Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=28083421-b979-4c18-ace5-8b43ad14caf8 Date 11/11/2013 Company Name Oomba Mailing Address 9851 Irvine Center Dr 1st Floor Irvine, CA 92618 Company Description Sports, games, video games – we all play something. We love to compete in tournaments, leagues and events. But even in the age of cloud computing and mobile devices, most competitions are organized … Continue reading “Oomba Receives $1,600,000 Series A Financing Round”
Category: San Diego
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Santarus, Cytori, IPOs, and More
This was a big week for life sciences news in San Diego. A very big week. So without further ado: —Salix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SLXP]]) of Raleigh, NC, said it’s buying San Diego-based Santarus (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNTS]]) in a deal valued at $2.6 billion. Santarus, founded in 1996, has built up a diverse portfolio of drugs for … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Santarus, Cytori, IPOs, and More”
Apple’s Weakness: Customer Loyalty Has Its Limits
If you’re ever forced to read a public company’s annual report, turn first to the “risk factors” section, which is always the most entertaining. This is where companies are required to disclose all of the things that could go terribly wrong with their businesses. It’s a Wall Street version of Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies (“A … Continue reading “Apple’s Weakness: Customer Loyalty Has Its Limits”
Science of Bioinspiration Is Spreading, But Lacks Commercial Teeth
Can innovators learn anything about sustainability from the minimalist lifestyle of a two-toed sloth? This question occurred to me Wednesday during the Fourth Annual Bioinspiration Conference in San Diego, while an educator from the San Diego Zoo held an irresistibly cute sloth during a session break billed as an “animal presentation.” We were told the … Continue reading “Science of Bioinspiration Is Spreading, But Lacks Commercial Teeth”
Roozt Secures $350,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8135d498-ae06-4dae-a55c-389721f07133 Date 11/8/2013 Company Name Roozt Mailing Address 431 E. Grand Avenue El Segundo, CA 90245 Company Description At Roozt, every purchase makes a difference. All featured brands are fashion-forward companies that are making a positive impact in their community, environment, with their employees, or with humanity as a whole. Our team … Continue reading “Roozt Secures $350,000 New Round”
ImmunGene Receives $9,000,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=80201e9f-00c5-4b70-96a6-ac8595d5ee83 Date 11/8/2013 Company Name ImmunGene Mailing Address 558 St. Charles Dr Thousand Oaks, CA 93012 Company Description ImmunGene is focused on creating a pipeline of next generation antibody therapeutics, based on its platform technology of antibody fusions with select cytokines, chemokines and costimulatory molecules, to attract, deplete or activate the powerful … Continue reading “ImmunGene Receives $9,000,000 Series A Financing”
Building Biotechs to Last: See Bonnie Anderson, Dan Bradbury & More
For a few years, “virtual” biotech companies with a single asset and a handful of employees and contractors were the rage. The idea was to get a small team to work together a few years, hit some milestone, and flip it to Big Pharma. This year, in what looks like the second-biggest crop of biotech … Continue reading “Building Biotechs to Last: See Bonnie Anderson, Dan Bradbury & More”
Surviving Exponential Growth: Lessons from Network Solutions
At the beginning of 1995, there were only about 71,000 domain names in the entire world, and a grand total of about 16 million Internet users. This was the year that Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), then based in San Diego, acquired Network Solutions—a small technology company in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. … Continue reading “Surviving Exponential Growth: Lessons from Network Solutions”
deviantART Garners $10,037,704 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6c380797-3958-4650-85fc-6fbc0ab136dd Date 11/7/2013 Company Name deviantART Mailing Address 7095 Hollywood Blvd Hollywood, CA 90028 Company Description deviantART was created to entertain, inspire, and empower the artist in all of us. Founded in August 2000, deviantART is the largest online social network for artists and art enthusiasts with over 28 million registered members, … Continue reading “deviantART Garners $10,037,704 New Financing”
Plug and Play Offers San Diego Startups a Bridge to Silicon Valley
They departed. They saw. And then they came back. The inaugural class of startups from San Diego to be admitted to a 10-week “startup camp” established by the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, CA, has returned home. Five of the eight companies chosen to participate in the first Plug and Play San Diego … Continue reading “Plug and Play Offers San Diego Startups a Bridge to Silicon Valley”
While Healthcare.gov Scrambles, Private Exchanges Are Off to the Races
All eyes are on the hullaballoo created by the challenges at Healthcare.gov and several of the states’ public insurance exchanges. Yet all the while, like in a magic show, attention has been diverted from the real action going on elsewhere. Quietly and in a relatively drama-free way, the private health insurance exchanges are busily taking … Continue reading “While Healthcare.gov Scrambles, Private Exchanges Are Off to the Races”
San Diego’s Celladon Sets Price Range for IPO Shares
Another San Diego life sciences company is taxiing toward an IPO takeoff. Celladon, a biotechnology company targeting heart disease, disclosed plans to offer 5 million shares of its stock at a price range of $14 to $16 a share, according to a regulatory filing. At the mid-range price of $15 a share, Celladon would raise … Continue reading “San Diego’s Celladon Sets Price Range for IPO Shares”
San Diego’s Tandem Diabetes Sets IPO Terms
San Diego’s Tandem Diabetes Care set the terms for its IPO yesterday, offering more than 7.1 million shares of its stock at a price between $13 and $15 a share, according to an amended regulatory filing. The medical device maker was not among the companies expected to go public this week, according to a list … Continue reading “San Diego’s Tandem Diabetes Sets IPO Terms”
Lytx Name Change Reflects New Direction for San Diego’s DriveCam
San Diego-based DriveCam, which is 15 years old and has more than 240 employees, is heading in a new direction. The company says it is changing its name to Lytx—as in analytics—in anticipation of a new business initiative to broaden and diversify its core business, which uses dashboard video cameras and telematics technologies to analyze … Continue reading “Lytx Name Change Reflects New Direction for San Diego’s DriveCam”
Which Regions Are Churning Out the Most Biotech IPOs?
If you’ve got ambitions to start and build a biotech company that may someday go public, where is the best place to make it happen? Which regional clusters provide the most fertile places where people, scientific ideas, technology, and money come together to build NASDAQ-worthy biotech companies? This is just one more way of looking … Continue reading “Which Regions Are Churning Out the Most Biotech IPOs?”
Exagen Diagnostics Obtains $25,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9418b31a-96df-42e8-82b6-a2b6f635e1fd Date 11/4/2013 Company Name Exagen Diagnostics Mailing Address 1261 Liberty Way Vista, CA 92081 Company Description Exagen Diagnostics Inc. discovers, validates and commercializes small sets of genomic markers, providing prognostic reagents for commercial laboratory testing and for pharmaceutical use in clinical trials. In leading the development of a new class of … Continue reading “Exagen Diagnostics Obtains $25,000,000 New Funding”
Qualcomm in Talks to Fund Robotics Initiative at UC San Diego
San Diego-based Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) and Brain Corp., the Qualcomm-backed startup developing technology that emulates the human brain, are in talks to provide funding for a broadly based initiative in robotics at UC San Diego. “We are working on building a robotics institute, robotics lab, and (more importantly) a robotics incubator,” writes Eugene Izhikevich, Brain … Continue reading “Qualcomm in Talks to Fund Robotics Initiative at UC San Diego”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Zogenix, Illumina, Sophiris, & More
It’s not all about the IPOs. Two San Diego biotechs took advantage of the continuing favorable market conditions to raise capital through secondary public offerings over the past week. I’ve got details, along with the rest of the local life sciences news. —Despite an independent panel’s recommendation against approval, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Zogenix, Illumina, Sophiris, & More”
6 Secrets to Slaying the E-Mail Monster
People have been complaining about the onslaught of e-mail almost since the day it was invented. We’ve all heard the statistics: Over 100 billion business e-mails are sent every day, with the average user sending and receiving about 100 messages per day. Reading and answering e-mail takes up 28 percent of the average worker’s day—about … Continue reading “6 Secrets to Slaying the E-Mail Monster”
Achates Power Signs Joint Development Deal with Fairbanks Morse
San Diego’s Achates Power, which has been advancing a cleaner, more fuel-efficient, and easier-to-manufacture design for opposed piston engines, says it has signed a joint development and licensing agreement with Fairbanks Morse Engine, the leading U.S. maker of opposed-piston engines. Fairbanks Morse, based in bucolic Beloit, WI, and operated by EnPro Industries (NYSE: [[ticker:NPO]]) makes … Continue reading “Achates Power Signs Joint Development Deal with Fairbanks Morse”
Red (and Green) Flags To Look for With Biotech’s Buyside Investors
As Warren Buffett once pointed out, companies get the investors they deserve. Observations by the oracle-from-Omaha are hard to dispute, but how does that translate into practice if you’re a biotech company going through the IPO process and trying to read the signs in a whole new landscape of investors known as “the buyside”? Many … Continue reading “Red (and Green) Flags To Look for With Biotech’s Buyside Investors”
SharePoint Users Get Live Data Feed from Seismic Integration
After raising $4.5 million in venture funding two months ago, Encinitas, CA-based Seismic says it is moving up the food chain in content management software. Seismic was founded three years ago, following a lean startup model. CEO Doug Winter tells me the company used much of that time to build out the basic infrastructure of … Continue reading “SharePoint Users Get Live Data Feed from Seismic Integration”
AroundWire.com Garners $2,500,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dc4ff7f5-e716-4852-a838-963f56143de5 Date 10/31/2013 Company Name AroundWire.com Mailing Address 18107 Sherman Way Los Angeles, CA 91335 Company Description We are an online community where you can exchange goods, services and ideas with people you trust. Being honest just became more profitable for everyone. Our mission is to facilitate business and personal connections in … Continue reading “AroundWire.com Garners $2,500,000 New Round”
Lessons from the St. Louis Cardinals and ‘Building Biotechs to Last’
When I hit the couch tonight to watch Game 6 of the World Series, I won’t be rooting for anyone. I will just be another baseball fan hoping for a great game between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. But I have been thinking about not just baseball, but organizational strategy lately, … Continue reading “Lessons from the St. Louis Cardinals and ‘Building Biotechs to Last’”
2013 Bioinspiration Conference at the Prado and San Diego Zoo
The 2013 Bioinspiration Conference convenes to accelerate development of nature’s solutions. Since 2009, leading industry, academic and biomimicry practitioners have convened at the San Diego Zoo to continue a collaborative journey bridging natural discovery with development, financing, and business licensing. The program will be held at the San Diego Zoo and the Prado on Balboa … Continue reading “2013 Bioinspiration Conference at the Prado and San Diego Zoo”
Four Red Flags for Digital Health Investors
It’s been a banner year for startups raising money to start digital and mobile health businesses—enough to spark a recent Time magazine article called “The Obamacare Start-Up Boom.” Here in San Francisco, it seems the number of job applicants my own digital heatlh company receives, as well as the number of attendees at health technology … Continue reading “Four Red Flags for Digital Health Investors”
Ormet Circuits Lands $1,469,315 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=957eecbf-2bc0-43b9-9fcd-2ac4753173ee Date 10/30/2013 Company Name Ormet Circuits Mailing Address 6555 Nancy Ridge Road San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Ormet materials provide high electrical and thermal conductivity, good solderability, adhesion to most substrates and low curing temperatures. During cure, Ormet ink becomes a fused metal network that alloys itself to conventional circuit … Continue reading “Ormet Circuits Lands $1,469,315 New Round”
CSC Acquires ServiceMesh for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=af650e51-5564-45b8-a1b4-f6f4a226d5a0 Date 10/30/2013 Company Name ServiceMesh Mailing Address 233 Wilshire Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90401 Company Description ServiceMesh enables Agile IT operating models for global 2000 clients to improve their business agility while simultaneously lowering capital spending and operating costs. Website http://www.servicemesh.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “CSC Acquires ServiceMesh for Undisclosed Sum”
Mitek Introduces Mobile Imaging App to Switch Credit Card Accounts
After introducing mobile check deposit technology in 2008, and mobile bill payment in 2012, San Diego’s Mitek Systems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MITK]]) is striking into some interesting (virtual) territory by expanding its core technology to enable customers to switch credit card accounts by simply snapping a picture of their statement and sending it to another bank. The … Continue reading “Mitek Introduces Mobile Imaging App to Switch Credit Card Accounts”
Frazier Healthcare Adds Carol Gallagher as Venture Partner
Carol Gallagher made a lot of money for Frazier Healthcare Ventures by leading of one of its portfolio companies, and now she’s going to see if she can help the firm in a new way. Gallagher, the former CEO of Seattle-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, a Frazier investment sold to Gilead Sciences for up to $600 million … Continue reading “Frazier Healthcare Adds Carol Gallagher as Venture Partner”
Brighter Secures $15,000,000 Series C Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1bae77a9-aac6-4ad8-8145-6e1b36692b9f Date 10/29/2013 Company Name Brighter Mailing Address 501 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90401 Company Description Brighter features top-rated dentists at the most affordable prices. Cut your dental costs in half! Website http://www.brighter.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $15,000,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes The proceeds from the … Continue reading “Brighter Secures $15,000,000 Series C Financing”
300 I-Corps Teams in Two Years
This is the start of the third year teaching teams of scientists (professors and their graduate students) in the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps). This month we’ve crossed ~300 teams in the first two years through the program. I-Corps is the accelerator that helps scientists bridge the commercialization gap between their research in their … Continue reading “300 I-Corps Teams in Two Years”
The Biggest Bargains Pharma Scooped Up in the Down Years
Most little biotech companies, until this year’s IPO boom, couldn’t seriously think about raising money from public investors. Most couldn’t raise big venture dollars from an ever-shrinking pool of VCs. The pool of potential partners and buyers in Big Pharma was shrinking, too, because mega-mergers reduced the number of potential bidders. With cash running low … Continue reading “The Biggest Bargains Pharma Scooped Up in the Down Years”
Celladon Receives $1,097,306 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a4f17bd8-b2f4-4112-855a-c48cae2615c9 Date 10/28/2013 Company Name Celladon Mailing Address 12760 High Bluff Drive San Diego, CA 92130 Company Description Celladon Corporation is an exciting new biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for cardiovascular diseases through the application of scientific discoveries in molecular cardiology. Website http://www.celladon.net Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $1,097,306 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Celladon Receives $1,097,306 New Funding”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Illumina, Mirati, Auspex, and More
Some big news over the last week came from the Scripps Translational Science Institute, which successfully renewed its grant from the National Institutes of Health. We have details, along with a rundown of other news. —The Scripps Translational Science Institute said it is getting $29 million over the next five years to continue its work … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Illumina, Mirati, Auspex, and More”
BuzzFeed, and 4 More Bad Startup Ideas that Look Like Good Ideas
Y Combinator staged its annual Startup School event last Saturday, attracting more than 1,700 young startup founders and would-be founders. Andreessen Horowitz partner (and Xconomist) Chris Dixon, the founder of Web startups SiteAdvisor (sold to McAfee) and Hunch (sold to eBay), gave one of the most interesting talks, under the title “Good Ideas That Look Like Bad … Continue reading “BuzzFeed, and 4 More Bad Startup Ideas that Look Like Good Ideas”
BloomNation Receives $1,650,000 Seed Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=620e9a81-8ec2-497b-84ca-b517f9511523 Date 10/25/2013 Company Name BloomNation Mailing Address 8889 W. Olympic Blvd Beverly Hills, CA 90211 Company Description Founded in August of 2011 and based in Los Angeles, California, BloomNation is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and send unique floral creations by local artisans across the country. Whether … Continue reading “BloomNation Receives $1,650,000 Seed Financing”
vWise Secures $204,998 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4bca14f8-31dc-48d9-80fa-f6ea019ee084 Date 10/25/2013 Company Name vWise Mailing Address 95 Enterprise Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 Company Description At vWise we create compelling rich-media internet applications based upon our custom E3 (that’s E-Cubed) platform. Our solutions utilize a mix of live-action HD video and interactive applications, to educate participants and guide them through a … Continue reading “vWise Secures $204,998 Series C Round”
WBT Conference Draws Eclectic Innovation Mix, San Diego Included
Can innovation come in more than one flavor? We have become so accustomed to the Silicon Valley way of doing things that it’s easy to forget that ingenuity engenders a million flowers to bloom. The WBT Innovation Marketplace, an annual tech conference that moved to from Texas to San Diego last year, provides a stage … Continue reading “WBT Conference Draws Eclectic Innovation Mix, San Diego Included”
Test Drive the Tesla and Other EVs
The EV Quorum Car Club is hosting an “Electric Car Guest Drive” event in San Diego. Participants may drive six different electric cars including the Tesla Model S. This family-friendly event features educational exhibits about electric cars, charging systems and solar car charging systems. More information and online registration can be found here. Invitation and … Continue reading “Test Drive the Tesla and Other EVs”
Embarke, Home from Seattle, Gets $1.25M to Make E-mail Work Better
Last year at this time, Embarke co-founders Al Bsharah and Bryan Hall were working long hours in the Techstars/Microsoft accelerator, a startup crucible in Seattle established under a partnership between the software giant and the Boulder, CO-based startup program. Strengthened by the experience, Bsharah tells me the two-year-old startup has now closed on a $1.25 … Continue reading “Embarke, Home from Seattle, Gets $1.25M to Make E-mail Work Better”
Pharma Showing Interest in Open Systems for Drug Discovery
[Editor’s note: this post first appeared on the FasterCures blog.] Bringing the ideas of “open source” into the pharmaceutical process is far from simple. It requires a careful understanding both of the realities of open source as a software development process well as the realities of therapy research, development, and regulatory approval. The open source … Continue reading “Pharma Showing Interest in Open Systems for Drug Discovery”
Innovation’s Next Decade
While the world economy continues to look shaky, the technology industry has never looked stronger. Now is perhaps a good time to stop for a moment and reflect on what the next decade will be all about for the industry. My vision of what the technology industry needs to focus on is best described by … Continue reading “Innovation’s Next Decade”
Raynforest Obtains $390,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b65017ee-80e7-4ce6-8eb0-b7cbb620d741 Date 10/23/2013 Company Name Raynforest Mailing Address 2647 Gateway Rd Carlsbad, CA 92009 Company Description Raynforest provides the first solution to enable influential people to promote themselves or their content. In short, we are like AngelList for influencers, celebrities, speakers, promoters and connectors. We are a marketplace that facilitates the process … Continue reading “Raynforest Obtains $390,000 New Round”
Raynforest Secures $390,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b65017ee-80e7-4ce6-8eb0-b7cbb620d741 Date 10/23/2013 Company Name Raynforest Mailing Address 2647 Gateway Rd Carlsbad, CA 92009 Company Description Raynforest provides the first solution to enable influential people to promote themselves or their content. In short, we are like AngelList for influencers, celebrities, speakers, promoters and connectors. We are a marketplace that facilitates the process … Continue reading “Raynforest Secures $390,000 New Round”
NIH Awards $29M to Renew Scripps Translational Science Institute
[Corrected 10/21/13, 3:45 pm to show Topol sought grant after arriving in San Diego.] Federal funding for the Scripps Translational Science Institute, which cardiologist Eric Topol won after he came to San Diego seven years ago as the chief academic officer of Scripps Health and a professor of genomics at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), … Continue reading “NIH Awards $29M to Renew Scripps Translational Science Institute”
San Diego’s Arcturus Raises $5M for “Best-in-Class” RNAi Technology
San Diego’s Arcturus Therapeutics, founded earlier this year to advance RNA interference (RNAi) technology, says it has secured $5 million in a Series A round raised entirely from individual investors in the United States and abroad. Pad Chivukula, a co-founder, COO, and chief scientific officer, writes in an e-mail that raising that much from private … Continue reading “San Diego’s Arcturus Raises $5M for “Best-in-Class” RNAi Technology”
Insightra Medical Lands Series C Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d181f7ef-9c4a-47d1-8073-5f4c30c7a7b6 Date 10/22/2013 Company Name Insightra Medical Mailing Address 9200 Irvine Center Dr Irvine, CA 92618 Company Description In 2006 the first equity capital was raised and the current management team was assembled. Around that time, marketing rights were acquired for Ultra IAB aortic balloon pump catheter range created by TMP of … Continue reading “Insightra Medical Lands Series C Financing Round”
San Diego’s Top Angel Investors and the Network Effect: A Slideshow
It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that an entrepreneur in possession of innovative technology must be in want of an angel investor. Yet the process of finding an angel who is willing to invest more than just capital—a person who possesses the proper character as well as expertise, experience, interest, and passion—is a complicated … Continue reading “San Diego’s Top Angel Investors and the Network Effect: A Slideshow”
21 Red Flags to Watch for in a Biotech Company
Nutty things are happening in biotech. Irrational exuberance has returned. Generalist investors with lots of money are suddenly buying these stocks first and asking questions later. Companies can fire off meaningless press releases, and be rewarded. I heard a big-time money manager talk the other day about a recent biotech IPO being one of the … Continue reading “21 Red Flags to Watch for in a Biotech Company”