It took me by complete surprise. Here I was thinking we were on the same page, that we were doing some good things together and, despite some challenges, we made a pretty good team. So, when one of my brightest early talent employees walked into my office to tell me he was leaving, I asked … Continue reading “Silicon Valley Advisory: Make Talent Retention Personal”
Category: Texas
No HQ2? No Problem, Say Leaders in TX Cities Passed Over by Amazon
As word trickled out that North Texas was likely one of three finalists for Amazon’s “HQ2,” Chris Wallace felt optimistic about the region’s prospects. After all, the tech giant had said its priorities included a skilled workforce, logistics infrastructure, and a competitive cost of living. Wallace, who is the president and CEO of the North … Continue reading “No HQ2? No Problem, Say Leaders in TX Cities Passed Over by Amazon”
Amazon Ends “HQ” Search, Pledges to Spend $5B on New Sites in NY, VA
The wait is finally over. Amazon said Tuesday it plans to significantly expand its presence in the New York City and Washington, DC, metropolitan areas beginning next year. The announcement was widely expected following news reports identifying the locales as likely winners of Amazon’s lengthy search process for an additional “headquarters,” as the company is … Continue reading “Amazon Ends “HQ” Search, Pledges to Spend $5B on New Sites in NY, VA”
Dallas Innovation Alliance, Funds for Austin Startups & More TX Tech
Let’s catch up on the latest innovation news in Texas. —Coder, a cloud-based software development startup out of Austin, announced it has raised $4.5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Uncork Capital and Redpoint Ventures, with participation from Founders Fund, Capital Factory, John Kodumal, Quinn Slack, Grant Gregory, Alec Guettel, David Rosenblatt, … Continue reading “Dallas Innovation Alliance, Funds for Austin Startups & More TX Tech”
GreatCall Expands Lyft Partnership to Pick Up Seniors Nationwide
GreatCall, the maker of the Jitterbug cellphone and other products and services for older adults, has extended its partnership with the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company Lyft to offer GreatCall customers the ability to schedule rides without a smartphone app. No financial terms were disclosed. The San Diego-based healthtech company said Tuesday it is rolling out … Continue reading “GreatCall Expands Lyft Partnership to Pick Up Seniors Nationwide”
CEOs and Scientific Founders: Tips for a Long and Successful Marriage
It seemed like the perfect match: A scientist founder from a top-tier academic institution; A technological innovation based on years and millions of dollars of federally-funded research in a university lab; And a successful entrepreneur and industry veteran named as the CEO of the startup that would take the work forward. But soon after the … Continue reading “CEOs and Scientific Founders: Tips for a Long and Successful Marriage”
Universal Robots Hires Former Rethink Robotics Workers After Closure
A little more than a month after Rethink Robotics shut down, a competitor has hired more than 20 of the Boston-based firm’s former employees. Universal Robots, a Denmark-based maker of collaborative industrial robots, announced Tuesday it has brought on key Rethink personnel, primarily in engineering and product development. The hires include former Rethink chief operating … Continue reading “Universal Robots Hires Former Rethink Robotics Workers After Closure”
Fluidity Founder, an M.D. and NASA Veteran, Designs One-Handed Drone Controller
Houston—Commercial drones are equipped with some of the latest innovations in cameras, sensors, and analytics, so Scott Parazynski wondered why pilots are still using outmoded controllers. “We’ve grown accustomed to these tools but decades later it’s the same [controller] model,” says Parazynski, founder of Fluidity Technologies. “It’s surprising to me that we haven’t evolved past … Continue reading “Fluidity Founder, an M.D. and NASA Veteran, Designs One-Handed Drone Controller”
Apptio Sells to PE Firm Vista Equity for $1.94B Two Years After IPO
Apptio is being taken private by investment firm Vista Equity Partners in a $1.94 billion acquisition. Founded in Bellevue, WA, in 2007, Apptio (NASDAQ: [[ticker:APTI]]) helps corporate leaders track and manage IT spending. The company went public in 2016 with a $96 million IPO, and has recently been acquiring other businesses. It bought FittedCloud, a … Continue reading “Apptio Sells to PE Firm Vista Equity for $1.94B Two Years After IPO”
Salk Team Awarded 8-Year, $19.2M Grant for Alzheimer’s Research
A 10-person team of researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has been awarded an eight-year, $19.2 million grant to investigate mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease and aging-related cognitive decline and uncover new therapies. The grant, announced Friday by the research institute in San Diego’s La Jolla community, is part of a $43 million initiative … Continue reading “Salk Team Awarded 8-Year, $19.2M Grant for Alzheimer’s Research”
Bio Roundup: Midterm Fallout, Alzheimer’s Search, Postpartum Panel
There was plenty at stake in this week’s midterm elections, and not just in terms of political wins and losses. With congress now divided—Democrats took back control of the House and Republicans extended their majority in the Senate—the implications are significant for U.S. healthcare. Just a day after the results, for instance, Senate Majority Leader … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Midterm Fallout, Alzheimer’s Search, Postpartum Panel”
Hold Your Horsepower: For Mobility Industry, “Reality Is Sinking In”
Earlier this month, GM CEO Mary Barra told the crowd at a financial conference that her company was on track to unveil a ridesharing service in 2019 that would be powered by autonomous vehicles. It sounded like pretty big news, but to understand company announcements about the commercial viability of driverless cars, one must first … Continue reading “Hold Your Horsepower: For Mobility Industry, “Reality Is Sinking In””
Boston’s Salsify Buys Austin Maker of E-Commerce Chat Tools
Salsify, a maker of e-commerce software, has acquired Welcome Commerce, an Austin-based developer of chat technology. Boston-based Salsify sells technology that helps retail brands like Michelin and Anheuser-Busch manage their products across e-commerce platforms such as Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]), Walmart (NYSE: [[ticker:WMT]]), or Target (NYSE: [[ticker:TGT]]). Adding Welcome’s chat technology “is a logical extension” of that mission, … Continue reading “Boston’s Salsify Buys Austin Maker of E-Commerce Chat Tools”
Democratic Startup Founders Kopser and Sawyer Lose in Election Bids
Two Texas startup founders who ran for seats in the U.S. Congress and the Texas statehouse lost their bids for political office Tuesday. Joseph Kopser in Austin and Allison Lami Sawyer in Houston were both first-time candidates and ran as Democrats, sparked by a concern about political discourse in the wake of the 2016 election. Both … Continue reading “Democratic Startup Founders Kopser and Sawyer Lose in Election Bids”
Rainwater Foundation Deploys Millions Toward Rare Brain Disease, PSP
Dallas — A foundation started by a Texas billionaire announced Tuesday it will offer millions of dollars in awards to scientists who research neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and progressive supranuclear palsy. The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, which was founded in the 1990s by billionaire investor Richard Rainwater, announced it will start to offer in 2019 an … Continue reading “Rainwater Foundation Deploys Millions Toward Rare Brain Disease, PSP”
Amazon Reportedly Picks HQ2 City—and, in Surprise, Another for HQ3
Amazon is reportedly choosing two cities, not one, for its second headquarters, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) is working on a deal to move into both the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City and the Crystal City neighborhood of … Continue reading “Amazon Reportedly Picks HQ2 City—and, in Surprise, Another for HQ3”
Esperanto Reaps $58M to Speed Development of Its AI Chip
Esperanto Technologies, a startup AI chip developer that has operated mostly below the radar since its founding in 2014, announced this week that it raised $58 million in a Series B fundraising round. Mountain View, CA-based Esperanto is vying with a host of competitors to create new processors for high-order tasks like machine learning and … Continue reading “Esperanto Reaps $58M to Speed Development of Its AI Chip”
Win $2 Million to Solve Alzheimer’s: New Prize Will Reward Fresh Ideas
San Antonio — A Texas billionaire is funding a new competition that will give $4 million to seven individuals who present promising ideas about the cause of Alzheimer’s disease and say they’ll work to prove it. Called the Oskar Fischer Project, the program will give the grand prize winner $2 million of the total, while two … Continue reading “Win $2 Million to Solve Alzheimer’s: New Prize Will Reward Fresh Ideas”
HPE Gives $10M to UH for Joint Data Science Research Projects
The University of Houston and Hewlett Packard Enterprise on Friday announced a collaboration designed to enable advances in data science. The announcement includes a $10 million donation from the computing company to the university’s year-old Data Science Institute, which has been renamed to the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute. The donation will be used … Continue reading “HPE Gives $10M to UH for Joint Data Science Research Projects”
Bio Roundup: Depression Drug Dashed, Peek at ASH, CRISPR Worry & More
The gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 is opening up new research avenues all the time, such as giving drug developers a cheaper, faster way to knock out genes in tumor cells. Studies of CRISPR-Cas9 to treat human disease are about to start, too. But will our immune systems, already on alert for common infections by the bacteria … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Depression Drug Dashed, Peek at ASH, CRISPR Worry & More”
Scaleworks Sells Source Code Manager Assembla to Houston’s Idera
San Antonio—Scaleworks business Assembla has sold for an undisclosed price to Houston-based Idera, a company that owns various business-to-business, developer-focused software companies. San Antonio-based Assembla sells a service that helps developers access the code they use to build software, which is often stored in repository managers, such as Git, Perforce, and NextGen SVN. Assembla was … Continue reading “Scaleworks Sells Source Code Manager Assembla to Houston’s Idera”
Cloud Leaders Shrug at IBM’s $34B Red Hat Deal
In some ways, the biggest software acquisition of all time could be a yawner. IBM’s planned $34 billion deal to acquire open-source software maker Red Hat is a hefty price to pay to give its cloud computing business a shot in the arm. But even if the purchase ultimately boosts IBM’s bottom line, some cloud … Continue reading “Cloud Leaders Shrug at IBM’s $34B Red Hat Deal”
No Excuses: Austin Startup Leaders Pledge to Support Voter Turnout
As Election Day nears, a group of Austin startup leaders have formed a group to encourage tech employees to vote. The ATX Startup Pledge’s mission is to “remove obstacles” that might exist, like feeling that you can’t take time away from work, that could prevent employees from going to the polls on Tuesday. But, more … Continue reading “No Excuses: Austin Startup Leaders Pledge to Support Voter Turnout”
IRobot’s Roombas to Map Households for Google Smart Homes
Autonomous vehicle developers rely heavily on navigational technology that maps the complex terrain of roads, curbs, signs, and people that their cars have to thread through. Google, as it develops its smart home systems, is turning to a company that already knows how to navigate the terrain of a household—corridors, kitchens, cat beds, cast-off shoes, … Continue reading “IRobot’s Roombas to Map Households for Google Smart Homes”
Sam’s Club Goes Digital, BNSF’s Electric Locomotive, & More TX Tech
Let’s get caught up with the latest innovation news from Texas. —The Texas Medical Center’s TMCx accelerator has been included in a list of best programs for the first time. With platinum status, AngelPad, StartX, and Y Combinator topped the list released by the Seed Accelerator Rankings Project. The rankings, which are in part compiled by … Continue reading “Sam’s Club Goes Digital, BNSF’s Electric Locomotive, & More TX Tech”
Facebook’s 3Q Growth Suffices to Stave Off Another Stock Dive
Facebook (NASDAQ: [[ticker:FB]]) shares gained nearly 3 percent Tuesday, and ticked up further in after-hours trading following the release of a third quarter earnings report that showed some strengths as well as shortfalls. Investors have been concerned about the social media giant’s slowing growth rate in a year when it has been under scrutiny for … Continue reading “Facebook’s 3Q Growth Suffices to Stave Off Another Stock Dive”
MR3 Health Takes Aim at Foot Ulcers as San Antonio Tackles Diabetes
San Antonio — Researchers, advocates, and residents in San Antonio have been seeking out ways to handle the growing problem of diabetes in San Antonio and the surrounding Bexar County, which saw the rate of adults with the condition increase to 14.2 percent in 2014 from 11.4 percent two years earlier. Both are higher than the … Continue reading “MR3 Health Takes Aim at Foot Ulcers as San Antonio Tackles Diabetes”
Stantt CEO Thinks Its Approach to Selling Men’s Wear Fits Just Right
Stantt wants to make standard sizing anything but. “Traditional sizing only fits 15 percent of guys,” says Matt Hornbuckle, the startup’s founder and co-CEO. “Twins come in and get different sizes.” To connect guys with a shirt that fits well, the men’s wear startup created a database of “tens of thousands” of body scans. That … Continue reading “Stantt CEO Thinks Its Approach to Selling Men’s Wear Fits Just Right”
No Pipeline Problem: Backstage Capital’s Detroit Plans Spark Excitement
In September, Backstage Capital, a venture investment firm seeding early-stage startups led by women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community, launched a $36 million fund to help support black women founders. At the same time, managing partner Arlan Hamilton said the Los Angeles-based firm would run accelerators in four cities: London, Philadelphia, … Continue reading “No Pipeline Problem: Backstage Capital’s Detroit Plans Spark Excitement”
Pineapples and Bananas: Yummy to Eat, And Now Fashionable to Wear
Style trends may come and go but the apparel industry is increasingly accepting that sustainability will always be in fashion. “We have the chance to shift the environment to a cleaner, more non-toxic place,” says Greg Altman, co-founder and CEO of Silk, a Boston-area maker of a proprietary liquid silk. “That’s really our goal.” To … Continue reading “Pineapples and Bananas: Yummy to Eat, And Now Fashionable to Wear”
U.K. Slaps Maximum Fine of $645,000 on Facebook for Privacy Violations
The U.K.’s data privacy regulator fined Facebook $645,000 for violations that allowed political marketing firm Cambridge Analytica and other outside companies to extract 87 million Facebook profiles worldwide without adequate user knowledge or consent. The purpose of the U.K.’s enforcement actions is to change the behavior of organizations that mishandle the sensitive private information of … Continue reading “U.K. Slaps Maximum Fine of $645,000 on Facebook for Privacy Violations”
Bio Roundup: Alzheimer’s Puzzle, ESMO Assessed, Drug Prices & More
In the biotech investment and research communities this week, much of the attention was turned to Europe. Munich, Germany, hosted the annual conference of the European Society for Medical Oncology, where cancer drug developers unveiled the latest clinical data for experimental immunotherapies and drugs that treat the disease based on a tumor’s genetic signature. Also … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Alzheimer’s Puzzle, ESMO Assessed, Drug Prices & More”
Trump Plan Ties Medicare Drug Prices to Cheaper Foreign Ones
[Updated 5:41pm ET with analyst note, see below.] When the Trump administration announced its blueprint for lowering prescription drug prices in May, many observers said it was too soft on the biopharma industry and didn’t contain concrete initiatives that could truly cut costs. But with the U.S. midterm elections fast approaching and the high cost … Continue reading “Trump Plan Ties Medicare Drug Prices to Cheaper Foreign Ones”
Delivery Robots in Big D, Rodriguez Leaves the Station, & More TX Tech
[Updated 2:05 p.m. See below.] Let’s catch up with the latest innovation news in Texas. —Dallas-based Neos Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NEOS]]) has licensed a drug candidate that would treat excessive salivation or drooling in patients with neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and mental disorders. The experimental drug has only preclinical … Continue reading “Delivery Robots in Big D, Rodriguez Leaves the Station, & More TX Tech”
Still Seeking Pharma Partner, Phoenix Bio Adds $1M in Angel Funding
San Antonio — Phoenix Biotechnology, which has been developing an experimental plant-based drug for cancer for more than a decade, has added about $1 million in new funding, according to a securities filing and the company’s top scientist. The San Antonio-based biotech is using the money to continue research and operations for developing its cancer drug, … Continue reading “Still Seeking Pharma Partner, Phoenix Bio Adds $1M in Angel Funding”
Berkeley’s SkyDeck Offers Chip Design Support Worth Millions to Startups
The current land rush in chip development, spurred as new technologies such as artificial intelligence create new needs, is pitting established semiconductor companies like Intel and Nvidia against tech titans like Facebook that are building their own chips. A wave of next-generation chip companies has also entered the fray. So how much room remains for … Continue reading “Berkeley’s SkyDeck Offers Chip Design Support Worth Millions to Startups”
HerdX Adds $5M for IoT System To Help Farmers Track Livestock
San Antonio—A San Antonio tech startup that sells Internet-connected tags and other tools to monitor the health and whereabouts of herds of animals has raised $5 million in a new round of funding, according to a securities filing. HerdX says that farmers will be able to use the data gathered from the Internet-connected devices to … Continue reading “HerdX Adds $5M for IoT System To Help Farmers Track Livestock”
Baubles & Bling: Swoonery Uses Tech to Connect Shoppers With Jewelry
Jean Poh’s family has been in the jewelry business for four generations. And, for the most part, the industry has operated much the same as it always has, she says. Following a professional detour in which she worked as an attorney and angel investor, Poh made her way back to the jewelry business. She began … Continue reading “Baubles & Bling: Swoonery Uses Tech to Connect Shoppers With Jewelry”
ESMO ’18: Precision Meds, Breast, Lung, and More from the Cancer Front
[Ben Fidler co-authored this report.] The European Society for Medical Oncology is wrapping up its annual conference today, replete with clinical data from cancer’s front lines. We’ve sorted the headlines into a few big categories: immunotherapy combinations, breast cancer, lung cancer, the growing class of drugs called PARP inhibitors, and new drugs that treat tumors … Continue reading “ESMO ’18: Precision Meds, Breast, Lung, and More from the Cancer Front”
Why Technology Alone Won’t Fix Education
“Artificial intelligence will transform the education system.” “Immersive technology will reshape learning forever.” These are just some of the industry rumblings about how edtech will disrupt and ultimately “fix” what’s wrong with the education system in the United States. With back-to-school season in full swing, it’s imperative that we set the record straight. The truth … Continue reading “Why Technology Alone Won’t Fix Education”
Tech Industry Lobby Proposes Data Privacy Laws; Critics Call Them Weak
The tech industry, which reaps billions of dollars by harvesting personal data and using it to sell targeted advertising and other services, opened the door to federal data privacy regulations today in a proposal by ITI, a lobbying organization for tech companies. The Information Technology Industry Council, which represents the policy interests of companies including … Continue reading “Tech Industry Lobby Proposes Data Privacy Laws; Critics Call Them Weak”
European Business Services Company May Open U.S. HQ in San Antonio
San Antonio—A Czech Republic company called Okin Business Process Services is planning to establish its U.S. headquarters in San Antonio, TX, if it gets some unspecified incentives from the city and county governments that may be voted on next month. Okin has already been offered a $6.6 million grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund, an … Continue reading “European Business Services Company May Open U.S. HQ in San Antonio”
Entrepreneurs Thinking Inside the Box
Hackathons usually involve thinking outside of the box. But for myself and four other MIT students, brainstorming, eating, and sleeping inside a 16-foot by 16-foot glass cube on campus for four days straight in mid-September proved just as effective at getting our creative juices flowing. The experience was part of InCube 2018, a global startup … Continue reading “Entrepreneurs Thinking Inside the Box”
Bio Roundup: Prices on TV, Novartis Hearts Radio, Warp Drive’s End
Two new battlegrounds emerged this week in the nation’s ongoing drug pricing debate. The first involved television: The federal government hopes that blaring prices in TV ads will essentially pressure drug makers into lowering them, and the pharma lobby fired back. The second centered around a group of pricey new migraine drugs: The nation’s largest … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Prices on TV, Novartis Hearts Radio, Warp Drive’s End”
LogicBio Prices IPO Below Range, Raising $70M to Test Gene Therapy
LogicBio Therapeutics has joined the list of biotechs to go public this year but it had to cut the price of its IPO and sell more shares to pull it off. The Cambridge, MA, biotech priced its offering of 7 million shares at $10 apiece, raising $70 million to back human tests of its experimental … Continue reading “LogicBio Prices IPO Below Range, Raising $70M to Test Gene Therapy”
RealSavvy Takes $2.5M to Bring Real Estate App to Three New States
Austin—RealSavvy, a customizable online service that enables real estate brokers and agents to communicate with potential clients, is taking a $2.5 million round of financing that the company will repay in payments based on its monthly revenue. Timia Capital is providing the revenue financing round. The Vancouver, Canada-based specialty finance firm makes these deals with … Continue reading “RealSavvy Takes $2.5M to Bring Real Estate App to Three New States”
Report: Express Scripts Shuts Out Teva Migraine Drug, Prefers Rivals
[Updated 10/17/18, 2:52 p.m. See below.] Express Scripts has just exerted its influence over the emerging market battle between drug makers trying to sell a new class of migraine-preventing medicines. The pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) is excluding a new drug from Teva Pharmaceutical from coverage while favoring two rival treatments instead, according to a report … Continue reading “Report: Express Scripts Shuts Out Teva Migraine Drug, Prefers Rivals”
Icon Snags $9M for Tech to Print 3D Homes in 24 Hours for $4,000
Austin—Icon Technology, a company that builds 3D-printed homes and was permitted to construct its first home in Austin, TX, earlier this year, has closed a $9 million seed round of funding. The company plans to use some of the money to continue building homes in the U.S. and in the developing world, where it is … Continue reading “Icon Snags $9M for Tech to Print 3D Homes in 24 Hours for $4,000”
Spinraza Inventors Take Home $3M Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
The inventor and developer of a drug, nusinersen (Spinraza), are among the winners of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Adrian Krainer (pictured) of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Frank Bennett, senior vice president of research at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, share the $3 million award. The Breakthrough Prizes, now it their seventh year, tout themselves as … Continue reading “Spinraza Inventors Take Home $3M Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences”
SoftBank’s Arm to Include Cybereason Security Services in IoT Hub
Security-tech company Cybereason is announcing another boon flowing from close ties with its biggest investor, Japanese telecom and tech giant SoftBank. Boston-based Cybereason has formed a partnership with Arm, the dominant developer of computer chip architecture, which was acquired by SoftBank in 2016. Cybereason’s security services will be incorporated into the Arm Pelion IoT platform, a … Continue reading “SoftBank’s Arm to Include Cybereason Security Services in IoT Hub”