Category: San Diego

Savings.com Lands $4,000,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b7ded33e-6c78-43d9-b3d2-6d43de73e083&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2008 Company Name Savings.com Mailing Address 510 State St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Company Description Savings.com was founded in 2004. Designed out of frustration with the current state of shopping and discount retailers online, we have been determined from the outset to design and build a more comprehensive Internet destination … Continue reading “Savings.com Lands $4,000,000 Series B Financing”

MicroRNA Leaps Ahead: Alnylam-Isis Venture, Regulus, Shows Its Drug Works in Animals With Heart Failure

The scientific community, and Wall Street, will be buzzing this week about microRNA. That’s because a Carlsbad, CA-based company called Regulus Therapeutics and its collaborators have suggested for the first time that a drug that blocks microRNA can prevent and treat heart failure in animals. Regulus, a joint venture of Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “MicroRNA Leaps Ahead: Alnylam-Isis Venture, Regulus, Shows Its Drug Works in Animals With Heart Failure”

Small Business Innovation and Technology Grants: Funding Success Stories

Small Business Innovation Research grants and Small Business Technology Transfer Research grants (SBIR/STTR) programs are the largest source of early stage R&D funding for small businesses. All federal agencies with an extramural research and development budget of more than $100 million (for SBIRs)or $1 billion (STTRs) must participate in these programs. The Commnexus Military SIG … Continue reading “Small Business Innovation and Technology Grants: Funding Success Stories”

Unemployed? Free Workshop on Jobs in Technology and Life Sciences

This workshop on Technology and Life Sciences Career Opportunities follows one on healthcare career opportunities. This session explores information technology and life science career trends, covering growth opportunities for skilled workers in both areas. It will also look at the integration of the sciences and information technology within several different industries including drug discovery, molecular … Continue reading “Unemployed? Free Workshop on Jobs in Technology and Life Sciences”

Novocell CEO Moves to Nonprofit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

The New York-based Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has named San Diego-based Novocell CEO Alan Lewis as its new chief executive. Lewis plans to step down from Novocell, a stem cell company developing a treatment for Type 1 diabetes, on Jan. 1. Lewis told The San Diego Union-Tribune Novocell is in a good financial shape to … Continue reading “Novocell CEO Moves to Nonprofit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation”

Arena Pharmaceuticals’ Sleeper Drug Aims To Help You Stay Asleep

Arena Pharmaceuticals is known on Wall Street for one thing—obesity. The San Diego biotech company has a modified form of the fen-phen combination drug that’s supposed to help people lose weight without causing the heart damage that killed that Wyeth product a decade ago. But Arena (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARNA]]) has a sleeper in pipeline— a novel … Continue reading “Arena Pharmaceuticals’ Sleeper Drug Aims To Help You Stay Asleep”

Plunging Oil Prices Require Alternative Fuel Startups to Take a Long View

Historic high prices for petroleum over the past decade have stoked a surge of interest in alternative fuels and renewable energy, and dozens of startups have been formed to develop new technologies in the field.Now this year’s extraordinary spike in crude oil prices is being matched by an equally spectacular swoon. Crude oil prices fell to … Continue reading “Plunging Oil Prices Require Alternative Fuel Startups to Take a Long View”

High Tower Software Suddenly Closes Its Gates

Aliso Viejo’s High Tower Software shut down unexpectedly Monday, SoCal Tech News reported. The venture-backed developer of network security systems saw its sales suddenly deflate in the economic downturn and investors were unwilling to provide any more capital, according to one person familiar with the company. About 34 employees lost their jobs. High Tower was founded … Continue reading “High Tower Software Suddenly Closes Its Gates”

Siimpel Corp. Secures $8,700,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=43dafdea-0406-44e0-83c5-8eb3ed700ad7&Preview=1 Date 11/26/2008 Company Name Siimpel Corp. Mailing Address 400 E. Live Oak Avenue Arcadia, CA 91006 Company Description Siimpel is actively collaborating with the world’s leading consumer electronics, mobile communications and digital imaging leaders to deliver high quality digital camera products that fit the size constraints of mobile platforms. Website http://www.siimpel.com … Continue reading “Siimpel Corp. Secures $8,700,000 New Funding”

Get Launched! Astronaut Sally Ride Hosts Girls-Only Science Festival at UCSD

Astronaut Sally Ride founded Sally Ride Science in 2001 to encourage girls’ interests in science, math, and engineering. For a $20 advance registration fee, the festival brings together hundreds of upper-elementary and middle-school girls, their parents and teachers for a featured talk, workshops and luncheon. Sign up here.

Pocket Communications May Pose Challenge to Leap Wireless’ Low-Cost Service

A startup flat-rate wireless provider out of Texas may have San Diego’s Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:[[ticker:LEAP]]) in its sites. Pocket Communications, a no-frills wireless service provider in San Antonio, announced today it has raised $100 million in venture funding to establish a broad footprint for its unlimited wireless service in the Northeast. Xconomy’s Wade Roush provides … Continue reading “Pocket Communications May Pose Challenge to Leap Wireless’ Low-Cost Service”

Awarepoint Tracks Down $13.3M to Fuel Hospital RFID Business

Awarepoint says it has raised $13.3 million in a Series D round of financing from a trio of private equity investors—who are betting hospitals will continue to invest in RFID systems to track assets and limit spending on medical equipment. San Diego-based Awarepoint provides software and hardware for real-time location systems (RTLS) in hospitals, factories, … Continue reading “Awarepoint Tracks Down $13.3M to Fuel Hospital RFID Business”

Xconomy Closes Second Financing Round

Xconomy has closed the first tranche of its second financing round, we are extremely pleased to announce. Return investor CommonAngels, the premier angel group in New England, led the round. New investor LaunchCapital—a small (and very astute) early-stage venture fund with offices in Cambridge, MA; New Haven, CT; and Palo Alto—also participated. And they were … Continue reading “Xconomy Closes Second Financing Round”

Human Tissue Startup ‘Putting the Band Together Again’

San Diego’s Advanced Tissue Sciences tried for 14 years to develop living-tissue patches for healing burns, wounds and chronic sores. But the business went into bankruptcy liquidation in late 2002, a victim of regulatory delays and more than $300 million in debt. Since then, former CEO Gail Naughton says she’s been invited to speak many times … Continue reading “Human Tissue Startup ‘Putting the Band Together Again’”

Hold on Tight: Biotech Execs Predict Hard Times for Industry as Cash Dwindles

Most biotech companies live and die based on how much cash they have in the bank to fuel drug development. So we’ve combed through the cash statements of more than 70 publicly traded life sciences companies in Xconomy’s home cities of Boston, San Diego, and Seattle, to see just how well-positioned the local clusters are … Continue reading “Hold on Tight: Biotech Execs Predict Hard Times for Industry as Cash Dwindles”

AwarePoint Corporation Obtains $13,300,000 Series D Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d8909e0e-c631-4d16-a080-7200c4054ba3&Preview=1 Date 11/25/2008 Company Name AwarePoint Corporation Mailing Address 225 Broadway San Diego, CA 92101 Company Description In 2002, the founders of Awarepoint™ recognized that despite the tremendous potential of active RFID technologies to improve operational efficiency in medium and large businesses, there were no solutions on the market that offered good … Continue reading “AwarePoint Corporation Obtains $13,300,000 Series D Funding Round”

Kratos Adds Another Defense Company in Growth-by-Acquistion Strategy

Eric DeMarco, the CEO of San Diego’s Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, (NASDAQ:[[ticker:KTOS]]) is showing he learned the lessons of rapid growth during his years at former San Diego defense contractor Titan Corp. Today Kratos announced it’s merging its Kratos Government Solutions division with Digital Fusion, a small defense contractor in Huntsville, AL, that trades over … Continue reading “Kratos Adds Another Defense Company in Growth-by-Acquistion Strategy”

Sequenom May Spot Single-Gene Birth Defects, like Cystic Fibrosis, in a Sample of Mother’s Blood

Sequenom has its sights on developing more than just the first non-invasive prenatal test for Down syndrome. Today, scientists affiliated with the San Diego-based biotech company are reporting how their methods of analyzing genes in a sample of blood from the mother can be used to detect whether a developing fetus has a single-gene defect, … Continue reading “Sequenom May Spot Single-Gene Birth Defects, like Cystic Fibrosis, in a Sample of Mother’s Blood”

To Save Cash, Vical Cuts 29 Jobs and Closes Facility

San Diego vaccine developer Vical (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VICL]] has joined the roster of small biotechs that have been forced to cut costs to conserve cash. The microcap biotech says it’s laying off 29 employees, or about 20 percent of its workforce, and closing an unidentified research facility sooner than planned. The company says it expects to … Continue reading “To Save Cash, Vical Cuts 29 Jobs and Closes Facility”

The Bourne Innovation: UC Researchers Launch a YouTube for Scientists

As an editor at a growing online resource called the Public Library of Science, UC San Diego Professor Philip Bourne is in an ideal position to see the disruptive changes that are remaking the $11 billion scientific publishing industry. As it has with other types of traditional publishing, the Internet is turning the staid-but-highly lucrative … Continue reading “The Bourne Innovation: UC Researchers Launch a YouTube for Scientists”

San Diego Snags Annual Conference on All Things Medical and Healthcare-Related

San Diego, which ranks among the premier regions in the country for innovations in the life sciences, has landed a conference to match. After a five-year hiatus, TEDMED is making a comeback, and the exclusive three-day conference on big ideas in healthcare and medicine, may be settling here permanently. The revived TEDMED conference will be held at The … Continue reading “San Diego Snags Annual Conference on All Things Medical and Healthcare-Related”

What Would the British Tabloids Say? Qualcomm Unveils Deal With Victoria’s Secret

Did San Diego’s Qualcomm score a huge coup for its MediaFlo mobile television service yesterday by arranging broadcast rights to the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on Dec. 3? That was the take at GigaOm, which reported all MediaFlo subscribers will be able to watch the broadcast on their portable wireless devices when it is … Continue reading “What Would the British Tabloids Say? Qualcomm Unveils Deal With Victoria’s Secret”

Arkeia Software Names Bill Evans CEO

San Diego’s Arkeia Software, a data protection software developer, has named two executives, including former Gateway executive Bill Evans as CEO. Evans was previously CEO of Parascale, a cloud storage startup and senior vice president of Gateway’s international business unit. The company also named Frederic Renard as vice president of marketing.

Springpad Wants to Be Your Online Home for the Holidays, And After

If you’re like me, you go through life with the vague hope that someday, technology will help you become a more efficient person. How often I’ve driven to the grocery store or the library to pick up one thing, knowing full well that there’s some other item I needed, but that I’ll never be able … Continue reading “Springpad Wants to Be Your Online Home for the Holidays, And After”

WebVisible, Inc. Acquires Adapt Technologies, Inc. for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=31aba102-78fc-48c9-b311-b82f89941c9a&Preview=1 Date 11/21/2008 Company Name Adapt Technologies, Inc. Mailing Address 117 E. Colorado Blvd Pasadena, CA 91105 Company Description Adapt Technologies, Inc. is a technology company that creates practical, self-service campaign management solutions for marketers to more effectively manage their online marketing campaigns and improve results. Website http://www.adapt.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction … Continue reading “WebVisible, Inc. Acquires Adapt Technologies, Inc. for Undisclosed Sum”

A Forum on Failure Stirs One-Liners and Personal Anguish Among CEOs

It was billed as “an evening of candor and compassion,” but with onetime M*A*S*H screenwriter Neil Senturia serving as impresario, a San Diego forum on business failure became an extended tragic-comic riff, abounding with one-liners. Entrepreneurs are rarely willing to publicly discuss their failures after they shut a company down, perhaps with the exception of … Continue reading “A Forum on Failure Stirs One-Liners and Personal Anguish Among CEOs”

Staccato Marries Artimi, Gets $20M Burst

Will it be a match made in ultra wideband heaven? San Diego-based Staccato Communications says it has merged with another ultra wideband semiconductor developer, Artimi, and raised $20 million in equity financing from previous investors in both companies. The company, which will keep the Staccato name, says the combination of Staccato’s wireless semiconductors and Mountain … Continue reading “Staccato Marries Artimi, Gets $20M Burst”

Wireless Industry’s CDMA True Believers Chart CDMA’s Future for CDMA crowd

The phrase “preaching to the choir” came to mind as I listened to the speakers today at the 3G CDMA North America Regional Conference, which is being held this year in downtown San Diego at the U.S. Grant Hotel. Seated in the audience around me were representatives of wireless carriers, equipment makers and device venders … Continue reading “Wireless Industry’s CDMA True Believers Chart CDMA’s Future for CDMA crowd”

Staccato Communications, Inc. Receives $20,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b8747121-230b-44a5-8925-9a92f73b92de&Preview=1 Date 11/20/2008 Company Name Staccato Communications, Inc. Mailing Address 6195 Lusk Blvd San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Staccato Communications is a fabless semiconductor company based in San Diego, Calif., and founded by industry pioneers who have developed ultrawideband (UWB) technology and high-speed CMOS RF technology since 1996. Website http://staccatocommunications.com Transaction … Continue reading “Staccato Communications, Inc. Receives $20,000,000 New Financing”

Carlsbad’s Aptera to Compete for $10 Million Automotive X Prize

Twenty-two teams of aspiring automakers, including Carlsbad-based Aptera, have registered so far to compete for $10 million in prizes offered as part of a “Great Race” to develop super fuel-efficient vehicles, the Progressive Automotive X Prize said today. Aptera, which began development of a futuristic-looking three-wheel passenger car five years ago, is among the teams … Continue reading “Carlsbad’s Aptera to Compete for $10 Million Automotive X Prize”

Trade Group Looks for a Pause, Not a Downturn, in Digital Wireless Sector

As the CDG North America Regional Conference convenes in San Diego today, Perry LaForge, the trade association’s chief executive, says he has a lot to feel good about. LaForge says he started working on behalf of CDMA, or code-division multiple access, after getting a preview of the wireless technology in 1988, when San Diego’s Qualcomm … Continue reading “Trade Group Looks for a Pause, Not a Downturn, in Digital Wireless Sector”

Breakaway Innovation

The title of this Connect Frameworks presentation conjures up the Tour  de France, and the metaphor might hold, with topics addressing how to break out ahead of the competition in different stages of your company’s growth.

Fundamentals of Licensing

Granted, you’re not likely to undertake preparing license agreements without some legal eagle involvement, but it never hurts to be at least passingly familiar with the topic. This Connect Frameworks presentation might get you there—it covers a range of topics in the preparation and pitfalls of licensing agreements.

American Internet Services Acquires Complex Drive

San Diego’s largest data center, American Internet Services (AIS), said it has acquired Complex Drive, a well-established San Diego data center provider. No financial terms were disclosed. Seaport Capital, a New York private equity firm, said last month it had acquired 14-year-old AIS with investment partners Viridian Investment Partners and DuPont Capital Management. San Diego-based … Continue reading “American Internet Services Acquires Complex Drive”

DivX Shares Fall After Warning Over Split in Ad Deal With Yahoo

Shares of San Diego digital video provider DivX (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DIVX]]) fell more than 17 percent in early trading, hitting $4.53 a share shortly before noon ET, after DivX said its financial results would be hurt following Yahoo’s decision to breach a two-year advertising deal. In a regulatory filing last night, DivX said it had filed a lawsuit … Continue reading “DivX Shares Fall After Warning Over Split in Ad Deal With Yahoo”

Zacharon Raises $5.7 Million from VCs, Government, Hires CEO

Zacharon Pharmaceuticals has gotten a shot of cash to develop a new class of drugs. The San Diego company said it has raised $3.5 million in a Series A venture round provided by Avalon Ventures, along with $2.2 million in research grants from the National Institutes of Health. The company also named Jay Lichter of … Continue reading “Zacharon Raises $5.7 Million from VCs, Government, Hires CEO”

Royalty Share Expands With Web Services for Music Industry

Life seemed so much simpler in 1914, when Tin Pan Alley’s songwriters and music publishers founded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, to protect its members’ musical copyrights. Today, the music organization still collects licensing fees from users of music created by its members, and distributes money back to them as royalties. Of … Continue reading “Royalty Share Expands With Web Services for Music Industry”

Biotech Survival Index: Cash Woes Creeping Up on San Diego Life Sciences Companies

These are grim times for many industries, and the life sciences are no exception. Most of these enterprises depend on the ability to raise fresh investment capital on a regular basis, so when investors turn cautious, things can get ugly fast. To get a sense of just how big of a bruising San Diego biotechs … Continue reading “Biotech Survival Index: Cash Woes Creeping Up on San Diego Life Sciences Companies”

Innovating New Winners in Established Markets

I’m attracted to the market opportunity within large, established markets. These markets already have huge spend, they have established dominant players with an inertia resistant to major change, most of the innovative talent and money is off in new market spaces, and innovation within these spaces tends to be evolutionary in nature and follow predictable … Continue reading “Innovating New Winners in Established Markets”

Solera Holdings Plans $90M Secondary Offering

San Diego’s Solera Holdings (NYSE: [[ticker:SLH]]) plans to issue 4.5 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering at a price of $20 a share. The company, which is a leading provider of software used to process automobile insurance claims, announced the deal Friday and expects it to close by Wednesday, Nov. … Continue reading “Solera Holdings Plans $90M Secondary Offering”

Pacira Pharmaceuticals Receives $10 Million in Venture Funding

[Corrected 2/26/09. See below for details.] New Jersey-based Pacira Pharmaceuticals, which operates its research and manufacturing center in San Diego, has received a $10 million final installment of a venture financing round, the total value of which was not disclosed. Backers of the company, which makes controlled-release injectable products, include MPM Capital, HBM BioVentures, OrbiMed Advisors, … Continue reading “Pacira Pharmaceuticals Receives $10 Million in Venture Funding”

Cymer Lays Off 8 Percent of its Global Workforce

San Diego’s Cymer (CYMI), widely viewed as a bellwether for the chipmaking industry, says it will reduce its worldwide workforce by 85 employees, or about 8 percent. Cymer makes sophisticated ultraviolet lasers that serve as the light source in a photolithographic process used by nearly every semiconductor manufacturer to make advanced microcircuits. The company’s technology … Continue reading “Cymer Lays Off 8 Percent of its Global Workforce”

How to Handle the Downturn: Xconomy’s Top 9 List of Top 10 Lists

Death. Taxes. Advice. You can always count on the first two, as the saying goes. But advice—usually unsolicited—can be added to the “inevitables” list whenever things go sour. As in today’s economy. Said advice will be all over the map, too—everything from “cut your losses and head for the hills” to “double up and buy … Continue reading “How to Handle the Downturn: Xconomy’s Top 9 List of Top 10 Lists”

Obama Envisions $150 Billion for “Green Energy Economy” in YouTube Address

In case you weren’t one of the 657,000 people who have watched it as of this writing, Barack Obama posted his first post-election YouTube address on Saturday, signaling a new stage in the evolution of presidential communications. The President elect, who plans to give weekly video addresses in parallel to the traditional weekly radio messages, … Continue reading “Obama Envisions $150 Billion for “Green Energy Economy” in YouTube Address”

The Security Network: Helping Small Defense Companies Innovate and Work Together

Michael Jones has an unusual perspective on the defense industry for a guy who oversees a non-profit industry group for San Diego’s defense and homeland security companies. While the defense industry abounds with examples of advanced technologies, “big defense companies are not doing innovation,” says Jones, chairman and CEO of The Security Network. “They’ll even … Continue reading “The Security Network: Helping Small Defense Companies Innovate and Work Together”

Qualcomm Adopts Skyhook Technology

San Diego-based Qualcomm, which is famous for its CDMA wireless communications chips but is also a leading maker of GPS chips for cell phones and other devices, has signed a deal with Boston’s Skyhook Wireless that will move it toward hybrid location-finding technologies. Qualcomm will incorporate Skyhook’s Wi-Fi Positioning System—a software system that determines a … Continue reading “Qualcomm Adopts Skyhook Technology”

ISE Corporation Garners $17,500,000 Series D Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c288ee1c-765c-48b1-9337-c7d03f1dd8c6&Preview=1 Date 11/17/2008 Company Name ISE Corporation Mailing Address 12302 Kerran Street Poway, CA 92064-6884 Company Description ISE is a supplier of electric and hybrid-electric drive systems to major bus and truck manufacturers. ISE is also a motor vehicle manufacturer registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and possesses vehicle manufacturer … Continue reading “ISE Corporation Garners $17,500,000 Series D Funding”