Seattle startup Gist announced today that its technology for connecting people’s e-mail inbox with the Web now works, in limited release, with Lotus Notes, IBM’s popular communication and collaboration software. Gist’s software will be made available to a select group of Lotus Notes customers in advance of a wider release still to come. It’s part … Continue reading “T.A. McCann Talks New Partnership with IBM’s Lotus Notes, Gist Strategy for 2010”
Category: National
A123Systems Invests in Fisker, Virtify Finds $15M, ATG Acquires InstantService, & More Boston-Area Deals News
Dealmaking was steady across the tech and life sciences industries in New England this week. —Enterprise software firm Progress Software (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PRGS]]) of Bedford, MA, acquired Santa Clara, CA-based Savvion for $49 million, net of Savvion’s cash. —Cambridge, MA-based life sciences software firm Virtify raised $15 million in a Series A financing, according to a … Continue reading “A123Systems Invests in Fisker, Virtify Finds $15M, ATG Acquires InstantService, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Rob Glaser’s Real Legacy: A New Mass Medium, New Markets, and Constant Reinvention
The biggest news in a very busy week around the Seattle technology scene has been that Rob Glaser is out as chief executive of RealNetworks. Glaser stepped down on Wednesday after 16 years at the helm, but he remains chairman of the board and Real’s largest shareholder. Back in 1994, after leaving Microsoft, Glaser founded … Continue reading “Rob Glaser’s Real Legacy: A New Mass Medium, New Markets, and Constant Reinvention”
FitnessKeeper Announcement Gives New Meaning to “Scalable”
I caught up the other day with Jason Jacobs, the hyperkinetic founder and CEO of Boston-based FitnessKeeper, which is best known for its RunKeeper GPS fitness-tracking app for the Apple iPhone. That’s no mean feat, as Jacobs is one of those guys who walks the talk—he’s training to run in the Boston Marathon for the … Continue reading “FitnessKeeper Announcement Gives New Meaning to “Scalable””
Is Histogen Hair to Stay? Amid Patent Lawsuit That Is Mane Event, CEO Updates Plans to Advance its Hair Regrowth Treatment
San Diego-based Histogen became something of a high-wire act on the local biotech scene last year after a cross-town rival filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the startup—upending Histogen’s plans to develop a variety of regenerative medical treatments. The patent suit, which was filed a year ago by Carlsbad, CA-based SkinMedica, hit just as Histogen … Continue reading “Is Histogen Hair to Stay? Amid Patent Lawsuit That Is Mane Event, CEO Updates Plans to Advance its Hair Regrowth Treatment”
Sequenom Settles Shareholder Lawsuit for $14M, Plus Stock
Sequenom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SQNM]]) has reached a legal settlement in a class action suit filed by a group of shareholders. The San Diego-based company said today that it has agreed to pay shareholders $14 million from its insurance proceeds, and issue them new shares worth a 9.95 percent stake in the company. The settlement still needs … Continue reading “Sequenom Settles Shareholder Lawsuit for $14M, Plus Stock”
The Value of Bumping Into People in the Hall: A Lesson from the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
Twitter and Facebook have taken social networking to a higher level on the web, but I just got a reminder about the power of actually meeting people in person. I’m talking about the kind of interactions that happen when attending a jam-packed professional conference and bumping into a lot of smart people with similar interests. … Continue reading “The Value of Bumping Into People in the Hall: A Lesson from the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference”
Entrepreneurship May Work Like A Clock, But It Still Needs Winding: Exploring the Kauffman Study on New Firm Formation
Like others in the tech-journalism business, we here at Xconomy tend to pore over the latest statistics about the entrepreneurial economy pretty obsessively: how much money venture firms are raising and investing from quarter to quarter; how much they dole out to each new startup in their portfolios; how much these portfolio companies eventually return … Continue reading “Entrepreneurship May Work Like A Clock, But It Still Needs Winding: Exploring the Kauffman Study on New Firm Formation”
Bonding with BIND Biosciences’s New CEO Scott Minick
[Clarified and Corrected—7:30 AM, 01/15/10] Scott Minick made his official debut as CEO of BIND Biosciences Monday at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, which makes for one of the most frenetic weeks of the year for biotech chiefs. The Cambridge, MA-based startup also made some news this week with the announcement of … Continue reading “Bonding with BIND Biosciences’s New CEO Scott Minick”
Can Molecular Medicine Survive Its Teenage Years, and Reach its Potential This Decade?
As the 21st century approaches its teenage years, so too does molecular medicine. Discovery of the structure of DNA more than 50 years ago launched the field of molecular biology. During the last decade, we have seen the first translation of some fundamental discoveries in this field into medical tools. Clearly, however, we are early … Continue reading “Can Molecular Medicine Survive Its Teenage Years, and Reach its Potential This Decade?”
Venture Investors Spread Holiday Cheer to Mass. Startups in December: Companies Wrap Up $224 Million in Funding
Santa was good to the Massachusetts high-tech economy in December. Very good. Roughly $224 million poured into the state’s startups in 36 equity deals, representing 20 percent more money and more than 50 percent more deals than Bay State startup companies saw in November. And November venture funding-22 deals worth $186 million-was nothing to scoff … Continue reading “Venture Investors Spread Holiday Cheer to Mass. Startups in December: Companies Wrap Up $224 Million in Funding”
New Machine From San Diego’s Illumina Intensifies Race for Faster, Cheaper Genome Decoder
The cost of sequencing a person’s genome continues to fall. Illumina this week introduced a machine that can sequence an individual’s genome for under $10,000. That is one percent of the $1 million it cost to decode a human genome three years ago. The announcement pushes San Diego-based Illumina to the forefront in an intense … Continue reading “New Machine From San Diego’s Illumina Intensifies Race for Faster, Cheaper Genome Decoder”
Google in China: Ex-Microsoft VP Kai-Fu Lee’s Past Report Might Point to What Went Wrong
In the fascinating maelstrom that is Google in China, one thing is clear: this affects all of us. It’s not about whether Google’s decision to draw a line in the sand is based on ideals versus profits. It’s not about whether the Chinese government will open up its Internet policies and play ball with the … Continue reading “Google in China: Ex-Microsoft VP Kai-Fu Lee’s Past Report Might Point to What Went Wrong”
Crinetics Enters Collaboration Agreement With Ferring Research Institute
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, an early stage San Diego biotech developing specialized biosensors for drug discovery applications, says it has signed a collaboration agreement with the Ferring Research Institute, the peptide research center established in San Diego by Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Last month, when Crinetics got a small business research grant of nearly $238,000, the startup said its … Continue reading “Crinetics Enters Collaboration Agreement With Ferring Research Institute”
Segway Business Shifting Gears with Ownership and Management Changes
Segway, the maker of two-wheeled transporters of the same name, has been sold through a merger with a UK holding company for an undisclosed sum, and the firm’s CEO, Jim Norrod, has stepped down from his post after nearly five years in that role, a company spokesman confirmed today. Reports about the action at Segway … Continue reading “Segway Business Shifting Gears with Ownership and Management Changes”
Oneforty Opens Twitter App Store for Business, Details Funding from Boston, Seattle, and Bay Area Investors
Starting today, developers of Twitter applications who list their apps at oneforty, the burgeoning Twitter app directory based in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood, can also sell their apps directly to oneforty visitors. That makes oneforty into the first true Twitter app store—a development that could help stimulate the growth of a substantial marketplace for applications related … Continue reading “Oneforty Opens Twitter App Store for Business, Details Funding from Boston, Seattle, and Bay Area Investors”
Fina Technologies Aiming to Build Smarter Computer Models for Wall Street
Wall Street is no stranger to computer models, which have been used for more than a decade by fund managers and traders to beat the market. But many of the models developed by the so-called “quants” have proved insufficiently prescient—they didn’t do a very good job, for example, of predicting the subprime mortgage crisis. Using … Continue reading “Fina Technologies Aiming to Build Smarter Computer Models for Wall Street”
Route 128 vs. Silicon Valley: Stop the Noize!
[Updated and corrected, May 9, 2011–see below] We just came back from spending a week with 95 MIT students in Silicon Valley drinking from the West Coast Fire Hose of Entrepreneurship. Our theme was “East meets West: The Unification Study Tour.” For us, the theme worked well. But some of those out west, as well … Continue reading “Route 128 vs. Silicon Valley: Stop the Noize!”
OpenCandy Builds Online Marketplace For Free Software Downloads
[Updated 1/14/2010, 9:37 am. See Below] Darrius Thompson tells me he’s been involved for a long time in the software community, and he sees how consumer acceptance can be fluky. Some new software products get widespread distribution, and some go nowhere. Thompson says he believes in open-source products, but sometimes it doesn’t seem to matter … Continue reading “OpenCandy Builds Online Marketplace For Free Software Downloads”
VentiRx Nabs $25M, Gilead Deepens Seattle Roots, Sage Strikes Deal With Pfizer & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Hope sprang eternal at this year’s JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, the annual kickoff event for the biotech industry. A few Seattle biotech companies offered some reasons for people to think a little hope may be justified. —VentiRx Pharmaceuticals said it raised $25 million to further develop its drugs that stimulate the innate immune system against … Continue reading “VentiRx Nabs $25M, Gilead Deepens Seattle Roots, Sage Strikes Deal With Pfizer & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Raises More Funds, Genzyme Declares a Truce, Adventrx Charts Comeback, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
A flurry of financing deals made it a good week for San Diego’s life sciences industry. Get the highlights here. —VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, which is working on drugs for allergies and cancer, raised additional funds of $25 million, bringing the total received in its Series A round to $51.6million. The company is based in San Diego … Continue reading “VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Raises More Funds, Genzyme Declares a Truce, Adventrx Charts Comeback, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
Going nuTsie: Melodeo Looks to Beat Apple to the Punch with New Cloud-Based Music Service
Things have been crazy busy over at Melodeo for the past month. I don’t think any of those guys took time off during the holidays this year. As I detailed in a story earlier this week, the Seattle-based company has been ramping up its long-standing efforts in cloud-based music delivery ever since Apple acquired its … Continue reading “Going nuTsie: Melodeo Looks to Beat Apple to the Punch with New Cloud-Based Music Service”
Genomic Advances of the 2000s Will Demand an Informatics Revolution in the 2010s
We have witnessed some of most striking technological and scientific innovations in humankind during the first decade of the new millennium. While such claims perhaps seem cliché in an age where the media constantly report on new findings that really do not warrant our full attention, several discoveries and innovations in the recent history of … Continue reading “Genomic Advances of the 2000s Will Demand an Informatics Revolution in the 2010s”
RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser Steps Down
Rob Glaser, the founder and chief executive of Seattle-based RealNetworks, has stepped down, according to a company statement. Glaser will remain chairman of the board. “After nearly 16 years, I’ve decided it’s time for me to step away from day-to-day operations,” Glaser said in a statement. “I’m grateful to all of our stakeholders—customers, partners, shareholders, … Continue reading “RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser Steps Down”
Visible Technologies Tracks Down $22M for Global Expansion
Things are really heating up for Visible Technologies. The Bellevue, WA-based maker of software to help companies monitor social media and manage their online reputations announced today it has raised a Series C funding round worth $22 million. The round was led by a new investor—Investor Growth Capital (IGC), the growth-stage venture arm of Investor … Continue reading “Visible Technologies Tracks Down $22M for Global Expansion”
Net Neutrality: The Story of The Seven Pipes
Today at 4:30 at the Media Lab’s Bartos Theatre, the FCC will hold a public workshop to discuss net neutrality policy. What is the importance of net neutrality to the innovation community? We can learn a great deal about this by examining the stories of the seven pipes going into most American homes. Most homes … Continue reading “Net Neutrality: The Story of The Seven Pipes”
Qteros Switches CEOs to Accelerate Progress, New Chief Says
Qteros, the Marlborough, MA-based developer of cellulosic ethanol technology, has brought on industry veteran John McCarthy as CEO and bid adieu to former chief executive Bill Frey. The company announced McCarthy’s appointment this morning. McCarthy, who joined the startup last week, was the executive vice president at Cambridge, MA-based cellulosic ethanol developer Verenium (NASDAQ:[[ticker:VRNM]]). He … Continue reading “Qteros Switches CEOs to Accelerate Progress, New Chief Says”
Where the Jobs Are: PayScale Lands New Board Member, Exposes Three Trends in Human Capital
Whether you’re a startup founder, Fortune 500 executive, or average Joe on the street, everyone is wondering what 2010 will look like for jobs and compensation. Indications so far are not good. Unemployment rates are sky-high. Salary freezes are still rampant. At the same time, nobody can seem to agree on how to pay executives … Continue reading “Where the Jobs Are: PayScale Lands New Board Member, Exposes Three Trends in Human Capital”
Excel Venture Management, Starting With Clean Slate, Shows Early Returns on Broad Vision
All year long, I listened to venture capitalists talk about the steady decline their industry is facing. Returns in a number of sectors just aren’t there anymore to justify the risk. Big pension funds and endowments that provide the fuel for innovative VC-backed companies are still licking their wounds from the downturn, and looking for … Continue reading “Excel Venture Management, Starting With Clean Slate, Shows Early Returns on Broad Vision”
Once Destined for Bankruptcy, Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Sets New Course With Reformulated Drugs
Like something out of an old Clint Eastwood movie (where the cowboy left for dead is somehow resurrected), San Diego’s Adventrx Pharmaceuticals (AMEX: [[ticker:ANX]]) announced last week that it raised $19 million and filed a new drug application. Shares of the biotech, which had no pulse a year ago, sprang to life. Adventrx stock that … Continue reading “Once Destined for Bankruptcy, Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Sets New Course With Reformulated Drugs”
Prysm Hopes Laser-Driven Screens Will Outshine LCD, LED Displays
If you’re seeing electronic displays on every wall, window, billboard, and passing dirigible, it’s a sure sign that you’re stuck in a science-fiction movie. While a few real-world destinations like New York’s Times Square and Tokyo’s Ginza district are plastered with outdoor displays, such technology is still too expensive and electricity-hogging to put everywhere. But … Continue reading “Prysm Hopes Laser-Driven Screens Will Outshine LCD, LED Displays”
Gilead Deepens Roots in Seattle, Seeks Long-Term Payoff From Lung Disease Research
Gilead Sciences spent $365 million to get a toehold in Seattle back in 2006, and so far, it has zero U.S. product sales to show for it. That’s made investors antsy, but it hasn’t deterred the world’s second-most valuable biotech company from continuing to bet big on Seattle as part of its plan to diversify … Continue reading “Gilead Deepens Roots in Seattle, Seeks Long-Term Payoff From Lung Disease Research”
Genzyme Reaches Agreement with Activist Investor, Charles River Closes Shrewsbury Lab, Lycera Comes to Cambridge, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
It was another crazy-busy week for New England’s life sciences firms, many of which closed small-to-medium sized venture financings. I’ll talk about those as part of Friday’s deals roundup, but in the meantime here are some of the other highlights: —Alnylam Pharmaceuticals CEO John Maraganore told Luke about his vision for the coming “RNA decade,” … Continue reading “Genzyme Reaches Agreement with Activist Investor, Charles River Closes Shrewsbury Lab, Lycera Comes to Cambridge, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Achieving New Heights in Energy Efficiency in 2010
If 2009 was the year that energy efficiency was elevated from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have,” then 2010 will be the year that we go from talking about energy efficiency to actually doing something about it. In 2009, everyone was talking about efficiency and the impact it can have on the green economy. Remember President … Continue reading “Achieving New Heights in Energy Efficiency in 2010”
DataSphere and Halosource Get Funded, Sage Signs Up Pfizer, Zymo Raises $90M, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
2010 is off to a pretty fast start in terms of Northwest deals. We’ve already seen a lot of action in biotech, software, and cleantech. —Seattle-based InstantService, a provider of live chat services, was acquired by Art Technology Group (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARTG]]) of Cambridge, MA, an e-commerce software firm, for $17 million in cash, as Wade … Continue reading “DataSphere and Halosource Get Funded, Sage Signs Up Pfizer, Zymo Raises $90M, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
UCSD Business School Launches Student-Assisted Venture Fund
Entrepreneurs scratching to find sources of startup capital in San Diego will soon be getting help from an unexpected source. The Rady School of Management at UC San Diego says it is launching its own venture fund that will use donor funds to make investments of $75,000 to $100,000 in startups commercializing new technologies. The … Continue reading “UCSD Business School Launches Student-Assisted Venture Fund”
CardiAQ Captures $6.5M A Round Led by Former CoreValve President
[Updated and clarified—1/12/10, 2:30 pm ET, with timing of potential human study and other details] CardiAQ Valve Technologies, which is developing a catheter-based alternative to open-heart surgery for mitral valve implantation, reports today that it has raised $6.5 million in a Series A round of funding. The funding is expected to support R&D needed to … Continue reading “CardiAQ Captures $6.5M A Round Led by Former CoreValve President”
Melodeo, Making Big Push in Online Music, Eyes Apple in the Cloud
OK, so you’re a small, profitable tech company in the digital media sector. Your closest competitor just got acquired by Apple. Now Steve Jobs is encroaching on your territory. How do you want to play it? That’s the situation Seattle-based Melodeo faces after Apple paid a reported $85 million last month to buy online music … Continue reading “Melodeo, Making Big Push in Online Music, Eyes Apple in the Cloud”
Gearing up for a Bicoastal Smackdown: Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 3 Coming February 4
Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands has become a welcome wintertime ritual in Cambridge: every January or February we get a bunch of loud, enthusiastic musicians together with a loud, enthusiastic crowd at the Middle East Night Club for a night of hot tunes, bravura performances, and audience voting. But this year—on February 4, to … Continue reading “Gearing up for a Bicoastal Smackdown: Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 3 Coming February 4”
Molecular Biometrics Scores $12.5M Second Round, Aims to Help IVF Users Avoid Octomom’s Fate
[Clarification—1/12/10, 1 pm ET] Nadya Suleman, aka the Octomom, grabbed headlines this time last year when she gave birth to octuplets conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Now, Molecular Biometrics is grabbing venture dollars for technology that could help other IVF users avoid a similar fate. The Norwood, MA-based firm raised $12.5 million in a … Continue reading “Molecular Biometrics Scores $12.5M Second Round, Aims to Help IVF Users Avoid Octomom’s Fate”
VentiRx Nabs $25M for Cancer, Allergy Drugs
VentiRx Pharmaceuticals has raised a venti-sized load of new cash. The San Diego and Seattle-based company that’s developing drugs to amplify the body’s innate immune system to fight cancer and allergies has pulled in $25 million through a new round of financing. The deal is technically described as an extension of a $26.6 million Series … Continue reading “VentiRx Nabs $25M for Cancer, Allergy Drugs”
San Diego’s SG Biofuels Announces Strategic Alliance with Life Technologies
It’s been almost a year since San Diego-based SG Biofuels stepped out of the shadows to announce its plans to produce biodiesel and feedstock substitutes from Jatropha, a hardy shrub that produces golf ball-size seeds with high oil content. Today, the company is announcing it has formed a strategic alliance with Life Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIFE]]), … Continue reading “San Diego’s SG Biofuels Announces Strategic Alliance with Life Technologies”
Larry Cheng on the Birth of Volition Capital
While many pundits predicted that the financial crisis of 2007-2008 would lead to a big shakeout on the venture-capital stage, there’s been remarkably little change in the cast of characters so far, at least in Boston. But Monday saw the demise of one established Boston venture fund and the birth of another, as the entire … Continue reading “Larry Cheng on the Birth of Volition Capital”
Be of Good Cheer in New Year, All Ye Entrepreneurs and Startup Founders
The National Venture Capital Association recently released a member survey that predicted: —In 2010 there will be fewer VC firms —Surviving VCs will spend most of their remaining funds on existing investments, and —Leftover funding will focus investments mostly on later-stage deals It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that things are looking very grim for … Continue reading “Be of Good Cheer in New Year, All Ye Entrepreneurs and Startup Founders”
Flurry of Early Stage Internet Deals Highlight Q4 VC Activity; Investments Slip to $5.5B
Venture investing settled in a bit during the fourth quarter of 2009, but the analysts at ChubbyBrain, the New York firm providing the data, are encouraged by the overall mix, saying, “optimism, albeit of the cautious variety, seems to have found its way back.” While the total amount of venture capital investments during the quarter … Continue reading “Flurry of Early Stage Internet Deals Highlight Q4 VC Activity; Investments Slip to $5.5B”
Sage Bionetworks Strikes Deal With Pfizer to Find Cancer Drug Targets
Sage Bionetworks, the Seattle-based nonprofit seeking to spark a movement toward open-source style sharing of biological data, is announcing today it has secured a partnership with Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. Financial terms, and the length of the collaboration, aren’t being disclosed. But the deal will bring in enough cash for Sage to add … Continue reading “Sage Bionetworks Strikes Deal With Pfizer to Find Cancer Drug Targets”
India’s Innovation Front Lines 2009 (Part 5): Educating the Bottom of the Pyramid
Delhi, January 5, 2010—The biggest challenge and therefore opportunity faced by India is its demographic dividend: there are over 500 million youth under 25 years of age and 350 million under 15 years. Thirty percent of them are in cities. Only a small percentage of these youngsters will obtain university degrees. The majority will need … Continue reading “India’s Innovation Front Lines 2009 (Part 5): Educating the Bottom of the Pyramid”
Fidelity Ventures Team Forms Volition Capital
There’s a new player on the venture scene in Boston. The team behind the U.S. branch of Fidelity Ventures, the venture investing wing of Fidelity Investments, has left Fidelity and relaunched itself under the name Volition Capital, according to an announcement today. The new firm—in which Fidelity has no ownership stake—says it will invest in … Continue reading “Fidelity Ventures Team Forms Volition Capital”
Virtify Reports $15M in A Round
Virtify, a provider of Web-based document management software for life sciences firms, has secured $15 million in an offering of Series A convertible preferred stock, according to an SEC filing. There are eight investors in the round, according to the filing, but the Cambridge, MA-based firm hasn’t yet identified them, and neither company CEO Satish … Continue reading “Virtify Reports $15M in A Round”
Apple Eases Controls on iPhone App Development: One Local Developer’s Experiences
Downloading free or paid third-party applications has become such a key part of the Apple iPhone experience—with more than 100,000 apps now available through the iTunes App Store—that it’s easy to forget that outside apps weren’t even allowed on the device until summer 2008. But while Apple’s strategy has revolutionized consumers’ expectations about smartphones, and … Continue reading “Apple Eases Controls on iPhone App Development: One Local Developer’s Experiences”