Google unveiled the results of its first state-by-state analysis of the company’s impact on regional economies at press events in 10 cities on Tuesday, including Cambridge, MA, Detroit, and Seattle. For the most part, Google measured the value it generates when local advertisers and Web publishers use its AdWords and AdSense platforms for Web advertising. … Continue reading “Google Touts Its Role, State by State, in U.S. Economic Growth”
Category: National
Creative Forces Robbie Bach, J Allard Leave Microsoft as Part of Exec Shakeup
Two longtime technology leaders are heading for the exits at Microsoft today. The Redmond, WA, company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) announced this morning, amid swirling rumors, that Entertainment and Devices president Robbie Bach is leaving the company this fall. Senior vice president of design and development J Allard is also stepping down from his role, and will … Continue reading “Creative Forces Robbie Bach, J Allard Leave Microsoft as Part of Exec Shakeup”
Microsoft Expands its “NERDy” Kendall Square R&D Presence to One Cambridge Center
Microsoft announced today that it will be taking over another chunk of Cambridge’s Kendall Square neighborhood this summer. The company said it will expand its New England Research & Development Center—affectionately known as NERD—by leasing another 113,000 square feet at One Cambridge Center, down the road from NERD’s One Memorial Drive location. The initial phase … Continue reading “Microsoft Expands its “NERDy” Kendall Square R&D Presence to One Cambridge Center”
Avila Therapeutics Strikes $209M Lung Cancer Deal with Clovis Oncology
Avila Therapeutics has a new target for its unique class of drugs—lung cancer. The Waltham, MA-based biotech startup has clinched a $209 million deal with Clovis Oncology for drugs against mutated tumors in the lungs, according to the companies. The companies are keeping a tight lid on the details of the deal, including how much … Continue reading “Avila Therapeutics Strikes $209M Lung Cancer Deal with Clovis Oncology”
Detroit Breast Cancer Imaging Company Delphinus Medical Gets $8M Investment
A decade of hard work is beginning to pay off for breast cancer researchers at Detroit’s Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, whose spinoff company, Delphinus Medical Technologies, announced last night it has attracted $8 million in venture capital to help bring its breast cancer imaging device to market. The lead investor is Arboretum Ventures of … Continue reading “Detroit Breast Cancer Imaging Company Delphinus Medical Gets $8M Investment”
UTest Tests Its Testers in Payday Snafu
Creating Web-based marketplaces for “crowdsourcing”—farming out digital piece-work to freelancers around the world—has been a hot business idea for the last half-decade. IStockphoto does it for stock images, TopCoder does it for enterprise software, Innocentive does it as a supplement to corporate R&D, and uTest does it for software quality assurance testing. But when push … Continue reading “UTest Tests Its Testers in Payday Snafu”
T2 Biosystems Nails Down $15M For Portable Diagnostic with the Punch of a Desktop
T2 Biosystems has been quiet for a while, but it’s making some noise today. The Cambridge, MA-based developer of a portable diagnostic machine has raised $15 million to carry on its quest for a diagnostic tool that that can beat workhorse laboratory machines on versatility, speed, and price. Physic Ventures led the round, which included … Continue reading “T2 Biosystems Nails Down $15M For Portable Diagnostic with the Punch of a Desktop”
PatientKeeper’s iPad App Lets Docs Juggle Tasks, Furthers Firm’s Mobile Ambitions
PatientKeeper has worked fast to make its physician software available on whichever smartphones or mobile devices doctors like to use. So it makes sense for the Newton, MA-based firm to expand its menu of mobile applications this month to the iPad, Apple’s hot new tablet computing device. The company develops software that automates a physician’s … Continue reading “PatientKeeper’s iPad App Lets Docs Juggle Tasks, Furthers Firm’s Mobile Ambitions”
Generating a Human Return on Investment: Three Young Scientists Pursue Dreams
Businesses have financial data to show how they are performing. Research centers can point to how their discoveries are cited by peers. But nonprofits seeking to benefit society? Hard data and accountability that goes with it can be elusive. That’s why what happened yesterday at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue was so impressive. The Northwest … Continue reading “Generating a Human Return on Investment: Three Young Scientists Pursue Dreams”
New England’s Lucky Seven: Under the Radar Startup Financings in April
What do an online music marketing service, a maker of a platform that helps employers target job ads to potential candidates based on what they read, and a developer of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease all have in common? They’re all New England companies that pulled in financings worth less than $1 million in April, or … Continue reading “New England’s Lucky Seven: Under the Radar Startup Financings in April”
Motorola Considers San Diego, Other Cities, for Mobile Spin Off Headquarters
Motorola (NYSE: [[ticker:MOT]]), the mobile communications technology giant based in Schaumburg, IL, is scouting sites in Chicago, Dallas, and California for the headquarters of its cell phone spinoff set for next year, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. San Diego is among the California cities under consideration, according to an interview with Motorola co-chief executive (and … Continue reading “Motorola Considers San Diego, Other Cities, for Mobile Spin Off Headquarters”
Tech Tidbits: Gist Vs. Smartsheet in Google Apps, Display Week Demos, and the Carried Interest Debate
It’s a good start to what promises to be a busy week in Seattle-area tech news. To get caught up, here’s a quick look at what’s been going on around town. —Display Week, the Society for Information Display conference, is going on in Seattle this week. No, the iPad has not put this show out … Continue reading “Tech Tidbits: Gist Vs. Smartsheet in Google Apps, Display Week Demos, and the Carried Interest Debate”
Five Companies Picked To Slug it Out for Ann Arbor SPARK Incubator Space
Five companies ranging in focus from fueling to family planning will have a chance to compete for $50,000 in business acceleration services and a one-year incubator lease at SPARK East in Ypsilanti, MI, on June 4. Business incubator Ann Arbor SPARK, which first announced the competition at the end of April, listed the finalists today. … Continue reading “Five Companies Picked To Slug it Out for Ann Arbor SPARK Incubator Space”
SoCal Angel Investing on Sluggish Pace as Investors Rethink Process
[Corrected 5/24/10, 4:05 pm. See below.] Angel investing in Southern California remained sluggish during the first quarter of 2010, although individual investors’ overall mood seems to be improving, according to Tech Coast Angels chairman Richard Sudek. “Last year was the worst year since our inception,” says Sudek, a Laguna Niguel, CA, resident who oversees the … Continue reading “SoCal Angel Investing on Sluggish Pace as Investors Rethink Process”
Free Copy of Jeff Bussgang’s ‘Mastering the VC Game’ for the Next 25 Purchasers of XSITE 2010 Tickets
Members of the Boston innovation community poured into the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center recently to celebrate the release of Mastering the VC Game, a book by Flybridge Capital Partners general partner Jeff Bussgang that shines a light on the inner workings of venture capital and details what it takes for entrepreneurs to … Continue reading “Free Copy of Jeff Bussgang’s ‘Mastering the VC Game’ for the Next 25 Purchasers of XSITE 2010 Tickets”
Scanning the World for Reliable Suppliers, Panjiva Seeks to Bring Order to a Messy Process
If you’re in an industry where you depend on suppliers from across the globe, searching the Web for a part or a collaborator isn’t exactly as easy as trying to figure out where you should eat dinner. Josh Green discovered this around 2005 when he was a Harvard Business School student interning at E Ink, … Continue reading “Scanning the World for Reliable Suppliers, Panjiva Seeks to Bring Order to a Messy Process”
What Can Detroit Do? Innovate, Collaborate, Reinvigorate
Fifty-five years ago, as a young boy growing up on the Mississippi Delta, I had never heard of Paris, France, but I knew all about Detroit, MI. My adult cousins, Melvin, Earl, and Mildred lived there. Detroit was their city of dreams and became, for us, a place of great possibilities. Detroit did not come … Continue reading “What Can Detroit Do? Innovate, Collaborate, Reinvigorate”
NormOxys Pockets $17.5M for Drugs Against Heart Failure, Cancer
NormOxys, the Wellesley, MA-based company on a quest to make a new class of drugs that normalize oxygen levels in deprived tissues, has raised $17.5 million in venture capital to run its first set of tests in people with chronic heart failure and cancer. The financing was led by a new investor, Princeton, NJ-based Care … Continue reading “NormOxys Pockets $17.5M for Drugs Against Heart Failure, Cancer”
Biofuels Consortium Targets Technical Hurdles, Legend Films Morphs Into Legend 3D, Fallbrook Technologies Adds Details to IPO Filing, & More San Diego BizTech News
Cleantech was the watchword of the week, with much of the news concerning algae-based biofuels and energy efficiency. Read on to get that and the rest of last week’s biztech news. —The new executive director of the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), José Olivares, outlined some of the technical challenges that must … Continue reading “Biofuels Consortium Targets Technical Hurdles, Legend Films Morphs Into Legend 3D, Fallbrook Technologies Adds Details to IPO Filing, & More San Diego BizTech News”
From Bootstrap to VC: Appature Doubles Size in a Year, Looks for Next Defining Moment in Health IT
What happens to a scrappy, profitable startup after it decides to take its first round of venture funding? Cynics might say the founders will give up too much control to venture capitalists, focus on growth while sacrificing profits, and try to make a splash in a bigger market before it’s ready. Seattle-based Appature would say … Continue reading “From Bootstrap to VC: Appature Doubles Size in a Year, Looks for Next Defining Moment in Health IT”
Mascoma’s Plan for Ethanol Plant in Michigan Likely Delayed, CEO Says
Lebanon, NH-based Mascoma has made strides with its process for producing ethanol from non-food plants such as wood chips and grass. Yet the firm is likely to delay the start of production at its first planned commercial facility, in northern Michigan, company CEO Bill Brady says. Mascoma had been aiming to open a plant in … Continue reading “Mascoma’s Plan for Ethanol Plant in Michigan Likely Delayed, CEO Says”
Biotech’s $1 Billion Tax Credits Are Up for Grabs! OK, Now Everybody Relax
The rules regarding the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Credit have now been released by the Treasury Department. You can read the fact sheet, and detailed description of the legislation yourself, but here are 10 key points I came away with after reading them. 1. The first thing that everyone can do is relax. In contrast … Continue reading “Biotech’s $1 Billion Tax Credits Are Up for Grabs! OK, Now Everybody Relax”
Logical Therapeutics Snags $10M to Make Pain Relievers Safer on the Gut
Logical Therapeutics has secured $10 million to pursue its idea for a safer way to relieve chronic arthritis pain. The Waltham, MA-based company has nailed down the $10 million out of a financing round that could be worth as much as $16.9 million over time, according to a regulatory filing today with the Securities and … Continue reading “Logical Therapeutics Snags $10M to Make Pain Relievers Safer on the Gut”
Biotech Entrepreneurs Offer Tips For Winning an SBIR—Including a Top 10 List of Dos and Don’ts
The latest organization to spring fully formed from the brow of San Diego’s Life Sciences community was not Athena, but the San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange, which Denise profiled in March when the SDEE was preparing to hold its first meeting. I’d guess close to 140 people turned out earlier this week for the group’s second … Continue reading “Biotech Entrepreneurs Offer Tips For Winning an SBIR—Including a Top 10 List of Dos and Don’ts”
Delphi, OnStar Work With Google and Others to Connect Your Smart Phone to Your Car
With everybody spending more time with their smart phones, and more time in their cars, it is only inevitable that Detroit-area automotive companies and suppliers would want to find a better way to join those two worlds. Delphi, the Troy, MI-based auto parts supplier, and OnStar, General Motors’ in-vehicle communications subsidiary, are both working with … Continue reading “Delphi, OnStar Work With Google and Others to Connect Your Smart Phone to Your Car”
How Will Microsoft Become a Top Player in Health IT? Through Partnerships, Providers, and Pluck, Says GM Michael Raymer
If you talk to doctors and healthcare companies, you’ll hear a fair bit of skepticism about whether Microsoft will ever amount to much of a major force in health technology. Of course, Microsoft is plenty used to skepticism. Crushing it, that is. That’s why the Redmond, WA, software company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) has been seriously ramping … Continue reading “How Will Microsoft Become a Top Player in Health IT? Through Partnerships, Providers, and Pluck, Says GM Michael Raymer”
Putting My iPad’s Geocaching App to the Test, on a Vlog in the Woods
Today’s column is in video form, which is a first for me. I was out hiking with my dog Rhody in the Blue Hills Reservation south of Boston last weekend when a few realizations hit me at once. 1) I had my 3G iPad with me 2) I had my camera with me 3) I … Continue reading “Putting My iPad’s Geocaching App to the Test, on a Vlog in the Woods”
Who Needs VCs? Steven Quay’s Atossa Genetics Seeks Fast IPO For Breast Cancer Test
Most biotech firms toil as obscure private companies for years to prove their ideas work in the clinic. They have to hustle non-stop for venture capital to keep the doors open just long enough to someday cash out with an IPO. Steven Quay is betting he’s found a shortcut. Quay, the veteran Seattle biotech CEO, … Continue reading “Who Needs VCs? Steven Quay’s Atossa Genetics Seeks Fast IPO For Breast Cancer Test”
Vertex Awaits Results of Hepatitis C Drug Trial, Helicos and Pfizer Cut Jobs, St. Jude Acquires LightLab, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
Looks like life sciences companies reclaimed their territory in our headlines this week. We saw news of funding deals, acquisitions, and layoffs, and profiles on drugmakers and device developers. —Rockland, MA-based BioSphere Medical (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BSMD]]), which makes bio-engineered microspheres to be injected to cut off the blood supply to tumors, vascular malformations, and uterine fibroids, … Continue reading “Vertex Awaits Results of Hepatitis C Drug Trial, Helicos and Pfizer Cut Jobs, St. Jude Acquires LightLab, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Pathway Genomics’ Marketing Plan for Genetic Tests Draws More Heat
Pathway Genomics’ plan to take genetic testing to the people continues to go badly awry. A House panel disclosed yesterday that it is investigating personal genetic tests sold over the Internet by San Diego-based Pathway and two other companies. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., sent the companies letters seeking information about the accuracy of the tests … Continue reading “Pathway Genomics’ Marketing Plan for Genetic Tests Draws More Heat”
LightLab, Medical Imager with MIT Roots, Bought by St. Jude for $90M
It’s been a big two days for LightLab Imaging. Good Morning America featured the Westford, MA, firm’s coronary imaging technology on national television today. And St. Jude Medical, the cardiac devices powerhouse, revealed late yesterday that it has bought the small firm for about $90 million in cash. St. Paul, MN-based St. Jude (NYSE:[[ticker:STJ]]) is … Continue reading “LightLab, Medical Imager with MIT Roots, Bought by St. Jude for $90M”
Mocospace Moves Beyond Feature Phones, Launching Android and iPhone Apps for Mobile Social Networking
Boston-based Mocospace, proprietor of one of the country’s largest mobile social networking services, has long kept its focus on users of feature phones—meaning cell phones that can connect to the Internet via built-in Web browsers but that don’t run separate apps. Now, in a major change of tactics, the company has launched Mocospace apps for … Continue reading “Mocospace Moves Beyond Feature Phones, Launching Android and iPhone Apps for Mobile Social Networking”
Seventh Sense, Rox Anderson and Bob Langer Startup, Seeks to Collect Blood With No Pain
Seventh Sense Biosystems wants to remove some of the hassle, expense, and pain of collecting blood for medical tests. The secretive startup has recently begun talks with major healthcare companies about its technology, which includes a device for collecting blood samples that almost anyone ought to be able to use without causing pain, says Doug … Continue reading “Seventh Sense, Rox Anderson and Bob Langer Startup, Seeks to Collect Blood With No Pain”
Halozyme Announces Recall, Pathway Genomics Halts Genetic Test Kit Rollout, Vertex Gets Ready for Hepatitis C Results, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
April was a dry month for life sciences news, but May has been roaring with Halozyme’s product recall, Pathway Genomics’ aborted sales plan, and funding news—lots of funding news. Your Xconomy life sciences briefing begins now. —San Diego’s Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HALO]]) and its manufacturing partner, Baxter Healthcare, announced that they are voluntarily recalling Hylenex, … Continue reading “Halozyme Announces Recall, Pathway Genomics Halts Genetic Test Kit Rollout, Vertex Gets Ready for Hepatitis C Results, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
InsideTrip Goes Mainstream, Rates Itinerary Quality, Provides Broad Lessons in Online Travel
Think about the last time you flew anywhere. How would you rate the overall experience? Unless you’re a bird, there were probably things that could have been a lot better—legroom, connection time, delays, quality of service, and so on. In fact, the general level of misery in air travel feels like it’s always going up. … Continue reading “InsideTrip Goes Mainstream, Rates Itinerary Quality, Provides Broad Lessons in Online Travel”
How to Make Money from Saving Energy: Tales of Innovation at the SDG&E Energy Showcase
Conservation is a big deal in California. While per capita energy usage has climbed approximately 50 percent from 1975 to 2005, according to presentations by former California Energy Commissioner Arthur Rosenfeld, California managed to keep the growth of energy consumption at about 2 percent per capita over the same period—largely by requiring aggressive energy conservation … Continue reading “How to Make Money from Saving Energy: Tales of Innovation at the SDG&E Energy Showcase”
Alder’s Long-Awaited Arthritis Data, Ikaria Plots $200M IPO, Emerald’s Resurrection, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Get ready for a double-dose of your usual Seattle biotech roundup, as I was too slammed to give you the regular weekly shot of news last Thursday. —Six months after Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) wrote a big check to Bothell, WA-based Alder Biopharmaceuticals, we can see why. Xconomy had the exclusive on how ALD518 generated … Continue reading “Alder’s Long-Awaited Arthritis Data, Ikaria Plots $200M IPO, Emerald’s Resurrection, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Just For Women: Pixability’s Bettina Hein Crafts Boston-Area Network for Female CEOs
When Bettina Hein ran a tech company in Europe, about one out of 100 executives she met were women. “It was so exotic for me to be a female entrepreneur in technology,” she says. The CEO of Cambridge, MA-based Pixability, a startup that makes low-cost marketing videos for businesses, said she was encouraged that there … Continue reading “Just For Women: Pixability’s Bettina Hein Crafts Boston-Area Network for Female CEOs”
Without a Thriving Detroit, Michigan Cannot Catch that Train to Prosperity
When I attended Wayne State University in Detroit back in the mid-’80s, scattered around downtown Detroit were white pillars that supported… nothing. They looked as though they were part of a kind of ancient Roman ruin—but these pillars were brand new. They were the beginnings of Detroit’s People Mover, a raised monorail that was to … Continue reading “Without a Thriving Detroit, Michigan Cannot Catch that Train to Prosperity”
MicroGreen Polymers Raises $6.9M More to Move Fast Into Consumer Products
Score one for materials science. Arlington, WA-based MicroGreen Polymers said today it has raised $6.9 million in Series B funding, including a new strategic investment from Waste Management (NYSE: [[ticker:WM]]), based in Houston, TX. Existing investors WRF Capital, Northwest Energy Angels, and other private investors also participated. MicroGreen says the money will be used to … Continue reading “MicroGreen Polymers Raises $6.9M More to Move Fast Into Consumer Products”
Arsenal Medical, Startup Linked to Langer and Whitesides, Adds $10M
Arsenal Medical, a stealthy biotech startup based in Watertown, MA, has tapped its existing base of investors to pump in another $10 million in the second installment of its Series C round of funding, R. Scott Rader, the company’s CEO, says. The financing, which was initially revealed in an SEC filing that went online yesterday, … Continue reading “Arsenal Medical, Startup Linked to Langer and Whitesides, Adds $10M”
Three Survival Strategies for Young Companies (Plus a Stock Tip) from the Startup Predictor
Thomas Thurston usually charges big bucks for a consultation like the one he gave me this week. But you’re getting it for free here. Of course, maybe it’s a freebie that will make you seek him out for more information. Either way, consider yourself lucky. I do. Thurston is the founder of Growth Science International, … Continue reading “Three Survival Strategies for Young Companies (Plus a Stock Tip) from the Startup Predictor”
Calling All Innovators: Strut Your Company’s Stuff in Xconomy’s June 17 XSITE Xpo
Attention tech entrepreneurs: We’re looking for a few good startups to tell their stories during the climactic “Xpo” segment of the Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (XSITE) at Babson College on June 17. What’s the Xpo? Well, if XSITE were an elegant, absorbing, tightly woven sentence about the work high-tech innovators in New … Continue reading “Calling All Innovators: Strut Your Company’s Stuff in Xconomy’s June 17 XSITE Xpo”
Scripps Chemistry Idea “Clicks” With Big Pharma, Seattle’s Integrated Diagnostics
One of the Nobel Prize winners at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego has been saying for a decade that chemists would be better off doing the simple thing instead of the hard thing. Now quite a few of the world’s top academic scientists and Big Pharma companies are starting to adopt K. Barry … Continue reading “Scripps Chemistry Idea “Clicks” With Big Pharma, Seattle’s Integrated Diagnostics”
Zeo, Maker of Personal Sleep Tracker, Hunting for More Regis Philbin Magic
When celebrity Regis Philbin talked up the benefits of Zeo’s sleep tracking device on his TV show last June, the Newton, MA-based startup sold more than 1,000 units within three days, says Dave Dickinson, the firm’s CEO. Zeo, founded as Axon Labs in 2003 by three Brown University students, is nearly a year into marketing … Continue reading “Zeo, Maker of Personal Sleep Tracker, Hunting for More Regis Philbin Magic”
Biogen Idec Grant Sends San Diego’s Aspiring Biotech Rock Stars Into Local Schools
In a move that borrows a page from Intel’s “Rock Stars of Engineering” advertising campaign, a San Diego non-profit group is organizing a program that will bring the aspiring rock stars of San Diego’s life sciences industry into local classrooms. The pilot program, funded by a $100,000 grant from the Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec Foundation, … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Grant Sends San Diego’s Aspiring Biotech Rock Stars Into Local Schools”
C-Crete Wins $100K, BioSphere and Double-Take Get Taken Out, General Compression Adds to Series A, & More Boston-Area Deals News
We saw a mix of headlines on early funding rounds, business plan competitions, and acquisitions from startups in the software, mobile hardware, Internet, energy, and biotech sectors. —Cambridge, MA-based Sand 9, a maker of tiny timer and frequency control technology for wireless devices, said it secured a $12 million Series B financing, led by new … Continue reading “C-Crete Wins $100K, BioSphere and Double-Take Get Taken Out, General Compression Adds to Series A, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
San Diego’s Celula Gets $15M for Molecular Diagnostics
[Clarification 5/19/10 11:00 am. See below.] Celula, a molecular diagnostic startup founded in San Diego five years ago, has raised $15 million in a secondary round of venture funding led by Palo Alto, CA-based Skyline Ventures, according to a VentureWire report today. Celula’s top executives did not return a call this afternoon seeking to confirm … Continue reading “San Diego’s Celula Gets $15M for Molecular Diagnostics”
Where Are All the Freakin’ Seattle-Area Deals?
I don’t know, maybe all this event planning (and attending) is taking away from the deal flow in the Northwest, especially in the tech industry. There hasn’t been much in the way of new company financings or acquisitions in the past week or two. But it’s probably the calm before the storm… —Seattle’s Institute for … Continue reading “Where Are All the Freakin’ Seattle-Area Deals?”
Michigan’s EcoMotors Set to Get $18M to Develop Efficient Gas, Diesel Engines
Reports of the impending death of the internal combustion engine may have been greatly exaggerated if Troy, MI-based EcoMotors International has anything to say about it. A large Chinese auto supplier and a partner in Michigan have signed a letter of intent to throw $18 million at EcoMotors in return for prototypes of what the … Continue reading “Michigan’s EcoMotors Set to Get $18M to Develop Efficient Gas, Diesel Engines”