Category: National

How Much Wood Would WoodPellets.com Sell If It Had $11M in New Venture Funding?

There are a couple centuries of progress separating wood-burning stove technology from MIT-bred logistics software. But the two are more closely related than you might think. In Goffstown, NH, a startup that just raised millions of dollars from two Boston-area venture firms is using the latest in supply chain management technology to build a national … Continue reading “How Much Wood Would WoodPellets.com Sell If It Had $11M in New Venture Funding?”

Semiconductor Startups Get Squeezed, TheFunded Founder Institute Expanding Worldwide, Algae-Based Biofuels Startups Multiply, & More San Diego BizTech News

At a time when semiconductor startups seem to be an endangered species, San Diego’s cleantech sector continues to show unusually strong growth. Get the lowdown on that and more. —The shutdown of San Diego’s Sequoia Communications is a sign of broader problems that are making it harder to build new fabless semiconductor design companies, according … Continue reading “Semiconductor Startups Get Squeezed, TheFunded Founder Institute Expanding Worldwide, Algae-Based Biofuels Startups Multiply, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Will Solar Ever Live Up to the Hype? Paul Allen, Vinod Khosla Bet On Infinia’s Sun Engines

The early afternoon sun was bearing down on us, and it was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit the other day when J.D. Sitton walked behind his office, squinted, and pointed to the future of his company. Sitton, the CEO of Kennewick, WA-based Infinia, showed me a device resembling a satellite dish that has attracted some deep-pocketed … Continue reading “Will Solar Ever Live Up to the Hype? Paul Allen, Vinod Khosla Bet On Infinia’s Sun Engines”

Fallbrook Aims to Mow Down Market With Hydro-Gear Licensing Deal

San Diego’s Fallbrook Technologies says it has struck a deal for what is literally a “greenfield” application of its NuVinci continuously variable transmission. The venture-backed company, which has been steadily expanding the market for its transmission technology, has signed a licensing agreement with Hydro-Gear of Sullivan, IL, a leading maker of drive systems for lawnmowers … Continue reading “Fallbrook Aims to Mow Down Market With Hydro-Gear Licensing Deal”

How to Build a Billion-Dollar Company (And Keep An Academic Day Job), According to David Walt

Anyone compiling a list of the most successful life sciences entrepreneurs of the past decade would have to consider a soft-spoken academic named David Walt. He’s the chemistry professor at Medford, MA-based Tufts University who co-founded Illumina in 1998. San Diego-based Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]) found its niche in the past decade by boosting the efficiency … Continue reading “How to Build a Billion-Dollar Company (And Keep An Academic Day Job), According to David Walt”

How “Place” Matters in Innovation

There has been a lively debate following Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog “Why Waltham Doesn’t Matter.” One of the threads is whether it matters if entrepreneurs and VCs are physically concentrated close to each other. It should not matter where a VC’s offices are located. Good VCs and entrepreneurs will find each other. Andrew Perlman, … Continue reading “How “Place” Matters in Innovation”

Richard Egan, EMC Co-founder, Dies at 73

[Updated, August 29, 1:40 pm—see below] Xconomy is saddened to note that Richard Egan, the “E” in EMC, has passed away. The co-founder, with Roger Marino, of the Hopkinton, MA-based data storage and information management giant, Egan was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in May. He died at his Boston home yesterday, according to an … Continue reading “Richard Egan, EMC Co-founder, Dies at 73”

Google Is Hiring Again, Makes Bid to Be More Transparent to Seattle-Area Engineers

Last night, Google hosted a series of technology talks at its Fremont office in Seattle. The goal was to give the tech community a look at the core technologies and problems Google is working on in the Northwest—the first time Google Seattle has spoken publicly in detail about a number of projects it’s pursuing. Between … Continue reading “Google Is Hiring Again, Makes Bid to Be More Transparent to Seattle-Area Engineers”

Betaspring Unveils First Class of Startup Groups in Providence, Plans Micro-Seed Fund Akin to Y Combinator

Ji Kim was able to raise $100,000 in seed financing for his ad software startup Dijipop this summer through connections he gained in a new program called Betaspring, which was launched this year to support young entrepreneurs in Providence, RI, in their quest to form technology- and design-oriented startups. Dijipop was one of the seven … Continue reading “Betaspring Unveils First Class of Startup Groups in Providence, Plans Micro-Seed Fund Akin to Y Combinator”

The Webloyalty Settlement: A Great Graphic Lesson in Marketing Practices

Yesterday morning, Wade wrote a story about the recent settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit involving Connecticut-based Webloyalty, which runs various discount programs offered to consumers as they wrap up e-commerce transactions. The case involved allegations that Webloyalty violated state and federal laws by failing to disclose some details about its offerings, such as the … Continue reading “The Webloyalty Settlement: A Great Graphic Lesson in Marketing Practices”

Trubion Gets $20M Upfront in Leukemia Drug Partnership With Facet; Shares Boom

Trubion Pharmaceuticals has been pretty quiet this year, but put out some some good news this morning that sent shares soaring more than 40 percent. The Seattle biotech company said it has signed a global partnership with Redwood City, CA-based Facet Biotech to co-develop and market an experimental treatment for leukemia. Trubion (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TRBN]]) will … Continue reading “Trubion Gets $20M Upfront in Leukemia Drug Partnership With Facet; Shares Boom”

TheFunded to Bring Startup “Training Camp” to San Diego—Eyeing Other Cities From Seattle to Boston to Paris

The inaugural class of the TheFunded Founder Institute, a San Francisco-based training camp for startup CEOs, isn’t graduating until Sept. 8—but the institute’s founder, Bay Area serial entrepreneur Adeo Ressi, is already expanding the program to San Diego and elsewhere. Ressi, who previously founded the VC rating site TheFunded and operates the institute as an … Continue reading “TheFunded to Bring Startup “Training Camp” to San Diego—Eyeing Other Cities From Seattle to Boston to Paris”

Heartland Robotics Lands $7M, Gloucester Pharma Gets $29M, Biopure Auctioned Away for $4M, & More Boston Deals News

There were good, bad, and ugly deals in New England’s technology and life sciences sectors this past week. Yet there are more highlights and lowlights. You can judge under which of those three categories (good, bad, ugly) the following deals fall: —Wade did some digging in the SEC database last Friday to report that Cambridge, … Continue reading “Heartland Robotics Lands $7M, Gloucester Pharma Gets $29M, Biopure Auctioned Away for $4M, & More Boston Deals News”

Amylin and Biogen Idec Make Board Changes, Inovio Catches Wave of Investor ‘Swine Flu’ Fervor, Ligand Buys Neurogen, & Other San Diego Life Sciences News

Fallout from two of the proxy battles we followed earlier this year has become more apparent on the boards at San Diego’s Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMLN]]) and Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]), which has operations in San Diego. We’ve got that and more life sciences news. —Diabetes drug maker Amylin Pharmaceuticals said its board … Continue reading “Amylin and Biogen Idec Make Board Changes, Inovio Catches Wave of Investor ‘Swine Flu’ Fervor, Ligand Buys Neurogen, & Other San Diego Life Sciences News”

Xconomy Had a Bad Internet Day—But We’re Up and Running Again

Fingers crossed—it looks like we finally have our site back up and running. Most stories reposted, most lost comments restored. It has been a long, not-so-fun day here at Xconomy. Our site crashed around 11:30 am EDT and we didn’t get things back up and running until some eight or nine hours later. We have … Continue reading “Xconomy Had a Bad Internet Day—But We’re Up and Running Again”

Pivotal Makes First Investment in Solar, Bets Small and Strategic on Northwest Cleantech

On Tuesday, we reported that Pivotal Investments has led a $2 million financing round for Tuusso Energy, a solar power developer based in Seattle. Tuusso is an intriguing startup focused on developing and operating solar plants to supply renewable energy to utility companies; its first plant is slated to be built in the California desert … Continue reading “Pivotal Makes First Investment in Solar, Bets Small and Strategic on Northwest Cleantech”

Daktari Diagnostics and BL Healthcare Find Early Investors: More Signs of Life for Medtech Startups

Here are two reasons to believe that there are investors out there willing to make a bet on your young startup: BL Healthcare and Daktari Diagnostics, both of which reported in SEC documents over the past few days that they’ve raised private capital. Formed last year, Daktari appears to be the younger of the two … Continue reading “Daktari Diagnostics and BL Healthcare Find Early Investors: More Signs of Life for Medtech Startups”

Webloyalty Customers Eligible for Payments Under Class-Action Settlement

Back in 2007, Xconomy ran a story by freelance contributor Seth Shulman about a class-action lawsuit unfolding against Norwalk, CT-based Webloyalty, an online marketing company. The comment section of that story became something of a clearinghouse for ongoing complaints against Webloyalty, which runs many of the discount programs pitched to consumers as they are finishing … Continue reading “Webloyalty Customers Eligible for Payments Under Class-Action Settlement”

ZymoGenetics Plays Hardball, Targeted Genetics’ Legacy, Omeros Preps for Fall IPO, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

We’re supposed to be oh-so-laid-back here in the Northwest, so the surprise of the week came when one of the local biotech mainstays showed it was willing to step up and punch a competitor in the nose. —Seattle-based ZymoGenetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) showed it was willing to ruffle some feathers in its quest to gain market … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Plays Hardball, Targeted Genetics’ Legacy, Omeros Preps for Fall IPO, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

All Green on the Western Front: San Diego Algae Pioneers Provide Glimpse of the Future of Biofuels

[Corrected 9/03/09, 7:20 am. See below.] It felt almost anti-climactic when retired Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn arrived in San Diego last week to meet with some of San Diego’s leading algae biofuels scientists and tour a local biofuel research facility. McGinn, a former commander of the Navy’s Third Fleet in San Diego, is a member … Continue reading “All Green on the Western Front: San Diego Algae Pioneers Provide Glimpse of the Future of Biofuels”

Should Cloud Computing Startups Beware Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud? No, Says Cloudswitch

Sometimes I worry too much about the fortunes of local technology startups. It usually turns out that they can take care of themselves. When I saw Amazon’s announcement yesterday about its new “Virtual Private Cloud” service—which is intended to make it easier for enterprises with expensive, existing data centers to tap into Amazon’s own, less … Continue reading “Should Cloud Computing Startups Beware Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud? No, Says Cloudswitch”

Biogen Idec Research Boss Quits Board, Giving Icahn Shot at Pushing R&D Agenda

[Update: 8:20 pm Eastern time with Biogen comments] One of the Biogen Idec executives who was criticized earlier this year for displaying “failed leadership,” in the words of billionaire investor Carl Icahn, is resigning from the company’s board after an earlier pledge to keep the seat. Cecil Pickett, Biogen’s president of research and development, will … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Research Boss Quits Board, Giving Icahn Shot at Pushing R&D Agenda”

Omeros Plans to Test Waters with First Washington IPO in Two Years, Sources Say

Omeros, the Seattle biotech company developing a treatment to help people recover faster from knee surgery, is preparing a renewed push for an initial public offering this fall, possibly as soon as next month, Xconomy has learned from people familiar with the matter. The company first showed an interest in going public back in January … Continue reading “Omeros Plans to Test Waters with First Washington IPO in Two Years, Sources Say”

Genocea, Attracting Merck and Wyeth Vaccine Gurus, Pushes New Immunizations to Clinic

Vaccines get the credit for some of the biggest public health gains of the past century, but they are notoriously tough to develop. The required clinical trials take years, cost many millions, and even the slightest safety warning will attract droves of litigators. That’s all for a product that can’t usually command monopoly prices, like, … Continue reading “Genocea, Attracting Merck and Wyeth Vaccine Gurus, Pushes New Immunizations to Clinic”

Biotechs Go Back to the Future by Re-Innovating Old Drugs

Biotechnology start-ups have long been seen as fearless innovators, embracing experimental technologies, like gene therapy, that big pharmaceutical companies won’t touch. But the news flow from San Diego this summer suggests the industry may have become a bit more cautious. More and more companies, it seems, are focused on reviving or repurposing older drugs – … Continue reading “Biotechs Go Back to the Future by Re-Innovating Old Drugs”

Marketfish Raises Cash from Alliance of Angels, Looks to Elbow List Brokers Out of Lead-Gen Space

[Updated Aug 27, 11pm PT, with clarification about the list marketing and lead-gen process (see below)] A stealthy Seattle startup in online marketing is starting to generate some buzz around town. Marketfish, which recently moved into new offices in Pioneer Square, has raised an undisclosed sum from private investors, led by Seattle-based Alliance of Angels … Continue reading “Marketfish Raises Cash from Alliance of Angels, Looks to Elbow List Brokers Out of Lead-Gen Space”

How a Nanotech Startup Could Change Your Life: The Modumetal Story

“What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?” “No, Neo. I’m trying to tell you that when you’re ready, you won’t have to.” It’s one of the many memorable exchanges from “The Matrix.” But next time, Keanu Reeves should just talk to Christina Lomasney about getting some Modumetal armor—so he truly … Continue reading “How a Nanotech Startup Could Change Your Life: The Modumetal Story”

Resolvyx Nails Dry Eye Trial, Gloucester Pulls in $29M, Shire Beefs Up Mass Presence, & Other Boston-Area Life Sciences News

News flow was light this week, so it was a good time for biotechies to rest up and get ready for the usual fall frenzy of investor conferences and medical meetings. But one local startup had a breakout moment in clinical trials, and another raised a pile of cash. —Bedford, MA-based Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals aimed high … Continue reading “Resolvyx Nails Dry Eye Trial, Gloucester Pulls in $29M, Shire Beefs Up Mass Presence, & Other Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

Jeff Bezos Invests in Robots, MySpace Confirms iLike Purchase, Cell Therapeutics Sells Stock, & More Seattle-Area Deals News

It was a bit of a quiet week for Northwest deals, with some local venture dollars going to other parts of the country. Nevertheless, there was activity in gaming, music, robotics, biotech, and cleantech. —Seattle-based Tuusso Energy completed a $2 million financing round led by Pivotal Investments, based in Portland, OR. The deal was made … Continue reading “Jeff Bezos Invests in Robots, MySpace Confirms iLike Purchase, Cell Therapeutics Sells Stock, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”

CEO Says Sequoia’s Extinction Reflects Why Semiconductor Startups Are an Endangered Species

Sequoia Communications CEO Dave Shepard was out of town last week when the demise of the San Diego fabless semiconductor design company came to light. I was told he was furious over the shutdown, as Sequoia had finished its product, a chip for use in cellphones and wireless devices, had secured customers, and was roughly … Continue reading “CEO Says Sequoia’s Extinction Reflects Why Semiconductor Startups Are an Endangered Species”

Quick Hit Will Let Players Pit Football Skills Against Legendary NFL Coaches

Even if you were a coach in the National Football League, you’d never get a chance to test your tactics on the field against famous coaches like Brian Billick, Bill Cowher, Jimmy Johnson, Tom Landry, or Dan Reeves—because they’re all retired (and Landry is deceased). But that’s exactly what players will be able to do … Continue reading “Quick Hit Will Let Players Pit Football Skills Against Legendary NFL Coaches”

Making Connections, Managing Risk in Startup Deals: A Visit to Boston Law Firm Mintz Levin

If you’ve seen from the inside how technology startups get created and funded, you know that law firms are involved at every step in the process. But to outside observers, it might be surprising just how central a role the attorneys can play—not just by helping entrepreneurs with incorporation papers and the other legal rigmarole … Continue reading “Making Connections, Managing Risk in Startup Deals: A Visit to Boston Law Firm Mintz Levin”

Inovio, Fueled By Swine Flu Fear, Comes Back From Brink With ‘Universal’ Vaccines

Just three months ago, San Diego-based Inovio Biomedical looked like one of the many biotechs with big ambitions that were headed for the dustbin of history. The company has been burning cash for 15 years and it was down to its last $5 million in working capital. Inovio tried to merge with another little biotech … Continue reading “Inovio, Fueled By Swine Flu Fear, Comes Back From Brink With ‘Universal’ Vaccines”

Smith & Tinker Raises Total of $29M, Looks to Merge Online Games with Collectible Toys

In one of the Seattle area’s biggest tech financings this year, Bellevue, WA-based Smith & Tinker has raised a total of $29 million in venture funding to deliver and market a hybrid game for kids that bridges the online and offline worlds. The latest funding round was led by new investor DCM, based in Silicon … Continue reading “Smith & Tinker Raises Total of $29M, Looks to Merge Online Games with Collectible Toys”

Targeted Genetics’ Legacy: No Cures, But a Generation of Seattle Biotechies

[Updated: 10 am, 3/24/10] Targeted Genetics never cured anything. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TGEN]]) didn’t prove the concept that gene therapy could usher in a new era of more effective medicines. It was never profitable. It burned through more than $315 million in investor capital during its 17-year history. Those are cold facts that … Continue reading “Targeted Genetics’ Legacy: No Cures, But a Generation of Seattle Biotechies”

Massachusetts Battery Firms A123Systems and Boston-Power Taking Different Roads to Auto Market

The automotive segment of the battery market is expected to skyrocket in the coming years, as eco-friendly vehicles that rely heavily on battery power hit the road in greater numbers than ever before. And Massachusetts advanced battery developers A123Systems and Boston-Power are among many firms eying this lucrative market. But the two companies are at … Continue reading “Massachusetts Battery Firms A123Systems and Boston-Power Taking Different Roads to Auto Market”

Three CEOs, Three More Words on Seattle Startup Cultures

On Friday, I wrote about the corporate culture of six Northwest tech startups, boiled down to one word each. From “paranoid” to “easy,” from “humble” to “obsessed,” these companies—which spanned business software, mobile, gaming, and other areas—clearly follow the lead of their CEOs and founders. Here are three more, from the tech worlds of Internet, … Continue reading “Three CEOs, Three More Words on Seattle Startup Cultures”

Gloucester Nails Down $29M to Move Ahead with Late-Stage Cancer Drug

Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has raised $29 million in a Series D venture round as it goes through the final dress rehearsals before making an argument for its lead drug in front of an expert review panel for the FDA. Gloucester raised the latest round from new … Continue reading “Gloucester Nails Down $29M to Move Ahead with Late-Stage Cancer Drug”

Silverlink Raises $5M for Outreach to Healthcare Consumers

[Updated 11:00 a.m. August 24, 2009 with quotes from Silverlink CEO Stan Nowak] Silverlink Communications, the Burlington, MA-based startup whose healthcare communications services we profiled last month, has raised $5 million in series D venture funding, according to regulatory forms filed last week. Existing investors Sigma Partners, HLM Ventures, and Kaiser Permanente Ventures participated in … Continue reading “Silverlink Raises $5M for Outreach to Healthcare Consumers”

Chipmaker Sequoia Communications Out of Business, DivX Settles Yahoo Lawsuit, Connect Proposes Venture Initiative, & Other San Diego BizTech News

San Diego wind turbine maker Helix Wind made some more acquisitions, and out-of-business chipmaker Sequoia Communications arranged to sell its equipment in an online auction tomorrow. So it was a good news, bad news week for technology here. —San Diego’s Sequoia Communications, which gained attention in the wireless chip industry when it introduced a multimode … Continue reading “Chipmaker Sequoia Communications Out of Business, DivX Settles Yahoo Lawsuit, Connect Proposes Venture Initiative, & Other San Diego BizTech News”

Resolvyx, Swinging for the Fence in First Human Study, Passes Test with Drug for Dry Eye

Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals, the company that develops derivatives from omega-3 fish oils into new drugs, is announcing today that the first therapy from this class passed its first clinical trial, helping alleviate symptoms for patients with chronic dry eye. This was a big hurdle for Bedford, MA-based Resolvyx to clear, partly because the company set the … Continue reading “Resolvyx, Swinging for the Fence in First Human Study, Passes Test with Drug for Dry Eye”

May The Schwartz Be With You: Eric’s Top Stories of the Summer

Thirteen weeks, 123 stories, and about a million cups of Starbucks’ finest later, my internship at Xconomy in Seattle is over. But as a parting gift, I am going to share some of my favorite articles from the summer here. I hope you enjoy reading them (and my other articles) as much as I enjoyed … Continue reading “May The Schwartz Be With You: Eric’s Top Stories of the Summer”

Venture Model Makeover & Diet Plan—Step One

A lot of people have been asking lately if the venture model is broken. But it seems to me that it’s just decrepit. Like an aging, rotund former football star, the venture industry is scratching its head and realizing that its glory days are long past. The industry collectively doesn’t really know how to handle … Continue reading “Venture Model Makeover & Diet Plan—Step One”

Extreme Reach Tries Video Ad Distribution Once More, With the Cloud

It’s not often in the startup world that you get to build the same company twice, with better technology the second time around. But that’s the basic story behind Extreme Reach, a Needham, MA, company that launched this January with a vision of helping video advertisers and their agencies distribute their ads to cable networks, … Continue reading “Extreme Reach Tries Video Ad Distribution Once More, With the Cloud”

Can The Genome Be Cracked for $5,000? OVP, Enterprise Partners Say Yes in $45M Round

Complete Genomics, the Mountain View, CA-based company that says it can sequence entire human genomes for as little as $5,000, has pinned down a $45 million venture round which includes support from two of its founding backers—Kirkland, WA-based OVP Venture Partners and San Diego-based Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. The rest of the capital is coming … Continue reading “Can The Genome Be Cracked for $5,000? OVP, Enterprise Partners Say Yes in $45M Round”

Six Startup CEOs On Their Company Culture, Boiled Down to One Word

You can tell a lot about a company from its chief executive. They set the tone, the direction, the pace of operations. For a startup, it all starts with the CEO. A startup’s culture is what sets it apart from its peers. It is the essence of the operation. It directly affects the company’s strategy, … Continue reading “Six Startup CEOs On Their Company Culture, Boiled Down to One Word”

Bezos Expeditions Contributes to $7 Million Round for Heartland Robotics

Regulatory documents filed today show that Heartland Robotics, the Cambridge, MA, industrial robotics startup founded by MIT computer science legend Rod Brooks, has raised just over $7 million in an equity offering. The documents don’t reveal the identities of the funders, and Heartland has not announced the names, but Xconomy has learned that one of … Continue reading “Bezos Expeditions Contributes to $7 Million Round for Heartland Robotics”

San Diego’s Connect Takes Offensive, Sets Agenda for Stoking the Region’s Innovation Economy

Lots of people have been saying the VC model for funding technology innovation is broken. Now San Diego’s Duane Roth has some ideas for ways the regional technology community can try to do things differently. Roth, who is chief executive of Connect, the non-profit organization that helped create San Diego’s innovation economy, laid out some … Continue reading “San Diego’s Connect Takes Offensive, Sets Agenda for Stoking the Region’s Innovation Economy”