Category: Texas

What Biotech Pros Will Be Chirping About at JP Morgan This Week

Somebody always has to announce a monster acquisition, or gee-whiz biotech/pharma partnership, on the eve of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Everyone wants to be the center of attention at the annual biotech investing and networking frenzy. With a full business week to get ready, biotech executives and all their PR handlers … Continue reading “What Biotech Pros Will Be Chirping About at JP Morgan This Week”

Rebellion Photonics Secures $10,400,000 Series A Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dbb8cfbf-1070-4fd4-bb9b-8d78d7ddb84d Date 1/13/2014 Company Name Rebellion Photonics Mailing Address 7547 South Fwy Houston, TX 77021 Company Description Rebellion Photonics is commercializing the unique ‘snap-shot’ hyperspectral imaging technology. Our main product is the Gas Cloud Imaging camera for oil and gas safety. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Houston, … Continue reading “Rebellion Photonics Secures $10,400,000 Series A Funding”

Iconixx Software Garners $4,500,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8751478d-3999-4b4d-8e13-a810afb19e43 Date 1/13/2014 Company Name Iconixx Software Mailing Address 3420 Executive Center Dr. Austin, TX 78731 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 workflow … Continue reading “Iconixx Software Garners $4,500,000 New Round”

Aeglea BioTherapeutics Receives $12,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3f6aa5d0-fc91-462b-939a-29d701bf8586 Date 1/13/2014 Company Name Aeglea BioTherapeutics Mailing Address 815-A Brazos St. Austin, TX 78701 Company Description Aeglea BioTherapeutics is a Texas based start up developing two drugs invented at UT Austin, novel engineered human enzymes that degrade the amino acids L-methionine (L-Met), or L- arginine (LArg) in the circulation. These drugs … Continue reading “Aeglea BioTherapeutics Receives $12,000,000 New Financing”

Volusion Lands $35,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=997db2f5-4c96-4d75-a298-cf8229e7614c Date 1/13/2014 Company Name Volusion Mailing Address 8911 Capital of Texas Hwy. Austin, TX 78759 Company Description Success is about more than sales and revenues. The true measure of company’s success isn’t how much they make or how many awards they win. It’s about the impact they make on the people, … Continue reading “Volusion Lands $35,000,000 New Funding”

Roundup: Capital Royalty, Rebellion, Aeglea, PeopleAnswers

New funding and an acquisition round out the news this week for Xconomy Texas: Houston-based Capital Royalty announced Friday it had agreed to provide Biodesix up to $20 million through a structured debt financing. The Boulder, CO-based biotech company will use the money for ongoing development and marketing of VeriStrat, a serum protein test that … Continue reading “Roundup: Capital Royalty, Rebellion, Aeglea, PeopleAnswers”

Sports Apps, ‘Telemedicine’ for Business Among DreamIt Startups

DreamIt Ventures kicks off its second Austin program today with a slate of nine startups—some coming to the Texas capital from as far as Bangalore and Sweden. The international entrepreneurs will join their stateside peers for a 12-week accelerator program that includes a dedicated mentor matched to each startup’s niche. The DreamIt program invests $25,000 … Continue reading “Sports Apps, ‘Telemedicine’ for Business Among DreamIt Startups”

How I Learned to Stay Organized with Evernote, Post-its & Foamcore

I like to think I’m a fairly organized person. I have to be. I’ve got stories to edit and events to plan. I write 5,000 to 10,000 words a week. Some 200 to 300 new e-mail messages hit my inbox every day, all requiring some kind of action. And I have a lot of cool … Continue reading “How I Learned to Stay Organized with Evernote, Post-its & Foamcore”

U.S. Biomedical Research at a Precipice

[Editor’s Note: this post was co-authored by Justin Chakma, Dr. Reshma Jagsi, and Stephen M. Sammut.] Since 1950, U.S. government funding has supported research underlying 84 percent of Nobel Prizes awarded in Medicine & Physiology. These scientific breakthroughs have resulted in new medicines and created significant economic value. For example, the discovery of gene silencing, … Continue reading “U.S. Biomedical Research at a Precipice”

Aeglea BioTherapeutics Secures $12,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1b381279-ed11-478a-8b38-9f52f4f285c0 Date 1/9/2014 Company Name Aeglea BioTherapeutics Mailing Address 815-A Brazos St. Austin, TX 78701 Company Description Aeglea BioTherapeutics is a Texas based start up developing two drugs invented at UT Austin, novel engineered human enzymes that degrade the amino acids L-methionine (L-Met), or L- arginine (LArg) in the circulation. These drugs … Continue reading “Aeglea BioTherapeutics Secures $12,000,000 New Funding”

Houston’s MD Anderson Partners With Pfizer on Cancer Immunotherapies

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has a new partnership with Pfizer that moves forward a key component of the hospital’s year-old “Moon Shots” program aimed at dramatically improving survival of cancer patients. The hospital announced Monday it will work with the New York City-based pharmaceutical giant to develop immunotherapies, an approach that … Continue reading “Houston’s MD Anderson Partners With Pfizer on Cancer Immunotherapies”

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Secures $34,400,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=761e7bcc-815a-403e-a442-6195881a86f5 Date 1/8/2014 Company Name Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 6400 Fannin St. Houston, TX 77030 Company Description Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is developing next generation therapeutic vaccines and other immunotherapeutic approaches for the treatment of cancer and chronic infectious diseases. Bellicum utilize’s precise knowledge of the signaling pathways that regulate the immune response … Continue reading “Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Secures $34,400,000 Series B Round”

Texas Roundup: Bellicum, Spredfast, People Pattern, Neos, Localeur

The start of the new year is proving to be fertile ground for Texas startups in the fundraising mode. Here’s the latest news from around the state. —Bellicum Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday it closed its Series B fundraising with an additional $14.7 million, bringing the total raised in this round to $34.4 million. Investors included Axia Ventures … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: Bellicum, Spredfast, People Pattern, Neos, Localeur”

Onit Obtains $2,331,999 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=abf5f408-c1d1-42a6-815b-0dcffece6fee Date 1/7/2014 Company Name Onit Mailing Address 802 Lovett Blvd Houston, TX 77006 Company Description We understand that each business user’s needs are unique and have created a variety of apps that can be customized to your specific needs. Whether you are in HR, Legal, Governance/Risk & Compliance or Sales, we … Continue reading “Onit Obtains $2,331,999 New Round”

Bad Statistics, and Bad Training, Are Sabotaging Drug Discovery

One of the most widely read college textbooks in the 1960s and ‘70s was How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff. Despite the humorous title, the serious intent of the book (written by a journalist, not a statistician) was to illustrate how common errors in the use of statistics frequently lead to misleading conclusions. … Continue reading “Bad Statistics, and Bad Training, Are Sabotaging Drug Discovery”

Josh Boger Finds Beauty Off the Coast of Fiji, in Life After Vertex

What has Josh Boger been doing the past four years in his supposed “retirement” from Vertex Pharmaceuticals? Turns out, he’s found peace and beauty. He discovered it about as far away from the biotech grind as you can possibly get. Boger, as many readers know, is the founder and former president and CEO of Cambridge, … Continue reading “Josh Boger Finds Beauty Off the Coast of Fiji, in Life After Vertex”

ProspX Garners $1,249,500 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e887aa66-32f7-4ced-b57c-5d9f798d2f15 Date 1/6/2014 Company Name ProspX Mailing Address 7600B N Capital of Texas Hwy Austin, TX 78731 Company Description ProspX was founded in 2005 by industry veterans that saw a unique opportunity to improve many of the inefficiencies that exist in today’s $500 billion dollar a year commercial insurance industry. Website http://www.prospx.com … Continue reading “ProspX Garners $1,249,500 New Funding Round”

Meshify Obtains $255,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0e31a7be-96d8-4ca5-9792-6974ace8147a Date 1/6/2014 Company Name Meshify Mailing Address Undisclosed Houston, TX 77001 Company Description Meshify brings devices online. Tank monitoring, energy management, electronic pest control, and more. Website http://www.meshify.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $255,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. Contact technology company for … Continue reading “Meshify Obtains $255,000 New Financing”

Lucernex Secures $2,075,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=08c34ea0-223c-4889-9e59-aca9b5406375 Date 1/6/2014 Company Name Lucernex Mailing Address 5601 Democracy Drive Plano, TX 75028 Company Description Lucernex was founded in 2000 by Mike Nuzum and Joe Valeri to address the needs of retail companies with diverse real estate portfolios by developing powerful tools for store lifecycle management and retail IWMS. The result … Continue reading “Lucernex Secures $2,075,000 New Financing”

Startups Poised to Make Their Mark Alongside the Big Guys at CES

Much of the technology world will descend this weekend on Las Vegas, bound for the annual spectacle of new gadgets known as the International CES. As soon as the Northeast digs its way out of the snow, I will be on my way for hands-on coverage of this carnival of consumer devices. Big companies such … Continue reading “Startups Poised to Make Their Mark Alongside the Big Guys at CES”

Scientific Reproducibility: Raising the Standards for Biomedicine

The vast majority of findings published in high-profile biomedical research publications can’t be reproduced by independent laboratories. Multiple groups have come to this same shocking conclusion in recent years, and it has deservedly generated considerable attention. It matters because the ability to reproduce a result is fundamental to establishing the legitimacy of a new research … Continue reading “Scientific Reproducibility: Raising the Standards for Biomedicine”

The Future of Education: 10 Trends To Watch

It is that time of the year when we tend to pause, reflect, and look forward. What have we achieved in the year just passed? What are the highlights of culture, business, technology, and trends that we have observed around us? For me, the most exciting and positive movement at present is in the domain … Continue reading “The Future of Education: 10 Trends To Watch”

New Online Services Put You Back in Command of Your 401(k)

If you’re still in search of a New Year’s resolution, here’s one you’re free to borrow from me: Become a more active and self-reliant manager of your retirement investment accounts, using some of the affordable new tools available online. This week I’ve been exploring two of the leading services, Jemstep and Personal Capital. After just … Continue reading “New Online Services Put You Back in Command of Your 401(k)”

Luminex Finds Growth in Diagnostics Along a Texas-Wisconsin Corridor

To paraphrase the self-help saying, the first step in curing a problem is knowing that you have it. And Austin’s Luminex (Nasdaq: LMNX), with the help of its R&D team in Madison, WI, says it has found a way to help clinicians and researchers diagnose disease faster and more efficiently by enabling them to look … Continue reading “Luminex Finds Growth in Diagnostics Along a Texas-Wisconsin Corridor”

Neos Therapeutics Obtains $8,067,240 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d969f173-d93c-49ec-89b2-88e31fd666f8 Date 1/3/2014 Company Name Neos Therapeutics Mailing Address 2940 N Hwy 360 Grand Prairie, TX 75050 Company Description Neos Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company that focuses on time-release technologies. We have developed a broad, cutting-edge portfolio of processes that allow for tailored and independent release profiles of single and multiple … Continue reading “Neos Therapeutics Obtains $8,067,240 New Funding”

Spredfast Secures $32,500,000 Series D Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c249974a-98a0-4b22-bd58-93d07335dbca Date 1/3/2014 Company Name Spredfast Mailing Address 412 Congress Ave 2nd Floor Austin, TX 78701 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 Secures $32,500,000 Series D Funding Round”

Here’s What Mobile Industry Insiders See Ahead for 2014

By now, you should know the truly big stories in the mobile sector: Samsung’s rise to challenge Apple, Microsoft finally acquiring Nokia, Google leaping into wearables, more moves toward carrier consolidation. But if you want to get a jump start on some of the biggest trends shaping up in the mobile industry, you could do … Continue reading “Here’s What Mobile Industry Insiders See Ahead for 2014”

Tech Bubble Leaks Air, Healthcare Bests Biotech, & More for 2014

The coming year will see some good news and some bad news in tech. Here are five predictions. • IPOs: This past year witnessed an extraordinary resurgence in IPO activity for venture-backed companies. It felt much like 1999 right before the crest of the wave. With modest growth, unsustainably high valuation multiples, little excess left for … Continue reading “Tech Bubble Leaks Air, Healthcare Bests Biotech, & More for 2014”

The Year in Innovation: Xconomy’s Top 13 Stories of 2013

If you only have time to read a few of our articles from the past year, these are the ones. These are editor’s picks (mine). They are not based on Web traffic, but rather on a subjective weighting of their impact, significance, and representation of our mission and geographies. Xconomy is now in 9 regions … Continue reading “The Year in Innovation: Xconomy’s Top 13 Stories of 2013”

Remembering James L. Vincent, Longtime Biogen Leader

Are they making innovators quite like James L. Vincent any more? This question, spurred by Vincent’s death on Dec. 5, has more edge these days as we worry how Americans are going to keep inventing, making, and selling new things to earn a good living in a sharply competitive world. More bluntly, do the innovators … Continue reading “Remembering James L. Vincent, Longtime Biogen Leader”

Help Wanted: Houston vs. Austin and the Search for the Best IT Talent

Last May, we announced that we were moving Datafiniti to Austin. A big reason for our move was the lack of a suitable talent pool from which to hire. There was a lot of skepticism—perhaps surprisingly so—around our reasoning. At the time, we provided what I thought was a healthy dose of data to back … Continue reading “Help Wanted: Houston vs. Austin and the Search for the Best IT Talent”

People Pattern Garners $4,500,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=acffcf69-e093-428c-9f0b-8c20231ec184 Date 12/31/2013 Company Name People Pattern Mailing Address 501A Pedernales St. Austin, TX 78702 Company Description People Pattern has created proprietary user-classification algorithms that utilize predictive analytics, natural language processing, and machine learning to cluster people and identify high value personas. Website http://www.peoplepattern.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,500,000 Transaction … Continue reading “People Pattern Garners $4,500,000 Series A Round”

Why Angels Should Keep Their Distance from Crowdfunding in 2014

There’s certainly been a lot of uncertainty in the angel and venture capital arenas over the past decade, and understandably so. Add to that, the lure of crowdfunding—a nearly $3 billion business in 2012—and it’s led some angel groups to consider if there is a role for individual investors in crowdfunding their deals. My advice … Continue reading “Why Angels Should Keep Their Distance from Crowdfunding in 2014”

Why Business and Personal Email Are Not the Same

We all carry certain expectations about email from our private lives into a corporate setting. Some of those expectations are met, but in other ways business email is very different from consumer email. These differences can be confusing at best and, at worst, lead to major problems for organizations. The Inside and the Outside To … Continue reading “Why Business and Personal Email Are Not the Same”

Planview Secures New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0c928bf5-9d55-4c9a-b5ae-f84001e64b5c Date 12/30/2013 Company Name Planview Mailing Address 8300 North Mopac Austin, TX 78759 Company Description Since 1989, Planview has been a market leader and trusted partner in providing the single most comprehensive IT management solutions in the industry. With its roots in work and resource management, Planview pioneered in the late … Continue reading “Planview Secures New Round”

Good, Business, and Good Business

Here in the 20-teens, the roles of for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, government, NGO’s, foundations, investors and philanthropists are beginning to blur together. We are quickly finding ourselves in a world where it is not only possible to do good while doing business, but expected. This is quite a change from the “Friedman Doctrine” that claimed … Continue reading “Good, Business, and Good Business”

4 Tech Trends That Will Impact Risk and Compliance Efforts in 2014

Once business organizations reach a certain size, their leaders have to start thinking systematically about how to structure reporting relationships to ensure vital information reaches the top; how to identify and account for the internal and external risks that could hobble the company; and how to ensure the organization is complying with a skein of … Continue reading “4 Tech Trends That Will Impact Risk and Compliance Efforts in 2014”

My Top Picks in Bio-Venture Innovations, and Predictions for 2014

I am a biotech VC, but not a techie. So I don’t follow stem cells, gene therapy, and other similar “blockbuster” technologies in the life sciences. Rather than looking at all the gosh-and-golly stuff going into the biotech pipeline, I wait to see what is coming out of the other end. So far, very little … Continue reading “My Top Picks in Bio-Venture Innovations, and Predictions for 2014”

We Ask the Xconomists: Some Quick Predictions for the New Year

As 2013 drew to a close, we asked some of our Xconomists to ponder innovation, past and future, and to give us their predictions for the breakout innovations they expect to see in their respective fields. Here’s what they had to say: Texas Xconomist Blair Garrou, managing director at Mercury Fund in Houston: I’m excited … Continue reading “We Ask the Xconomists: Some Quick Predictions for the New Year”

Bee Cave Games Obtains $1,900,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a8332e2b-9314-4daf-8571-675cd0027743 Date 12/26/2013 Company Name Bee Cave Games Mailing Address 512 East Riverside Drive Austin, TX 78704 Company Description Bee Cave Games is dedicated to entertaining the world with the best casino games. Website http://www.beecavegames.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $1,900,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC … Continue reading “Bee Cave Games Obtains $1,900,000 New Funding”

ApoCell Entering the Commercial Ring In Rare Tumor Cell Diagnostics

In less than a decade, the Houston-based research services company ApoCell has made a name for itself amid the developing life sciences industry in Texas. Based on its rapid revenue increases, ApoCell has been named to the Inc 5000 list of fastest-growing private US companies for the past three years. ApoCell has now set a … Continue reading “ApoCell Entering the Commercial Ring In Rare Tumor Cell Diagnostics”

Observations From Korea’s Creative Economy 2013 Conference

Innovation is one of those goals that transcends borders. Spurring technology innovation, and through it the creation of new industries that accelerate job growth, is always high on the agenda of any advanced economy. But what if you had to change the culture of an entire nation at the same time? That’s a major part … Continue reading “Observations From Korea’s Creative Economy 2013 Conference”

A Need to Know: Adding DNA and Geomedicine Data to Patient Records

It takes a lot of patience to be a patient. There are about 1.2 billion physician office visits annually in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The center, which has collected data on this subject for decades, also reports that patients wait an average of just “north” of 11 minutes … Continue reading “A Need to Know: Adding DNA and Geomedicine Data to Patient Records”

Diverse Software Developer Talent—A Gift That Keeps on Giving

Here’s a fresh take on the spirit of giving: Ten Washington technology companies have agreed to “pay it forward” by supporting Seattle’s first not-for-profit coding academy focused on preparing women who show technical aptitude, but have little or no technical experience, to become software developers. During the Technology Alliance’s early days in the mid-1990s, Washington … Continue reading “Diverse Software Developer Talent—A Gift That Keeps on Giving”

10 Tips for Maximizing the JP Morgan Healthcare Experience

San Francisco, we’re coming. Of course, you are ready for the biotech onslaught. The cab drivers, hotel people, cops, security dudes, restaurant and bar staff—you all know the drill come January. So what about all the healthcare industry capitalists? Are you ready to make the most of this week when all the decision makers and … Continue reading “10 Tips for Maximizing the JP Morgan Healthcare Experience”

Encore Vision Lands $5,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d98955c2-9ff5-4075-88dd-9cdc7e9fc87a Date 12/21/2013 Company Name Encore Vision Mailing Address 1120 South Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76104 Company Description Quality vision is one of the most important contributors to a great quality of life. Encore Vision was formed to create a breakout solution to the global issue of presbyopia and to improve vision … Continue reading “Encore Vision Lands $5,000,000 New Funding”