Why do airlines give away frequent flyer miles? For the same reason that credit card issuers offer cash-back programs: because hanging on to existing customers by giving them rewards is generally cheaper than recruiting new ones. That basic truth has made frequent-flyer programs and other loyalty programs into a huge business: one in three Americans … Continue reading “Mall Networks Gets $7 Million to Help Clients Compete for Loyalty”
Category: National
Cleantech Entrepreneurs Speak Out for Obama’s Energy Plan
Barack Obama probably doesn’t have to worry much about the cleantech vote. A handful of renewable energy entrepreneurs couldn’t say enough good things about the Democratic presidential candidate in a press conference this morning at the Propel Biofuels station in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. The cleantechies gave me a series of blank stares when … Continue reading “Cleantech Entrepreneurs Speak Out for Obama’s Energy Plan”
Daily TIPs: Capturing Carbon, Signing on Cells, Wireless Power, & More
Technique Lets the Deaf Sign Through Cell Phones Voice communications don’t work for deaf people, and the quality of video carried by American cellular networks is generally too low to carry images of people signing. Now researchers at the University of Washington have overcome this problem by coming up with video-encoding algorithms that enhances only … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Capturing Carbon, Signing on Cells, Wireless Power, & More”
Announcing Xconomy’s Next Forum: How to Build A Life Sciences Company
The Boston area is arguably the world’s greatest center of life sciences, fostering both outstanding basic research and a thriving community of companies, big and small. Two of biotech’s pioneering firms, Biogen Idec and Genzyme, were founded here—Biogen is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. A number of the planet’s largest pharmaceutical makers, including Novartis, … Continue reading “Announcing Xconomy’s Next Forum: How to Build A Life Sciences Company”
ProteoStasis Takes Off From $45 Launch Pad, BitWave Receives $10M Transmission, GameLogic Reckons $8M Will Do, & More Deals News
There was a decent amount of venture activity in the Boston area this past week, as you can see below—and I’m not even including the smaller deals. —Cambridge, MA-based HealthCare Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences, the VC branches of Genzyme and Novartis, and others put a whopping $45 million into a first round of financing for ProteoStasis … Continue reading “ProteoStasis Takes Off From $45 Launch Pad, BitWave Receives $10M Transmission, GameLogic Reckons $8M Will Do, & More Deals News”
With Intellectual Ventures, Nathan Myhrvold Out to Create “Invention Capital” Industry—and Reinvent Invention in the Process (Part 1)
This time last week, Nathan Myhrvold was sitting down with Bill Gates. Gates had just returned from the Olympics, where he had watched some high-profile ping-pong matches—a very hot ticket in China. The two former Microsoft colleagues were catching up, and their discussion turned to racquet sports, and the various technical differences between them. “Bill … Continue reading “With Intellectual Ventures, Nathan Myhrvold Out to Create “Invention Capital” Industry—and Reinvent Invention in the Process (Part 1)”
Venture-Funded Consultants at Security Innovation Show Companies How to Make Software Unbreakable
Outside of a few giants like IBM, you’d be hard pressed to find many technology companies that offer both consulting services and boxed software products. Harder still would be finding a venture firm daring enough to fund a startup that wants to combine these two seemingly disparate lines. But software security startup Security Innovation, which … Continue reading “Venture-Funded Consultants at Security Innovation Show Companies How to Make Software Unbreakable”
Amazon’s Elastic Block Store—A Glimpse of Cloud Computing’s Future
Earlier this week, Amazon announced an important new feature in its cloud computing Web service offerings that should further cause those of us who work in technology to consider the way in which we build software systems. It’s another exciting little glimpse of the future, one that should give pause to anybody still thinking of … Continue reading “Amazon’s Elastic Block Store—A Glimpse of Cloud Computing’s Future”
Medio in Reported Deal with Google and Verizon, Putting Seattle on the Mobile-Search Map
And the wireless hits keep coming… Seattle mobile-search startup Medio Systems is moving towards a deal with Google and Verizon Communications to manage an all-in-one search service provided by the two giants, according to the Wall Street Journal. Medio already handles searches for limited types of mobile content for Verizon. Google would help Medio search … Continue reading “Medio in Reported Deal with Google and Verizon, Putting Seattle on the Mobile-Search Map”
Daily TIPs: Mercury Wipe-Up, Faster Files, Sneaky Licenses, & More
New Nanomaterial Cleans Up Broken Bulbs Compact fluorescent bulbs are being touted as environmentally friendly, since they’re much more energy efficient than standard incandescents. Their only problem: Break them, and you spread poisonous mercury all over the place. Now, according to the Discovery Channel, a researcher at Brown University has developed a nanomaterial that absorbs … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Mercury Wipe-Up, Faster Files, Sneaky Licenses, & More”
Joseph Finn on the ABCs of Biotech Liquidation: Beware of Collusion!
Companies in innovation sectors often have multiple lives. I followed, for example, the rebirth of Franklin, MA, biotech firm Sontra Medical, which laid off its entire staff to cut expenses in late 2006, and was back in business in less than a year with new investors and a new name, Echo Therapeutics. But when the … Continue reading “Joseph Finn on the ABCs of Biotech Liquidation: Beware of Collusion!”
Pogue on the iPhone 3G: A Product Manual You Won’t Be Able to Put Down
The Apple iPhone is easily the most powerful, multitalented phone ever marketed. As I and many others have pointed out, it’s really a handheld multimedia computer, with camera and (in the iPhone 3G) GPS functions to boot. So it’s a little baffling that the only set of instructions you get when you buy an iPhone … Continue reading “Pogue on the iPhone 3G: A Product Manual You Won’t Be Able to Put Down”
Putting Electrons Behind Getting Things Built: Seattle Science Foundation Aims to Connect Scientists, Start Companies
Bob Franza has a way with words. I stopped by to visit the visionary biologist in his office at the Seattle Science Foundation yesterday, hoping to get a better sense of what the new nonprofit organization is all about. He didn’t give me the usual public-relations boilerplate. He mentioned social networking for scientists as a … Continue reading “Putting Electrons Behind Getting Things Built: Seattle Science Foundation Aims to Connect Scientists, Start Companies”
In Nuance’s Snapping Up of SnapIn Software, Investors Get a Better Deal—Some Further Analysis
The big-time acquisition train keeps on rolling through town. The latest Seattle-area company to get bought for big bucks is SnapIn Software, based in Bellevue, WA, which announced earlier this week that it is closing a deal with Burlington, MA-based Nuance Communications worth an estimated $180 million in Nuance stock. On the surface, it’s not … Continue reading “In Nuance’s Snapping Up of SnapIn Software, Investors Get a Better Deal—Some Further Analysis”
Q&A With Massachusetts’ Billion-Dollar Woman: Susan Windham-Bannister. Part 2.
Yesterday we ran the first half of an e-mail interview with Susan Windham-Bannister, the new president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency charged with administering Gov. Deval Patrick’s 10-year, $1 billion initiative to promote the industry. Here’s the link if you missed it. The rest of the interview with Dr. Sue, … Continue reading “Q&A With Massachusetts’ Billion-Dollar Woman: Susan Windham-Bannister. Part 2.”
Y Combinator’s “Open Source” Legal Documents: Up, Down, Up Again—Thank the Lawyers
It’s not easy posting legal documents: the lawyers get nervous. At least, that’s what happened to Y Combinator. Last Wednesday, August 13, the unique venture firm/incubator made a batch of boilerplate legal documents developed for its own startups freely available on its website—“open sourcing” (their term, not mine) them in hopes they would make closing … Continue reading “Y Combinator’s “Open Source” Legal Documents: Up, Down, Up Again—Thank the Lawyers”
Paul Allen’s WWII Planes Show How Innovation Can Soar Ahead
Leave it to Paul Allen to create a museum that flies. Literally. This Saturday afternoon in the skies above Everett, WA. Okay, the museum doesn’t really fly, it’s an aircraft hangar that remains on terra firma. The part that flies is most everything inside the museum, which the billionaire with omnivorous interests calls his Flying … Continue reading “Paul Allen’s WWII Planes Show How Innovation Can Soar Ahead”
Rhode Island Backs Mobile Website Builder MoFuse
With the number of Web-capable mobile phones sold every year far exceeding sales of desktop and laptop computers, more and more online publishers are rushing to create versions of their sites that look good on the small screens of mobile devices. At Providence, RI-based MoFuse, that’s the specialty of the house: the company builds streamlined … Continue reading “Rhode Island Backs Mobile Website Builder MoFuse”
Daily TIPs: Google Goes Geothermal, Demi-Disclosure Deleterious, Butterfly Ballots Back? & More
Best Energy May Be Under Our Feet Everybody talks about wind and sun as among the most promising new sources of energy the world can tap. But speaking at the National Energy Summit in Las Vegas this week, Dan Reicher, director of climate and energy initiatives at Google, said the “killer app” of energy may … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Google Goes Geothermal, Demi-Disclosure Deleterious, Butterfly Ballots Back? & More”
Coskata Refutes Energy Analyst’s Critique, Says It’s On Track to Make Ethanol for Under $1 Per Gallon
The idea that a strain of bacteria discovered at the bottom of a lagoon on the campus of Oklahoma State University could hold an answer to U.S. dependence on foreign oil sounds improbable to many. It certainly does to Robert Rapier. The chemical engineer at Arnhem, Netherlands-based Accsys Technologies published a blog post last weekend … Continue reading “Coskata Refutes Energy Analyst’s Critique, Says It’s On Track to Make Ethanol for Under $1 Per Gallon”
Q&A With Massachusetts’ Billion-Dollar Woman: Susan Windham-Bannister. Part 1.
Susan Windham-Bannister is pretty long as names go, so the staff simply calls her Dr. Sue. The moniker is short but her task is big. She’s the newly-hired president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency charged with administering Gov. Deval Patrick’s 10-year, $1 billion initiative to promote the industry in the … Continue reading “Q&A With Massachusetts’ Billion-Dollar Woman: Susan Windham-Bannister. Part 1.”
Why Vulcan, Google, and ATV Are Backing AltaRock Energy, Betting on Next-Gen Geothermal
Geothermal is one of those energy sources that you know is there, but you don’t hear about much. Until it comes rushing to the surface, as it did with this week’s announcement that AltaRock Energy has closed a second round of financing worth $26.25 million, bringing the geothermal firm’s total venture funding to about $30 … Continue reading “Why Vulcan, Google, and ATV Are Backing AltaRock Energy, Betting on Next-Gen Geothermal”
University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials (UWEB) Transitions Into the 21st Century
In 1996, I received a $40M+, 11-year grant from the National Science Foundation to launch University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials (UWEB). UWEB focused on the biomaterials used to make medical devices and medical diagnostics. Medical devices and diagnostics are estimated to be a $150B+ endeavor. Though devices manufactured by the medical industry save lives and … Continue reading “University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials (UWEB) Transitions Into the 21st Century”
Terrafugia On Track for First Flight This Year
The idea of a drivable vehicle that also flies has a firm grip on the public imagination. Woburn, MA-based Terrafugia, the subject of two highly popular Xconomy stories back in May (here and here), showed its prototype “roadable aircraft,” the Transition, to big crowds at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture show in Oshkosh, WI, from … Continue reading “Terrafugia On Track for First Flight This Year”
Media Lab Director to My Rescue…Twice!
I might just have figured out the worst corner in Kendall Square and the best company to have there…It’s a beautiful day here, so I was taking a leisurely after-lunch stroll when I spotted MIT Media Lab director and Xconomist Frank Moss sauntering equally leisurely on the other side of Binney Street at the corner … Continue reading “Media Lab Director to My Rescue…Twice!”
Daily TIPs: Blood from Stem Cells, Dems on the Internet, Bright Lights and Windmills, & More
Website Seeks Credibility From Readers A new website is using a twist on popularity rankings by asking readers to score it on credibility. NewsCred, which just launched its beta version, lets users score its news stories by how credible they are, an attempt to add a new level of involvement to news sites, Reuters reports. … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Blood from Stem Cells, Dems on the Internet, Bright Lights and Windmills, & More”
Microsoft, Novell Continue Unlikely Windows-Linux Partnership
In November 2006, Redmond, WA-based Microsoft and Waltham, MA-based Novell surprised the software world by announcing that Microsoft would market Novell’s version of the Linux operating system to its own customers, and that the two companies would set up an “Interoperability Lab” in Cambridge, MA. Nearly two years later, the partnership is still in place, … Continue reading “Microsoft, Novell Continue Unlikely Windows-Linux Partnership”
Hollister-Stier, a Year After Getting Bought by Indian Conglomerate, Grows in Spokane
Here’s a storyline you might find hard to believe if you get overdoses of election-year rhetoric about protecting American jobs. It goes like this: A growing conglomerate from India takes over an 86-year-old drug manufacturing operation in a small city in America’s Pacific Northwest. It decides not to ship the highly-skilled, high-paying jobs to a … Continue reading “Hollister-Stier, a Year After Getting Bought by Indian Conglomerate, Grows in Spokane”
With uTest, U Find Software Bugs, U Save
There’s no such thing as a flawless software application: the only question is how many bugs its developers had time to catch and fix before release, and how many will be discovered by customers. And with software being written today for so many different platforms and operating systems, from servers to desktops to mobile devices … Continue reading “With uTest, U Find Software Bugs, U Save”
Dyax and Vertex Drugs Move Toward Market, Taligen Moves to MA, Covidien Moves Into Venture Territory, & More Life Sciences News
Two Boston-area drug developers—Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Dyax—saw their lead drug candidates take important steps toward the market this week. And that’s not all that happened… —Luke took a peak at four-year-old Taligen Therapeutics, which last month moved its headquarters from Aurora, CO, to Cambridge, MA, when new CEO Abbie Celniker joined the firm. Celniker’s hoping … Continue reading “Dyax and Vertex Drugs Move Toward Market, Taligen Moves to MA, Covidien Moves Into Venture Territory, & More Life Sciences News”
Spark Invests Big in Startup that Helps Airline Passengers Zip Through Security Lines
Right now, if you want to zip through security lines at major airports you have three basic options: travel at weird hours when few people are in the airport; shell out big bucks for a first-class ticket (provided the airport has a separate line for first class); or sign up for a Clear pass (or … Continue reading “Spark Invests Big in Startup that Helps Airline Passengers Zip Through Security Lines”
Konnects Rolls Out New Business-Networking Site, Looks for Sweet Spot Between LinkedIn and Facebook
Every day it seems I learn of another fast-growing Web software startup in the Seattle area. Today, I discovered Tacoma, WA-based Konnects is launching a new user interface for its social-networking site. Konnects already has more than 350,000 users worldwide (most are in the U.S. and India), and it is carving out a niche in … Continue reading “Konnects Rolls Out New Business-Networking Site, Looks for Sweet Spot Between LinkedIn and Facebook”
Non-Competes Could Explain Rise and Fall of Boston’s Route 128 Vs. Silicon Valley, Study Says—But Not Everyone Buys the Lessons
When it comes to non-compete clauses in employment contracts, it seems timing is everything. In the early stages of a tech industry, keeping employees from jumping ship and working for competitors might actually drive growth. But once the industry has matured, the same non-competes can hamper growth by restricting labor mobility. This might help explain … Continue reading “Non-Competes Could Explain Rise and Fall of Boston’s Route 128 Vs. Silicon Valley, Study Says—But Not Everyone Buys the Lessons”
Daily TIPs: Battery Virus, Asphalt Energy, New Source of Stem Cells, & More
Virus-Built Battery Nothing to Sneeze At A new type of microbattery could power implantable drug delivery devices or run tiny labs-on-a-chip, thanks to a technique that uses a virus to build the battery’s components. Nature News reports that scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used a genetically engineered virus as part of a template … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Battery Virus, Asphalt Energy, New Source of Stem Cells, & More”
Covidien Launches Venture Arm
Updated: Medical products giant Covidien (NYSE:[[ticker:COV]]) says it wants to play the venture capital game, announcing this morning that it has launched a corporate VC group to make strategic investments in startups focused on medical devices, diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals. Covidien Ventures, which operates at Covidien’s headquarters in Mansfield, MA, appears to be in sync with … Continue reading “Covidien Launches Venture Arm”
The 2008 New England IPO List: The Dead, the Aging, and the Newly Born
It seems like it’s only a matter of time before more New England tech firms with active registrations for IPOs throw in the towel due to the punishing market for public offerings. Only one area technology company, Merrimack, NH-based GT Solar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SOLR]]), has completed an IPO this year—and it’s already feeling the pain of … Continue reading “The 2008 New England IPO List: The Dead, the Aging, and the Newly Born”
At One Million Wikis and Counting, Wetpaint Wants To Make Every Website Social
When I first arrived in Seattle a few months ago, I’d already heard a lot about Wetpaint. Called “stars in the consumer wiki space” and a “power to the people” company by Jude O’Reilley of online-health startup Trusera, I knew it was one of the Northwest’s top young tech companies. Founded in 2005, Wetpaint has … Continue reading “At One Million Wikis and Counting, Wetpaint Wants To Make Every Website Social”
Latest Imperium Woes Could Spell Trouble for the Biodiesel Market
It’s been a rough year for Imperium Renewables, the Seattle-based refiner of biodiesel fuel. Back in December, CEO Martin Tobias abruptly resigned and left the board, just weeks before the company announced it was canceling plans for a $345 million IPO and reducing its corporate work force. Then last month, Imperium went through another round … Continue reading “Latest Imperium Woes Could Spell Trouble for the Biodiesel Market”
Remember Palm, Symbian, Java, and Blackberry? AT&T Dangles Incentives for Non-iPhone, Non-Android Mobile Apps
Perhaps eager to remind software developers that the Apple iPhone isn’t the only game in town—or even its only game in town— AT&T is sponsoring a contest for New England-based makers of mobile applications for competing platforms. The so-called “Fast-Pitch New England” contest, which was announced yesterday and runs through September 30, will end with … Continue reading “Remember Palm, Symbian, Java, and Blackberry? AT&T Dangles Incentives for Non-iPhone, Non-Android Mobile Apps”
Dyax Shares Climb as Lead Drug Candidate Passes Trial
Dyax looks like it may have just transformed into a commercial drug company today. Shares in the Cambridge, MA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DYAX]]) shot up 15 percent today after it said its lead drug in development, DX-88, helped patients in a late-stage clinical trial with a rare, life-threatening disease called hereditary angioedema. Investors drove Dyax shares … Continue reading “Dyax Shares Climb as Lead Drug Candidate Passes Trial”
Skyhook Gets Neighborhood Data from Urban Mapping
So, you’re at the corner of Harrison Street and Union Park Street in Boston. Are you in the South End, or in the trendier but less widely recognized SoWa (South of Washington) district? Both, technically—and if you’ve got a location-sensitive mobile device, it can be tricky for mobile data providers to know which neighborhood’s information … Continue reading “Skyhook Gets Neighborhood Data from Urban Mapping”
Daily TIPs: Scanning Palms, Blogging Freely, Powering Down, & More
Political Blogging is Free Speech, FEC Rules A blogger can tout a particular political candidate, even coordinating with the campaign, without being subject to campaign finance restrictions, the Federal Elections Commission has ruled. A Hillary Clinton supported had alleged that Gordon Fischer, the former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, had coordinated his criticism of … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Scanning Palms, Blogging Freely, Powering Down, & More”
Canada’s Zi Corporation Hopes to Fend Off Nuance Takeover; Companies Issue Dueling Statements
Zi Corporation (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZICA]]), a struggling Calgary, Alberta-based company whose software is designed to speed text entry on mobile devices, today rejected a takeover offer from Burlington, MA-based speech recognition giant Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUAN]]). Nuance reacted angrily, calling the rejection “perplexing and inappropriate” given Zi’s financial condition. Last Thursday—the same day Zi announced widening … Continue reading “Canada’s Zi Corporation Hopes to Fend Off Nuance Takeover; Companies Issue Dueling Statements”
Hub’s Slice of J&J’s R&D Investment Pie—New Funds from the Medical-Products Giant for Harvard and CIMIT
It’d be really cool if Johnson & Johnson published a compendium of every nascent technology study it funds through its some $8 billion annual research and development budget—particularly for those of us interested to know which Boston-area institutions are on the receiving end of those J&J R&D dollars. Unfortunately no such master list is publicly … Continue reading “Hub’s Slice of J&J’s R&D Investment Pie—New Funds from the Medical-Products Giant for Harvard and CIMIT”
Segway Scooting Toward $14M, Follica Fixes on $11M, HP Hooks Up with Colubris, & More Deals News
Last week was a quiet one for New England tech and life sciences firms, but there was a steady stream of small deals nonetheless. —Boston-based Follica, which is developing a treatment for baldness, raised $11 million in a Series B round led by new investor Polaris Venture Partners and joined by existing investors Interwest Partners … Continue reading “Segway Scooting Toward $14M, Follica Fixes on $11M, HP Hooks Up with Colubris, & More Deals News”
Dendreon Proceeds With Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials, AXI Gets Oil from Algae, PATH Prepares to Launch “Ultra Rice,” & More Deals News
It may be the dog days of August—a sweltering, 90-degree weekend in the Northwest?— but there was still a trickle of action last week in biotech, biofuels, and software. We’ll see if the deals start to pick up this week, with the rain and cooler temperatures. —Accelerator, the Seattle-based biotech incubator, has formed a new … Continue reading “Dendreon Proceeds With Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials, AXI Gets Oil from Algae, PATH Prepares to Launch “Ultra Rice,” & More Deals News”
Daily TIPs: Volt on Deck, McCain on Piracy, Google on My Mind, & More
McCain Would Attack Internet Piracy, Cut Taxes Republican presidential candidate John McCain recently issued a policy statement on various technology-related issues. He focuses on tax cuts, preventing new taxes on the Internet, and offering credits for research and development, according to a summary of the statement on Ars Technica. He’d also go after Internet piracy, … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Volt on Deck, McCain on Piracy, Google on My Mind, & More”
With Clean Transportation All the Rage, Segway is Reportedly on the Road to Raising $14 Million Series D Round
On the heels of closing the final tranche of a $35 million financing round that ranked as the fifth-largest New England venture deal of the second quarter, Segway is reportedly back on the financing circuit looking for $14 million more for a Series D round, according to PE Hub, which cites a regulatory filing. The … Continue reading “With Clean Transportation All the Rage, Segway is Reportedly on the Road to Raising $14 Million Series D Round”
If Your Startup Isn’t Moving, It’s Probably Dying—and Other Insights from a McKinsey Director
Bob Felton has been there, done that. Growing up in a farm town in Eastern Washington, the son of a migrant construction worker, he was the first in his family to graduate from college—at Washington State, where he studied mechanical engineering. He started his career at General Electric, then got his M.B.A from Harvard Business … Continue reading “If Your Startup Isn’t Moving, It’s Probably Dying—and Other Insights from a McKinsey Director”
Accelerator Bankrolls New Company, Mirina, To Develop MicroRNA-Blocking Drugs
Accelerator’s latest big idea is coming in a micro-sized package. The Seattle-based biotech startup machine, affiliated with Leroy Hood’s Institute for Systems Biology, has formed a new company called Mirina to develop so-called microRNA drugs. The new company is backed by the usual crew of investors in Accelerator, namely Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE: [[ticker:ARE]]), … Continue reading “Accelerator Bankrolls New Company, Mirina, To Develop MicroRNA-Blocking Drugs”