Vulcan Cuts 50 Jobs, 9 Percent of Workforce, In Response to Downturn

Even Paul Allen isn’t immune to the global economic downturn. Vulcan Inc., the company that oversees the Microsoft co-founder’s business and charitable interests, said today it is eliminating about 50 jobs. Vulcan’s cuts affect about 9 percent of its workforce, leaving it with a staff of about 600 people, says spokesman David Postman. He declined … Continue reading “Vulcan Cuts 50 Jobs, 9 Percent of Workforce, In Response to Downturn”

Dendreon, With Key Milestone Now Reached, Sees Final Results on Immune-Boosting Drug Coming in April

Dendreon-watchers, mark your calendars for April. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) said today its study of 500 men with terminal prostate cancer will offer a final answer by April on whether its experimental immune-boosting drug helps patients live longer. The trial, known as Impact, enrolled men with terminal forms of prostate cancer and randomly … Continue reading “Dendreon, With Key Milestone Now Reached, Sees Final Results on Immune-Boosting Drug Coming in April”

WTC Funds Eight Company Projects

The Seattle-based Washington Technology Center announced it has awarded $561,797 in funding to eight projects, each comprising a collaboration between a local company and a state university. The grants, which range from $30,000 to $100,000, were awarded to Applied Precision, ATS, Boeing and Heatcon Composite Systems, Enertechnix, GeoMonkey, Greenwood Technologies, Omeros, and Theo Chocolate.

VCs More Concerned About Capital than Economy, Says WTIA Report

As expected, the economic downturn is hitting venture capital hard. The top challenge for Washington state VCs for the first quarter of 2009 will be the availability of capital—ahead of the national economy and overall market growth. That’s according to the Washington Technology Industry Association’s Q1 2009 venture capital outlook survey. The quarterly survey tracks … Continue reading “VCs More Concerned About Capital than Economy, Says WTIA Report”

Harvard Touts Its Economic Impact

Harvard University today released a report from New York-based research firm Appleseed detailing the university’s impact on the regional economy. The Boston Globe points out that the report, which credits Harvard with directly and indirectly accounting for some $4.8 billion in Boston-area economic activity in fiscal 2008, comes just as “Boston officials seek to squeeze … Continue reading “Harvard Touts Its Economic Impact”

Cypress Bioscience Shares Soar on News of FDA Approval

Cypress Bioscience (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CYPB]]) shares are up sharply today after the San Diego drug developer and its New York partner announced last night the Food and Drug Administration approved their drug for fibromyalgia. As Luke reported in October, Cypress started down this path in 2001, when it licensed rights to milnacipran, (Salvella) a drug approved outside … Continue reading “Cypress Bioscience Shares Soar on News of FDA Approval”

Robotics Pioneer Brooks Called to Jury Duty—at Sundance Film Festival

I know for a fact that robotics guru and Xconomist Rod Brooks was looking forward to next Thursday’s Xconomy Battle of the Tech Bands 2, both because it’s across the street from his Central Square-based Heartland Robotics company—and because he’s spoken enthusiastically about rocking out with us several times. So it was a blow when … Continue reading “Robotics Pioneer Brooks Called to Jury Duty—at Sundance Film Festival”

Nuance to Sell $175M in Stock

Private equity powerhouse Warburg Pincus will buy 17.4 million shares, or $175 million worth, of Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUAN]]) common stock, Nuance announced today. The Burlington, MA-based speech and imaging technology company said it will use the funds to support M&A activity and general corporate purposes. Warburg Pincus will also acquire a warrant to purchase … Continue reading “Nuance to Sell $175M in Stock”

ThinkEngine Files for Bankruptcy

Marlborough, MA-based ThinkEngine Networks, a telecommunications company whose media servers unify traditional circuit-switched and Internet-based voice signals, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in U.S. bankruptcy court in Worcester, MA, according to reports today in the Boston Business Journal and the Boston Herald. The American Stock Exchange delisted the company last March due to … Continue reading “ThinkEngine Files for Bankruptcy”

Piot Starts at Gates Foundation

Peter Piot, the founding executive director of the Joint United Nations’ Program on HIV/AIDS, has joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a senior fellow. He will advise the foundation on global health strategy, including the fight against HIV and other infectious diseases. The appointment will last only until May, when Piot will start … Continue reading “Piot Starts at Gates Foundation”

Roombas and Rock Bands and Zunes, Oh My! Queue Up for Fabulous Door Prizes at Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2

Here at 10 Rogers Street we’re bending considerable energy toward final preparations for the Battle of the Tech Bands 2, a week from today (January 22) at the Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub in Central Square, Cambridge. Reserve tickets now for $20 apiece and you’ll be benefiting the two local non-profits, Science Club for Girls … Continue reading “Roombas and Rock Bands and Zunes, Oh My! Queue Up for Fabulous Door Prizes at Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2”

How to Stand Out in the Mobile Apps Market: The Zumobi Plan

In a market glutted with free cell phone applications, and as advertising budgets dive along with the rest of the economy, what’s a mobile-media company to do? Seattle’s Zumobi has a few tricks up its sleeve. Namely, don’t charge your sponsors anything upfront, and find innovative ways to drive users of one of your applications … Continue reading “How to Stand Out in the Mobile Apps Market: The Zumobi Plan”

The Father of the Cell Phone on the Future of His Offspring

At a moment when it seemed like the San Diego Chargers still had a chance to win Sunday’s NFL playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, my daughter’s cell phone issued a high-pitched “beep-beep-beep.” Some guy named “Rio” in Pittsburgh sent a photo of a black Steelers helmet to her cell phone. The image was accompanied … Continue reading “The Father of the Cell Phone on the Future of His Offspring”

How to Survive the Downturn: Five Questions With Boston Biotech Leaders, Part 1

Maybe it’s just that executives feeling misery love to have company, but the mood this week at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco didn’t strike me as quite as apocalyptic as advertised. I’ve been doing some unscientific polling of Boston’s biotech leaders this week at the industry’s biggest investor event, asking a series … Continue reading “How to Survive the Downturn: Five Questions With Boston Biotech Leaders, Part 1”

ZymoGenetics Cuts Big Deal, Pathway Unveils Strategy, Chris Rivera Takes Over at WBBA & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

This week the biotech industry converged on San Francisco’s Union Square for the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. Plenty of investors were licking their wounds from a rough year, but there was still news to get the juices flowing, including one lucrative partnership out of Seattle. —ZymoGenetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) made the biggest headline of this year’s … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Cuts Big Deal, Pathway Unveils Strategy, Chris Rivera Takes Over at WBBA & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

InsideView Obtains $6,500,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0d7f11ed-efc1-48e2-89bc-03f2beee6a3c&Preview=1 Date 1/15/2009 Company Name InsideView Mailing Address 444 De Haro Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description InsideView was co-founded in 2005 by Umberto Milletti and Richard Horn to address key shortcomings in traditional sales processes. The two founders assembled a team combining outstanding technical, business, sales and marketing expertise. Together, … Continue reading “InsideView Obtains $6,500,000 Series B Round”

Sharpcast Receives $10,000,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=aa10a998-2aa3-4603-8da7-3f75ef5c9681&Preview=1 Date 1/15/2009 Company Name Sharpcast Mailing Address 2121 S El Camino Real 6th Floor San Mateo, CA 94403 Company Description An innovator in digital media and information synchronization, Sharpcast develops software and services that dramatically simplify the way people organize and access digital content. Website http://www.sharpcast.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Sharpcast Receives $10,000,000 Series A Round”

Meez Secures New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=797d41d9-9e01-4766-aed3-6f290778ef16&Preview=1 Date 1/15/2009 Company Name Meez Mailing Address 620 Folsom Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description Meez is a social entertainment community company. Website http://www.meez.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Anthem Venture Partners Venture Investor … Continue reading “Meez Secures New Round”

Evincii Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a12e3bf7-82d2-4e59-8e0a-9f4cd577e62c&Preview=1 Date 1/15/2009 Company Name Evincii Mailing Address 2037 Landings Drive Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description We began three years ago with the belief that search is as valuable to brick-and-mortar shoppers as it is to online consumers. Online search has proven the power of precision targeting consumers who are searching … Continue reading “Evincii Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing Round”

Smartsheet Raises $1.25M from Madrona Venture Group, Others

Bellevue, WA-based Smartsheet has raised $1.25 million in Series B funding, says co-founder and executive chairman Brent Frei, on his blog. Investors included Madrona Venture Group and Frei himself. Smartsheet makes software that companies use to manage team-based projects and track outsourced tasks, as an alternative to Excel spreadsheets, e-mail folders, and the like. Frei, … Continue reading “Smartsheet Raises $1.25M from Madrona Venture Group, Others”

NitroMed Delays Vote on Drug Sale

NitroMed (NASDAQ:[[ticker:NTMD]]) says that its board of directors has opted to delay a shareholder vote from today until January 20 on the company’s proposed sale of all assets related to its heart drug for African Americans, isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine hydrochloride (BiDil), to JHP Pharmaceuticals for about $26 million. The Lexington, MA-based firm says it has delayed … Continue reading “NitroMed Delays Vote on Drug Sale”

SpaceShipOne Replica Arrives at Paul Allen’s Hangar

Paul Allen just got a new addition to his Flying Heritage Collection of vintage aircraft. Yesterday, the Paine Field facility in Everett, WA, held a media event in which the museum hoisted a full-scale replica of SpaceShipOne to the ceiling. Just thought Xconomy readers would be interested to see these photos (courtesy of Jennifer Bragg … Continue reading “SpaceShipOne Replica Arrives at Paul Allen’s Hangar”

NuVasive Invests in Synthetic Bone Maker

NuVasive, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUVA]]), the San Diego medical device company developing surgical treatments for the spine, says it’s acquiring a stake in Progentix Orthobiology BV, a Dutch company developing calcium phosphate putty for use as a synthetic bone substitute. NuVasive is making an initial equity investment of $10 million, and providing Progentix a $5 million loan, … Continue reading “NuVasive Invests in Synthetic Bone Maker”

FirstDocs’ Series A Round: $3M

FirstDocs, a Westwood, MA, startup whose software automates the way law firms and corporate legal departments create, share, store, and retrieve legal documents, disclosed on January 9 that it had garnered an unspecified amount of Series A funding from Boulder, CO-based Foundry Group. Today, Private Equity Hub reports based on regulatory filings that the amount … Continue reading “FirstDocs’ Series A Round: $3M”

Zillow, BlueKai, Smilebox Top Startup List

According to Seattle 2.0’s startup index for December, real-estate firm Zillow’s website remains tops in traffic, while online marketing startup BlueKai and creative messaging site Smilebox made strong gains to crack the top three. Other notable gains in the top 100 were made by Estately, GoGoMo, Blist, InsideTrip, ClearStay, Dashwire, and Tesly.

FitnessKeeper Is Making Its $10 iPhone App Free…For One Day

Here’s an interesting little story about a local mobile software developer and the vagaries of working with Apple. At several recent events around town, I’ve run into a fellow named Jason Jacobs. He’s the founder of FitnessKeeper, a Boston startup that released a fitness app for the iPhone back in August. Called RunKeeper, the app … Continue reading “FitnessKeeper Is Making Its $10 iPhone App Free…For One Day”

VCs to Entrepreneurs: Outlook for Software Startups Is As Good—or Bad—As Ever

When the moderator for a panel discussion about the venture outlook for 2009 begins by saying, “Everyone knows it’s really bleak right now,” it’s a safe bet you’re not at a chapter meeting for Optimist International. But a venture overview yesterday organized by the San Diego Software Industry Council seemed to run against the current … Continue reading “VCs to Entrepreneurs: Outlook for Software Startups Is As Good—or Bad—As Ever”

Sequenom Getting Aggressive in Bid to Buy Exact Sciences

San Diego diagnostics firm Sequenom (NASDAQ:[[ticker:SQNM]]) says it plans to acquire all shares of cancer test maker Exact Sciences’ common stock (NASDAQ:[[ticker:EXAS]]), despite a rejection from Exact’s board of directors to Sequenom’s recent buyout offer. Sequenom proposes to buy each share of Marlborough, MA-based Exact for $1.50 worth of Sequenom common stock, a total value … Continue reading “Sequenom Getting Aggressive in Bid to Buy Exact Sciences”

Boston-area Software Firms Hitch Their Wagons to Salesforce; Say Ride Can Be Rough But Profitable

“Platform” is such an overused buzzword in the software world that my ears start oozing cerebrospinal fluid every time I hear it. But my reaction notwithstanding, history does include a few genuine examples of devices or programs developed by one company that became critical platforms for new products from a host of others. The Windows … Continue reading “Boston-area Software Firms Hitch Their Wagons to Salesforce; Say Ride Can Be Rough But Profitable”

Smoothing Out Jittery Internet Video, Elemental Technologies Looks to Reinvent How You Watch

If you’re like most people, you’re viewing a lot more videos on your computer or mobile device these days. But say you want to watch CNN’s live coverage of the U.S. presidential inauguration next week on your BlackBerry, iPhone, or laptop. You might not be able to—or you might get a jittery, unclear picture—because of … Continue reading “Smoothing Out Jittery Internet Video, Elemental Technologies Looks to Reinvent How You Watch”

Cubist and Alnylam Tackle RSV, Exact Sciences Fends Off Sequenom, An FDA Panel Backs GTC Biotherapeutics’ Goat-Milk Drug, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

New England’s life sciences firms unveiled some big deals and big plans this week. —Satori Pharmaceuticals raised $22 million from investors including InterWest Partners, Prospect Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and PureTech Ventures (which launched the firm). The Cambridge, MA-based startup told Luke about its vision of becoming the first company to stop the progressive … Continue reading “Cubist and Alnylam Tackle RSV, Exact Sciences Fends Off Sequenom, An FDA Panel Backs GTC Biotherapeutics’ Goat-Milk Drug, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

Zoodango Relaunches, Ditching Social Networking for Location-Based Meeting Up

For James Sun, runner-up on season six of The Apprentice and CEO of Seattle-based Zoodango, it’s all about getting people together. And he wants to help them find meeting spots. Yesterday, he announced the launch of the re-tooled Zoodango, once a social-networking site and now a map-based service where users use a “geo-search engine” to … Continue reading “Zoodango Relaunches, Ditching Social Networking for Location-Based Meeting Up”

Boston-Power Lands $55M Fourth Round To Fuel Production of Longer-Lasting Lithium-Ion Batteries For Laptops, Vehicles

Boston-Power has closed a $55 million fourth round of financing to fund its expansion—including ratcheting up production of its longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries for laptops—and to boost efforts to break into the promising market to supply batteries for e-bikes as well as hybrid and electric vehicles, the company revealed this morning. The financial jolt comes on … Continue reading “Boston-Power Lands $55M Fourth Round To Fuel Production of Longer-Lasting Lithium-Ion Batteries For Laptops, Vehicles”

Play Hard Sports, Inc. Secures $8,000,000 Series B Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=68e39efb-6d8e-4b9d-abaf-29bf131f5180&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2009 Company Name Play Hard Sports, Inc. Mailing Address 16 Chestnut Street Foxboro, MA 02035 Company Description Play Hard Sports, Inc. (Play Hard) is the first casual sports network in North America focused exclusively on developing, publishing and distributing exceptional sports games and entertainment across the Internet. Play Hard is … Continue reading “Play Hard Sports, Inc. Secures $8,000,000 Series B Funding Round”

Boston-Power, Inc. Obtains $55,000,000 Series D Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ca4eeefc-d836-476d-a1ea-c01e37e43ef5&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2009 Company Name Boston-Power, Inc. Mailing Address 2200 West Park Drive Westborough, MA 01581 Company Description Boston-Power, Inc. ™ is an emerging portable power company answering the call for safer, longer lasting Lithium-ion batteries – today. Website http://www.boston-power.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $55,000,000 Transaction Round Series D Proceeds … Continue reading “Boston-Power, Inc. Obtains $55,000,000 Series D Funding”

SocialVibe Receives $8,000,000 Series B Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=85204b48-b072-46e2-8419-390e34af2dcb&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2009 Company Name SocialVibe Mailing Address 9000 Sunset Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069 Company Description The company develops advertising solutions within social networks. Website http://www.socialvibe.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,000,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Jafco Ventures America … Continue reading “SocialVibe Receives $8,000,000 Series B Funding Round”

United Sample, Inc. Secures $3,000,000 Series B Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4f690d5d-3718-4f1e-b582-c0e6382ef8a2&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2009 Company Name United Sample, Inc. Mailing Address 16501 Ventura Blvd Encino, CA 91436 Company Description The company is developing an online sampling service. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,000,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes The new funds will be used to grow sales, increase marketing … Continue reading “United Sample, Inc. Secures $3,000,000 Series B Funding”

SmartSheet.com Secures $1,250,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=632ce9f7-b1a4-471d-bf77-53a2ffb663af&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2009 Company Name SmartSheet.com Mailing Address 325 118th Ave. SE Bellevue, WA 98005 Company Description Smartsheet.com is a privately-held Software as a Service (SaaS) provider based in Bellevue, Washington (USA). Incorporated in 2005, the company launched its Smartsheet.com service in August of 2006. Since that time, thousands of users throughout … Continue reading “SmartSheet.com Secures $1,250,000 New Financing”

Ubicom Obtains $7,000,000 Series E Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0dfb8a76-67a5-4fd8-ae47-b051c655c2ce&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2009 Company Name Ubicom Mailing Address 195 Baypointe Parkway San Jose, CA 95134 Company Description Ubicom develops communications and media processor (CMP) and software platforms that address the unique demands of real-time, interactive applications and multimedia content delivery in the digital home. Website http://www.ubicom.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Ubicom Obtains $7,000,000 Series E Financing”

Singulex Obtains $19,000,000 Series E Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=47d2206e-3fb3-4e98-bb66-d2dc4e51a7ff&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2009 Company Name Singulex Mailing Address 1650 Harbor Bay Parkway Alameda, CA 94502 Company Description Singulex is an early stage biotechnology company with research and development laboratories in St. Louis and commercial operations in Hayward, California. Singulex has obtained exclusive license to all intellectual property around its core technology and … Continue reading “Singulex Obtains $19,000,000 Series E Funding”

Nirvanix Replaces Its CEO

San Diego’s Nirvanix, a venture-backed company that operates online data storage as a service, says it changed CEOs, replacing the entrepreneurial CEO Patrick Harr for enterprise software CEO Jim Zierick. Harr was previously the CEO of Streamload, another data storage service, and Preventsys, a network security startup acquired by McAfee in 2006. Zierick was previously … Continue reading “Nirvanix Replaces Its CEO”

Jott Moves to Paid Model, Rolls Out New Service

Seattle-based Jott, which provides free voice-to-text services for e-mail and text messaging, announced today it is moving to a paid model effective February 2. Jott Founder and CEO John Pollard cited the economy and ad market as reasons for the move. The startup, which was founded in 2006, is also rolling out a voicemail-to-text tool … Continue reading “Jott Moves to Paid Model, Rolls Out New Service”

Biogen Idec Parkinson’s Drug Hits Goal in Pair of Mid-Stage Trials

Biogen Idec had some encouraging word for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease this morning. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) said its experimental drug for the disease reached its goal of demonstrating effectiveness in a pair of mid-stage clinical trials, although it didn’t go into detail about how good the data really was. The … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Parkinson’s Drug Hits Goal in Pair of Mid-Stage Trials”

Positronic Purchased by eBay, Ex-Microsoft Execs Moving to Silicon Valley

The Seattle search startup Positronic has been acquired by eBay for an undisclosed sum. The news was first reported on Mary Jo Foley’s Microsoft blog last week, and was later confirmed on eBay’s company blog. It’s an interesting and somewhat sad story, as it means the departure of prominent Seattle-area tech executives, as well as … Continue reading “Positronic Purchased by eBay, Ex-Microsoft Execs Moving to Silicon Valley”

Mobui Gets Teletouch Investment

Redmond, WA-based Mobui, a mobile applications startup, has received an equity investment from Teletouch Communications, a Fort Worth, TX-based cellular services provider and retailer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mobui will use the funds to expand its software development and customer operations, while Teletouch gets access to Mobui’s applications being built to run … Continue reading “Mobui Gets Teletouch Investment”

Targanta Gets $42M Buyout Offer From NJ Drug Firm

Targanta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:[[ticker:TARG]]), the Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm that saw its value sink last month after the FDA decided not to approve its lead antibiotic oritavancin as a treatment for MRSA and other infections, has agreed to be acquired by drug maker The Medicines Company, the proposed buyer says. The Medicines Company (NASDAQ:[[ticker:MDCO]]) said yesterday … Continue reading “Targanta Gets $42M Buyout Offer From NJ Drug Firm”

Ze-gen Energized by Middle East Conglomerate in $20M Series B

Ze-gen has tapped a new investor in the Middle East to help raise $20 million in a Series B round of financing, looking to use the capital to commercialize its method of converting solid waste into gas for power plants. The Boston-based company’s new investor, Waroz Holding Company (a unit of Oman-based industrial conglomerate Omar … Continue reading “Ze-gen Energized by Middle East Conglomerate in $20M Series B”