Attention all mobile app developers: I’m about to give you an idea for a great new consumer app. I think it’s something that would appeal to any adventurous, creative, curious person—travelers, outdoorsmen, students, scrapbookers, artists, and the like. I think this is the moment to build it, since it’s something that wouldn’t have been possible … Continue reading ““Leonardo’s Notebook”—My Killer App for the iPad 2″
Category: San Diego
CBS Acquires Clicker for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d2de7908-9ec9-40bc-bc8b-e78fa5d1360c&Preview=1 Date 3/4/2011 Company Name Clicker Mailing Address 6824 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90038 Company Description Clicker is the complete guide to Internet Television. Our mission is to make it simple for you to find the right show, right now. Website http://www.clicker.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds … Continue reading “CBS Acquires Clicker for Undisclosed Sum”
Teradata Combines Aster Data with its San Diego Labs in $263M Deal
Ohio-based Teradata (NYSE: [[ticker:TDC]]) says it’s buying Aster Data Systems of San Carlos, CA, in a $263 million deal that combines Aster Data’s breakthrough technology in a hot area of massively parallel processing architecture with its conventional relational database technology. Aster Data will remain in Silicon Valley, and will be folded into Teradata Labs, the … Continue reading “Teradata Combines Aster Data with its San Diego Labs in $263M Deal”
Verenium Returning to San Diego, Entra Health Systems Expands Use of Wireless Blood Sugar Test, Genomatica Raises $45M, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
The news was short and sweet out of San Diego’s life sciences sector over the past week, but it was still news you can use. My wrap-up is here. —I profiled Entra Health Systems, a San Diego-based mobile health technology startup founded in 2007. In the company’s first two years, co-founders Richard Strobridge, John Hendel, … Continue reading “Verenium Returning to San Diego, Entra Health Systems Expands Use of Wireless Blood Sugar Test, Genomatica Raises $45M, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
Amylin, Lilly, Alkermes Diabetes Drug Doesn’t Match Rival in Head-to-Head Study
Three companies involved in the development of a once-weekly injection of the Type 2 diabetes drug exenatide reported today that the treatment did not provide superior efficacy over an existing treatment in a head-to-head study. Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:AMLN]]) of San Diego, Waltham, MA-based Alkermes (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALKS]]), and Indianapolis drugmaker Eli Lilly (NYSE:[[ticker:LLY]]) said that the treatment, … Continue reading “Amylin, Lilly, Alkermes Diabetes Drug Doesn’t Match Rival in Head-to-Head Study”
After Assimilating Symyx, San Diego’s Accelrys Sets Ambitious Course for Scientific Software
Eight months after San Diego’s Accelrys (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACCL]]) completed its merger with Santa Clara, CA-based Symyx Technologies, the scientific software developer is today lifting the curtain on a new strategy based on the company’s broader and deeper resources. The merger, valued last year at about $175 million, combined Accelrys’ flagship software for simulating and modeling … Continue reading “After Assimilating Symyx, San Diego’s Accelrys Sets Ambitious Course for Scientific Software”
EDSA Rebrands Itself ‘Power Analytics’
San Diego-based EDSA, which specializes in software analytics for complex electrical power systems, is changing its name to Power Analytics Corp. In a statement from the company, chairman and CEO Mark Acolese says, “the name Power Analytics reflects the enormous technological revolution that has occurred with the advent of our Paladin Live and Paladin SmartGrid … Continue reading “EDSA Rebrands Itself ‘Power Analytics’”
Experience Helped San Diego’s EHS Get First FDA-Approved Wireless Blood Glucose Meter
“I describe Entra Health Systems mainly as a medical device company,” CEO Richard Strobridge said when we met recently at his company’s San Diego headquarters. “We’re under the jurisdiction of the FDA, and we have to have all kinds of certifications and qualifications [as a medical device company.] But a lot of our expertise, and … Continue reading “Experience Helped San Diego’s EHS Get First FDA-Approved Wireless Blood Glucose Meter”
San Diego’s Bump.com Ready to Hit the Road With Auto-Based Social Networking
With less than two weeks to go before one of the big tech meetings of the year, the countdown has begun at the Bump network’s headquarters in the scenic San Diego coastal community of La Jolla. After unveiling a beta version of its Bump.com social network technology at the Demo Fall conference almost six months … Continue reading “San Diego’s Bump.com Ready to Hit the Road With Auto-Based Social Networking”
Genomatica Raises $45M as it Moves to Higher Production Volumes
San Diego-based Genomatica has raised $45 million in a Series C round of venture funding that will allow the company to scale up production of its sustainable chemical technology to 15,000 liters a day, according to an item today in VentureWire. Genomatica said last summer it had successfully scaled up technology that uses genetically engineered … Continue reading “Genomatica Raises $45M as it Moves to Higher Production Volumes”
Genomatica Lands $45,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2c35e8be-45f8-44d0-8337-7595f17b81fb&Preview=1 Date 3/1/2011 Company Name Genomatica Mailing Address 10520 Wateridge Circle San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Genomatica is a San Diego-based chemical company that, through biotechnology, develops and commercializes innovative bio-manufacturing processes for the sustainable production of high value chemical products. Website http://www.genomatica.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $45,000,000 Transaction … Continue reading “Genomatica Lands $45,000,000 New Funding”
Mad Catz Gets V Max Assets
Mad Catz Interactive (AMEX: [[ticker:MCZ]]), a San Diego maker of video game accessories and related equipment, says it purchased flight simulation software and related assets from privately owned V Max Simulation. The deal is valued at a total of $638,000 in cash and shares of Mad Catz stock, which does not include a commission to … Continue reading “Mad Catz Gets V Max Assets”
EcoATM Unveils Production-Ready Kiosk
San Diego-based EcoATM unveiled its latest-generation kiosk today at the Demo Spring 2011 conference in Palm Desert. The company, which recently raised $14.4 million to begin manufacturing its electronics-recycling kiosk, says its new, fully automated “eCycling Station” includes an ATM-like cash dispenser for immediate payment of recycled devices.
Verenium Names New CEO as it Consolidates in San Diego
Verenium (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRNM]]), the biofuels developer that sold its cellulosic biofuels business to BP last summer, says CEO Carlos Riva plans to retire at the end of March, as the Cambridge, MA-based company consolidates its operations in San Diego. In a statement today, Verenium says Executive VP and CFO James Levine will succeed Riva as … Continue reading “Verenium Names New CEO as it Consolidates in San Diego”
Enterproid Wins QPrize
San Diego Wireless Giant Qualcomm (Nasdaq: [[ticker:QCOM]]) today named New York-based Enterproid as the winner of its second Qualcomm Ventures QPrize international venture investment competition. Enterproid, which won $100,000 as a finalist, has been developing Android-based technology to enable professionals to consolidate their work and personal life onto a single enterprise-grade device. As the QPrize … Continue reading “Enterproid Wins QPrize”
Software Company Valuations Are Rising, Michael Robertson Launches DAR.fm, & More San Diego BizTech News
What started as a quiet week for San Diego technology news got busy at the end. We wrapped it all up for you here. —San Diego’s Software Equity Group released its annual software industry equity report, showing the annual median valuation of 161 companies in its main index at the highest valuation since 2007—2.3 times … Continue reading “Software Company Valuations Are Rising, Michael Robertson Launches DAR.fm, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Big Pharma’s Hardball Tactics Won’t Kill Biotech, But They Could Kill Off Some Pharmas
Few people in biotech have the guts to stir the pot the way Kevin Kinsella did in an interview with Xconomy’s Bruce Bigelow earlier this month. Kinsella, a venture capitalist with a 30-year track record of biotech investing, delivered a blistering analysis of what he sees as the pharmaceutical industry’s bad-faith negotiating habits, predatory behavior, … Continue reading “Big Pharma’s Hardball Tactics Won’t Kill Biotech, But They Could Kill Off Some Pharmas”
Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future-Part Two
To me, one thing seems pretty clear: the changes wrought over the coming 10 years by mobile devices are going to be even more far-reaching than those we’ve seen over the past 20 years from desktop and laptop PCs. The shifts in the ways we communicate, learn, shop, travel, and do business might not be … Continue reading “Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future-Part Two”
San Diego’s Software Equity Group Sees Software M&A Deals Ramping Up in 2011
The way some people talk, the annual report from the Software Equity Group is the software industry’s equivalent to “The Baseball Abstract,” the wildly popular report on hitting, pitching, and fielding statistics that Bill James began publishing in Kansas 34 years ago. “Nobody else comes close to capturing the trends and transactions in the software … Continue reading “San Diego’s Software Equity Group Sees Software M&A Deals Ramping Up in 2011”
Avalon’s Kinsella Upbraids Big Pharma, Scripps Names Marletta to Succeed Lerner, CalciMedica Scores $6M, & More San Diego Life Science News
We had some big names and big news out of San Diego’s life sciences community over the past week. Our roundup is here. —Avalon Ventures founder Kevin Kinsella unleashed a scathing critique of some shortsighted and mercenary business tactics he says he’s encountered in dealing with pharmaceutical companies, which have him questioning the longtime partnership … Continue reading “Avalon’s Kinsella Upbraids Big Pharma, Scripps Names Marletta to Succeed Lerner, CalciMedica Scores $6M, & More San Diego Life Science News”
Biomatrica Secures New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2124678e-3f7f-43ee-9f0c-56e7fac9b0c6&Preview=1 Date 2/24/2011 Company Name Biomatrica Mailing Address 5627 Oberlin Dr. San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Biomatrica is a San Diego-based biostability company that provides innovative technologies for stabilizing, processing, storing and shipping biological samples at room temperature. Website http://www.biomatrica.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds … Continue reading “Biomatrica Secures New Funding”
GOGII Garners $15,000,000 Series C Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3bf67440-1b21-4e85-98f3-78a3adff3d67&Preview=1 Date 2/24/2011 Company Name GOGII Mailing Address 13160 Mindanao Way Marina del Rey, CA 90292 Company Description GOGII is taking text messaging to the next level. Let us explain. We all know how to send a text. Easy. Been there. Love that. But sometimes you want to interact with more than … Continue reading “GOGII Garners $15,000,000 Series C Financing”
Mobile World Congress 2011 Wrap-up: Competition Intensifies for Operators
Last week I attended Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, along with 60,000 other attendees—a new record according to the GSM Association. While mobile is obviously hot, the consensus was that there was a dearth of big, industry-moving announcements, partly because of all the news at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, but also … Continue reading “Mobile World Congress 2011 Wrap-up: Competition Intensifies for Operators”
Google Ventures Leads $20M Round for Transphorm to Battle “Hidden Tax” in Power Conversion
There’s a hidden tax when you pay your electricity bill, says Umesh Mishra, a professor in the college of engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It’s the energy lost when power is converted from the alternating current coming out of a wall socket to the direct current needed by computers, TVs, and other … Continue reading “Google Ventures Leads $20M Round for Transphorm to Battle “Hidden Tax” in Power Conversion”
Tech Coast Angels’ Deals Increased, Dollars Decreased, in 2010
Adding up the deals and dollars invested during 2010, Southern California’s Tech Coast Angels says it funded 31 startups last year, nearly 30 percent more than the 24 deals the network of individual investors did in 2009. But the amount of total invested capital the group raised for startups dropped by more than a third, … Continue reading “Tech Coast Angels’ Deals Increased, Dollars Decreased, in 2010”
Vertex Nails Pivotal Study for Cystic Fibrosis, Racing Toward Market With Second Drug
Vertex Pharmaceuticals has been moving in this direction for a long time, but it can now say with confidence that it is on its way to shaking up the standard of care for not just one disease this year, but two. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]), which has operations in San Diego, is … Continue reading “Vertex Nails Pivotal Study for Cystic Fibrosis, Racing Toward Market With Second Drug”
Health Care VC Thomas, McNerney Moving San Francisco Office to San Diego
Thomas, McNerney and Partners plans to relocate its West Coast office from San Francisco to San Diego later this year, according to partner Pratik Shah, who left San Diego-based Kalypsys in 2004 to join the health care venture capital firm. The timing depends on finding the right office space, Shah told me by telephone this … Continue reading “Health Care VC Thomas, McNerney Moving San Francisco Office to San Diego”
Ecotality Begins Charger Installations
San Francisco-based Ecotality (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ECTY]]) took the first step in creating an infrastructure for charging electric vehicles today, installing its Blink Level 2 residential charging stations at homes in Los Angeles and the San Diego area. The company says it plans to do similar installations at homes in Portland, OR, tomorrow; in Seattle, WA, Thursday; … Continue reading “Ecotality Begins Charger Installations”
Otonomy Drug Could Have Broader Potential Application for Hearing Loss
Would Pete Townshend get an injection into his inner ears to save his hearing? After at least 50 years in Rock n’ Roll, it’s probably too late to save the legendary songwriter’s hearing, but San Diego-based Otonomy today announced data that suggests its lead drug candidate could help people recover from hearing loss caused by … Continue reading “Otonomy Drug Could Have Broader Potential Application for Hearing Loss”
Fate CEO Exits for New Co
Fate Therapeutics, the San Diego-based developer of stem cell therapies, said today that CEO Paul Grayson is leaving Fate to form a new company. The new company wasn’t named in today’s release, and Fate didn’t say who will replace Grayson, although Fate’s website still lists John Mendlein as executive chairman. Grayson, who was previously a … Continue reading “Fate CEO Exits for New Co”
The Active Network Files for IPO, EcoATM Banks $14M, Qualcomm Issues Augmented Reality Awards, & More San Diego BizTech News
Capital isn’t exactly flowing freely, but it’s flowing better now than it was two years ago, if last week’s San Diego tech deals are any guide. We’ve got that wrapped up for you here, along with the rest of the biztech report. —San Diego-based EcoATM, a startup developing automated kiosks for recycling cell phones and … Continue reading “The Active Network Files for IPO, EcoATM Banks $14M, Qualcomm Issues Augmented Reality Awards, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Biocom Follows the Money, Revamps Local Confab to Lure Big Pharma VIPs To San Diego
San Diego’s leading life sciences trade association spent the last five years putting together a fall confab that recruited venture capitalists and institutional investors to look at the most innovative life sciences companies in town. This year, Biocom is taking a different tack, seeking to play the role of matchmaker not so much with VCs, … Continue reading “Biocom Follows the Money, Revamps Local Confab to Lure Big Pharma VIPs To San Diego”
A Focus on Energy Efficiency Will Help Keep The U.S. Competitive, and Other Cleantech Industry Predictions for 2011
Foreign competition is rising, and U.S. consumers haven’t departed from their penny-pinching mentality of The Great Recession, and behind this double whammy the cleantech industry is feeling the squeeze. That’s one of the big impressions I came away with after polling a crop of cleantech experts from Xconomy’s network of advisors and op-ed contributors for … Continue reading “A Focus on Energy Efficiency Will Help Keep The U.S. Competitive, and Other Cleantech Industry Predictions for 2011”
CapLinked Receives $900,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=977e54e1-68ad-4e04-af3b-2754cec060e2&Preview=1 Date 2/22/2011 Company Name CapLinked Mailing Address 1500 Rosecrans Ave. Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 Company Description The company operates an online platform for private company investments. Website http://www.caplinked.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $900,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes We plan to use the proceeds from this financing round to … Continue reading “CapLinked Receives $900,000 New Financing”
CommNexus Industry Leaders Series Presents Barry Sandrew of Legend 3D
Sandrew is internationally recognized as a digital imaging expert with more than 14 VFX patents and 23 years of feature film and TV accomplishments. Sandrew invented the first all-digital process for colorization in 1986 and the reinvented process in 2001 at Legend3. In 2005, Sandrew advanced this technology to develop an innovative approach to adapt … Continue reading “CommNexus Industry Leaders Series Presents Barry Sandrew of Legend 3D”
Recruit at UCSD’s Rady School of Management
The Recruit@Rady Career & Internship Fair provides an opportunity to meet and talk with graduating MBAs, and to explain your company and your hiring needs. The $200 fee includes parking, light dinner, and MBA resume books. More information available here, and online registration is here.
Scripps Names UC Berkeley Chemist Marletta as New President
The Scripps Research Institute, one of San Diego’s leading nonprofit research institutions, has officially named UC Berkeley chemistry researcher Michael Marletta as its new incoming president. Marletta, 60, will join the Scripps faculty on July 1, and formally take over from Richard Lerner as president on Jan. 1, 2012, Scripps said yesterday in a statement. … Continue reading “Scripps Names UC Berkeley Chemist Marletta as New President”
Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future—Part One
I always smile to think that we launched Xconomy on June 27, 2007, just two days before the original iPhone hit Apple stores in the U.S. That was a transformative moment in consumer information technology—as important as the launch of the Macintosh in 1984, Windows 3.0 in 1990, or Netscape in 1995. Thanks to Apple, … Continue reading “Seven Questions That Will Decide Mobile’s Future—Part One”
Nordstrom Acquires HauteLook for $270,000,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6fbe7178-788d-40e0-8ddb-0ccb40027d51&Preview=1 Date 2/18/2011 Company Name HauteLook Mailing Address 1013 S. Los Angeles St Los Angeles, CA 90015 Company Description HauteLook is an exclusive private shopping club which offers its members branded goods at 40-75% off of retail prices. HauteLook operates a marketplace in which premium fashion & lifestyle brands host their own … Continue reading “Nordstrom Acquires HauteLook for $270,000,000”
Qualcomm’s Uplinq: Where Mobile Links Up
Qualcomm bills its Uplinq conference as the only wireless event that brings together the ecosystem of developers and publishers, device makers, network operators, OS and technology providers to build business around high-quality, compelling mobile apps and data services. Uplinq 2010 effectively served as the annual Brew conference, while also addressing the interests of the wireless … Continue reading “Qualcomm’s Uplinq: Where Mobile Links Up”
How Oceans and Weather Affect Business and Infrastructure
As part of its on-going seminar series, the San Diego Maritime Alliance, is planning a one day seminar that focuses on the effects that oceans and weather can have on business and infrastructure. The all-day session will focus on leading-edge hardware, software, and techniques used to monitor, understand, and predict environmental and ecological changes that … Continue reading “How Oceans and Weather Affect Business and Infrastructure”
Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference
Thousands from around the world-from entrepreneurs and leading tech industry executives to academics and persons with disabilities-will gather to explore ways technology can help those with disabilities. The conference, organized by California State University Northridge, examines all aspects of technology and disability and features a faculty of internationally recognized speakers, two days of pre-conference workshops, … Continue reading “Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference”
Data-Driven Health Care Surges into the Fast Lane
Biocom has organized its breakfast meeting in March around the question, “How does a company use their own data, and data collected elsewhere, to help business thrive?” Several insightful companies have developed products that help synchronize, analyze and utilize data to create vast improvements in health care, as well as R&D. Many of these information … Continue reading “Data-Driven Health Care Surges into the Fast Lane”
Gene Ray Inducted into Entrepreneur Hall of Fame
Gene Ray, the founding CEO of San Diego’s Titan Corp. (now part of L3 Communications) and former top executive at SAIC will be the ninth inductee to the Connect Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. Previous inductees are Irwin Jacobs, Walter Zable, Ivor Royston, William Rastetter, J. Robert Beyster, Neal and Linden Blue, and Peter Preuss. Ray … Continue reading “Gene Ray Inducted into Entrepreneur Hall of Fame”
Going Public Without an IPO: Examples from the Biotech Industry
Valuations that made sense in 2000 have been significantly reduced, forcing many “cram-down” financings that are painful for investors and management. Business models can and need to be as adept, flexible, and creative as the science that drives our industry. There are alternative ways to go public that do not involve traditional capital infusions or … Continue reading “Going Public Without an IPO: Examples from the Biotech Industry”
The Power of Angel Investing
This full-day seminar provides an overview of the angel investing process including the details of finding, evaluating, and structuring deals. It will also go into depth on how to develop angel-entrepreneur relationships that lead to success. This highly interactive program provides attendees with practical information on best practices in angel investing through a balance of … Continue reading “The Power of Angel Investing”
Hackaway Friday at Ansir Innovation Center
The Ansir Innovation Center is hosting “Hackaway Friday”, an all-day collaborative co-working event that’s bringing together a dynamic group of innovators from many areas of expertise (from PHP, Javascript and mySQL to web designers, app developers and UI experts) to work with you on getting your code where it needs to be. Be ready to … Continue reading “Hackaway Friday at Ansir Innovation Center”
Learning Microsoft’s Newest CRM Software, Dynamics CRM 2011
Microsoft and FMT Consultants are hosting a free Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 launch event. Be among the first to see how it can help you increase sales, improve marketing, strengthen customer service and accelerate line-of-business application development through xRM. All attendees will be entered to win a Kinect for Xbox 360. More information and online … Continue reading “Learning Microsoft’s Newest CRM Software, Dynamics CRM 2011”
CalciMedica Moves Psoriasis Drug Into Clinic, Pockets $6M
CalciMedica has been saying for a while that it is about to enter clinical trials with a novel oral treatment for autoimmune diseases, and today is the day. The San Diego-based biotech company said it has delivered the first doses to people in a clinical trial of CM2489, a once-daily pill for moderate to severe … Continue reading “CalciMedica Moves Psoriasis Drug Into Clinic, Pockets $6M”
Avalon’s Kinsella Calls Out Big Pharma for “Bad Behavior” That’s Pushing Biotech Ventures “Almost to Point of Extinction”
San Diego’s Avalon Ventures has had some noteworthy success in the past couple of months. The 28-year-old firm raised $200 million for its ninth fund, which was oversubscribed by 33 percent. Avalon, which invests in both life sciences and Web technologies, also took some winnings off the table with the recent sale of a portfolio … Continue reading “Avalon’s Kinsella Calls Out Big Pharma for “Bad Behavior” That’s Pushing Biotech Ventures “Almost to Point of Extinction””