Ownership doesn’t have to be concentrated among a few executive at the top. It also can be spread widely throughout the company, but is that something companies want? The Beyster Institute at the UCSD Rady School of Management is hosting employee ownership expert Corey Rosen as part of its executive speaker series. Rosen, who is … Continue reading “Does Employee Ownership Work?”
Category: San Diego
Ralph Whitworth on What Must Change at Genzyme, Verari Starts Anew, V-Vehicle Tries to Keep it Stealthy, & More San Diego BizTech News
Shareholder activist Ralph Whitworth explained his move on Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme in a week that was abuzz with news about San Diego people and capital. Here’s a recap of what all that buzzing was about. —Verari Systems, the San Diego provider of server racks that shut its doors and laid off all but a handful … Continue reading “Ralph Whitworth on What Must Change at Genzyme, Verari Starts Anew, V-Vehicle Tries to Keep it Stealthy, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Helixis, Like PC Firms of Old, Putting “Desktop” Genetics Tools on Every Biology Bench
The folks at Life Technologies, the giant Carlsbad, CA-based maker of supplies and instruments for biologists, like to say they seek to “democratize” molecular biology. That means simplifying sophisticated tests so they don’t have to be done in a few hard-core, central labs, but can be done at an everyday lab bench. This is the … Continue reading “Helixis, Like PC Firms of Old, Putting “Desktop” Genetics Tools on Every Biology Bench”
The Apple Paradox: How a Company That’s So Closed Can Foster So Much Open Innovation
[Corrected and clarified, 1:30 p.m. 1/25/10, see page 2] Come Wednesday, we’ll learn a lot more about Apple’s presumed slate device. What we know right now, first hand, is a big fat nothing. Apple keeps a famously tight lid on its employees, suppliers, and partners, the only exception being the occasional strategic leak designed to … Continue reading “The Apple Paradox: How a Company That’s So Closed Can Foster So Much Open Innovation”
Google’s Chief Economist to Speak at UCSD’s Future 2010 Economics Roundtable
As part of its Future 2010 Economics Roundtable speaker series, UCSD Extension is hosting Google Chief Economist Hal Varian on “Predicting the Present With Google Trends.” Varian started at Google in May 2002 as a consultant and has been involved in many aspects of the company, including auction design, econometric analysis, finance, corporate strategy and … Continue reading “Google’s Chief Economist to Speak at UCSD’s Future 2010 Economics Roundtable”
Telemedicine: Where is the Real Opportunity?
Biocom, the San Diego life sciences industry group, is hosting an evening of insights into the business opportunities and revenue potential of incorporating new healthcare applications for wireless technologies into healthcare. The panel will cover the current and future impact of wireless technology on the healthcare industry, selling to a hospital, and the emerging field … Continue reading “Telemedicine: Where is the Real Opportunity?”
Working Our Way Out of San Diego’s Capital Formation Drought
As Xconomy has reported on many occasions, hometown venture capital firms have been receding from the startup scene in San Diego. This new reality might not seem apparent because the broader economic downturn has slowed activity across the board, and because some venture capital continues to flow into San Diego’s life sciences and technology companies … Continue reading “Working Our Way Out of San Diego’s Capital Formation Drought”
Top Trends for the Decade Ahead in Venture, Tech, Genomics, IP, and More Innovative Fields
We hit a nerve last month when we asked leading innovators in high-tech, biotech, cleantech, and venture capital to write guest editorials about the transformational changes they see coming in their fields over the next decade. We got so many thoughtful submissions from the advisers we call “Xconomists,” and other tech leaders, that we figured … Continue reading “Top Trends for the Decade Ahead in Venture, Tech, Genomics, IP, and More Innovative Fields”
CORAID Garners $10,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c3b806ec-26bb-4e57-a51f-2bad45f41fbc&Preview=1 Date 1/25/2010 Company Name CORAID Mailing Address 101 S El Camino Real San Clemente, CA 92672 Company Description CORAID redefines storage economics with its breakthrough line of EtherDrive® storage solutions. EtherDrive delivers scale-out performance, Ethernet simplicity, and 5-8x price performance advantage over legacy storage. Designed from the ground up for virtualization … Continue reading “CORAID Garners $10,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum: Senturia and Webber Bring Their Business Banter to the Stage
Not since the day when Oscar Wilde debated George Bernard Shaw before the Prince of Wales has a discussion between two esteemed writers and enterprising entrepreneurs been so anticipated. Neil Senturia, founder, funder, and CEO of the U.S. News Network, will trade business tips and quips with Alan Webber, author and founding editor of Fast … Continue reading “San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum: Senturia and Webber Bring Their Business Banter to the Stage”
New Surveys Suggest Venture Investing Reset at Lower Level in 2009; We Break Out Data for Boston, San Diego, & Seattle
The picture of venture capital investments in U.S. startups filled in a bit this week, with the results of two more VC surveys aligning generally with the findings we reported earlier this month from ChubbyBrain, the New York data services company that tracks the innovation economy. New surveys from Dow Jones VentureSource and the MoneyTree … Continue reading “New Surveys Suggest Venture Investing Reset at Lower Level in 2009; We Break Out Data for Boston, San Diego, & Seattle”
Amylin Braces for Big Event of 2010, the (Hoped-For) Approval of Once-Weekly Diabetes Drug
Amylin Pharmaceuticals CEO Dan Bradbury likes to list his company’s priorities in a well-organized series of little bullet points. But this is the year the San Diego-based company is counting on one event to dwarf all others, as it seeks FDA approval for an injectable diabetes treatment that only needs to taken once a week. … Continue reading “Amylin Braces for Big Event of 2010, the (Hoped-For) Approval of Once-Weekly Diabetes Drug”
Hello Music Obtains $4,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=601f51e8-f1ce-4d54-b9cf-0617edf206ab&Preview=1 Date 1/22/2010 Company Name Hello Music Mailing Address 5757 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90036 Company Description Hello Music is dedicated to connecting today’s best independent musical talent to real industry opportunities, because we believe that all great music deserves to be heard. Website http://www.hellomusic.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Hello Music Obtains $4,000,000 New Funding Round”
OccuLogix Raises $1.7M in Round Targeting $5M
OccuLogix, a biotech startup founded near Toronto, Canada, in 1996 to develop ophthalmic treatments for age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma, apparently has relocated in San Diego, according to an SEC filing. In its Form D filed today, OccuLogix discloses that it has raised more than $1.7 million from investors in a round that intends to … Continue reading “OccuLogix Raises $1.7M in Round Targeting $5M”
Somaxon Revises FDA Application
San Diego-based Somaxon said it submitted a revised application for its experimental sleeping pill doxepin (Silenor) to the FDA today, with a decision expected by March 21. The revised application addressed the agency’s questions about the efficacy of the drug in non-elderly adults, according to a Somaxon press release. The FDA has rejected Somaxon’s application … Continue reading “Somaxon Revises FDA Application”
Elevation Pharmaceuticals Raises $30M to Develop Aerosol Treatments for Pulmonary Diseases
San Diego-based Elevation Pharmaceuticals, a biotech startup developing aerosol-based treatments for respiratory diseases, said today it has raised a tranched $30 million in Series A venture funding. It’s a sizable round for the local life sciences community, but other recent fundings have come close. Last month, VentiRx raised $25 million, Pfenex got $24 million, and … Continue reading “Elevation Pharmaceuticals Raises $30M to Develop Aerosol Treatments for Pulmonary Diseases”
Merck’s Alan Sachs, on RNAi’s Big Challenge: Delivery, Delivery, Delivery
Merck hasn’t said much in public about what it’s doing in the field of RNA-based therapies, since it paid the jaw-dropping sum of $1.1 billion to acquire Sirna Therapeutics back in October 2006. So when I had the chance last week to sit down for an exclusive interview in San Francisco with Merck’s RNA therapeutics … Continue reading “Merck’s Alan Sachs, on RNAi’s Big Challenge: Delivery, Delivery, Delivery”
6 Goals for Fixing Genzyme: Xconomy’s Q&A With Relational Investors’ Ralph Whitworth
Former T. Boone Pickens protégés David H. Batchelder and Ralph V. Whitworth co-founded San Diego-based Relational Investors in 1996, and their privately owned asset management firm now serves some of the largest pension funds in the world. Whitworth, a lawyer who was president of the Washington D.C.-based United Shareholders Association before joining Batchelder in San … Continue reading “6 Goals for Fixing Genzyme: Xconomy’s Q&A With Relational Investors’ Ralph Whitworth”
A Baldness Update from Histogen; Sequenom Agrees to Settle a Suit; the Life Sciences Job Outlook Improves & More San Diego Life Sciences News
There were new developments over the past week in some big ongoing stories. —Histogen CEO Gail Naughton told Bruce the San Diego-based biotech expects to report results from a one-year follow-up of study of its experimental baldness treatment by the end of this month. Histogen plans additional clinical studies on volunteers with male-pattern baldness—all of … Continue reading “A Baldness Update from Histogen; Sequenom Agrees to Settle a Suit; the Life Sciences Job Outlook Improves & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
Verari Restarts After Asset Sale
San Diego’s Verari Systems, which ceased business in mid-December and laid off more than 200 employees, says it is restarting its blade computer business after an investment group acquired Verari’s assets at auction. An investment group led by the company’s original founder, David Driggers, purchased Verari’s inventory, equipment and technologies, and will support past Verari … Continue reading “Verari Restarts After Asset Sale”
Roche Prepares to Make Devices for Drug Using Halozyme Therapeutics Technology
San Diego-based Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HALO]]) received some good news today. Its partner Roche announced plans to invest $182 million in two European factories that will produce a device designed to deliver a drug formulated with Halozyme’s enzyme technology. The Roche drug is trastuzumab (Herceptin), which is used to treat women with an aggressive form … Continue reading “Roche Prepares to Make Devices for Drug Using Halozyme Therapeutics Technology”
Genomics Laid the Foundation for Big Global Health Advances To Come This Decade
In science, success is often measured in small advances in understanding. But in the past decade, technology has led to large leaps of new knowledge that has been well utilized in the battle against global infectious disease. And, this decade holds even greater promise. Genomics is an excellent example. We’ve seen the genomics revolution begin … Continue reading “Genomics Laid the Foundation for Big Global Health Advances To Come This Decade”
Elevation Pharmaceuticals Receives $30,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bfbf8549-b309-4927-89ab-b9d17c04cff5&Preview=1 Date 1/21/2010 Company Name Elevation Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 12671 High Bluff Drive San Diego, CA 92130 Company Description Founded in 2008, Elevation Pharmaceuticals is developing a pipeline of improved aerosol drug products for COPD patients. Our founding team has a successful track record starting companies and building dedicated teams to develop … Continue reading “Elevation Pharmaceuticals Receives $30,000,000 Series A Funding”
Mobixell Networks Acquires 724 Solutions for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f66ba6f6-6817-48e2-a81c-f5d122a5a4c0&Preview=1 Date 1/21/2010 Company Name 724 Solutions Mailing Address 3916 State Street Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Company Description 724 Solutions delivers market leading IP-based solutions for Mobile Internet, Mobile Broadband and IP Messaging built upon an intelligent, scalable, extensible architecture that allows mobile operators and converged service providers to significantly grow revenues. … Continue reading “Mobixell Networks Acquires 724 Solutions for Undisclosed Sum”
OccuLogix Lands $1,700,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=08cfd6fa-7507-4afe-bd55-ba926010c23d&Preview=1 Date 1/21/2010 Company Name OccuLogix Mailing Address 11025 Roselle St San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description TearLab Corporation is an in-vitro diagnostics company developing and commercializing novel, lab-on-a-chip technologies that enable eye care practitioners to test for highly sensitive and specific biomarkers in tears at the point-of-care. Website http://www.tearlab.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “OccuLogix Lands $1,700,000 New Financing Round”
Lessons in Stealth Communications: V-Vehicle Tries to Keep Technology Details Under Wraps
One problem with being a stealthy company is the difficulty in setting the record straight. The News-Star of Monroe, LA, reported yesterday that V-Vehicle, the San Diego-based startup automaker building a factory in Northeastern Louisiana, is “apparently testing prototypes of its mystery car,” but that may be overstating the matter. The newspaper quotes David Hitchcock, … Continue reading “Lessons in Stealth Communications: V-Vehicle Tries to Keep Technology Details Under Wraps”
Hardware vs. Software: The Defining Technology Battle of This Decade
History repeats itself, it seems, because the defining technology battle of this decade is going to come straight from the 80s: it’s hardware versus software. [tweet] Every decade brings substantial advancements to both software and hardware, but in certain decades the strategic importance of one versus the other shifts dramatically in many segments. I’m using … Continue reading “Hardware vs. Software: The Defining Technology Battle of This Decade”
Google Ventures’ Joe Kraus Joins OpenCandy’s Board of Directors
I profiled San Diego-based OpenCandy just last week, and the Web-based distributor of open-source software already is providing an update. Excite founder Joe Kraus, who participated in OpenCandy’s Series A funding round as an angel investor, has joined the company’s board of directors. According to a statement issued by the company, Kraus will be joining … Continue reading “Google Ventures’ Joe Kraus Joins OpenCandy’s Board of Directors”
MP3.com Founder Michael Robertson Explains Apple’s Cloud Music Strategy
San Diego’s Michael Robertson, who founded several startups since he sold MP3.com in 1997, offered some observations about online music providers and other aspects of the digital music business when we talked in late November. Today he offers more insights in a post for TechCrunch that explains why Lala, the Palo Alto, CA, digital music … Continue reading “MP3.com Founder Michael Robertson Explains Apple’s Cloud Music Strategy”
San Diego Biotechs Seem Poised to Start Hiring, But Chemists Will Face a Tough Time
Indications are that employment in San Diego’s life sciences industry appears to be stabilizing, good news after a tumultuous year in which hundreds of experienced scientists and business professionals lost their jobs. Recruiter Meredith Dow says layoffs appear to have slowed and some startups, for the first time in months, are beginning to talk about … Continue reading “San Diego Biotechs Seem Poised to Start Hiring, But Chemists Will Face a Tough Time”
Early Results In for Venture Fund-Raising, OpenCandy Sees Sweet Growth, UCSD B-School Launches Venture Fund, & More San Diego BizTech News
It’s that time of year when young analysts turn to thoughts of venture investments won and lost. We’ve got the early returns, and more details will shake out in coming weeks, so get a head start now. —It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Venture investments in cleantech startups nationwide … Continue reading “Early Results In for Venture Fund-Raising, OpenCandy Sees Sweet Growth, UCSD B-School Launches Venture Fund, & More San Diego BizTech News”
CDG’s LaForge Joins AirHop’s Advisory Board
San Diego’s AirHop Communications, a 2007 startup that specializes in SON, or self-organizing networking technology, says CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) industry leader Perry LaForge joined AirHop’s advisory board. LaForge is founder and executive director of CDG, the Costa Mesa, CA-based CDMA Development Group, a trade association comprised of more than 100 of the world’s … Continue reading “CDG’s LaForge Joins AirHop’s Advisory Board”
Top Five Trends in the Future of Work
We are increasingly a knowledge-based economy in the U.S., and work can be delivered digitally from anywhere. Take NightHawk Radiology in Coeur d’Alene, ID, for example—they are providing radiologists to any hospital that needs real-time availability and lower costs. They work online from Switzerland and Australia, but it could just as easily be Wenatchee or … Continue reading “Top Five Trends in the Future of Work”
Five Top Innovations to Look for in Search-Based Marketing in 2010
—Personalization based on predicted intent instead of past behavior (based on cookie). —More robust “universal search:” Better results for text and descriptive searches on videos, pictures, inside games, and applications. —GPS-based hyper-targeting of search results and advertising on smartphones. —Ubiquitous and non-text search: Search as an integrated activity rather than a separate activity into videos, … Continue reading “Five Top Innovations to Look for in Search-Based Marketing in 2010”
MLK Day
Posting will be light today as Xconomy’s offices are closed in observation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. For those of you looking for a way to pitch in in your own city or town, Serve.gov has a searchable database of volunteer opportunities. If you or your organization would like to aid … Continue reading “MLK Day”
Is Histogen Hair to Stay? Amid Patent Lawsuit That Is Mane Event, CEO Updates Plans to Advance its Hair Regrowth Treatment
San Diego-based Histogen became something of a high-wire act on the local biotech scene last year after a cross-town rival filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the startup—upending Histogen’s plans to develop a variety of regenerative medical treatments. The patent suit, which was filed a year ago by Carlsbad, CA-based SkinMedica, hit just as Histogen … Continue reading “Is Histogen Hair to Stay? Amid Patent Lawsuit That Is Mane Event, CEO Updates Plans to Advance its Hair Regrowth Treatment”
Sequenom Settles Shareholder Lawsuit for $14M, Plus Stock
Sequenom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SQNM]]) has reached a legal settlement in a class action suit filed by a group of shareholders. The San Diego-based company said today that it has agreed to pay shareholders $14 million from its insurance proceeds, and issue them new shares worth a 9.95 percent stake in the company. The settlement still needs … Continue reading “Sequenom Settles Shareholder Lawsuit for $14M, Plus Stock”
Entrepreneurship May Work Like A Clock, But It Still Needs Winding: Exploring the Kauffman Study on New Firm Formation
Like others in the tech-journalism business, we here at Xconomy tend to pore over the latest statistics about the entrepreneurial economy pretty obsessively: how much money venture firms are raising and investing from quarter to quarter; how much they dole out to each new startup in their portfolios; how much these portfolio companies eventually return … Continue reading “Entrepreneurship May Work Like A Clock, But It Still Needs Winding: Exploring the Kauffman Study on New Firm Formation”
Can Molecular Medicine Survive Its Teenage Years, and Reach its Potential This Decade?
As the 21st century approaches its teenage years, so too does molecular medicine. Discovery of the structure of DNA more than 50 years ago launched the field of molecular biology. During the last decade, we have seen the first translation of some fundamental discoveries in this field into medical tools. Clearly, however, we are early … Continue reading “Can Molecular Medicine Survive Its Teenage Years, and Reach its Potential This Decade?”
Fisker Automotive Secures $115,300,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f6296c88-b247-41b0-b0c9-c093314bcc53&Preview=1 Date 1/15/2010 Company Name Fisker Automotive Mailing Address 19 Corporate Park Irvine, CA 92606 Company Description The concept was created between two independent companies who clearly wanted to make a difference in not only the automotive industry, but to the environment as well. Fisker Coachbuild, LLC and Quantum Technologies announced this … Continue reading “Fisker Automotive Secures $115,300,000 New Funding Round”
New Machine From San Diego’s Illumina Intensifies Race for Faster, Cheaper Genome Decoder
The cost of sequencing a person’s genome continues to fall. Illumina this week introduced a machine that can sequence an individual’s genome for under $10,000. That is one percent of the $1 million it cost to decode a human genome three years ago. The announcement pushes San Diego-based Illumina to the forefront in an intense … Continue reading “New Machine From San Diego’s Illumina Intensifies Race for Faster, Cheaper Genome Decoder”
Crinetics Enters Collaboration Agreement With Ferring Research Institute
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, an early stage San Diego biotech developing specialized biosensors for drug discovery applications, says it has signed a collaboration agreement with the Ferring Research Institute, the peptide research center established in San Diego by Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Last month, when Crinetics got a small business research grant of nearly $238,000, the startup said its … Continue reading “Crinetics Enters Collaboration Agreement With Ferring Research Institute”
OpenCandy Builds Online Marketplace For Free Software Downloads
[Updated 1/14/2010, 9:37 am. See Below] Darrius Thompson tells me he’s been involved for a long time in the software community, and he sees how consumer acceptance can be fluky. Some new software products get widespread distribution, and some go nowhere. Thompson says he believes in open-source products, but sometimes it doesn’t seem to matter … Continue reading “OpenCandy Builds Online Marketplace For Free Software Downloads”
VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Raises More Funds, Genzyme Declares a Truce, Adventrx Charts Comeback, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
A flurry of financing deals made it a good week for San Diego’s life sciences industry. Get the highlights here. —VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, which is working on drugs for allergies and cancer, raised additional funds of $25 million, bringing the total received in its Series A round to $51.6million. The company is based in San Diego … Continue reading “VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Raises More Funds, Genzyme Declares a Truce, Adventrx Charts Comeback, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
Genomic Advances of the 2000s Will Demand an Informatics Revolution in the 2010s
We have witnessed some of most striking technological and scientific innovations in humankind during the first decade of the new millennium. While such claims perhaps seem cliché in an age where the media constantly report on new findings that really do not warrant our full attention, several discoveries and innovations in the recent history of … Continue reading “Genomic Advances of the 2000s Will Demand an Informatics Revolution in the 2010s”
Impact Radius Lands $6,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=451154c3-628a-4b6d-afc0-2f208033df7c&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2010 Company Name Impact Radius Mailing Address 915 Saint Vincent Avenue Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Company Description Impact Radius links performance advertising to TV, radio, print and online distribution channels—delivering to advertisers and media partners opportunities for growth and profit. Website http://www.impactradius.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $6,000,000 Transaction … Continue reading “Impact Radius Lands $6,000,000 New Funding”
Life Acquires AcroMetrix
Life Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIFE]]), the Carlsbad, CA-based provider of biomedical diagnostic equipment and laboratory supplies, has agreed to acquire AcroMetrix, a diagnostics controls specialist based in the Bay Area community of Benicia, CA. Financial terms of the deal were not disculosed. Life says in a statement that AcroMetrix’ diagnostic quality control products allow a laboratory … Continue reading “Life Acquires AcroMetrix”
Once Destined for Bankruptcy, Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Sets New Course With Reformulated Drugs
Like something out of an old Clint Eastwood movie (where the cowboy left for dead is somehow resurrected), San Diego’s Adventrx Pharmaceuticals (AMEX: [[ticker:ANX]]) announced last week that it raised $19 million and filed a new drug application. Shares of the biotech, which had no pulse a year ago, sprang to life. Adventrx stock that … Continue reading “Once Destined for Bankruptcy, Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Sets New Course With Reformulated Drugs”
Achieving New Heights in Energy Efficiency in 2010
If 2009 was the year that energy efficiency was elevated from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have,” then 2010 will be the year that we go from talking about energy efficiency to actually doing something about it. In 2009, everyone was talking about efficiency and the impact it can have on the green economy. Remember President … Continue reading “Achieving New Heights in Energy Efficiency in 2010”
Covario Acquires Netconcepts
San Diego’s Covario, a venture-backed startup in Web-based search engine optimization (SEO) and interactive marketing analytics for big companies, says it has acquired Netconcepts, a Madison, WI-based specialist in SEO for retailers and e-commerce websites. Financial terms were not disclosed. In a joint statement issued by the two companies, Covario CEO Russ Mann says by … Continue reading “Covario Acquires Netconcepts”