Sankyo for $805 million upfront, plus another $130 million in potential milestone payments that could bring the final … Continue reading “Plexxikon, Creator of Hot Melanoma Drug, Bought by Daiichi Sankyo for $805M Upfront”
Verenium Names New CEO as it Consolidates in San Diego
Verenium (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRNM]]), the biofuels developer that sold its cellulosic biofuels business to BP last summer, says CEO Carlos Riva plans to retire at the end of March, as the Cambridge, MA-based company consolidates its operations in San Diego. In a statement today, Verenium says Executive VP and CFO James Levine will succeed Riva as … Continue reading “Verenium Names New CEO as it Consolidates in San Diego”
Google, Khosla Money Rains on WeatherBill, A Startup Actually Doing Something About the Weather
You don’t often hear the words “technology” and “insurance” in the same sentence. But at a press event today, a high-tech weather insurance startup called WeatherBill announced that it has received a big infusion of Series B cash from some serious Silicon Valley investors, including Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures, for its automated system of reimbursing … Continue reading “Google, Khosla Money Rains on WeatherBill, A Startup Actually Doing Something About the Weather”
Former RealNetworks Leaders Jump Into Non-Creepy Video Chat Arena With SocialEyes
Another company trying to leapfrog the inappropriate-lurker element of online video chat is starting its public beta test today at the DEMO conference in Palm Desert, CA. SocialEyes, a new San Francisco-based startup, is led by a couple very familiar names here in Seattle’s tech scene. The chairman is Rob Glaser and the chief executive … Continue reading “Former RealNetworks Leaders Jump Into Non-Creepy Video Chat Arena With SocialEyes”
CriticalMass, a Venture-Backed Co-Working Space for Startups, to Open at CIC
Boston has MassChallenge. Now Cambridge has CriticalMass. If nothing else, this will help fan the flames of the budding Boston-Cambridge startup incubator/real estate rivalry. (OK, we’ll keep an eye on New York and Silicon Valley, too.) The New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) and five Boston-area VC firms have banded together to organize what they … Continue reading “CriticalMass, a Venture-Backed Co-Working Space for Startups, to Open at CIC”
Box.net Nabs $48M, BookRenter Books $40M, Transphorm Absorbs $20M, & More Bay Area BizTech News
Even though last week was a short one thanks to the Presidents’ Day holiday, there was a storm of tech news in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a few major funding announcements taking top billing. Alas, hopes for a different kind of storm didn’t pan out—snow reached only the uppermost elevations in San Francisco … Continue reading “Box.net Nabs $48M, BookRenter Books $40M, Transphorm Absorbs $20M, & More Bay Area BizTech News”
New Crimson Hexagon CEO Looking to Expand Analytics Services to Mobile, Target Life Sciences and Financial Services Clients
Cambridge, MA-based Crimson Hexagon is looking to new leadership to find additional markets for its sentiment analysis technology, which is designed to help companies get a better understanding of what’s being said about them in real-time on the Web. On Wednesday, the 15-person company announced it had brought on a new president and CEO, Patricia … Continue reading “New Crimson Hexagon CEO Looking to Expand Analytics Services to Mobile, Target Life Sciences and Financial Services Clients”
CHiL Semiconductor Acquired for $75M by International Rectifier
OK, this deal wins the award for clunkiest company names—but it’s an important exit for a Boston-area startup in a tough market. CHiL Semiconductor, based in Tewksbury, MA, confirmed today it is being acquired by International Rectifier (NYSE: [[ticker:IRF]]), based in the Los Angeles area, for $75 million in cash. The deal is expected to … Continue reading “CHiL Semiconductor Acquired for $75M by International Rectifier”
Software Company Valuations Are Rising, Michael Robertson Launches DAR.fm, & More San Diego BizTech News
What started as a quiet week for San Diego technology news got busy at the end. We wrapped it all up for you here. —San Diego’s Software Equity Group released its annual software industry equity report, showing the annual median valuation of 161 companies in its main index at the highest valuation since 2007—2.3 times … Continue reading “Software Company Valuations Are Rising, Michael Robertson Launches DAR.fm, & More San Diego BizTech News”
What Happened to the Smart Cars? Ford’s Efforts to Impress NYT Columnist Evidently Fall Short
Ford wants to build “smart” cars that can communicate with each other and the road to boost safety, an aim we can all presumably get behind. But when it comes to cars facilitating human to human communication…well, that’s another story. In her Sunday column, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd said she feared that Ford’s … Continue reading “What Happened to the Smart Cars? Ford’s Efforts to Impress NYT Columnist Evidently Fall Short”
Big Pharma’s Hardball Tactics Won’t Kill Biotech, But They Could Kill Off Some Pharmas
Few people in biotech have the guts to stir the pot the way Kevin Kinsella did in an interview with Xconomy’s Bruce Bigelow earlier this month. Kinsella, a venture capitalist with a 30-year track record of biotech investing, delivered a blistering analysis of what he sees as the pharmaceutical industry’s bad-faith negotiating habits, predatory behavior, … Continue reading “Big Pharma’s Hardball Tactics Won’t Kill Biotech, But They Could Kill Off Some Pharmas”
LawPivot: The Google-Backed, One-Stop Shop for Startup Legal Advice
For startups, getting good legal advice can be costly and time-consuming. And for new lawyers, building up a client list also takes a big time commitment. Now there’s a Web Q&A site backed by Google Ventures that aims to solve both problems at once. It’s called LawPivot, and it recently set up shop right on … Continue reading “LawPivot: The Google-Backed, One-Stop Shop for Startup Legal Advice”
PhotoRocket, Led by Amazon and aQuantive Vet Scott Lipsky, Uncloaks its “Not Another Photo Sharing Service”
Sharing your latest digital snapshots with family, friends, coworkers and the rest of the world is nothing new. But Scott Lipsky, a veteran of some of Seattle’s biggest tech success stories, thinks it’s still way too annoying. His proposed cure is PhotoRocket, the startup photo-sharing utility that’s finally making its full public debut at Monday’s … Continue reading “PhotoRocket, Led by Amazon and aQuantive Vet Scott Lipsky, Uncloaks its “Not Another Photo Sharing Service””
Swipely Shifts Social Shopping Business, Turning Credit Cards Into Loyalty Cards
Providence, RI-based Swipely is announcing today that it’s making a move in how its technology enables consumers to interact with their credit cards. Last summer the startup launched a service that allowed consumers to tell their social networks about and review the purchases they made on their credit and debit cards, but CEO and founder … Continue reading “Swipely Shifts Social Shopping Business, Turning Credit Cards Into Loyalty Cards”
CardioFocus Finds $30.6M for Atrial Fibrillation Treatment
[Updated—03/01/11, 8:30 am ET] Investors have been getting behind a Marlborough, MA-based firm that is working on a potentially better way to treat an irregular heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation. CardioFocus has raised $30.6 million in private financing, according to a press release. CardioFocus says that the round included new investors First Alliance & … Continue reading “CardioFocus Finds $30.6M for Atrial Fibrillation Treatment”
Terry Cross: Michigan Needs to Break Down Its Proverbial Silos
It’s Oscar weekend folks! Come Sunday, we’ll know if a stammering King outshines a boozy U.S. Marshal or whether a crazy ballerina edges out a lesbian mother. God, I love the movies! But one actor won’t be taking home any hardware because…well, he wasn’t nominated. And that’s a damn shame because he was really good, … Continue reading “Terry Cross: Michigan Needs to Break Down Its Proverbial Silos”
Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future-Part Two
To me, one thing seems pretty clear: the changes wrought over the coming 10 years by mobile devices are going to be even more far-reaching than those we’ve seen over the past 20 years from desktop and laptop PCs. The shifts in the ways we communicate, learn, shop, travel, and do business might not be … Continue reading “Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future-Part Two”
San Diego’s Software Equity Group Sees Software M&A Deals Ramping Up in 2011
The way some people talk, the annual report from the Software Equity Group is the software industry’s equivalent to “The Baseball Abstract,” the wildly popular report on hitting, pitching, and fielding statistics that Bill James began publishing in Kansas 34 years ago. “Nobody else comes close to capturing the trends and transactions in the software … Continue reading “San Diego’s Software Equity Group Sees Software M&A Deals Ramping Up in 2011”
ImmunoGen CEO Highlights Two New Souped-Up Antibodies Against Cancer
ImmunoGen, in the eyes of Wall Street, is largely defined by one thing—its relationship with industry giant Genentech. That’s because Genentech uses ImmunoGen’s technology to help amp up the antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin) into a more potent breast cancer drug called T-DM1, which has shown significant promise in clinical trials. Yet ImmunoGen chief executive Daniel Junius … Continue reading “ImmunoGen CEO Highlights Two New Souped-Up Antibodies Against Cancer”
Gilead Bets $600M on Cancer, Genentech Gets a Hearing, Jennerex Shows Early Survival Edge, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News
This week we covered a lot of news about cancer, and some of it came from a surprising new source. —Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]), the Foster City, CA-based company that made its name with drugs that turn HIV into a chronic disease, has placed a big new bet for the future on cancer and inflammation. … Continue reading “Gilead Bets $600M on Cancer, Genentech Gets a Hearing, Jennerex Shows Early Survival Edge, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News”
Vertex, Heartland Moves Call Attention To Boston-Cambridge Rivalry
Boston has been vocal about its intent to transform its Seaport District into an “innovation district” for fueling job creation and attracting cutting-edge companies. Just last month, the city’s odds of making this vision a reality seem to improve, with the news that two Cambridge, MA-based companies—Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) and Heartland Robotics—would be relocating … Continue reading “Vertex, Heartland Moves Call Attention To Boston-Cambridge Rivalry”
Quanterix Partners With Novartis, Athenahealth and Microsoft Sync Up, Vertex Nails Clinical Trial, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
—Cambridge, MA-based Quanterix partnered up with Novartis Diagnostics, the unit of healthcare giant Novartis that tests the safety of 80 percent of the U.S. blood supply. Novartis will run tests to see how effective Quanterix’s device is at pinpointing a protein biomarker in the blood that is linked to an undisclosed neurological disorder. Terms of … Continue reading “Quanterix Partners With Novartis, Athenahealth and Microsoft Sync Up, Vertex Nails Clinical Trial, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
DocuSign, Isilon, Swype and More Take Honors at WTIA Industry Achievement Awards
Hundreds of techies braved Seattle’s latest snowpocalypse for one of the community’s biggest shindigs: The Washington Technology Industry Association‘s Industry Achievement Awards. If there was a theme to Thursday’s speeches, I’d say it was a rousing round of yay-Seattle encouragement for other entrepreneurs to start their companies here—which I guess is kind of the point, … Continue reading “DocuSign, Isilon, Swype and More Take Honors at WTIA Industry Achievement Awards”
Lycera Plows Ahead With Drugs To Treat Autoimmune Disorders
Lycera has taken a significant step forward in commercializing an oral drug to treat autoimmune disorders. The Plymouth, MI-based pharmaceutical startup, a spinoff from the University of Michigan, recently released results from a study that suggested its compound can selectively silence diseased white blood cells while leaving healthy ones intact. The results were published in … Continue reading “Lycera Plows Ahead With Drugs To Treat Autoimmune Disorders”
Obama’s Earmark Ban Could Ripple Through Northwest Makers of Vaccines, Biofuels, Clean Water Technology
When most people hear the word “earmark,” they probably think of a bridge to nowhere, gilded Pentagon plumbing fixtures, or a dubious construction project in some fat-cat congressman’s hometown. But federal earmarks can also fuel innovative research and development in life sciences, high tech, and clean energy—at least, they could until President Obama vowed to … Continue reading “Obama’s Earmark Ban Could Ripple Through Northwest Makers of Vaccines, Biofuels, Clean Water Technology”
Gearing Up for Mobile Madness on March 9: Top Themes to Watch
Mobile is becoming redundant: in technology, everything is mobile. It’s not just location-based services, or devices, or advertising—it’s networks, consumer Web apps, business software, social commerce, human-computer interfaces, you name it. Every company and every tech entrepreneur is touched by this revolution. That’s part of why the future of mobile is so exciting—and so very … Continue reading “Gearing Up for Mobile Madness on March 9: Top Themes to Watch”
Room 77 Helps Travelers Pick the Best Hotel Rooms—And Get Virtual Peek Out the Windows
Why can people planning trips online “see every cabin on a cruise ship and every seat on a plane, but not every room in a hotel?” That was the rhetorical question posed to me yesterday by Kevin Fliess, an Internet travel industry veteran. The basic answer, of course, is that hotel chains use antiquated reservations … Continue reading “Room 77 Helps Travelers Pick the Best Hotel Rooms—And Get Virtual Peek Out the Windows”
Avalon’s Kinsella Upbraids Big Pharma, Scripps Names Marletta to Succeed Lerner, CalciMedica Scores $6M, & More San Diego Life Science News
We had some big names and big news out of San Diego’s life sciences community over the past week. Our roundup is here. —Avalon Ventures founder Kevin Kinsella unleashed a scathing critique of some shortsighted and mercenary business tactics he says he’s encountered in dealing with pharmaceutical companies, which have him questioning the longtime partnership … Continue reading “Avalon’s Kinsella Upbraids Big Pharma, Scripps Names Marletta to Succeed Lerner, CalciMedica Scores $6M, & More San Diego Life Science News”
Get Set for Michigan 2031: Xconomy’s First Detroit Event to Examine State’s Innovation Landscape 20 Years Ahead
Michigan may be many things, but lazy isn’t one of them. A prominent investor told me the other week that the state boasts an incredible work ethic, one that rivals the frenetic pace of Silicon Valley. Given the automobile industry’s long decline, the state has made several bets on its economic future: clean energy and … Continue reading “Get Set for Michigan 2031: Xconomy’s First Detroit Event to Examine State’s Innovation Landscape 20 Years Ahead”
Investors Bet Big on Box.net with $48M Round
Box.net may just have shattered the notion that you can build a successful Web 2.0 company without much capital. Aiming to redouble its already startling growth rate, the Palo Alto, CA-based online document sharing startup said today that it has collected a whopping $38 million in Series D funding from six top Silicon Valley venture … Continue reading “Investors Bet Big on Box.net with $48M Round”
Metamark, Stealthy Startup with Dana-Farber Roots, Seeks to Tell Docs When to Treat Prostate Cancer, and When Not
Metamark Genetics has graduated from stealth mode. Now the Cambridge, MA-based startup, founded by top scientists at Harvard University and elsewhere, has hired a diagnostics industry veteran as its chief executive, and set a public goal for releasing a product that could change the way physicians decide how to treat prostate cancer in its early … Continue reading “Metamark, Stealthy Startup with Dana-Farber Roots, Seeks to Tell Docs When to Treat Prostate Cancer, and When Not”
Gilead Wagers $600M on Calistoga, Dendreon Scopes New Digs, Physio to Spin Off, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
This week’s news flow was dominated by a pretty rare event—a lucrative acquisition of a Seattle-based, venture-backed biotech company. —Calistoga Pharmaceuticals hit the jackpot this week, as it agreed to be acquired by Foster City, CA-based Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]) for as much as $600 million if certain milestones are reached. The deal is interesting … Continue reading “Gilead Wagers $600M on Calistoga, Dendreon Scopes New Digs, Physio to Spin Off, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
The Changing Face of Boston VC: A Chat With NextView Ventures’ David Beisel
I have glimpsed the future of Boston venture capital—one possible future, anyway—and it looks a bit like David Beisel. He’s kind of an unassuming guy, but those are the ones you have to watch because they can make big things happen. Traditional VCs might scoff at the notion that so-called micro-VCs or “super angels”—earlier-stage, smaller … Continue reading “The Changing Face of Boston VC: A Chat With NextView Ventures’ David Beisel”
Tippr Gets Injunction for Alleged Trade Secret Theft by BuyWithMe, Also Launches Patent Lawsuit
Kashless, the parent of Seattle-based group deals site Tippr, is accusing New York- and Boston-based BuyWithMe of improperly obtaining insider information from a Tippr employee in a civil lawsuit filed in Seattle. Kashless’s lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, alleges that BuyWithMe founder Andrew Moss successfully solicited financial information from a Tippr salesman, Andrew … Continue reading “Tippr Gets Injunction for Alleged Trade Secret Theft by BuyWithMe, Also Launches Patent Lawsuit”
Mobile World Congress 2011 Wrap-up: Competition Intensifies for Operators
Last week I attended Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, along with 60,000 other attendees—a new record according to the GSM Association. While mobile is obviously hot, the consensus was that there was a dearth of big, industry-moving announcements, partly because of all the news at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, but also … Continue reading “Mobile World Congress 2011 Wrap-up: Competition Intensifies for Operators”
Help Wanted in Michigan: Immigrants Need Apply
Following a speech last week, six students approached Thomas Zurbuchen, associate dean of entrepreneurial programs at the University of Michigan, to ask him a few follow up questions Of that six, four were foreign nationals, a ratio that is typical of entrepreneurship related classes, he says. But Zurbuchen, an American citizen originally from Switzerland, these … Continue reading “Help Wanted in Michigan: Immigrants Need Apply”
Google Ventures Leads $20M Round for Transphorm to Battle “Hidden Tax” in Power Conversion
There’s a hidden tax when you pay your electricity bill, says Umesh Mishra, a professor in the college of engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It’s the energy lost when power is converted from the alternating current coming out of a wall socket to the direct current needed by computers, TVs, and other … Continue reading “Google Ventures Leads $20M Round for Transphorm to Battle “Hidden Tax” in Power Conversion”
Xconomy’s VC65: Celebrating the 65th Anniversary of Venture Capital in America
Venture Capital in America: 65 Years of Funding Entrepreneurs and Innovation The venture capital industry in the United States was born as a professional activity in June of 1946 with the formation of American Research and Development in Boston by Harvard Business School professor General Georges Doriot. Since then, the industry has funded innovation and … Continue reading “Xconomy’s VC65: Celebrating the 65th Anniversary of Venture Capital in America”
New “Halo Report” to Track Angel Deals
A new quarterly research report on angel investment activity and trends in the United States and Canada is being launched later this year, providing a comprehensive overview of deals funded by angels and angel groups that was not previously available. “The Halo Report” is intended to raise awareness of early stage investment activities, according to … Continue reading “New “Halo Report” to Track Angel Deals”
Tech Coast Angels’ Deals Increased, Dollars Decreased, in 2010
Adding up the deals and dollars invested during 2010, Southern California’s Tech Coast Angels says it funded 31 startups last year, nearly 30 percent more than the 24 deals the network of individual investors did in 2009. But the amount of total invested capital the group raised for startups dropped by more than a third, … Continue reading “Tech Coast Angels’ Deals Increased, Dollars Decreased, in 2010”
iAMscientist, Backed by George Whitesides, Tries to Help Firms and Institutes Find Top Talent
If your name is Borya Shakhnovich, people tend to make assumptions about you. One, they don’t want to play you in competitive chess. Two, they wouldn’t be terribly surprised if you introduced yourself by saying something like, “I am scientist.” OK, I’m stereotyping here (a real time-saver, I know), but at least one of those … Continue reading “iAMscientist, Backed by George Whitesides, Tries to Help Firms and Institutes Find Top Talent”
BookRenter Takes In $40M, Seeks to Overtake Chegg in College Textbook Rentals
Spend very long talking with Mehdi Maghsoodnia, CEO of San Mateo, CA-based BookRenter, and you might start to think that he’s an economist running some kind of commodities trading floor. He speaks of making markets, taking positions on inventory, liquidation demand, microlending, and managing financial risk. He says things like “I am capturing dispersed demand … Continue reading “BookRenter Takes In $40M, Seeks to Overtake Chegg in College Textbook Rentals”
Vertex Nails Pivotal Study for Cystic Fibrosis, Racing Toward Market With Second Drug
Vertex Pharmaceuticals has been moving in this direction for a long time, but it can now say with confidence that it is on its way to shaking up the standard of care for not just one disease this year, but two. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]), which has operations in San Diego, is … Continue reading “Vertex Nails Pivotal Study for Cystic Fibrosis, Racing Toward Market With Second Drug”
Gilead Pursues Cancer, Inflammation as Next Step To Diversify Beyond HIV
Gilead Sciences has heard it all before—it has an awesome cash machine going in the HIV drug business, but it won’t last forever, and it has never really diversified well into other disease categories. Now, through its acquisition of Seattle-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals for as much as $600 million, Gilead is making clear that one of … Continue reading “Gilead Pursues Cancer, Inflammation as Next Step To Diversify Beyond HIV”