Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5c2e3539-489b-437f-aa98-4b626235cdb4&Preview=1 Date 3/2/2013 Company Name Sonar Mailing Address 32 E 31st St 12th Floor New York, NY 10016 Company Description Sonar is a mobile app that tells you when your friends and friends’ friends are nearby, revealing the hidden connections and small world moments you might have otherwise missed. By leveraging social … Continue reading “Sonar Garners New Financing”
Category: New York
Facebook Killed My Blog
Travels With Rhody has reached the end of the road. Don’t worry, Rhody himself is fine—he’ll turn 16 in a couple of months and his only problem in life is a touch of arthritis. I’m talking about my blog, not my dog. Since 2004 I’ve owned the domain name travelswithrhody.net, where I’ve always maintained a … Continue reading “Facebook Killed My Blog”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Third Rock, SciFluor, Cubist
Another act in a stark boardroom drama unfolded this week for a public pharmaceutical company in New Jersey, but brighter stories took center stage in the Massachusetts biomedical arena. —A sweeping executive shakeout continued at Optimer Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday as CEO Pedro Lichtinger agreed to resign, and was replaced by Henry McKinnell, the former CEO … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Third Rock, SciFluor, Cubist”
Finding Parallels in Baseball and Drug Development
Consider a candidate. Selecting that candidate takes thousands of hours of time and research–checking background, verifying data, assessing probabilities, projecting futures. Once selected, more years of development follow, during which time the odds of success are less than 10 percent. And if that candidate finally does make it, there’s just a small window of exclusivity … Continue reading “Finding Parallels in Baseball and Drug Development”
K2 Intelligence Secures $10,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=968c2e64-51aa-4329-96d7-87dfc761c2ec&Preview=1 Date 3/1/2013 Company Name K2 Intelligence Mailing Address 599 Lexington Avenue 12th Floor New York, NY 10022 Company Description K2 Intelligence provides specialized risk services and solutions to corporations, sovereign nations and individuals. Website http://www.k2intelligence.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $10,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. … Continue reading “K2 Intelligence Secures $10,000,000 New Funding Round”
Enigma.io Garners $1,100,000 Seed Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c499eecb-0fed-4f54-9e6f-ca130f8ff632&Preview=1 Date 3/1/2013 Company Name Enigma.io Mailing Address Undisclosed New York, NY 10001 Company Description By harmonizing and indexing the world’s public data, Enigma empowers professionals to discover hidden facts and connections like never before. Website http://www.enigma.io Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,100,000 Transaction Round Seed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were … Continue reading “Enigma.io Garners $1,100,000 Seed Financing Round”
Osage University Partners Expanding Its Novel Venture Firm Model
Discoveries at the Yale School of Medicine are helping nearby Kolltan Pharmaceuticals in New Haven, CT, to try to keep cancer drugs working by eliminating the resistance that patients often develop to current cancer treatments. Kolltan is the kind of company routinely spun out by Yale and other top research universities, which often hold the … Continue reading “Osage University Partners Expanding Its Novel Venture Firm Model”
Paul Allen Gives $7.5M to Little-Known Scientists Dreaming Big
Just a few days after tech moguls Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin gave a bunch of prize money to some of biotech’s biggest stars, along comes Paul Allen doing his own thing, giving his money to some lesser-known scientists striving for all different kinds of breakthroughs. The Seattle-based Paul G. Allen Family Foundation said today … Continue reading “Paul Allen Gives $7.5M to Little-Known Scientists Dreaming Big”
SummerQAmp Tech Internship Expands to Boston, LA, Austin
Steve Martocci, co-founder of GroupMe in New York, let me drop by his office Tuesday so he could shed some light on how a summer program to train youths for technology jobs in quality assurance is expanding in its second year. “We talked a lot last year about having an online learning platform,” he says. … Continue reading “SummerQAmp Tech Internship Expands to Boston, LA, Austin”
MIT Report: U.S. Manufacturing Hits a Wall When It’s Time to Scale
Manufacturing isn’t dead in the U.S. But when it comes time to pump out products on a large scale, the pull of overseas economies and investors becomes too strong to resist. That’s one of the conclusions from a group of MIT researchers tackling a wide-ranging study of the American production economy. Their report aims to … Continue reading “MIT Report: U.S. Manufacturing Hits a Wall When It’s Time to Scale”
Optimer Board Ousts CEO, Brings Back Former Pfizer CEO McKinnell
The board of Optimer Pharmaceuticals ousted the company’s co-founder and chairman and fired a couple of executives last spring over conflicts of interest stemming from an affiliated company in Taiwan. Apparently, the trouble didn’t end there. Jersey City, NJ and San Diego-based Optimer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OPTR]]) said today in a statement that CEO Pedro Lichtinger agreed … Continue reading “Optimer Board Ousts CEO, Brings Back Former Pfizer CEO McKinnell”
Marc Benioff Talks Up Salesforce.com’s Strategy for the Mobile Arena
On Tuesday, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff dropped by the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York to talk about the ways his company plans to evolve, particularly through mobile platforms. “It feels like a huge wave of innovation is coming,” he said, regarding the overall surge of connected mobile devices and touch screen interfaces in the … Continue reading “Marc Benioff Talks Up Salesforce.com’s Strategy for the Mobile Arena”
STELLAService Secures $15,000,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=775017c5-5d0d-4ac8-a144-627c8f0815ae&Preview=1 Date 2/27/2013 Company Name STELLAService Mailing Address 27 W. 20th St. New York, NY 10011 Company Description We operate with a simple mission: to enhance transparency around the customer service of online businesses. Our goal is to guide online consumers to the sites that maintain the highest quality customer care. We … Continue reading “STELLAService Secures $15,000,000 Series B Financing Round”
LocalResponse Secures $1,250,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=136fc22c-d5a1-46b3-91b1-9387ed973c15&Preview=1 Date 2/27/2013 Company Name LocalResponse Mailing Address 37 W. 28th St. Fifth Floor New York, NY 10001 Company Description LocalResponse has developed a web-based tool that allows local businesses to respond to check-in posts on social media sites. Website http://www.LocalResponse.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $1,250,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “LocalResponse Secures $1,250,000 New Funding Round”
Thinkful Secures $1,000,000 Seed Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=04dcd66f-cb0c-4b78-bfdd-b637d7ccce72&Preview=1 Date 2/27/2013 Company Name Thinkful Mailing Address 22 West 21st 8th Floor New York, NY 10011 Company Description We believe that the best way to learn is through apprenticeship. We provide curricula to structure your learning and mentorship to accelerate it. That combination – self-directed, online learning and frequent, one-on-one help … Continue reading “Thinkful Secures $1,000,000 Seed Round”
Online Educator Thinkful Lands $1M Seed Round with Peter Thiel, Others
New York-based Thinkful, an online education startup, announced Tuesday it raised $1 million in a seed round with investor and entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s FF Angel, RRE Ventures, Quotidian Ventures, and other investors. Thinkful, founded in 2012, helps its students with job interviews, placement, and career coaching, in addition to providing education. The startup offers online … Continue reading “Online Educator Thinkful Lands $1M Seed Round with Peter Thiel, Others”
Failure and Redemption
What’s gone and what’s past help Should be past grief. —William Shakespeare – The Winter’s Tale We give abundant advice to founders about how to make startups succeed, yet we offer few models about dealing with failure. So here’s mine. ——– In my experience, living through failure has 6 stages: Stage 1: Shock and Surprise … Continue reading “Failure and Redemption”
Spark Capital Closes Fourth Fund at $450M
Boston’s Spark Capital, a venture firm with high-profile investments in Twitter, Tumblr, and Foursquare, has closed its fourth fund at $450 million. Founded in 2005 by Todd Dagres, Santo Politi, and Paul Conway, Spark started with an emphasis on early stage, consumer-focused technology and media companies. It’s since expanded its focus a bit, with investments … Continue reading “Spark Capital Closes Fourth Fund at $450M”
New Partner at Quiet Hambrecht Fund Takes ‘Moneyball’ Approach to VC
Thomas Thurston says we’ve entered “the era of the Moneyball VC,” and no less a name than investment banking pioneer Bill Hambrecht is placing a bet on this Northwest-based data scientist’s formula for picking winners. Over the last seven years, Thurston (pictured) has been developing algorithms—first at Intel Capital, and later in collaboration with Harvard … Continue reading “New Partner at Quiet Hambrecht Fund Takes ‘Moneyball’ Approach to VC”
New York’s Technology Future: Is It a Bubble or a Lasting Boom?
Amid the hullabaloo about New York’s growing innovation scene lurks a big question about the future. “Is New York’s rise in technology a combination of the mayor’s exuberant personality, things that are happening organically, and the overall growth of tech?” asked Steven Rosenbaum, CEO of Magnify.net. “Or is there a fundamental shift happening?” Last Thursday … Continue reading “New York’s Technology Future: Is It a Bubble or a Lasting Boom?”
As MWC Opens in Barcelona, We’re All on the Eve of Disruption
It’s sunny but cold in Barcelona today, as more than 72,000 telecom and technology professionals arrive for the first day of the Mobile World Congress. They come for the spinning, networking, and opportunity seeking—and perhaps for the tapas and Spanish wine. Yet the show is so big and so dispersed that most companies begin trumpeting … Continue reading “As MWC Opens in Barcelona, We’re All on the Eve of Disruption”
Zuckerberg Takes a Small Step in Right Direction, Backing Biotech
Woody Allen is often quoted as saying 80 percent of life is just showing up. This past week Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote a decent check, and just as important, he showed up for life sciences. It’s a small gesture, but a start. The social-networking wizard took some time out of his week to stop … Continue reading “Zuckerberg Takes a Small Step in Right Direction, Backing Biotech”
Mismi Receives $1,019,736 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=98933b51-6f35-4969-8a29-6623b32312cf&Preview=1 Date 2/25/2013 Company Name Mismi Mailing Address 810 Seventh Avenue 22nd Floor New York, NY 10019 Company Description Mismi is a spin-off of Axioma, Inc., a leading developer of risk analysis, portfolio rebalancing and performance attribution products. Website http://www.mismi.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,019,736 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Mismi Receives $1,019,736 New Financing”
Warby Parker Secures $4,700,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c374d1a0-bd3c-4714-a3ca-d2a098859a40&Preview=1 Date 2/25/2013 Company Name Warby Parker Mailing Address 40 Great Jones Street New York, NY 10012 Company Description Warby Parker was founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: to create boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point. Website http://www.warbyparker.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,700,000 Transaction … Continue reading “Warby Parker Secures $4,700,000 New Funding”
SocialFlow Lands $7,750,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=686c3e37-f6bf-4afc-97f8-ea6834149358&Preview=1 Date 2/25/2013 Company Name SocialFlow Mailing Address 416 W. 13th St. New York, NY 10014 Company Description SocialFlow is a social media optimization platform that is used by media companies, retailers and brands to earn greater engagement, clicks, re-tweets, mentions and followers on Twitter. SocialFlow’s software ensures that you enter conversations … Continue reading “SocialFlow Lands $7,750,000 New Funding Round”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: IBM, ImmunoGen, Breakthrough Prize, & More
The symbiotic ties between industry and university scientists were a big theme this week in East Coast news. Some top academic researchers became instant millionaires as tech moguls honored their biomedical innovations, and new university institutes launched projects to accelerate progress in the pharmaceutical world. And the FDA’s approval of a new Genentech cancer drug … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: IBM, ImmunoGen, Breakthrough Prize, & More”
I Switched from Mint.com to Pageonce. Maybe You Should Too.
[Update: As of May 2013, Pageonce has officially changed the name of its app and service to Check.] For more than a decade, I was a faithful user of Quicken, Intuit’s desktop personal finance program. I stopped using it in 2008 after Mint.com came along, giving me the ability to monitor all my accounts from … Continue reading “I Switched from Mint.com to Pageonce. Maybe You Should Too.”
Medikly Garners $1,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a237c611-6814-468a-9552-63c915e9e8bb&Preview=1 Date 2/22/2013 Company Name Medikly Mailing Address 483 Broadway 2nd Floor New York, NY 10012 Company Description We help pharma brands and agencies effectively understand, reach and engage physicians. We’re located in the heart of SoHo (NYC), and we’re a passionate, driven team of innovators and go-getters who are reinventing healthcare … Continue reading “Medikly Garners $1,000,000 Series A Funding”
Celmatix Receives $4,012,850 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=138246ae-5d26-47be-8a8e-ccb9e110f272&Preview=1 Date 2/22/2013 Company Name Celmatix Mailing Address 1 Little West 12th St. New York, NY 10014 Company Description Celmatix, Inc. is a New York City-based biotechnology company targeting the reproductive medicine sector with products designed to improve reproductive technologies and outcomes. Our lead product under development is FertilArrayTM, an in vitro … Continue reading “Celmatix Receives $4,012,850 New Funding”
National Science Foundation Scales Up Entrepreneurship Program
The National Science Foundation said today that it will fund a major expansion of its Innovation Corps program, an effort to teach NSF-funded university researchers how to build profitable startups around their technologies. In its initial stages, the two-year-old “I-Corps” program has been flying researchers to Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and Georgia Tech … Continue reading “National Science Foundation Scales Up Entrepreneurship Program”
Investors Talk Cluster F*ck Deals, Control Issues, and Series A Crunch
Wednesday night’s Enterprise Tech Meetup in New York ran like many panels where venture capitalists gab about what excites them in the market—until Ed Zimmerman called out a troubling trend he sees among some startup funding deals. “Companies have started raising these cluster f*ck rounds,” he said. “In these rounds you’ll have a dozen investors, … Continue reading “Investors Talk Cluster F*ck Deals, Control Issues, and Series A Crunch”
Track180 Builds iPad App to Bring More Context, Balance to Online News
The best entrepreneurs are an elusive mix of tech-business expert, clear-headed thinker, contrarian, psychologist, and elevator repairman. Because, really, if you know how to fix elevators, you can pretty much do anything. That would apply to Drue Hontz, the founder and CEO of Track180, a startup in New Haven, CT, that’s trying to reinvent how … Continue reading “Track180 Builds iPad App to Bring More Context, Balance to Online News”
Innovations in Financial Technology: Wisdom of the Crowd
It is of particular interest to me when an established industry begins to innovate and move in new directions. Financial technology has been an active area of innovation all along, but the advent of social media and crowd sourcing has infused new life to the sector. Aside from crowdfunding, here at 1M/1M we are also … Continue reading “Innovations in Financial Technology: Wisdom of the Crowd”
Facebook, Google Moguls Give $33M in Prizes to Biomedical Stars
[Updated 11:35 am with Zuckerberg comment] Some of the highest achievers in technology are giving away a lot of money to people who have made some of the biggest achievements in biotech. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, along with Google’s Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki, announced today they have come … Continue reading “Facebook, Google Moguls Give $33M in Prizes to Biomedical Stars”
NYU to Train Data Scientists for E-Commerce, Pharma, and Other Markets
With all the talk of big data these days, many businesses are still looking for talent to turn massive amounts of information into something they can use. New York University announced Tuesday it is creating a Center for Data Science, along with a master’s-level degree program to train big-data professionals for commercial and public sectors. … Continue reading “NYU to Train Data Scientists for E-Commerce, Pharma, and Other Markets”
Ed-Tech Isn’t for Wimps: Noodle’s Katzman on Building a Winner
Technology entrepreneurs are increasingly turning their sights on education, with visions of liberating knowledge from the textbook publishing cabals and driving down the costs that lead to heavy student loan debt. That’s a good thing. But just like any other sector drawing a lot of startup interest, there’s starting to be plenty of dreck in … Continue reading “Ed-Tech Isn’t for Wimps: Noodle’s Katzman on Building a Winner”
Lost My iPhone in Royal Danish Moat—Can You Beat That?
I don’t have too many firsts to my name. But I’m betting I’m the first to lose an iPhone 5 in the moat of Rosenborg Castle, the famous Danish royal family castle in the heart of Copenhagen. At least in 2013. It just happened today—luckily my laptop was back at the hotel. I am here … Continue reading “Lost My iPhone in Royal Danish Moat—Can You Beat That?”
The Academy Awards: Biopharma Edition
Academy Award season is upon us, with the Oscars being polished up in anticipation of the big night. Who knows which Hollywood heavyweights and newcomers will be recognized for their seminal contributions to this year’s films? Suppose, however, that there was a drug industry version of the awards. What kind of categories would there be, … Continue reading “The Academy Awards: Biopharma Edition”
Trends to Watch at This Year’s Big AGBT Meeting
Mainstream news stories often mistake technology for science. Such conflation likely reflects how gizmos and knowledge, like arteries and veins, form a virtuous cycle: understanding nature requires, and refines, good tools. In genomics, that symbiosis burns brightest at Advances in Genome Biology & Technology (AGBT), the yearly nucleic acid trip in Florida, where new sequencing … Continue reading “Trends to Watch at This Year’s Big AGBT Meeting”
Vengo Secures $1,000,000 Seed Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a046dfa4-a9a9-4a1f-ae02-32965acec3cf&Preview=1 Date 2/20/2013 Company Name Vengo Mailing Address Undisclosed New York, NY 10001 Company Description Vengo…convenience on the go. Life is unpredictable. Planning ahead is hard. Vengo is for the things you forgot…or maybe you didn’t know you needed. So go Vengo and get back to it! Website http://www.vengolabs.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “Vengo Secures $1,000,000 Seed Financing Round”
Sociocast Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=249b7b0d-d57e-4e7f-abdd-4e8dfeb25bff&Preview=1 Date 2/20/2013 Company Name Sociocast Mailing Address 49 West 27th St 6th Floor New York, NY 10001 Company Description Sociocast delivers the most predictive real-time audience data available on the market today. We help content companies better define and become more relevant to their audiences – and enable them to quickly … Continue reading “Sociocast Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding Round”
Blue Apron Lands $3,000,000 Series A Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=34e6c01b-5d05-46bb-ba01-af497cd2af9e&Preview=1 Date 2/20/2013 Company Name Blue Apron Mailing Address 814 Union St Brooklyn, NY 11206 Company Description Blue Apron is a new concept in grocery delivery, built around incredible cooking experiences. We offer a once-a-week subscription service where we deliver all the fresh ingredients you need to make 3 meals, in exactly … Continue reading “Blue Apron Lands $3,000,000 Series A Financing Round”
Gary Vaynerchuk Chats with Dave McClure, Calls Entrepreneurs a Rare Breed
Angel investor, Wine Library-phenom, and VaynerMedia co-founder Gary Vaynerchuk dropped by last week’s 500 Startups demo day in New York for a brazenly candid talk on investment strategies and deal valuations. “I don’t give a [expletive] about the numbers,” he said. “I don’t understand the math of it well enough. I’m a salesman. I bet … Continue reading “Gary Vaynerchuk Chats with Dave McClure, Calls Entrepreneurs a Rare Breed”
Crazy Enough to Change the World
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow … Continue reading “Crazy Enough to Change the World”
The Reimbursed Personal Genome—-Five Years Away?
Genome sequencing will be a routine diagnostic test for patients at the new Institute for Precision Medicine in New York City, a joint project of the Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Doctors will be searching for new genetic clues about disease by taking an unbiased survey along the genome, rather than scanning only … Continue reading “The Reimbursed Personal Genome—-Five Years Away?”
Sage Bionetworks Absorbs Dream, Plans Open Science ‘Challenges’
Sage Bionetworks is a nonprofit, so it isn’t in the business of doing mergers and acquisitions in the traditional sense. But today it’s completing a merger of sorts that will enable it to expand its reach on the Web. Sage, the Seattle-based nonprofit working to spark an open-source biology movement, is announcing today it will … Continue reading “Sage Bionetworks Absorbs Dream, Plans Open Science ‘Challenges’”
Artspace Secures $8,500,000 Series B Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fcb059ad-ba79-4ed3-8cf9-3be50252ff7e&Preview=1 Date 2/19/2013 Company Name Artspace Mailing Address 915 Broadway New York, NY 10010 Company Description Our mission is to help collectors and aspiring collectors discover, learn about and collect fine art. Our curators collaborate with top museums, galleries and cultural institutions to provide the best collection of contemporary art in the … Continue reading “Artspace Secures $8,500,000 Series B Round”
Taboola Receives $15,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=06913224-7122-4d06-9943-5c08ca81bb85&Preview=1 Date 2/19/2013 Company Name Taboola Mailing Address 19 West 21st Street New York, NY 10011 Company Description Taboola is widely recognized as the world’s leading video discovery and distribution platform with over 130M uniques a month seeing Taboola recommendations, and half a billion recommendations created a day. Website http://www.taboola.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Taboola Receives $15,000,000 New Financing”
High Hanging Fruit
Let’s face it. There are tens of thousands of super smart, tech-savvy, funded teams out there chasing the next Massively Viral consumer Internet phenomenon. Think of it like an incredibly parallel search algorithm where every conceivable customer acquisition twist and hook is being explored with effectively infinite resources of fine young minds backed by the … Continue reading “High Hanging Fruit”
Biotech & Pharma Whining About Talent: That Makes Me Mad
Pharmaceutical and biotech companies axed something like 150,000 workers from 2009 through 2012. Now guess what? Those same companies are complaining, in a recent report from the consulting firm PwC, that they are unable to find enough qualified workers to fill key positions they need to grow. Sometimes, you come across a message in one of these … Continue reading “Biotech & Pharma Whining About Talent: That Makes Me Mad”