The first thing that popped into my brain when San Diego’s Active Network said it has acquired three more companies was kudzu—also known as “mile-a-minute vine” and “the vine that ate the South.” Just a year and a half ago, the online business officially known as The Active Network had 730 employees, including 265 at … Continue reading “The Active Network Actively Expanding”
Category: National
MacTrak Posts Laptop Thieves’ Photos, Locations to Flickr
Woe to the hoodie-wearing miscreant who steals a Mac laptop equipped with MacTrak. He’s likely to find his photo plastered all over the Internet—and the police at his door. MacTrak is a beta application for Macs introduced today by Portland, OR-based GadgetTrak. It’s similar in conception to Absolute Software’s LoJack for Laptops and to Adeona, … Continue reading “MacTrak Posts Laptop Thieves’ Photos, Locations to Flickr”
Insurance Software Developer Ebix Buys ConfirmNet
Atlanta-based Ebix announced yesterday that it signed a deal to buy San Diego’s ConfirmNet, the latest in a series of acquisitions in the certificate of insurance tracking industry. Ebix, which develops software and e-commerce capabilities for the insurance industry, said it signed a deal to purchase ConfirmNet on Nov. 1. In a later filing with … Continue reading “Insurance Software Developer Ebix Buys ConfirmNet”
Long Live Microsoft, Farewell Yahoo, and Flat Is the New Up: A Panel of Predictions for 2009
Everyone loves a good prediction. Well, last night there were many of them. I attended the Washington Technology Industry Association’s “Predictions for 2009” dinner event at the Westin Hotel in Seattle. Before I get to the panel discussion, just a couple of tidbits overheard around the room: —Ben Elowitz, co-founder and CEO of Wetpaint, told … Continue reading “Long Live Microsoft, Farewell Yahoo, and Flat Is the New Up: A Panel of Predictions for 2009”
How Crimson Hexagon Translates the Blogosphere’s Babel Into Wisdom
File this under “Only in Cambridge.” Before my interview last week with the founders of Crimson Hexagon, a startup using statistical methods to comb the blogosphere for the latest opinion on brand-name products, I had assumed that the company’s name came from its affiliation with Harvard, where its technical founder, Gary King, is a professor … Continue reading “How Crimson Hexagon Translates the Blogosphere’s Babel Into Wisdom”
Novocell Aims to Coax Stem Cells to Fight Diabetes, One Step at a Time
Ed Baetge’s dream is that his company, San Diego-based Novocell, will someday make human embryonic stem cells that will manage to produce all the insulin patients need to control their blood sugar. If things break right for Novocell, this treatment will navigate a thicket of animal tests over the next three to four years, demonstrate … Continue reading “Novocell Aims to Coax Stem Cells to Fight Diabetes, One Step at a Time”
Personalized Treatments for Cancer: Ensemble Moves Ahead with Roche on New Breed of Test
Some of the world’s biggest selling cancer drugs today work for only a small fraction of patients, and researchers have struggled to say for sure why that is. A Cambridge, MA-based biotech company, Ensemble Discovery, has developed a diagnostic test that its partner Roche, the world’s largest maker of cancer drugs, is advancing to clinical … Continue reading “Personalized Treatments for Cancer: Ensemble Moves Ahead with Roche on New Breed of Test”
San Diego’s “Predictive Analytics” Companies—The Map
Already you are probably asking yourself, “What the heck is predictive analytics?” It encompasses a variety of disciplines and technologies, typically using software that applies advanced mathematics or statistics to analyze pools of data and make forecasts about current or future events. Who would have predicted that San Diego would emerge as one of the … Continue reading “San Diego’s “Predictive Analytics” Companies—The Map”
Puget Sound Energy Buys Wind Turbines, Voyager Backs Video Ads, 10 Reasons Why Startups Fail, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
It was a pretty slow week for tech deals in the Northwest—chalk it up to the election and the Veteran’s Day holiday. Nevertheless, there was a trickle of activity in software, digital media, and energy. —Seattle-based Voyager Capital has led an investment in Keystream, a Mountain View, CA-based online video advertising startup. The deal closed … Continue reading “Puget Sound Energy Buys Wind Turbines, Voyager Backs Video Ads, 10 Reasons Why Startups Fail, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
It’s Hard to Build Green Organizations When You’re Stuck Fighting Fires
[Editor’s Note: On September 19, Xconomist and MIT Sloan School Professor Rebecca Henderson gave a lecture to the MIT Sloan 2008 Convocation entitled “Getting Unstuck: How to Promote More Sustainable Practices in Our Organizations.” Henderson observed that while many businesses say they want to reengineer their products and processes to reduce their carbon footprint and … Continue reading “It’s Hard to Build Green Organizations When You’re Stuck Fighting Fires”
A Robot Store in Every Mall? IRobot CEO Discuss Firm’s Efforts to Boost Retail Sales
Who couldn’t use a robot or two to help with household chores? To make finding that robo-helper easier (and to boost holiday sales) Bedford, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]) announced last week it was opening a kiosk in the Burlington Mall that will show off its Roomba robot vacuum cleaners and other bots for gutter cleaning, … Continue reading “A Robot Store in Every Mall? IRobot CEO Discuss Firm’s Efforts to Boost Retail Sales”
Observing Veterans Day
It’s a holiday for us here at Xconomy, as we join banks, schools, state and federal offices, and the rest of the nation in commemorating those who’ve served in the military. We’ll be back on Wednesday with a new bundle of stories.
Backed by Voyager Capital, Keystream Takes on Video Advertising
Seattle-based Voyager Capital has been investing pretty aggressively in software and digital media startups up and down the West Coast, as we reported back in September. Today, one of its portfolio companies, Mountain View, CA-based Keystream, emerged from stealth mode to announce its new product, management team, and investors. Voyager Capital led a funding round … Continue reading “Backed by Voyager Capital, Keystream Takes on Video Advertising”
Amylin Cuts 340 Jobs, One Fourth of Staff, To Cope With Falling Diabetes Drug Demand
One of San Diego’s anchor biotech companies, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, has decided to cut one-fourth of its local staff, or about 340 jobs. The company said it had to make the move because it has been dealt a double-whammy of setbacks in the past couple months, with declining demand for its lead diabetes drug, combined with … Continue reading “Amylin Cuts 340 Jobs, One Fourth of Staff, To Cope With Falling Diabetes Drug Demand”
Livemocha Wins Startup Award, Wants to Teach You the International Language
“Language lessons,” says the Korean sportscaster in his Howard Cosell voice at the end of Better Off Dead. It’s what allowed Lane Meyer (played by John Cusack) to ski the K-12 on one ski, and 23 years later, it’s still the key to building relationships in global business. So when we heard on Friday that … Continue reading “Livemocha Wins Startup Award, Wants to Teach You the International Language”
Optimer Shares Skyrocket, as Drug Halts Deadly Bacterial Infection in Trial
Optimer Pharmaceuticals has good news today for people with a serious bacterial infection. The San Diego-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OPTR]]) said its experimental drug was slightly better at curing patients than the standard antibiotic for C.Difficile bacterial infection, and was significantly better at preventing the nasty bug from coming back after treatment. Shares of the … Continue reading “Optimer Shares Skyrocket, as Drug Halts Deadly Bacterial Infection in Trial”
Stewart Parker Resigns from Targeted Genetics After Gene Therapy Setbacks
H. Stewart Parker’s long career at Targeted Genetics has come to an end. The Seattle biotech company said today that Parker, its founder and the only CEO since it started in 1989, along with her longtime partner, chief scientist Barrie Carter, have both resigned as of last Thursday. Parker will remain on the Targeted Genetics … Continue reading “Stewart Parker Resigns from Targeted Genetics After Gene Therapy Setbacks”
Beyond Provenge: Dendreon Expands Cancer Drug Pipeline
Provenge, Provenge, Provenge. The drug for prostate cancer, which is attempting to be the first approved treatment of its kind in the U.S. to actively stimulate the immune system to fight tumors, is the one product candidate shareholders love to obsess about from Dendreon. But behind the scenes, Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ:[[ticker:DNDN]]) is making headway on … Continue reading “Beyond Provenge: Dendreon Expands Cancer Drug Pipeline”
Three Boston Startups Finalists in Amazon’s $100K Web Services Challenge
Conditions today in Boston: increasing clouds. Cloud-computing startups, that is. Out of the seven companies named Friday as finalists in Amazon’s latest AWS Start-Up Challenge—designed to reward the most innovative companies using the cloud-based Amazon Web Services infrastructure to deliver their products or services—three are based right here in the Boston area. (Sorry, Seattle.) Each … Continue reading “Three Boston Startups Finalists in Amazon’s $100K Web Services Challenge”
Simple DNA Test Spots Deadly MRSA Bacteria; Adnavance Aims To Take It Mainstream
If San Diego-based Adnavance Technologies plays its cards right, it won’t be long before it’s selling a simple DNA test that will tell doctors within a couple hours whether their patients have a potentially deadly MRSA bacterial infection. There will be no more need to send samples to a highly-skilled technician running an expensive DNA … Continue reading “Simple DNA Test Spots Deadly MRSA Bacteria; Adnavance Aims To Take It Mainstream”
Second Rotation Gets $6 Million Second Round for Electronics Recycling
The flailing economy is already hurting consumer electronics sales—and no one thinks things will get better soon. But will a slowdown in purchases of new gizmos and gadgets spur sales of used electronics as people look for bargains? Or will it diminish the supply of previously owned electronics as people hold onto their goods longer? … Continue reading “Second Rotation Gets $6 Million Second Round for Electronics Recycling”
New Customers in Tow, Apptio Wants To Help Manage Your Skyrocketing IT Costs
Whether you’re a startup or a big company, your IT costs are probably going up these days. And what with all the laptops, desktops, mobile phones, servers, and data centers to keep track of—not to mention e-mail systems, software applications, and tech support—it’s getting harder to predict what those costs are going to be, or … Continue reading “New Customers in Tow, Apptio Wants To Help Manage Your Skyrocketing IT Costs”
Genzyme and Osiris Forge Stem-Cell Agreement, Xtalic Nabs $10M for Nano Alloys, Atlas Out for Half a Billion Bucks, & More Boston-Area Deals News
The biggest deals among Boston-area firms last week came from the life sciences sector. —Xtalic of Marlborough, MA—a developer of nanostructured alloys for a variety of applications—reportedly raised about $10 million in Series B financing. North Bridge Venture Partners and Matrix Partners participated in the deal. —Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) forged a potentially massive partnership … Continue reading “Genzyme and Osiris Forge Stem-Cell Agreement, Xtalic Nabs $10M for Nano Alloys, Atlas Out for Half a Billion Bucks, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Where Is the Seattle Cloud: No Local Startups Among Amazon Web Services’ $100K Finalists
Today, Amazon announced the seven finalists in its Amazon Web Services (AWS) startup challenge. These are young companies that are using the Seattle giant’s cloud-computing platform to build their businesses, and Amazon is rewarding the ones it thinks are the most promising. The grand prize is $50K in cash and $50K in AWS credits and … Continue reading “Where Is the Seattle Cloud: No Local Startups Among Amazon Web Services’ $100K Finalists”
Heartland Robotics Ramps Up, Rejiggers Management as Co-founder Departs and IntelliVid Founder Arrives
Heartland Robotics, the two-month-old industrial robotics startup MIT computer science guru Rod Brooks envisions as an engine for revitalizing the American workforce, has ramped up its own workforce while making some key changes at the top, Xconomy has learned. Founding CEO Ken Zolot has departed and will no longer be involved in company operations. Meanwhile, … Continue reading “Heartland Robotics Ramps Up, Rejiggers Management as Co-founder Departs and IntelliVid Founder Arrives”
In the World of Total Information Awareness, “The Last Enemy” Is Us; A TV Show Good Enough to Inspire a Political Rant
If you thought the notorious Total Information Awareness program went away when Congress eliminated funding for the Pentagon’s mass-surveillance experiment in 2003, you were misled. The program itself may have been dismantled, but as an investigation by the Wall Street Journal detailed in March, many pieces of it were simply transferred to other federal agencies, … Continue reading “In the World of Total Information Awareness, “The Last Enemy” Is Us; A TV Show Good Enough to Inspire a Political Rant”
3Tier: Remapping the World for Renewable Energy, From a Supercomputer Hothouse in Seattle
There’s a small company in downtown Seattle called 3Tier Group that has a goal of no less than “Remapping the World” for alternative energy. T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire Texas oilman, is such a big fan, he used 3Tier’s maps to draw a bold conclusion-that the United States has the potential to be “the Saudi … Continue reading “3Tier: Remapping the World for Renewable Energy, From a Supercomputer Hothouse in Seattle”
Aileron Develops New Class of Drugs To Go Where None Could Before
If Aileron Therapeutics is on the right track, it will turn “stapled peptides” into a biotech industry buzzword along the lines of RNA interference. The Cambridge, MA-based company says its technology, like RNAi, is starting to show in animal tests that it can work against diseases where conventional drugs don’t. This company, whose name is … Continue reading “Aileron Develops New Class of Drugs To Go Where None Could Before”
Illumina Shows its Stuff to Wall Street, Stock Still Slides
San Diego’s Illumina has a pretty amazing story to tell about exponential growth. The maker of genetic analysis tools has beaten or matched Wall Street earnings forecasts for a dozen quarters in a row. It has grown from 239 employees in 2004 to an estimated 1,604 by the end of this year. But when it … Continue reading “Illumina Shows its Stuff to Wall Street, Stock Still Slides”
Why Startups Fail: A Top 10 List From Geoff Entress, Seattle’s Prolific Angel Investor
Despite the post-election glow in some circles, the financial reality for most people remains gloomy (along with the weather here in Seattle). As Geoff Entress succinctly puts it, “The economy still sucks…Nobody’s writing any checks right now at all.” I sat down with the Seattle-based angel investor yesterday in between his appearances at the University … Continue reading “Why Startups Fail: A Top 10 List From Geoff Entress, Seattle’s Prolific Angel Investor”
Bracing for Storm, Veoh Lays Off 18 Percent
Updated Nov. 6, 2:45 PST; See below for details about Veoh San Diego’s Veoh, one of the top Web-based providers of video and TV programming, has laid off 20 people, or 18 percent of its 110-employee payroll. The cutbacks, reported by PaidContent, TechCrunch, and others, apparently are intended to help the startup survive hard times … Continue reading “Bracing for Storm, Veoh Lays Off 18 Percent”
SiCortex Introduces “Green Computing Index” to Rank Big Computers on Energy Efficiency
There’s no such thing as a free flop. A “flop,” or floating-point operation, is a calculation involving a decimal number; engineers often measure the performance of computers in terms of the number of “gigaflop/s” (billions of floating-point operations per second) they can sustain. In the supercomputing community, it’s a longstanding ritual to compare various machines’ … Continue reading “SiCortex Introduces “Green Computing Index” to Rank Big Computers on Energy Efficiency”
Arch Co-founder Bob Nelsen’s Historic Close-Up with President-Elect Obama, and the Tears of Jesse Jackson
Bob Nelsen had a front-row seat to history on Election Night. The Republican managing director of Arch Venture Partners in Seattle was literally at the front of the rally in Chicago’s Grant Park on Tuesday as Democrat Barack Obama was elected as the nation’s first African-American president. “I was 20 feet from Obama, and about … Continue reading “Arch Co-founder Bob Nelsen’s Historic Close-Up with President-Elect Obama, and the Tears of Jesse Jackson”
Innovation Through Compromise: Alfredo Ramirez and the Global Hawk Robot Spy Plane
The way Alfredo Ramirez talks, the Global Hawk does not epitomize an avant-garde aerospace design—even though the robotic spy plane operates at the uppermost boundaries of advanced military aircraft. The 46-year-old Ramirez is the lead designer for the Global Hawk, a high-altitude UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle. I recently sat down with him to discuss … Continue reading “Innovation Through Compromise: Alfredo Ramirez and the Global Hawk Robot Spy Plane”
Ruling to Block “Business Method” Patents May Spur Innovation, Say Entrepreneurs and Investors
It’s what everyone has been talking about lately. No, not the election—software patent reform. (Bear with me, non-IP folks.) Last Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected a patent application from a company called WeatherWise for a method of managing the risk involved with energy costs. The court ruled that in … Continue reading “Ruling to Block “Business Method” Patents May Spur Innovation, Say Entrepreneurs and Investors”
Tysabri’s Roots at the “Hutch,” MediQuest Spurned by FDA, ZymoGenetics Drug Passes Test, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Last week brought another mixed bag of news from Seattle biotech. —Tysabri. The most effective drug on the market for multiple sclerosis isn’t sold by a Seattle biotech company, but it has its origins in a lab here at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. —ZymoGenetics had yet another good news/bad news week. The Seattle … Continue reading “Tysabri’s Roots at the “Hutch,” MediQuest Spurned by FDA, ZymoGenetics Drug Passes Test, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
RI Turns To Innovation Economy in Face of Record Job Losses; A List of Tech and Life Sciences Firms in the State to Watch
We at Xconomy Boston, despite focusing much of our coverage on business and innovation in Massachusetts, cover stories on companies from all over New England—understanding that there is a regional innovation ecosystem. (Plus, there are some great stories to be told outside of the tech-rich Route 128 corridor.) Rhode Island, for one, is producing some … Continue reading “RI Turns To Innovation Economy in Face of Record Job Losses; A List of Tech and Life Sciences Firms in the State to Watch”
TelCentris Unlox Product Box with VoxOx
Updated Nov. 5, 4 pm PST: See below for details on funding TelCentris, a new San Diego company, says it has released a beta version of its free consumer service called VoxOx, which combines Voice-over-Internet telephony and other types of communications into a single screen on a computer desktop. The company says its universal communicator service is … Continue reading “TelCentris Unlox Product Box with VoxOx”
Historic Obama Win Also Sets Web Traffic Records
At 11:00 pm Eastern time last night—when the polls closed on the U.S. West Coast and most TV news outlets called the election in favor of the new President-elect, Barack Obama—Internet users streamed to news websites in unprecedented numbers, according to Cambridge, MA-based Akamai. The company, which has been measuring Internet traffic to news, retail, … Continue reading “Historic Obama Win Also Sets Web Traffic Records”
A Trio of Tysabri Stories, Genzyme’s Big Deal with Osiris, A Peek Inside a Winning Hedge Fund, & More Life Sciences News
Last week brought an interesting mix of theory and practice about the impact of the current economic climate on life sciences. —There was a flurry of news related to natalizumab (Tysabri), the multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease drug from Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) and its Irish partner Elan. First, the drug was linked … Continue reading “A Trio of Tysabri Stories, Genzyme’s Big Deal with Osiris, A Peek Inside a Winning Hedge Fund, & More Life Sciences News”
Aphios Targets “Marijuana Addiction” with Reformulated THC
For opponents of Massachusetts ballot question 2 worried that yesterday’s decriminalization of marijuana will lead to a new generation of users, help may soon be on the way from a small Woburn biotech company. The firm, called Aphios, aims to make a reformulated version of THC—the psychoactive substance found in marijuana that has long been … Continue reading “Aphios Targets “Marijuana Addiction” with Reformulated THC”
Announcing the Battle of the Tech Bands 2
Xconomy’s first Battle of the Tech Bands last January was such a huge success—with close to 350 people gathering to hear six local groups, from the pop/dub/electronica hipsters Deadbeat Darling to the sonically massive Souled Out Superband to the proudly cheesy indie pop rock band MacAlister Drive—that we’ve decided to do it again. Same place … Continue reading “Announcing the Battle of the Tech Bands 2”
The Resurrection of a Onetime Internet Incubator—Not!
Some folks might have felt like it was déjà vu all over again when San Diego-based IdeaEDGE announced the launch of its new online services product, called the “Socialwise Group Gifting Platform.” In its statement Monday, IdeaEDGE said it plans to launch its Web-based Socialwise platform on Nov. 10. The company says its technology makes … Continue reading “The Resurrection of a Onetime Internet Incubator—Not!”
Prescription Drugs for Half the Price: Wellpartner Smooths Way for Clinics to Buy Them
There’s a way to buy prescription drugs for 50 percent off that’s perfectly legal, but requires so much red tape that few people know how to take advantage of it, or even know about it. Except for Wellpartner. This company is a Portland, OR-based mail-order pharmacy that I learned about several weeks ago during a … Continue reading “Prescription Drugs for Half the Price: Wellpartner Smooths Way for Clinics to Buy Them”
Aires Pharmaceuticals Emerges from Stealth Mode With Drug for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Aires Pharmaceuticals may have a way to help patients with a rare, deadly lung disease get a little more oxygen, and maybe even live a little longer. The San Diego startup is developing an inhalable form of nitrite that could improve the lives of patients with high blood pressure in the vessels leading to the … Continue reading “Aires Pharmaceuticals Emerges from Stealth Mode With Drug for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension”
Microsoft Research Asia Turns 10, Looks to Innovate in Multimedia, Cloud Computing, Ads
Updated Nov. 5 with comments from senior vice president Rick Rashid (see below): You did good, Bill Gates. When you decided to build a new computer-science research lab in Beijing in 1998, you probably saw it as a relatively low-risk venture with a high upside. It would be challenging and take a lot of work … Continue reading “Microsoft Research Asia Turns 10, Looks to Innovate in Multimedia, Cloud Computing, Ads”
CombinatoRx Cuts 45 Percent of Staff After Arthritis Drug Failure
CombinatoRx said today is cutting 45 percent of its staff after its lead drug candidate failed in a clinical trial for arthritis patients, according to a regulatory filing. The company said it had about 160 employees when I profiled it in late September, so that means about 70 workers are likely getting pink slips between … Continue reading “CombinatoRx Cuts 45 Percent of Staff After Arthritis Drug Failure”
Adobe Fixes Software Flaw Exposed by Core Security
Boston’s Core Security, a provider of automated penetration software and computer security consulting services, published details today of a flaw in some versions of the widely used program Adobe Reader that could leave users’ computers vulnerable to takeover by hackers. Shortly after the company published details of the vulnerability, Adobe announced a software update designed … Continue reading “Adobe Fixes Software Flaw Exposed by Core Security”
Obama Voters Text Support to LocaModa Display in Times Square
Okay, it’s an election-day stunt, but it’s one of the more imaginative ones we’ve seen. Cambridge, MA-based outdoor-communications startup LocaModa, working with a grassroots group of Barack Obama fundraisers called An Obama Minute, is providing the software behind a system that will display text messages in support of the Presidential candidates on a Times Square … Continue reading “Obama Voters Text Support to LocaModa Display in Times Square”
Amylin, Alkermes Shares Plunge On Possible FDA Delays
San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals and its partner, Cambridge, MA-based Alkermes, both took a dive in the stock market today after they said they might face regulatory delays in developing a new diabetes drug. The companies said the FDA might ask them to run another clinical study before they can receive approval of a once-weekly form … Continue reading “Amylin, Alkermes Shares Plunge On Possible FDA Delays”