Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, MA, opened its first Dogpatch Labs startup incubator space in San Francisco in late 2007. A Cambridge, MA, version opened last September, followed by a New York edition in December, and together the three locations are now home to about 100 entrepreneurs, according to Polaris general partner David Barrett. But … Continue reading “Polaris Ventures Doubling Capacity at Dogpatch Labs in Cambridge”
Category: National
Apperian Readying “Enterprise App Store” for iPhones and iPads
In the 15 months since its launch, Boston-based Apperian has won a reputation as a leading creator of sophisticated business-to-consumer iPhone apps such as Timberland Expedition, Intuit’s TurboTax TaxCaster, and American Greetings’ e-card app. But the startup didn’t set out to be just another mobile app studio: the real vision of founder and CEO Chuck … Continue reading “Apperian Readying “Enterprise App Store” for iPhones and iPads”
Selecta Biosciences, a Bob Langer Creation, Raises $15M For Nanoparticle Vaccines
Boston’s prolific bioengineering professor, Bob Langer, is at it again. Selecta Biosciences, the Watertown, MA-based vaccine developer with ties to the Langer lab at MIT, has raised another $15 million in venture capital to make nanoparticles that it says are the key ingredients in a new generation of more effective vaccines. Selecta collected the cash, … Continue reading “Selecta Biosciences, a Bob Langer Creation, Raises $15M For Nanoparticle Vaccines”
Toward a New Land Speed Record: A Day in the Life of the North American Eagle “Turbojet Car”
It was just after 10 a.m. on a hazy spring morning as Ed Shadle drove a trailer the size of a semi-truck to the far end of the Spanaway Airport, a quarter-mile active airstrip located 15 miles south of Tacoma, WA. A handful of his 44-person crew, which includes his son Cam and eight-year-old grandson … Continue reading “Toward a New Land Speed Record: A Day in the Life of the North American Eagle “Turbojet Car””
The Great iPad Debate Begins, Hookit Taps Growing Market, Four Under the Radar Deals, & More San Diego BizTech News
This week’s tech news was dominated by a certain new device from Apple, but we found quite a few other things to write about on the San Diego tech scene. —Our in-house gadgetphile, Wade Roush, previewed the market introduction of Apple’s iPad with a survey of Xconomy readers, and followed it up with a story … Continue reading “The Great iPad Debate Begins, Hookit Taps Growing Market, Four Under the Radar Deals, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Where Bytes, Bio, and Healthcare Converge: Introducing Xconomy’s Health IT News Channel
We’re not much in favor of rigidly categorizing news by industry here at Xconomy, in part because we follow exciting companies that often transcend conventional definitions of what is a software, energy, or biotechnology business. But we do try our best to deliver breaking news and in-depth coverage to communities of readers, and one such … Continue reading “Where Bytes, Bio, and Healthcare Converge: Introducing Xconomy’s Health IT News Channel”
My Victorious Apple Store Experience, and a Glimpse at Boston’s First iPad MPG
I’ve returned home victorious after my morning adventure at the Apple Store in Boston’s Back Bay. As I write this, my new iPad is synching with iTunes–a process that takes some time, if you have a lot of apps, music, and photos that you want to transfer over to your iPad. So I haven’t yet … Continue reading “My Victorious Apple Store Experience, and a Glimpse at Boston’s First iPad MPG”
Our Top 20 Stories of the First Quarter: Amazon, Cell Therapeutics, Dendreon, Microsoft, and More
At the pace of today’s news, it can be hard to maintain perspective on what all the important stories are. Sure, the iPad is dominating headlines today, but remember when Google bought Picnik just a month ago? That deal is still resonating in the startup community. What’s more, headlines fly off the page so fast … Continue reading “Our Top 20 Stories of the First Quarter: Amazon, Cell Therapeutics, Dendreon, Microsoft, and More”
San Diego Biotech in 2030: A Center for Stem Cells, Genomics, Software, Neuroscience
The image of the double helix has captivated the public imagination for a long time. But biotechnology today actually requires what you might call a triple helix of money, people, and ideas, according to John Mendlein, the chairman of San Diego-based Fate Therapeutics. All three ingredients were in one place Wednesday night for Xconomy’s event … Continue reading “San Diego Biotech in 2030: A Center for Stem Cells, Genomics, Software, Neuroscience”
Revolutionary or Evolutionary? The Results from Xconomy’s iPad Survey
More newsprint and pixels have been sacrificed to iPad punditry than to any other tech subject in recent memory. I’m responsible for a good deal of the carnage myself (here, here, here, and here). With the device finally hitting stores tomorrow, though, there was no way my column today would be about anything else. The … Continue reading “Revolutionary or Evolutionary? The Results from Xconomy’s iPad Survey”
Hookit Fuels Sponsorship-Starved Amateur Athletes
If trademark disputes were a sport, Hookit.com might have found a way to win gold—despite dropping out of the race. The San Diego-based action sports social networking firm, formerly known as Loop’d, surrendered its original name in January to end a costly 18-month trademark battle with Mountain View, CA-based mobile mapping firm Loopt.com. But Hookit’s … Continue reading “Hookit Fuels Sponsorship-Starved Amateur Athletes”
Information Technology 2010: M&A and Financing Outlook
Cascadia Capital is optimistic that the resurgence of information technology M&A and financings in late 2009 and early 2010 will continue throughout the remainder of the year. The evidence for this activity is supported by the market data and the sentiment of cautious optimism expressed by the CEOs with whom we regularly collaborate as part … Continue reading “Information Technology 2010: M&A and Financing Outlook”
Avila Gets Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Funding, Dicerna Unites with Ipsen, Rhythmia to Test Heart Mapping Technology, Amag Licenses to Takeda, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
Looks like the region’s massive flooding didn’t get in the way of everything this week. We saw lots of headlines of partnerships for area drugmakers. —Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, a Watertown, MA, developer of drugs designed to silence disease-related genes using RNA interference, announced its second big partnership this year, this time with the French biotech Ipsen. … Continue reading “Avila Gets Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Funding, Dicerna Unites with Ipsen, Rhythmia to Test Heart Mapping Technology, Amag Licenses to Takeda, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
What Xconomy Readers Are Saying About the iPad
1. Are you planning to buy an iPad? Comments: “If I am going to buy it it will probably be in a couple of years.” “Waiting for the next, probably upgraded version.” “It’s not yet (1) cheap enough, and (2) versatile enough to make the purchase. I’m not interested in being the Guinea Pig for … Continue reading “What Xconomy Readers Are Saying About the iPad”
Shop to Lose Guides Grocery Shopping
Here’s an app that seeks to eliminate those impulse junk food purchases for its users. Shop to Lose, made by PICKKA, a division of Mountain View, CA-based health technology company Evincii, converts health guidelines into an individualized grocery shopping guide. It offers nutrition recommendations on thousands of common packaged food items and restaurant options, in … Continue reading “Shop to Lose Guides Grocery Shopping”
MDRNA and Cequent Pharma in $46M Merger Deal
MDRNA, the Bothell, WA-based developer of gene-silencing drugs, could give itself a longer cash runway in a proposed merger with Cequent Pharmaceuticals, of Cambridge, MA. The companies announced plans this morning to combine in an all-stock deal worth about $46 million. Last week, MDRNA (NASDAQ:[[ticker:MRNA]]) said its cash would keep the company afloat only into … Continue reading “MDRNA and Cequent Pharma in $46M Merger Deal”
Amag Pharma Gets $60M Upfront in Licensing Deal with Takeda
[Updated, 4/01/10, 4:40 pm] Amag Pharmaceuticals has struck a deal to expand global marketing of its best-selling drug. The Lexington, MA-based company (NASDAQ:[[ticker:AMAG]]) reports this morning that it has licensed its iron deficiency anemia drug to Japanese drug giant Takeda Pharmaceutical Company in a deal that includes $60 million in initial fees. The deal gives … Continue reading “Amag Pharma Gets $60M Upfront in Licensing Deal with Takeda”
Skyhook Wireless Working to Make More Mobile Apps Location-Aware
Executives at Boston’s Skyhook Wireless, which supplies the GPS- and Wi-Fi-based location-finding technology used by dozens of mobile device makers, are convinced that mobile app developers have only begun to explore the uses of location data. To help that process along, they’re about to introduce a software toolkit called “Local Faves” intended to help iPhone … Continue reading “Skyhook Wireless Working to Make More Mobile Apps Location-Aware”
Isis Snags Glaxo Deal, Orexigen Heads to FDA, Cyntellect Pockets $3M & More San Diego Area Life Sciences News
This week I traveled here for Xconomy’s big event on the 20-year future for San Diego’s life sciences cluster. My wrap-up on that event is probably going to have to wait until Friday, but there was plenty of other news from San Diego biotech to keep the site buzzing. —Carlsbad, CA-based Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIS]]) … Continue reading “Isis Snags Glaxo Deal, Orexigen Heads to FDA, Cyntellect Pockets $3M & More San Diego Area Life Sciences News”
The Dendreon Alumni Directory, Sage Snags Merck Deal, Adaptive TCR Nabs $4.5M & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
There was a lot of variety in Seattle biotech this week, with stories on vaccines, diagnostics, an open-source biology, and an interesting new research service business that emerged from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. —Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) is staking its claim as Seattle’s biotech anchor tenant in the making. One of the things anchor … Continue reading “The Dendreon Alumni Directory, Sage Snags Merck Deal, Adaptive TCR Nabs $4.5M & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Don’t Listen To Your Critics, VCs Are Not Enough, and Other Lessons from Breakthrough Idea Forum
This week, I’ve learned a lot about game-changing ideas and how to think about making them work. Like anything meaningful, some of the lessons will take more time and effort to sink in. But here are five lessons to take away from our Xconomy Forum (“What’s Your Breakthrough Idea”) held at the University of Washington … Continue reading “Don’t Listen To Your Critics, VCs Are Not Enough, and Other Lessons from Breakthrough Idea Forum”
The Next Policy Battle For Biotech After Healthcare Reform
With a new healthcare bill (and its “fixes”) signed into law, one might think that the biotech industry could shift its attention away from Washington DC and get back to work in the labs. That would be wrong. Starting this month, we begin a two-year project that will culminate, if things go according to plan, … Continue reading “The Next Policy Battle For Biotech After Healthcare Reform”
Rhythmia, with Harvard and MIT Roots, Ready to Prove Heart-Mapping System Works
Here’s where the rubber hits the road for Leon Amariglio, Doron Harlev, and the startup they co-founded, Rhythmia Medical. After spending years to create an advanced system for mapping hearts during cardiac procedures, Rhythmia plans to test its technology in humans for the first time this year, Amariglio tells Xconomy. The Burlington, MA-based company’s investors … Continue reading “Rhythmia, with Harvard and MIT Roots, Ready to Prove Heart-Mapping System Works”
PV Powered Bought for $90M, Adaptive TCR Raises $4.5M, Microsoft and Ford Join Forces, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
It was a fairly quiet week for deals in the Northwest, as the event season is kicking into high gear. But there was a huge cleantech acquisition, and some notable deals in biotech, software, and mobile. —Microsoft and Ford Motor Co. are teaming up to implement online energy management software on electric vehicles. Ford is … Continue reading “PV Powered Bought for $90M, Adaptive TCR Raises $4.5M, Microsoft and Ford Join Forces, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
See You Tonight at San Diego Life Sciences 2030
The Xconomy team will soon be heading over to Biogen Idec for our big evening event on the 20-year outlook for the San Diego life sciences cluster. This sold-out gathering will bring together some life sciences visionaries to share their thoughts on San Diego biotech that go way beyond next month or next quarter. The … Continue reading “See You Tonight at San Diego Life Sciences 2030”
Litl Lays Plans for Channel Store to Offer New Kinds of Webbook Content
Litl made a big splash last November when it launched the Webbook. The home Internet appliance may look like a laptop, but it’s actually designed as a delivery platform for Flash-based “channels” that put useful information up front and hide details such as files, applications, windows, and operating systems. One of the clearest signs that … Continue reading “Litl Lays Plans for Channel Store to Offer New Kinds of Webbook Content”
MIT’s NextLab: Designing Technology for the Next Billion Mobile Phone Owners
Fighting illiteracy in Indian villages; facilitating local health reporting in Mexico; creating a mobile logistics app for truck drivers in Colombia. These may sound like projects run by a big non-governmental organization like the United Nations Development Program, but in fact they are three examples of MIT NextLab projects run mainly by MIT students and … Continue reading “MIT’s NextLab: Designing Technology for the Next Billion Mobile Phone Owners”
Introducing Under-the-Radar Funding in San Diego: Four Startup Financings You Probably Haven’t Heard About
Since June we’ve been tracking monthly figures in bigger venture deals for our two other coverage areas, Seattle and Boston, thanks to data provided to us by our New York-based partner CB Insights, a private company intelligence platform. The company also supplies us monthly with a list of smaller deals under $1 million—what we dub … Continue reading “Introducing Under-the-Radar Funding in San Diego: Four Startup Financings You Probably Haven’t Heard About”
The Dendreon Alumni: Where Are They Now?
[Updated: 3:12 pm, 9/27/10] Dendreon CEO Mitchell Gold has said for years he wants his company to morph into the anchor for Seattle’s biotech community, the prominent role once filled by Immunex in the 1990s. The notion is that Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) could become profitable, stable, and exciting enough to be a magnet that draws … Continue reading “The Dendreon Alumni: Where Are They Now?”
Boston Takes Her Place in the Video Game World
PAX East sold out months early. Attendance was twice what the committee had planned for the first game industry convention on the east coast in 10 years—more, if Atlanta isn’t your idea of “East Coast.” We filled the Hynes to capacity with 60,000 gamers, developers, press, and game company representatives. The show floor was jammed. … Continue reading “Boston Takes Her Place in the Video Game World”
$10M for Akorri, $52M for Dyax, A New Partner for Dicerna, & More Boston-Area Deals News
The precipitation in New England may have reached near-biblical proportions this past week, but tech and life sciences deal making was more modest. —Investors poured $10.1 million into Littleton, MA-based software maker Akorri Networks, according to an SEC filing. The filing did not reveal the identity of the 13 backers involved in the equity-based round, … Continue reading “$10M for Akorri, $52M for Dyax, A New Partner for Dicerna, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
A Who’s Who of Breakthrough Ideas: Photos from the Xconomy Forum
More than 200 people gathered yesterday at the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington to talk about changing the world. We had a stunning lineup of speakers across different disciplines—including Nick Hanauer of Second Avenue Partners, Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual Ventures, and Lee Hood from the Institute … Continue reading “A Who’s Who of Breakthrough Ideas: Photos from the Xconomy Forum”
What’s Your Take on the iPad? An Xconomy Survey
With the Apple iPad set to hit stores at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, you can probably guess what my digital media column, World Wide Wade, is going to be about this Friday. But this time I want to leaven the punditry with some populism—so I’ve put together a quick, 9-question survey at SurveyMonkey. Please head … Continue reading “What’s Your Take on the iPad? An Xconomy Survey”
iRxHelper: Refill Alerts and More
This iPhone app aims to do the thinking for you when it comes to prescriptions. iRxHelper, produced by Mountain View, CA-based JAZ Software Solutions, gathers data on yours and your family’s medication histories, and streamlines communication on the subject with your healthcare provider or pharmacy. The $1.99 app tracks your pill count estimates, gauges your … Continue reading “iRxHelper: Refill Alerts and More”
Treat Ear Ringing with iTinnitus
Treating and diagnosing the annoying ringing in your ears—there’s an app for that. Produced by Inner Ear Solutions, a Nova Scotia, Canada-based group of inner ear professionals, iTinnitus Solutions is a mobile sound therapy package that characterizes the pitch and volume for those who experience ringing in their ears, known as tinnitus, graphs it, and … Continue reading “Treat Ear Ringing with iTinnitus”
eCBT Trauma Tracks PTSD Symptoms
Think of it as iCounseling. eCBT Trauma enables users with PTSD to categorize their thoughts and feelings, graph them over time, and e-mail the information to a caregiver. This app is built around cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), an approach that involves systematically documenting thought patterns and emotions as a way of targeting ailments such as … Continue reading “eCBT Trauma Tracks PTSD Symptoms”
Sage Bionetworks Snags Deal with Merck, Second Major Pharma Partner
Stephen Friend has, you might say, a mutually beneficial relationship with his former employer. Friend, the former senior vice president of Merck’s cancer research division, has secured another round of support for his fledgling open-source biology movement from Merck. Sage Bionetworks, the nonprofit collaborative Friend co-founded a year ago in Seattle, has formed a multi-year … Continue reading “Sage Bionetworks Snags Deal with Merck, Second Major Pharma Partner”
NextImage Medical of San Diego Aims to Lower Workers Comp Costs
Insurers spend $30 billion annually on workers compensation claims; lost productivity saps another $60 billion from the economy. San Diego-based NextImage Medical is focused on changing this picture by taking aim at a key bottleneck that adds to costs: delays associated with radiology exams. CEO Liz Griggs says injured workers face waits of two to … Continue reading “NextImage Medical of San Diego Aims to Lower Workers Comp Costs”
FIRST Robotics Regionals Bring Sports Fervor to Engineering
I’m a Boston University alum, so Saturday wasn’t the first time I’ve witnessed two teams battling it out on Agganis Arena’s court, shooting with finesse and aggressively blocking, as fans cheered loudly from the stands. Well, it was a little different than what I had previously witnessed, to be completely honest. The members of said … Continue reading “FIRST Robotics Regionals Bring Sports Fervor to Engineering”
No Time for the Academic Entrepreneur
The recurring question I hear from so many people in business is: “Why aren’t more startups generated by the university system?” It’s not an easy question, certainly not one to be solved in a single blog post. As I considered the many facets of academia that influence the actions of its researchers such as government … Continue reading “No Time for the Academic Entrepreneur”
QD Vision’s Quantum Dots Warm Up the Market for LED Lighting
Everyone knows that traditional incandescent lamps are inefficient and energy-wasting. But LEDs, one of the technologies vying to take their place, produce light that feels harsh and cold by comparison, leading many customers to shy away from them. Watertown, MA-based QD Vision thinks it can use its “quantum dot” technology to solve both problems—energy waste … Continue reading “QD Vision’s Quantum Dots Warm Up the Market for LED Lighting”
Nick Hanauer, a “High-Functioning Contrarian,” on How to Think About Breakthroughs in Business and Society (Part 2)
Yesterday, we ran the first part of a sit-down interview with Nick Hanauer, a noted entrepreneur, investor, and co-founder of Seattle-based Second Avenue Partners. Hanauer, who has been involved in the early stages of such prominent companies as Amazon, aQuantive, and Insitu, spoke about the importance of new metaphors in recognizing and understanding breakthrough ideas; … Continue reading “Nick Hanauer, a “High-Functioning Contrarian,” on How to Think About Breakthroughs in Business and Society (Part 2)”
Dicerna Inks Deal With Ipsen, Second RNAi Partnership of 2010
Dicerna Pharmaceuticals kicked off the New Year with a splashy partnership, and it didn’t have to wait long for an encore. The Watertown, MA-based developer of RNA interference drugs is announcing today it has formed a new alliance with Paris-based Ipsen. Financial terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed, although it ends up being “net-neutral” … Continue reading “Dicerna Inks Deal With Ipsen, Second RNAi Partnership of 2010”
Lexalytics Moves to Boston to Exploit New Market for Sentiment Analysis
Lexalytics, whose text-analytics software can measure, among other things, whether a digital document is full of praise or insults, did not get off to a superlative start back in 2003. To begin with, its investors almost closed the company down. Lexalytics got started when the venture funders behind a Woburn, MA-based content management startup called … Continue reading “Lexalytics Moves to Boston to Exploit New Market for Sentiment Analysis”
San Diego’s Somaxon Readies to Wake Up Market for New Sleeping Pill
Somaxon Pharmaceuticals overcame two regulatory delays to win FDA approval to market its insomnia drug doxepin (Silenor). Now comes the hard part. San Diego-based Somaxon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SOMX]]) is entering a prescription sleeping pill market in which name-brand products have been steadily losing ground to the lower-cost generics preferred by managed care plans. So right out … Continue reading “San Diego’s Somaxon Readies to Wake Up Market for New Sleeping Pill”
Nuance Sees Opportunity in Health IT Reform, New Frontiers With iPhone Software
Count Nuance Communications among the Massachusetts-based providers of software for doctors that could benefit hugely from healthcare reforms and technology initiatives emerging from Washington. Healthcare customers are the biggest market for the Burlington, MA-based company’s (NASDAQ:[[ticker:NUAN]]) speech-recognition and phone-based products, accounting for about 40 percent of the firm’s $950.4 million in revenue for fiscal 2009. … Continue reading “Nuance Sees Opportunity in Health IT Reform, New Frontiers With iPhone Software”
Lee Hood’s Startup for Personalized Medicine, Integrated Diagnostics, Hires First CEO
Integrated Diagnostics, the Seattle-based company seeking to carry out biotech pioneer Leroy Hood’s vision for personalized medicine, has hired its first CEO. The company’s new leader is Albert Luderer, a veteran diagnostics executive who ran Woburn, MA-based BioTrove until that company was acquired last November by Carlsbad, CA-based Life Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIFE]]) for an undisclosed … Continue reading “Lee Hood’s Startup for Personalized Medicine, Integrated Diagnostics, Hires First CEO”
MaxLinear Scores Successful IPO, $321M V-Vehicle Loan Request Rejected, Genomatica Raises $15M in VC Funding, & More San Diego BizTech News
It’s been a while since San Diego’s high-tech community saw this much deal news in one week—and most of it was good news, too. We gathered it all in one place for you here. —Investor demand helped boost Carlsbad, CA-based MaxLinear’s shares (NYSE:[[ticker:MXL]]) by 33 percent on their first day of trading, with volume of … Continue reading “MaxLinear Scores Successful IPO, $321M V-Vehicle Loan Request Rejected, Genomatica Raises $15M in VC Funding, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Cowboys Like Us: Investor Nick Hanauer on How to Think About Breakthroughs in Business and Society (Part 1)
Last week was a pretty good one for Nick Hanauer. When I visited his office, he was basking in the glow of the mid-afternoon sun—and the afterglow of President Obama’s signing of the much-ballyhooed healthcare reform bill. (Yes, he’s a staunch Democrat.) But I wasn’t there to talk politics. Hanauer is one of the Seattle … Continue reading “Cowboys Like Us: Investor Nick Hanauer on How to Think About Breakthroughs in Business and Society (Part 1)”
Brightcove Sidestepping Lack of Flash Support on Apple iPad
Back in February I interviewed Jeff Whatcott, senior vice president of marketing at Cambridge, MA-based Brightcove, about the online video hosting company’s attempts to help its customers deliver video to as many Internet-connected devices as possible. At the time, the company was announcing software that will allow its customers to serve videos stored on its … Continue reading “Brightcove Sidestepping Lack of Flash Support on Apple iPad”