San Diego-based Qualcomm has traditionally been known as the world’s biggest maker of mobile phone chips—with most of that technology coming out of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, the company’s “QCT” division. But Qualcomm crossed a kind of tipping point three years ago, when the software engineers at QCT began to outnumber the hardware engineers, according to … Continue reading “As Browsing Becomes the “Killer Use” in Mobile, Qualcomm Makes Web Technology a Priority”
Category: San Diego
Qualcomm Adds Femtocell Capabilities to Wi-Fi Products for Corporate Networks
In the five months since San Diego’s Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) completed its acquisition of San Jose, CA-based Atheros Communications, the two companies have been working to integrate their operations and combine their technologies. One example of how that’s playing out came into focus yesterday, with Qualcomm saying it has combined its proprietary Femtocell modem chipset … Continue reading “Qualcomm Adds Femtocell Capabilities to Wi-Fi Products for Corporate Networks”
VentiRx Concentrates Its Bet on Cancer, and Seattle
For its first five years, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals had an unusual setup in which it was based in two places, with a drug development team in Seattle, and the business and administrative operation in San Diego. Now it’s all being merged together in Seattle, as the company looks to conserve cash and concentrate its efforts on … Continue reading “VentiRx Concentrates Its Bet on Cancer, and Seattle”
Mobile Platform Wars: What’s Next?
This has been the month of the handset. First, Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, then HP’s effective exit from the handset business, and finally the sad news about Steve Jobs. These recent events kick off what I believe will be an accelerated pace of developments and re-shaping of the mobile device/platform ecosystem. Within the next … Continue reading “Mobile Platform Wars: What’s Next?”
Ebates Acquires AnyCoupons.com for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5b627d81-bbec-480d-81b0-4d4d8edc5bfe&Preview=1 Date 9/13/2011 Company Name AnyCoupons.com Mailing Address Undisclosed Los Angeles, CA 90040 Company Description AnyCoupons was started with one goal: To make it easier for you to shop online. We do this by listing the best merchants we can find and posting great deals from these merchants to help you save … Continue reading “Ebates Acquires AnyCoupons.com for Undisclosed Sum”
Don’t Ask for Introductions to Investors
Raising money is hard, and there’s no way to screw it up faster than going around asking, “Hey, could you introduce me to some investors?” It’s sort of like when, on the second day of school, a goofy freshman asked me if I could introduce him to any girls. Reason 1: Not every investor is … Continue reading “Don’t Ask for Introductions to Investors”
Qualcomm Acquires Video Technologies, State Senate Blocks Brown’s Job Package, Wildcat Expands Funding Round, & More San Diego BizTech News
The Labor Day holiday made for a short week of technology news, but we’ve labored to pull it all together for you here. —Underscoring the growing importance of mobile video, San Diego-based Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) said it’s acquiring video processing technologies and other assets from Integrated Device Technology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IDTI]]) of San Jose, CA, for … Continue reading “Qualcomm Acquires Video Technologies, State Senate Blocks Brown’s Job Package, Wildcat Expands Funding Round, & More San Diego BizTech News”
What Most Biotechies Are Missing on Twitter: A Huge Networking Opportunity
Twitter is coming to biotech, it’s only a matter of time. And this is a truly wonderful thing. This thought occurred to me as I sat in my Seattle office, watching a video from a panel discussion of eight people in Boston—journalists, executives, venture capitalists, a PR person—who were talking about how biotechies can get … Continue reading “What Most Biotechies Are Missing on Twitter: A Huge Networking Opportunity”
SABPA Medical Device and Diagnostics Forum
As China surpasses Japan as the world’s second-largest economy, and while China’s central government invests $193 billion to modernize China’s healthcare system, a tremendous market is emerging for medical devices and diagnostics. Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, and other industry behemoths from the U.S. and Europe are stepping up their presence in China to capitalize on … Continue reading “SABPA Medical Device and Diagnostics Forum”
Cleantech Corridor Legislative Conference
The CleanTech Corridor has organized this half-day event for San Diego’s cleantech leaders, elected officials, and others interested in encouraging the development of new sustainable technology companies and jobs in the region. Sessions are focused in three general areas: cleantech success and opportunites; best practices of other cleantech clusters, including infrastructure and resources; identifying legislative … Continue reading “Cleantech Corridor Legislative Conference”
Frontiers in Science and Technology: Using Alternative Splicing to Make Neurons from Stem Cells
UC San Diego Assistant Professor Gene Yeo will explain how new genomic tools his lab in UCSD’s Cellular and Molecular Medicine Department are being used to better understand neurodegenerative disease, and to help advance stem cell research. Yeo’s work has focused on how genes produce copies of pre-mRNA, which then undergo a modification process called … Continue reading “Frontiers in Science and Technology: Using Alternative Splicing to Make Neurons from Stem Cells”
Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa
The sixth annual Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa is a two-day conference aimed at bringing together the scientific, research, and business development communities in regenerative medicine to advance stem cell science into cures for debilitating diseases and injuries. The meeting features a nationally recognized scientific symposium attended by leading scientists and researchers. More information … Continue reading “Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa”
Connect with Connect in the Life Sciences
Entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers, investors, and professional service providers from San Diego’s most innovative industries are invited for a special “Connect with Connect” to be held at the UC San Diego Health System’s new Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center. This event will feature all things bio—mobile health, medical devices, diagnostics, genomics, pharmaceuticals, biofuels, biomimicry, and more. Online registration … Continue reading “Connect with Connect in the Life Sciences”
The Tech World Deserves Better Than TechCrunch
Back in April 2009, community leaders in Boston were in a tizzy over the prospect of a shutdown at the Boston Globe, where unions were resisting salary and pension cuts proposed by the paper’s owner, the New York Times Co. I didn’t quite understand the leaders’ concerns. As a longtime admirer of the Globe, I … Continue reading “The Tech World Deserves Better Than TechCrunch”
American Innovators Lose Big in Newly Passed Patent Bill
American innovation lost big again as the U.S. Senate passed “patent reform” and caved to big business lobbyists at the expense of true innovators in small companies and universities. Bottom line: America has dominated innovation in the world for 100 years based on our patent system and protection of risk-takers. Innovation is the one thing … Continue reading “American Innovators Lose Big in Newly Passed Patent Bill”
Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics Garners $5,962,255 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7fdd56ff-66df-41e6-92d4-3e89fe4ce0b1&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2011 Company Name Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics Mailing Address 1278 Glenneyre Laguna Beach, CA 92651 Company Description Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics, Inc. develops and manufactures products for use in electrophysiology based on microwave radiometry technology. Its products provide real-time feedback of energy delivered by catheters during cardiac ablation procedures. The company has … Continue reading “Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics Garners $5,962,255 New Financing Round”
Echoecho Receives Seed Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d8de25b1-898d-4689-816a-72873a18e630&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2011 Company Name Echoecho Mailing Address 2629 Manhattan Avenue Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 Company Description The Echo Chamber is where we share news about the echoecho app, stories about how people are using it, the trials and tribulations of developing on multiple platforms and our thoughts on location services. Website … Continue reading “Echoecho Receives Seed Financing”
Amira’s Windfall Sale, Ardea Advances Gout Drug, Gov. Brown’s Jobs Plan Wins Biotech Support, & More San Diego Life Science News
What was my favorite local life sciences news over the past week? It would have to be the announcement that Apricus Biosciences made before the three-day Labor Day holiday. In case you missed it, we’ve got it here. —Amira Pharmaceuticals CEO Bob Baltera talked with Luke about the fortuitous outcome of the company’s acquisition by … Continue reading “Amira’s Windfall Sale, Ardea Advances Gout Drug, Gov. Brown’s Jobs Plan Wins Biotech Support, & More San Diego Life Science News”
Xconomist of the Week: Five Questions with Biocom CEO Joe Panetta
Joe Panetta is a 30-year biotech veteran on both sides of the interface between business and government regulators. He’s spent close to half of that time as president and CEO of Biocom, the San Diego-based regional life sciences industry association. Panetta also happens to be the latest member of the local innovation community to join … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Five Questions with Biocom CEO Joe Panetta”
Wildcat Discovery Technologies Lands $1,850,087 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8af87fc2-0c48-4da6-9584-04e6d00ec9d6&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2011 Company Name Wildcat Discovery Technologies Mailing Address 6985 Flanders Drive San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description A start-up company focused on the discovery of advanced materials for clean energy technology applications, Wildcat Discovery Technologies, Inc. has developed high throughput synthesis and screening platforms for rapid evaluation and discovery of … Continue reading “Wildcat Discovery Technologies Lands $1,850,087 New Round”
Abrexa Pharmaceuticals Receives $500,793 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ea414ebd-917d-495e-a611-151b516e1825&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2011 Company Name Abrexa Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 12481 High Bluff Drive San Diego, CA 92130 Company Description Abrexa Pharmaceuticals is a stealth mode pharmaceutical development company. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Debt, Venture Equity Transaction Amount $500,793 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. $742.60 of total amount … Continue reading “Abrexa Pharmaceuticals Receives $500,793 New Funding”
Gaikai Lands New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d009291f-9534-4a8a-8aa5-619c0bade44a&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2011 Company Name Gaikai Mailing Address 65 Enterprise Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 Company Description Gaikai is a revolutionary new technology that lets you play any game online in your browser. In the age of the cloud, when all your documents, email, photos and videos are instantly reachable online, it seems … Continue reading “Gaikai Lands New Funding”
Program Retraining Workers for ‘Green’ Economy Graduates First 50 Students
As President Obama prepares to roll out a jobs program in a nationwide address tomorrow, the first 50 people to enroll in a six-month program to retrain workers for jobs in biofuels, sustainable biotechnology, and other cleantech industries are graduating today. The students began their technical training earlier this year with classes at UC San … Continue reading “Program Retraining Workers for ‘Green’ Economy Graduates First 50 Students”
Upping the Ante: San Diego Life Sciences Startups Raise More Cash
Several San Diego life sciences companies raised money in the past few weeks, based on Form D notifications that companies are required to file with government regulators within 15 days after the first sale of securities in such offerings. The filings do not list the investors, however. Here’s a quick rundown of what I found: … Continue reading “Upping the Ante: San Diego Life Sciences Startups Raise More Cash”
Amira Pharma on How it Beat the Odds, and Sold an Early Stage Drug to Bristol-Myers for $325M
Amira Pharmaceuticals CEO Bob Baltera has gotten lots of questions lately from his fellow biotech entrepreneurs, which all basically go something like this: “How did you do that?” Baltera has certainly had a lot to talk about since late July when Amira agreed to be acquired by New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) for $325 … Continue reading “Amira Pharma on How it Beat the Odds, and Sold an Early Stage Drug to Bristol-Myers for $325M”
(Mis)Understanding Drug Discovery: It’s Much Harder Than Rocket Science
Developing new medicines is an amazingly difficult undertaking. The research portion alone is daunting, and for those of us who have actually attempted it, humbling. A recent article reminded me just how little many people understand about the drug discovery process. The basic premise of “Pharma Needs an Innovation Intervention” was that pharma should change … Continue reading “(Mis)Understanding Drug Discovery: It’s Much Harder Than Rocket Science”
TrueCar Garners $200,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=337b654b-59ae-49b6-9265-84b1886af342&Preview=1 Date 9/7/2011 Company Name TrueCar Mailing Address 225 Santa Monica Blvd 6th Floor Santa Monica, CA 90401 Company Description TrueCar is the authority on new-car pricing. It aggregates multiple data sources to show car buyers and dealers how much people actually paid for a particular car in their geographic area. Website … Continue reading “TrueCar Garners $200,000,000 New Financing Round”
Mogreet Secures $2,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=58e0b6a6-3c2f-4ba1-bd7c-d6199a06e1a3&Preview=1 Date 9/7/2011 Company Name Mogreet Mailing Address 555 Rose Ave. Venice, CA 90291 Company Description The company provides text messaging, content and technology. Website http://www.mogreet.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. M&A Terms Venture Investor Undisclosed
Chill.com Receives $1,500,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ccf57dce-1c02-416a-9c98-063c70b3a4cf&Preview=1 Date 9/7/2011 Company Name Chill.com Mailing Address Undisclosed Los Angeles, CA 90210 Company Description The company social video technologies. Website http://www.chill.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The company will use the financing for hiring and building out the product as well as partnerships. M&A … Continue reading “Chill.com Receives $1,500,000 New Funding”
San Diego Life Sciences Leaders Show Support for Governor’s Tax Changes
San Diego’s life sciences and biomedical communities showed their support today for California Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax plan, which he has offered as a way to promote statewide job growth by closing a “toxic tax loophole” and offering other incentives for companies to add jobs. “The majority of Biocom’s members are smaller companies within Southern … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Leaders Show Support for Governor’s Tax Changes”
Sony Launches Its Tablet, Ortiva Looks to Expand Through Partnerships, Oberon Fuels Lands Deal with SoCalGas, & More San Diego BizTech News
Welcome back from the last long weekend of the summer. Here’s the definitive roundup of all the news you’ll need to start your week. —Sony (ticker: [[NYSE:SNE]]) officially launched its Tablet S, a 9.4-inch tablet computer that includes apps developed by San Diego’s Chumby Industries. The Japanese consumer electronics giant also made it easier for … Continue reading “Sony Launches Its Tablet, Ortiva Looks to Expand Through Partnerships, Oberon Fuels Lands Deal with SoCalGas, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Dramatic Changes in Hepatitis C Treatment Expected to Continue
Earlier this year the FDA approved telaprevir (Incivek) from Vertex Pharmaceuticals and boceprevir (Victrelis) from Merck for the treatment of hepatitis C. Both agents are protease inhibitors and represent the first approvals of direct acting antivirals for hepatitis C. Direct acting antivirals are a broad class of agents that act to block the growth of … Continue reading “Dramatic Changes in Hepatitis C Treatment Expected to Continue”
Fearless Fantasy Football, Uh, I Mean Biotech, Predictions for the Season Ahead
Football season is getting started this week, and I’m pumped. This is the time millions of people test their wits against friends (and strangers) in fantasy football. For fellow biotech nerds who aren’t familiar, this is a little bit like the stock market—you try to pick a diversified portfolio of pro football players who you … Continue reading “Fearless Fantasy Football, Uh, I Mean Biotech, Predictions for the Season Ahead”
Morphlabs Lands $5,000,000 Series C Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0f109b1e-4ee3-47a0-a230-427f17a0d02d&Preview=1 Date 9/6/2011 Company Name Morphlabs Mailing Address 2321 Rosecrans Ave. El Segundo, CA 90245 Company Description Morphlabs solutions enable enterprises and service providers to easily deploy automated and elastic computing infrastructures to support flexible and high performance applications and processes. Website http://www.mor.ph Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,000,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Morphlabs Lands $5,000,000 Series C Funding Round”
Labor Day Friday Bad News Poll Results: Government Jobs Report the Worst Biz News of the Weekend
Well, it turned out that perhaps I was too cynical. On Friday morning, I posted the Labor Day Bad News Poll, pointing out that companies often buried bad news after markets closed on a Friday—and asking readers to predict what type of bad news they expected, if any, on the extra slow Friday before Labor … Continue reading “Labor Day Friday Bad News Poll Results: Government Jobs Report the Worst Biz News of the Weekend”
San Diego Forum on Entrepreneurs and Incubators
The San Diego Software Industry Council has organized this forum and panel discussion. CommNexus CEO Rory Moore will discuss the San Diego trade group’s free incubator, EvoNexus; Founders Institute co-founder Jeanine Jacobson will explain what entrepreneurs can expect; and Bin Li of the Ansir Innovation Center will talk about their approach to incubating entrepreneurs. Registration … Continue reading “San Diego Forum on Entrepreneurs and Incubators”
Machine to Machine Services: The Carrier/Operator Perspective
The CommNexus M2M special interest group has invited representatives of Verizon, Sprint, and Vodfone to discuss where they see value in connected devices and M2M communications. The panel also will talk about the challenges and opportunities for service providers, examine operator strategies, future technologies and tactics, and how to get involved in the emerging M2M … Continue reading “Machine to Machine Services: The Carrier/Operator Perspective”
Life Sciences Employment Recruiting & Retention
Biocom and the Biotech Employment Development Coalition are hosting the second annual human resources conference. This strategic-level conference is dedicated to life science HR professionals, providing a unique opportunity to network and learn from executives and HR colleagues in your industry. The event will showcase success stories of local companies in a variety of HR-related … Continue reading “Life Sciences Employment Recruiting & Retention”
CTIA Enterprise & Applications Conference
The industry trade group once known as the Cellular Telecommunications Internet Association, and now known as CTIA—The Wireless Association, has rebranded its fall show to focus on enterprise and applications. The change reflects the evolution of the industry and growing use of mobile technology in business. The three-day event will demonstrate the increasing benefits of … Continue reading “CTIA Enterprise & Applications Conference”
The Startup Game Seen Through the Eyes of Two Generations of Venture Capitalists
William H. Draper III, a general partner at Draper Richards in San Francisco, is one of the first venture capitalists on the West Coast. His book, “The Startup Game,” takes a close look at how the relationship between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs is critical to enhancing the success of any economy. His son Tim is … Continue reading “The Startup Game Seen Through the Eyes of Two Generations of Venture Capitalists”
MyPad and the Coming Facebook Wars on the iPad
Why on earth isn’t there an official Facebook app for the iPad? The social networking giant has had an iPhone app ever since the launch of the iTunes App Store in 2008, and the company says that more than 250 million people access Facebook through mobile devices. Its engineers have tried to make the Facebook … Continue reading “MyPad and the Coming Facebook Wars on the iPad”
The Labor Day Friday Bad News Poll
Any savvy news hound knows that companies love to bury bad news by disclosing it after the close of markets on a Friday. The Friday before a long weekend like Labor Day is especially attractive. That got me wondering what bad news might be coming today. Is there another big CEO shuffle looming, a la … Continue reading “The Labor Day Friday Bad News Poll”
Wireless Healthcare & the FDA’s Draft Guidance on Mobile Medical Apps
San Diego’s Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance and Biocom have joined together to organize this “Town Hall” meeting on the FDA’s perspective on emerging technologies in wireless health. Scheduled speakers are Bakul Patel, FDA Policy Advisor for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, and Russell Fox of Mintz Levin’s Washington D.C. office. This event is free, … Continue reading “Wireless Healthcare & the FDA’s Draft Guidance on Mobile Medical Apps”
Michael Robertson, Serial San Diego Entrepreneur and Super Disruptor
San Diego’s Startup Circle hosts MP3.com founder Michael Robertson, who will discuss his newest venture, DAR.fm, an online service that records radio to play back on demand. It’s like a Web-based Tivo for radio. Just as a DVR (digital video recorder) captures TV broadcasts to play back when requested, DAR.fm’s digital audio recorder records music. … Continue reading “Michael Robertson, Serial San Diego Entrepreneur and Super Disruptor”
Building and Growing a Technology Company in San Diego
The Wilson Sonsini law firm in San Diego has helped arrange this presentation of three case histories by former Iomega CEO Jonathan Huberman, former DivX CEO Kevin Hell, and MaxLinear chairman and CEO Kishore Seendripu. They will highlight their insights and the challenges of building a technology company in San Diego. Among other topics, they … Continue reading “Building and Growing a Technology Company in San Diego”
Cleantech Economy: Riding The Wave of Green Jobs in San Diego
San Diego’s CleanTech Beach has organized this event to provide information about the status of the “green” economy, career opportunities, and cleantech startups. Speakers include Jacques Chirazi, cleantech program manager for the City of San Diego; Emily Young, Senior Director for environmental analysis and strategy at the San Diego Foundation; Arun Kumar, president of Global … Continue reading “Cleantech Economy: Riding The Wave of Green Jobs in San Diego”
Sony Integrates Its Online Entertainment Services in New Brand
In addition to announcing the launch of its new tablets yesterday in Berlin, Sony (NYSE: [[ticker:SNE]]) said it’s combining its Qriocity on-demand music and video services with the PlayStation Network under a new brand, the Sony Entertainment Network. The announcement underscores the importance Sony is placing on its online content—and how the company has endeavored … Continue reading “Sony Integrates Its Online Entertainment Services in New Brand”
Why Governments Don’t Get Startups–Or, Why There’s Only One Silicon Valley
Not understanding and agreeing what “entrepreneur” and “startup” mean can sink an entire country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. I’m getting ready to go overseas to teach, and I’ve spent the last week reviewing several countries’ ambitious attempts to kick-start entrepreneurship. After poring through stacks of reports, white papers and position papers, I’ve come to a couple of … Continue reading “Why Governments Don’t Get Startups–Or, Why There’s Only One Silicon Valley”
Apricus Bio Wins Third FDA Clearance, Aethlon to Test Blood Filtering Device, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
There wasn’t a lot of news out of San Diego’s life sciences community over the past week, unless you count the executives at public companies who plan to give presentations at various financial conferences in coming weeks. We’ve got the best of the rest, and our briefing begins now. —San Diego’s Apricus Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:APRI]]) … Continue reading “Apricus Bio Wins Third FDA Clearance, Aethlon to Test Blood Filtering Device, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
Xconomist of the Week: Bob Langer’s Advice for Turning Foundation and Government Money into Startup Success
Yesterday, Selecta Biosciences—one of many companies founded by MIT professor and entrepreneur Bob Langer—announced that it had received a subcontract from the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to develop a vaccine against malaria. The financial details weren’t released, but the initiative is part of a $76.5 million contract SAIC has with the National Institutes of … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Bob Langer’s Advice for Turning Foundation and Government Money into Startup Success”