Origin Code Academy, one of San Diego’s few coding schools—for-profit companies that offer short-term vocational training in computer programming—said this month it will shutter on Nov. 16 after about three years in business. The company opened in late 2015, offering a 12-week course for $13,500 and promising graduates a software job within 90 days of … Continue reading “Citing Regulatory Uncertainty, Origin Code Academy to Close”
Category: Texas
CyberFortress Plans 2019 Launch as Cyber Insurance Industry Grows
San Antonio—[Updated 9/25/19, 1:22 p.m. See below.] Cybersecurity is a fast growing area of the insurance industry as insurers capitalize on the smattering of fear-inciting headlines, from the Equifax and Facebook breaches to the ever-present risk of ransomware. Large companies like Nationwide Mutual Insurance offer businesses liability coverage if their customers’ data is stolen. As … Continue reading “CyberFortress Plans 2019 Launch as Cyber Insurance Industry Grows”
Paul Allen’s Contributions, Far Beyond Microsoft, Touched the Brain, AI & More
Technology and life sciences leaders say they’ll remember Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder, philanthropist, and investor who passed away Monday at age 65, as an “inspiration” whose work will impact the fields he worked in for years to come. Allen died from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a statement from Vulcan, the Seattle-based philanthropy … Continue reading “Paul Allen’s Contributions, Far Beyond Microsoft, Touched the Brain, AI & More”
Tulerie Helps Users Dress Like Models, Without Breaking the Bank
Tulerie makes its debut today, joining a growing roster of online clothing rental startups. The New York-based Tulerie focuses on high-end couture—items that retail for $1,000 to $10,000—that might be worn a time or two but mostly take up space in a woman’s closet. The company is building a two-sided marketplace, with owners of haute … Continue reading “Tulerie Helps Users Dress Like Models, Without Breaking the Bank”
After Net Neutrality: How to Prepare for the Internet’s New Reality
The federal net neutrality regulation, which had guaranteed equal access to the Internet for data from all sources, is officially repealed. There are no longer federal rules ensuring that all Internet traffic must be treated equally, and no FCC protections to stop Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from engaging in blocking, throttling, or paid prioritization of … Continue reading “After Net Neutrality: How to Prepare for the Internet’s New Reality”
TX Tech Wrap: New Fundings, OJO Picks Up WolfNet, New Oracle Startups
There have been a flurry of announcements of new fundings for Texas startups. Let’s get caught up with the latest innovation news. —Hail Merry, a Dallas maker of raw, plant-based snacks, has raised a little over $1 million as part of a planned $1.26 million financing. The decade-old startup makes snacks and desserts that are … Continue reading “TX Tech Wrap: New Fundings, OJO Picks Up WolfNet, New Oracle Startups”
Room Service by Robot and Other Ways Tech Is Changing the Hotel Stay
More days than not, Michael Colaneri’s home is a hotel room. So innovations like “geolocation” sensors that automatically unlock his room door and adjust the thermostat when he’s nearby make the constant change easier—sometimes. “My experience has been exceptionally inconsistent,” he says. “When it’s worked, it’s really great, cool, and so efficient to the point … Continue reading “Room Service by Robot and Other Ways Tech Is Changing the Hotel Stay”
Energy, Real Estate & Other Firms Pledge Capital to HX Venture Fund
Houston—Houston Exponential, a group formed last year to boost the city’s innovation ecosystem, announced Thursday that its fund of funds has raised $25 million from nine corporate investors. That commitment makes up half of the planned $50 million size of the HX Venture Fund, and fund manager Guillermo Borda said he expected to close on … Continue reading “Energy, Real Estate & Other Firms Pledge Capital to HX Venture Fund”
Bio Roundup: BIO Diversity, Allogene IPO, CRISPR In Utero & More
Nearly four years after investors snapped up new shares of Juno Therapeutics in a $265 million IPO, cancer immunotherapy remains a hot ticket. Like Juno, Allogene Therapeutics just pulled in a massive IPO haul, nearly $300 million. And like Juno, Allogene is working with a live immune-cell treatment called CAR-T, but it is harvesting cells … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: BIO Diversity, Allogene IPO, CRISPR In Utero & More”
Facebook Bars 800 Fake Accounts and Pages For Using Tactics Like Russia’s
In another wave of account shutdowns, Facebook announced Thursday that it disabled more than 800 pages and accounts to prevent groups that disguised their identities from flooding its network with inauthentic content—some of it hyper-partisan political messages. Facebook (NASDAQ: [[ticker:FB]]) has been under pressure to cleanse its pages of fake news since the discovery that … Continue reading “Facebook Bars 800 Fake Accounts and Pages For Using Tactics Like Russia’s”
BIO Has Big Diversity Goals. Does It Have the Means to Reach Them?
Whether from embarrassing parties or sobering surveys, the biotech gender gap problem has made plenty of headlines the past couple years. The industry’s largest trade group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), is trying to encourage its more than 1,000 member companies to do better. Last winter, BIO posted diversity goals for the industry to hit … Continue reading “BIO Has Big Diversity Goals. Does It Have the Means to Reach Them?”
Tim Berners-Lee Building Inrupt to Fix the Web—Will Users Come?
The World Wide Web is at a crossroads. For all the benefits it has brought society over the past three decades—faster and easier communication, instant knowledge access, a seemingly inexhaustible marketplace of goods and services—the Web has also morphed into an “engine of inequity and division,” according to its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee (pictured above). In … Continue reading “Tim Berners-Lee Building Inrupt to Fix the Web—Will Users Come?”
Anaplan Ups Estimate For Its IPO Haul; Allogene IPO Raises $288M
San Francisco-based Anaplan, one of five companies planning to close initial public offerings this week, raised the expected price range for its shares in an SEC filing Wednesday, signaling an IPO that could be richer than it had anticipated. Enterprise planning software company Anaplan, which is privately valued at more than $1.4 billion, had originally … Continue reading “Anaplan Ups Estimate For Its IPO Haul; Allogene IPO Raises $288M”
San Antonio’s BioAffinity Signs Licensing Deal for Cancer Diagnostic
San Antonio — [Updated 10/11/18, 11 a.m. See below.] BioAffinity Technologies has signed a licensing agreement with San Antonio-based Precision Pathology Services for the continued development and commercial sale of a lung cancer diagnostic screening test. Since bioAffinity moved to San Antonio in 2014, it has been developing CyPath Lung, a noninvasive test that analyzes sputum—mucus … Continue reading “San Antonio’s BioAffinity Signs Licensing Deal for Cancer Diagnostic”
Passport Buys Austin Parking Enforcement Software Company NuPark
Austin—Passport, a company with software that helps cities and other organizations manage operations, has acquired a business called NuPark that sells parking management services. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. NuPark, based in Cedar Park, TX, and makes video and software technology that helps customers like schools and governments manage parking. Passport sells mobile-based software … Continue reading “Passport Buys Austin Parking Enforcement Software Company NuPark”
U.S. Venture Capital Deals on Pace to Exceed $100B in 2018
Once considered a passing phase, the concentration of capital into fewer, larger venture capital deals appears to be the new normal. Fueled by so-called mega-funds, investment in U.S.-based venture-backed companies as of the end of the third quarter hit a decade high, and is on pace to pass the $100 billion mark by year’s end. … Continue reading “U.S. Venture Capital Deals on Pace to Exceed $100B in 2018”
Xenex Adds $4.8M for Hospital Trial Program of Germ-Zapping Robots
San Antonio — [Corrected 10/9/18, 4:19 p.m. See below.] Xenex Disinfection Systems has raised a $4.8 million round of debt funding to pay for a program that lets hospitals and other healthcare facilities use its germ-zapping robots on a trial basis. Xenex sells hospitals a technology that uses an inert gas, pulsed xenon, to create high-intensity … Continue reading “Xenex Adds $4.8M for Hospital Trial Program of Germ-Zapping Robots”
With a $10.2M Boost, YourMechanic Aims at Mobility Fleet Market
Every month, there’s news of another partnership among carmakers like GM and tech companies such as Uber, as they vie for dominant roles in a transportation future where individual car ownership may largely give way to rides-on-demand from fleets of autonomous and tech-enabled vehicles. But whether Uber, Toyota, GM, Honda, or Google end up at … Continue reading “With a $10.2M Boost, YourMechanic Aims at Mobility Fleet Market”
Upland Software, Bumble in India, Cratejoy Layoffs, & More TX Tech
Let’s catch up with the latest innovation news in Texas. —One of the awardees of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, aka the “genius grants,” is a University of Texas at Austin professor. Lisa Schiavianto Eberlin is a chemistry professor and her research led to the development of the MasSpec Pen, which UT says enables a … Continue reading “Upland Software, Bumble in India, Cratejoy Layoffs, & More TX Tech”
InCube, VelocityTX Join Work to Develop Pediatric Medical Devices
San Antonio—A group of San Antonio institutions are getting involved in an FDA program that seeks to distribute about $6.75 million worth of seed funding as well as business and product development advising to makers of pediatric medical devices. The program is called the Pediatric Device Consortia Grant Program. The FDA is handing out grants … Continue reading “InCube, VelocityTX Join Work to Develop Pediatric Medical Devices”
Houston Software Developer Seeks to Raise Voter Turnout With ChatBot
Houston—There’s a lot of speculation about voter turnout in the upcoming midterm elections on Nov. 6. Nile Dixon, a Houston-based software developer, wants to help turn that speculations into actual votes. Dixon is developing what he calls “Texts to Polls,” a SMS technology-based chatbot that can help voters find their designated polling place for early … Continue reading “Houston Software Developer Seeks to Raise Voter Turnout With ChatBot”
Schneider Electric Leads $18M Round for Home Energy Startup Sense
Sense, a Boston-area home energy monitoring startup, has raised $18 million in fresh funding from a group of backers that includes energy and robotics companies. Schneider Electric led the Series B financing round, and it was joined by earlier Sense investors Shell Ventures, iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]), Energy Impact Partners, Prelude Ventures, and Capricorn Investment Group. … Continue reading “Schneider Electric Leads $18M Round for Home Energy Startup Sense”
Bio Roundup: Nobel Prizes, Duchenne Steps, Guardant’s IPO & More
Cancer immunotherapy is all the rage these days. The idea of harnessing the immune system to treat cancer has sparked billions of dollars in research, led to a vast matrix of clinical trials, and started to change the way how several cancers are treated. The reason: When it works, cancer immunotherapy can lead to longer-lasting … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Nobel Prizes, Duchenne Steps, Guardant’s IPO & More”
OneCause Snags $4M Investment, Plans to Expand Fundraising Platform
OneCause, an Indianapolis-based fundraising platform formerly known as BidPal, has experienced a few changes over the past year: It has a new name, acquired Great Feats in April, and raised $4 million in venture funding last month. “As we grew, we wanted to send a message to our clients and team by putting ‘cause’ first [in … Continue reading “OneCause Snags $4M Investment, Plans to Expand Fundraising Platform”
Cloudera, Hortonworks Plan to Merge as $5.2B Cloud Data Platform
Cloudera and Hortonworks, two large, publicly traded companies that compete to offer Web-based data storage and analytics, announced plans today to merge into a combined entity they value at $5.2 billion. Share prices for the two Silicon Valley companies spiked in after-hours trading following the announcement Wednesday that both their boards approved the all-stock deal. Palo … Continue reading “Cloudera, Hortonworks Plan to Merge as $5.2B Cloud Data Platform”
IDonate Raises Millions to Help Its Nonprofit Customers Do the Same
Dallas—iDonate, which makes software designed to help nonprofits better connect with donors, has raised $10 million in a Series A funding. The round is led by PerformanceEdge Partners, a venture capital firm focused on software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses based in Scottsdale, AZ, and includes additional funding from existing and new investors such as the Fort Worth, … Continue reading “IDonate Raises Millions to Help Its Nonprofit Customers Do the Same”
Girls In Tech Showcases Women Founders In SF Pitch Competition
Kristina Tsvetanova says she found the motivation for her startup Blitab in 2014, when a blind colleague’s struggle to communicate via the Internet made her conscious of the barriers facing visually impaired people in a digital world. Her search for solutions spurred her to move from her native Bulgaria to find greater resources in Vienna, … Continue reading “Girls In Tech Showcases Women Founders In SF Pitch Competition”
Tech Events in Austin, Houston Promote Women Founders’ Success
Austin—The oft-quoted “pipeline” issue—that there aren’t enough qualified women or people from other underrepresented groups available to create equitable tech workforces, C-suites, and boardrooms—is “total B.S.,” said Juliana Garaizar, a Houston venture investor. The existing venture capital and startup community has “to be challenged to [go] outside of their pattern recognition,” said Garaizar, who recently … Continue reading “Tech Events in Austin, Houston Promote Women Founders’ Success”
FDA’s Latest Cancer Approval Underscores Immunotherapy Nobel Prize
The FDA is not only approving a lot more drugs these days, it seems to have also developed a sense of dramatic timing. Late last Friday, the agency approved its seventh checkpoint inhibitor, a type of cancer drug that blocks a tumor’s ability to hide from the immune system. Less than 72 hours later, two … Continue reading “FDA’s Latest Cancer Approval Underscores Immunotherapy Nobel Prize”
Conversable, Impact Hub, data.world, Localeur, ACC & More TX Tech
Let’s get caught up with the latest innovation news in Texas. —Conversable, maker of an AI-enabled chatbot technology, has been acquired by LivePerson, a New York-based provider of mobile and online messaging software. Among the customers of Conversable, which is based in Austin and Dallas, are Whole Foods and TGI Fridays. “Conversational commerce is about … Continue reading “Conversable, Impact Hub, data.world, Localeur, ACC & More TX Tech”
Nobel Medicine Prize Honors Cancer Immunotherapy Pioneers Allison, Honjo
[Updated, 11:45 am ET, with comments from press conference] Harnessing the immune system to fight cancer has transformed the treatment of many cancers, and the lives of countless cancer patients who have seen their disease go into remission. This has led many people to speculate over the last several years that the founding researchers of … Continue reading “Nobel Medicine Prize Honors Cancer Immunotherapy Pioneers Allison, Honjo”
Detroit’s GuardHat Snags $20M Series A for Industrial IoT Platform
Hundreds of people in the U.S. die from industrial accidents every year, according to federal data. Part of the reason manufacturing jobs remain so deadly, argues GuardHat co-founder and CEO Saikat Dey, is because the sector’s technology has not progressed as rapidly as it has in the enterprise software and consumer tech markets. This week, … Continue reading “Detroit’s GuardHat Snags $20M Series A for Industrial IoT Platform”
Austin’s Spanning Cloud Bought by Kaseya, Third Owner Since 2014
Austin—Spanning Cloud Apps, a software data backup service, has been sold to Kaseya, a Dublin-based IT infrastructure management company. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Austin, TX-based Spanning was sold by New York private equity firm Insight Venture Partners, which acquired the cloud backup and recovery company from Dell EMC in April 2017. Founded in … Continue reading “Austin’s Spanning Cloud Bought by Kaseya, Third Owner Since 2014”
Findera Tries a Pivot Amid a Whirlwind Over Data Privacy Rules
Early last year, the San Francisco startup Yozio decided it would have to scuttle its core mission, despite having attracted marquee customers including Pinterest and Airbnb within only a few years. The problem was, there turned out to be too few such websites with the size and sophistication to use Yozio’s app-optimization tools to advantage, … Continue reading “Findera Tries a Pivot Amid a Whirlwind Over Data Privacy Rules”
XRC Labs Showcases Retail Tech Innovations in VR, AI, Big Data
XRC Labs, an accelerator program focused on e-commerce and retail startups, held a demo day for its latest class Thursday, featuring innovations in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and other technologies. The group of 10 startups is the sixth class for New York-based XRC, which was founded three years ago to promote innovation in the disruptive … Continue reading “XRC Labs Showcases Retail Tech Innovations in VR, AI, Big Data”
Bio Roundup: Amarin’s Stunner, Lung Cancer News, Data Dumps & More
Six years ago, a biotech called Amarin won FDA approval of a prescription fish-oil pill, Vascepa, because it could lower triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood. But Amarin didn’t have the evidence that lowering triglycerides with fish oil would really help people. Sales lagged. Amarin’s shares sank. While other groups tested other fish … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Amarin’s Stunner, Lung Cancer News, Data Dumps & More”
Six Life Science Firms Close Q3 with an IPO, More Are on the Way
The window for life science IPOs is still open, and five biotechs and one medical device company chose the last week of the third quarter to make their stock market debuts. Gritstone Oncology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GRTS]]) closed out the week by raising $100 million in an upsized IPO. On Thursday night, Emeryville, CA-based Gritstone priced its … Continue reading “Six Life Science Firms Close Q3 with an IPO, More Are on the Way”
Where Can Influential Companies Go to Meet Exceptional Black VCs?
Culture Shifting Weekend—a November 1-3 invitation-only summit, presented by Culture Shift Labs (CSL)—will offer a rare opportunity for leading companies and investors to meet, vet, and fund the fast-growing ecosystem of Black venture capitalists and VC firms. Hosted at Infor in New York City, Culture Shift Lab’s annual three-day event will enable institutional investors, social … Continue reading “Where Can Influential Companies Go to Meet Exceptional Black VCs?”
Tvardi, Co-Founded by Former MD Anderson Leader DePinho, Raises $9M
Houston—Tvardi Therapeutics, a Houston biotech co-founded last year by the former chief of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, has raised $9 million to support clinical trials of an experimental cancer drug developed through research at the medical center. Ron DePinho, past president of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, co-founded the company with … Continue reading “Tvardi, Co-Founded by Former MD Anderson Leader DePinho, Raises $9M”
LogicBio Jumps on the Gene Therapy 2.0 Wave and Lines Up an IPO
Another gene therapy company is on its way to the public markets. But this one, LogicBio Therapeutics, is part of a newer crop of gene therapy developers that aim to overcome the potential shortcomings of the treatments on the market or in human trials. LogicBio’s technology is still preclinical, but the company aims to start … Continue reading “LogicBio Jumps on the Gene Therapy 2.0 Wave and Lines Up an IPO”
VelocityTX Taps 8 South America Startups for San Antonio Accelerator
San Antonio—VelocityTX has selected eight startups from South America to join its Global Accelerator Program, which offers three months of training and information on building a business in the U.S. The program requires the companies to open a satellite office in San Antonio. VelocityTX picked the eight startups from 300 candidates with the help of … Continue reading “VelocityTX Taps 8 South America Startups for San Antonio Accelerator”
Amarin Soars as Fish Oil Pill Cuts Risk of Strokes in Long-Awaited Study
Can fish oil help prevent, or reduce the risk of heart disease? Several studies have failed to show that it can. But Amarin this morning is releasing data from a massive study showing that its prescription-grade fish oil pill, Vascepa, has done that—at least for some patients. Amarin (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMRN]]), of Bedminster, NJ, and Dublin, … Continue reading “Amarin Soars as Fish Oil Pill Cuts Risk of Strokes in Long-Awaited Study”
How Groups Are Closing the Security Skills Gap, Boosting Diversity
Today, there is a massive shortage of cybersecurity talent across the globe. According to a 2015 study from Frost & Sullivan and the (ISC)² Foundation, there could be more than 1.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions globally by 2020. As cybersecurity attacks and data breaches, unfortunately, become a matter of not if but when, security talent … Continue reading “How Groups Are Closing the Security Skills Gap, Boosting Diversity”
San Antonio Makes Pact to Commercialize Military, Academic Research
San Antonio — Life science groups, city officials, and research institutes in San Antonio are organizing an effort to commercialize more scientific developments coming out of the city’s military organizations. The goal of the project is to develop an alliance between researchers at San Antonio’s numerous military medical units, the two University of Texas institutions in … Continue reading “San Antonio Makes Pact to Commercialize Military, Academic Research”
Bio Roundup: Little Rhody, More for Migraine, Opioid Bills & More
The U.S. Senate had a rare moment of agreement, overwhelmingly passing a package of opioid-related bills. Up the East Coast, life-science players in Rhode Island are working to bring different local factions together and boost the state’s economy. Across the country, a similar effort is underway in Los Angeles. There were also plenty of headlines … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Little Rhody, More for Migraine, Opioid Bills & More”
Convoy Reloads With $185M For Its Freight Shipment Marketplace
Convoy, an online marketplace that connects shippers with freight truck fleets and independent drivers, announced today it raised $185 million in a Series C fundraising round led by CapitalG, the growth equity investment fund of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. With its new funding, Seattle-based Convoy plans to continue expanding its network of customers and truckers … Continue reading “Convoy Reloads With $185M For Its Freight Shipment Marketplace”
Mi Padrino Builds Event-Planning Hub for Latino Communities in U.S.
Kim Gamez, CEO and co-founder of the Ann Arbor, MI-based startup Mi Padrino, is a self-described “all-American Gringa” who grew up in farm country. She fell in love with Hispanic culture as she got to know her husband Hugo, a native of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. One of her favorite traditions was that of the … Continue reading “Mi Padrino Builds Event-Planning Hub for Latino Communities in U.S.”
Real Estate Startup Bungalo Launches with $225M, Could Land $1B More
Austin—An Austin real estate investment company has launched a buyer-focused, online residential home search business called Bungalo Technologies. Amherst, a business that uses data and analytics to invest billions of dollars into public securities and residential and commercial real estate, is launching Bungalo with $225 million in funding upfront, and says it will invest another … Continue reading “Real Estate Startup Bungalo Launches with $225M, Could Land $1B More”
Jamf Buys Austin, TX-Based Enterprise Software Firm Orchard & Grove
Jamf, an enterprise IT company based in Minneapolis but with roots and employees in Eau Claire, WI, said Wednesday that it has acquired Orchard & Grove, an Austin, TX-based software developer. Jamf helps businesses set up and manage Apple (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AAPL]]) computers and mobile devices that employees use to do their jobs. Orchard & Grove … Continue reading “Jamf Buys Austin, TX-Based Enterprise Software Firm Orchard & Grove”
May Mobility Rolling Out Self-Driving Shuttles in Ohio’s Capital
May Mobility, the Detroit-based startup putting self-driving shuttles on urban streets, today announced it will soon begin operations in a new city: Columbus, OH. May has operated autonomous shuttles in downtown Detroit since June, providing transportation to employees of Bedrock, a private company. By contrast, May’s Ohio shuttles will be open to the public, says … Continue reading “May Mobility Rolling Out Self-Driving Shuttles in Ohio’s Capital”