Category: Texas

Goodybag, Aceable Among Capital Factory’s “A-List” Startups at SXSW

It can feel like a needle-in-a-haystack search to find startups that are developed enough to take on their first round of funding. At the first full day of South By Southwest, Capital Factory did that for Austin startups, giving five “A-List” startups that the accelerator thinks are ready for a Series A funding an opportunity … Continue reading “Goodybag, Aceable Among Capital Factory’s “A-List” Startups at SXSW”

Robo Madness Boston: The Photos and Takeaways

Our first-ever dedicated robotics event in Boston was a smash hit. Here’s hoping the local community can keep the momentum going and solidify its standing as a worldwide leader in the field. Huge thanks to our event sponsors who made the conference possible: Argosight, BDO, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, IDA Ireland, and iRobot. And … Continue reading “Robo Madness Boston: The Photos and Takeaways”

Delivery App Favor Grabs $13M Series A for National Expansion

Favor, the app that offers to deliver anything, is starting off South By Southwest with some big news: a $13 million Series A financing. The Austin, TX-based company, which is focused on delivery from grocery stores and restaurants, is going to use the money to improve customer service and expand into more new cities, with … Continue reading “Delivery App Favor Grabs $13M Series A for National Expansion”

Favor Secures $13,000,000 Series A Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fbcac4ec-462e-490c-9581-c00d6a082ca7 Date 3/13/2015 Company Name Favor Mailing Address 3405 Glenview Ave. Austin, TX 78703 USA Company Description NeighborFavor, Inc. develops and delivers an iPhone application that enables users to see ratings, comments, and a list of nearby people who are willing to run favors. Its application also enables users to find a … Continue reading “Favor Secures $13,000,000 Series A Funding Round”

Medical Adhesive Revolution Aims for a Better Wound-Sealing Therapy

[Corrected 3/22/15, 8:45 pm. See below.] For Medical Adhesive Revolution, a German-born biotech company, Houston has been good for business. Last year, the company won the prestigious Rice University Business Plan Competition, becoming the first foreign company to do so. And this month, the biotech has officially moved its headquarters and its president, Alexander Schueller, … Continue reading “Medical Adhesive Revolution Aims for a Better Wound-Sealing Therapy”

OwnLocal Acquires Sidengo for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e89160f7-5123-4c63-80cd-ef8e7b65abdf Date 3/12/2015 Company Name Sidengo Mailing Address Undisclosed Austin, TX 78708 USA Company Description Sidengo is taking the term website builder to the next level. The site’s beautiful interface, its ease of use, and a full host of extras makes Sidengo a great option for any budding Web designer. Website http://www.sidengo.com … Continue reading “OwnLocal Acquires Sidengo for Undisclosed Sum”

Feds to Back Wearable Tech Startups With New Accelerator Program

The latest entrant into the startup accelerator and wearable-technologies games? It’s the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS announced Tuesday that it will launch its two accelerator programs in a pilot program. The Emerge accelerators will work with startups to create wearable technology that could be used by first responders such as firefighters, police, and … Continue reading “Feds to Back Wearable Tech Startups With New Accelerator Program”

MicroVentures Brings Venture Investing to the (Accredited) Masses

There’s an element of crowd sourcing behind most investing. Venture capital and private equity firms find limited partners—the few obscenely rich individuals or institutions worldwide that have millions or billions to spread among countless investments—to contribute a few hundred thousand dollars each to finance early stage startups or mature companies. Chunks of investor money is … Continue reading “MicroVentures Brings Venture Investing to the (Accredited) Masses”

Music As Therapy? PureTech’s “Sync Project” Aims to Prove It

There’s an old lyric by Bob Seger about Rock and Roll: “That kind of music just soothes the soul.” Listen to an upbeat song while depressed, and you might forget your sorrows. Indeed, music has always seemed therapeutic. Now a new venture from Boston-based startup creator PureTech is going to try to prove it with … Continue reading “Music As Therapy? PureTech’s “Sync Project” Aims to Prove It”

Houston 2035: A Glimpse of the Innovative American City of the Future

The innovative American city of the future will likely look a lot like Houston. Surprised? Consider that the nation’s current 4th largest city is a majority-minority city that leads in cutting-edge technology sectors such as energy, life sciences, and health IT. What will this city, and this region, look like 20 years from now? How … Continue reading “Houston 2035: A Glimpse of the Innovative American City of the Future”

SpareFoot Packs in a $33M Series D to Improve Storage Booking Service

SpareFoot, the Austin, TX-based online marketplace for booking self-storage units, is receiving $33 million of Series D funding to help improve its product for consumers and storage facilities, both in terms of engineering and marketing, according to CEO Chuck Gordon. The company is going to refine tools that already exist, such as making sure it’s … Continue reading “SpareFoot Packs in a $33M Series D to Improve Storage Booking Service”

Joinem Garners $5,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b8ff64be-2b29-40b2-a9eb-01f5eecfc5c7 Date 3/11/2015 Company Name Joinem Mailing Address 701 N Market Street Dallas, TX 75202 USA Company Description Joinem makes it fun and easy to join forces with like-minded shoppers to lock in guaranteed savings off the lowest online prices on leading brands. We call it WePower™. Join. Shop. Save. Together. Joinem! … Continue reading “Joinem Garners $5,000,000 New Financing Round”

SpareFoot Receives $33,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c973bc24-a55c-42db-83e3-4c7a18ce2378 Date 3/11/2015 Company Name SpareFoot Mailing Address 720 Brazos Street Austin, TX 78701 USA Company Description In the same way that an Expedia.com makes it possible find the best deal on airplane tickets and hotels, SpareFoot makes it possible to find the best deal on self storage, all from the convenience … Continue reading “SpareFoot Receives $33,000,000 New Financing”

White House’s $100M TechHire Initiative Echoes with General Assembly

One of the criticisms often leveled at New York’s innovation scene, particularly from out-of-towners, is a need for more local people with skills in technology to help fill positions from entry-level jobs to rock-star developer opportunities. A new federal program could help change that for people in different parts of the job market. On Monday, … Continue reading “White House’s $100M TechHire Initiative Echoes with General Assembly”

DARA BioSciences Nabs U.S. Rights to Oral Thrush Drug

Some cancer patients develop a fungal infection in the mouth when a commonly found fungus takes advantage of a weakened immune system that can no longer keep it in check. Antifungals already exist to treat this overgrowth of Candida albicans. But DARA BioSciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DARA]]) hopes to compete with those drugs with a product that … Continue reading “DARA BioSciences Nabs U.S. Rights to Oral Thrush Drug”

Vapogenix Lands $5,100,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fccf6f76-53dc-4738-8463-9ad3aea6b951 Date 3/10/2015 Company Name Vapogenix Mailing Address 8285 El Rio St. Houston, TX 77054 USA Company Description Vapogenix is a clinical stage company developing a new class of non-narcotic analgesics for localized pain. While most pain is localized, most pain medications are administered orally (systemically), resulting in side effects. Website http://www.vapogenix.com … Continue reading “Vapogenix Lands $5,100,000 Series B Financing”

22 Startups Join First Class of Texas Medical Center’s TMCx Accelerator

The Texas Medical Center’s accelerator TMCx unveiled the members of its inaugural class: 22 healthIT companies in informatics, medical devices, and biomaterials. TMC executives hosted a meet-and-greet Monday morning to introduce the startup founders to the media just before the six-month accelerator program begins. “Our job is to make you successful,” says Bobby Robbins, TMC’s … Continue reading “22 Startups Join First Class of Texas Medical Center’s TMCx Accelerator”

Houston Biotech Vapogenix Raises $5.1M for Skin-Numbing Drug

Vapogenix, a Houston biotech that aims to build a better treatment for skin pain, has completed a $5.1 million Series B funding round—and is already looking at raising additional capital later this year. The B round was led by Switzerland-based Pamoja Capital and GPG Ventures in Dallas. Vapogenix is developing a rapidly acting topical analgesic … Continue reading “Houston Biotech Vapogenix Raises $5.1M for Skin-Numbing Drug”

Study: Best Places For Women in Tech are Outside Silicon Valley

A new report suggests that the best opportunities for women in technology may be located outside of the industry’s hotbed in Silicon Valley. The analysis last week by SmartAsset, a New York-based financial technology and data analytics company, indicates that the best cities for women in computer-related jobs are found primarily on the East Coast … Continue reading “Study: Best Places For Women in Tech are Outside Silicon Valley”

My Best Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs and Tech Startups

What an incredible time to be a tech startup! The opportunities out there are just tremendous. Digital payments, wearable technology, mobile healthcare, virtual reality and gamification, predictive analytics, and green tech—these are just a few of the startup areas that are expected to be big this year, according to venture capitalists and industry experts. “Full … Continue reading “My Best Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs and Tech Startups”

NIH Director Hails “Stunning Case” as Example of Genomic Revolution

A pregnant mom who got a non-invasive prenatal test because she knew at age 40 that her baby was a higher risk for Down syndrome has become a case study in the potential power of precision medicine. The certified blood test, developed by San Diego-based Sequenom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SQNM]]), is sensitive enough to identify bits of … Continue reading “NIH Director Hails “Stunning Case” as Example of Genomic Revolution”

IBM Acquires AI Startup AlchemyAPI to Strengthen Watson

IBM’s Watson, already one of the world’s smartest supercomputers, might be getting smarter following IBM’s purchase of AlchemyAPI, a Denver-based artificial intelligence startup that specializes in deep learning, an area of machine learning focused on making sense of data. AlchemyAPI and IBM announced the deal Wednesday. They did not disclose the purchase price. The acquisition … Continue reading “IBM Acquires AI Startup AlchemyAPI to Strengthen Watson”

Dallas’s Tech Wildcatters Brings on Latest Class of B-to-B Startups

[Updated 3/05/15 11:36 am. See below.] Dallas’ Tech Wildcatters accelerator announced today its latest batch of tech startups, whose focus includes fashion, sports, and financial services. The 15 companies hail from as far away as Germany and Moscow as well as closer to home in Fort Worth and Denver. “The truth is, we don’t really care … Continue reading “Dallas’s Tech Wildcatters Brings on Latest Class of B-to-B Startups”

Tiger Teams, Dropping Subs, and Biotech’s Elusive Second Strikes

Onesie-twosie? Double dipping? The old razzle dazzle? Whatever you call it, it’s a rare feat to sell a biotech company, hold something back to start a new company, then ride that second horse to success. The team behind Flexus Biosciences is halfway there, as I wrote about last week. They sold a preclinical cancer immunotherapy … Continue reading “Tiger Teams, Dropping Subs, and Biotech’s Elusive Second Strikes”

Spredfast Lands $24,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=468a38bf-aef8-4cea-8b3a-b8286bdcab78 Date 3/3/2015 Company Name Spredfast Mailing Address 200 W Cesar Chavez Austin, TX 78701 USA Company Description As the first comprehensive social media dashboard, social media engagement through Spredfast offers the opportunity to shape conversation, increase traffic, create relationships, and ultimately build sales. Website http://www.spredfast.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Spredfast Lands $24,000,000 New Funding Round”

Mitel Networks Acquires Mavenir Systems for $560,000,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d760ff6d-3500-40a5-9d68-e33a6174898b Date 3/3/2015 Company Name Mavenir Systems Mailing Address 1700 International Parkway Richardson, TX 75081 USA Company Description Mavenir’s solutions, located between the access and the core, provide an efficient, cost-effective method to introduce tomorrow’s multimedia services across a multitude of access technologies, in an incremental fashion, with device and context aware … Continue reading “Mitel Networks Acquires Mavenir Systems for $560,000,000”

Inaugural Dallas Startup Week Puts Focus On Region’s Innovators

The first-ever Dallas Startup Week begins today, aiming to introduce the region’s different entrepreneurial ecosystems to each other. “Now, there is collaboration happening,” says Michael Sitarzewski, one of the startup week’s organizers. “We’re bringing the Greater Dallas-Fort Worth startup communities together to share their experiences and network. Next year, it’s about bringing other people in … Continue reading “Inaugural Dallas Startup Week Puts Focus On Region’s Innovators”

Health IT Marketer eRelevance Plans Fundraising for Expansion

Before the end of this year, healthcare software maker eRelevance hopes to add another 700 medical-clinic customers to the more than 100 it already has, while also tripling its staff to about 30, according to founder and CEO Bob Fabbio. A $1.4 million seed round in January is helping the Austin, TX, company get there, though eRelevance … Continue reading “Health IT Marketer eRelevance Plans Fundraising for Expansion”

Cancer Immunotherapy Companies: Looking Forward and Looking Back

[Updated, 4/7/15, see below] I’ve been researching one of our local immunotherapy developers here in Seattle, trying to round up the views of industry experts regarding the future prospects of a drug at the front of its pipeline. Do they think it’s a good investment? Here’s what I found out: Analysts predict that sales of … Continue reading “Cancer Immunotherapy Companies: Looking Forward and Looking Back”

HeatGenie Obtains $1,802,020 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1a1e12a1-2acd-40ed-b547-85a6637ba9de Date 3/2/2015 Company Name HeatGenie Mailing Address 3913 Todd Lane Austin, TX 78744 USA Company Description Our vision is to make self heating packages an integral part of consumer’s lives and in doing so become the largest commercially successful self-heating technology in the world. Website http://www.heatgenie.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “HeatGenie Obtains $1,802,020 New Round”

Innovation Hub: Advertising’s New Age

A product, a camera phone, and a sensor. Those may be the essential tools of advertising in the 21st century. Increasingly, we’re witnessing the disappearance of the classic, 30-second ad. Now products are looking to lure us with humor (I’m looking at you, Old Spice Guy) or whiz-bang theatrics (think Jean-Claude Van Damme straddling Volvos). … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: Advertising’s New Age”

Cancer Agency Leaders in Houston, $111M in Grants Awarded

Leaders of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas stopped by the Texas Medical Center in Houston yesterday at a “Meet CPRIT” event to update the city’s biotech community on the agency’s efforts. CPRIT recently announced its latest slate of awards, a total of $111.4 million in research and commercialization grants, which come at … Continue reading “Cancer Agency Leaders in Houston, $111M in Grants Awarded”

Milestones of Innovation 3: ‘Modern Pioneers’ at the Waldorf–1940

When people made lists of leading innovators 75 years ago, they saw a landscape very different from today’s for putting discoveries, techniques, money, workers, and customers together to get something new and useful onto the market. In the brief interval between the Depression and World War II, the dominant factor was the large, vertically integrated … Continue reading “Milestones of Innovation 3: ‘Modern Pioneers’ at the Waldorf–1940”

TrendKite Secures $5,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2706cf83-d128-48bf-892f-94e1624daf90 Date 2/27/2015 Company Name TrendKite Mailing Address 714 Congress Ave. Austin, TX 78701 USA Company Description TrendKite is an Austin, Texas based company that was founded in 2012 with the mission to help organizations better understand what the world thinks of them and react accordingly. Website http://www.trendkite.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “TrendKite Secures $5,000,000 New Financing”

Bellicum CEO Reflects on Rise From Baylor to Houston Biotech Darling

The Houston biotech community welcomed Bellicum Pharmaceuticals at a BioHouston breakfast Wednesday, one of the first public events for its executives since the life sciences company went public in a $140 million offering late last year. More than 100 people crowded an events room at Rice University’s BioScience Research Collaborative building to hear Bellicum CEO … Continue reading “Bellicum CEO Reflects on Rise From Baylor to Houston Biotech Darling”

ITinvolve Secures $1,500,008 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=604ad93a-8e90-431f-aa96-d82b549d5f2c Date 2/26/2015 Company Name ITinvolve Mailing Address 11200 Richmond Avenue Houston, TX 77082 USA Company Description ITinvolve was founded with the singular goal of helping teams work better together in order to enable the business to respond faster to opportunities and competitive threats. Website http://www.itinvolve.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “ITinvolve Secures $1,500,008 New Funding”

Tech Wildcatters’ New Network Enlists Corporations to Boost Startups

To help startups get off the ground, Tech Wildcatters is bringing in Big D’s big businesses. The Dallas-based accelerator has unveiled a new program called the Corporate Innovation Network, a select group of companies that will have a much more hands-on role with Tech Wildcatters’ startups. “This is a way to formalize the relationship with … Continue reading “Tech Wildcatters’ New Network Enlists Corporations to Boost Startups”

Austin Ventures Changes Tack, Shows Growth of City’s Startup Scene

Austin Ventures funded many of the first generation of technology companies that put the Texas capitol on the innovation map. But after three decades and 10 funds, the venture capital firm has decided not to raise an 11th for early stage investing. The announcement set off speculation in a recent article in Fortune that the … Continue reading “Austin Ventures Changes Tack, Shows Growth of City’s Startup Scene”

DriverUp Secures $50,000,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=02f13509-b67f-4a0e-93d6-455258094f33 Date 2/24/2015 Company Name DriverUp Mailing Address Undisclosed Dallas, TX 75244 USA Company Description DriverUp is an online marketplace built exclusively for automotive financing. DriverUp is powered by Sierra Auto Finance, a nationally recognized specialty auto finance company. We are the first platform that enables investors to easily and directly participate … Continue reading “DriverUp Secures $50,000,000 Series A Round”

Visio Financial Services Garners $6,700,000 Series B Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d8d3e9af-ba0e-4305-b6d0-5c379b4f3e3c Date 2/24/2015 Company Name Visio Financial Services Mailing Address 1905 Kramer Lane Austin, TX 78758 USA Company Description Our passion is helping people reach their investment goals by enabling them to finance single-family investment properties with a fast, simple and dependable process. We draw on years of experience having bought, sold … Continue reading “Visio Financial Services Garners $6,700,000 Series B Financing Round”

Pivot3 Garners $45,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ea6fa964-32ff-4b4a-a008-2533b8bca105 Date 2/24/2015 Company Name Pivot3 Mailing Address 816 Congress Avenue Austin, TX 78701 USA Company Description Pivot3 Transforms How Customers Invest in Storage. The founding team, developers and marketers of early custom RAID controllers with credit for over 50 storage patents, shared a vision for a storage virtualization architecture that required … Continue reading “Pivot3 Garners $45,000,000 New Round”

DriverUp Launches Online Auto Loan Marketplace With $50M Series A

An online marketplace for auto loans called DriverUp has grabbed $50 million in Series A funding to launch its service. DriverUp, which is run by Dallas-based specialty finance company Sierra Auto Finance, helps auto dealers make loans to their customers by crowd-sourcing accredited investors who want to make direct investments in the auto loans. Both … Continue reading “DriverUp Launches Online Auto Loan Marketplace With $50M Series A”

Main Street Hub Receives $20,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e62bb322-c1b2-492a-9b3d-06da1c4078c5 Date 2/23/2015 Company Name Main Street Hub Mailing Address 720 Brazos Street Austin, TX 78701 USA Company Description Our mission is to help great local businesses around the world connect with customers. Website http://www.mainstreethub.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $20,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Main Street Hub hopes to use … Continue reading “Main Street Hub Receives $20,000,000 New Financing Round”

Innovation Hub: Meet the Science Evangelist

Ainissa Ramirez says she’s a “Science Evangelist,” and she travels the country to preach her gospel in classrooms. As a result, the former Yale professor hopes to invigorate students, amping up their engagement with everything from nanotech to material science. I talked to her about how you help a generation of kids find their inner … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: Meet the Science Evangelist”

AgileCraft Receives $10,000,000 Series A Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e0fa1f48-1da6-4737-a05a-034b405d251a Date 2/20/2015 Company Name AgileCraft Mailing Address Undisclosed Seminole, TX 79360 USA Company Description AgileCraft is an all-in-one agile management suite built from the ground up to support scaled agile software development. From small teams to large distributed enterprises, AgileCraft can help companies scale agile faster, easier and with better results. … Continue reading “AgileCraft Receives $10,000,000 Series A Funding Round”

San Antonio’s Evestra Takes $5M Loan for Gynecological Treatments

[Corrected 2/20/15, 11:18 a.m. and updated 1/24/17, 12:54 p.m. See below.] Women’s health-focused biopharmaceutical researcher Evestra is taking a $5 million loan from existing partner Gedeon Richter so that it can further develop a product line that includes contraceptives and other gynecological treatments. The San Antonio, TX, company will use the money to try to … Continue reading “San Antonio’s Evestra Takes $5M Loan for Gynecological Treatments”

Dustin Smith, MIT Media Lab Alum and Startup Founder, Dies at 31

Xconomy is sad to report that Dustin Smith, an artificial-intelligence expert and co-founder of Boston startup Beansprock, has passed away at the age of 31. Smith died unexpectedly on Feb. 14. He had been diagnosed with a heart condition known as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) more than 10 years ago, but his friends and family … Continue reading “Dustin Smith, MIT Media Lab Alum and Startup Founder, Dies at 31”