It’s a good day to be an investor at Battery Ventures. The Waltham, MA-based VC and private equity firm announced today four promotions on its investment team. The four are part of Battery’s global team of more than 40 investors in Waltham, Silicon Valley, and Israel. —Jesse Feldman, based in Waltham, has been promoted to … Continue reading “Battery Ventures Promotes Battery of Investors”
Healionics Signs Deal To Make Components for Glaucoma Device in Dogs
First come dogs, then people—at least in the Pacific Northwest. Redmond, WA-based Healionics is announcing today that it has signed an agreement to manufacture bioengineered components for Chandler, AZ-based TR BioSurgical so it can make implants used in dogs with glaucoma. Healionics will provide TR BioSurgical with its bioengineered material, which will be incorporated into … Continue reading “Healionics Signs Deal To Make Components for Glaucoma Device in Dogs”
Zafgen, Developer of Fat-Shrinking Drugs, Hires Novartis Scientist as New CEO and Emerges From Stealth Mode
Zafgen is creating drugs to shrink fat. Today, the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company took an early step toward its goal by hiring its first permanent CEO, Tom Hughes, the former vice president and global head of cardiovascular and metabolism research at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge. Hughes, 49, says he was drawn … Continue reading “Zafgen, Developer of Fat-Shrinking Drugs, Hires Novartis Scientist as New CEO and Emerges From Stealth Mode”
Vertex Fending Off Competitors By Treating the Toughest Patients With Hepatitis C
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is being chased by a couple of deep-pocketed competitors—Schering-Plough and Roche—in the race to develop the next big thing for patients with the hepatitis C virus. Now Vertex, the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company, thinks it has found a way to fend off the challengers. It intends to show its drug—telaprevir—can cure patients who … Continue reading “Vertex Fending Off Competitors By Treating the Toughest Patients With Hepatitis C”
Seattle Entrepreneurs Call Bay Area VCs, Amazon Sells XOs, Tableau Taps $10M, ZymoGenetics Gives Up Drug Rights, & More Deals News
Everybody should be back from vacation, and the deal flow surging—but someone forgot to tell the dealmakers, as the past week was pretty light for Seattle tech and life sciences action. —In a deal worth approximately $131 million, Bellevue, WA-based Captaris (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CAPA]]), which makes business and documents management software, announced it is being acquired … Continue reading “Seattle Entrepreneurs Call Bay Area VCs, Amazon Sells XOs, Tableau Taps $10M, ZymoGenetics Gives Up Drug Rights, & More Deals News”
Carbonite Inc. Secures $20,000,000 Series C Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3b8fd7f2-11a9-426b-a3af-504220a78c52&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2008 Company Name Carbonite Inc. Mailing Address 334 Boylston St – 3rd floor Boston, MA 02116 Company Description Carbonite sells secure Internet-based backup for personal computer and laptop owners. Website http://www.carbonite.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $20,000,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A … Continue reading “Carbonite Inc. Secures $20,000,000 Series C Funding Round”
Fisker Automotive, Inc. Obtains $65,000,000 Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=cc7f758f-58de-432e-aa1e-cbd70db9304b&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2008 Company Name Fisker Automotive, Inc. Mailing Address 2811 McGaw Ave Irvine, CA 92614 Company Description The concept was created between two independent companies who clearly wanted to make a difference in not only the automotive industry, but to the environment as well. Fisker Coachbuild, LLC and Quantum Technologies announced … Continue reading “Fisker Automotive, Inc. Obtains $65,000,000 Series B Financing”
NeoPhotonics Corporation Lands $30,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e81bf095-97d3-406f-8fc7-9ae698bbcc13&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2008 Company Name NeoPhotonics Corporation Mailing Address 2911 Zanker Road San Jose, CA 95134 Company Description NeoPhotonics has the broadest and deepest set of technologies for fiber optical circuits, modules and subsystems in the optical communications industry. Website http://www.neophotonics.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $30,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds … Continue reading “NeoPhotonics Corporation Lands $30,000,000 New Financing Round”
Enphase Energy Lands $15,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6df0a451-93d0-4401-8a66-b1ef4cf41d0a&Preview=1 Date 9/9/2008 Company Name Enphase Energy Mailing Address 201 1st Street Petaluma, CA 94952 Company Description At Enphase Energy we believe that by combining the power of solar energy and the proven advantages of communications technology, we can change the green energy landscape. Website http://www.enphaseenergy.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Enphase Energy Lands $15,000,000 New Round”
Hangout Lets It All Hang Out, Wants to Become a 3-D, Interactive MySpace
A Boston startup transposing MySpace-style teen social networking into a 3-D virtual environment is one of the companies making its public debut at this week’s TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco. Executives from Hangout Industries, which has raised $6 million in venture funding from Polaris Ventures and Highland Capital Partners, went onstage at the conference today … Continue reading “Hangout Lets It All Hang Out, Wants to Become a 3-D, Interactive MySpace”
Daily TIPs: Sunlight for Everyone, Happy Birthday Google, Facebook for Spies, & More
Solar Power Provides Enough Energy for Everything, Expert Argues Solar power has the potential to provide for all the world’s energy needs, the research director of a Paris-based institute told a European energy conference, according to Agence France Presse. Daniel Lincot, research director for the Institute for Research and Development of Photovoltaic Energy, says solar … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Sunlight for Everyone, Happy Birthday Google, Facebook for Spies, & More”
Carbonite Puts Its Online Backup Software on Lenovo Computers, Raises $20 Million
Automatic Internet-based backup services—the first form of “cloud computing” to hit the mainstream market—have been making news lately. Last Wednesday, the Mozy division of Hopkinton, MA-based EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]) announced that its software will power an online backup service available to buyers of Thinkpad SL notebook computers, the newest line of business laptops from Lenovo. … Continue reading “Carbonite Puts Its Online Backup Software on Lenovo Computers, Raises $20 Million”
Zillow Launches Ad Network With Newspapers
Seattle-based Zillow, a real-estate website, announced today it is launching the country’s largest online real-estate ad network, together with 11 major newspaper companies (282 papers). The network is an extension of last fall’s newspaper partnership that allows local real-estate classified advertisers to buy ads on Zillow.com. The partners include Hearst Newspapers, publisher of the Seattle … Continue reading “Zillow Launches Ad Network With Newspapers”
IRobot Dives Deeper into “Next Frontier” of Underwater Robotics with $10M Acquisition of NC Firm
Calling the undersea market “the next frontier” for robotics, iRobot announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire unmanned underwater robot and technology company Nekton Research of Raleigh-Durham, NC. IRobot said that it will pay $10 million up front for Nekton, with the potential to pay an additional $5 million if certain … Continue reading “IRobot Dives Deeper into “Next Frontier” of Underwater Robotics with $10M Acquisition of NC Firm”
British Biotech Antisoma Sees Buyout of Xanthus as Beginning of U.S. Commercial Hub in Cambridge, MA
Glyn Edwards, CEO of British biotech firm Antisoma, has found just the tonic for both the particularly gloomy weather in London this year and the business risk his company once faced with only one experimental drug close to market approval: Cambridge, MA, drug developer Xanthus Pharmaceuticals. Xanthus, which Antisoma (LON:[[ticker:ASM]]) acquired in May for $52.2 … Continue reading “British Biotech Antisoma Sees Buyout of Xanthus as Beginning of U.S. Commercial Hub in Cambridge, MA”
Seattle Genetics’ Medical Point Man, Tom Reynolds, Aims to Capitalize on Hodgkin’s Drug
The people at Seattle Genetics think they have a blockbuster-drug-in-the-making for Hodgkin’s disease. Tom Reynolds is the guy whose job it is to prove it to the world. Few drugs ever demonstrate the kind of promise SGN-35 did in its initial clinical trial in June, says Reynolds, the company’s chief medical officer. The drug showed … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics’ Medical Point Man, Tom Reynolds, Aims to Capitalize on Hodgkin’s Drug”
Discovery: The Soul of Biotech, the Place For True Believers, and a Retro Way to Bring it Back
Not so long ago, there was a day when biotechnology companies were built to last. They were founded and directed by pioneering scientists who were courageous, true-believers in their respective technologies. Their drive, creative spirit, and dedication to discovery positioned their companies in ways that could create multiple opportunities for success in therapeutic discovery and … Continue reading “Discovery: The Soul of Biotech, the Place For True Believers, and a Retro Way to Bring it Back”
Rod Brooks Follows His Heart(land), Amazon Helps Out OLPC, the Broad Gets $400M, GT Solar Shines Over Big Contract, & More Deals News
Summer’s over, school’s back in session, and the deals were jumping in just about every sector as September got underway. —IRobot announced co-founder Rod Brooks was stepping down as the company’s CTO (but remaining on the board of directors) to devote full time to his new company, Heartland Robotics. Cambridge, MA-based Heartland will focus on … Continue reading “Rod Brooks Follows His Heart(land), Amazon Helps Out OLPC, the Broad Gets $400M, GT Solar Shines Over Big Contract, & More Deals News”
Tableau Raises $10M in Second Venture Round, Wants To Be the “Adobe of Data”
Apparently it’s a good time to be in the business of data visualization. Wade wrote in July about Visual I|O, a Newton, MA-based business-analytics startup, and Hans Rosling’s splashy Trendalyzer software, which was acquired by Google last year. Not to be outdone, Seattle-based Tableau Software is announcing today it has closed a Series B round … Continue reading “Tableau Raises $10M in Second Venture Round, Wants To Be the “Adobe of Data””
Innovative Spinal Technologies Secures $18,000,000 Series C Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=50049072-9cec-4c95-9aff-425e7bb84fcc&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2008 Company Name Innovative Spinal Technologies Mailing Address 111 Forbes Blvd. Mansfield, MA 02048 Company Description Innovative Spinal Technologies is a leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of the most innovative suite of products in Minimally Invasive Spine surgery worldwide. Website http://www.istspine.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $18,000,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Innovative Spinal Technologies Secures $18,000,000 Series C Financing”
UpDown.com Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f307d608-28a7-4508-a410-e553e89b9dd5&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2008 Company Name UpDown.com Mailing Address Undisclosed Cambridge, MA 02140 Company Description In addition to giving members $1,000,000 in virtual money to invest, UpDown.com provides a platform for investors to improve their skills through collaboration, competition and aggregated wisdom. Described by major media outlets as “fantasy football meets the trading … Continue reading “UpDown.com Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding Round”
Tableau Software Secures $10,000,000 Series B Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6aa3cb3d-c473-4d4d-b07e-4d0c0f9c2107&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2008 Company Name Tableau Software Mailing Address 400 North 34th Street Seattle, WA 98103 Company Description Tableau Software, a privately held company based in Seattle, Washington, is the leading provider of visual reporting and analysis solutions. Website http://www.tableausoftware.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $10,000,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds … Continue reading “Tableau Software Secures $10,000,000 Series B Funding Round”
Access Scientific Secures $5,500,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b5d1b968-6bb1-4b68-98da-7e9b0995ef65&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2008 Company Name Access Scientific Mailing Address 12526 High Bluff Drive San Diego, CA 92130 Company Description Access Scientific is a company developing a vascular access device. Website http://www.accessscientific.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor … Continue reading “Access Scientific Secures $5,500,000 New Funding”
Adura Systems Receives New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ac5feda8-102e-42cc-b747-03f0aade091f&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2008 Company Name Adura Systems Mailing Address 10695 Eloise Circle Los Altos, CA 94024 Company Description The company is a stealth mode Silicon Valley Company bringing disruptive intellectual property to the Bus and Truck industries. Website http://www.adurasystems.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds … Continue reading “Adura Systems Receives New Financing”
Sportgenic Receives $10,000,000 Series B Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7269e9e3-6e42-48d9-979c-0757f397a644&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2008 Company Name Sportgenic Mailing Address One Sansome Street 15th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description Sportgenic, Inc. (formerly Active Athlete) represents the buying power of millions of sport enthusiasts looking for people, products and information to fulfill their passion for sport. We represent a network of highly engaging … Continue reading “Sportgenic Receives $10,000,000 Series B Funding Round”
Proteolix Garners $79,000,000 Series C Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3a5aa6f4-7fdd-4087-8b4f-2a9d8eda8727&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2008 Company Name Proteolix Mailing Address 333 Allerton Avenue South San Francisco, CA 94080 Company Description Proteolix, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and marketing pharmaceutical products that target the proteasome and the control of protein turnover in cells. The company’s focus is on the treatment of … Continue reading “Proteolix Garners $79,000,000 Series C Funding”
EMKinetics Garners $500,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dedc993e-070d-4c38-918f-e13c9d49e5be&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2008 Company Name EMKinetics Mailing Address 603 Campbell Technology Parkway Campbell, CA 95008 Company Description The company is developing technology that uses electric pulses as a therapy to prevent urinary incontinence. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. … Continue reading “EMKinetics Garners $500,000 New Funding”
Soasta Lands $6,400,000 Series B Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5ae640ca-1c79-4ee0-95b0-ef030f0d7c3e&Preview=1 Date 9/8/2008 Company Name Soasta Mailing Address 1975 Landings Dr. Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description The world is changing. Everything in enterprise software is moving to the Web. The economic advantages of browser software delivery (no installs, instant availability everywhere, updates applied centrally) create great demand for this type of … Continue reading “Soasta Lands $6,400,000 Series B Funding Round”
Northstar Neuroscience Clinical & Regulatory Head Resigns
Northstar Neuroscience, the Seattle-based maker of a electrical brain stimulation device for depression, said today that Nawzer Mehta has resigned his job as vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs to pursue another opportunity. Mehta will be replaced by Deborah Sheffield, the company’s director of regulatory affairs. Northstar has switched its strategy to concentrate on … Continue reading “Northstar Neuroscience Clinical & Regulatory Head Resigns”
Simon and the Google Chrome Logo: Separated at Birth?
Has anyone else noticed the resemblance between Google’s logo for its new Web browser, Chrome, and the electronic game Simon, launched by Milton Bradley in 1978? Scroll down for a side-by-side comparison. Simon and its cousin Merlin were two of my favorite toys as a kid. Knowing how Googlers also love their games, I’m betting … Continue reading “Simon and the Google Chrome Logo: Separated at Birth?”
A Good Deal for Captaris and Open Text—but Impact on Seattle-Area Innovation Is Less Clear
Yesterday we reported on the $131 million acquisition of Bellevue, WA-based Captaris by Open Text, a Canadian software company, and wondered how good a deal it really is for the companies and their employees. (Captaris, a $90 million public company, eked out $220,000 in net income last year, down from nearly $4 million the year … Continue reading “A Good Deal for Captaris and Open Text—but Impact on Seattle-Area Innovation Is Less Clear”
Daily TIPs: Googling the Candidates, Power from Dirt, Greener PCs, & More
Comcast Sues FCC Over Bandwidth Cap Comcast is suing to overturn a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission, Ars Technica reports. The FCC ruled in July that Comcast could not slow down the Internet access of users who share files over peer-to-peer networks. The dispute is part of a growing controversy over whether the Internet … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Googling the Candidates, Power from Dirt, Greener PCs, & More”
Biogen Idec, Elan Start First Cancer Trial With Tysabri
Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec and its Irish partner, Elan, said today they have started the first clinical trial of Tysabri as a cancer treatment. Tysabri, approved for multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease, is being studied initially in a trial of 12 patients with multiple myeloma, a deadly cancer of the bone marrow. The drug works … Continue reading “Biogen Idec, Elan Start First Cancer Trial With Tysabri”
Phase Forward Buys Clarix
Phase Forward (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PFWD]]), a Waltham, MA-based company whose software is used by large pharmaceutical companies and research institutions to manage the huge amounts of data generated by clinical drug trials, said today that it has acquired Clarix of Radnor, PA, for $40 million in cash. Clarix makes hybrid phone- and Web-based interactive voice response … Continue reading “Phase Forward Buys Clarix”
Amazon to Manage XO Laptop Giveaway Program
The “Give One, Get One” program introduced last holiday season by the Cambridge, MA-based One Laptop Per Child Foundation—which gave consumers in the United States and Canada the opportunity to buy two of the foundation’s XO laptops for $400, and have one sent to a child in a developing nation—was a success in several respects. … Continue reading “Amazon to Manage XO Laptop Giveaway Program”
Pathway Medical, With FDA Clearance in Hand, Starts Selling Device for Wiping Out Blockages in Leg Arteries
Pathway Medical Technologies is in the marketing game for real now. The Kirkland, WA-based company has started selling its Jetstream device for clearing out fatty blockages in leg arteries, after winning FDA clearance for a modified version of the device, hiring its initial sales team, and stocking up on inventory for what it expects will … Continue reading “Pathway Medical, With FDA Clearance in Hand, Starts Selling Device for Wiping Out Blockages in Leg Arteries”
What Web Journalists Can Learn from Comics
While the tech-blog world is exhausting itself testing and writing about Google Chrome, the new open-source Web browser released by the search giant on Tuesday, I’m still just having fun paging back and forth through the 38-page Scott McCloud Web comic that Google commissioned to explain the whole project. A lot of Silicon Valley companies, … Continue reading “What Web Journalists Can Learn from Comics”
The Wild World of Wireless According to Tom Huseby, a Well-Connected Seattle VC
Tom Huseby has a fairly normal-looking BlackBerry phone. No fancy software on it, he says—not even from Ontela, SnapIn, or Zumobi, local mobile-tech companies for which he serves as chairman of the board. It rang two or three times during our meeting at his downtown Seattle office, and he dealt with the calls right then … Continue reading “The Wild World of Wireless According to Tom Huseby, a Well-Connected Seattle VC”
Alnylam Sees Opportunity in Turning Genes On, And Off
A lot has been written about how Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and plenty of other companies, see a gold mine in turning off problem genes through drugs based on the biological phenomenon called RNA interference, or RNAi. It turns out that Alnylam (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]), the highflying Cambridge, MA-based biotech company built around RNAi, sees another big opportunity … Continue reading “Alnylam Sees Opportunity in Turning Genes On, And Off”
Pathwork Diagnostics Secures $20,000,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0eae3718-6746-4864-93fe-513304e19f27&Preview=1 Date 9/5/2008 Company Name Pathwork Diagnostics Mailing Address 595 Penobscot Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 Company Description Pathwork Diagnostics is applying new discoveries in genomics to unmet clinical needs in oncology. Using proprietary technologies, Pathwork Diagnostics plans to harness the power of genomics information to develop FDA-cleared microarray-based tests that provide … Continue reading “Pathwork Diagnostics Secures $20,000,000 Series B Financing Round”
Acquires Social.IM (Mogad) for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ff25e6e3-e821-4c4d-8a8d-b404ad285f77&Preview=1 Date 9/5/2008 Company Name Social.IM (Mogad) Mailing Address 579 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 Company Description The company has developed a chat feature for Facebook. Website http://www.social.im Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Broad Institute Will Sever Administrative—Not Research—Ties with MIT and Harvard, Becoming “Stand-Alone” Organization
When we reported yesterday that the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was set to receive a whopping endowment of $400 million from Los Angeles-based billionaire philanthropists Edythe and Eli Broad, we noted that it was rumored that the institute—originally structured as an administrative unit of MIT—was also set to become independent of both MIT … Continue reading “Broad Institute Will Sever Administrative—Not Research—Ties with MIT and Harvard, Becoming “Stand-Alone” Organization”
Sarah Lacy’s User-Generated Book Tour
Sarah Lacy—award-winning Web 2.0 journalist, BusinessWeek’s “Valley Girl” columnist, co-host of Yahoo! Finance’s Tech Ticker, and author of the new book, Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0—will be at Boston’s Good Life bar meeting with the local Web 2.0 community as part of her … Continue reading “Sarah Lacy’s User-Generated Book Tour”
Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives
A book talk and reception for Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives, a new book by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser of Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Free and open to the public, no RSVP required. More information here.
Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives
A book talk and reception for Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives, a new book by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser of Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Free and open to the public, no RSVP required. More information here.
Gates Foundation Calls for Proposals to Solve Global Health “Grand Challenges”
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charitable organization, said it is accepting grant proposals for the second round of its five-year, $100 million initiative to try unconventional approaches against global health problems. The foundation will accept proposals for six topics, which include: new vaccines for HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, new approaches to … Continue reading “Gates Foundation Calls for Proposals to Solve Global Health “Grand Challenges””
Management Guru Michael Hammer Dies at Age 60
Updated: Michael Hammer, the business management guru and author of the 1990s business bestseller Reengineering the Corporation (co-authored by James Champy) and three other books, has died at age 60 after collapsing from apparent cranial bleeding on August 22 while he was on vacation in the Berkshires, his company and various news organizations are reporting. … Continue reading “Management Guru Michael Hammer Dies at Age 60”
Captaris Acquired by Open Text for $131M—but How Good a Deal Is It?
Another big acquisition has come to town. Bellevue, WA-based software firm Captaris said today it is being acquired by Open Text, a business-software company based in Waterloo, Ontario. The deal is worth about $131 million, and is expected to close by the end of the year. The purchase, for $4.80 a share, represents a 31 … Continue reading “Captaris Acquired by Open Text for $131M—but How Good a Deal Is It?”
Ze-gen Hit by Patent Suit
Fall River, MA-based Quantum Catalytics and an affiliated Houston company called Texas Syngas have filed a patent infringement suit against Boston-based waste gasification startup Ze-gen in federal district court in Boston, the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, MA, first reported on Tuesday. The suit alleges that Ze-gen’s gasification technology is based on trade secrets obtained through … Continue reading “Ze-gen Hit by Patent Suit”
Daily TIPs: Mobile Fish Farms, Cars of the Candidates, Eureka Grants, & More
Carriers Upgrading Long-Distance Networks Telecommunications carriers are upgrading their networks by replacing equipment designed to carry 10 gigabits of data per second with 40 gigabit equipment. GigaOm reports that 23 companies have purchased 40-Gb equipment since Nortel started selling it in April. The need to upgrade the core is being driven by the increase in … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Mobile Fish Farms, Cars of the Candidates, Eureka Grants, & More”