For most of its existence, the automotive industry has been secretive, siloed, and steeped in cut-throat competition. However, as autonomous vehicle collaborations proliferate, the old-school approach is quickly falling by the wayside. That was evident in a pair of blog posts published late Tuesday that spelled out a new partnership between Ford and San Francisco-based … Continue reading “As Self-Driving Car Partnerships Multiply, Ford and Lyft Join Forces”
Category: National
Biomed Incubator Watershed Develops Tech for IDing Medical Devices
San Antonio — A biomedical product developer, Watershed Idea Foundry, has created a method of identifying medical devices that have been implanted in the body that uses 3-D printing and its own software. The technology, which Watershed calls structural encoding, prints 3-D codes onto small metal markers that are frequently included in medical devices, which help … Continue reading “Biomed Incubator Watershed Develops Tech for IDing Medical Devices”
Palliative Care-Focused Austin Startup Iris Plans Raises $5.1M
Austin—Iris Plans, a telemedicine company that connects patients to palliative care, announced Wednesday that it has raised $5.1 million. The funding round was led by Activate Venture Partners in New York and Austin-based LiveOak Venture Partners. Oakland, CA-based Better Ventures also joined the round. Steve Wardle, Iris Plans’ co-founder and CEO, says the startup plans … Continue reading “Palliative Care-Focused Austin Startup Iris Plans Raises $5.1M”
A4L Lands $25M for Imaging Tech that Reads Heart’s Electric Signals
Electricity regulates the beats of a healthy human heart, telling its chambers when to contract. Though the role of electrical signals in heartbeats is well understood, Analytics 4 Life says they can offer much more. The startup has closed $25 million in financing to test a medical device meant to read the heart’s electrical activity … Continue reading “A4L Lands $25M for Imaging Tech that Reads Heart’s Electric Signals”
Sumeru Leads $45M Growth Equity Round in Treasury Fintech Kyriba
The venture rounds are over for Kyriba, a cloud-based provider of corporate treasury and financial management software that is based in New York and San Diego. After raising $23 million in a Series D funding round last September, Kyriba says today it has raised $45 million in a growth equity round led by Sumeru Equity … Continue reading “Sumeru Leads $45M Growth Equity Round in Treasury Fintech Kyriba”
CarePRN App Helps Families Find Home Health Workers, Avoid Burnout
On November 15, 2014, my life was turned upside down—but that was nothing compared to what my father was going through. That day, he woke up from back surgery with terrifying hallucinations, and started showing signs of psychosis and paranoia that didn’t go away. Instead, it got worse. As he bounced back and forth between … Continue reading “CarePRN App Helps Families Find Home Health Workers, Avoid Burnout”
Google, Apple Offer Salvation from the Horrors of Autoplay
Tech giants are under a lot of pressure these days to make the world a better place—to ferret out Russian hackers trying to fix elections; to combat gender bias in hiring; to stamp out sexual harassment; and to lend their voices to the protests over President Trump’s immigration policies. Despite efforts they’ve made on these … Continue reading “Google, Apple Offer Salvation from the Horrors of Autoplay”
The Winners of the 2017 Xconomy Awards Are…
We are excited to announce the recipients of the first-ever Xconomy Awards. Big Idea Bridge Project The Bridge Project was hatched by MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research in Cambridge and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston to fund collaborative research between cancer researchers from MIT and Harvard-affiliated hospitals and schools. Its aim is … Continue reading “The Winners of the 2017 Xconomy Awards Are…”
Federal Grant Funding Boosts Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator
Nearly two dozen Northwest cleantech startup companies have found their footing in the last two years through the Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator, a pre-equity business development program that on Tuesday won a half-million-dollar grant to expand its curriculum. The funding, through a U.S. Department of Commerce program focused on regional innovation, goes to Seattle-based industry trade … Continue reading “Federal Grant Funding Boosts Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator”
Epic CEO Judy Faulkner: No ‘Magic Wand’ For Improving Healthcare
Epic Systems may have taken inspiration for new buildings on its corporate campus from Harry Potter, but that hasn’t imbued the company with magic powers. Dressed in a wizard’s robes and hat, Judy Faulkner, founder and CEO of one of the largest makers of electronic health records (EHR) software, told a gathering of thousands of … Continue reading “Epic CEO Judy Faulkner: No ‘Magic Wand’ For Improving Healthcare”
Chatbot Builder Drift Gets $32M from GC, Sequoia, HubSpot, CRV
Investors continue to feed the chatbots. Drift, a Boston-based startup that helps businesses boost sales and marketing efforts with virtual assistants and other software tools, said today it has raised $32 million in fresh venture capital. The Series B round of funding was led by General Catalyst, with contributions from CRV, HubSpot, and Sequoia Capital. … Continue reading “Chatbot Builder Drift Gets $32M from GC, Sequoia, HubSpot, CRV”
Indigo Harvests $156M to Boost Agtech R&D, Harness Crop Microbes
In the past year, Indigo Ag has brought to the market five microbial seed treatments that help plants hold up to crop stresses, such as drought. The company now has its sights set on developing more products for more applications, and it has raised $156 million to support that work. New investors Baillie Gifford and … Continue reading “Indigo Harvests $156M to Boost Agtech R&D, Harness Crop Microbes”
No Effect: Axovant Drug Is Latest Casualty in Alzheimer’s Battle
Another high-profile attempt to produce an Alzheimer’s treatment has failed. An unusual biotech company called Axovant Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AXON]]) reported today that its drug intepirdine did not show a meaningful difference between the patients taking a combination of intepirdine and donepezil (Aricept) and the patients taking only donepezil, which is one of just a handful … Continue reading “No Effect: Axovant Drug Is Latest Casualty in Alzheimer’s Battle”
Air Force Scouts Autonomous Tech in New Boston Techstars Program
From GPS to the Internet, some of the most impactful technologies of the last century were driven by U.S. military investments. Department of Defense leaders want to continue that tradition, but fear that the military could be missing out on the latest innovations inside of high-tech startups because it doesn’t work with them as closely … Continue reading “Air Force Scouts Autonomous Tech in New Boston Techstars Program”
Trump Orders Up $200M a Year for STEM, Coding Education
President Donald Trump, who has had a rocky relationship with tech companies during his short administration so far, announced an education initiative Monday that apparently met with their approval. In a White House ceremony, Trump directed his education secretary to allocate at least $200 million a year to fund student access to coursework in science, … Continue reading “Trump Orders Up $200M a Year for STEM, Coding Education”
Funding Campaign Launched After Explosion Injures Sector67 Founder
Sector67, a nonprofit “maker space” used by entrepreneurs and other residents of Madison, WI, and surrounding communities, says its founder, Chris Meyer, was seriously injured in a propane explosion last week. As a result of the incident, Meyer will be hospitalized for at least a month, according to a page on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe … Continue reading “Funding Campaign Launched After Explosion Injures Sector67 Founder”
Amid Cash Crunch, Genocea to Dump Herpes Vaccine, Focus on Cancer Work
Genocea Biosciences was able to go from startup to publicly traded company, in part, because of the early progress it made developing an experimental vaccine for genital herpes. Yet the Cambridge, MA, company couldn’t get the financial help to take that vaccine, GEN-003, through its final test. Instead it has shifted gears and will try … Continue reading “Amid Cash Crunch, Genocea to Dump Herpes Vaccine, Focus on Cancer Work”
San Antonio Spends $200,000 to Get New Biotech Pelican Therapeutics
San Antonio — [Updated 9/27/17, 12:02 p.m. See below.] Pelican Therapeutics, a biotech startup recently re-acquired by the company that founded it, is moving to San Antonio and receiving about $200,000 from the city’s government to do so. The San Antonio City Council approved a plan last week to give the grant to Pelican as long … Continue reading “San Antonio Spends $200,000 to Get New Biotech Pelican Therapeutics”
Ushr, Spun Out of GeoDigital, Pursues Piece of Autonomous Vehicle Pie
Ushr, a Livonia, MI-based company making high-definition mapping software for autonomous vehicle applications, announced last week that it has raised $10 million in a Series A round. The investment was led by Forte Ventures, with participation from EnerTech Capital, Emerald Technology Ventures, and GM Ventures. Ushr was spun out of a 20-year-old venture called GeoDigital, … Continue reading “Ushr, Spun Out of GeoDigital, Pursues Piece of Autonomous Vehicle Pie”
Poizner Updates Plan for Alliance on Southern California Innovation
After launching a study to identify how tech hubs work, the leader of a nonprofit consortium created to boost Southern California’s startup ecosystem says he is focusing on three initiatives to supercharge the seven-county SoCal region as a hotbed for innovation. “Our focus is on priming the pump,” Steve Poizner said Friday, after providing an … Continue reading “Poizner Updates Plan for Alliance on Southern California Innovation”
Xconomy Q&A: Todd Schulte of Tech Immigration Advocacy Org FWD.us
[Updated 9/25/17, 1:55 p.m. Clarified 9/27/17, 10:01 a.m. See below.] Immigration policy has always been important to the tech industry, but this year is different. Under a steady barrage of nationalist, anti-immigrant policies promulgated by the Trump administration, the tech industry has been forced to respond like never before, in the halls of Congress, the … Continue reading “Xconomy Q&A: Todd Schulte of Tech Immigration Advocacy Org FWD.us”
Tech Execs on the Move: Dell EMC, General Catalyst, Imprivata & More
Here are some of the latest notable hires and departures in the Boston-area tech scene: —Imprivata chief technology officer David Ting has left the healthcare IT security software company, Xconomy has learned. Ting co-founded the Lexington, MA-based company over a decade ago. Imprivata went public in 2014, then agreed to be acquired last year by … Continue reading “Tech Execs on the Move: Dell EMC, General Catalyst, Imprivata & More”
Low-Hanging Fruit Gone, Ag & Food Tech Investors Pay More for Deals
[Updated 9/25/17, 5:18 pm. See below.] Food delivery startups are catching on with more consumers, and that demand is whetting investor appetites. The $400 million that grocery delivery startup Instacart raised in March marked the largest deal for a U.S. food technology company in the first half of the year, according to new data from … Continue reading “Low-Hanging Fruit Gone, Ag & Food Tech Investors Pay More for Deals”
SpringWorks Spins Out of Pfizer With $103M to Give Shelved Drugs New Life
Pfizer is testing out a new biotech experiment this morning. It has taken four drug compounds gathering dust on its shelves, and funneled them into a new startup, SpringWorks Therapeutics, that will try to develop them for diseases that don’t fit the hulking New York pharma giant’s core strategy. This isn’t a small experiment. SpringWorks, … Continue reading “SpringWorks Spins Out of Pfizer With $103M to Give Shelved Drugs New Life”
Epic’s App Orchard Gains Traction with Hospitals, Third Parties
In February, Epic Systems formally introduced App Orchard, a program aimed at helping other healthcare software companies integrate their digital products with Epic’s tools for managing patient records. Hundreds of health systems around the world already use Verona, WI-based Epic’s software to document patient information. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers can use the software … Continue reading “Epic’s App Orchard Gains Traction with Hospitals, Third Parties”
Boston Tech Watch: Autodesk, HubSpot, ViralGains, MLK Memorial & More
This week in Boston tech, we’ve been tracking another HubSpot artificial intelligence acquisition, investments in advertising and marketing technology startups, the acquisition of a nearly century-old local tech company, and a local entrepreneur’s effort to help build a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., in Boston. Read on for details. —HubSpot acquired Chicago-based Motion AI, … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Autodesk, HubSpot, ViralGains, MLK Memorial & More”
Pfizer, Veritas, MGH Join Xconomy’s Healthcare + A.I. Conference on Nov. 2
Like a lot of fields, healthcare is riding the A.I. wave. We’re hearing about machine learning and other artificial intelligence techniques being applied to genomic analysis, drug discovery, imaging and diagnostics, patient-doctor interactions, and other clinical tasks. But there’s a lot of hype and challenges to go along with it. On November 2, Xconomy is … Continue reading “Pfizer, Veritas, MGH Join Xconomy’s Healthcare + A.I. Conference on Nov. 2”
Five Questions For … Anousheh Ansari, Tech CEO & Space Traveler
Dallas—As a teenager in Iran in the 1970s, Anousheh Ansari looked to the night sky and dreamed of going to space. When she was a teenager, she moved with her family to the United States. She couldn’t speak English, but as she learned the language, she says she was able to communicate through her love … Continue reading “Five Questions For … Anousheh Ansari, Tech CEO & Space Traveler”
Bio Roundup: RNAi’s Big Day, CAR-T For Kids, Drugs From Fungi & More
It’s been a year of biomedical milestones in the U.S., including the first approval of a CAR-T cellular immunotherapy, the first smartphone app to treat substance abuse, and the first approval of a cancer drug based on genetic signature instead of the tumor’s organ of origin. Add to the list the first successful Phase 3 … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: RNAi’s Big Day, CAR-T For Kids, Drugs From Fungi & More”
Nathan Myhrvold: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview
Episode 3 of our new podcast, Xconomy Voices, features a conversation about nuclear power with Nathan Myhrvold, the founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures. The former Microsoft chief technology officer is now vice chairman of TerraPower, a Bellevue, WA-based spinout of Intellectual Ventures that aims to revive commercial nuclear energy. The company is researching next-generation … Continue reading “Nathan Myhrvold: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview”
CloudHealth Names Axbey CEO as Enterprise Cloud Spending Accelerates
Fresh off raising a $46 million venture funding round, CloudHealth Technologies is embarking on its next chapter under new leadership. On Thursday, the Boston-based IT management firm named Tom Axbey as its new president and CEO. Axbey previously led Rave Mobile Safety, a Framingham, MA-based company whose software is used to communicate and share data … Continue reading “CloudHealth Names Axbey CEO as Enterprise Cloud Spending Accelerates”
Q&A: UW Prof on Whether Patient Portals Are Working as Designed
The percentage of U.S. hospitals that rely entirely on paper records to document information on their patients now stands at 1 percent, down from 69 percent in 2003, according to a study published recently in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. For more than two decades, hospitals and clinics have been working to digitize their … Continue reading “Q&A: UW Prof on Whether Patient Portals Are Working as Designed”
As CarGurus Preps IPO, These 6 Boston Tech Firms Could Be Next
Some predicted the U.S. tech IPO window would open wider this year, but it’s still just a slit. Only 14 tech companies have held initial public offerings in the U.S. this year, Bloomberg reported this week. (Notable IPOs include Snap, Blue Apron, and Redfin.) That follows 19 U.S.-listed tech IPOs last year and 28 in … Continue reading “As CarGurus Preps IPO, These 6 Boston Tech Firms Could Be Next”
Would a Binational Detroit-Windsor Amazon HQ2 Bid Be a Game-Changer?
Just about all of North America has been abuzz over Amazon’s search for a second headquarters. Dubbed HQ2, the project is expected to bring billions in investment capital to the winner, along with up to 50,000 jobs. Like virtually every major city in America, Detroit is planning to toss its hat into the ring. But unlike … Continue reading “Would a Binational Detroit-Windsor Amazon HQ2 Bid Be a Game-Changer?”
Xconomy Voices, Episode 3: Nathan Myhrvold and TerraPower
We’re pleased to bring you the third episode of Xconomy Voices, our new podcast featuring conversations with entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors from Xconomy’s home cities and regions. This week our guest is Nathan Myhrvold, the former Microsoft chief technology officer who, since 2000, has headed Intellectual Ventures, a Bellevue, WA-based firm that buys, develops, and … Continue reading “Xconomy Voices, Episode 3: Nathan Myhrvold and TerraPower”
Big Fundraising Week for Slack, Patreon, TigerGraph, Others in Bay Area
[Updated 9/25/17, 1:38 pm. See below.] Silicon Valley companies, from big ones with millions of users to infant startups, rolled up some money from investors this week. —San Francisco-based Slack, which offers shared messaging channels for workplace teams, raised $250 million to pad out its cash cushion from the $591 million the company had already raised, … Continue reading “Big Fundraising Week for Slack, Patreon, TigerGraph, Others in Bay Area”
Landos Joins Garabedian’s Bio Startup Accelerator Xontogeny, Gets $10M
Xontogeny, the Boston-based biotech startup accelerator formed by one-time Sarepta Therapeutics CEO Chris Garabedian, has taken on its first company. The firm has helped secure a $10 million investment for a Blacksburg, VA, startup, Landos Biopharma, that is developing drugs for inflammatory bowel disease. New York life sciences investment firm Perceptive Advisors is the sole … Continue reading “Landos Joins Garabedian’s Bio Startup Accelerator Xontogeny, Gets $10M”
Lawyer Sues Venter’s Synthetic Genomics “Boys Club” over Gender Bias
Against a contentious backdrop of a gender gap in the life sciences, a lawyer who spent more than eight years managing intellectual property at San Diego’s Synthetic Genomics (SGI) has sued the star-studded company for discriminating against women. In a state civil lawsuit filed September 7, Teresa Spehar alleges that SGI is permeated by a … Continue reading “Lawyer Sues Venter’s Synthetic Genomics “Boys Club” over Gender Bias”
Humatics, $18M Richer, Aims to Equip Robots with Microlocation Tech
A Boston-area robotics firm is starting to make its first big moves. Cambridge, MA-based “microlocation” startup Humatics announced this week it has completed an $18 million Series A funding round. Detroit-based Fontinalis Partners led the investment, with participation from Airbus Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Intact Ventures, Tectonic Ventures, Presidio Ventures, Blue Ivy Ventures, and others. … Continue reading “Humatics, $18M Richer, Aims to Equip Robots with Microlocation Tech”
Techstars Heads to Norway in Search of Energy Startups with Statoil
Global startup launcher Techstars plans to run a program next year in Oslo, with Norwegian state-owned energy giant Statoil, focused on startups working in the energy industry. Statoil (NYSE: [[ticker:STOS]]) is a 45-year-old vertically integrated oil and gas giant with deep expertise in offshore exploration and drilling, as well as a significant hydroelectric and wind energy … Continue reading “Techstars Heads to Norway in Search of Energy Startups with Statoil”
Austin Venture Firm AVX Partners Changes Name to Elsewhere Ventures
Austin—The founders of an Austin venture capital firm that invests in software companies have renamed the firm to Elsewhere Partners because its founders say it reflects the investors’ interest in companies located in cities that don’t traditionally have much access to venture capital. Previously known as AVX Partners, which was founded in 2015, the firm … Continue reading “Austin Venture Firm AVX Partners Changes Name to Elsewhere Ventures”
Last Chance to Save on Boston’s Life Science Disruptors
There’s just eight days left before Xconomy’s latest biotech event, “Boston’s Life Science Disruptors.” Don’t let the clock run out while you can still save some cash on a ticket. Next Thursday, September 28, we’re bringing together some of the key founders and investors behind three cancer drugmakers—Tesaro, Dragonfly Therapeutics, and IFM Therapeutics—that have each … Continue reading “Last Chance to Save on Boston’s Life Science Disruptors”
Alnylam Data Puts a Nobel Discovery One Step Closer to Approved Drug
[Updated with comments at 9:49 am ET, see below] For the first time ever, a medicine using RNA interference, a method of muting a gene before it can make a harmful protein, is headed for an FDA review. If the agency grants a commercial license, it would be a major victory not just for the … Continue reading “Alnylam Data Puts a Nobel Discovery One Step Closer to Approved Drug”
Costello’s A.I.-Driven Software Aims to Improve Sales Rep Performance
Artificial intelligence technologies are evolving at a rapid pace, remaking everything from vehicles to video games. An Indianapolis startup called Costello, armed with $1 million in investment capital, is launching this month to bring A.I. to deal management software, which the company says will help to better prepare sales reps while also offering managers increased … Continue reading “Costello’s A.I.-Driven Software Aims to Improve Sales Rep Performance”
NVCA Sues Trump Administration for Delaying “Startup Visa” Program
Add another item to the list of tech industry beefs with the new crew in the White House. An organization representing venture capital firms filed a federal suit in Washington, DC, on Tuesday accusing Trump Administration officials of unlawfully delaying a program that would have allowed international entrepreneurs to work at companies they founded within … Continue reading “NVCA Sues Trump Administration for Delaying “Startup Visa” Program”
Itron-Silver Springs, Doosan’s Storage Win, and More Smart Grid News
Here’s a look at recent news from some of Washington state’s grid modernization and energy storage players, including Itron’s planned acquisition of Silver Spring Networks; a big energy storage project in the Mojave Desert for Seattle-based Doosan GridTech; and a bolus of federal funding for electricity grid researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: Itron Buying … Continue reading “Itron-Silver Springs, Doosan’s Storage Win, and More Smart Grid News”
Fintech Startup Zebra Raises $40M, Seremedi, Alice & More Texas News
Austin—The Zebra founder Adam Lyons has described the insurance startup as the “Kayak of insurance.” Now, The Zebra’s got a new CEO: the former head of Kayak. Keith Melnick, who was Kayak’s president, takes the reins at five-year-old The Zebra, a website that allows consumers to enter basic information about their car’s make, model, and … Continue reading “Fintech Startup Zebra Raises $40M, Seremedi, Alice & More Texas News”
MIT’s The Engine, Now With $200M, Makes First Bets: 3 Takeaways
[Updated 9/20/17, 8:18 am. See below.] Now the real work begins for The Engine, MIT’s ambitious venture fund and incubator. The organization announced its first batch of seven investments on Tuesday (see below), and revealed that it has raised $200 million, with plans to back 40 to 50 so-called “tough-tech” companies over the next few … Continue reading “MIT’s The Engine, Now With $200M, Makes First Bets: 3 Takeaways”
Eyeing a Comeback, Arrowhead Bets on New RNAi Delivery Tool
[Updated 9/20/17 4:57 p.m. See below.] Following a series of setbacks late last year, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, one of the companies trying to develop drugs using RNA interference, has come up with a plan to try to bounce back. But to do so, it’ll have to prove it can safely and effectively deliver an RNAi therapeutic … Continue reading “Eyeing a Comeback, Arrowhead Bets on New RNAi Delivery Tool”
EPIcenter Developing Energy Incubator, Think Tank in San Antonio
San Antonio—[Corrected 2:28 p.m. See below.] On the south end of downtown San Antonio, in a 108-year-old power plant that was decommissioned in 2003, a nonprofit has plans to establish a think tank, incubator, and exhibit space that will advocate for innovation in clean energy. Called EPIcenter, the organization is redeveloping the power plant into … Continue reading “EPIcenter Developing Energy Incubator, Think Tank in San Antonio”