Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=83d751ce-800a-4d34-9a80-324189442adf Date 2/12/2016 Company Name IdealSpot Mailing Address 902 E 5th St. Austin, TX 78702 USA Company Description IdealSpot is developing a commercial real estate marketplace where buyers can find their ideal locations, and sellers can find their ideal tenants by applying machine-learning, predictive algorithms to big data. Website http://www.idealspot.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “IdealSpot Receives $1,000,000 New Funding Round”
Category: Texas
Can Innovation Improve Lives of Vulnerable Children and Families?
Technological innovation is rare in the human services field because most service providers operate with limited resources and they are forced to choose between serving more families or investing in technology. In addition, most funding in human services comes from government sources, which rely on paper processes for accountability. More specifically, social service providers lack … Continue reading “Can Innovation Improve Lives of Vulnerable Children and Families?”
The Zebra Aims to Help Consumers Navigate the Insurance Jungle
Austin — One of the biggest promises of the Internet is its ability to make clear obscure corners of the marketplace. The Zebra, an Austin, TX startup, has set its sights on the murky confines of the insurance industry. “From early on, the goal was the simplify insurance,” says Adam Lyons, Zebra’s founder and CEO. “I … Continue reading “The Zebra Aims to Help Consumers Navigate the Insurance Jungle”
Latest Techstars Cloud Startup Class Presents Today in San Antonio
San Antonio — For 11 early stage businesses in San Antonio, TX, three months of planning, trepidation, and retooling business plans is coming to a head. The participants of the Techstars Cloud accelerator program are holding their Demo Day today in the Alamo City. Techstars is the Boulder, CO-based mentorship accelerator that offers versions of … Continue reading “Latest Techstars Cloud Startup Class Presents Today in San Antonio”
Querium Obtains $306,373 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8ea64e56-82e2-4158-af08-443bf288b99e Date 2/11/2016 Company Name Querium Mailing Address 5918 West Courtyard Drive Austin, TX 78730 USA Company Description Querium was founded to help 24 million students master critical math and science skills, enabling them to achieve their career goals. Website http://www.querium.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $306,373 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Querium Obtains $306,373 New Funding Round”
Teaching Innovation: Rice Professor Reviews Accelerator Programs
Houston — Entrepreneurship is considered the fuel that drives economic growth. But what are the best ways to help entrepreneurs be more successful—and what are best practices for startup accelerator programs? Those are questions, among others, that Rice University professor Yael Hochberg wants to try to narrow down. She is investigating which parts of the educational … Continue reading “Teaching Innovation: Rice Professor Reviews Accelerator Programs”
Vast, an Algorithm-Based Search Engine for Used Cars, Grabs $14M
Austin—Making a big-decision purchase like a car or home can feel like a futile task given all the details to consider, especially with so many options online. Vast is an Austin, TX-based company that aims to use its data analytics-powered search tools to help people purchase cars, homes, and travel options. The company has historically … Continue reading “Vast, an Algorithm-Based Search Engine for Used Cars, Grabs $14M”
Houston Healthcare Firm Medical Adhesive Revolution Is Now Adhesys
Houston — Executives at Houston’s Medical Adhesive Revolution have been focusing on developing wound-closure technology since the company first came to prominence following its win at the 2014 Rice Business Plan Competition. Since that time, company president Alexander Schueller and his management team have turned their attentions to softer yet important issues such as marketing and … Continue reading “Houston Healthcare Firm Medical Adhesive Revolution Is Now Adhesys”
Roundup: San Antonio Fund, Filamet Labs, 5miles, Decisio, BioHouston
Let’s catch up with the latest innovation news from Xconomy Texas. —Early stage San Antonio, TX, startups can again tap into funds provided by the Texas Research & Technology Foundation (TRTF). The McDermott Legacy Fund, which is managed by the foundation’s subsidiary, the Texas Technology Development Center, is reloading a seed fund it operates that … Continue reading “Roundup: San Antonio Fund, Filamet Labs, 5miles, Decisio, BioHouston”
San Antonio’s TRTF Reboots Seed VC Fund
San Antonio — Funding for startups is hard to come by anywhere. York Duncan knows this, and the point was emphasized just last week when he heard someone from Austin, TX, lamenting about the lack of local capital available to the city’s numerous startups. “I’m thinking, you outta come to San Antonio,” Duncan said in … Continue reading “San Antonio’s TRTF Reboots Seed VC Fund”
Patient IO Wants to Improve Care Management with Mobile Thinking
Austin — [Updated 5/5/16, 4:34 p.m. See below.] When Jason Bornhorst created Filament Labs about three years ago, the goal was to build a business that promotes healthy habits, intended to be distributed through insurance companies. “We pretty quickly figured out there was not a strong business there,” he says. The software was strong enough … Continue reading “Patient IO Wants to Improve Care Management with Mobile Thinking”
4 Worst-Case Scenarios That Make the Case For Disaster Recovery
It’s a topic frequently heard in board meetings and splashed across the news: storm-related data loss and downtime trigger threats to our IT environments. For instance, last winter in New England caused a scare among executives and IT professionals alike. Record-breaking snowfall and increased risks to regional business data created a huge buzz about the … Continue reading “4 Worst-Case Scenarios That Make the Case For Disaster Recovery”
E-commerce App 5miles Raises $30M, Plans Expansion Beyond Dallas
Dallas—The garage sale has gone mobile. 5miles, a year-old online marketplace, is based in China but has its U.S. headquarters in Dallas. Last week, it announced a Series B+ fundraising round of $30 million from IDG, Morningside, and individual investors in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company, among others. The company raised a Series B round … Continue reading “E-commerce App 5miles Raises $30M, Plans Expansion Beyond Dallas”
One Writer’s Strategy for Avoiding Information Overload
This week one of my favorite podcasts, WNYC’s Note to Self, is featuring a project called Infomagical. Every day the show is sharing new challenges designed to help listeners cope with information overload. We all know that feeling of being so far behind on the e-mails, texts, articles, and all the other stuff our digital … Continue reading “One Writer’s Strategy for Avoiding Information Overload”
Improving Odds for Women in Tech? Take Notes from Biotech
At our entrepreneurial support organization, the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), we often joke about adhering to the proper dress and catering code for our networking events: jeans and beer for tech; suits, wine and cocktails for life sciences. But there is more to these superficial differences between the two networks serving 1,200 entrepreneurial companies … Continue reading “Improving Odds for Women in Tech? Take Notes from Biotech”
Blood Simple? Grail’s Cancer Screening Quest Faces Tough Questions
[Corrected, 2/4/16, 2:05pm. See below.] Three weeks ago the world’s biggest genomic sequencing company, Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]), unveiled a spinout called Grail to make blood tests that could spot all kinds of cancer in seemingly healthy people, perhaps as soon as 2019. If you know anything about the history of screening healthy people for cancer, … Continue reading “Blood Simple? Grail’s Cancer Screening Quest Faces Tough Questions”
Mizzen+Main Garners $2,999,710 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0fff5ddd-fbd5-4214-824b-f5382d0e92d0 Date 2/4/2016 Company Name Mizzen+Main Mailing Address 1111 N Windomere Avenue Dallas, TX 75208 USA Company Description Mizzen+Main proudly manufactures our dress shirts in the USA. From the material to the stitching and finishing, every detail that goes into our shirts will continue to benefit our country’s resurgence as a textile … Continue reading “Mizzen+Main Garners $2,999,710 New Round”
GenSpera, Pursuing Partners, Tests Toxin-Based Drug in Brain Cancer
Like many small biotechs, San Antonio, TX-based GenSpera has plenty of options for developing its cancer drug and limited resources to do so. While GenSpera’s treatment, called mipsagargin or G-202, has potential to treat cancers ranging from brain to liver to prostate, the company is limited by funding. GenSpera raised $2.5 million in December, which … Continue reading “GenSpera, Pursuing Partners, Tests Toxin-Based Drug in Brain Cancer”
How Scientific Social Work Helps People Flourish
Here’s a question for everyone who wants to change the world: Which of these innovations will have more impact on society—a first-of-its-kind experimental vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS that’s been developed by a venture-capital-backed biotechnology company, or a big-data research study from a social work scholar that identifies the role that alcohol consumption plays in the … Continue reading “How Scientific Social Work Helps People Flourish”
Time to Ease On Down the Road
It’s been a real pleasure writing my guest op-ed pieces for Xconomy for the past six years. I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts about a wide spectrum of biopharma topics, and appreciated the feedback I received whether you agreed with my views or not. However, it’s time for me to move on. I’ve already started posting … Continue reading “Time to Ease On Down the Road”
Wireless Seismic Lands $5,047,678 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1a739087-51b7-410d-8437-9ed02d19f9fd Date 2/3/2016 Company Name Wireless Seismic Mailing Address 13100 Southwest Freeway Sugar Land, TX 77478 USA Company Description Wireless Seismic was formed in 2006 to develop and introduce the RT 1000, a revolutionary seismic data acquisition system to the exploration and production industry, which capitalizes on emerging technologies in the seismic, … Continue reading “Wireless Seismic Lands $5,047,678 New Round”
Houston HealthIT Company Decisio Raises $2.1M in Funds, Adds Lawson to Board
Houston’s Decisio Health has raised $2.1 million as part of a $5 million fundraising round and added local healthcare entrepreneur Larry Lawson to its board of directors. The healthIT company makes software to create a critical care dashboard for ER and ICU staff. Among the investors are Lawson, who will help to ramp up Decisio’s sales efforts, … Continue reading “Houston HealthIT Company Decisio Raises $2.1M in Funds, Adds Lawson to Board”
DisperSol Technologies Obtains $12,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d8a6b0d0-71bd-4b7c-9925-20e414012da2 Date 2/2/2016 Company Name DisperSol Technologies Mailing Address 111 W. Cooperative Way Georgetown, TX 78626 USA Company Description Many potentially effective drugs that have been discovered have either failed completely to be turned into patient viable medicines or become only partially effective medicines because of drug solubility or manufacturing processing limitations. … Continue reading “DisperSol Technologies Obtains $12,000,000 New Funding”
BioHouston Honors Women Pioneers in Energy, Life Sciences, Space
There’s a lot of talk about ways to enlarge the ranks of women and girls who take an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). A number of organizations in Texas are attempting to tackle the issue by raising awareness, building STEM networks, and organizing events focused on investing, entrepreneurship, and team-building. For BioHouston leaders, … Continue reading “BioHouston Honors Women Pioneers in Energy, Life Sciences, Space”
Texas Roundup: Datical, CPRIT, Pivot3, SonarMed, TMCx, & CareAline
Let’s catch up with the latest innovation news from Xconomy Texas. —Datical, an Austin, TX-based startup that says it makes updating apps easier, has raised $8 million in a Series B round from investors such as S3 Ventures, Austin Ventures and Houston-based Mercury Fund. The company’s customers include GE Transportation and Fidelity Investments. —A University … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: Datical, CPRIT, Pivot3, SonarMed, TMCx, & CareAline”
Texas Cancer Agency Names James Willson Top Science Officer
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has a new chief scientific officer: James Willson. Willson comes from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and had also spent a decade as the director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center in Cleveland. I spoke with him this week as he prepares to move to … Continue reading “Texas Cancer Agency Names James Willson Top Science Officer”
CRISPR: The Path to Clinical Trials
If you have read a newspaper lately, there is a good chance you have heard about CRISPR-Cas9, the versatile gene editing technology. Over the past several months, legal battles over intellectual property, ethical concerns over editing of the human germline, jaw-dropping partnerships with pharma, and talk of IPOs have crescendoed to a steady roar, reaching … Continue reading “CRISPR: The Path to Clinical Trials”
Austin’s Datical Gets VC Cash to Manage Databases for App Updates
Would you ever guess that making changes to a software application is difficult for the app maker? Updates are so common, that doesn’t seem likely. Yet the process that allows a software developer to update an app remains arduous, difficult, and time consuming, even as software development has progressed in the last 15 years, according … Continue reading “Austin’s Datical Gets VC Cash to Manage Databases for App Updates”
Insurify Races Into Car Insurance Search With Online & Texting Tools
The process of booking a vacation looks a lot different today than it did 20 years ago. Since then, the traditional method of calling a travel agent to book a trip has been largely replaced by websites like Kayak, Expedia, and others that allow users to quickly compare prices and purchase flights, hotels, rental cars, … Continue reading “Insurify Races Into Car Insurance Search With Online & Texting Tools”
Three Things To Know About Doing Business in California
Since the 1849 gold rush, California has had a reputation as a great place to seek—and find—your fortune. The Golden State is home to the Golden Gate Bridge, the Golden State Warriors and, in Silicon Valley, golden opportunities. But, as you might suspect, California sometimes operates like its own country, with laws that aren’t like … Continue reading “Three Things To Know About Doing Business in California”
Next Buyer Up: Pivot3 Buys Colorado-Based SanDisk Spinout, NexGen
A wild ride for Louisville, CO-based NexGen Storage, a computer data storage company, is continuing. NexGen is being acquired by Pivot3, another data storage operator based in Austin, TX. The companies didn’t release terms of the acquisition, and the deal is expected to close in February. But it comes only a year after NexGen was … Continue reading “Next Buyer Up: Pivot3 Buys Colorado-Based SanDisk Spinout, NexGen”
FDA Gives Nod to SonarMed Device For Monitoring Newborns
Houston-area biotech SonarMed has received FDA clearance to sell its non-invasive medical device that can monitor, in real-time, endotracheal tube position in newborn babies—and help guard against suffocation. The company previously received regulatory approval for a version of the device used on adult patients since 2012. Executives didn’t disclose details on sales. “We wanted to … Continue reading “FDA Gives Nod to SonarMed Device For Monitoring Newborns”
UnLtd USA’s Third Social Venture Class Targets Education, Healthcare
Entrepreneurs in the Austin, TX-based UnLtd USA accelerator’s third startup class seek to have an impact around the globe. The five ventures aim to address underemployment in Haiti and Nepal, women’s economic empowerment in Mexico, and other issues that take their social enterprises far beyond the Texas state capital. Each project will receive $5,000 of … Continue reading “UnLtd USA’s Third Social Venture Class Targets Education, Healthcare”
The Right Resources Are Key to Growing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
One of the more pressing issues for communities that have built emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems is how they can better support growth stage companies. There are many cities and regional hubs around the U.S. that are producing some great companies, with smart founders and talented employees, but without the right resources (outside capital, peer-to-peer mentoring, a … Continue reading “The Right Resources Are Key to Growing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems”
VitreosHealth Receives $5,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6da055ef-ef78-4058-8f74-75335f2e334c Date 1/27/2016 Company Name VitreosHealth Mailing Address 5800 Tennyson Parkway Plano, TX 75024 USA Company Description VitreosHealth enables disruptive change in population health management. Vitreos Insights-as-a-Service delivers population risk models and predictive and prescriptive health insights so everyone throughout the healthcare continuum can achieve a patient-centric focus and contribute to financial … Continue reading “VitreosHealth Receives $5,000,000 New Financing Round”
5miles Garners $30,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=20a64e51-0f40-424d-a246-ba858c917116 Date 1/27/2016 Company Name 5miles Mailing Address Undisclosed Dallas, TX 75240 USA Company Description Launched in 2014, we at 5miles are working to create the best experience for local buying and selling online. We developed the 5miles app because we were fed up with online marketplaces that are hard to browse, … Continue reading “5miles Garners $30,000,000 New Financing”
Top Trends in Online Lending for 2016
Though online lending has been around for over a decade, the past year was a big one for the sector. There was at least one notable IPO in late 2014, a groundbreaking partnership with one of the largest banks in the U.S., and several young online lenders crossed the billion-dollar mark in valuations. Momentum is … Continue reading “Top Trends in Online Lending for 2016”
Lucky 13: TMCx Accelerator Debuts Class of Digital Health Startups
The Texas Medical Center’s accelerator, TMCx, has announced its second group of startups, with 13 companies specializing in digital health. The cohort is the first of two classes TMCx plans to host this year. The health IT companies will be in the five-month program until June, and a second group of companies focusing on medical devices … Continue reading “Lucky 13: TMCx Accelerator Debuts Class of Digital Health Startups”
The Zebra Lands $17,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dd32a51d-521a-4d26-8b06-54b91f7a02de Date 1/26/2016 Company Name The Zebra Mailing Address 301 Chicon St. Austin, TX 78702 USA Company Description The Zebra simplifies car insurance by allowing drivers to anonymously compare dozens of insurance companies in real-time. Drivers begin seeing estimated quotes with as little as two pieces of information. Real-time updates provide a … Continue reading “The Zebra Lands $17,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
Sony Electronics Acquires Altair Semiconductor for $212,000,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e6149900-46b3-42f6-b456-9ad4ca0f9fbc Date 1/26/2016 Company Name Altair Semiconductor Mailing Address 1400 Preston Rd. Plano, TX 75093 USA Company Description Altair is a fabless semiconductor company based in Israel that is developing state of the art, ultra low power mobile WiMAX silicon solutions optimized for handsets and handheld devices. Website http://www.altair-semi.com Transaction Type M&A … Continue reading “Sony Electronics Acquires Altair Semiconductor for $212,000,000”
Looking Back on Key Acquisitions of WI Companies in the Past 5 Years
It takes a while for mergers and acquisitions to play out. While immediate insights from investors and industry observers can help their audience understand why a deal happened and what implications it will have for the parties involved, some time must pass before a thorough assessment can be made. Five years later seems like an … Continue reading “Looking Back on Key Acquisitions of WI Companies in the Past 5 Years”
Texas Roundup: ATI, CPRIT, Techstars Austin, Mend, Epic Provisions
Happy Monday. Let’s catch up with the latest innovation news from Xconomy Texas. —Techstars Austin has a new face at the top. Amos Schwartzfarb, who founded BlackLocus and sold the company to Home Depot in 2012, is the three-year-old accelerator program’s latest managing director. Techstars Austin plans to announce its latest group of 10 startups … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: ATI, CPRIT, Techstars Austin, Mend, Epic Provisions”
From Airbnb to Uber: An MIT Sloan Tour of Bay Area Tech
I’ve always been curious about the West Coast, especially San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Growing up in India and then working in the oil & gas industry in Latin America and Texas, I didn’t have much opportunity (or reason) to visit the Bay Area. Now that I’m an MBA student at MIT Sloan, I want … Continue reading “From Airbnb to Uber: An MIT Sloan Tour of Bay Area Tech”
Atlas Wearables Receives $500,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=05bffedc-c880-461a-8d93-f1683bbaf667 Date 1/25/2016 Company Name Atlas Wearables Mailing Address 72110 White Horse Trail Austin, TX 78757 USA Company Description Atlas is the first fitness tracker in the world that automatically tracks everything. With the on-wrist display you can track every movement across your entire workout and get live feedback to improve form … Continue reading “Atlas Wearables Receives $500,000 New Round”
With $5M Funding, Waldo Photos Aims to Find You in Pictures
[Corrected 2:58 p.m., 1/22/15. See Below.] The prevalence of social media and smartphones has made photo-taking, from food to friends to the ever-indulgent selfie, a bit of an exercise in futility. How do people keep track of all these photos of themselves, especially when someone else takes them? An Austin, TX, company called Waldo Photos is … Continue reading “With $5M Funding, Waldo Photos Aims to Find You in Pictures”
Waldo Photos Garners $5,000,000 Seed Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2c46247d-0753-47f3-bbc4-498f470db5ea Date 1/22/2016 Company Name Waldo Photos Mailing Address Undisclosed Austin, TX 94085 USA Company Description Waldo Photos is a photo-finding platform empowering consumers to toss their selfie sticks, put their phones back in their pockets and live in the moment. Website http://www.waldo.photos Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,000,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Waldo Photos Garners $5,000,000 Seed Financing”
Computer Science for Every Student: Tapping Into Coding Bootcamps
Countries around the world are recognizing computer science education as a top national priority. In England, children are exposed to computer programming and coding fundamentals as early as age 5. Estonia, a small country with a population of 1.3 million people, is making waves in the tech world by launching a nationwide initiative to teach … Continue reading “Computer Science for Every Student: Tapping Into Coding Bootcamps”
Datical Receives $8,000,000 Series B Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=211ef0b1-6d37-4604-b2da-370817669c68 Date 1/21/2016 Company Name Datical Mailing Address 611 S. Congress Avenue Austin, TX 78704 USA Company Description Datical is founded on the fundamental philosophy of bridging the gap between phenomenal open source IT projects and the needs of enterprise customers. Website http://www.datical.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,000,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Datical Receives $8,000,000 Series B Round”
Oculus360 Obtains $3,685,856 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=240dd590-8fe8-4c0c-96ab-ddea0b47f440 Date 1/21/2016 Company Name Oculus360 Mailing Address 16301 Quorum Drive Addison, TX 75001 USA Company Description We are a next-generation technology company leveraging the power of cognitive computing to empower brands and agencies with game-changing market intelligence. Website http://www.oculus360.us Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,685,856 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Oculus360 Obtains $3,685,856 New Financing Round”
Adestra Secures $7,200,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f4741e1e-62a2-4461-87db-f59363f03c47 Date 1/21/2016 Company Name Adestra Mailing Address 4925 Greenville Ave. Dallas, TX 75206 USA Company Description Adestra have been empowering their clients to maximize marketing ROI through email-driven technology for over 10 years. Our flexible account structure, obsession with customer success, and award-winning service have gained the trust of global and … Continue reading “Adestra Secures $7,200,000 New Round”