Adriane Brown was the CEO of Honeywell Transportation Systems, based in the Los Angeles area, when she got a call from a headhunter last year. The next thing she knew, she was talking with Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue, WA, company focused on the business of invention. One thing led to another, and Brown is now … Continue reading “Intellectual Ventures President Adriane Brown on Global Impact, Benefits of Being Uncomfortable, and “Positive Change Through People””
Category: National
Sanofi-Aventis Backs Mass Life Sciences Center, Redline Raises $7.45M, Swipely Launches with $7.5M, & More Boston-Area Deals News
We saw a few contributions in the life sciences sector, but for the most part, Internet and software companies have been dominating with deals headlines in the last week. —Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARIA]]) got $69 million in cash from Merck, for revising a 2007 agreement with a unit of the drug giant. The revisions give … Continue reading “Sanofi-Aventis Backs Mass Life Sciences Center, Redline Raises $7.45M, Swipely Launches with $7.5M, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Capital Climate Is Mean In Michigan, VCs Say at Symposium, But We’re Used to Dealing With Bad Weather
Only in Michigan can you take some pretty dismal-sounding numbers and make them sound like a good thing. That’s what’s happening now at the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium taking place in Ypsilanti, MI—the 29th annual meet-up of Michigan entrepreneurs and potential funders. The theme here, broadly speaking, is that, yes, Michigan may be near the … Continue reading “Capital Climate Is Mean In Michigan, VCs Say at Symposium, But We’re Used to Dealing With Bad Weather”
Michigan as the Distribution and Logistics Hub of the Midwest
It strikes me that Michigan could be in a terrific position to become the next major distribution and logistics-type hub in the Midwest. —There is a looming shortage of hourly direct labor around the country prepared to work at the $12-15/hr warehouse functions. —Seems Michigan would have an abundant direct labor force and access to … Continue reading “Michigan as the Distribution and Logistics Hub of the Midwest”
Sand 9 Finds $12M to Improve Wireless Devices
Sand 9 has secured enough venture capital to grow from a pre-revenue startup to—if all goes as planned—a profitable company, Vince Graziani, the firm’s CEO, says. His Cambridge-based startup, a developer of tiny timer and frequency control technology for wireless devices, has raised $12 million in a Series B round of funding led by a … Continue reading “Sand 9 Finds $12M to Improve Wireless Devices”
Is the Venture Model Really Broken?
Proclaiming the venture model broken is in vogue. The lingering aftereffects of the Internet bubble have cast a shadow over the industry for a decade now; and while venture capital has consistently outperformed most equity asset classes for years, recent returns have not lived up to historical norms. Despite the grim headlines, there are signs … Continue reading “Is the Venture Model Really Broken?”
Bobber Interactive Looks to Make Financial Services More Social and “Gamified” for Teens
Video games have become so pervasive that I’m starting to hear entrepreneurs and investors talk about the “gamification” of websites and online services. This is a big emerging trend that’s all about making sites social, interactive, and goal-oriented. It’s being touted as a long-awaited way to make money from social networks. Now a small team … Continue reading “Bobber Interactive Looks to Make Financial Services More Social and “Gamified” for Teens”
Tippr Expands to 10 Cities, Takes on Groupon in Social Buying Online
Tippr vs. Groupon. It sounds like a mismatch on paper. Groupon is the Chicago-based goliath of online “group buying” that seemingly came out of nowhere to raise $135 million last month at a company valuation north of $1 billion; at last count, it had some 270 employees. Tippr is the Seattle-based social discount voucher site … Continue reading “Tippr Expands to 10 Cities, Takes on Groupon in Social Buying Online”
Sotera Wireless Prepares to Take Pulse of Market for Vital-Signs Device
As representatives of the emerging mobile health industry convene for their annual summit today in La Jolla, it seemed both timely and appropriate to revisit San Diego-based Sotera Wireless. The company, which was founded six years ago as Triage Wireless, jumped onto our radar screen in April after the medical device company successfully raised nearly … Continue reading “Sotera Wireless Prepares to Take Pulse of Market for Vital-Signs Device”
Five Things Entrepreneurs and Innovators Can Do To Invigorate Michigan’s Economy
1. Focus on areas of competitive advantage such as Michigan’s global leadership in the automotive industry where innovation in transportation, energy, software and materials can take advantage of existing technologies, market know-how, industry talent and potential investment synergies. 2. Establish a local venture and/or angel fund community in Michigan to scout the local deal flow … Continue reading “Five Things Entrepreneurs and Innovators Can Do To Invigorate Michigan’s Economy”
Enterprise Mobile, with Microsoft’s Blessing, Moves Beyond Windows Phones
I’m going to start this article in a way that’s pretty unfair to Mort Rosenthal—the founding CEO of Enterprise Mobile in Watertown, MA—by referring to some things Rosenthal told me back in early 2008 about the leading smartphone platforms. At the time, Enterprise Mobile was just setting out on its mission to help big companies … Continue reading “Enterprise Mobile, with Microsoft’s Blessing, Moves Beyond Windows Phones”
Will People Bid Online for a Nose Job Just Like an Airline Ticket? PriceDoc Thinks So
If PriceDoc has its way, masses of people will go online to bid for routine medical and dental procedures a lot like airline tickets. Find a doc near your house. Agree on the price for a nose job. Pay the doc in cash. This is a simple idea with appeal to many doctors and patients, … Continue reading “Will People Bid Online for a Nose Job Just Like an Airline Ticket? PriceDoc Thinks So”
Pathway Genomics to Sell Over-the-Counter Genetic Test This Week
San Diego’s Pathway Genomics, which announced plans last July to offer consumers a personal genome test for $250, says it will begin selling its genetic test this week at about 80 percent of Walgreens stores nationwide, according to a front page story in today’s Washington Post. “We believe the market is ready for this,” Jim … Continue reading “Pathway Genomics to Sell Over-the-Counter Genetic Test This Week”
Clinical Data Seeks to Challenge Lilly, Pfizer in Antidepressant Market
Big competitors don’t scare Drew Fromkin. The CEO of Clinical Data says that the small Newton, MA-based drug developer (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CLDA]]) is willing to take on industry giants in the multibillion-dollar U.S. market for antidepressants. The company sent in its application for approval of its experimental antidepressant, vilazodone, to the FDA in late March. It’s too … Continue reading “Clinical Data Seeks to Challenge Lilly, Pfizer in Antidepressant Market”
Michigan Automotive Robotics Cluster Initiative Begins to Take Shape
The robotics industry in Southeast Michigan is attempting to turn the automotive slump into an opportunity to branch off into…well, automotive. But where once the automotive market for robotics meant industrial-strength assembly-line work, the opportunity lies now in robotic systems that can be embedded in military and civilian vehicles. Such a shift entails a change … Continue reading “Michigan Automotive Robotics Cluster Initiative Begins to Take Shape”
We Hope for Better Things in Detroit
When I was young and growing up in the Detroit area, the city was a hotbed of innovation and industry like nowhere else in the United States. The automobile industry was in full swing, and for decades it was the engine of growth for our nation. Although the city—and the companies that helped make it … Continue reading “We Hope for Better Things in Detroit”
Sorenson Targets Brightcove in Updated Release of Online Video Platform Technology
Sorenson Media CEO Peter Csathy tells me it was always part of the company’s plan to introduce its digital media technology in the enterprise market, where big media and Internet companies enable Internet users to watch streaming video and TV broadcasts. Today the company with offices in Salt Lake City, UT, and Carlsbad, CA, is … Continue reading “Sorenson Targets Brightcove in Updated Release of Online Video Platform Technology”
Doxo, Backed by Bezos and Mohr Davidow, Comes Out of Stealth, Wants to Help Businesses Go Paperless
Score another one for the “Qpass mafia.” A Seattle technology company called doxo, founded by former Qpass employees Steve Shivers, Roger Parks, and Mark Goris (see photo below), has emerged from stealth mode—sort of. The company has started talking publicly about its background and team, its basic idea, and its funding, but no specifics about … Continue reading “Doxo, Backed by Bezos and Mohr Davidow, Comes Out of Stealth, Wants to Help Businesses Go Paperless”
Former WTIA Head Ken Myer Joins UW Center for Commercialization
When we last caught up with Ken Myer, he was stepping down as president and chief executive of the Washington Technology Industry Association after three years on the job. Last week, I heard through the grapevine that Myer has joined the University of Washington in an advisory role, after assisting with the transition to WTIA’s … Continue reading “Former WTIA Head Ken Myer Joins UW Center for Commercialization”
Avalon Ventures Founder Says FarmVille Creator Zynga Could Be Best Bet in 27 Years
Last week, San Diego’s Avalon Ventures confirmed that it is setting out to raise its ninth venture fund, which is expected to close between $150 million and $200 million. That’s a modest fund by the billion-dollar standards of Sequoia Capital or New Enterprise Associates, but it’s a formula that has worked well in the 27 … Continue reading “Avalon Ventures Founder Says FarmVille Creator Zynga Could Be Best Bet in 27 Years”
Born in Silicon Valley, Founder Institute Expands to Boston
Attention first-time CEOs: the Founder Institute has found its way to Boston. The training and mentorship program for entrepreneurs, initially launched last year in Silicon Valley, is recruiting startup entrepreneurs for its first Boston session starting June 30, according to the program’s website. The four-month program aims to give beginner tech CEOs what they need … Continue reading “Born in Silicon Valley, Founder Institute Expands to Boston”
A Tolstoyvian Perspective on Revitalizing Michigan’s Economy—Or “It’s the Customer, Stupid”
To parody Tolstoy, all happy regional economies are alike; all unhappy regional economies are unhappy in their own way. Michigan has more reasons than most for authentic unhappiness. Even putting aside its uniquely dysfunctional politics, the state’s struggling entrepreneurial class and its bankrupted automobile industry have humbled—humiliated?—what was once a global economic powerhouse. Yes, the … Continue reading “A Tolstoyvian Perspective on Revitalizing Michigan’s Economy—Or “It’s the Customer, Stupid””
Five Places Michigan Can Look To Spark Its Innovation Economy
Training: My sense is that Michigan probably has a high potential workforce, but needs to be retrained in new skills in growing markets—be it information technology, clean technology, biotechnology or something else. Academic Treasure Hunting: There is probably a wealth of opportunity at University of Michigan and Michigan State University in terms of unique intellectual … Continue reading “Five Places Michigan Can Look To Spark Its Innovation Economy”
How Emerald BioStructures Escaped deCode’s Bankruptcy With Help From Boston VCs
Lance Stewart woke up many times over the past two years, and asked himself, “How did I get here?” He had reason to be confused. Stewart had spent more than a decade building one of the world’s best structural biology research teams inside a light manufacturing facility on Bainbridge Island, WA. Revenues had climbed every … Continue reading “How Emerald BioStructures Escaped deCode’s Bankruptcy With Help From Boston VCs”
Avalon Ventures Goes for Ninth Fund, Mobile Health Industry Seeks Tipping Point, Google Ventures Steps Into Spotlight, & More San Diego BizTech News
New industries like cleantech and mobile health are changing the face of San Diego’s innovation scene. Better catch up on all that’s happening before you don’t recognize it anymore. —The wind power industry is now in the doldrums, after soaring last year to a record number of wind turbine installations. The industry’s boom and bust … Continue reading “Avalon Ventures Goes for Ninth Fund, Mobile Health Industry Seeks Tipping Point, Google Ventures Steps Into Spotlight, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Modumetal Inks Deal with Steel Producer SDI to Put Nanotech to Work in Bridges and Buildings
Seattle-based Modumetal is taking an important step forward today in its quest to reinvent the metals industry. The nanotech and advanced materials company is announcing a partnership with Steel Dynamics (SDI), based in Fort Wayne, IN, which will put its nanolaminated coating technology into industrial-scale steel applications. Financial terms of the partnership weren’t given. But … Continue reading “Modumetal Inks Deal with Steel Producer SDI to Put Nanotech to Work in Bridges and Buildings”
Sloan Returns To Michigan, Launches Aria Equities To Change Entrepreneurial Culture
Jeff Sloan knows why the Detroit area has a less-than-ideal atmosphere for venture capital. It’s just not ready for it. The culture needs to change, he says. And that’s why the longtime Michigander, gone for about five years, has recently returned to the state to launch the early-stage venture development firm Aria Equities. Aria partners … Continue reading “Sloan Returns To Michigan, Launches Aria Equities To Change Entrepreneurial Culture”
MIT’s $100K Business Plan Prize, $200K Energy Prize Up for Grabs on Wednesday; A Look at the Finalists
[Corrected, 1:40 p.m. May 10, 2010] For teams of student entrepreneurs in Boston, early May means one thing: the culmination of the year-long MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, the country’s oldest and most prestigious business plan contest for young startups, and of its even more lucrative spinoff, the $200,000 MIT Clean Energy Prize. Last week, judges … Continue reading “MIT’s $100K Business Plan Prize, $200K Energy Prize Up for Grabs on Wednesday; A Look at the Finalists”
Microsoft VP Alex Gounares, Former Technology Assistant to Bill Gates, Leaving for AOL
One of Microsoft’s most respected executives announced today he is leaving the company. Alex Gounares, who was previously vice president of advertising research and development, has been hired as the chief technology officer of New York-based AOL and will be moving to the East Coast to take the job. The announcement was made internally at … Continue reading “Microsoft VP Alex Gounares, Former Technology Assistant to Bill Gates, Leaving for AOL”
What We Learned in San Diego About Innovation: Five Lessons for Detroit
The defense and aerospace industries dominated San Diego’s economy for decades after World War II. General Dynamics was the region’s largest private employer, accounting for about 15 percent of the county’s workforce (with about 46,000 employees) in the early 1960s; its workers built commercial aircraft, Atlas rockets, and cruise missiles. When General Dynamics began pulling … Continue reading “What We Learned in San Diego About Innovation: Five Lessons for Detroit”
Automation Alley Funds Hybrid Power Trains, Religious Social Networking, and Clean Diesel
Automation Alley, a technology business association based in Troy, MI, has invested $300,000 in Southeast Michigan technology companies, the group announced Thursday. Automation Alley invests a maximum of $250,000 in seed money per company to help them accelerate the growth of their technology-based businesses. Companies receiving funds this time around are: Cargo Solutions Group: $250,000 … Continue reading “Automation Alley Funds Hybrid Power Trains, Religious Social Networking, and Clean Diesel”
Collaborate, Connect, and Celebrate
1. Collaborate across disciplines. 2. Support each other with contacts and initiatives. 3. Connect politically and to local businesses. 4. Recognize success and celebrate together. 5. Promote and engage in activities that benefit the greater good for the city, the nation and the world. [Editor’s note: To help launch Xconomy Detroit, we’ve queried our network … Continue reading “Collaborate, Connect, and Celebrate”
Cytori Heartened by Cell Therapy in Two Small Studies of Cardiac Patients
San Diego-based Cytori Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CYTX]]) is announcing encouraging results this morning from two small, placebo-controlled studies of its fat-derived regenerative cell therapy in cardiac patients. The double-blind studies, which were conducted in Europe, should pave the way for a larger test in heart attack patients, the company says. The first study involved 27 chronic … Continue reading “Cytori Heartened by Cell Therapy in Two Small Studies of Cardiac Patients”
Microsoft’s Kin Phones Resurrect the Lifelogging Debate
This week gadget reviewers got their first hands-on look at Microsoft’s much-discussed Kin One and Kin Two phones, which are designed from the ground up to support young hipsters’ social media and content sharing habits. So far, the pundits are raving about the phones’ novel operating system and the cloud-based “Studio” feature, a flashy private … Continue reading “Microsoft’s Kin Phones Resurrect the Lifelogging Debate”
Sparking a Global Health Movement for Young People: Kristen Eddings’s Vision (and a Party)
Young people get a bad rap in the media. They slack off, don’t vote, and have no money and no voice in society (except for a few outliers like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg). If they are being asked about business or some serious issue, many are afraid they’ll say something dumb on the record. Some actually … Continue reading “Sparking a Global Health Movement for Young People: Kristen Eddings’s Vision (and a Party)”
Dendritic Nanotechnologies Focuses Dendrimer Development On Industry Rather Than Pharma
Over the last decade, Mt. Pleasant, MI-based Dendritic Nanotechnologies (DNT) has helped make Michigan into a world center of research on the versatile, tendriled molecules known as dendrimers. But while the molecules have a range of important applications, from killing microbes to reducing the unwanted side effects of drugs and pesticides, the company has ceded … Continue reading “Dendritic Nanotechnologies Focuses Dendrimer Development On Industry Rather Than Pharma”
Icahn Blasts Genzyme Manufacturing, Glaxo Halts “Red Wine” Drug Trial, Ariad Gets $69M from Merck, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
News surrounding Genzyme’s ongoing battle with billionaire investor Carl Icahn cropped up this week, alongside headlines from other big biotechs and in-depth profiles on newer life sciences names in the New England area. —Luke caught up with the chief scientist and the co-founder of Cambridge, MA-based Proteostasis Therapeutics, which was built around research from the … Continue reading “Icahn Blasts Genzyme Manufacturing, Glaxo Halts “Red Wine” Drug Trial, Ariad Gets $69M from Merck, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Sequenom Restarting Development of Diagnostic Test for Down Syndrome
San Diego’s Sequenom, which scrubbed the launch of its diagnostics test for Down syndrome back in April 2009 over “mishandled data,” says today it’s resuming development with a new testing schedule. Sequenom says it could launch a laboratory test “before the end of 2011” if everything goes as planned. In announcing its financial results for … Continue reading “Sequenom Restarting Development of Diagnostic Test for Down Syndrome”
Top 10 Takeaways From Seattle’s Engineering Summit: Electro-Active Wallpaper, Facebook Is Watching You, and Dendreon Detractors
Engineers are not salespeople. They are certainly not sound-bite machines either. If they were either of the above, there would have been a flurry of media stories coming out of Seattle this week centered around the National Academy of Engineering’s “grand challenges” summit held here on Sunday and Monday. Maybe that’s why it took me … Continue reading “Top 10 Takeaways From Seattle’s Engineering Summit: Electro-Active Wallpaper, Facebook Is Watching You, and Dendreon Detractors”
It Seems Everybody Has Advice For Michigan; What Do You Think?
At Xconomy, we queried our network of innovation leaders across the country for their list of the most important things that we here in Michigan can do to reinvigorate our economy, and we’ve been publishing the results in our “Xconomist Forum” section. Recently, somebody asked me whether I thought all this advice for Michigan from … Continue reading “It Seems Everybody Has Advice For Michigan; What Do You Think?”
Doug Fambrough Reduces Role at Oxford Bioscience Partners, Becomes CEO of Portfolio Company Dicerna Pharma
Oxford Bioscience Partners is losing one of its top general partners, Doug Fambrough, who has left his full-time role at the Boston venture firm to become CEO of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals. Oxford is not currently investing in new companies, Fambrough says, and he told his partners in recent weeks that he could better serve the firm … Continue reading “Doug Fambrough Reduces Role at Oxford Bioscience Partners, Becomes CEO of Portfolio Company Dicerna Pharma”
Wind Energy, Battered by Boom and Bust Cycles, Back in Doldrums
[Corrected 5/6/10, 1:45 pm. See below.]When Jim McDermott, the managing partner at U.S. Renewables Group, came through San Diego a few months ago, he told a Cleantech San Diego audience the 2008 collapse in the capital markets had wiped out a third of the U.S. wind energy projects then under development. “For about six months, … Continue reading “Wind Energy, Battered by Boom and Bust Cycles, Back in Doldrums”
Athenahealth Paying Dearly to Take on Larger Rivals
Athenahealth is a high-flier in the Boston business community, led by the outspoken and forceful Jonathan Bush. Bush, however, openly admits that his Watertown, MA-based company (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ATHN]]) is relatively unknown outside of local business and technology circles—including among most U.S. physicians. Athena has been ramping up efforts to raise its profile among doctors, the target … Continue reading “Athenahealth Paying Dearly to Take on Larger Rivals”
Amylin, Alkermes Get New FDA Date
San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMLN]]) and its partners, Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Waltham, MA-based Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]), said today the FDA has set a deadline of Oct. 22 to finish reviewing the application to start selling exenatide once-weekly (Bydureon) for diabetes. The first application was filed in May 2009, and the FDA said in … Continue reading “Amylin, Alkermes Get New FDA Date”
5 Things Michigan Can Do to Build a Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem
Building a sustainable innovation ecosystem is hard and will require patience married to a sense of real optimism. It will require numerous centers of innovation: academic settings, corporate research labs, world-class hospitals, all operating with an entrepreneurial culture. All this cannot simply be mandated, but rather it comes about over generations of startup success stories. … Continue reading “5 Things Michigan Can Do to Build a Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem”
The Underlying Impact of the “Apps” Phenomenon on VC-Backed Software Startups
New smartphone applications (“apps”) are being developed at a rate of nearly 1,000 new titles a day. While Apple’s brilliance in cultivating the developer community receives much of the credit for this incredible phenomenon, it has also ridden the back of the global economic meltdown coinciding with the rise of the iPhone. “Huh, come again,” … Continue reading “The Underlying Impact of the “Apps” Phenomenon on VC-Backed Software Startups”
Avalon Raising New Fund, Althea Technologies Gets Altus Assets, Trancon Pharmaceuticals Nabs Financing, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
We saw a spate of deal-making in the past week. Those developments and more are summarized for you here. —Avalon Ventures, one of the few San Diego venture capital firms that continues to invest in early-stage life sciences companies, embarked on fund-raising for its ninth venture fund with the intention of raising $150 million from … Continue reading “Avalon Raising New Fund, Althea Technologies Gets Altus Assets, Trancon Pharmaceuticals Nabs Financing, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
Dendreon Makes History, Microsoft Tries Open-Source Biology, an OVP IPO Is Brewing, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
This week, my Mom wrote to say she saw a Seattle biotech company featured on ABC’s World News Tonight. That may be a first in the nine years I’ve been writing about this business. So yes, this was a big week. —Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) made history, and the TV network evening news, when it … Continue reading “Dendreon Makes History, Microsoft Tries Open-Source Biology, an OVP IPO Is Brewing, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
InTouch Health Looks to Hire Michigan Engineers to Develop RoboDocs (of Sorts)
A man is brought into a hospital emergency room in Port Huron, MI, after collapsing while riding his bike. The patient had a stroke, so the first problem facing the ER docs is that there is not a moment to lose, as there is a narrow window of time available to treat a stroke before … Continue reading “InTouch Health Looks to Hire Michigan Engineers to Develop RoboDocs (of Sorts)”
Five Ways to Jump-Start the Reinvention of Detroit
[Editor’s Note: Lux Capital’s Josh Wolfe and Shahin Farschi also contributed to this post.] In terms of the difficulty of the turnaround needed, it’s telling that Detroit derives from the French word for strait—a narrow passageway—symbolic of the chances Detroit really has for re-invention. It will take radical action, hugely energetic leaders, and messianic spokespeople … Continue reading “Five Ways to Jump-Start the Reinvention of Detroit”