Future of Robotics Summit

Mass TLC presents a day-long look at robotics research in the Boston area. From the event registration page: “Join New England’s leading robotic research institutions for an unprecedented look at the future of robotics. The summit will begin with remarks from the Massachusetts Secretary for Housing and Economic Development Gregory Bialecki. Our research briefing will include … Continue reading “Future of Robotics Summit”

Genzyme Resumes Shipments of Gaucher’s Drug from Allston Plant

Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) says today that it has begun shipments of its best-selling drug for Gaucher’s disease made at its plant in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. There have been shortages of the drug since the firm halted production at the Allston plant in June, when viral contamination was discovered there. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech is … Continue reading “Genzyme Resumes Shipments of Gaucher’s Drug from Allston Plant”

Michael Robertson on Gizmo5, and How the World Has Changed for Internet Startups

Just a few weeks ago, Michael Robertson sold his Web-based phone service venture, Gizmo5, to Google for a reported $30 million. So he was in a good mood when we sat down yesterday to talk about what might be next for San Diego’s patriarch of Internet startups. “One of my goals for the year was … Continue reading “Michael Robertson on Gizmo5, and How the World Has Changed for Internet Startups”

Genzyme Competitor Lands Pfizer Deal

Israel-based Protalix Biotherapeutics (NYSE:[[ticker:PLX]]) said today it has struck a deal with drug giant Pfizer to develop and market Protalix’s experimental Gaucher’s disease drug, taliglucerase alfa. The drug, which the FDA has granted a fast-track process for potential approval, poses a threat to Cambridge, MA-based biotech Genzyme’s (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) market-leading Gaucher’s treatment, imiglucerase (Cerezyme), which has … Continue reading “Genzyme Competitor Lands Pfizer Deal”

In the Venture Business, Small Is Beautiful, Charles River Ventures Argues—And Funds Are About to Get Much Smaller

The average return on venture capital investments for the year ending June 30, 2009, was -17 percent, according to figures released by the National Venture Capital Association in October. The 3-year return was +1.3 percent, the 5-year return was +5.7 percent, and the 10-year return was +14.3 percent. Over all of these time frames, venture … Continue reading “In the Venture Business, Small Is Beautiful, Charles River Ventures Argues—And Funds Are About to Get Much Smaller”

Forma Therapeutics Snags $25.5M Venture Round, Punctuating Startup’s Breakout Year

Anybody drawing up a list of New England’s biotech companies that really broke through in 2009 would have to consider Forma Therapeutics. The Cambridge, MA-based startup has nailed down a $25.5 million Series B venture round, which means it has now raised a total of more than $50 million this year to support what it … Continue reading “Forma Therapeutics Snags $25.5M Venture Round, Punctuating Startup’s Breakout Year”

San Diego Biotech Leaders on the Future of Stem Cells, MicroRNA, & Cancer Biology

San Diego has some of the most intriguing biotech companies in the world, and one of the things I’ve noticed is that they aren’t all packed in one neighborhood where everyone can mingle. So we at Xconomy are thrilled that we are about two weeks away from bringing together some of the brightest biotech minds … Continue reading “San Diego Biotech Leaders on the Future of Stem Cells, MicroRNA, & Cancer Biology”

Tech Executive Pay Raises Way Down, New Study Says

Technology executive pay raises in 2009 have taken their biggest nosedive of the past decade, according to a new compensation study. The study, which polled privately held firms from around the U.S., indicates that the current economic downturn has had a more drastic impact on executive pay than the period after the dot-com bubble burst. … Continue reading “Tech Executive Pay Raises Way Down, New Study Says”

Forma Therapeutics Garners $25,500,000 Series B Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d4303b05-0ce9-4cac-bb84-8d9d30b4336a&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2009 Company Name Forma Therapeutics Mailing Address 790 Memorial Drive Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description FORMA Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company integrating transformative biology and chemistry to unlock targets and pathways that have been validated through genomic medicine as root causes or major drivers of human cancers. Website http://www.formatherapeutics.com Transaction … Continue reading “Forma Therapeutics Garners $25,500,000 Series B Funding Round”

Zorap Secures $1,350,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=20104bbe-abe6-40ac-be0e-f4eab26e0a4f&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2009 Company Name Zorap Mailing Address 35 Fieldstone Lane Falmouth, ME 04105 Company Description Zorap is a privately funded startup with offices in Maine and California. Started in 2007, our mission was to create a new web experience; one that combines multipoint video conferencing with live media sharing, interactive games … Continue reading “Zorap Secures $1,350,000 New Financing”

Ansca Garners $1,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=04305dcd-bb21-4e6e-8099-1a116909d008&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2009 Company Name Ansca Mailing Address 720 University Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94303 Company Description Ansca Mobile is a venture-backed mobile software company based in Palo Alto, CA, and founded by two Adobe veterans who previously led the Flash Lite engineering team. Ansca team members also hail from Apple and … Continue reading “Ansca Garners $1,000,000 New Round”

Soasta Lands $10,000,000 Series C Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2ef91f50-1b5a-4abf-9189-5e7183aeece1&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2009 Company Name Soasta Mailing Address 1975 Landings Dr. Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description The world is changing. Everything in enterprise software is moving to the Web. The economic advantages of browser software delivery (no installs, instant availability everywhere, updates applied centrally) create great demand for this type of … Continue reading “Soasta Lands $10,000,000 Series C Funding”

Working Equity Obtains $5,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=03d7b71a-88dc-4958-bade-603228aa8cd5&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2009 Company Name Working Equity Mailing Address 1663 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Company Description Working Equity, Inc. was founded with one clear mission – to provide products and services that protect home value against declines and volatility in local housing markets. The staff at Working Equity have years … Continue reading “Working Equity Obtains $5,000,000 New Financing”

gWallet Garners $12,500,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4cf54485-19e6-4b58-8ec4-a285206adca0&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2009 Company Name gWallet Mailing Address 525 Market Street 18th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description We witnessed the virtual economy ecosystem growing but without a long-term vision or strategy. Hence, we went to work and created a virtual currency platform ourselves. In July 2009, AlwaysOn selected gWallet as … Continue reading “gWallet Garners $12,500,000 New Funding Round”

Aquantia Corp. Obtains $35,000,000 Series D Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7481a0f0-5838-4231-9e02-c2807707b735&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2009 Company Name Aquantia Corp. Mailing Address 700 Tasman Drive Milpitas, CA 95035 Company Description Aquantia is focused on delivering 10GBASE-T physical layer silicon to drive the expansion of 10GE in the data center. Aquantia possesses a unique depth of experience in communications with solid backing from the venture capital … Continue reading “Aquantia Corp. Obtains $35,000,000 Series D Funding”

Broadcom Corporation Acquires Dune Networks for $178,000,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1b5974af-ec1e-4084-865f-0e01f257732c&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2009 Company Name Dune Networks Mailing Address 710 Lakeway Dr. Sunnyvale, CA 94085 Company Description Dune Networks is a fabless semiconductor supplier of networking devices facilitating the build of Data Center, Enterprise and Carrier Ethernet switching platforms. Dune provides a switching solution that truly scales in total capacity, port rate … Continue reading “Broadcom Corporation Acquires Dune Networks for $178,000,000”

Three Lessons on Startups, As Told By Ron Wiener From Earth Class Mail

Ron Wiener is best known these days as the founding CEO (now chairman) of Earth Class Mail, a Seattle-based software firm that digitizes postal mail for companies. He is a successful and outspoken entrepreneur who has run five investor-backed tech companies in the past 20 years—besides Earth Class Mail, he was previously CEO of Azure … Continue reading “Three Lessons on Startups, As Told By Ron Wiener From Earth Class Mail”

$2M for Cedar Point Communications

Derry, NH-based Cedar Point Communications has raised $2 million out of a planned $3.4 million round of debt, the company revealed in regulatory documents filed November 24. The company, which makes voice-over-Internet-Protocol switching hardware used by cable and telephone operators, has raised $70 million in venture funding to date from Ascent Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, … Continue reading “$2M for Cedar Point Communications”

Panraven Raises $2.7 Million

Cambridge, MA-based Panraven, which offers online image editing tools that allow users to create hard-bound photo books, has raised $2.7 million out of a planned $3 million funding round involving debt, equity, and warrants, according to regulatory documents filed last week. The company’s investors include Castanea Partners, Dace Ventures, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, according to … Continue reading “Panraven Raises $2.7 Million”

Guardium Head Count Could Grow Under IBM Ownership, Big Blue Exec Says

Guardium, the Waltham, MA-based provider of database security software, is the latest Massachusetts company to be gobbled up by technology giant IBM, according to the companies. And Big Blue could grow the company here in the Bay State as it aims to increase its revenue from sales of software. Armonk, NY-based IBM (NYSE:[[ticker:IBM]]) announced today … Continue reading “Guardium Head Count Could Grow Under IBM Ownership, Big Blue Exec Says”

Boston Startup Weekend

Starting at 6 pm Friday at Microsoft’s New England R&D Center, teams of entrepeneurs, startup enthusiasts, software developers, marketers, and others will gather for an intense, 54-hour session of learning by creating. The goal of Startup Weekend—a tradition started in 2007 by TechStars employee Andrew Hyde—is to end the session with one or more developed … Continue reading “Boston Startup Weekend”

Cracking the Carbon Equation

Everybody talks about controlling greenhouse gas emissions and sometimes it seems like everybody is doing something about it—or at least trying to. This MIT Enterprise Forum Event may help make sense of the opportunities and challenges in reducing carbon emissions—the emerging regulatory frameworks, the technologies designed to capture, sequester and re-use CO2, and the opportunities … Continue reading “Cracking the Carbon Equation”

Web Innovators Group (WebInno24)

WebInno is an informal gathering of people interested in Internet and mobile innovation—free and open to all in the community. “Main Dish” presentations include mobile voting for an audience favorite from among the presenters, while “side Dish” presentations offer a more informal look at other innovative startups throughout the evening. Registration is free, but an … Continue reading “Web Innovators Group (WebInno24)”

E-Retail Traffic Is Way Up This Holiday Season, Akamai Says—But Don’t Get Too Excited

Holiday shopping traffic on retail websites is up dramatically this year over 2008 levels, according to Cambridge, MA-based Akamai. The company’s Retail Net Usage Index—which includes a highly representative sample of companies engaged in e-commerce—hit a peak level on “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving, that was 35 percent higher than traffic for the same … Continue reading “E-Retail Traffic Is Way Up This Holiday Season, Akamai Says—But Don’t Get Too Excited”

SDBN: Drug Discovery 2.0 With Assay Depot

There are approximately 125 Contract Research Organizations (CROs) in the San Diego area, but taking advantage of this resource can be challenging. At this event Assay Depot CEO Kevin Lustig will talk about online marketplaces, and how this model can transform how drug research is done and its potential to stimulate growth for local companies … Continue reading “SDBN: Drug Discovery 2.0 With Assay Depot”

Future of Search Is Sold Out; See You Tonight

Tonight’s Xconomy Forum on The Future of Search and Information Discovery is now officially sold out. Thanks for all the interest—it’s going to be a great evening, with some really great networking. For those of you who grabbed tickets before they ran out, registration starts at 5:30 pm at the Walker-Ames Room in Kane Hall … Continue reading “Future of Search Is Sold Out; See You Tonight”

Founder Institute Ranks San Diego Lowest, Seattle Highest in Likelihood for Entrepreneurial Success

As if it wasn’t already hard enough to be an entrepreneur in San Diego. A recent survey suggests that San Diego entrepreneurs are the least likely to succeed in their startup ventures—while Seattle’s entrepreneurs are the most likely to break through to the other side. The survey, which was first reported by VentureBeat last week, … Continue reading “Founder Institute Ranks San Diego Lowest, Seattle Highest in Likelihood for Entrepreneurial Success”

FitnessKeeper Chases Down $400,000 in Seed Funding

FitnessKeeper, the Boston startup behind the GPS-based RunKeeper iPhone application used by thousands of runners to track and share their outings, has raised its first round of seed funding from a group of local angel and venture investors. It’s a small amount of capital by the standards of many technology startups—just $400,000—but FitnessKeeper founder and … Continue reading “FitnessKeeper Chases Down $400,000 in Seed Funding”

Revolutionary Angels Defends Business Plan Competition Amidst Widespread Criticism

A post last week on the New York Times’ “You’re the Boss” small business blog examined the phenomenon of business plan competitions with high entry fees, with the focus largely on Revolutionary Angels, a Cambridge, MA-based competition we profiled in early October. The post questioned whether the $4,995 entry fee that Revolutionary Angels charges companies … Continue reading “Revolutionary Angels Defends Business Plan Competition Amidst Widespread Criticism”

Local Startup Culture Tied to Bay Area VCs, AirHop Looks to Next-Generation Wireless, SDG&E Strikes Out in Bid for Grant, & More San Diego BizTech News

For a week shortened by the Thanksgiving holiday, we still had lots of news about venture funding deals, views on startup failures and San Diego’s innovation culture, and Qualcomm getting a reprieve from European regulators. Get our rundown of the local tech news you need to know: —I conducted an informal poll on local attitudes … Continue reading “Local Startup Culture Tied to Bay Area VCs, AirHop Looks to Next-Generation Wireless, SDG&E Strikes Out in Bid for Grant, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Ekos, Enduring Tough Year for Devices, Sticks With Goal to Break Even Next Year

Ekos is on a quest to change the way doctors think about how to best dissolve blood clots. Like a lot of bold visions, this hasn’t happened overnight or without some bumps along the way. But even in a very tough year for new medical devices, the Bothell, WA-based ultrasound company has been gradually increasing … Continue reading “Ekos, Enduring Tough Year for Devices, Sticks With Goal to Break Even Next Year”

A Smarter War on Cancer

[Editor’s Note: this editorial was co-authored by Jay (Marty) Tenenbaum of CollabRx and Leroy Hood of the Institute for Systems Biology.] One of society’s great challenges is to advance health care while deflecting its rising cost. Achieving this objective requires that we capitalize upon the immense potential of personalized medicine. Cancer is a case in … Continue reading “A Smarter War on Cancer”

Hyper-Analytical “Insanity” Cripples Drug R&D, Says Alnylam CEO John Maraganore

There’s one thing drug makers love to use to figure out which drugs to invest in: spreadsheets. Not Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, though. Estimates of future cash flows and other financial analysis tools are one of the big reasons why drugmakers spend so much on R&D that creates so few important drugs, says CEO John Maraganore. “I … Continue reading “Hyper-Analytical “Insanity” Cripples Drug R&D, Says Alnylam CEO John Maraganore”

Lighter Living Lands $3,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=07e548dc-8239-4da5-b16e-9a50dfa6378b&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2009 Company Name Lighter Living Mailing Address 36 Lopez Avenue Cambridge, MA 02141 Company Description Lighter Living Inc is a Health care firm. Website http://www.lighterliving.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Flybridge Capital Partners

FitnessKeeper Receives $400,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=17f7a330-beea-4fff-be27-ac69a5204b87&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2009 Company Name FitnessKeeper Mailing Address Undisclosed Boston, MA 02101 Company Description RunKeeper is a mobile fitness platform that we are building with a simple mission—to make fitness tracking and training easier to use and more fun. No need for expensive standalone devices, now you can use your iPhone (and … Continue reading “FitnessKeeper Receives $400,000 New Financing”

Panraven Secures $2,700,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a124aec5-c39c-4f7c-9762-0a0bbfa22d06&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2009 Company Name Panraven Mailing Address 84 Hamilton Street Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description Panraven was founded in June 2005 to offer rich new ways for people to capture, express, and share their life experiences through words, pictures, audio and video…richly and effortlessly…online and in print. Website http://www.panraven.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Panraven Secures $2,700,000 New Financing”

Cedar Point Communications Lands $2,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ff7824cb-c737-4cd8-8fe2-f3bb76155900&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2009 Company Name Cedar Point Communications Mailing Address 16 Route 111 Building 3 Derry, NH 03038 Company Description Cedar Point Communications, a leader in integrated packet-based voice and multimedia switching development for the cable industry. Website http://www.cedarpointcom.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $2,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes … Continue reading “Cedar Point Communications Lands $2,000,000 New Funding Round”

IBM Acquires Guardium for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=85eb8093-3b00-495d-99b3-c8f653e183b6&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2009 Company Name Guardium Mailing Address 230 Third Avenue Waltham, MA 02451 Company Description Guardium (www.guardium.com) develops and delivers innovative database security solutions that remove complexity, and provide visibility and effective controls over database access activities of IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, and Sybase environments. Website http://www.guardium.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount … Continue reading “IBM Acquires Guardium for Undisclosed Sum”

EoPlex Technologies Lands $3,800,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=44d79a6a-3f4f-48ce-aeba-111b0d3805c8&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2009 Company Name EoPlex Technologies Mailing Address 3698A Haven Avenue Redwood City, CA 94063 Company Description EoPlex Technologies is a private company that is developing new technologies to manufacture miniature electronic components and subassemblies. EoPlex can simultaneously build thousands of complex electronic structures for applications including wireless and sensor electronic … Continue reading “EoPlex Technologies Lands $3,800,000 New Financing”

YottaMark Lands $8,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=420b0ce7-6706-40b5-b1b7-7aceaf4772a5&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2009 Company Name YottaMark Mailing Address 1400 Bridge Parkway Redwood City, CA 94065 Company Description The YottaMark Authentication Platform detects and deters counterfeiting, diversion and fraud and allows manufacturers, brand protection personnel, law enforcement officials – even consumers – to authenticate individual products anytime, anywhere. Real time intelligence provides brand … Continue reading “YottaMark Lands $8,000,000 New Round”

PBworks Garners $650,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a92f6a43-f5cc-41e6-910f-9d4f0d3691a6&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2009 Company Name PBworks Mailing Address 1825 S Grant St San Mateo, CA 94402 Company Description PBworks is the world’s largest provider of hosted business and educational workspaces. We host over one million, serve millions of users per month, and 96% of PBworks business users would recommend PBworks to a … Continue reading “PBworks Garners $650,000 New Financing Round”

Crescendo Bioscience Lands $5,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=54a4f85f-82d6-4f82-b5af-bf47a5f52ba0&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2009 Company Name Crescendo Bioscience Mailing Address 341 Oyster Point Blvd South San Francisco, CA 94080 Company Description Crescendo Bioscience is developing a broad range of quantitative, objective diagnostic tools to provide Rheumatologists with deeper clinical insights to more effectively manage patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Website http://www.crescendobio.com Transaction … Continue reading “Crescendo Bioscience Lands $5,000,000 Series B Round”

SupportSpace Secures $10,000,000 Series B Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=270c9fae-9671-488b-91b9-256e41c77359&Preview=1 Date 11/26/2009 Company Name SupportSpace Mailing Address 400 Oyster Point South San Francisco, CA 94080 Company Description Founded in 2005, SupportSpace marks the advent of a new era in tech support with a unique service platform designed to address the problems associated with the rapid adoption of new technologies to the … Continue reading “SupportSpace Secures $10,000,000 Series B Funding Round”