The finalists in the Young Innovator category of the 2017 Xconomy Awards show that it’s never too early in life to start a company or invent a new technology. These four individuals (30 years of age or under) share a strong drive, even a restlessness, to build new things that make a difference. Three knew … Continue reading “Expanding Tissue and Squeezing Cells: Meet Xconomy’s Young Innovator Award Finalists”
Category: San Diego
Private Equity Investors Have $740 Billion to Spend, Driving Valuations
Private equity investors have more capital at their disposal than at any time in more than a decade, which could boost prices for companies seeking acquisitions. As of Aug. 1, private equity firms in North America and Europe had secured $212.6 billion in new commitments this year, on pace to eclipse the “already stellar” fundraising … Continue reading “Private Equity Investors Have $740 Billion to Spend, Driving Valuations”
Dragonfly, eGenesis, Spero & More: Xconomy’s Startup Award Finalists
Startups play a critical role in the innovation economy that we chronicle at Xconomy—transforming new ideas that begin in a lab into the products and companies of tomorrow. No surprise, then, that the startup category in our first-ever Awards program was a particularly competitive one, loaded with private companies (no more than 5 years old) … Continue reading “Dragonfly, eGenesis, Spero & More: Xconomy’s Startup Award Finalists”
Kauffman Fellows Take On VC Sexual Harassment, Bench Mentor McClure
If you’re looking for a counterpoint to the recent flurry of news stories about sexual harassment and gender bias in the tech sector, the Kauffman Fellows program isn’t a bad place to start. The Palo Alto, CA-based program, a spinoff of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, has been a gateway into the venture capital industry … Continue reading “Kauffman Fellows Take On VC Sexual Harassment, Bench Mentor McClure”
GSK Hands Nerve Drug Back to Ionis as RNA Battle Heats Up
A race is on to bring two new RNA-based drugs for a rare, debilitating nerve disease called familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP). And GlaxoSmithKline has just dropped out of it. This morning, Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IONS]]) said that it has regained full rights, from GSK, to a drug called inotersen, which the Carlsbad, CA, company expects … Continue reading “GSK Hands Nerve Drug Back to Ionis as RNA Battle Heats Up”
Bio Roundup: $1B Deals, Data Bumps, Acorda’s Lumps, Generic OKs & More
With President Trump holed up in New Jersey, rattling his saber at Kim Jong-un and Mitch McConnell and ignoring his own commission’s advice on the opioid crisis, there was still life sciences news from the nation’s capital. The FDA reported that generic drug approvals are set to hit a record; the agency under Commissioner Scott … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: $1B Deals, Data Bumps, Acorda’s Lumps, Generic OKs & More”
Tech Hiring Trends: Buzzwords, Trump Effect, and Gender-Pay Gap
As the tech economy continues its historic boom, here’s three views of labor market trends released this week, including the rise and fall of buzzwords in engineering job postings; the Trump Administration’s impact on U.S. companies’ interest in foreign workers; and another disappointing look at the gender-pay gap. —In the last two years, big data … Continue reading “Tech Hiring Trends: Buzzwords, Trump Effect, and Gender-Pay Gap”
Why We All Should Care About the Recent Brouhaha at Google
The issues raised by the 10-page memo on the suitability of women for certain engineering and leadership positions at Google (culminating in the firing of its author) have implications for all of us. They are as much about the requirements for success in today’s workplace—and how to identify and nurture those qualities in all employees—as they … Continue reading “Why We All Should Care About the Recent Brouhaha at Google”
Startup Builders, IPO Closers & More: Meet Xconomy’s CEO Award Finalists
There are many ways to stand out as a biotech CEO, from getting a company started in the first place to pushing its first drug over the finish line. Those differences are what we noticed when going through the nominations from you, the readers, for the top Boston biotech CEO, as part of the first-ever … Continue reading “Startup Builders, IPO Closers & More: Meet Xconomy’s CEO Award Finalists”
Athena Survey Probes Gender Issues in San Diego Innovation Ecosystem
A San Diego survey on professional women working in tech and life sciences offers some insights on the recurring debate over gender diversity in venture-backed startups and big companies, as well as a related incident that boiled over this week at Google. When asked, “What do you aspire to be, professionally?” nearly 29 percent of … Continue reading “Athena Survey Probes Gender Issues in San Diego Innovation Ecosystem”
Xconomy Awards: The Finalists Are….
The nominees for our first ever Xconomy Awards were an impressive bunch, and represent a wide range of the technologies, approaches, and yes, personalities, that are all driving Boston biotech today. There’s a lot of talent in this town, so narrowing the list of more than 250 nominations down to a handful of finalists in … Continue reading “Xconomy Awards: The Finalists Are….”
An Insider’s Guide to Bridging the Biotech Gender Gap
As an executive recruiter focused solely on life sciences, I’m among the first to acknowledge the industry’s gender gap. Of the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies around the world, only one has a woman at the helm—and GSK named Emma Natasha Walmsley as CEO less than five months ago. Among biotech executive leadership teams, women make … Continue reading “An Insider’s Guide to Bridging the Biotech Gender Gap”
Opportunity Abounds as Washington Builds the Modern Electricity Grid
[Updated 8/9/17, 9:48 a.m. See below.] In a dry grassland set amid some of the region’s preeminent energy research, production, and training facilities, you can see the future of the electricity grid, and Washington state companies and workers are playing a major role in shaping it. The Horn Rapids Solar, Storage, and Training Project—which would … Continue reading “Opportunity Abounds as Washington Builds the Modern Electricity Grid”
Bio Roundup: CRISPR Advances, Obamacare Lives, FDA Nods & More
Gene editing took an important step this week when a group of U.S. researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 technology to correct a genetic error in dozens of human embryos without complications. It’s a significant achievement, but amidst the hype, it’s worth cautioning just how much work has to be done before the technology leads to a safe … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: CRISPR Advances, Obamacare Lives, FDA Nods & More”
Social Web Startup Signs Deal with AP to Distribute Sports Scores
ScoreStream, a San Diego area startup providing a crowdsourced social media platform for reporting high school sports scores, said Thursday it has agreed to distribute high school game scores under a new collaboration agreement with The Associated Press. Under their agreement, this fall ScoreStream will begin distributing and publishing high school football scores across 42 … Continue reading “Social Web Startup Signs Deal with AP to Distribute Sports Scores”
Dramatic Capital Inflows Continue in 2Q17… Trouble Ahead?
In an environment of microscopic interest rates, it is particularly interesting to read the Preqin 2Q17 Quarterly Update, which exhaustively tracks all things private equity and venture capital. At the end of June 2017 there were 1,998 funds in market raising a total of $676 billion – a staggering sum – indicative of global investors … Continue reading “Dramatic Capital Inflows Continue in 2Q17… Trouble Ahead?”
Cibus Readies Enhanced Crops for Push into Canada, and Beyond
After raising $57 million in a Series B round of venture funding, the San Diego agricultural biotech Cibus Global is laying the groundwork to introduce its first commercial product in Canada. Cibus introduced its first enhanced crop—an herbicide-resistant strain of canola—in the U.S. about two years ago, CEO Peter Beetham said Wednesday in an interview … Continue reading “Cibus Readies Enhanced Crops for Push into Canada, and Beyond”
San Diego’s Amplyx Raises $67M to Advance New Anti-Fungal Drug
After completing an early stage evaluation of its broad-spectrum anti-fungal drug, San Diego’s Amplyx Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday it has raised $67 million in a Series C financing round led by a new investor, Sofinnova Venture Partners. Ciara Kennedy, who succeeded Mike Grey as Amplyx CEO late last year, said in an interview with Xconomy that … Continue reading “San Diego’s Amplyx Raises $67M to Advance New Anti-Fungal Drug”
CyberTech Founder Andersen Named to Head Nxt Robotics Startup
Nxt Robotics, a San Diego startup developing robots for private security, has named San Diego CyberHive and CyberTech founder Darin Anderson as CEO. Jeff Debrosse, the San Diego cybersecurity expert who founded Nxt Robotics in 2014, will continue as CTO, according to a statement from the company. Andersen and Debrosse worked together a decade ago … Continue reading “CyberTech Founder Andersen Named to Head Nxt Robotics Startup”
Disrupt Indy: Can Data Forge the Path to Inclusive Tech Ecosystems?
U.S. tech startups and investment firms have long been thought of as the domain of white men—because historically, they have been. Although that may be changing as more big tech corporations are pressured to release their diversity statistics and change hiring policies, one only needs to look at the statistics to confirm that women, members … Continue reading “Disrupt Indy: Can Data Forge the Path to Inclusive Tech Ecosystems?”
A.I. Chip Race Redraws Competitive Map Among Tech Firms, Chipmakers
It’s been a long time since tech’s biggest companies could be sorted into discrete buckets according to the products they pioneered—-Google, the search software giant; Apple, the computer and mobile device innovator; e-commerce leader Amazon; business software stalwart Microsoft; and social media engine Facebook. Since then, these major innovators have built on a common resource—increasingly … Continue reading “A.I. Chip Race Redraws Competitive Map Among Tech Firms, Chipmakers”
Bio Roundup: GOP Drama, Immunotherapy Setbacks, Pharma Revamps
Two failed cancer studies this week provided a fresh reminder how little researchers and clinicians understand about immunotherapy’s vagaries: why it works for some people and not for others. The results, in lung cancer and head-and neck cancer, add to recent failures in multiple myeloma and bladder cancer and splash cold water on a sector … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: GOP Drama, Immunotherapy Setbacks, Pharma Revamps”
Immunotherapy Shakeup: AstraZeneca Inks Merck Deal as Drug Combo Fails
Despite all the great progress made harnessing the immune system to fight cancer, there is still much work to be done to maximize its potential. The latest evidence: disappointing results today from a roughly 1,100-patient study called “Mystic,” a highly anticipated trial from AstraZeneca testing a combination of immunotherapies in newly diagnosed lung cancer patients. … Continue reading “Immunotherapy Shakeup: AstraZeneca Inks Merck Deal as Drug Combo Fails”
Illumina Accelerator Sees ‘Huge Impact in Genomics’ in New Startups
Genomics startups are increasing in number and quality, so much so that three-year-old Illumina Accelerator has expanded with its latest class to accommodate five of them. Xconomy got an early look at the specialty accelerator’s sixth cohort, which includes a company named for a butterfly and the accelerator’s first digital health startup. Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]), … Continue reading “Illumina Accelerator Sees ‘Huge Impact in Genomics’ in New Startups”
Effector Raises $38.6M to Advance New Class of Anti-Cancer Drugs
San Diego’s Effector Therapeutics, a five-year-old cancer drug developer, has raised $38.6 million in new venture capital funding. The Series C financing, led by Pfizer Venture Investments, brings total funding for Effector to about $150 million, CEO Steve Worland said late Monday. The company said it plans to use the new funding to advance testing … Continue reading “Effector Raises $38.6M to Advance New Class of Anti-Cancer Drugs”
With Helix’s Help, Lose It Adds Genetic Insights to Weight Loss App
Does your genetic code contain information that can help you lose weight? It’s a serious question in science, and in business. Now, the makers of Lose It aim to find out. The nine-year-old mobile app—from Boston-based parent company FitNow—was early in the field of using smartphones to log workouts and meals, and track progress toward … Continue reading “With Helix’s Help, Lose It Adds Genetic Insights to Weight Loss App”
After Mobile App Success, Rock My World Introduces Fitness Chatbot
Adam Riggs-Zeigen has come a long way since 2013, when he co-founded San Diego’s Rock My World and introduced the mobile app RockMyRun to provide upbeat music playlists to motivate smartphone-equipped runners. “We found that it expanded into other avenues, like fitness studios,” Riggs-Zeigen recalled in a recent interview. The following year, the startup created … Continue reading “After Mobile App Success, Rock My World Introduces Fitness Chatbot”
$200M Invested For a Global Network of Indoor Farms? That’s Plenty
Agtech startup Plenty has reeled in $200 million in financing as the company presses forward on its plans to build a global network of indoor vertical farms. Softbank Vision Fund of Japan led the Series B funding round for South San Francisco, CA-based Plenty. The round included investments from affiliates of Louis Bacon, the founder … Continue reading “$200M Invested For a Global Network of Indoor Farms? That’s Plenty”
Bio Roundup: Obamacare Persists, FDA Approves, Vertex Wows & More
The attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act took a major hit this week from Senate GOP holdouts who said the Better Care Reconciliation Act either tore down Medicaid too much or left too much of the ACA in place. A straight-up repeal, floated by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, was also shot … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Obamacare Persists, FDA Approves, Vertex Wows & More”
New Frontier: Space Center Crowdfunds for Mission Control Facelift
[Updated 7/25/17 5:18 pm. See below.] Houston—Houston, Mission Control has a problem. The storied control room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston—recognizable to many of us from 1960s news clips of the dawn of the Space Age––is in need of a face-lift. And so, Space Center Houston, the visitor’s center for the JSC, has turned … Continue reading “New Frontier: Space Center Crowdfunds for Mission Control Facelift”
Christopher Ahlberg: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview
The second episode of Xconomy’s new podcast, Xconomy Voices, features Recorded Future co-founder and CEO Christopher Ahlberg. His Somerville, MA-based cybersecurity company monitors both the public, visible Web and the Internet’s darker corners for “threat intelligence” that can help its clients prepare for, and fend off, cyber attacks. Ahlberg’s background in data analytics and his … Continue reading “Christopher Ahlberg: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview”
A.I. Prizes, Coming to Healthcare, Hit $1M Mark in Cancer Contests
This story is part of an Xconomy series on artificial intelligence in healthcare. Some of the other stories cover a genomics hackathon, A.I. and radiology, and the impact on doctors and patients. In the classic 1967 film “The Graduate,” Dustin Hoffman’s just-out-of-college character gets one word of career advice from a family friend: plastics. In … Continue reading “A.I. Prizes, Coming to Healthcare, Hit $1M Mark in Cancer Contests”
SoftBank-Led $114M Round Puts Qualcomm’s Brain Corp. on New Path
San Diego’s Brain Corp., founded in 2009 as a Qualcomm-incubated startup to develop software and computer systems that emulate the human brain, seems to have found a new path forward. SoftBank’s new Vision Fund has led a $114 million investment to advance the company’s artificial intelligence technology. Qualcomm Ventures, which previously invested about $11 million … Continue reading “SoftBank-Led $114M Round Puts Qualcomm’s Brain Corp. on New Path”
Xconomy Voices, Episode 2: Christopher Ahlberg of Recorded Future
On our new Xconomy Voices podcast, we find the smartest, most successful entrepreneurs and innovators in Xconomy’s network of cities and regions, and we ask them to open up about what they’re working on, what they’re excited about, and why they think their company, product, or idea is going to take the world by storm. … Continue reading “Xconomy Voices, Episode 2: Christopher Ahlberg of Recorded Future”
What Internet Pioneer Vint Cerf Sees in San Diego (and Other Hubs)
The Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf came to San Diego recently on an unusual quest—to meet with dozens of local technology leaders and assess what the region has to offer in terms of innovation. It was Veni, Vidi, Vinti. He came. He saw. He Cerfed. The visit was unusual in part because of Cerf himself. As … Continue reading “What Internet Pioneer Vint Cerf Sees in San Diego (and Other Hubs)”
Startup WiseWear Connects With Ingenu on Wearable Security Device
San Antonio—WiseWear, a San Antonio-based wearable technology maker, has created a new product that uses a low-power wireless network to help users stay connected to an emergency alert services around the globe. The company and its partner on the device, San Diego-based Ingenu, plan to sell it as a small, circular piece of Internet-connected technology … Continue reading “Startup WiseWear Connects With Ingenu on Wearable Security Device”
Akcea Slashes IPO Price Ahead of Filing for Rare Disease Drug
Akcea Therapeutics is joining the parade of biotechs going public, but the company had to cut its stock price and sell more shares in order to pull it off. Cambridge, MA-based Akcea had planned on raising $125 million from the initial public offering, and it hit that target. But the biotech priced its offering of … Continue reading “Akcea Slashes IPO Price Ahead of Filing for Rare Disease Drug”
Bio Roundup: PDUFA Progress, BCRA Redux, CAR-T Thumbs Up, & More
Government and industry are rife with awkward acronyms. Take PDUFA, for example. First passed in 1992, the Prescription Drug User Fee Act allows the FDA to collect fees from biopharmaceutical companies when they apply for drug approval; those funds are designated for the regulator’s drug evaluation work. Congress must reauthorize the law every five years … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: PDUFA Progress, BCRA Redux, CAR-T Thumbs Up, & More”
Teradata Acquires San Diego’s StackIQ to Strengthen Cloud Business
Dayton, OH-based Teradata (NYSE: [[ticker:TDC]]), which has roughly 1,000 employees at its Teradata Labs engineering unit in San Diego, says today it has acquired StackIQ, a six-year-old startup near San Diego that specializes in software used to automate datacenters in the cloud. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. But reading between the lines, … Continue reading “Teradata Acquires San Diego’s StackIQ to Strengthen Cloud Business”
Unanimous Advice To FDA: Approve Landmark CAR-T Cancer Therapy
The first ever approval of a new kind of cancer immunotherapy called CAR-T is one step closer. A 10-member panel of doctors and researchers who advise the Food and Drug Administration recommended with a rare unanimous vote that the agency approve a treatment for kids and young adults with a severe form of leukemia who … Continue reading “Unanimous Advice To FDA: Approve Landmark CAR-T Cancer Therapy”
Austin’s Riskpulse Formed in the Vortex of Two Weather-Tech Startups
Austin—For businesses that ship anything from mayonnaise to car parts, a change in temperature or an unexpected storm can mean bigger problems than just rotten eggs or stalled repairs. In this age of “just in time manufacturing,” entire factories might need to halt production if the right parts aren’t delivered, potentially costing thousands of dollars … Continue reading “Austin’s Riskpulse Formed in the Vortex of Two Weather-Tech Startups”
VCs Invest $406M in 61 SD Startups; TP Therapeutics Leads Q2 Deals
TP Therapeutics, which raised $45 million in May to advance its work on drug-resistant cancers, raised the most venture capital in San Diego County during the three months that ended June 30, according to regional data released today. Altogether, venture firms invested a total of $406.4 million in San Diego companies during the second quarter, … Continue reading “VCs Invest $406M in 61 SD Startups; TP Therapeutics Leads Q2 Deals”
VC “Self-Correction” Continues in Second Quarter, and Top 10 Deals
[Updated 7/12/17, 8:38 am, to add MoneyTree data. See below.] U.S. venture capital investments are showing more signs of returning to steady levels. Investors pumped $21.78 billion into 1,958 companies in the second quarter, according to data from the quarterly Venture Monitor report from Seattle-based PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The number … Continue reading “VC “Self-Correction” Continues in Second Quarter, and Top 10 Deals”
Bio Roundup: BCRA Fireworks, Shkreli Muzzled, Endo Pulls Drug & More
The Fourth of July was this week, but members of Congress didn’t need to crane their necks skyward to see fireworks. Senators returned to their districts, where local news offered blistering headlines about the potential impact of the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. Independence Day typically lets lawmakers mingle with constituents at … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: BCRA Fireworks, Shkreli Muzzled, Endo Pulls Drug & More”
Bayer Signs Deal with San Diego’s SlantRange to Analyze Farm Data
SlantRange, a San Diego startup that specializes in providing agricultural data and analytics for farmers, has landed its first strategic agreement with a major agribusiness company. In a statement today, SlantRange says it is now working to collect and analyze crop data for Bayer Crop Science, a division of Bayer’s North American operations based in … Continue reading “Bayer Signs Deal with San Diego’s SlantRange to Analyze Farm Data”
5 Privacy Worries on 4 Wheels: Staying Safe in the Connected Car Era
As modern vehicles are upgraded to include Internet-enabled technologies designed to access, store, and transmit data for entertainment and safety purposes, consumers are presented with a double-edged sword. On one hand, these connected systems provide important convenience benefits for consumers, but on the flip side, motor vehicles are being exposed to a growing number of … Continue reading “5 Privacy Worries on 4 Wheels: Staying Safe in the Connected Car Era”
What’s the Business Model for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare?
This story is part of an ongoing Xconomy series on A.I. in healthcare. Other stories cover big-company efforts, a genomics hackathon, and the impact on doctors and patients. These are heady times for using artificial intelligence to extract insights from healthcare data—in particular, from the tidal wave of information coming out of fields like genomics … Continue reading “What’s the Business Model for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare?”
Bio Roundup: Senate Drama, A.I. Stories, Data Dives, Shkreli & More
There is no Obamacare replacement, at least not as of this writing. The Senate Republicans are fractured, with a handful of conservatives and moderates each giving a cold shoulder to their chamber’s version of healthcare reform, the Better Care Reconciliation Act. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report Monday put the bill’s potential effects in stark … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Senate Drama, A.I. Stories, Data Dives, Shkreli & More”
Tri-D Dynamics Aspires to Print Rocket Components for New Space Age
In tech circles, amid the chatter about terrestrial innovations such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and genomics, there’s excitement building around another important emerging sector: private space travel. Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Virgin’s Richard Branson, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen all have private space ventures underway. NASA is once again ramping up its … Continue reading “Tri-D Dynamics Aspires to Print Rocket Components for New Space Age”
Vivace Therapeutics Comes Out of Stealth With $25M for Cancer Drugs
Vivace Therapeutics, a San Mateo, CA-based biotech that has kept quiet about its research until now, has reached across the Pacific Ocean to close $25 million in financing to support its work developing drugs to target two different mechanisms of cancer biology. New investor Cenova Capital, based in China, led the Series B round of … Continue reading “Vivace Therapeutics Comes Out of Stealth With $25M for Cancer Drugs”