DotNetNuke Nets Series A

Seattle-based DotNetNuke, an open-source Web applications company, announced it has raised a Series A financing round from Silicon Valley venture firms August Capital and Sierra Ventures. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. DotNetNuke provides a software framework for creating and managing interactive Web and intranet sites using Microsoft’s technology platform.

Fairchild Sues Infineon

Fairchild Semiconductor, based in South Portland, ME, said in an announcement Friday that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against German chipmaker Infineon Technologies. The two companies have been attempting to negotiate cross-licensing arrangements regarding Infineon switches and power converters using technology that Fairchild believes it has patented; the negotiations broke down and Fairchild … Continue reading “Fairchild Sues Infineon”

Awarepoint Nabs $13.3M, Kratos Fuses With Digital Fusion, Pocket Communications Financing Signals Challenge for Leap Wireless, & More San Diego Deals News

As people gathered from near and far to celebrate Thanksgiving, a couple of startups with San Diego connections had more than one reason to give thanks, with deals closing on a variety of fronts, including one close to home—at home, really—for Xconomy. —Cardinal Partners of Princeton, NJ, (not to be confused with Cardinal Equity Partners … Continue reading “Awarepoint Nabs $13.3M, Kratos Fuses With Digital Fusion, Pocket Communications Financing Signals Challenge for Leap Wireless, & More San Diego Deals News”

Oak Puts $25M into Huffington Post

Westport, CT- and Palo Alto, CA-based Oak Investment Partners is the sole participant in a $25 million financing round for the Huffington Post, the news and politics site co-founded by Arianna Huffington, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal‘s technology news site AllThingsD. Earlier reports in the Times of London and other … Continue reading “Oak Puts $25M into Huffington Post”

San Diego’s Overland Storage Arranges Accounts Receivables Financing

San Diego’s Overland Storage (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OVRL]]) says it has closed a two-year deal with Marquette Commercial Finance that will help Overland’s liquidity by enabling it to finance as much as $9 million of its accounts receivables. The deal allows Overland to get cash more quickly from sales of its data storage hardware and software products, instead of waiting for … Continue reading “San Diego’s Overland Storage Arranges Accounts Receivables Financing”

Zevalin Gets 6-Month FDA Review

Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics said its drug for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is getting a faster-than-usual regulatory review of an application that could broaden its usage. The FDA is giving a six-month review, instead of the usual 10-month examination, to ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin) for newly diagnosed patients with Hodgkin’s disease. That means the agency has a deadline of April 2 … Continue reading “Zevalin Gets 6-Month FDA Review”

Ceregene Drug Fails in Parkinson’s Trial

Ceregene said its experimental gene therapy technique for Parkinson’s disease failed in a mid-stage clinical trial of 58 patients. The San Diego-based biotech company said its injectable treatment, CERE-120, didn’t offer a signficant improvement compared with a placebo. Ceregene’s chief scientist, Raymond Bartus, said in a statement he was “stunned” by the result, and will … Continue reading “Ceregene Drug Fails in Parkinson’s Trial”

Alkermes Gets Alcohol Drug Rights From Cephalon

Cambridge, MA-based Alkermes is getting full commercial rights to a drug for alcohol dependence after its partner, Frazer, PA-based Cephalon, relinquished its share of the product. Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]) will receive an $11 million payment from Cephalon to cover estimated losses from commercializing naltrexone for extended release injectable suspension (Vivitrol), while Alkermes will pay Cephalon about … Continue reading “Alkermes Gets Alcohol Drug Rights From Cephalon”

Never Mind That Bailout: Venture Funding for Auto Innovation Accelerates As Startups Race to Leave Detroit in its Own Dust

Tomorrow, Detroit’s automakers are expected to give Congress a detailed plan that explains exactly how they intend to use $25 billion in taxpayer funding to engineer a turnaround—no doubt refueling the nationwide debate over the auto industry bailout. Meanwhile, venture capital funding for innovative automotive technologies has accelerated dramatically over the past five years. Investment … Continue reading “Never Mind That Bailout: Venture Funding for Auto Innovation Accelerates As Startups Race to Leave Detroit in its Own Dust”

Who Needs VCs? Seattle Entrepreneurs Say Bootstrapping Is the Way To Go (Part 1)

Should young tech companies seek venture capital, or try to bootstrap their way to profitability? It’s a hot topic these days, especially with the economy and funding climate the way they are. I’ve been asking experienced entrepreneurs around town for their opinions on bootstrapping versus venture capital and angel investment, after I read a recent … Continue reading “Who Needs VCs? Seattle Entrepreneurs Say Bootstrapping Is the Way To Go (Part 1)”

Having Vanquished Hair Frizz, Living Proof Looks to Skin Care and Cosmetics

Since I wrote about Living Proof this summer, we’ve had a flurry of comments and questions about the Cambridge, MA-based firm’s biotech-inspired products for combating frizzy hair. And my Xconomy colleagues and I have had some questions of our own about the company and its wares, so I recently caught up with Living Proof CEO … Continue reading “Having Vanquished Hair Frizz, Living Proof Looks to Skin Care and Cosmetics”

Scout Medical: The Device Incubator That Batted 3-For-3

Everybody in the Seattle life sciences scene has heard about Accelerator, as a model for venture-backed incubators of promising biotech startups. But when the report cards come due on its portfolio companies in a few years, it may end up the second-ranked local incubator of life sciences startups behind Scout Medical Technologies. Scout was founded … Continue reading “Scout Medical: The Device Incubator That Batted 3-For-3”

Pocket Communications Pockets $100M From Battery Ventures And Others, Nuance Makes New Bid for Zi, Xconomy Closes Second Round, & More Boston-Area Deals News

Dealmaking ebbed last week as the gravy flowed, but Boston-area tech and life sciences companies still managed to serve up a few morsels of news. —Waltham, MA- and Menlo Park, CA-based Battery Ventures led a $100 million venture round for San Antonio, TX-based Pocket Communications Northeast. Pocket is putting together a new cellular network that … Continue reading “Pocket Communications Pockets $100M From Battery Ventures And Others, Nuance Makes New Bid for Zi, Xconomy Closes Second Round, & More Boston-Area Deals News”

ExtendMedia Corp. Lands $10,000,000 Series C Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=164cec24-8647-4369-920a-caad20d8ca6f&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2008 Company Name ExtendMedia Corp. Mailing Address 199 Wells Ave Newton, MA 02459 Company Description ExtendMedia provides software and media services that enable content providers and distributors to quickly and securely create, deliver, manage & monetize online content offerings over many devices. Our flagship product, OpenCASE, is a trusted foundation … Continue reading “ExtendMedia Corp. Lands $10,000,000 Series C Funding”

Savings.com Lands $4,000,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b7ded33e-6c78-43d9-b3d2-6d43de73e083&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2008 Company Name Savings.com Mailing Address 510 State St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Company Description Savings.com was founded in 2004. Designed out of frustration with the current state of shopping and discount retailers online, we have been determined from the outset to design and build a more comprehensive Internet destination … Continue reading “Savings.com Lands $4,000,000 Series B Financing”

Viridity Inc Secures $7,000,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=511261f6-2cf2-495d-bbff-ee6cfc25c933&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2008 Company Name Viridity Inc Mailing Address 14 Estes Street Amesbury, ME 01913 Company Description Viridity is delivering a new way to dynamically manage and control these next generation data centers, and to do so holistically across all pillars of the operation: power, space, cooling, application performance, reliability and risk. … Continue reading “Viridity Inc Secures $7,000,000 Series A Round”

Roc2Loc Lands $2,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e1612a0a-b291-4707-9ebc-1a1aff361001&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2008 Company Name Roc2Loc Mailing Address 66 Mint Street 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94103 Company Description The Roc2Loc Site Controller automatically collects data from the wireless sensors and reports directly to you. At the time an alert event occurs (unauthorized door open/door closed, temperature of specified range…), the Site … Continue reading “Roc2Loc Lands $2,000,000 Series A Financing”

SiBEAM Receives New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7b9507b4-8a32-4b23-afd1-1ce683510cd5&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2008 Company Name SiBEAM Mailing Address 555 N. Mathilda Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94085 Company Description SiBEAM is a fabless semiconductor company and founding member of the WirelessHD™ Consortium. A pioneer in developing intelligent millimeter wave technologies for wireless communications, SiBEAM is the first to build 60GHz chipsets using standard CMOS … Continue reading “SiBEAM Receives New Funding”

JackNyfe Receives $3,800,000 Series B Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b1f26b79-2c10-4f32-a7de-277a97a3691c&Preview=1 Date 12/1/2008 Company Name JackNyfe Mailing Address 433 Airport Boulevard Burlingame, CA 94010 Company Description JackNyfe Inc is a developer of Web 2.0 applications that allow social networks to be distributed among web content. Website http://www.jacknyfe.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,800,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes … Continue reading “JackNyfe Receives $3,800,000 Series B Financing Round”

TCN Expert Lunch: Angel & Venture Term Sheets

Need help with your homework? This TCN (The Capital Network) Event is a follow-up to the breakfast roundtable presentation on 12/3. At this lunch event, some of Boston’s most experienced attorneys will provide 2 hours of deep instruction to entrepreneurs struggling to understand the complexity of high growth investments. Sample terms sheets will be provided … Continue reading “TCN Expert Lunch: Angel & Venture Term Sheets”

MicroRNA Leaps Ahead: Alnylam-Isis Venture, Regulus, Shows Its Drug Works in Animals With Heart Failure

The scientific community, and Wall Street, will be buzzing this week about microRNA. That’s because a Carlsbad, CA-based company called Regulus Therapeutics and its collaborators have suggested for the first time that a drug that blocks microRNA can prevent and treat heart failure in animals. Regulus, a joint venture of Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “MicroRNA Leaps Ahead: Alnylam-Isis Venture, Regulus, Shows Its Drug Works in Animals With Heart Failure”

DotNetNuke Garners Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f6bdb657-9e1f-4b85-87d6-21ec3fcc21d5&Preview=1 Date 11/27/2008 Company Name DotNetNuke Mailing Address Two Union Square 601 Union Street Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description DotNetNuke Corporation is the official Project Owner and Maintainer of the DotNetNuke® Web Application Framework, the largest and most successful open source project native to the Microsoft platform. DotNetNuke Corporation is a privately … Continue reading “DotNetNuke Garners Series A Financing”

DotNetNuke Secures Series A Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f6bdb657-9e1f-4b85-87d6-21ec3fcc21d5&Preview=1 Date 11/27/2008 Company Name DotNetNuke Mailing Address 1825 S. Grant St. San Mateo, CA 94402 Company Description DotNetNuke Corporation is the official Project Owner and Maintainer of the DotNetNuke® Web Application Framework, the largest and most successful open source project native to the Microsoft platform. DotNetNuke Corporation is a privately held … Continue reading “DotNetNuke Secures Series A Funding Round”

Big Fish Releases Biggest, Most Ambitious Game

Seattle-based Big Fish Games announced it has released Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst. It’s the fifth game in the hidden-object adventure series, which is one of the biggest in the casual game industry. The latest title is the largest and most ambitious project to come out of Big Fish’s studios, and CEO Jeremy Lewis … Continue reading “Big Fish Releases Biggest, Most Ambitious Game”

Small Business Innovation and Technology Grants: Funding Success Stories

Small Business Innovation Research grants and Small Business Technology Transfer Research grants (SBIR/STTR) programs are the largest source of early stage R&D funding for small businesses. All federal agencies with an extramural research and development budget of more than $100 million (for SBIRs)or $1 billion (STTRs) must participate in these programs. The Commnexus Military SIG … Continue reading “Small Business Innovation and Technology Grants: Funding Success Stories”

Unemployed? Free Workshop on Jobs in Technology and Life Sciences

This workshop on Technology and Life Sciences Career Opportunities follows one on healthcare career opportunities. This session explores information technology and life science career trends, covering growth opportunities for skilled workers in both areas. It will also look at the integration of the sciences and information technology within several different industries including drug discovery, molecular … Continue reading “Unemployed? Free Workshop on Jobs in Technology and Life Sciences”

LocaModa Links Facebook to Times Square Jumbotron

Cambridge, MA-based LocaModa, whose software lets people using cell phones and computers connect with public displays in indoor and outdoor locations, said today that it has launched a multiplayer, cross-platform word game called Jumbli. The Web- and text-messaging based game allows players on social networking sites such as Facebook to compete with audiences interacting with … Continue reading “LocaModa Links Facebook to Times Square Jumbotron”

Nuance Makes New Bid for Zi

Nuance Communications (NASDAQ:[[ticker:NUAN]]), the Burlington, MA-based speech recognition powerhouse, today announced an offer to buy Zi Corporation (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ZICA]]), a Calgary, Canada-based provider of software to speed text entry on mobile devices, for 40 cents per share or $20 million in cash, which is a 38 percent premium on the closing price of Zi common stock … Continue reading “Nuance Makes New Bid for Zi”

Novocell CEO Moves to Nonprofit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

The New York-based Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has named San Diego-based Novocell CEO Alan Lewis as its new chief executive. Lewis plans to step down from Novocell, a stem cell company developing a treatment for Type 1 diabetes, on Jan. 1. Lewis told The San Diego Union-Tribune Novocell is in a good financial shape to … Continue reading “Novocell CEO Moves to Nonprofit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation”

Arena Pharmaceuticals’ Sleeper Drug Aims To Help You Stay Asleep

Arena Pharmaceuticals is known on Wall Street for one thing—obesity. The San Diego biotech company has a modified form of the fen-phen combination drug that’s supposed to help people lose weight without causing the heart damage that killed that Wyeth product a decade ago. But Arena (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARNA]]) has a sleeper in pipeline— a novel … Continue reading “Arena Pharmaceuticals’ Sleeper Drug Aims To Help You Stay Asleep”

Vulcan’s “Digital Aristotle” Moves Toward Vision of Computers that Answer Scientific Questions

The days when any one person could be a credible expert on all the world’s scientific knowledge, capable of distilling complex data and concepts into a clear, understandable answer, are said to have ended with Aristotle. Now Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, is pursuing a vision of a computer program that harnesses scientific … Continue reading “Vulcan’s “Digital Aristotle” Moves Toward Vision of Computers that Answer Scientific Questions”

The Roots of Power: How Voltree is Tapping Tree Energy to Save Forests

Stella Karavas, CEO of Voltree Power, sounded a little tired of talking about trees when I reached her last week. Seems the Canton, MA, company has been inundated by press inquiries since CNN ran a spot on its tree-powered forest fire monitors last year—a flood that started all over again after MIT’s official news site … Continue reading “The Roots of Power: How Voltree is Tapping Tree Energy to Save Forests”

Plunging Oil Prices Require Alternative Fuel Startups to Take a Long View

Historic high prices for petroleum over the past decade have stoked a surge of interest in alternative fuels and renewable energy, and dozens of startups have been formed to develop new technologies in the field.Now this year’s extraordinary spike in crude oil prices is being matched by an equally spectacular swoon. Crude oil prices fell to … Continue reading “Plunging Oil Prices Require Alternative Fuel Startups to Take a Long View”

High Tower Software Suddenly Closes Its Gates

Aliso Viejo’s High Tower Software shut down unexpectedly Monday, SoCal Tech News reported. The venture-backed developer of network security systems saw its sales suddenly deflate in the economic downturn and investors were unwilling to provide any more capital, according to one person familiar with the company. About 34 employees lost their jobs. High Tower was founded … Continue reading “High Tower Software Suddenly Closes Its Gates”

Resolvyx Closes in on Clinical Trials, Radius Health Reels in $15M, Luke Zeros in on Public Biotechs’ Bottom Line, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

All was far from quiet on the Boston-area life sciences front this past week. Behold… —Luke did a massive analysis of the finances of public Boston-area life sciences firms, looking at how much money each one has in the bank—and how fast that cash is going up the chimney. Bottom line: Boston companies are overall … Continue reading “Resolvyx Closes in on Clinical Trials, Radius Health Reels in $15M, Luke Zeros in on Public Biotechs’ Bottom Line, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

Cozi Surpasses 1 Million Members, Looks to Replace Pen and Paper for Managing Family Life

Want to simplify your holiday shopping lists this year? What about keeping track of who’s picking up the kids from the airport, or who’s going to watch the bird in the oven while you entertain guests? A Seattle startup appears to be gaining traction in helping people manage these kinds of tasks. Cozi, a software … Continue reading “Cozi Surpasses 1 Million Members, Looks to Replace Pen and Paper for Managing Family Life”

Siimpel Corp. Secures $8,700,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=43dafdea-0406-44e0-83c5-8eb3ed700ad7&Preview=1 Date 11/26/2008 Company Name Siimpel Corp. Mailing Address 400 E. Live Oak Avenue Arcadia, CA 91006 Company Description Siimpel is actively collaborating with the world’s leading consumer electronics, mobile communications and digital imaging leaders to deliver high quality digital camera products that fit the size constraints of mobile platforms. Website http://www.siimpel.com … Continue reading “Siimpel Corp. Secures $8,700,000 New Funding”

Microsoft Cuts Staff at FAST Search Division

Xconomy received a report last week that the Oslo, Norway-based FAST Search division of Microsoft, which has a 180-person outpost in Needham, MA, and a smaller office in New York, had laid off 25 people in its U.S. offices. We have now confirmed that report, and have learned that 10 of the affected staff members … Continue reading “Microsoft Cuts Staff at FAST Search Division”

Get Launched! Astronaut Sally Ride Hosts Girls-Only Science Festival at UCSD

Astronaut Sally Ride founded Sally Ride Science in 2001 to encourage girls’ interests in science, math, and engineering. For a $20 advance registration fee, the festival brings together hundreds of upper-elementary and middle-school girls, their parents and teachers for a featured talk, workshops and luncheon. Sign up here.

Cyber Attack of the Critical Infrastructure: WTIA Event

Who is attacking SCADA ( the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition controls generally used in industrial control systems such as manufacturing, power grid, power plants, and medical equipment)? Jason Larsen, a principal security consultant with IOActive, will define various types of infrastructure attacks and provide insights into several attack routes of entry.  The Washington Technology … Continue reading “Cyber Attack of the Critical Infrastructure: WTIA Event”

Pocket Communications May Pose Challenge to Leap Wireless’ Low-Cost Service

A startup flat-rate wireless provider out of Texas may have San Diego’s Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:[[ticker:LEAP]]) in its sites. Pocket Communications, a no-frills wireless service provider in San Antonio, announced today it has raised $100 million in venture funding to establish a broad footprint for its unlimited wireless service in the Northeast. Xconomy’s Wade Roush provides … Continue reading “Pocket Communications May Pose Challenge to Leap Wireless’ Low-Cost Service”

Twitter Acquires Portland-based Values of N, Gets New Talent

Values of n, a collaborative-software startup in Portland, OR, has been acquired by San Francisco-based Twitter for an undisclosed amount. The startup’s existing products will be shut down on December 8, but “the technology behind the scenes will live on and potentially re-emerge as part of Twitter’s systems, services, user experience, or open source libraries,” … Continue reading “Twitter Acquires Portland-based Values of N, Gets New Talent”

Gates Foundation Pares Back Grants for 2009, Still Plans 10 Percent Spending Boost

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is planning to dole out less grant money in 2009 than anticipated, in response to the global financial crisis. The Seattle-based foundation, the world’s largest philanthropy devoted to global health, is still planning to spend 10 percent more on grants next year than in 2008, although that’s less than … Continue reading “Gates Foundation Pares Back Grants for 2009, Still Plans 10 Percent Spending Boost”