This past week was truly a “magical” one for me. Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the hall of fame basketball star, brilliant entrepreneur, and generous philanthropist joined my venture capital firm, Detroit Venture Partners, as our fourth partner. Spending the day with Earvin reveals something much more than his legendary stats and accomplishments, however. His rarified level … Continue reading “The Man Behind the Magic”
Category: New York
The Challenge of Computing on a Planetary Scale: Inside Google’s Faculty Summit
For the first time, Google held its annual Americas Faculty Summit in our New York City offices. On July 14th and 15th, about 100 faculty members from universities in the western hemisphere attended the two-day summit, which focused on systems, artificial intelligence, and mobile computing. Google New York is our second largest office outside of … Continue reading “The Challenge of Computing on a Planetary Scale: Inside Google’s Faculty Summit”
Sean Cross Discusses Deals and Froth at New York Venture Summit
Thursday’s New York Venture Summit, hosted by Staten Island’s youngStartup Ventures, brought venture capitalists and other investors together in New York’s financial district to hear pitches from startups out to impress them. The seventy-five companies that were there presented ideas in technology, life sciences, and clean technology at a time one investment banker described as … Continue reading “Sean Cross Discusses Deals and Froth at New York Venture Summit”
The CliffsNotes Version of True University—The 2-Day Startup School from True Ventures
After I wrote a long article profiling the unusual culture at True Ventures, the San Francisco-based early stage investing fund known for its investments in startups like Automattic, GigaOm, and KissMetrics, the firm invited me to attend True University, a two-day conference on startup-building tactics at the University of California at Berkeley. (Well, the truth … Continue reading “The CliffsNotes Version of True University—The 2-Day Startup School from True Ventures”
Q2 Funding in NYC: “Shopping Facilitators” and Foursquare Rule
Foursquare’s recent $50 million funding round may have grabbed headlines nationwide, but a close look at second-quarter venture rounds reveals another trend: Investors can’t get enough of fashion sites. Gilt Groupe, a website that features limited-time “flash” sales of clothing, travel, and other high-end items, pulled in a remarkable $136 million. Ideeli and Rent the … Continue reading “Q2 Funding in NYC: “Shopping Facilitators” and Foursquare Rule”
Dow Jones Shows Slight Decline in Venture Deals, Dollars, Since Last Year
More or less correlating the results of two previous venture capital surveys, Dow Jones VentureSource says today that venture investors throughout the United States put $8 billion into 776 deals during the second quarter that ended June 30. In terms of absolute numbers, that’s fairly close to venture data we reported Wednesday from the MoneyTree … Continue reading “Dow Jones Shows Slight Decline in Venture Deals, Dollars, Since Last Year”
Anterios Receives $3,035,007 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=44832210-35f6-4217-a159-21b4999f3dac&Preview=1 Date 7/22/2011 Company Name Anterios Mailing Address 41 West 57th Street 6th Floor New York, NY 10019 Company Description Anterios Inc. uses nanotechnology to provide a delivery system to administer drugs and cosmetics. Anterios Inc. was formerly known as Encapsion Inc. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in … Continue reading “Anterios Receives $3,035,007 New Financing Round”
Bristol-Myers Acquires Amira Pharmaceuticals for $325 Million, Scoops Up Lung Drug
The people in San Diego who discovered a multi-billion dollar asthma drug for Merck have captured the attention of Big Pharma once again. Amira Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company in San Diego, has agreed to be acquired by New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) for $325 million in cash upfront, plus additional milestone payments of … Continue reading “Bristol-Myers Acquires Amira Pharmaceuticals for $325 Million, Scoops Up Lung Drug”
NYC’s Coronado Biosciences Plans Two Drug Trials, Wall Street Debut, and Boston Move
It’s not too often that a biotech company marches into the FDA and asks permission to run human tests of a remedy derived from parasitic worms. But the agency will likely be entertaining just such a request sometime in the next couple of months, when Coronado Biosciences files an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for … Continue reading “NYC’s Coronado Biosciences Plans Two Drug Trials, Wall Street Debut, and Boston Move”
Hotlist Lands $624,998 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8b6b9631-ce97-43a8-b4c4-e4dd218ddacd&Preview=1 Date 7/21/2011 Company Name Hotlist Mailing Address 160 Varick Street 12th Floor New York, NY 10013 Company Description The Hotlist is the world’s first geo-social aggregator that shows you what’s going on today, tomorrow and throughout the week among your personal network of friends. A custom hotlist is generated for you … Continue reading “Hotlist Lands $624,998 New Financing”
Is Lady Gaga’s Backplane Based in San Diego? Inquiring Minds Want to Know
[Updated 8/24/11, 8:35 pm. See below.] Here’s a tantalizing tidbit for all the Little Monsters and online celebrity gossip mongers: In a breakout of data from the MoneyTree Report on venture capital investments that were made in San Diego during the three months that ended June 30, there is an interesting entry for a $1 … Continue reading “Is Lady Gaga’s Backplane Based in San Diego? Inquiring Minds Want to Know”
Websdays With Internet Week New York
Internet Week New York launches its first monthly event with this networking party. Join New York City’s Internet community for a night of cocktails and casual conversation. Space is limited. Register here.
JOOR Raises $2.25M in First Round
New York’s JOOR, an online fashion wholesale marketplace, raised $2.25 million in a funding round led by Battery Ventures, according to a press release. Other investors in the round include Lerer Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Landis Capital, and Forerunner Ventures, as well as individual investors William M. Smith and Richard Mishaan. One-year-old JOOR says it … Continue reading “JOOR Raises $2.25M in First Round”
Merck and UCSF Team Up to Find New Weapons Against Resurgent HIV
Three years ago, Warner Greene was among a number of HIV experts meeting at George Washington University to discuss the problem of HIV “latency”—the tendency of the virus that causes AIDS to hide in cells and then rage up when drug therapy is halted. “I made a plea,” recalls Greene, head of virology and immunology … Continue reading “Merck and UCSF Team Up to Find New Weapons Against Resurgent HIV”
Bristol Diabetes Drug Gets Thumbs-Down
An advisory panel to the FDA voted nine to six against the agency approving dapagliflozin, a diabetes treatment developed by New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: [[ticker:AZN]]), according to a press release. Dapagliflozin is among a new class of drugs designed to inhibit SGLT2, a protein that promotes the reabsorption of glucose … Continue reading “Bristol Diabetes Drug Gets Thumbs-Down”
Pfizer buys Icagen
New York-based drug giant Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) is acquiring Icagen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ICGN]]), a biotech company based in Research Triangle Park, NC, for $56 million, according to a press release. The two companies have been collaborating since 2007 to develop new pain drugs that manipulate sodium ion channels. Pfizer already owned 11 percent of Icagen’s stock. The … Continue reading “Pfizer buys Icagen”
How a VC-Style Investment System Can Support a More Just and Humane World
If you were to look under the hood of any big-name IPO these days – such as LinkedIn, Pandora, and someday, Facebook – you’d see a highly sophisticated coordination of capital sources that fueled each to that highly coveted spot: Seed or “Angel” money that got the idea off the ground was followed by early-stage … Continue reading “How a VC-Style Investment System Can Support a More Just and Humane World”
VC Dollars Rise Above Pre-Recession Level in MoneyTree’s Second-Quarter Survey
Venture capital activity improved slightly year-over-year, with a total of $7.5 billion invested in 966 new companies nationwide during the quarter that ended June 30th, according to the MoneyTree Report released today. Investment levels represented the highest quarterly total since the pre-recessionary second quarter of 2008, according the report, which is prepared by the National … Continue reading “VC Dollars Rise Above Pre-Recession Level in MoneyTree’s Second-Quarter Survey”
Constant Contact Opens NY Office, Makes Big Shift in Tech for Creating Marketing Tools
If there is anything constant about Constant Contact, it is change. The online marketing company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTCT]]), based in the Boston area, is announcing today it has opened a new office in New York City. That by itself isn’t big news, but it’s part of a larger strategic shift in the firm’s technology approach—what is … Continue reading “Constant Contact Opens NY Office, Makes Big Shift in Tech for Creating Marketing Tools”
Veterans of J&J, Pfizer, and Medimmune Seek to Transform Arno into Oncology Powerhouse
The employees at Arno Therapeutics in Parsippany, NJ, have so much empty floor space in their square-shaped office suite that they could set up a volleyball net there and have a daily game. Well, sort of. Arno is one of many emerging “virtual” biotechs, so it outsources much of the clinical development work on its … Continue reading “Veterans of J&J, Pfizer, and Medimmune Seek to Transform Arno into Oncology Powerhouse”
Proust.com Debuts with Site Concentrated on Family Social Networking
With an eye for bringing family and intimate friends together, New York’s Proust.com is unveiling its new website today, in a bid to take its online social scrapbook from beta to center stage. While other types of social networks encourage users to amass large and sometimes unwieldy lists of followers and friends, Proust is aiming … Continue reading “Proust.com Debuts with Site Concentrated on Family Social Networking”
JOOR Obtains $2,250,000 Series A Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0196aefb-9bd1-4703-b844-babbe24a931a&Preview=1 Date 7/19/2011 Company Name JOOR Mailing Address 36 East 23rd Street New York, NY 10010 Company Description The company operates an online wholesale marketplace for contemporary fashion brands and boutiques. Website http://www.jooraccess.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,250,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes The company will use the additional … Continue reading “JOOR Obtains $2,250,000 Series A Round”
Coronado Biosciences Files Form 10
New York-based Coronado Biosciences has registered to become a public reporting company through a Form 10. Coronado is developing immunotherapy approaches to treat acute myeloid leukemia and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease. Coronado is preparing to start a Phase 2 trial of one of its experimental molecules in Crohn’s Disease … Continue reading “Coronado Biosciences Files Form 10”
New Enterprise Associates Opens New York City Office
Menlo Park, CA-based venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates has opened a new office in New York City, according to VentureWire. NEA, which also has offices in Maryland, has invested in such New York companies as luxury apparel retailer Moda Operandi; Gilt Groupe, which offers discounts from retailers, restaurants, and other service providers; and Quidsi, … Continue reading “New Enterprise Associates Opens New York City Office”
Foursquare Clutches Its Crown as Location-Based Realm Evolves
Like mechanics building different cars around the same powertrain, makers of many location-based apps work with the platform provided by New York’s Foursquare. Some developers have meshed the check-in system with social connections, while others help movie fans discover the locations where their favorite scenes were shot, among other applications. In spite of its innovations, … Continue reading “Foursquare Clutches Its Crown as Location-Based Realm Evolves”
Stop the M&A Obsession: Biotech Needs More Companies to Stay Independent
Given what investment bankers did to the financial system just a couple years ago, it surprises me how many people still accept what they have to say at face value. But quite a few people in biotech are still lapping up all sorts of short-sighted, destructive advice from the financial powers that be. The latest … Continue reading “Stop the M&A Obsession: Biotech Needs More Companies to Stay Independent”
Seamless Receipts Receives New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f2d5e6b6-0184-4cbd-8541-f4b3d214ee7a&Preview=1 Date 7/18/2011 Company Name Seamless Receipts Mailing Address Undisclosed New York, NY 10022 Company Description The Seamless Receipts solution replaces paper receipts with branded eReceipts and allows you to personalize messages to your customers. With Seamless Receipts, you can collect more emails, drive offline customers online, and engage customers after they … Continue reading “Seamless Receipts Receives New Funding Round”
LetterMPress: An iPad App That Brings New Meaning to Movable Type
If you’re a follower of this column, you know that I write a lot about apps for the iPhone and iPad. It’s not just because I’m an Apple fan. It’s also because these revolutionary touchscreen-based devices are attracting some of today’s most creative developers, who are writing software unlike anything we’ve ever seen on other … Continue reading “LetterMPress: An iPad App That Brings New Meaning to Movable Type”
NeoStem Acquires Amorcyte
New York biopharmaceutical company NeoStem (NYSE: [[ticker:NBS]]) says it signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Amorcyte, an Allendale, NJ, biotech developing cell therapy treatments for cardiovascular disease. Amorcyte, a development stage company, has a product candidate, AMR-001, in the works for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction. NeoStem plans to commence a phase II clinical … Continue reading “NeoStem Acquires Amorcyte”
Social Contacts and Body Parts: A Rundown of This Month’s NY Tech Meetup
This month’s NY Tech Meetup, held on July 5, brought more than 750 spectators to the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts eager to see some of the latest ideas from local startups, including one group that came out of stealth that same day. Though the event was themed as the “Now Neighborhood,” the … Continue reading “Social Contacts and Body Parts: A Rundown of This Month’s NY Tech Meetup”
NYEBN Startup Pitch Series 7
Join the New York Entrepreneurs Business Network (NYEBN) for an evening of networking and startup pitches. The startups will get five minutes to present, and will receive feedback from a panel of VCs, including Brian Cohen of New York Angels, Justin Wohlstadter of Penny Black, and Somak Chattopadhyay, principal at GSA Venture Partners. Register here.
Seattle’s Ground Truth Merges with Boston’s Umber Systems to Become NYC-Based Mobile Intelligence Solutions
Consumers who gobble up smartphones and tablets are getting revolutionary tools for work and play. An ever-growing forest of app developers is targeting the devices as a juicy new business platform. But for mobile carriers and marketing pros, it’s all about the data—who’s consuming the bandwidth, what they’re doing online, and what else they might … Continue reading “Seattle’s Ground Truth Merges with Boston’s Umber Systems to Become NYC-Based Mobile Intelligence Solutions”
Institutes Of Medicine Pain Report May Aid Medical Device Makers
When the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its report on chronic pain late last month, medical device makers cheered. “A landmark report,” a Boston Scientific press release gushed. “Chronic pain is a major public health issue, and we applaud Congress [and] the IOM…for their thoughtful recommendations,” Medtronic senior vice president Tom Tefft said in a … Continue reading “Institutes Of Medicine Pain Report May Aid Medical Device Makers”
Second-Quarter VC Activity: Wish They All Could Be California Deals
Venture capital activity that surged during the first three months of 2011 continued to rise through the second quarter, as funding for Internet startups soared by 69 percent over the same quarter last year, according to CB Insights, a New York information and data services firm. In its quarterly venture capital activity report, CB Insights … Continue reading “Second-Quarter VC Activity: Wish They All Could Be California Deals”
Shelby.tv Receives $1,500,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a2f53e82-e622-4f62-9320-da74f5a5dc41&Preview=1 Date 7/14/2011 Company Name Shelby.tv Mailing Address Union Square New York, NY 10001 Company Description Shelby.tv is a startup that thinks you can have the best of both worlds — it creates a no-hassle stream of video content based on the links your friends have shared on Facebook and Twitter, resulting … Continue reading “Shelby.tv Receives $1,500,000 New Financing”
Sanofi Collaboration Drives Regeneron’s Transformation From R&D House to Commercial Player
As the stock market was closing yesterday, Regeneron (NASDAQ: [[ticker:REGN]]) announced long-awaited data from a mid-stage trial of a rheumatoid arthritis drug it is developing with French drug giant Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]). The companies said that patients taking the drug, an antibody called sarilumab (REGN88/SAR153191), along with the commonly used treatment methotrexate achieved a significant improvement … Continue reading “Sanofi Collaboration Drives Regeneron’s Transformation From R&D House to Commercial Player”
Spark Capital’s Todd Dagres on NY vs. Boston, What’s Beyond Social Media, and Why Tech Investing Is Better Than Making Movies
“The time to invest in social media was two years ago.” That was a quote—or the gist of it, anyway—from Todd Dagres, co-founder and general partner of Spark Capital, during the venture panel at XSITE, Xconomy’s innovation summit last month. Dagres ought to know, since Spark is an investor in both Twitter and Tumblr, the … Continue reading “Spark Capital’s Todd Dagres on NY vs. Boston, What’s Beyond Social Media, and Why Tech Investing Is Better Than Making Movies”
Outbrain Pushes Must-See Content, Attracts Venture Capitalist to its Ranks
News links in the social era get swapped much like baseball cards of old. Readers repost and Like topics they expect their friends to share an interest in. New York startup Outbrain is not out to become your Facebook buddy—but the company will steer you to stories it believes you want to see. Outbrain has … Continue reading “Outbrain Pushes Must-See Content, Attracts Venture Capitalist to its Ranks”
San Diego’s Assay Depot Creates Private e-Commerce Sites for Pfizer, Other Big Pharmas
Entrepreneurs are often advised to stay nimble during the startup years of a new venture, so they can quickly change direction as new business opportunities present themselves. But San Diego’s Assay Depot could qualify as a case study in agility. The venture that began five years ago as a clinical research organization (CRO) dramatically changed … Continue reading “San Diego’s Assay Depot Creates Private e-Commerce Sites for Pfizer, Other Big Pharmas”
Mojiva Raises $25 Million
New York-based Mojiva—the parent company of the mobile ad network, Mojiva, and the mobile ad serving platform, Mocean Mobile—raised $25 million in a Series C, according to a press release sent to Xconomy. The round was led by Shamrock Capital Advisors, with participation from previous investors Pelion Venture Partners and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.
There is a New Clinical Trial of a Novel Drug for African Sleeping Sickness. Who Cares?
I do. Millions of Africans do. Two of the world’s wealthiest people do. And against all odds, two U.S. biotech companies do too. The story starts in Africa where about 7,000 new cases of sleeping sickness happen each year. If diseases could be classified as cruel and unusual, sleeping sickness would be at the top … Continue reading “There is a New Clinical Trial of a Novel Drug for African Sleeping Sickness. Who Cares?”
LearnVest Receives $19,000,000 Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=eb578d69-339c-449f-a072-592e2494fdcd&Preview=1 Date 7/12/2011 Company Name LearnVest Mailing Address 1115 Broadway 12th Floor New York, NY 10010 Company Description LearnVest is the leading independent personal finance website targeting the 70 million women who control over 80% of all consumer spending in the United States. Since its debut as a TechCrunch50 Company in September … Continue reading “LearnVest Receives $19,000,000 Series B Financing”
MomentFeed Lands $1,200,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f5146e6b-2c58-4571-a8e3-e61e03a0ab9c&Preview=1 Date 7/12/2011 Company Name MomentFeed Mailing Address Undisclosed New York, NY 10001 Company Description MomentFeed is committed to developing “Location-Based Engagements” as a new marketing channel. We do this by making it efficient for large brands to utilize location-based services and technologies to achieve their marketing objectives. This efficiency is driven … Continue reading “MomentFeed Lands $1,200,000 New Financing”
Startups Making Do with Fewer Workers, Kauffman Study Shows
Has the air gone out of the American economy? That’s the troubling suggestion of a new study showing how, even before the current downturn, fewer new firms were being formed and those that did open for business were hiring fewer workers. Titled “Starting Smaller, Staying Smaller: America’s Slow Leak in Job Creation,” the report looks … Continue reading “Startups Making Do with Fewer Workers, Kauffman Study Shows”
Fewer Funds Raise More Capital as Venture Industry Contracts Around “Brand Name” VCs
The U.S. venture capital industry is raising more capital for fewer funds so far this year, continuing a contraction in the number of venture firms, according to a couple of rival surveys released today. While the $2.7 billion raised by VC firms during the second quarter marked a 28 percent increase over the $2.1 billion … Continue reading “Fewer Funds Raise More Capital as Venture Industry Contracts Around “Brand Name” VCs”
Recyclebank Offers Rewards for Green Actions
As crafty parents know, turning chores into games can motivate hard work. New York’s Recyclebank uses a similar approach with its incentive program to encourage recycling. Working with community and school organizations, as well as with individual members, Recyclebank offers rewards points to those who recycle empty bottles, cereal boxes, pet food cans, sandwich bags, … Continue reading “Recyclebank Offers Rewards for Green Actions”
The Missing Ingredient in Today’s Biotech: Guts
People in the biotech business (most, anyway) aren’t delusional. They know the odds are stacked against anybody who dares to develop a new drug. But even during the darkest days of recent economic history, December 2008, I heard a seasoned executive explain why the U.S. was, and would remain, the leading place in the world … Continue reading “The Missing Ingredient in Today’s Biotech: Guts”
MoJiva Receives $24,999,994 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3029b4e8-f568-42cb-a3dc-67d928ddb4b4&Preview=1 Date 7/11/2011 Company Name MoJiva Mailing Address 136 Baxter Street New York, NY 10013 Company Description Mo’Jiva is a young and dynamic startup company with a mission to mobilize and help monetize all mobile content across the globe. A powerful yet simple-to-use self-service Mobile Advertising Toolkit which makes it fantastically easy … Continue reading “MoJiva Receives $24,999,994 New Funding”
Will Apple’s iCloud Finally Kill Off iTunes and End the Scourge of Sync? My Week in Apple Hell
Xconomy has been around for four years now (our birthday was June 27) and I used the same white plastic MacBook that whole time. It was a great little machine—but despite a memory upgrade, two battery transplants, and a new keyboard (I’m pretty hard on keyboards), it just wasn’t pulling its weight anymore. The OS … Continue reading “Will Apple’s iCloud Finally Kill Off iTunes and End the Scourge of Sync? My Week in Apple Hell”
FashionStake Picks Up Moxsie
New York-based FashionStake, which aims to engage shoppers in picking the best new designers, has acquired Palo Alto-based e-tailer Moxsie, according to a press release sent to Xconomy by FashionStake CEO Daniel Gulati. The financial terms were not disclosed. Moxsie, which specializes in carrying fashions by independent designers, has 170,000 Twitter followers and was named … Continue reading “FashionStake Picks Up Moxsie”