This AIChE Boston event will explore the topic “How do we transition from Petroleum to alternative energy in the time frame required?” The discussion will touch on policy, the role for the U.S., and opportunities for chemical engineers, investors, and entrepreneurs. Registration web site.
WBBA Pub Night
The Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association is hosting a networking event at Lucky Strike Lanes in Bellevue. This is part of a series of events at rotating locations around Puget Sound. This will be a no-host bar.
Microsoft Makes Second Round of Cuts
Microsoft is implementing the rest of its plan to cut 5,000 positions, as originally announced in January. That’s according to numerous media reports and a Microsoft statement. The company hasn’t said how many jobs are being cut locally, but The Seattle Times reports 1,200 workers will be affected in Washington state. The news comes on … Continue reading “Microsoft Makes Second Round of Cuts”
Group Names IBM, Zeemote, Infinity, Wolfe Executives as Leading Women Entrepreneurs
A study last year by Cristian Dezsö, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland’s business school, found that the more women a company has as senior managers, the better it performs financially—and that the advantage comes from a “female management style” that emphasizes teamwork, collaboration, and innovation. To highlight women executives in Massachusetts who … Continue reading “Group Names IBM, Zeemote, Infinity, Wolfe Executives as Leading Women Entrepreneurs”
Powerit Pulls in $6M to Solidify Position in Energy Efficiency and Management
Seattle-based Powerit Solutions, a maker of energy management and energy efficiency technology for commercial and industrial facilities, announced today it has raised $6 million in new funding. The round was led by new investors Siemens Venture Capital and ArcelorMittal’s Clean Technology Fund, and included existing investors @Ventures and Expansion Capital Partners. Powerit (pronounced “Power I.T.”) … Continue reading “Powerit Pulls in $6M to Solidify Position in Energy Efficiency and Management”
Fresh Capital Flows to Arsenal, Azuki, Synageva, and Viximo
It’s pouring venture deals in Boston today. So rather than flood our dear readers with multiple posts, we’ve compiled the news on deals recently completed by Arsenal Medical, Azuki Systems, Synageva BioPharma, and Viximo into a single story. Given the unsavory climate for raising venture dollars, we’ll call these companies the “Fortunate Four.” Watertown, MA-based … Continue reading “Fresh Capital Flows to Arsenal, Azuki, Synageva, and Viximo”
Diabetes Drug Application May Be New Factor in Amylin Proxy Battle
Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMLN]]), which is engaged in a proxy fight, has submitted a new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for exenatide, its once weekly drug for type 2 diabetes. The San Diego biotech made the announcement today with Eli Lilly (NYSE: [[ticker:LLY]]), its marketing partner, and Cambridge, MA-based drug developing … Continue reading “Diabetes Drug Application May Be New Factor in Amylin Proxy Battle”
Calistoga Raises $30M to Develop Drugs for Cancer, Inflammation
Seattle-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals has raised $30 million in a second round of venture capital to support its growing pipeline of drugs for cancer and inflammatory diseases. The venture financing is the second-biggest of the year in the Seattle life sciences cluster, behind the $40 million raised in March by Kirkland, WA-based Pathway Medical Technologies. Calistoga … Continue reading “Calistoga Raises $30M to Develop Drugs for Cancer, Inflammation”
Gist Gets $6.75M From Vulcan, Foundry Group
Gist, a Seattle startup developing an online service intended to help people organize information from disparate sources on the Web in a single location, has raised $6.75 million in a Series A round of financing, according to a statement. Foundry Group, a Boulder, CO-based venture firm, led the new round of financing, which included contributions … Continue reading “Gist Gets $6.75M From Vulcan, Foundry Group”
Innovating Through the Downturn: The View from the Nantucket Conference
At the Nantucket Conference, an invitation-only gathering of New England-area CEOs, entrepreneurs, venture partners, and select others, first-time attendees get a single blue dot on their nametags. Alumni get another dot for every year they’ve attended, and veterans of five or more conferences get a gold starfish pin. About a third of the participants at … Continue reading “Innovating Through the Downturn: The View from the Nantucket Conference”
Reva Medical Regaining Ground in Development of Next-Generation Stent
In the race to develop a fully dissolvable cardiac stent, San Diego’s Reva Medical is clearly second. And to CEO Robert Shultz, that’s a good place to be, especially for a startup that had to restart development of its stent technology. The cost of establishing a big new market, Shultz says, is better left to … Continue reading “Reva Medical Regaining Ground in Development of Next-Generation Stent”
TiECON East 2009
TiE Boston sponsors TiECON East 2009, the annual conference where attendees learn from executives, founders, and entrepreneurs, connect with funders, and find inspiration from fellow innovators. Keynote talks will include Boston-Power CEO Christina Lampe-Onnerud, Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush, iRobot CEO Colin Angle, and Lionbridge CEO Rory Cowan. Xconomy’s Wade Roush will chair a panel discussion … Continue reading “TiECON East 2009”
AlwaysOn Venture Summit East
From the event website: “Like its sister event in Silicon Valley, Venture Summit East, copresented by JPMorgan, is a two-day gathering that highlights the significant economic, political and technology trends impacting the global growth investor. Now more than ever, staying abreast of market conditions and innovations is crucial to financial success. Venture Summit East features … Continue reading “AlwaysOn Venture Summit East”
Urbanspoon Exits, Likewise Lands $10M, Zymo Licenses Drugs to Startup, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
It was a pretty busy week for deals in the Northwest, with activity in consumer Internet, security software, gaming, and biotech. —The most talked-about deal in the Seattle startup community was Urbanspoon’s acquisition by New York-based IAC (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IACI]]), which owns dozens of popular websites like Citysearch and Evite. Financial terms were not disclosed. Urbanspoon, … Continue reading “Urbanspoon Exits, Likewise Lands $10M, Zymo Licenses Drugs to Startup, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
An Ex-Cop Talks With Xconomy About Using X-Rays to Scan Cars
When I met Steven W. Smith last week, the founder of Spectrum San Diego made a casual comment that might help explain why he’s focused his company on developing advanced security imaging systems. Smith was explaining the technical advantages of Spectrum’s mainstay product—an ultra-high resolution video surveillance system—when he said: “Before I went to graduate … Continue reading “An Ex-Cop Talks With Xconomy About Using X-Rays to Scan Cars”
Seattle 2.0 Awards 2009
A night to celebrate Seattle Startups and the hard-working people behind them! (Complete info here.) Who: Entrepreneurs, “Wantrepreneurs”, Investors, Journalists and Startup Aficionados Program: 6:00 – 6:55 PM: Cocktail, Networking and Startup Showcase 7:00 – 7:20 PM: Guest Speaker: Glenn Kelman 7:20 – 7:55 PM: Awards Ceremony 8:00 – 10:00 PM: Food, drinks, networking, showcase … Continue reading “Seattle 2.0 Awards 2009”
Leveraging the Downturn to Find Opportunity (MITEF and WTIA)
Business builders, leaders and buyers share counter-cyclical wisdom and entrepreneurial success stories, co-hosted by MIT Enterprise Forum and the Washington Technology Industry Association. (Info and registration here.) It takes a special kind of leader to find opportunity when everyone else only sees doom and gloom. Counter-cyclical businesses have unique characteristics, and can result in some … Continue reading “Leveraging the Downturn to Find Opportunity (MITEF and WTIA)”
NWEN Venture Breakfast: The Shifting Balance Between Filter and Creator
Join us for the Northwest Entrepreneur Network’s May Venture Breakfast. Speaker: Ben Huh, Pet Holdings WHAT YOU WILL LEARN If you’ve seen pictures of “talking” cats, you’ve seen Pet Holdings. Pet Holdings runs one of the largest blog networks in the world, including the content sites icanhascheezburger.com, failblog.org, graphjam.com and others. Despite the odd-ball and … Continue reading “NWEN Venture Breakfast: The Shifting Balance Between Filter and Creator”
WTIA Fast Pitch Forum & Technology Showcase
The Fast Pitch Forum & Technology Showcase (FPF) generates buzz year after year as one of the most popular and successful Washington state technology events. It’s a vehicle for Northwest technology companies to pitch and therefore “showcase” their business to the local community, key venture capitalists and technology buyers, and to learn about the state … Continue reading “WTIA Fast Pitch Forum & Technology Showcase”
NABsys Secures $4M First Round to Develop Electronic DNA Sequencing
NABsys, a Providence, RI-based startup focused on advanced DNA sequencing technology, has raised $4 million in a Series A round of financing intended to help it develop a novel approach of using electronics to potentially sequence the human genome quicker and less expensively than available methods. The firm, which was expected to reveal the closing … Continue reading “NABsys Secures $4M First Round to Develop Electronic DNA Sequencing”
Biotech Business Model “Unsustainable” in Financial Crisis, E&Y Says
Biotechnology by its nature goes through booms and busts driven by hope and fear, but now the industry is really in deep trouble. That’s the big headline coming out of this year’s Ernst & Young annual biotech survey, Beyond Borders. Common sense would tell you that in a global economic meltdown, where mainstays like Citigroup … Continue reading “Biotech Business Model “Unsustainable” in Financial Crisis, E&Y Says”
Azuki Systems, Inc. Garners $6,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=164d719d-0a55-483e-8a58-b434ffa806e5&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2009 Company Name Azuki Systems, Inc. Mailing Address 43 Nagog Park Acton, MA 01720 Company Description Azuki Systems is an innovative technology provider enabling Interactive Mobile Media Services for content publishers and mobile operators looking to expand and monetize rich media viewership across the 3 billion mobile users worldwide. Developed … Continue reading “Azuki Systems, Inc. Garners $6,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
NABsys Inc Garners $4,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f140b983-0d41-4ab8-aadd-2ff1ef26d120&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2009 Company Name NABsys Inc Mailing Address 4 Richmond Square Providence, RI 02906 Company Description NABsys aims to make whole-genome DNA sequencing fast, inexpensive, and accurate enough to be used in clinical care. Our approach builds on existing solid-state technologies to create a whole-genome sequencing technology that employs electronic detection, … Continue reading “NABsys Inc Garners $4,000,000 New Funding Round”
Calistoga Pharmaceuticals Lands $30,000,000 Series B Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d53debc2-80aa-40bf-bcb3-74e886eeb366&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2009 Company Name Calistoga Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 2101 – 4th Avenue Seattle, WA 98121 Company Description Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, is developing a drug candidate acquired from Icos that has potential to treat various forms of cancer, according to the company. Icos, maker of the impotence drug Cialis, was acquired by its … Continue reading “Calistoga Pharmaceuticals Lands $30,000,000 Series B Funding”
Powerit Holdings, Inc. Secures $6,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=59ac4d41-42d5-4025-9cff-e816008cbcea&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2009 Company Name Powerit Holdings, Inc. Mailing Address 114 Alaskan Way South Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description Powerit Solutions provides comprehensive energy demand response and demand control solutions for industrial and commercial applications. We are committed to helping customers in a wide variety of industries manage their energy usage, reduce … Continue reading “Powerit Holdings, Inc. Secures $6,000,000 New Round”
Gist Lands $6,750,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5674d16d-6675-4a08-b413-eca38b4d19a5&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2009 Company Name Gist Mailing Address 1st Ave South Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description We are focused on delivering real user value and rapidly iterating based on customer input. If you are interested in the team, please visit our jobs page to see what we are looking for. Website http://www.gist.com … Continue reading “Gist Lands $6,750,000 Series A Funding”
MindBody, Inc. Garners $5,600,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c396af3a-a1ca-477d-af50-0624127aaedf&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2009 Company Name MindBody, Inc. Mailing Address 4051 Broad Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Company Description MINDBODY Inc.’s roots go back to 1998, when we were the first software consultancy developing easy-to-use client and teacher management solutions for yoga, pilates, and spinning studios. In 2001, we became an LLC, … Continue reading “MindBody, Inc. Garners $5,600,000 New Funding”
Dune Networks Secures $8,300,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f0571862-92f6-4f33-bde7-ba22f495ad9a&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2009 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 “Dune Networks Secures $8,300,000 Series B Financing Round”
Deeya Energy Garners $30,000,000 Series C Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bcb74038-a7dd-4904-a843-e6ca62cf84eb&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2009 Company Name Deeya Energy Mailing Address 48611 Warm Springs Blvd Fremont, CA 94539 Company Description Deeya Energy is a Silicon Valley technology venture company developing novel energy storage devices for Load-shifting, UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and Renewable Energy industries. Deeya energy storage devices, known as L-Cells, and based on … Continue reading “Deeya Energy Garners $30,000,000 Series C Financing Round”
IBM Acquires Exeros for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=abcc2e94-ee8e-4215-997f-0f4c5464f4ff&Preview=1 Date 5/5/2009 Company Name Exeros Mailing Address 2953 Bunker Hill Lane Santa Clara,, CA 95054 Company Description Exeros creates software products that accelerate the deployment of data integration projects up to 5x, while lowering both project cost and risk. Exeros automates the discovery, documentaion and validation of complex data maps and … Continue reading “IBM Acquires Exeros for Undisclosed Sum”
Pathway Medical Cuts One-Fifth of Staff as Fundraising, Sales Projections Fall Short
Pathway Medical Technologies, the Kirkland, WA-based medical device maker, has cut about one-fifth of its staff because its latest round of venture financing fell short of expectations, Xconomy has learned. Today, Pathway eliminated 39 jobs, or about 19 percent of its workforce, leaving it with a staff of about 170, according to CEO Paul Buckman. … Continue reading “Pathway Medical Cuts One-Fifth of Staff as Fundraising, Sales Projections Fall Short”
ZymoGenetics Unloads Drug Candidates to Cut Costs, Spin Off New Company
One company’s cost burden can sometimes be a vital building block for another. That’s the impression I got today from Seattle-based ZymoGenetics, which said it is licensing away the rights to eight different drug candidates in early development to a new startup company called Seattle Life Sciences. Under the deal, ZymoGenetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) is handing … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Unloads Drug Candidates to Cut Costs, Spin Off New Company”
Amylin Cuts 200 Sales Reps, Looks for $45M in Savings Next Year
San Diego diabetes drugmaker Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMLN]]), under pressure to cut costs, said today it plans to lay off 200 sales representatives, or 11 percent of its total worldwide workforce. But it’s unclear if that will be enough to appease dissident shareholders Carl Icahn and Eastbourne Capital Management, which together own a 22 percent … Continue reading “Amylin Cuts 200 Sales Reps, Looks for $45M in Savings Next Year”
Huey Joins Alliance of Angels
Seattle-based Alliance of Angels, a not-for-profit angel investor group run by the Technology Alliance, announced its new program director will be Greg Huey. Previously, Huey oversaw strategy and corporate development for Hewlett-Packard in London, UK, and spent nearly six years with Frazier Technology Ventures in Seattle. Huey, who starts tomorrow, succeeds Rebecca Lovell, who left … Continue reading “Huey Joins Alliance of Angels”
Arrowsmith Challenges Scientific Establishment With New Approach for Brain Cancer
Much has been written about personalizing cancer drugs by giving them to patients with a genetic profile that makes them likely to respond to treatment. But what if doctors could tailor cancer drugs a different way, confining standard chemotherapy to a precise organ or cancerous region, without sending the drugs flowing throughout the rest of … Continue reading “Arrowsmith Challenges Scientific Establishment With New Approach for Brain Cancer”
Second Group of Clean Energy Council Fellows Unveiled
As we reported in February, the New England Clean Energy Council extensively revised its executive retraining fellowship program in preparation for its second year. Most notably, the council decided to recruit twice as many people as last year. But it also said it would expand its focus beyond former CEOs to people from other levels … Continue reading “Second Group of Clean Energy Council Fellows Unveiled”
MOD Opens Japan Subsidiary
Seattle-based MOD Systems, a maker of digital media delivery technologies for retailers, announced today it has opened a subsidiary in Tokyo. MOD Systems Japan will work with the company’s strategic investors, Toshiba and NCR, to drive business development in Japan. MOD raised $35 million from its investors in September, in a deal that has come … Continue reading “MOD Opens Japan Subsidiary”
WTIA Releases Fast Pitch Lineup
The Washington Technology Industry Association announced today its list of 24 local startups that will participate in its Fast Pitch Forum and Technology Showcase on May 27. The WTIA’s investment forum, which has changed its format this year, will include presentations from AdReady, blist, Bonanzle, BuddyTV, Daptiv, DataSphere Technologies, Gist, Konnects, Liquid Planner, Ontela, Pet … Continue reading “WTIA Releases Fast Pitch Lineup”
Energy Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Opportunities
The MIT Enterprise Forum sponsors a fast-paced and “energetic” discussion of energy that will cover: * which sectors are the current hot trends * what areas are the funders most interested in * what hype to believe and what to ignore * what the government’s role is in stimulating growth * what will transpire over … Continue reading “Energy Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Opportunities”
SDG&E Opens Renewable Resource Center
San Diego Gas & Electric said today it is opening a “renewable energy resource center” in El Centro, CA, the Imperial County seat about 114 miles east of San Diego, to help accelerate the development of clean energy and clean jobs. SDG&E, a subsidiary of San Diego’s Sempra Energy, said the center also will serve … Continue reading “SDG&E Opens Renewable Resource Center”
Acadia Shares Soar on Alliance With Biovail for Parkinson’s Psychosis Drug
Acadia Pharmaceuticals struck an important deal this morning to continue developing a Parkinson’s drug. The San Diego-based biotech company said it will get $30 million in upfront cash through an alliance with Biovail to develop a new drug for psychoses related to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Acadia (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACAD]]) stands to get as much as … Continue reading “Acadia Shares Soar on Alliance With Biovail for Parkinson’s Psychosis Drug”
A Big Convergence: Wireless Health Care, Information Technologies, and Serial Entrepreneur James Sweeney
San Diego’s James Sweeney is a big-time health-care innovator and entrepreneur. Although he’s relatively unknown to the general public, Sweeney has founded and created eight successful health-care companies—Caremark, CarePartners, CareGivers, Central Admixture Pharmacy Services, or CAPS, McGaw, Coram, Bridge Medical, and CardioNet. Sweeney founded his first company in 1979 as Home Health Care of America, … Continue reading “A Big Convergence: Wireless Health Care, Information Technologies, and Serial Entrepreneur James Sweeney”
Inverness to Raise $200M in Notes Sale
Inverness Medical Innovations (NYSE:[[ticker:IMA]]), a Waltham, MA-based provider of medical diagnostics and health management services, says that it plans to raise $200 million through a public offering of senior subordinated notes due in 2016. The proceeds of the debt offering will be used for general corporate purposes, according to Inverness. The company filed documents with … Continue reading “Inverness to Raise $200M in Notes Sale”
Ironwood Gets $40M From European Partner for Constipation Drug
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has found a way to sustain its momentum, even in a downturn. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company is announcing today it has secured $40 million in upfront payments by finding a partner to develop and commercialize its top drug candidate in Europe. Ironwood said it is providing European development and commercial rights for … Continue reading “Ironwood Gets $40M From European Partner for Constipation Drug”
Qualcomm and Broadcom Sign Patent Peace Treaty, A Green Day for San Diego (as in Algae, Not Rock n’ Roll), Corporate Crisis Hits Sequenom, & Other San Diego BizTech News
What a week for news! Qualcomm and Broadcom agreed to drop their respective patent lawsuits—and sue for peace, while Prize Capital moved closer to creating a $10 million prize competition, and shares of San Diego’s Sequenom fell 70 percent on news of mishandled data. It’s all in our Xconomy roundup. —San Diego’s Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) … Continue reading “Qualcomm and Broadcom Sign Patent Peace Treaty, A Green Day for San Diego (as in Algae, Not Rock n’ Roll), Corporate Crisis Hits Sequenom, & Other San Diego BizTech News”
Microsoft’s Cloud Platform, Azure, Looks to Combine Best of Google, Amazon Web Services
The idea of computing “in the cloud” is certainly, well, in the air—to the point where I think people are starting to become allergic to it. It seems that “cloud computing” has become the new “nano.” Putting the term in front of whatever your business is doing doesn’t necessarily make it a good (or even … Continue reading “Microsoft’s Cloud Platform, Azure, Looks to Combine Best of Google, Amazon Web Services”
“Thank You For Supporting Capitalism” and Other Investor Tales of Two Cities
Two weeks ago, I was in Atlanta for the annual Angel Capital Association (ACA) conference and, this past week, here in Boston for the annual National Venture Capital Association conference. Depending on whom you asked at both conferences, it was the best of times or the worst of times, most likely depending on whether or … Continue reading ““Thank You For Supporting Capitalism” and Other Investor Tales of Two Cities”
Facebook Co-Founder Settles in at General Catalyst: Out to Learn and Help Young Entrepreneurs
This article is a prototype for a new, still-unnamed weekly column featuring conversations with local innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors. Picture the prospects for innovation if entrepreneurial college students brimming with energy and ideas—as they always are—learned to better vet and shape those ideas into concepts with real business potential, gaining the self-confidence and sense of … Continue reading “Facebook Co-Founder Settles in at General Catalyst: Out to Learn and Help Young Entrepreneurs”
Things I Learned at the National Venture Capital Association Meeting
I am at the annual meeting of the National Venture Capital Association being held in Boston lastthis week. The tone was remarkably upbeat—but only for those firms with either a new fund or who somehow avoided making a lot of overvalued investments during the last few years. There was a lot of rhetoric about how/when/whether … Continue reading “Things I Learned at the National Venture Capital Association Meeting”
Onestop Internet Receives $13,300,000 Series A Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e5111d97-7ca8-4e20-8ef8-ea61650f3fe7&Preview=1 Date 5/4/2009 Company Name Onestop Internet Mailing Address 2332 E. Pacific Place Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220 Company Description Onestop is a full-service e-commerce technology and distribution partner. We design, build and manage e-commerce web sites on a completely outsourced basis. Our integrated technology, design, customer service and warehouse facilities. Website http://www.onestop.com … Continue reading “Onestop Internet Receives $13,300,000 Series A Round”