Category: New York

New York Got Smarter, Dressed Sharper, and Faced Off with Failure in 2012

Adolescence can be a tough and fascinating period of discovery—even for New York’s innovation community. At the onset of 2012, education technology startups in the city trumpeted their platforms for sharing knowledge via the cloud and social networks. Other technology sectors, e-commerce especially, saw rapid evolution as once-hot daily deals faded further from the spotlight. … Continue reading “New York Got Smarter, Dressed Sharper, and Faced Off with Failure in 2012”

The Fiscal Cliff Is Forcing a Biomedical Day of Reckoning

Sarah Palin, the onetime candidate for the second-highest elected office in the U.S., once delivered a rant on the campaign trail about waste she perceived in federal support of fruit fly research. Scientists everywhere were appalled. Regardless of whether Palin knew about the historic importance of the drosophila to genetics, they were furious that a … Continue reading “The Fiscal Cliff Is Forcing a Biomedical Day of Reckoning”

The War on Success Will Rage On

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: “What does your gut tell you will happen this year even though you don’t have data to prove it?”] The war on success will continue on and capital gains taxes will … Continue reading “The War on Success Will Rage On”

Fancy Secures $6,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4f30041b-d56d-481f-8cf0-6cbd793cc6bd&Preview=1 Date 12/31/2012 Company Name Fancy Mailing Address 401 West 14th Street New York, NY 10014 Company Description Fancy is for curators of style. It’s part store, part blog, part magazine and part bookmarking tool. It’s a place to share and discover great stuff, to curate a collection of things that define … Continue reading “Fancy Secures $6,000,000 New Funding”

The Year In New York Biotech—Still Trying to Make It Here

It’s been a year and a half since Xconomy added New York to the cities it covers. I came on as New York Editor in October, taking over from Arlene Weintraub, who pioneered coverage here, knowing that the city is a rich source of tech stories and more than deserving of Xconomy’s focus. It might … Continue reading “The Year In New York Biotech—Still Trying to Make It Here”

Actinium Pharmaceuticals Obtains $5,100,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5e1987cb-e1fe-4b30-921c-145ed04ca462&Preview=1 Date 12/28/2012 Company Name Actinium Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 501 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10017 Company Description Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (API) is a privately held biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of cancer drugs. The Company’s product candidates are based on its patented technology co-developed with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center … Continue reading “Actinium Pharmaceuticals Obtains $5,100,000 New Funding Round”

ThruPoint Receives $3,000,004 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=696b876d-17dc-4af3-b2ed-9822b45d8842&Preview=1 Date 12/28/2012 Company Name ThruPoint Mailing Address 1040 Avenue of the Americas 19th Floor New York, NY 10018 Company Description Thrupoint is a leading provider of mobile collaboration solutions and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS). Our open session management platform federates across existing multivendor environments to drive rapid service delivery … Continue reading “ThruPoint Receives $3,000,004 New Financing”

Evisors Receives $1,271,460 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bb44d717-32a9-4c8e-96ac-d4aa6778c475&Preview=1 Date 12/28/2012 Company Name Evisors Mailing Address 44 W 28th St 8th floor New York, NY 10001 Company Description Evisors provides real and personal conversations over the phone or via email with qualified experts across a range of topics. Website http://www.evisors.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,271,460 Transaction Round Undisclosed … Continue reading “Evisors Receives $1,271,460 New Funding”

Synchronoss Technologies Acquires NewBay Media for $55,500,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=69a75763-b086-4389-bd93-37a8ebc014d7&Preview=1 Date 12/28/2012 Company Name NewBay Media Mailing Address 28 East 28th Street 12th Floor New York, NY 10016 Company Description NewBay Media’s market leading brands are centered on five vertical markets — Pro Audio, Broadcast and Video, Musical Instruments, AV / Consumer Electronics and K-12 Education. NewBay publishes and produces over … Continue reading “Synchronoss Technologies Acquires NewBay Media for $55,500,000”

A Pivotal Year in Mobile, Energy, Automobiles, Education

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: What does your gut tell you will happen in the coming year even though you don’t have data to prove it?] This is a pivotal year in mobile, we are seeing the … Continue reading “A Pivotal Year in Mobile, Energy, Automobiles, Education”

A Banner Year for New Drugs

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: “What does your gut tell you will happen this year even though you don’t have data to prove it?”] I think there will be even more FDA approvals for New Molecular … Continue reading “A Banner Year for New Drugs”

Profitably Obtains $88,888 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b1491631-ff5a-42b0-b36b-335af72343c7&Preview=1 Date 12/26/2012 Company Name Profitably Mailing Address 902 Broadway 4th Floor New York, NY 10010 Company Description Profitably is the fastest and easiest way to find the next couple things you can do to grow profits for your small business. It’s a web application that analyzes and interprets your QuickBooks data … Continue reading “Profitably Obtains $88,888 New Financing”

House Party Lands $999,999 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=56fe6aa3-55d4-4dbd-9dd5-54c23cd59e13&Preview=1 Date 12/26/2012 Company Name House Party Mailing Address One Bridge Street Irvington, NY 10533 Company Description House Party is a tech-enabled service company focused on delivering high impact WOM marketing and consumer activation programs for corporate clients. Serving Fortune 1000 companies, House Party was founded in 2005 by Gene DeRose – … Continue reading “House Party Lands $999,999 New Funding Round”

House Party Lands $999,999 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=56fe6aa3-55d4-4dbd-9dd5-54c23cd59e13&Preview=1 Date 12/26/2012 Company Name House Party Mailing Address One Bridge Street Irvington, NY 10533 Company Description House Party is a tech-enabled service company focused on delivering high impact WOM marketing and consumer activation programs for corporate clients. Serving Fortune 1000 companies, House Party was founded in 2005 by Gene DeRose – … Continue reading “House Party Lands $999,999 New Financing Round”

Paper and Airplanes: The Long Road to Obsolescence

As the years go by, I increasingly find the history of the future as interesting as the future itself. We’ve all seen lists of incredibly bad technological predictions, and of course it’s always fun to smugly reflect on how wrong a smart person can be. Grandiose predictions of the future of technology often lead to … Continue reading “Paper and Airplanes: The Long Road to Obsolescence”

Tough B Rounds and Valuations, New Business Models in 2013

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: “What does your gut tell you will happen this year even though you don’t have data to prove it?”] I expect many companies looking for their Series B rounds to … Continue reading “Tough B Rounds and Valuations, New Business Models in 2013”

Water Mission to Israel (Day 4): Bringing It All Back Home

Wednesday, December 19th, marked the last day the full delegation was together in Israel. Several members headed for the airport to catch late-night flights after the final dinner, while a number of smaller groups are remaining behind to pursue additional meetings and touring activities over the coming days. The morning sessions were dedicated to open … Continue reading “Water Mission to Israel (Day 4): Bringing It All Back Home”

NPS Wins First FDA Approval, for Short Bowel Syndrome Drug

NPS Pharmaceuticals  (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NPSP]]) finally scored today with its first FDA drug approval since its founding 26 years ago. The agency said it approved teduglutide (Gattex) for adults with short bowel syndrome who do not receive enough nutrition from intravenous feeding, which is standard treatment for this rare and often fatal disease. The approval wasn’t … Continue reading “NPS Wins First FDA Approval, for Short Bowel Syndrome Drug”

Water Mission to Israel (Day 3): Startup Day in Startup Nation

Tuesday, December 18th, was the midpoint of the Mission agenda and the centerpiece event of the trip. The Massachusetts Delegation hosted the W.E.T. Revolution at Tel Aviv University in the lovely and historic Green House, which was apparently originally built as part of a Palestinian Village, and at various times since has been part of … Continue reading “Water Mission to Israel (Day 3): Startup Day in Startup Nation”

An Xconomy Experiment in Crowdfunding, Colorado Style

Back in 2007, when Bob Buderi tapped out the first news story for the Xconomy Boston website, he wrote, “Ours is a grassroots endeavor, supported by some of the world’s great innovators and business leaders.” Our founding CEO and editor-in-chief took their lessons of entrepreneurship to heart—assembling a team of extraordinarily talented journalists who have … Continue reading “An Xconomy Experiment in Crowdfunding, Colorado Style”

20 Must-Have Apps for That Tablet Under the Tree

It’s time for the third annual version of “iStocking Stuffers,” the holiday apps edition of my weekly column World Wide Wade. The slide show above covers 20 of my favorite apps from 2012, which makes it my longest list yet: the 2010 edition of this guide had just 10 apps, and the 2011 version had 15. … Continue reading “20 Must-Have Apps for That Tablet Under the Tree”

East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Blend, Amicus, Vertex, & More

Christmas came early for a bunch of biotech startups in the form of new funds, while Amicus and Vertex got only coal in their stocking. —- On Tuesday, Avaxia Biologics, based in Lexington, MA, pulled in $6.4 million in a Series B financing, which will help pay for its first clinical trial of AVX-70, a … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Blend, Amicus, Vertex, & More”

Incentient Receives $2,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7f13fdc2-7a59-4a63-8f32-71cd6cadb98b&Preview=1 Date 12/21/2012 Company Name Incentient Mailing Address 120 Commercial Street Plainview, NY 11803 Company Description Based in Plainview, New York, Incentient is a transaction services company that is beginning to modernize the hospitality industry in its entirety. In the past year, Incentient has developed its groundbreaking SmartTouchsm system that allows guests … Continue reading “Incentient Receives $2,000,000 New Financing Round”

Amicus-GlaxoSmithkline Drug for Fabry Disease Fails Clinical Trial

Amicus Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:FOLD]]) waited until late afternoon on Wednesday to announce that its lead drug, a treatment for rare Fabry disease, failed to meet its end point in a pivotal Phase III clinical trial, but that didn’t lessen the investor freakout. The Cranbury, NJ-based company’s stock dropped 50.65 percent in after hours trading, to $2.85. … Continue reading “Amicus-GlaxoSmithkline Drug for Fabry Disease Fails Clinical Trial”

Can (Should?) A Young Biotech Company Still Go Long?

It used to be that every young biotech company’s goal was to “go long,” to become a FIPCO (fully integrated pharmaceutical company…remember when that phrase was in vogue?), selling its own product and running a sustainable business. These days, that’s rarely in anyone’s business plan. And yet at the same time, I’ve heard public market … Continue reading “Can (Should?) A Young Biotech Company Still Go Long?”

Xconomist of the Week: Alexis Borisy Still Likes Early Stage Biotechs

The trending topic among biotech people and the people who fund them these days is that it is almost impossible to scrounge up financing for startups in the earliest stages of drug development. As Xconomy’s Luke Timmermanwrote  in July, the amount of money invested in first-round biotech financings fell by 60 percent in the first … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Alexis Borisy Still Likes Early Stage Biotechs”

bMobilized Obtains $2,500,000 Series A Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dc59b9da-4bf9-4bc5-98e0-d77c6fa1a42c&Preview=1 Date 12/20/2012 Company Name bMobilized Mailing Address 670 Broadway New York, NY 10012 Company Description bMobilized pioneered automatic website mobilization. The global company offers businesses the ability to instantly and inexpensively convert their desktop website into an HTML5-enabled mobile experience optimized for every device, OS or browser. And at bMobilized, simplicity … Continue reading “bMobilized Obtains $2,500,000 Series A Funding”

Fab Obtains New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=62e12ba7-655c-46b8-aefc-e1c7469fe423&Preview=1 Date 12/20/2012 Company Name Fab Mailing Address 330 West 38th St New York, NY 10018 Company Description Fab.com is an Internet retail destination. Website http://www.fab.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes As part of this investment Fab will be working with Times Internet to explore … Continue reading “Fab Obtains New Financing”

Adobe Systems Acquires Behance for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=56f6c30c-a921-428d-955f-b544f03776f2&Preview=1 Date 12/20/2012 Company Name Behance Mailing Address Undisclosed New York, NY 10002 Company Description The leading online platform to showcase & discover creative work. Creative professionals update their work in one place to broadcast it widely and efficiently. Companies explore the work and acess talent on a global scale. Website http://www.behance.net … Continue reading “Adobe Systems Acquires Behance for Undisclosed Sum”

Domain-Rusnano Partnership Invests $93 Million in Three Biotechs

Last March, life sciences venture firm Domain Associates and Russia’s state-owned Rusnano announced that they will jointly invest as much as $760 million in biotech. Today the partnership announced it is putting $93 million of that money into three Domain portfolio companies, bringing to four the number of deals they’ve done so far. Marinus Pharmaceuticals of … Continue reading “Domain-Rusnano Partnership Invests $93 Million in Three Biotechs”

Fred Wilson Calls Out Enterprise Tech Incumbents, Sees Room for NY Startups

When Fred Wilson, managing partner with Union Square Ventures, prefaces a statement as potentially controversial, most people in the room tend to lean forward for a listen. Last night’s New York Enterprise Technology Meetup was no exception. Wilson, an early backer of Twitter and current investor in Return Path and MongoDB’s developer 10gen, spoke to the … Continue reading “Fred Wilson Calls Out Enterprise Tech Incumbents, Sees Room for NY Startups”

Five Tips for Building a Successful Relationship with the FDA

I recently led an initiative to communicate more proactively and frequently with the leaders of the FDA about issues specifically related to improving the agency’s focus on innovative biomedical and therapeutic technologies. At San Diego’s Biocom, where I am CEO, we believe that both industry and regulators can benefit from an atmosphere of open communication … Continue reading “Five Tips for Building a Successful Relationship with the FDA”

The Cloud in Healthcare Post-Election

At the Dec. 10 Xconomy forum on Healthcare in Transition, I participated in a panel discussion on post-election themes in the business of healthcare from the perspective of a cloud-based healthcare IT company. There was, naturally, difference of opinions among the group on government’s role in facilitating healthcare IT innovation, but there was also some … Continue reading “The Cloud in Healthcare Post-Election”

Noom Receives $2,600,000 Seed Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=de4aaacc-df41-4267-a328-bf2f583067ce&Preview=1 Date 12/19/2012 Company Name Noom Mailing Address 530 W 25th St New York, NY 10001 Company Description Our mission is to make healthy living a seamless part of everyday life. We believe the best way to attract people to a healthier lifestyle is to develop products that make it enjoyable. On … Continue reading “Noom Receives $2,600,000 Seed Round”

Water Mission to Israel (Day 2): Water Management Solutions at Scale

Monday in Israel started out quickly with the Massachusetts Water Delegation taking part in a global water market networking event with the CleanIsrael Meetup Group. CleanIsrael is a pan-Israel cleantech business network with over 1,000 members and is akin to the Clean Economy Network (now part of the Advanced Energy Economy). After charging up with … Continue reading “Water Mission to Israel (Day 2): Water Management Solutions at Scale”

Sutro Strikes Celgene Deal Worth Up to $500M

South San Francisco-based Sutro Biopharma thinks it has a way to make biotech drugs that’s faster and better than the traditional method that incubates the molecules inside living cells. And today it got a big vote of confidence from one of biotech’s big players, Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]). Sutro said today it struck a broad agreement … Continue reading “Sutro Strikes Celgene Deal Worth Up to $500M”

Habib Kairouz Talks Totsy, Flash Sales, and Expectations for E-commerce

While some critics grumble about the future of e-commerce, Habib Kairouz sees prospects for prudent growth for companies that change with consumers’ tastes. Kairouz, a managing partner with Rho Capital Partners and Rho Ventures in New York, backs Totsy, a New York-based e-commerce site for deals and flash sales on wares for infants and parents, … Continue reading “Habib Kairouz Talks Totsy, Flash Sales, and Expectations for E-commerce”

Hope in Detroit: An Outsider on Motown’s Entrepreneurial Renaissance

Long written off by many, Detroit is becoming an interesting city to watch from an urban revitalization perspective. At the core of these developments is the emergence of a startup ecosystem where (for the most part) one did not previously exist. While still early, the progress made in this area over the last several years … Continue reading “Hope in Detroit: An Outsider on Motown’s Entrepreneurial Renaissance”

See.me Obtains $1,500,000 Seed Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a5c1661e-2fb6-4670-a7dc-2b29f329c225&Preview=1 Date 12/18/2012 Company Name See.me Mailing Address 2525 44th Drive Long Island City, NY 11101 Company Description On See.me, artists create online profiles and portfolio that can be easily shared. The network connects artists to each other, as well as to friends and art lovers from all over the world. It … Continue reading “See.me Obtains $1,500,000 Seed Funding”

Urban Compass Lands $8,000,000 Seed Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=303068e7-bef7-4db9-b321-7504c8845ff3&Preview=1 Date 12/18/2012 Company Name Urban Compass Mailing Address 155 Avenue Of The Americas 6th Floor New York, NY 10013 Company Description We understand people. We understand technology. We’re building a platform of hyper-local knowledge and information to help people make their most important personal decisions. Website http://www.urbancompass.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Urban Compass Lands $8,000,000 Seed Financing Round”

Enzon, under Pressure from Carl Icahn, Seeks Buyer

It looks like investor Carl Icahn may be having his way with Enzon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ENZN]]). The Piscataway, NJ, company announced today that it is seeking a buyer for some or all of the company, 19 days after Icahn signaled he wanted to talk to the  biotech about its operations. Icahn, whose investment firm owns … Continue reading “Enzon, under Pressure from Carl Icahn, Seeks Buyer”

Water Mission to Israel (Day 1): The Past and Present of the Israeli Water Story

I did say it was going to be a packed schedule, so here I am sitting down at 1am in Tel Aviv sharing the highlights of Day 1 of the Massachusetts-Israel Water Mission. The first 24 hours have been filled with a whirlwind of history, sights, and sounds, spending time with fellow delegates and lots … Continue reading “Water Mission to Israel (Day 1): The Past and Present of the Israeli Water Story”

The 5 Myths of Big Data Analytics

Everyone wants a glimpse into the future; the insights and information found there would be inherently lucrative for the individual (or business) that possessed them. And, while soothsayers haven’t yet proven themselves to be a reliable business asset, today’s predictive analytics software has. “Predictive analytics,” in whole, is data analysis that provides enterprises with predictions … Continue reading “The 5 Myths of Big Data Analytics”

2012: The Year When Genomic Medicine Started Paying Off

Remember a couple of years ago when people commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the first draft human genome sequencing? The storyline then, in 2010, was that we all went off to genome camp and only came home with a lousy T-shirt. Society, we were told, invested huge scientific resources in deciphering the code of life, … Continue reading “2012: The Year When Genomic Medicine Started Paying Off”

Water Mission to Israel: Heading Over

It always plays out this way—a kernel of an idea starts the ball rolling, followed by months of increasingly refined planning, a flurry of activity in the endgame, and then it’s GO time. I recall this operating rhythm well from my military days, and it’s been the same over the past dozen-plus years working with … Continue reading “Water Mission to Israel: Heading Over”

OfferPop Obtains $2,500,000 Series B Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6479427c-d448-4104-b5bf-8a292ec5316d&Preview=1 Date 12/15/2012 Company Name OfferPop Mailing Address 25 West 36th Street 11th Floor New York, NY 10018 Company Description Offerpop automatically generates branded landing pages/tabs for your campaigns. Pages/tabs encourage user participation with simple social gestures. Promote pages/tabs through any channel – including your website, email or ads. Website http://www.offerpop.com Transaction … Continue reading “OfferPop Obtains $2,500,000 Series B Financing Round”

Outbrain Snaps Up Scribit Adding Curated Content to Bag of Tricks

New York-based online content recommendation company Outbrain is busy sharpening its tools once again as competition mounts in its sector. Earlier this week Outbrain announced it acquired Scribit, an Atlanta-based developer of a platform for curating online content. This is the latest deal for Outbrain, which back in February 2011 acquired the technology and assets … Continue reading “Outbrain Snaps Up Scribit Adding Curated Content to Bag of Tricks”