We are enamored by our brains. Arguably the most complex system in the universe that is made up of over 80 billion neurons, the brain is a complex organ that can be a source of marvel and devastation, from human consciousness to neurodegenerative disease. The triumph of overcoming brain disease and injury is captivating: Neuroscientist … Continue reading “Lighting the Way to Better Understanding of the Brain”
Category: San Diego
Altura Medical Secures $6,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=446b7d8c-ebd1-4277-a4bd-f9d6d35bd08f&Preview=1 Date 4/10/2013 Company Name Altura Medical Mailing Address 1120 Calle Cordillera San Clemente, CA 92673 Company Description The company is developing medical devices and methods for treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). Website http://www.alturainc.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $6,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. … Continue reading “Altura Medical Secures $6,000,000 New Funding Round”
San Diego’s Innovation Establishment Faces Its Own Innovators’ Dilemma
Can San Diego re-invent itself as a capital of innovation? San Diego established itself as an innovation hub decades ago—understanding early on the importance of technology clusters in creating a critical mass of self-sustaining innovation. Today it is still renowned as a hotbed for hundreds of life sciences startups (We Are the Wildcatters) and as … Continue reading “San Diego’s Innovation Establishment Faces Its Own Innovators’ Dilemma”
Reverse Engineering the Mind with Brain Corp. CEO Eugene Izhikevich
The brain initiative that President Obama unfurled last week calls for spending over $100 million a year on neuroscience research over the next decade, including the development of innovative neurotechnologies to gain new insights into the way the brain works. As the Salk Institute neuroscientist Terrence Sejnowski put it, “This is the start of the … Continue reading “Reverse Engineering the Mind with Brain Corp. CEO Eugene Izhikevich”
Roche & Isis Join Forces on Antisense Drug for Huntington’s Disease
San Diego’s Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIS]]) and Roche, the Swiss Pharmaceuticals giant) have formed an alliance to develop new treatments for Huntington’s disease, according to a statement released today. Roche agreed to pay Isis $30 million upfront, with potential revenue from licensing and milestone payments totaling $362 million. In addition, Isis would get tiered royalties … Continue reading “Roche & Isis Join Forces on Antisense Drug for Huntington’s Disease”
The Publishing Industrial Complex is Dead. Long Live the Publishers!
When Fred Wilson wrote about Simplified Content Marketing, he got hundreds of comments, many of them saying essentially that this was nothing new. They are wrong. There’s something really dramatically new going on, but the shift is so massive, so tectonic, that it’s a little hard to even see while being in the middle of … Continue reading “The Publishing Industrial Complex is Dead. Long Live the Publishers!”
San Diego’s Ambrx Working with Astellas to Develop Anti-Cancer Drugs
San Diego-based Ambrx says it’s getting an upfront payment of $15 million under a deal with Japan’s Astellas to help develop an undisclosed number of targets for antibody drug conjugates in cancer. The collaboration could bring an additional $285 million in potential near and long-term research, development, regulatory and sales-based milestones. A spokeswoman for Ambrx … Continue reading “San Diego’s Ambrx Working with Astellas to Develop Anti-Cancer Drugs”
The Brain Map Shouldn’t Get $100M a Year. It Should Get Much More
The human brain, as Francis Collins recently said, “is the most complicated organ in the universe.” We only have vague ideas today of how it works at the level of genes, and neural circuits. Deeper understanding could help us unravel some of today’s great mysteries, from autism to Alzheimer’s to epilepsy. The sequencing of the … Continue reading “The Brain Map Shouldn’t Get $100M a Year. It Should Get Much More”
Eye on the Living Room: How Dropcam Makes Surveillance Feel Safe
Ten years ago this month, I edited a cover story for MIT’s Technology Review magazine called “Surveillance Nation.” Written by veteran science journalist Charles Mann and network security guru Dan Farmer, the story looked at the state of digital video circa 2003 and envisaged a near future where every home, business, and street would be … Continue reading “Eye on the Living Room: How Dropcam Makes Surveillance Feel Safe”
Eighth Annual Conference on Drug Discovery Chemistry
This is one of the few conferences for medicinal chemists working in pharma and biotech, and is focused on discovery and optimization challenges of small molecule drug candidates. New this year are Constrained Peptides and Macrocyclics and GPCR-Based Drug Design which represent areas of chemistry where evolving technologies are leading to renewed interest. They nicely … Continue reading “Eighth Annual Conference on Drug Discovery Chemistry”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Qualcomm, Amylin, Organovo & More
San Diego’s emerging agricultural biotech cluster has added three new companies, with DSM, ZeaKal, and Algenetix setting down roots here. I’ve got details about them below, along with the rest of the life sciences news over the past week. —A White House initiative to spend $1 billion over the next decade to map the brain … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Qualcomm, Amylin, Organovo & More”
Now is the Time to Push for a Robot-Assisted Surgery Revolution
As recently reported in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Bloomberg News, there is a controversy brewing over robotic surgery and whether it is superior to alternative surgical approaches. Robotic training practices have also been questioned and it has been debated whether surgeons are receiving enough supervised cases before flying solo. What … Continue reading “Now is the Time to Push for a Robot-Assisted Surgery Revolution”
Tealium Raises $15.6M from Tenaya, Battery, and Presidio Ventures
San Diego-based Tealium, which provides Web-based website tag management services, says today it has raised $15.6 million in a Series C round of venture funding. Tenaya Capital, with offices in Woodside, CA, and Wellesley, MA, led the round, which was joined by existing investor Battery Ventures and Presidio Ventures, the venture capital arm of Japan’s … Continue reading “Tealium Raises $15.6M from Tenaya, Battery, and Presidio Ventures”
Tech Coast Angels: Early Exits and Angel Investors
Angel investors typically invest in early stage companies and then focus on helping the companies grow, taking a passive attitude toward exits, especially in the early days. The strategy defined by “Early Exits” is to develop an exit plan prior to investing. Startup boards, in particular, should have a continuing focus on exiting early at … Continue reading “Tech Coast Angels: Early Exits and Angel Investors”
SDVG Breakfast: Biotech Financing is Not Dead, It’s Just Different
The San Diego Venture Group has invited Domain Associates partner Eckard Webber and Regulas Therapeutics CEO Kleanthis Xanthopoulos to discuss how life sciences financing has changed in recent years. Inquiring minds want to know: How does royalty-based financing work at an early stage company? Should companies submit their IPO filings confidentially under the new provisions … Continue reading “SDVG Breakfast: Biotech Financing is Not Dead, It’s Just Different”
San Diego Premiere: “VentureTown USA”
The San Diego Venture Group has arranged a special showing of the documentary by local filmmaker David Marchesani, which tells the story of Irwin Jacobs, Len Lavin, Ralph Rubio, Gene Ray and other San Diego entrepreneurs. Networking begins at 5:30 p.m., and the movie begins at 6:45 p.m. More information and online registration is here. … Continue reading “San Diego Premiere: “VentureTown USA””
With Brain Corp., Qualcomm Started Computing Like a Neuron Years Ago
When President Obama stepped before the media yesterday to unveil a $100 million initiative to revolutionize our understanding of the human mind, Qualcomm CTO Matt Grob was among the experts who gathered to watch in the East Room of the White House. The president said he had invited some of the smartest people in the … Continue reading “With Brain Corp., Qualcomm Started Computing Like a Neuron Years Ago”
Sequencing Seattle: An Idea for the Future of the Northwest
Let me make a modest proposal: Seattle should commit to sequencing and interpreting the genomes of every willing member of its population and should do it within the next five years. This program would elevate Seattle to the forefront of personalized genomic medicine, leverage many advantages unique to our area, and create a vibrant and … Continue reading “Sequencing Seattle: An Idea for the Future of the Northwest”
SEC’s New Social Media Guidance: Sensible, Fair, Inevitable
Give the SEC a lot of credit…the headline they chose for their press release yesterday about public companies using social media could not have been more clear: “SEC Says Social Media OK for Company Announcements if Investors Are Alerted.” With those words, and a full report here, the commission has blessed the inevitable modernization of corporate … Continue reading “SEC’s New Social Media Guidance: Sensible, Fair, Inevitable”
Algenetix Receives $2,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e749af16-e797-4602-a0ad-15b8fa31a701&Preview=1 Date 4/3/2013 Company Name Algenetix Mailing Address Undisclosed San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Algenetix is an industrial biotech company incubated from the Kapyon Ventures pipeline. The company develops single cell petrochemical alternatives using its proprietary PhotoSeed technology, which improves lipid productivity in industrial microbes. Website http://www.algenetix.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Algenetix Receives $2,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
OneHealth Solutions Secures $9,000,000 Series B Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=464161ea-418a-4a74-b420-1bc29a6aeee3&Preview=1 Date 4/3/2013 Company Name OneHealth Solutions Mailing Address 420 Stevens Ave Solana Beach, CA 92075 Company Description OneHealth is the first comprehensive online community specifically designed to help people change their behavior and lead healthier lives. Through Social Solutioning, a term that represents the next-generation capabilities of current social networking websites, … Continue reading “OneHealth Solutions Secures $9,000,000 Series B Funding Round”
Optimer Shares Soar Amid Reports of Buyout Interest
Reports that several big pharmas have shown interest in buying Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OPTR]]) sent shares of the drugmaker soaring about 20 percent today in Nasdaq trading that was more than four times the company’s recent average daily volume. By late afternoon, Optimer was trading near $14 a share, after gaining $2.31 a share in … Continue reading “Optimer Shares Soar Amid Reports of Buyout Interest”
Healthcare IT: Making Good Progress
The cost of healthcare administration is a hot issue in America. According to the Center for American progress, in the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $361 billion annually goes to cover administrative costs. That number is a 14 percent of total healthcare expenditure nationwide. Improvements in IT are expected to reduce these expenditures dramatically. The … Continue reading “Healthcare IT: Making Good Progress”
Qualcomm Ventures’ QPrize Competition Draws Broader VC Following
When Qualcomm Ventures unveiled the QPrize competition in 2009, Nagraj Kashyap told me a key factor in the decision to create an incentive prize was the evaporation of venture capital amid the liquidity crisis that followed the financial meltdown of 2008. Kashyap, who heads Qualcomm Ventures, says the need for startup funding is less acute … Continue reading “Qualcomm Ventures’ QPrize Competition Draws Broader VC Following”
ImThera Medical Lands $730,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=52dd6dd5-8eda-45ec-9283-0418f67b9264&Preview=1 Date 4/2/2013 Company Name ImThera Medical Mailing Address 12555 High Bluff Dr San Diego, CA 92130 Company Description ImThera Medical is a privately funded, early-stage company developing a novel, patent-pending, neurostimulation medical device for the treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Website http://www.imtheramedical.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $730,000 Transaction … Continue reading “ImThera Medical Lands $730,000 New Funding”
Proximal Data Obtains $2,000,000 Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0bb63b4b-c371-41df-b26b-9de6a4b7cf22&Preview=1 Date 4/2/2013 Company Name Proximal Data Mailing Address 9255 Towne Centre Drive San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Proximal Data’s founders have enjoyed decades of success in the enterprise storage business. We believe that there are three underlying trends driving the need for our fast virtual cache solution. Website http://www.proximaldata.com Transaction … Continue reading “Proximal Data Obtains $2,000,000 Series B Financing”
Divergent Ventures Leads $2M Round for San Diego’s Proximal Data
Proximal Data, a San Diego data storage specialist founded in 2011, says it has raised $2 million in a Series B round led by Seattle’s Divergent Ventures and existing investor Avalon Ventures of San Diego. The round brings total funding for the company to $5 million, according to a statement today. Proximal is developing software … Continue reading “Divergent Ventures Leads $2M Round for San Diego’s Proximal Data”
Gilead Sciences Building on HIV, Becoming Cancer Drug Force
Gilead Sciences has had what you could call a “high-class problem” the last few years. Biotech companies that are great at one thing eventually must prove they can be great at something else. And Gilead is showing signs that it’s finally on its way to becoming a truly diversified biotech industry leader, with a plan … Continue reading “Gilead Sciences Building on HIV, Becoming Cancer Drug Force”
Chewse Receives $1,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=44e0699b-d0a1-489e-bcef-b397e38ca624&Preview=1 Date 4/1/2013 Company Name Chewse Mailing Address 5419 Hollywood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90027 Company Description The company is developing a marketplace for groups to order food together. Website http://www.chewse.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The company will use the financing to expand its … Continue reading “Chewse Receives $1,000,000 New Round”
TherOx Receives $211,118 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b6b33f90-b63b-43bc-b006-f6f326747bf8&Preview=1 Date 4/1/2013 Company Name TherOx Mailing Address 17500 Cartwright Rd. Irvine, CA 92614 Company Description TherOx is a private, venture financed medical device company based in Irvine, California. Website http://www.therox.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $211,118 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. M&A Terms … Continue reading “TherOx Receives $211,118 New Financing”
To Do Or Not To Do? That Is the Question
Do you really need a to-do list? In the age of personal optimization, when books like The 4-Hour Workweek peddle the idea that you could be superhumanly productive if you just had the right tools, the question is almost blasphemous. Of course you need a to-do list. How else are you supposed to know what … Continue reading “To Do Or Not To Do? That Is the Question”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Halozyme, Acadia, Trovagene, & More
A number of San Diego’s public life sciences companies were on the move over the past week. Here’s our briefing of the latest developments. —Shares of San Diego’s Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HALO]]) spiked more than 30 percent last Friday, after partner Baxter (NYSE: [[ticker:BAX]]) said European regulators recommended approving HyQ, their jointly developed drug for … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Halozyme, Acadia, Trovagene, & More”
ENCODE and the Truth
Constant facts of all scientific endeavors – Nature always wins. The truth will come out. An absorbing article last month in The Scientist called The A@#hole Scientist wondered if scientists could be a-holes, as it called them. Of course they can. Simple logic. Scientists are human and humans can be a-holes. QED. According to the … Continue reading “ENCODE and the Truth”
Playdek Lands $3,800,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6dd9466c-bc9f-4e8a-ba47-4dad0b026970&Preview=1 Date 3/29/2013 Company Name Playdek Mailing Address 2382 Faraday Avenue Carlsbad, CA 92008 Company Description Located in Carlsbad, CA, Playdek is comprised of veteran console video game developers, with a passion for tabletop gaming. Playdek is a premier developer, publisher and platform for the world’s best tabletop gaming. Website http://www.playdekgames.com Transaction … Continue reading “Playdek Lands $3,800,000 Series A Funding Round”
Boulder and Denver, a Mile High Sibling Rivalry
Dear Xconomy, Welcome to Colorado. We’re glad to have you, but there’s a… thing you should know about. From the outside, the startup environment in Colorado just seems like one big funky but remarkably effective family of startup goodness. But, like any family, we have our internecine feuds. We are speaking, of course, about the … Continue reading “Boulder and Denver, a Mile High Sibling Rivalry”
Announcing Xconomy Boulder/Denver—7th Region in Our Network
Thank you Boulder and Denver! We are extremely pleased to announce today the launch of Xconomy Boulder/Denver, the seventh bureau in our growing network of news sites covering the business of technology in key innovation clusters around the United States. We couldn’t have done it without the incredible support of the entrepreneurial and innovation communities … Continue reading “Announcing Xconomy Boulder/Denver—7th Region in Our Network”
Still Waiting for the Ships to Come in at Third Rock Ventures
Third Rock Ventures was in the enviable position of turning away some institutional investors when the life sciences venture firm recently closed on $516 million for its third venture fund. So first let me say, “Congratulations!” to team Third Rock. Mark Levin has demonstrated at Third Rock and as the chairman and CEO of Cambridge, … Continue reading “Still Waiting for the Ships to Come in at Third Rock Ventures”
MindTouch Expands from Web Content Management to Product Support
When I first profiled MindTouch in 2009, the San Diego startup was focused on its Web-based collaboration software, created to enable a business or engineering team to easily share documents, information, images, and other information. MindTouch faced major competition against Microsoft Sharepoint, Oracle, and SAP, but CEO Aaron Fulkerson saw a potential advantage in developing … Continue reading “MindTouch Expands from Web Content Management to Product Support”
Women and Startups
The news from PyCon rekindles a long-running discussion about the lack of women in tech startups. The description of the roomful of men, cracking fraternity-scale jokes without regard for the few women in the room brings back plenty of memories of other rooms full of men in my twenty years of tech startup life. Far … Continue reading “Women and Startups”
Bitium Obtains $2,368,855 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=efc03a2a-bd7c-43dd-8262-00abd02daf0d&Preview=1 Date 3/28/2013 Company Name Bitium Mailing Address 1515 Abbot Kinney Blvd Venice, CA 90291 Company Description Manage all of your apps in one place with Bitium. Use Bitium with collaboration tools, social networks, CRM, accounting programs,bug trackers, customer service dashboards and other web-based software. Website http://www.bitium.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Bitium Obtains $2,368,855 New Financing Round”
MediaShift Receives $6,944,350 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=656ad372-ef9e-4daa-9605-48cf3edb4bd3&Preview=1 Date 3/28/2013 Company Name MediaShift Mailing Address 600 North Brand Blvd Glendale, CA 91203 Company Description We are marketers & technologists — a powerful combination that’s changing the landscape for advertisers, publishers, & Internet network providers. MediaShift is a digital advertising technology company that monetizes private Internet networks while offering advertisers … Continue reading “MediaShift Receives $6,944,350 New Funding”
ZeaKal Receives $3,800,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e2242169-d811-417b-9de2-cd6d7c5c6364&Preview=1 Date 3/28/2013 Company Name ZeaKal Mailing Address Undisclosed San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description ZeaKal is a plant science company developed from the incubation pipeline of Kapyon Ventures. The company’s HME technology has been shown to vastly increase the yield and oil content of multiple crops – meaningfully impacting the demand … Continue reading “ZeaKal Receives $3,800,000 New Financing Round”
Amazon.com Acquires Goodreads for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bcd80a13-0d93-4298-bdb4-f35796065755&Preview=1 Date 3/28/2013 Company Name Goodreads Mailing Address 1444 9th Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 Company Description Goodreads is the largest social network for readers in the world. We have more than 2,900,000 members who have added more than 79,000,000 books to their shelves. A place for casual readers and bona-fide bookworms … Continue reading “Amazon.com Acquires Goodreads for Undisclosed Sum”
The Inevitability of Archiving Social Networking Data
Making A Case For Email Archiving In 1985 In 1985, I was part of a team at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) that was doing some very radical things, including deploying Internet e-mail to the entire campus. Some people were quite skeptical about the whole enterprise, fearing in particular that letting “the masses” loose on the … Continue reading “The Inevitability of Archiving Social Networking Data”
From San Diego Deal, DSM Plans Industrial Biotechnology Expansion
Royal DSM, the Dutch multinational industrial conglomerate, officially opened a new office in San Diego yesterday, exactly one year after acquiring food enzymes and oilseed processing assets from San Diego-based Verenium in a deal valued at $37 million. While the DSM outpost in Southern California has only a dozen employees, including eight from Verenium, it … Continue reading “From San Diego Deal, DSM Plans Industrial Biotechnology Expansion”
Kleiner & Sequoia’s Fund Returns Could be Exposed in CA Lawsuit
As venture capital firms feel the squeeze from new competitors, unsatisfied investors, and stagnant markets, two of the industry’s biggest names could finally have their performance data revealed to the public. A California lawsuit from the news organization Reuters is threatening to expose the performance records of Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers—Silicon … Continue reading “Kleiner & Sequoia’s Fund Returns Could be Exposed in CA Lawsuit”
eSolar Lands $12,815,530 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=081e6d92-f9b7-4516-8e1e-5858b75a335b&Preview=1 Date 3/27/2013 Company Name eSolar Mailing Address 3355 W. Empire Ave. Burbank, CA 91504 Company Description eSolar is an Idealab company founded by CEO Asif Ansari in 2007 to develop, construct and deploy modular, scalable solar thermal power plants. Website http://www.esolar.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $12,815,530 Transaction Round Undisclosed … Continue reading “eSolar Lands $12,815,530 New Round”
BlueCava Receives $625,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f8d83eb3-3cd2-4764-97e6-61c73a321c5d&Preview=1 Date 3/27/2013 Company Name BlueCava Mailing Address 131 Innovation Drive Irvine, CA 92617 Company Description The company has created the BlueCava Device Identification Platform that helps identify any device that is connected to the Internet. Website http://www.BlueCava.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $625,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were … Continue reading “BlueCava Receives $625,000 New Financing”
EmiSense Technologies Secures $6,500,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e09c55a5-0a90-46ff-9326-95aea04b507a&Preview=1 Date 3/27/2013 Company Name EmiSense Technologies Mailing Address 999 Corporate Dr Ladera Ranch, CA 92694 Company Description EmiSense Technologies develops smart sensors for clean emissions. Clean combustion is the most impactful form of near-term (next decade) clean technology. EmiSense products are critical enablers for next generation, high efficiency engines and generators– … Continue reading “EmiSense Technologies Secures $6,500,000 New Funding Round”
Standing Up for ‘Lean In:’ What’s Wrong with Managing Your Career?
Sheryl Sandberg got it right. In Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, Facebook’s COO offers a compelling view on how women managers can empower themselves in today’s workplace. Sandberg does not complain about the “glass ceiling” or “the old boys club.” Instead she gives straightforward advice on how to focus on things … Continue reading “Standing Up for ‘Lean In:’ What’s Wrong with Managing Your Career?”