A breakfast discussion on “Getting Ready for the Rebound” held yesterday by the San Diego Venture Group might have been more aptly billed as “Waiting for the Rebound: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts.” But then again, with San Diego News Network CEO Neil Senturia serving as moderator, there really can only be one act. The … Continue reading “Quips and Tips: Panel Searches for Signs of Recovery”
Category: National
Patrick Details Plans for Holyoke Computing Center
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick traveled to Holyoke, MA, yesterday to talk about the next steps for the planned Holyoke High Performance Computing Center, a massive project designed to advance the state of the art in “green computing” for life sciences, cleantech, and other applications, while also bolstering business development in economically depressed western Massachusetts. Construction … Continue reading “Patrick Details Plans for Holyoke Computing Center”
Luminus Devices: Finding Its Way Toward the Light With High-Efficiency LEDs
Luminus Devices in Billerica, MA, may hold the record among Massachusetts technology companies for the shortest time between conception and launch. But the journey since then has been anything but straightforward. One summer day in 2002, recent MIT PhD graduate Alexei Erchak and his former advisor, physicist John Joannopolous, were meeting to talk about whether … Continue reading “Luminus Devices: Finding Its Way Toward the Light With High-Efficiency LEDs”
Verdezyne and Cardium Therapeutics Get Funding, Illumina Fires New Volley in Patent War, a New Stem Cell Technology Surfaces, and Other San Diego Life Sciences News
Word that several San Diego companies successfully raised funds punctuated an otherwise light week for life sciences news here. A rundown of the highlights: —Synthetic biology company Verdezyne received a $1.7 million Small Business Technology Transfer grant to develop mutant gene libraries for its computational and bioinformatics programs. The Carlsbad, CA startup, previously named CODA … Continue reading “Verdezyne and Cardium Therapeutics Get Funding, Illumina Fires New Volley in Patent War, a New Stem Cell Technology Surfaces, and Other San Diego Life Sciences News”
Five Red Flags of a Biotech, Pathway Medical Learns Lessons, Amgen Faces FDA Delay, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
This week we were jamming on our big event on the 20-year outlook for Seattle’s life sciences hub, but we still found a way to squeeze in a lot of news and features. —Biotech pioneer Chris Henney offered an insightful and entertaining talk about how to invest in biotech at a recent speech before the … Continue reading “Five Red Flags of a Biotech, Pathway Medical Learns Lessons, Amgen Faces FDA Delay, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Inside the Mascoma Labs: Tracking Ethanol-Making Microbes from Lebanon to Rome
Microbiologist Larry Feinberg has dug into piles of waste from paper factories and explored hot springs in the West for microbes that he calls “tough bugs,” because of their ability to thrive in adverse conditions. The fierce bacteria are now shipped to the new labs and headquarters of Mascoma, a developer of cellulosic ethanol, in … Continue reading “Inside the Mascoma Labs: Tracking Ethanol-Making Microbes from Lebanon to Rome”
Bing Partners with Twitter, Facebook to Bring Real-Time Updates to Search Capabilities
Microsoft announced the integration of real-time status updates from Twitter and Facebook into its Bing search engine this morning at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Senior vice president Yusuf Mehdi and Online Services Group president Qi Lu confirmed the company’s non-exclusive partnerships with the two social media networks on stage, followed by a … Continue reading “Bing Partners with Twitter, Facebook to Bring Real-Time Updates to Search Capabilities”
Antigenics Shares Plummet as Cancer Vaccine Application Rejected in Europe
Antigenics, the Lexington, MA-based developer of a personalized treatment to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer, saw its shares plummet today after a European regulatory commission told the company that its lead drug candidate isn’t ready for the marketplace. Shares of Antigenics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AGEN]]) dropped 40 percent to $1.25 at noon Eastern time after … Continue reading “Antigenics Shares Plummet as Cancer Vaccine Application Rejected in Europe”
Illume Software Adds to Series A to Stop Driving While Texting and Talking on Mobile Phones
Many of us have seen cars swerving on the road ahead and later pull up to catch the driver gabbing on his or her mobile phone. Perhaps a few of us are guilty of the practice, too. Well, Illume Software, based in Concord, MA, said this morning that it has raised an additional $1 million … Continue reading “Illume Software Adds to Series A to Stop Driving While Texting and Talking on Mobile Phones”
Solving San Diego’s Venture Capital Crisis is Mission for New Task Force of Tech Leaders
The evaporation of much of San Diego’s hometown venture capital base has prompted the city’s technology community to organize a business task force to find new ways of getting startup capital to early stage companies. Creating the task force is part of a broad initiative that Connect, a local non-profit organization for technology and entrepreneurship, … Continue reading “Solving San Diego’s Venture Capital Crisis is Mission for New Task Force of Tech Leaders”
Executives Through Experimentation: The B-School Internship Experience
Business school applications require many thousands of words’ worth of essay questions, usually dealing with those universal but ephemeral corporate themes of Teamwork, Impact, and Dealing With Difficult Situations. Somewhere within this morass the applicant is generally expected to answer the question, “What are you going to do with an MBA?” To this there are … Continue reading “Executives Through Experimentation: The B-School Internship Experience”
Seattle Biotech Needs More Bars, Less University Red Tape, and the Same Daring Attitude, & Other Highlights from Seattle Life Sciences 2029
Seattle has more than its share of brilliant biologists for a medium-sized American city. But if people and ideas are going to properly mix to create a thriving local biotech industry over the next two decades, we could use a few more common places with intellectual sparks—like bars. At least according to one of the … Continue reading “Seattle Biotech Needs More Bars, Less University Red Tape, and the Same Daring Attitude, & Other Highlights from Seattle Life Sciences 2029”
Isis CEO Vows that Cholesterol Drug, Partnered With Genzyme, Will be “Remarkable” Advance
Isis Pharmaceuticals CEO Stanley Crooke is a man who knows how to make a grand gesture. The market may have been underwhelmed by what Isis and its partner, Genzyme, had to say about their first-of-a-kind cholesterol-lowering drug back in May, but to him that just means they’re missing the point. When I stopped by to … Continue reading “Isis CEO Vows that Cholesterol Drug, Partnered With Genzyme, Will be “Remarkable” Advance”
VC Playoffs: Red Sox (MA) Vs. Yankees (NY)—A Graphic Comparison
[Corrected, October 22, 2009 — see below] I really hate the Yankees (sorry Bijan). Nothing good has come of them for me, except the time back in the early 90s when I was at Yankee Stadium with Trip Hawkins of Electronic Arts fame and Richard Nixon was sitting across the aisle, and two Secret Service … Continue reading “VC Playoffs: Red Sox (MA) Vs. Yankees (NY)—A Graphic Comparison”
HelpHive Tests “Pay Per Job” Model, Connects Home-Service Businesses with Consumers
Doing some home remodeling? Need someone to clean that pesky gutter? Karim Meghji has an offer for you. Meghji and Dave Richards, both veterans of Seattle-based RealNetworks (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RNWK]]), have been busy working on their home-services networking site, HelpHive, since it was first publicly introduced in May. The community site helps people find reputable businesses … Continue reading “HelpHive Tests “Pay Per Job” Model, Connects Home-Service Businesses with Consumers”
AudienceScience Raises $20M, Sequoia Re-ups with Jive Software, Visible Gets Spooky, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
It was a light week for deals in the Northwest, but there were still some big investments in online advertising and social business software. (Not to mention we’re all trying to confirm the rumors of an Ontela acquisition of Photobucket.) —Venture capital stats for the quarter ending Sept. 30 were released from multiple sources in … Continue reading “AudienceScience Raises $20M, Sequoia Re-ups with Jive Software, Visible Gets Spooky, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
Flexion Pulls in $33M, Cubist Teams With Hydra, Charles River Makes Cuts, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
There was a steady serenade of news from New England’s life sciences companies this past week, with both the startups and the public firms chiming in. —Ryan profiled Boston BioCom, a Pfizer-backed startup aiming to commercialize life science discoveries from Russia. Based in, of course, Boston, the firm is also developing technology from the Massachusetts … Continue reading “Flexion Pulls in $33M, Cubist Teams With Hydra, Charles River Makes Cuts, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Recent Launch of Onemarketplace.com Enables Multiple and Simultaneous Sales Listings
Brendan Boyd, a San Diego Internet entrepreneur, gave me an update today on the venture we discussed last April, when Boyd and his partners were developing ideas for a website that enables users to sell merchandise through multiple online venders. The website that Boyd had created with partners Jan Anton and Eric Jacobson was in … Continue reading “Recent Launch of Onemarketplace.com Enables Multiple and Simultaneous Sales Listings”
Seattle Life Sciences 2029 Photo Gallery
Thanks to everyone who made last night’s Xconomy event on Seattle’s 20-year outlook for life sciences such a big success. The house was packed at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute; we had a highly interactive conversation between the audience and a distinguished panel, and brief introductions to some of the most exciting life sciences startups in … Continue reading “Seattle Life Sciences 2029 Photo Gallery”
Top 10 Northwest Venture Deals of the Third Quarter—and VC Color Commentary
Woe is me, said the VC. With the exit markets all but closed, fundraising in a logjam, and portfolio companies struggling to stay afloat, it is a tough time to be a venture capitalist. Yet the good ones will survive, and thrive. As will the companies they are building. That’s the message I got from … Continue reading “Top 10 Northwest Venture Deals of the Third Quarter—and VC Color Commentary”
Jive Rakes In $12M from Sequoia Capital to Improve Social Business Software
Social media monitoring and business networking software just got a little hotter. Jive Software, the Portland, OR-based maker of social business software, announced last night it has raised a $12 million Series B round from Sequoia Capital. Sequoia previously invested $15 million in Jive in 2007. Jive says the money will be used to expand … Continue reading “Jive Rakes In $12M from Sequoia Capital to Improve Social Business Software”
Arbor Networks Reports on the Rise of the Internet “Hyper Giants”
For 15 years now, we’ve all thought of the World Wide Web as a near-literal web of connections between millions of servers in different locations, with each machine hosting just a tiny slice of the Web’s overall content. But that’s not the new shape of the Web, according to Arbor Networks of Chelmsford, MA. Today, … Continue reading “Arbor Networks Reports on the Rise of the Internet “Hyper Giants””
The Past and Future of Venture Capital
This is Terry McGuire’s fifth big economic downturn as a venture capitalist, the first being Black Monday in 1987. But when he gets together to chat with Peter Brooke tomorrow night, he’ll be the inexperienced one. That’s why I’m incredibly excited about our Xconomy Forum tomorrow night, which will be held at the offices of … Continue reading “The Past and Future of Venture Capital”
Top 10 (+ 1) New England Venture Deals of Q3 2009
We’ve brought you a lot of third-quarter venture data in the last week or so—and we’re not done yet (hint: I have something special coming up for you baseball fans). But we haven’t gotten around to our usual Top 10 deals list. So let me remind you, it was a pretty good quarter here in … Continue reading “Top 10 (+ 1) New England Venture Deals of Q3 2009”
Currensee Opens Currency-Trader Community, Closes $6M Venture Round
Boston-based Currensee announced today that it’s opening its online community for foreign currency traders to all comers, after nearly six months of private beta testing. The company also said that it has closed its Series A funding round, raising $6 million from North Bridge Venture Partners in Waltham, MA. “It’s a major milestone for us,” … Continue reading “Currensee Opens Currency-Trader Community, Closes $6M Venture Round”
San Diego’s Top 10 Third-Quarter Deals Reveal Slow Comeback in Venture Investing
[Corrected 10/20/09, 7:30 am. See below.]Venture Capital investing in the San Diego area has been slowly increasing since the fourth quarter of 2008, when venture investing in the area fell to an adjusted low point of $172.8 million and just 14 deals, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. [Corrects amount invested and number of startups.]The latest … Continue reading “San Diego’s Top 10 Third-Quarter Deals Reveal Slow Comeback in Venture Investing”
Notes from Dogpatch Labs’ Housewarming Party—and a List of Initial Inhabitants
It was a cold and drizzly night (how’s that for original writing?) last Thursday, and I was running late. But Dogpatch Labs Cambridge was holding its housewarming party across the street from Xconomy World Headquarters, so I braved the elements to stop in. I walked into a crowded house of 70 folks or so, boxes … Continue reading “Notes from Dogpatch Labs’ Housewarming Party—and a List of Initial Inhabitants”
Azaleos, Working with Microsoft, Moves Into Unified Communications for Business
[Updated 12:25pm, 10/20/09. See correction below] Seattle-based Azaleos is announcing today it is releasing new software and services to help companies manage Microsoft Office Communications Server, which is a software platform for instant messaging, Internet telephony, and video conferencing over the Web. It’s a strong move for Azaleos that expands its product line beyond management … Continue reading “Azaleos, Working with Microsoft, Moves Into Unified Communications for Business”
Pathway Medical Learns Lessons During Tougher Than Expected First Year on Market
Kirkland, WA-based Pathway Medical Technologies has to be considered one of the bright spots in the recent history of Seattle life sciences. The medical device maker won FDA approval for its first product about 15 months ago, raised $42 million in venture capital, and recruited a CEO with loads of experience in commercializing medical devices. … Continue reading “Pathway Medical Learns Lessons During Tougher Than Expected First Year on Market”
MoneyTree Survey of VC Activity Sees Pace of Investments Strengthening
Let optimism reign. A third survey of recent VC activity shows that venture investments increased 17 percent during the third quarter, compared with the previous quarter. While the actual numbers vary, the findings of the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, based on data from Thomson Reuters, reinforces the more optimistic … Continue reading “MoneyTree Survey of VC Activity Sees Pace of Investments Strengthening”
San Diego’s Ardea Biosciences Sees Potential for Gout Drug in Combination Treatment
San Diego’s Ardea Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RDEA]]) appears to have stubbed a toe in its development of RDEA 594 as a first-line treatment for gout. Data presented at a medical meeting in Philadelphia today showed the Ardea drug was no better at controlling gout than existing medications, including allopurinol, a cheap generic. During a conference call … Continue reading “San Diego’s Ardea Biosciences Sees Potential for Gout Drug in Combination Treatment”
See You Tonight at Seattle Life Sciences 2029
I still have one more feature story I hope to bang out this afternoon, but the Xconomy team will soon be heading over to Seattle Biomedical Research Institute tonight for our big event on the 20-year outlook for the Northwest’s life sciences cluster. This sold-out event will bring together some of the world’s leading life … Continue reading “See You Tonight at Seattle Life Sciences 2029”
Microsoft Forecast Is Called “Partly Cloudy” on Eve of Windows 7 Release
In case you missed it yesterday, the New York Times ran a sweeping review of Microsoft’s position in the tech world on the eve of its Windows 7 rollout this week. That’s the latest version of Microsoft’s iconic operating system for personal computers. But the article smartly goes beyond the company’s strategy for PCs, and … Continue reading “Microsoft Forecast Is Called “Partly Cloudy” on Eve of Windows 7 Release”
HubSpot Gets $16 Million to “Put Mass Behind SaaS”; Marketing Automation Company Has Plans to Go Public, CEO Says
It’s a big day at HubSpot, the Cambridge, MA-based marketing technology startup founded three years ago by local investor-entrepreneurs Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah. The company announced that it has raised a $16 million Series C financing round, led by new investor Scale Ventures, with existing investors General Catalyst Partners and Matrix Partners also joining … Continue reading “HubSpot Gets $16 Million to “Put Mass Behind SaaS”; Marketing Automation Company Has Plans to Go Public, CEO Says”
Calistoga Cancer Drug Shows “Encouraging” Preliminary Results in Small Study
Seattle-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals has taken another peek at preliminary results from an ongoing clinical trial of its drug that’s made to block one of the hottest targets in cancer biology, and it continues to like what it’s seeing. Researchers saw that five of 17 evaluable patients (29 percent) with chronic lymphocytic leukemia had at least … Continue reading “Calistoga Cancer Drug Shows “Encouraging” Preliminary Results in Small Study”
TechStars Boston is Homeless, But Will Return in 2010—Director Finds Shelter in Dogpatch Labs
One of the worst things that happened in the Boston entrepreneurial community this year was that Y Combinator decamped to do all its incubating of new tech companies in Silicon Valley. One of the best things that happened was that a few months later, TechStars moved right in to fill the void. The incubator camp … Continue reading “TechStars Boston is Homeless, But Will Return in 2010—Director Finds Shelter in Dogpatch Labs”
VC is Up or Down Depending on Who You Read, Congress Looks to Revive SBIC Program, & More San Diego BizTech News
Dueling reports on venture capital activity came to contradictory conclusions last week when the numbers came in for the three-month period that ended Sept. 30. Catch up on that and the rest of San Diego’s technology innovation news: —New York-based ChubbyBrain says $6 billion in venture capital was invested nationwide in 680 deals during the … Continue reading “VC is Up or Down Depending on Who You Read, Congress Looks to Revive SBIC Program, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Lots of Energy on Tap at MIT Energy Night
You know how Hollywood always goes overboard with gizmos and hijinks when it’s trying to represent young people doing science? (I’m thinking especially of 1980s movies like WarGames, Real Genius, and Weird Science.) Well, the MIT Museum in Cambridge, MA, looked exactly like that last Friday as the annual “MIT Energy Night” event showcased dozens … Continue reading “Lots of Energy on Tap at MIT Energy Night”
BIL and TED’s Excellent (But Little Known) Healthcare Adventure in San Diego
Did you know that Goldie Hawn, David Blaine, and Martha Stewart are coming to San Diego at the end of October to discuss…healthcare? Probably not, maybe because the exclusive TEDMED2009 conference is $4,000 to attend, and already sold out. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and its conferences aim to bring together people from … Continue reading “BIL and TED’s Excellent (But Little Known) Healthcare Adventure in San Diego”
Faster, Cheaper Stem Cells: Fate Therapeutics Co-Founder, With Scripps Team, Finds Key
One of the scientific co-founders of San Diego-based Fate Therapeutics, along with his team at The Scripps Research Institute, is reporting a major advance that will make it faster, cheaper, and potentially practical on an industrial scale to turn adult cells into stem cells that can morph into any type of cell in the human … Continue reading “Faster, Cheaper Stem Cells: Fate Therapeutics Co-Founder, With Scripps Team, Finds Key”
Is Venture Up or Down? Dow Jones Survey Shows Retreat in Q3 VC Activity, Flatly Contradicting Rival Report
After reporting earlier this week that third-quarter venture capital investments were up 14 percent nationwide over the second quarter—based on data from New York-based ChubbyBrain—we now have data from Dow Jones VentureSource for the same period that shows almost the opposite: a 5.5 percent decline in venture capital deployed during the quarter. Instead of the … Continue reading “Is Venture Up or Down? Dow Jones Survey Shows Retreat in Q3 VC Activity, Flatly Contradicting Rival Report”
Ballmer in Boston: Microsoft CEO on New England Startups, Competing with Apple, and the “New Normal” of IT
Microsoft is adjusting to a “new normal” with levels of demand for information technology that may be permanently lower than in the past—but it will still vie aggressively with competitors such as Apple for the dollars of consumers and enterprises, CEO Steve Ballmer told an audience in Boston today. In a rare visit to New … Continue reading “Ballmer in Boston: Microsoft CEO on New England Startups, Competing with Apple, and the “New Normal” of IT”
Flexion Therapeutics Gets $33M For Faster, Cheaper Drug Development
[Update: 10/16/09, 3:18 pm Eastern] Flexion Therapeutics, the Woburn, MA-based company that seeks to reduce the time and expense of drug development’s risky early steps, has raised $33 million in a Series A venture round, according to a statement. Earlier in the day, we reported the deal was for $20 million, out of a potential … Continue reading “Flexion Therapeutics Gets $33M For Faster, Cheaper Drug Development”
Overtone Raises Almost $2.5M to Expand Online Monitoring Business
Overtone, a company that provides Web-based analytics that enables companies to monitor online sentiment about their brand and products, has raised nearly $2.5 million in a venture round that could be worth as much as $5.3 million, according to a recent regulatory filing. The company, though, defies any simple definition—at least based on a conversation … Continue reading “Overtone Raises Almost $2.5M to Expand Online Monitoring Business”
Thank You, Microsoft
This article was written with Michael Greeley, general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners and chairman of the New England Venture Capital Association. Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer is here in Cambridge this morning meeting with community leaders, and presumably also with his own staff to learn how things are going at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development … Continue reading “Thank You, Microsoft”
Join Xconomy at Demo Meet-Up Next Thursday
Demo conference executive producer (and VentureBeat founder) Matt Marshall and his posse will be in town next Thursday scouting out startups interested in unveiling their companies or products at the spring edition of the semi-annual tech event. We’re planning on knocking back a beer or two (or maybe something stronger) with Matt and the Demo … Continue reading “Join Xconomy at Demo Meet-Up Next Thursday”
Fill’er up: San Diego’s Algae-Based Energy Sector Grows
In wake of last week’s Algae Biomass Summit, we thought now might be a good time to take stock of San Diego’s biofuels/biomass energy sector. After identifying a mini-cluster of eight algae technology companies last December, Bruce was surprised to discover that the nonprofit group Cleantech San Diego now counts 31 biomass and biofuel companies … Continue reading “Fill’er up: San Diego’s Algae-Based Energy Sector Grows”
The Kauffman Foundation: Bringing Entrepreneurship Up to Date in Kansas City
Before I came to Xconomy, I didn’t know much about the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation beyond what I heard on the radio. If you’re an NPR listener like me, you’ve probably heard their underwriting plug that says it’s the “Foundation of Entrepreneurship.” But then I started covering stories like the foundation’s annual New Economy Index, … Continue reading “The Kauffman Foundation: Bringing Entrepreneurship Up to Date in Kansas City”
Top 10 Highlights from FiReGlobal: Michael Dell, Lee Hartwell, Irwin Jacobs, and More
I can’t do justice to a comprehensive review of yesterday’s FiReGlobal (West Coast) conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle. Instead, I’ll just give a few of my key takeaways. The all-day event, organized by Strategic News Service, focused on how to solve some of the most pressing problems in technology, business, and society—in … Continue reading “Top 10 Highlights from FiReGlobal: Michael Dell, Lee Hartwell, Irwin Jacobs, and More”
Cisco Snags Starent for $2.9B, Rocket Software Raises $91.9M, & More Boston-Area Deals News
Not much deals news to round up this week, thanks to the Monday holiday and the fact that last week’s roundup slipped to this week. But just in case you missed it… —Tewksbury, MA-based Starent Networks (NASDAQ:[[ticker:STAR]]) agreed to be acquired by technology giant Cisco (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CSCO]]) for a healthy $2.9 billion. Starent, which went public … Continue reading “Cisco Snags Starent for $2.9B, Rocket Software Raises $91.9M, & More Boston-Area Deals News”