Category: Texas

Flagship CEO on Backing NY Biotech, Moderna, and Investing in a Boom

It’s been a jam-packed few months for Flagship Ventures, one of the Boston area’s most well-known biotech startup creators. The Cambridge, MA-based VC firm just raised a $537 million fund of its own, and recently became a founding investor in the eye-popping $217 million Series A for Denali Therapeutics, a startup led by a group … Continue reading “Flagship CEO on Backing NY Biotech, Moderna, and Investing in a Boom”

OneSource Virtual Receives $150,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a2a77ffd-e3bb-4f84-aea2-34e4bd4d7e52 Date 6/22/2015 Company Name OneSource Virtual Mailing Address 5601 N MacArthur Blvd Irving, TX 75038 USA Company Description OneSource Virtual is a team of Workday experts dedicated to innovation and the empowerment of our customers. We are an established, strategic partner dedicated to delivering dynamic solutions to improving your business through … Continue reading “OneSource Virtual Receives $150,000,000 New Funding”

Hunting, Millennial Marketing, and Credit Building: Austin Techstars 2015

Techstars events across the nation draw plenty of fanfare, from venture capitalists searching for emerging businesses to engineers looking for a job and maybe a free drink, too. In Austin, TX, on Wednesday, the local chapter of Techstars held a demo day for the 10 companies who recently completed its accelerator program. The program, which lasts for … Continue reading “Hunting, Millennial Marketing, and Credit Building: Austin Techstars 2015”

Wallet, Watch, and What We Learned from Google I/O and Apple’s WWDC

The two leading platform owners in the smartphone industry, Apple and Google, are going in very different directions—particularly in their philosophies about privacy, and approaches to the “next billion” smartphone users—with major implications for app developers and consumers. Team Apptentive attended both companies’ annual developer conferences, held in late May and early June, in San … Continue reading “Wallet, Watch, and What We Learned from Google I/O and Apple’s WWDC”

Houston Health Ventures Invests in InRFood, NC-Based Food App

Not all calories are created equal, and Keval Mehta, founder and CEO of INRfood, says his app can help us sort the good from the bad. INRfood is an app with a database of about 500,000 products and 650 restaurants nationwide. The technology analyzes ingredients—read off the nutrition label on food packaging—and gives users a … Continue reading “Houston Health Ventures Invests in InRFood, NC-Based Food App”

Vroom Obtains $19,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c95ea06d-e927-4dfd-a0da-42781376a571 Date 6/18/2015 Company Name Vroom Mailing Address 2615 W. Interstate 20 Grand Prairie, TX 75052 USA Company Description Vroom empowers you to buy a quality pre-owned car online and get it delivered right to your doorsteps with a 7 day in-home test drive. Website http://www.vroom.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Vroom Obtains $19,000,000 New Financing”

Alert Media Secures $4,200,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c42dd3d3-a8e5-4d7c-85da-9ee6b6a5fcdb Date 6/18/2015 Company Name Alert Media Mailing Address 1250 Capital of Texas Hwy South Building III Austin, TX 78746 USA Company Description Alert Media is changing mass notification into useful communication. When a message is urgent or important, Alert Media offers the most complete solution for understanding the situation, distributing information, … Continue reading “Alert Media Secures $4,200,000 Series A Financing”

Top Legal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Launching Startups

High-impact entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. Most venture-backed businesses don’t achieve the levels of success their founders and investors hoped for. Indeed, a significant number will fail. Having worked as legal counsel for dozens of venture-backed startups over the years, what frustrates me most is the number of companies that fail not … Continue reading “Top Legal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Launching Startups”

Verb Obtains $2,300,000 Seed Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=741836ea-456f-43a3-94c2-4fa81ea675ec Date 6/17/2015 Company Name Verb Mailing Address Undisclosed Austin, TX 78712 USA Company Description Our program then joined forces with Dell with the goal to develop a robust multi-year competition delivering vital resources to thousands of entrepreneur participants across the globe. Website http://www.goverb.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,300,000 Transaction … Continue reading “Verb Obtains $2,300,000 Seed Funding”

Iconixx Software Lands $4,500,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=66df5d12-c5d0-4c7a-a8be-875360247d2c Date 6/17/2015 Company Name Iconixx Software Mailing Address 3420 Executive Center Dr. Austin, TX 78731 USA Company Description Iconixx Total Compensation Software (TCS) leverages SaaS technologies to deliver consistent Sales Performance Management and Incentive Compensation Management to customers – Small Business, Mid-Market, and Enterprise on one organic solution with a native … Continue reading “Iconixx Software Lands $4,500,000 New Funding Round”

Techstars Acquires Nonprofit UP Global, As Startup Industry Matures

Techstars, one of the nation’s foremost startup accelerator programs, has acquired the nonprofit entrepreneurship education outfit UP Global in a bid to cover the full spectrum “from idea to IPO.” The Seattle-based nonprofit may be best known as the umbrella group overseeing Startup Weekend events, 54-hour sprints held in cities around the world in which … Continue reading “Techstars Acquires Nonprofit UP Global, As Startup Industry Matures”

Austin Biotech Aeglea BioTherapeutics Files for IPO for Cancer Therapies

Aeglea BioTherapeutics, an Austin, TX-based biotech company that is developing drugs to essentially starve certain cancers to death, has filed for an initial public offering. The company will trade under the ticker AGLE on the Nasdaq, according to a document filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In March, Aeglea raised $44 million from investors Lilly … Continue reading “Austin Biotech Aeglea BioTherapeutics Files for IPO for Cancer Therapies”

Restaurant App Flavour Bought by New York-Based Tasting Table

In our Yelp-ified Top 10 list society, Emily Keeton is convinced diners are still hungry for restaurant information. That’s why she has led Flavour, a restaurant-finding app founded last year that aims to cut through the foodie clutter and present users with a more curated list of eateries. And today, Tasting Table, a New York-based … Continue reading “Restaurant App Flavour Bought by New York-Based Tasting Table”

Texas Entrepreneur Networks to Host Later-Stage Funding in Austin

Hall T. Martin, founder and CEO of the Texas Entrepreneur Networks, wants to help innovative Texas companies get over the Series B hump. That’s why he—along with Seattle-based venture capital data provider PitchBook—has created the Texas Venture Growth Forum to be held in the Texas state capitol in October. The two-day event will focus on … Continue reading “Texas Entrepreneur Networks to Host Later-Stage Funding in Austin”

Milestones of Innovation 8: Ten Minutes in White House Shapes World War II

Seventy-five years ago today, science took a seat next to the American presidency. It was a move of immense and continuing consequences for innovation in this country and across the world, not only in a war to the death but in the decades of uneasy peace that followed. The actual event on June 12, 1940 … Continue reading “Milestones of Innovation 8: Ten Minutes in White House Shapes World War II”

Austin’s Dean Drako Buys Maryland-Based Security Manager Brivo for $50M

Dean Drako, an Austin, TX, businessman known for starting security companies Barracuda Networks and Eagle Eye Networks, is paying $50 million to buy Brivo, another security business. Brivo, based in Bethusda, MD, sells a security management system called Brivo OnAir, which offers cloud-based physical access control and video surveillance. Drako will serve as chairman, and … Continue reading “Austin’s Dean Drako Buys Maryland-Based Security Manager Brivo for $50M”

Texas Roundup: Drizly, Vinli, Medical Informatics, Curb, TabbedOut

Here is the latest innovation news from Xconomy Texas: —Drizly, a Boston-based alcohol delivery company, has expanded into Dallas. The north Texas city is the company’s 15th market. Last month, Drizly said it had raised $13 million in a Series A round. Its mobile app lets users order beer, wine, and liquor from local alcohol … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: Drizly, Vinli, Medical Informatics, Curb, TabbedOut”

Rare Heart Disease Advocate: “I’m More Relieved Than I’ve Ever Been”

[Corrected 6/10/15, 10:14pm. See below.] Katherine Wilemon had a celebratory glass of wine a couple hours ago, which some say is good for the heart. Even better for Wilemon, however, is the reason she’s celebrating: In a two-day discussion about two new drugs aimed at high cholesterol, a panel of outside advisors recommended that the FDA … Continue reading “Rare Heart Disease Advocate: “I’m More Relieved Than I’ve Ever Been””

Surge Focusing on More Mature Energy Companies, Raising Bigger Fund

The change of one word can signify a lot. Surge Accelerator has become Surge Ventures, a name change that reflects the maturing mission of the cleantech accelerator in Houston. The shift comes amid a downturn in the oil and gas industry as a whole: Oil prices are down to about half of their peak of … Continue reading “Surge Focusing on More Mature Energy Companies, Raising Bigger Fund”

Rockwell Helping Manufacturers (Slowly) Join the Internet of Things

Just as connected devices are slowly but surely making their way into our homes, the Internet of Things is also starting to impact the manufacturing industry. The going is slow: Less than 14 percent of U.S. manufacturers have linked up their factory machines with their enterprise software, says Keith Nosbusch, CEO of Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation … Continue reading “Rockwell Helping Manufacturers (Slowly) Join the Internet of Things”

Take a Grain of Salt (Or Two) With New Cholesterol Drug Predictions

My mother always warned me never to start a column with a reference to management consultants. Sorry, Mom. Cover your eyes. But anyone else with personal health or personal finance interest in the latest cholesterol-fighting drugs, read on. Two years ago, three McKinseyites published a study about forecasts for drug sales. The upshot: To predict … Continue reading “Take a Grain of Salt (Or Two) With New Cholesterol Drug Predictions”

With $6.5M Series A, Vinli Plans to Connect More Than Just Cars

Cars can feel a little outdated given the plethora of technology available nowadays, especially if they’re a few years old. That’s where Vinli comes in, a Dallas-based company that has received $6.5 million of venture funding for its connected-car device that lets developers build apps for automobiles. Vinli sells a device that users plug into … Continue reading “With $6.5M Series A, Vinli Plans to Connect More Than Just Cars”

Houston’s Medical Informatics Gets FDA Nod for Alert System Software

[Corrected 6/22/15, 11:13 am. See below.] Medical Informatics, a Houston healthcare IT company, has received FDA clearance to sell the first version of its healthcare data alert system, a major milestone as it works to bring its product to market. The company is focusing on “alarm management,” with software that aggregates patient data in the … Continue reading “Houston’s Medical Informatics Gets FDA Nod for Alert System Software”

Ethernet Inventor Metcalfe Is MIT’s New Innovation Fellow

Robert Metcalfe, the Ethernet inventor, venture capitalist, and innovation-focused professor at the University of Texas at Austin, is going back to his roots. The founder of 3Com is spending the 2015-16 academic year as a visiting innovation fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the school he graduated from in 1969. In the position, most … Continue reading “Ethernet Inventor Metcalfe Is MIT’s New Innovation Fellow”

Austin’s Curb Monitors Energy Use, Aims to Be the Smart Home’s Brain

There’s a lot of talk about smart homes, but Erik Norwood, founder of Curb, says our residences are a long way from true intelligence. Look, for example, at our cars, “which are packed full of technology,” he says. Warning lights remind us to put on seat belts, check engine fluids, or if our gas tanks … Continue reading “Austin’s Curb Monitors Energy Use, Aims to Be the Smart Home’s Brain”

Apple Watch: The First Wearable Device Worth Wearing

It’s just a watch. I’ve had my Apple Watch for three weeks now, and I have no qualms about telling you that the device’s killer app is telling time. That’s what I was expecting. After all, it looks like a wristwatch, you wear it in the same place as a wristwatch, and the first thing … Continue reading “Apple Watch: The First Wearable Device Worth Wearing”

TabbedOut Garners $21,500,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=95386013-a5f2-4122-a3a9-be73914aff65 Date 6/5/2015 Company Name TabbedOut Mailing Address 1135 W. 6th St. Austin, TX 78703 USA Company Description Welcome to TabbedOut, the all-in-one dining partner that keeps your credit card safe and lets you feel like a VIP wherever you go. Forget about waiting for the bill, calculating a split check or … Continue reading “TabbedOut Garners $21,500,000 New Financing”

Austin’s TabbedOut Nabs $21.5M for Mobile Payments App

TabbedOut, a mobile payments system for bars and restaurants based in Austin, TX, announced today it has raised $21.5 million in Series C funding. The investment round was led by Wellington Management Company and included participation from previous investors such as NEA and Morgan Creek Capital Management. In total, TabbedOut has raised $39 million since … Continue reading “Austin’s TabbedOut Nabs $21.5M for Mobile Payments App”

Exact Sciences, MD Anderson Developing Blood Tests For Lung Cancer

Less than a year after Exact Sciences secured FDA approval and Medicare coverage for a colon cancer diagnostic, Cologuard, the company has set its sights on its next challenge: early detection of lung cancer. Madison, WI-based Exact (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXAS]]) this morning announced a partnership with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston … Continue reading “Exact Sciences, MD Anderson Developing Blood Tests For Lung Cancer”

SimplyTapp Secures New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fdf68f12-d0dd-4eea-9f44-0d84023d30e9 Date 6/4/2015 Company Name SimplyTapp Mailing Address 507 Powell Street Austin, TX 78703 USA Company Description Utilizing host card emulation, SimplyTapp empowers your mobile banking application with tap and pay functionality all from within your bank’s private cloud. Website http://www.simplytapp.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds … Continue reading “SimplyTapp Secures New Funding”

ASCO Roundup: Checkpoints, Pushback Against Prices, CAR-T & More

As has been the case the past few years, the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, which just wrapped up in Chicago, was the latest referendum on immunotherapy. But this year, not only did the meeting feature scientific developments for these new types of cancer fighters that rev up patients’ immune systems, but it … Continue reading “ASCO Roundup: Checkpoints, Pushback Against Prices, CAR-T & More”

Houston’s Saranas Raises $2.35M for Device to Detect Blood Leaks

Saranas, a Houston medical device company, expects to announce this week that it has raised $2.35 million to further develop a souped-up sheath that can detect blood leaks caused by catheters in real time. The funding came from existing investors, including members of the GOOSE Society, such as Vanguard Ventures co-founder Jack Gill, and Houston Angel … Continue reading “Houston’s Saranas Raises $2.35M for Device to Detect Blood Leaks”

Texas Roundup: Pulmotect, Tech Wildcatters, Houston2035, & SynShark

Here’s the latest innovation news for Xconomy Texas. —Pulmotect, which is making an inhaled therapeutic to prevent and treat respiratory infections in cancer patients with compromised immune systems, received a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The Houston-based biotech company had previously received a $7.1 million matching award from the Cancer Prevention … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: Pulmotect, Tech Wildcatters, Houston2035, & SynShark”

Summer Reading List: True Tales That Will Inspire and Educate You

OK, you’ve already read the latest hot science bestsellers—Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies and Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (both terrific, by the way)—and you’re wondering what to grab next. I’ve suggested below a number of remarkable science books that I’m fond of, and that you might find interesting as … Continue reading “Summer Reading List: True Tales That Will Inspire and Educate You”

Bee Cave Games Garners $5,500,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0be0072c-413c-4839-86dd-31c65d91af24 Date 6/1/2015 Company Name Bee Cave Games Mailing Address 1834 East Oltorf Street Austin, TX 78741 USA Company Description Bee Cave Games is dedicated to entertaining the world with the best casino games. Website http://www.beecavegames.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not … Continue reading “Bee Cave Games Garners $5,500,000 New Financing”

FibeRio Obtains $2,021,393 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fde70086-e309-4358-a0ef-3ca38ae6c932 Date 6/1/2015 Company Name FibeRio Mailing Address 4409 Wanda Avenue McAllen, TX 78503 USA Company Description From a commercial perspective the term nano describes a diameter of the fibrous shape at anything below one micron – or 1,000 nanometers. However, the most coveted properties of these materials tend to manifest themselves … Continue reading “FibeRio Obtains $2,021,393 New Financing”

Recap: Xconomy’s Houston 2035 Conference, in Pictures

Healthcare and energy, edtech and urban design. Those were among the topics at hand at the inaugural Houston 2035 conference last Thursday, which brought together leaders from Houston and nationally to speak about how Houston can both leverage its assets and prepare for future challenges as an innovative city of the future in the decades to … Continue reading “Recap: Xconomy’s Houston 2035 Conference, in Pictures”

Milestones Of Innovation 7: FDR Phones Knudsen At General Motors

One of the sharpest controversies about our nation’s history is who gets top credit for the titanic American public-private partnership that won World War II with an avalanche of production. Some call it a rescue by private business, others view it as an example of Franklin Roosevelt’s multi-layered and often-mysterious leadership. How we see this … Continue reading “Milestones Of Innovation 7: FDR Phones Knudsen At General Motors”

Job Recruitment Website Hired Opens in Austin

Hired, a job recruitment website for engineers, data scientists, and other workers who are in high demand from tech startups, is launching its service in Austin, where the company expects 9,000 new tech jobs to appear by 2017. Based in San Francisco, Hired targets workers who are “overwhelmed with job offers,” the company says. Employees … Continue reading “Job Recruitment Website Hired Opens in Austin”

With $500,000 Seed Round, CitizenShipper Moves to Austin

[Updated, 5/28/15, 9:07 a.m. See below] CitizenShipper, a peer-to-peer shipping service, has taken $500,000 of seed financing, packed its bags, and moved to Austin, TX, where the company is joining Capital Factory’s incubator program, CEO and founder Richard Obousy says. The company will use the funding to expand its services, as well as to make hires in … Continue reading “With $500,000 Seed Round, CitizenShipper Moves to Austin”

Houston 2035: Innovative Cities Make Diversity A Growth Engine

What makes Houston one of the nation’s most innovative cities of the future but also represents its biggest challenge? Its diversity. Hand-wringing over the diversification of those who call America’s fourth largest city home is beside the point, said Stephen Klineberg, founding director at Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. “It’s done; it’s already … Continue reading “Houston 2035: Innovative Cities Make Diversity A Growth Engine”

After Orexigen Gaffe, What Role for Drugs Amid Obesity Crisis?

Two recent happenings prompted this column. First, Orexigen Therapeutics drew fire from, well, nearly everyone earlier this month for an improper release of data related to its weight-loss drug Contrave. The second happening is Memorial Day weekend. I’m assuming you, like me, did not spend the long weekend hunting and gathering, sharpening your arrowheads, and … Continue reading “After Orexigen Gaffe, What Role for Drugs Amid Obesity Crisis?”

Neuro Startup Challenge Winners Try To Commercialize NIH Inventions

The winning teams were announced today in the Neuro Startup Challenge, a two-year-old virtual accelerator that helps academic researchers and entrepreneurs build companies around promising technologies developed by NIH researchers. The 13 winners include a team from the Medical College of Wisconsin, which is launching a startup called Angio360 Diagnostics to commercialize a blood-based test … Continue reading “Neuro Startup Challenge Winners Try To Commercialize NIH Inventions”

SynShark’s Biochemical Technology Tops AgBio Showcase

The path of a tiny Texas startup to the multi-billion dollar chemicals market crosses through the tobacco fields of North Carolina. If it’s successful, the company’s technology could also save the lives of millions of sharks. That’s the circuitous course charted by College Station, TX-based SynShark, a spinout from Texas A&M University. SynShark has developed … Continue reading “SynShark’s Biochemical Technology Tops AgBio Showcase”

Online Lawn Care Service Robin Launches in Texas With $1.2M

A Texas company that offers an online-based lawn care service is launching in Austin, Houston, and Dallas today with $1.2 million in seed funding. Robin is a Dallas-based Web service that lets users price, schedule, and pay for lawn care online. The company was founded by Bart Lomont and Justin Crandall, a former employee of … Continue reading “Online Lawn Care Service Robin Launches in Texas With $1.2M”

Building an Agnostic Cloud Infrastructure

Over the last two years I have often been asked: What is the best way to move out of Amazon Web Services (AWS) or other public cloud services? There are many reasons for making such a move, but cost, stability, and planned growth are the primary factors. Many companies that surpass $50,000 a month in … Continue reading “Building an Agnostic Cloud Infrastructure”

Atlas Wearables Receives $260,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b98fe656-65e0-4c62-8fad-3303548fc08c Date 5/20/2015 Company Name Atlas Wearables Mailing Address 2110 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 $260,000 New Funding Round”