In recent weeks, there’s been some local buzz about a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison students that’s getting set to participate in the 2018 Hyperloop Pod Competition, which will take place next week in Hawthorne, CA. This year, the team hopes to run its pod on SpaceX’s hyperloop test track, an opportunity it was denied … Continue reading “Moonshot Insights Bets on Algorithms to Address Biases in Hiring”
Category: National
Rubius Upsizes IPO and Hauls in $241M for Red Blood Cell Therapies
Rubius Therapeutics has joined the parade of biotech companies going public, raising a whopping $241.1 million to support its approach of engineering red blood cells into off-the-shelf treatments for disease. Late Tuesday night, Cambridge, MA-based Rubius priced its offering of 10.4 million shares at $23 apiece. The company had initially planned to sell 9.5 million … Continue reading “Rubius Upsizes IPO and Hauls in $241M for Red Blood Cell Therapies”
Introducing the 2018 Innovation at the Intersection Award Finalists
From artificial intelligence (A.I.) to materials science, this year’s Xconomy Awards finalists in the Innovation at the Intersection category are bringing a variety of disciplines outside of biology to bear on tough problems in life science. The hope is that advanced algorithms, novel biomaterials, and digital technologies will make drug discovery more efficient, cancer immunotherapies … Continue reading “Introducing the 2018 Innovation at the Intersection Award Finalists”
Inari Agriculture Sprouts with Plans to Gene Edit “Personalized Seeds”
The seeds farmers plant in their fields can carry certain desirable traits, such as drought tolerance or pest resistance. Breeding or genetic engineering can produce such traits, but ag biotech startup Inari Agriculture aims to take trait development to a new level—customizing seeds to grow best in the soil and weather at the farm where … Continue reading “Inari Agriculture Sprouts with Plans to Gene Edit “Personalized Seeds””
Edge Computing Software Startup Swim.ai Scores $10M from VCs, Arm
Swim.ai, a startup developing advanced analytics software that can process data in devices at the edge of a network—such as industrial turbines or self-driving cars—announced today it raised $10 million in a Series B funding round. The San Jose, CA-based company is part of the emerging movement toward “edge computing,” or adapting devices to handle … Continue reading “Edge Computing Software Startup Swim.ai Scores $10M from VCs, Arm”
Roundup: Accelerate Michigan, U-M, Tetra Discovery Partners & More
The grind never stops in Michigan’s innovation community, even when the weather is perfect for playing hooky. Here’s a look at recent tech news from around the state: —The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, the state’s largest startup pitch contest with up to $1 million in cash and prizes at stake, is now accepting applications for … Continue reading “Roundup: Accelerate Michigan, U-M, Tetra Discovery Partners & More”
Drug Developer Kiromic Declines San Antonio’s Cash Offer for HQ Move
San Antonio — [Updated 7/23/18, 6:10 p.m. See below.] The board of directors for Houston-based immunotherapy biotech Kiromic has decided against taking a $200,000 investment from San Antonio-based economic development group, which would have required the company to relocate to San Antonio. Kiromic won’t relocate it’s headquarters to San Antonio—for the time being, at least, … Continue reading “Drug Developer Kiromic Declines San Antonio’s Cash Offer for HQ Move”
Walmart, Microsoft Deepen Partnership as Both Grapple With Amazon
The enemy of my enemy is my friend—even in the retail and cloud computing businesses. So says retail giant Walmart (NYSE: [[ticker:WMT]]) as it announced this morning a five-year partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) to use machine learning and other technologies, deepening an existing partnership between two of Amazon’s biggest rivals. “Whether it’s combined with our … Continue reading “Walmart, Microsoft Deepen Partnership as Both Grapple With Amazon”
New Ethics Code Urges Tech Firms and Coders To Avoid Harming Society
Selling a new Web-connected thermostat or other wired gizmo to consumers without a plan to deliver the necessary security patches is not only bad business—it’s unethical. So is failing to challenge a law or tech company rule that governs work on technology products, if that rule causes unjustifiable harms to people or the environment. Those … Continue reading “New Ethics Code Urges Tech Firms and Coders To Avoid Harming Society”
Security Firm ObserveIT Grabs $33M to Get Ahead of Insider Threats
Cyber breaches caused by people within businesses and organizations, both accidental and malicious leaks, continue to multiply. Now, a Boston security startup is arming itself with more cash and enhanced technology to try and stop these insider threats. ObserveIT announced today it closed a $33 million Series B funding round from Bain Capital Ventures, Spring … Continue reading “Security Firm ObserveIT Grabs $33M to Get Ahead of Insider Threats”
City of Detroit Tests Real-World Mobility with Innovation Initiative
Michigan’s government and business leaders have worked diligently over the past few years to position the state that put the world on wheels to be major player in the development of self-driving cars. (According to a June 25 opinion piece in Forbes, Michigan has become “the Silicon Valley of mobility.”) The city of Detroit is … Continue reading “City of Detroit Tests Real-World Mobility with Innovation Initiative”
With $45M, HotSpot Takes Drug Research to New Biological Real Estate
In real estate, location is key. The same holds true in the hunt for new drugs. HotSpot Therapeutics is trying to break new ground in drug discovery by hitting locations on a protein that aren’t the conventional targets of most medicines. HotSpot is now emerging from stealth with preclinical compounds that could become new treatments … Continue reading “With $45M, HotSpot Takes Drug Research to New Biological Real Estate”
Ex-HubSpot CMO Volpe to Lead Lola, Founder Paul English Is Now CTO
[Updated 7/17/18, 11:53 am, with comments from English and Volpe. See below.] Lola, the business travel software startup led by Kayak co-founder Paul English, has brought on a new chief executive: Mike Volpe, the former chief marketing officer at both HubSpot and Cybereason. English will relinquish his CEO title to serve as Lola’s chief technology … Continue reading “Ex-HubSpot CMO Volpe to Lead Lola, Founder Paul English Is Now CTO”
Hyperloop, Cellectar, Cheeks & More: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist
Keep up with news from Wisconsin’s innovation community with these recent headlines: —A team of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has constructed a third prototype for a vehicle designed to zoom through an above-ground vacuum tube at speeds that can exceed 300 miles per hour, the school said. The “Badgerloop” team is one of … Continue reading “Hyperloop, Cellectar, Cheeks & More: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist”
Foxconn Buys Eau Claire Office Space, Partners with Advocate Aurora
Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant, is making more moves in Wisconsin at it prepares to build a massive electronics factory in the southeast corner of the state. Foxconn said on Monday that it has agreed to buy one building in downtown Eau Claire, WI, and it has purchased office space in another, with the intention … Continue reading “Foxconn Buys Eau Claire Office Space, Partners with Advocate Aurora”
New Study Shows CRISPR Can Delete Big Chunks of DNA
[Updated 7/16/18 4:00pm ET, see note below] As CRISPR-based therapeutics inch closer to human tests in the U.S., academic researchers have kept up a steady drum beat about potential risks of the gene editing technique. They recently published two separate papers warning about possible dangers of CRISPR therapies, namely an increased risk of cancer. Both … Continue reading “New Study Shows CRISPR Can Delete Big Chunks of DNA”
High Alpha Raises $100M+ for Two New Funds, Adds Brad Feld to Board
High Alpha, an Indianapolis venture capital fund and startup “studio,” announced today that it has raised more than $100 million for two new funds called High Alpha Capital II and High Alpha Studio II. High Alpha Capital backs companies the way traditional venture firms do, while High Alpha Studio takes it a few steps further … Continue reading “High Alpha Raises $100M+ for Two New Funds, Adds Brad Feld to Board”
Pliant Picks Up $62M to Test Lung, Liver Fibrosis Drug in the Clinic
The cause of fibrosis, the hardening and thickening of connective tissue in organs, isn’t known and it has few treatments. Pliant Therapeutics aims to bring patients who have this chronic and life-threatening condition in the lungs or the liver a new treatment option—and it now has $62 million to test its lead drug in humans. … Continue reading “Pliant Picks Up $62M to Test Lung, Liver Fibrosis Drug in the Clinic”
Verge Genomics Nabs $32M For Computation-Heavy Neuro Drug Discovery
Two years after making her first-ever rounds of business meetings at the J.P. Morgan healthcare conference, Alice Zhang has steered her biotech startup, Verge Genomics, into a $32 million Series A financing. Zhang (pictured) was notable then and now for her age—few biotech CEOs are under 30—and for her career path. She walked away from … Continue reading “Verge Genomics Nabs $32M For Computation-Heavy Neuro Drug Discovery”
Telkonet Brings on Roth Capital to Explore Sale or Other Deals
Telkonet, a small Milwaukee-area energy management and connected devices company, said this week it had hired the investment bank Roth Capital Partners “to explore strategic alternatives” with the goal of maximizing shareholder value. Jason Tienor, president and CEO of Telkonet (OTCMKTS: [[ticker:TKOI]]), said his company will likely consider a variety of transaction types after doing … Continue reading “Telkonet Brings on Roth Capital to Explore Sale or Other Deals”
With New Data, Amgen Tries Again for FDA OK of Osteoporosis Drug
More than a year after the FDA rejected Amgen’s experimental osteoporosis drug due to safety concerns, the Thousand Oaks, CA, company has teed up a new application. The Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]) drug, romosozumab (Evenity), is an antibody treatment meant to strengthen bones and reduce the chance that they could break. But while romosozumab did lower … Continue reading “With New Data, Amgen Tries Again for FDA OK of Osteoporosis Drug”
Best Friday Reads: Social Media Rules Us All, and Mints Billionaires
Humans have had a drastic physical evolution recently—one that has notably taken only a few years. While the evolution from hunched primates to homo sapiens took tens of millions of years, we needed only about a decade to develop an arched neck that is perennially looking down at a smartphone—presumably one with a social media … Continue reading “Best Friday Reads: Social Media Rules Us All, and Mints Billionaires”
Boston Tech Watch: Autodesk, DataRobot, Starry, Perceptive Automata
It’s time to catch up on Boston tech headlines. This week, we’re tracking acquisitions by Autodesk and DataRobot, a $100 million investment in upstart wireless Internet provider Starry, a new startup from Runkeeper co-founder Jason Jacobs, details about a stealthy autonomous vehicle software company, the first venture capital investment in Yuchun Lee’s Allego, and more … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Autodesk, DataRobot, Starry, Perceptive Automata”
Bio Roundup: Pfizer’s Prices, Novartis Cuts, Gene Therapy Guide & More
Drug price changes typically happen either at the start of the calendar year or the beginning of the third quarter. Such changes are routine for many companies, but Pfizer took an unusual step this week by rolling back scheduled price increases on 40 of its drugs. The change of plan happened after Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Pfizer’s Prices, Novartis Cuts, Gene Therapy Guide & More”
C-Motive, Startup Developing Electric Motor Technology, Raises $750K
Cobalt is one of the ingredients in a type of rare earth magnet that, along with other rare earth magnets like neodymium and dysprosium, can be found in electric motors, smartphone batteries, and other products that are popular among consumers and manufacturers today. The price of cobalt more than doubled in 2017, according to the … Continue reading “C-Motive, Startup Developing Electric Motor Technology, Raises $750K”
Broadcom Eyes CA Technologies for $19B After Trump Axed Qualcomm Bid
Semiconductor maker Broadcom, which ended its effort to buy competitor Qualcomm earlier this year, has a new target: New York-based business software maker CA Technologies. The pair announced Wednesday that Broadcom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVGO]]), which moved its headquarters from Singapore to San Jose, CA, earlier this year, plans to pay $18.9 billion in cash for CA … Continue reading “Broadcom Eyes CA Technologies for $19B After Trump Axed Qualcomm Bid”
Zogenix Epilepsy Data Sets Up Market Battle With GW’s Cannabis Drug
Just weeks ago, the FDA approved the first ever medicine made from a derivative of marijuana, a drug from GW Pharmaceuticals for a rare form of epilepsy. Yet competition already looms from Zogenix, thanks to new data the Emeryville, CA, company reports this morning. Zogenix (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGNX]]) said that its experimental drug ZX008 succeeded in … Continue reading “Zogenix Epilepsy Data Sets Up Market Battle With GW’s Cannabis Drug”
With $112M Fund, Glasswing Looks to Drive East Coast A.I. Startups
In a sea of emerging tech venture funds, Glasswing Ventures is trying to stand out. The Boston firm announced today it has closed its debut investment fund at $112 million. That’s bigger than the “micro-VC” funds of the past decade, but much smaller than the mega-funds (often in the billion-dollar range) that have been raised … Continue reading “With $112M Fund, Glasswing Looks to Drive East Coast A.I. Startups”
Indy’s PactSafe Snags $5.5M Series A to Expand Contracting Software
PactSafe, an Indianapolis startup focused on cloud-based contracting services, announced this week that it has raised a $5.5 million Series A investment round. The round was co-led by Houston, TX-based Mercury Fund and Salt Lake City’s Signal Peak Ventures, and included contributions from Indiana’s Elevate Ventures and Singapore’s Vulpes Testudo. PactSafe, founded in 2015, sells … Continue reading “Indy’s PactSafe Snags $5.5M Series A to Expand Contracting Software”
E-Retail Startup Pointy Raises $12M, Helps Small Shops Be Found Online
Mark Cummins wondered why online search engines could help you locate a landmark halfway around the world in a second but couldn’t tell him whether the corner store had a craft beer he liked. That’s what led him to co-found Pointy, which makes a hardware device that enables small retailers to easily upload inventory onto … Continue reading “E-Retail Startup Pointy Raises $12M, Helps Small Shops Be Found Online”
Penrose Studios Raises $10M To Elevate AR/VR Storytelling
Penrose Studios, which has been scoring film festival awards for its early productions in virtual reality and augmented reality, announced today it raised $10 million in a Series A fundraising round. Among the new investors backing the San Francisco studio are Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff and technology advocate will.i.am, a Grammy award winner … Continue reading “Penrose Studios Raises $10M To Elevate AR/VR Storytelling”
EU Regulators Approve Akcea’s Inotersen. FDA Decisions Are Next.
Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AKCA]]) has beaten rival Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) to a first drug approval, getting the nod for its drug inotersen (Tegsedi) in the European Union. Akcea and Alnylam, both of Cambridge, MA, are developing treatments for the rare genetic disease transthyretin amyloidosis, or ATTR. It stems from a gene mutation that causes … Continue reading “EU Regulators Approve Akcea’s Inotersen. FDA Decisions Are Next.”
Otsuka Ramps Up Its Antibody Game with $430M Visterra Acquisition
Otsuka Pharmaceutical is expanding its pipeline and U.S. reach with an agreement to acquire Waltham, MA, clinical-stage drug developer Visterra for $430 million in cash. The deal, announced Wednesday, comes nine months after Visterra closed a $46.7 million Series C round to finance clinical development of its antibody drug programs. That financing followed Visterra’s attempt … Continue reading “Otsuka Ramps Up Its Antibody Game with $430M Visterra Acquisition”
Dough Pushes Transparency, Culture Change Amid Student Debt Crisis
Catalina Kaiyoorawongs knows from experience how dire the student debt crisis has gotten in the United States. She spent years addressing access to loans for fellow low-income and first-generation students in Florida as part of her advocacy work, calling financial aid offices on their behalf in an effort to sort out the details of their … Continue reading “Dough Pushes Transparency, Culture Change Amid Student Debt Crisis”
BrightStar, Gener8tor Nix Deal Promising Funds for Accelerator Grads
[Updated 7/11/18 11:02 a.m. See below.] Two Wisconsin-based organizations that invest in startups have done away with an arrangement they made four years ago that was aimed at getting early-stage companies to move to—or stay in—the state, and create jobs there. Since 2014, the BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation has guaranteed a $50,000 investment in each graduate … Continue reading “BrightStar, Gener8tor Nix Deal Promising Funds for Accelerator Grads”
Samsung, Google Back Tamr as Big Data Startups Try to Find Their Way
[Updated 7/11/18, 12:01 pm. See below.] Businesses have sunk a lot of money into software tools to analyze the reams of data they’re generating, in search of insights that might help them increase sales or cut costs. But analytics tools don’t work effectively unless the data can be easily retrieved from a company’s disparate systems … Continue reading “Samsung, Google Back Tamr as Big Data Startups Try to Find Their Way”
BioCryst Drops Idera Pharma Merger After Shareholders Veto Deal
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is ending a plan to merge with Idera Pharmaceuticals and form a single company focused on rare diseases. Durham, NC-based BioCryst (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BCRX]]) terminated the merger agreement on Tuesday following a meeting that saw shareholders vote overwhelmingly against the proposal. Of the more than 80 million shares represented in the vote, 50.6 million … Continue reading “BioCryst Drops Idera Pharma Merger After Shareholders Veto Deal”
Hype―and Skepticism―Remains for Dell’s Return to the Public Market
Austin—The possibility that Dell might return to the public markets has been talked about for months, if not longer. It became more realistic in February, when the Round Rock, TX-based company told securities regulators it was considering a public offering or a reverse merger with VMware, the publicly traded company of which Dell owns 81 … Continue reading “Hype―and Skepticism―Remains for Dell’s Return to the Public Market”
Toast Cooks Up $115M Round, Claims “Unicorn” Status
Restaurant technology startup Toast has pulled in $115 million in a Series D venture funding round that the company says gives it a valuation of $1.4 billion. That makes it Boston’s newest “unicorn”—a privately held company valued at more than $1 billion by its investors. Of course, that’s just what the company claims it’s worth … Continue reading “Toast Cooks Up $115M Round, Claims “Unicorn” Status”
Tango, Finch, Indigo & More: The 2018 Xconomy Award Startup Finalists
This year’s bumper crop of Xconomy Award startup finalists cover a wide range of technologies and approaches, from microbiome and gene therapy to regenerative medicine and emerging areas like chromatin biology. Some are early stage, some are already in the clinic and one even has products on the market. Here are brief profiles of the … Continue reading “Tango, Finch, Indigo & More: The 2018 Xconomy Award Startup Finalists”
Gregor Diagnostics Raises $900K to Develop New Prostate Cancer Test
Gregor Diagnostics has raised $900,000 from investors as part of a seed funding round that the Madison, WI-based startup says will support its efforts to develop a new, at-home screening test for prostate cancer that it hopes will offer a more precise alternative to the current testing standard for the disease. San Francisco-based First Round … Continue reading “Gregor Diagnostics Raises $900K to Develop New Prostate Cancer Test”
Scale Venture Partners Closes $400M Fund to Invest in Tech for the Enterprise
Scale Venture Partners announced today it has closed its sixth fund, gaining $400 million in new capital to invest in companies capable of transforming business operations through advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics. Foster City, CA-based ScaleVP focuses on startups developing Web-based software sold as a subscription to businesses. The VC firm enjoyed … Continue reading “Scale Venture Partners Closes $400M Fund to Invest in Tech for the Enterprise”
Echoing National Trend, TX Startups See More VC Dollars, Fewer Deals
San Antonio — More dollars, fewer deals. That’s been the trend in Texas, as well as for the nation as a whole. Venture capital firms have invested money in companies across the U.S. during 2018 at a level that is on pace to break the record-breaking total invested last year (the most since the dot-com era, … Continue reading “Echoing National Trend, TX Startups See More VC Dollars, Fewer Deals”
Venture Funding Keeps Momentum Amid IPO Wave; Plus Q2’s Top 10 Deals
[Updated 7/12/18, 9:24 am. See below.] Last year, U.S. venture capital investments swelled to a level not seen since the dot-com era of the early 2000s. This year could be even bigger. Investors funneled $57.5 billion into U.S. companies through the first six months of 2018, according to the latest Venture Monitor report produced quarterly … Continue reading “Venture Funding Keeps Momentum Amid IPO Wave; Plus Q2’s Top 10 Deals”
Acceleron, Celgene Drug Shines in Phase 3 Test in Rare Blood Disorder
A drug from Celgene and Acceleron Pharma has met the main goals of a late-stage test as a treatment for a rare blood disorder, the second set of positive results that the partners have released for the drug in as many weeks. The latest announcement covered use of the drug, luspatercept, as a treatment for … Continue reading “Acceleron, Celgene Drug Shines in Phase 3 Test in Rare Blood Disorder”
Derq Teaches Driverless Cars to Safely Navigate Busy Intersections
There are many technical challenges to overcome in the development of self-driving cars, but one of the toughest is predicting and preventing collisions with pedestrians and other objects that end up in the roadway. As urban cyclists know, there is a fair amount of intense eye contact that goes on between bikers and drivers as … Continue reading “Derq Teaches Driverless Cars to Safely Navigate Busy Intersections”
CTI BioPharma’s Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Drug Fails Study, Shares Sink
A CTI BioPharma treatment for a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma has failed a clinical trial key for maintaining its approval in Europe, casting doubt on the drug’s prospects with the FDA. Seattle-based CTI (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) said Monday that its drug, pixantrone, failed to meet the goal of improving progression-free survival, which is the length of … Continue reading “CTI BioPharma’s Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Drug Fails Study, Shares Sink”
From Robots to Owl Art, a Tour of Autodesk’s BUILD Space: Slideshow
As a tech journalist, most of the stories I write these days deal in algorithms, cloud computing, and other digital tools. When given the opportunity, it’s fun to explore new technologies and products you can actually see and touch. I recently escaped my desk to tour Autodesk’s offices in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood and check out … Continue reading “From Robots to Owl Art, a Tour of Autodesk’s BUILD Space: Slideshow”
Following Farm Deal With General Mills, Midwestern BioAg Nabs $15M
Midwestern BioAg, a Madison, WI-based maker and vendor of fertilizers, seed, and other biological products that it says can help farmers boost soil fertility, has raised more than $15 million in new equity funding from three investors, according to a document filed with federal securities regulators. The company works with farmers in Wisconsin and neighboring … Continue reading “Following Farm Deal With General Mills, Midwestern BioAg Nabs $15M”
Biogen, Eisai Claim Success in New Analysis of Failed Alzheimer’s Study
Biogen and Eisai are reporting encouraging data from a mid-stage study in Alzheimer’s disease, reviving hopes for a drug and an approach to treating the disease that many had declared a failure. The drug, BAN2401, had in fact failed in clinical studies. Last December, Biogen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) and Eisai reported that the drug did not … Continue reading “Biogen, Eisai Claim Success in New Analysis of Failed Alzheimer’s Study”