Dendreon Saga Heads Toward Climax, As Cancer Drug Aims to Prove It Prolongs Lives

Dendreon has all the ingredients of a Hollywood thriller: Life and death on the line. Millions of dollars at stake. Fast money in the stock market. Cutting-edge technology that aspires to achieve the impossible. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) has gone through a riveting set of twists and turns over the past two years, … Continue reading “Dendreon Saga Heads Toward Climax, As Cancer Drug Aims to Prove It Prolongs Lives”

Seattle Layoff Update: Exide, Expedia, Impinj, Sun Trim Staff; MSN Encarta, Trusera to Close

In the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen further bloodletting in terms of area tech-company layoffs and closures. It really is brutal out there. Here is a quick recap: —Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:XIDE]]), a maker of batteries and energy storage devices in Alpharetta, GA, closed its facility in Sumner, WA, and laid off 43 workers … Continue reading “Seattle Layoff Update: Exide, Expedia, Impinj, Sun Trim Staff; MSN Encarta, Trusera to Close”

Spotlight on Startups: Finalists for Seattle 2.0 and CNET Webware Awards Announced

‘Tis the season for Seattle startup awards. This week, the finalists have been announced for two separate sets of techie awards—one local, one national. If nothing else, the awards call much-deserved attention to the efforts of some very busy companies around town that we follow closely here at Xconomy. —Finalists for Marcelo Calbucci’s Seattle 2.0 … Continue reading “Spotlight on Startups: Finalists for Seattle 2.0 and CNET Webware Awards Announced”

Will Hunch Help You Make Decisions? Signs Point to Yes

Last week I wrote about Twitter, a flawed and difficult-to-grasp social media technology that nonetheless becomes addictive once you get the hang of it—so much so that it’s quickly changing the way many people communicate. This week I’m going to write about Hunch, a flawed and difficult-to-grasp social media technology that nonetheless becomes addictive once … Continue reading “Will Hunch Help You Make Decisions? Signs Point to Yes”

Sepaton Wins $15.5M Series F Round

Marlborough, MA-based Sepaton, a maker of “virtual tape library” backup appliances and data deduplication software for enterprise data protection, said today that it has secured a $15.5 million Series F funding round. The round was led by new investor Focus Ventures of Palo Alto, CA. Existing investors Jerusalem Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, Valhalla Partners, and … Continue reading “Sepaton Wins $15.5M Series F Round”

Sepaton, Inc. Lands $15,500,000 Series F Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4949bff7-c158-4ebc-97a6-f484256d7407&Preview=1 Date 4/3/2009 Company Name Sepaton, Inc. Mailing Address 400 Nickerson Road Marlborough, MA 01752 Company Description SEPATON is enabling companies of any size to comply with demanding data storage and retrieval requirements by changing the rules of data protection. We provide innovative backup/restore solutions that are cost-effective, intelligent and reliable. The … Continue reading “Sepaton, Inc. Lands $15,500,000 Series F Round”

Swype Scores $1.3M for Text-Input Tech

Seattle-based Swype, a maker of text-input technology for mobile devices, has closed a $1.3 million funding round from angel investors and company management, according to TechFlash. Swype’s software lets you enter text by tracing a path on a touch-screen keyboard using a stylus or your fingertip.

Skytap, With New VC Bucks in Tow, Takes on Big Boys in the Cloud

A couple of weeks ago, we reported on Seattle startup Skytap’s $7 million funding round. It’s one of the Northwest’s bigger venture deals of the year, and the company is a pretty interesting play in the cloud computing space, so I figured it was worth a closer look. Especially given all the hubbub about cloud … Continue reading “Skytap, With New VC Bucks in Tow, Takes on Big Boys in the Cloud”

Traversa Gets $5M

San Diego-based Traversa Therapeutics today announced it has raised $5 million in a Series B financing round; Morningside Venture Investments led the deal, which was joined by Mesa Verde Venture Partners and existing investors. The company says the money will help it move its RNAi-based treatments for cancer into clinical trials. Founded in mid-2006, Traversa … Continue reading “Traversa Gets $5M”

PATH Moving to South Lake Union

PATH, the nonprofit that works to improve health in developing countries, said it is planning to move its headquarters from Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood to larger space in South Lake Union. The organization intends to lease 111,000 square feet on three floors in the 2201 Westlake building being developed by Paul Allen’s Vulcan company. PATH, which … Continue reading “PATH Moving to South Lake Union”

The Jet Pilot Entrepreneur Behind Benchmark Software (and the Zoo’s PandaCam)

One of the difficulties in writing about Tyson McDowell is knowing where to begin. McDowell is the 27-year-old CEO and co-founder of Benchmark Revenue Management, a San Diego company that has developed financial management software designed to help hospitals handle billing and collection issues more efficiently. He has been an entrepreneur since he was 14, … Continue reading “The Jet Pilot Entrepreneur Behind Benchmark Software (and the Zoo’s PandaCam)”

San Diego Seeks to Remedy Scarcity of Homegrown Venture Capital

Since the Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago, San Diego has morphed from a Navy town into a capital of innovation that is renowned for its wireless industry, burgeoning biomedical community, and research institutions set like a city on a hill. Yet it seems like there has always been a dearth of homegrown venture capital … Continue reading “San Diego Seeks to Remedy Scarcity of Homegrown Venture Capital”

Imprivata Buys IdentiPHI’s Biometric Technology

Lexington, MA-based Imprivata, the password management compay we first profiled in November 2007, said today that it has acquired the assets of IdentiPHI, an Austin, TX-based maker of systems that replace password-based access to Windows systems with biometric or smart-card-based access. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dimdim Upgrades Its Alternative Web Conferencing System

In last week’s interview with Dimdim CEO DD Ganguly and chief marketing officer Steve Chazin, I hinted that the 5.0 version of the Methuen, MA, company’s Web-based conferencing software was nearing release. Well, today it’s out. Organizations tired of paying high prices to use systems like Cisco’s WebEx, Citrix’s GoToMeeting, and Microsoft’s Live Meeting may … Continue reading “Dimdim Upgrades Its Alternative Web Conferencing System”

CLDA to Sell Cogenics for $17M

Clinical Data (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CLDA]]) has agreed to sell its Cogenics division, an outsourced genomics research business, to Orange County, CA-based life sciences company Beckman Coulter (NYSE:[[ticker:BEC]]) for about $17 million, according to a press release. Newton, MA-based Clinical Data says the deal is expected to close this month and will provide more capital to fund late-stage … Continue reading “CLDA to Sell Cogenics for $17M”

A Visit to the Capitol Markets (Part 3)

~5pm, April 1—Outside the Library of Congress (it’s raining lightly, and hordes of students are milling about). A full day of running around Capitol Hill began yesterday with the New England Clean Energy Council masses arriving at the Capitol Building just as it was having a security alert—again, April Fool’s or not? Turned out to … Continue reading “A Visit to the Capitol Markets (Part 3)”

HydroSense, With Plan to Conserve Water, Wins UW Environmental Business Competition

University of Washington president Mark Emmert told a group of local business leaders last fall that two issues, above all others, can rally the intellectual energy of the institution’s students and faculty—environmental sustainability and global health. Yesterday, some of those students and researchers showed off their best business ideas for the environment and competed for … Continue reading “HydroSense, With Plan to Conserve Water, Wins UW Environmental Business Competition”

UW’s Protein Guru, David Baker, Eyes Alternative Biofuels, Vaccines in New 3-D Structures

David Baker’s parents were both scientists at the University of Washington, and growing up, he figured that was the last thing he’d ever want to be. Yet after a couple of intriguing detours, his life path has led him right back to the UW campus. It’s there that he has carved out his own path … Continue reading “UW’s Protein Guru, David Baker, Eyes Alternative Biofuels, Vaccines in New 3-D Structures”

Genzyme Enters Seattle Hub, Oncothyreon Bets on Cancer Drugs, Pathway Nabs $40M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

The local biotech scene was busy again this week at Xconomy, with breaking news about one of the world’s biggest biotech companies (Genzyme) coming to town, a local medical device leader attracting $40 million in venture capital (Pathway Medical Technologies), and an exclusive feature about how one publicly traded company in Seattle (Oncothyreon) has switched … Continue reading “Genzyme Enters Seattle Hub, Oncothyreon Bets on Cancer Drugs, Pathway Nabs $40M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

New E-Mail Management Software from EMC Helps Companies Cope with Litigation

It’s a rare event for EMC, the Hopkinton, MA-based storage and information management giant that has been on an acquisition spree over the last few years, to launch a new product line in-house. But that’s what’s happening this week as EMC rolls out “SourceOne,” a new family of software products designed to help companies prepare … Continue reading “New E-Mail Management Software from EMC Helps Companies Cope with Litigation”

Lilliputian Systems Lands $28,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=593c67cd-6b09-446d-9dd1-31b5ec6eea03&Preview=1 Date 4/2/2009 Company Name Lilliputian Systems Mailing Address 6 Keenan Road Winchester, MA 01890 Company Description Lilliputian has been rumored since 2001 to be developing a new kind of battery for electronic handheld devices and other applications. According to published reports, the company’s product is a combination of fuel cell and … Continue reading “Lilliputian Systems Lands $28,000,000 New Funding”

Onehub Secures $600,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8b278c38-be0b-4138-8fc0-a1a4317588bf&Preview=1 Date 4/2/2009 Company Name Onehub Mailing Address 3380 146th Pl SE Bellevue, WA 98007 Company Description Onehub is a web application that provides everything you need to easily and securely share business information and files with partners, customers, coworkers, and suppliers. Onehub is not your typical complicated collaboration software. Instead, it’s … Continue reading “Onehub Secures $600,000 New Round”

Swype Obtains $1,300,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=03fd9e17-8375-44ae-b717-d9fbf797ae7d&Preview=1 Date 4/2/2009 Company Name Swype Mailing Address 3401 Fremont Avenue North Seattle, WA 98103 Company Description Swype is a maker of text-input technology for mobile devices. Website http://www.swypeinc.com/ Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,300,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Undisclosed

Swoopo Garners $10,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e99c9a02-4067-4055-8767-5d562ea53e9b&Preview=1 Date 4/2/2009 Company Name Swoopo Mailing Address P.O. Box 2803 Cupertino, CA 95015 Company Description Swoopo.com is operated by Entertainment Shopping, Inc, located in Cupertino, CA. We are a young company, but have passed the start-up phase and are now generating solid profits and growing strongly. We take pride in being … Continue reading “Swoopo Garners $10,000,000 New Financing Round”

Anything But Ordinary: Bonanzle Aims To Be the Social Site for Buying and Selling Niche Items

First off, please don’t call it an eBay competitor. Sure, it’s in the online marketplace space, but it’s going after a specialized segment with a different approach. The startup is called Bonanzle, it’s based in Kirkland, WA, and it has one of the most promising trajectories of any young company in the Northwest. Bottom line: … Continue reading “Anything But Ordinary: Bonanzle Aims To Be the Social Site for Buying and Selling Niche Items”

Kyocera Consolidates Sanyo Wireless in San Diego

Japanese electronics giant Kyocera, which acquired Sanyo’s troubled phone service last year for $375 million, today announced the formation of Kyocera Communications Inc., or KCI, saying it will be based in San Diego, where Kyocera already has its North American headquarters. In a statement released today, Kyocera named Eiichi Toriyama as KCI’s president. He previously … Continue reading “Kyocera Consolidates Sanyo Wireless in San Diego”

And Then There Were 3 at TorreyPines Therapeutics

TorreyPines Therapeutics (Nasdaq: [[ticker:TPTX]]) says it has reduced its workforce to just three employees—the CEO, CFO, and Vice President/General Counsel. In September 2008 the company said it had 13 employees, which was down from more than 40 at the beginning of last year. The company, which was known as Neurogenetics until 2005, is focused on … Continue reading “And Then There Were 3 at TorreyPines Therapeutics”

Veoh Restructuring Includes Layoffs

[Editors Note: See update below] Veoh, the San Diego-based Internet video and TV program provider, is reportedly undergoing a “major restructuring” that includes significant cuts in its workforce and a change in strategy, according to VentureBeat. Another web site, NewTeevee, says the layoffs include some Veoh executives, and the number could be “more than 40 … Continue reading “Veoh Restructuring Includes Layoffs”

FloTV Expands to New Markets

Qualcomm’s (Nasdaq:[[ticker:QCOM]]) MediaFLO today announced it’s expansion into 19 new markets around the United States. The company says this extends the  coverage for its FloTV mobile TV service to more than 10 million potential new viewers. Customers must use phones equipped to receive mobile TV programming and subscribe to the supplemental service, which is offered through AT&T and Verizon. FloTV … Continue reading “FloTV Expands to New Markets”

RoboBusiness Conference and Expo

Robotics Trends mounts its 6th annual RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition April 15-16, 2009 in Boston, Massachusetts. The company calls it “the ‘must attend’ event for those interested in the business and technical issues related to the development of the personal, service and mobile robotics industry…the only industry event dedicated to the issue of applying emerging … Continue reading “RoboBusiness Conference and Expo”

Sun, Exide Lay Off Staff

Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:JAVA]]) has laid off 24 workers in Bellevue, WA, effective May 30, 2009, according to a notice from the Washington State Employment Security Department. Meanwhile, Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:XIDE]]), a maker of batteries and other energy-storage devices, has closed its facility in Sumner, WA, and has laid off 43 workers, effective immediately.

Clearwire Brings WiMax to More Devices

Kirkland, WA-based Clearwire Communications, a subsidiary of Clearwire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLWR]]), has rolled out an accessory to allow Wi-Fi devices to connect to broadband Internet via the company’s mobile WiMax service. The battery-powered router creates a personal, mobile Wi-Fi hotspot to provide faster connections for iPhones, BlackBerries, MP3 players, digital cameras, and other devices.

Nano-Terra in Water Treatment Deal

Nano-Terra, a Cambridge, MA, nanotechnology research and development firm, has formed an alliance with Minneapolis-based multi-industry company Pentair (NYSE:[[ticker:PNR]]) to develop new surface materials for water treatment, according to a press release. Financial details of the alliance weren’t disclosed. Xconomy contributor Neil Savage wrote that Nano-Terra was founded by renowned Harvard chemistry professor George Whitesides … Continue reading “Nano-Terra in Water Treatment Deal”

Big Drop in 1Q M&A Deals for VC-Backed Companies, IPO Drought Continues

We know there’s been a serious decline in exits for venture capitalists and their portfolio companies for the past year or more. Now two separate studies—one from Dow Jones VentureSource and the other done by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Thomson Reuters—show just how abysmal M&A and IPO activities were in the first … Continue reading “Big Drop in 1Q M&A Deals for VC-Backed Companies, IPO Drought Continues”

Ambrx Gets $10 Million in Venture Round

San Diego-based Ambrx Inc. just raised another $10 Million in new equity funding, according to documents that Ambrx filed with the SEC today. The privately held biotech’s mission is to develop breakthrough therapeutics with genetically-engineered drugs. The company was founded 2003, and as Luke reported last month, previously raised $96 million in venture capital.

MDRNA Sells Osteoporosis Drug

MDRNA, the Bothell, WA-based developer of drugs using RNA interference technology, said today it has sold its assets related to a nasal spray drug for osteoporosis to Par Pharmaceutical. MDRNA (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MRNA]]) will receive an undisclosed upfront cash payment, and a double-digit percentage royalty on sales of the product, a generic form of calcitonin-salmon nasal … Continue reading “MDRNA Sells Osteoporosis Drug”

Tizra Makes Stimulus Bill Searchable

Until now, the only way to read the 400-plus-page American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (otherwise known as the Stimulus Bill) has been to download a 13-megabyte PDF version or scroll through messy, unpaginated HTML versions. But now Tizra, the Providence, RI online publishing company we profiled in February, has used its platform to … Continue reading “Tizra Makes Stimulus Bill Searchable”

Google’s Cloud Computing Platform Aims to Fuel Growth of Web Applications, Users, Revenues

[Updated April 5 with a correction: Google’s Mike Repass is based in San Francisco, not Seattle] On Monday evening, I stopped by a talk on “Google’s world view of cloud computing,” organized by the Washington Technology Industry Association as part of its series of events on this emerging IT trend. The first event we covered, … Continue reading “Google’s Cloud Computing Platform Aims to Fuel Growth of Web Applications, Users, Revenues”

The Climate for Early-Stage Life Sciences Startups—And 12 Companies Seeking Weather-Proof Investors

Life goes on, even in the face of great tragedy. Startup life also goes on, even in the face of great economic decline. That was one message that came through loud and clear yesterday at the Early-Stage Life Sciences Technology Conference, an annual event (this was the fifth) put on by the Massachusetts Technology Transfer … Continue reading “The Climate for Early-Stage Life Sciences Startups—And 12 Companies Seeking Weather-Proof Investors”

The Ups and Downs of Bitboys, Now Known As Qualcomm Finland

San Diego’s mobile-chip giant Qualcomm (NYSE: [[ticker:QCOM]]) said it wanted to enhance its capabilities in the mobile-graphics space when it acquired Advanced Micro Devices’s (NYSE: [[ticker:AMD]]) hand-held chip division in January. As part of the AMD deal, Qualcomm also acquired Bitboys, a small company in Finland that specializes in making mobile phone graphics look good … Continue reading “The Ups and Downs of Bitboys, Now Known As Qualcomm Finland”

Riding a Cancer Diagnostics Wave, Genoptix Sees Boom Continuing in 2009

There are about 11,000 physicians in the U.S. whose job is to diagnose and treat people thought to have cancers of the blood. These specialty physicians need to sort through a dizzying number of lab tests to identify subtle differences in types and stages of leukemias, lymphomas, and myelomas. Get it exactly right, and it … Continue reading “Riding a Cancer Diagnostics Wave, Genoptix Sees Boom Continuing in 2009”

Genzyme Shrinks Gene Therapy Effort, Expands Oncology; BioVex Raises $40M For Cancer-Fighting Viruses; Biogen Looks to Future of MS Franchise; & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

If you ever wanted to get the big picture on some of New England’s biggest biotechs, this was certainly a good week to do so. —Just six months after securing its $20 million first round of financing, Cambridge, MA-based Alnara Pharmaceuticals struck a deal putting a late-stage drug candidate into its pipeline. Alnara licensed the … Continue reading “Genzyme Shrinks Gene Therapy Effort, Expands Oncology; BioVex Raises $40M For Cancer-Fighting Viruses; Biogen Looks to Future of MS Franchise; & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

Ambrx, Inc. Lands $10,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3d24f069-296b-4571-8ef8-276cded01ebd&Preview=1 Date 4/1/2009 Company Name Ambrx, Inc. Mailing Address 10975 North Torrey Pines Road La Jolla, CA 92037 Company Description Ambrx, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company with a mission to deliver breakthrough protein therapeutics. Website http://www.ambrx.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $10,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not … Continue reading “Ambrx, Inc. Lands $10,000,000 New Financing Round”