Recurrent Energy Receives $75,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c8ba2275-c5ee-4409-b2b3-477213112863&Preview=1 Date 7/16/2008 Company Name Recurrent Energy Mailing Address 300 California Street, 8th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description Recurrent Energy is transforming the solar energy marketplace–bringing solar to the mainstream via our turnkey Solar as a Service offering. We are exclusively focused on serving the needs of organizations with large … Continue reading “Recurrent Energy Receives $75,000,000 New Financing”

TrustE Lands New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c203b115-b482-4717-96a5-af99b6dbf709&Preview=1 Date 7/16/2008 Company Name TrustE Mailing Address 55 2nd Street 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description TRUSTe’s® services support online business growth by allowing companies to communicate their commitment to privacy, and letting consumers know which businesses they can trust. Website http://www.truste.org Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed … Continue reading “TrustE Lands New Funding”

BlogHer Lands $5,000,000 Series B Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9f02ea58-fb3a-4b3a-934b-b1d78d7c7149&Preview=1 Date 7/16/2008 Company Name BlogHer Mailing Address 805 Veterans Boulevard Redwood City, CA 94063 Company Description The BlogHer community hub is the Web’s number-one guide to blogs by women. Every blogger is invited to list her blog and share her latest words, pictures, video and opinions. As of July, 2008, more … Continue reading “BlogHer Lands $5,000,000 Series B Funding Round”

Collegium Collects $20 Million in Venture Round, Led by Frazier

Collegium Pharmaceutical just got some capital that may make it more difficult for people to abuse narcotic pain medicines. The specialty drugmaker based in Cumberland, RI, said today it raised $20 million in a fourth-round venture financing. Seattle-based Frazier Healthcare Ventures led the investment, which included previous investors Boston Millennia Partners and Westfield Capital Management. … Continue reading “Collegium Collects $20 Million in Venture Round, Led by Frazier”

Daily TIPs: Stones and Rocks and Carbon, Saltwater Farming, Cell Phone Traffic Cop, & More

EBay Case Shows Flaws in Internet Law A ruling this week that eBay isn’t responsible for ensuring that goods are not counterfeit disappointed Tiffany’s, which brought the suit, but cheered the online auction site. But as a piece in the Wall Street Journal points out, the U.S. judge’s decision comes just two weeks after a … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Stones and Rocks and Carbon, Saltwater Farming, Cell Phone Traffic Cop, & More”

Light Sciences Oncology Raises $40 Million for Cancer Trials

The show must go on at Light Sciences Oncology, with or without public investors. The privately-held company in Bellevue, WA, raised $40.1 million in a third-round financing to continue running a pair of final-stage clinical trials of its experimental cancer treatment, which uses a drug activated by light. The company has now raised $137 million … Continue reading “Light Sciences Oncology Raises $40 Million for Cancer Trials”

3Com-Realtek Settlement Replaced by $70 Million Licensing Agreement

Marlborough, MA-based 3Com and Realtek Semiconductor Corporation of Hsinchu, Taiwan, said yesterday that they’ve resolved a longstanding patent dispute over Realtek network controller chips that 3Com claimed appropriated aspects of its parallel processing technology. 3Com won a $45.3 million judgment against Realtek in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in April, … Continue reading “3Com-Realtek Settlement Replaced by $70 Million Licensing Agreement”

Even More Greenbacks for Evergreen Solar

Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ESLR]]) of Marlborough, MA, seems to have struck the right tune with its customers. Today the company announced yet another long-term order for its photovoltaic solar panels, this time from German-based IBC Solar. The order, worth $1.2 billion, brings Evergreen’s total contractual backlog to nearly $3 billion. “This contract represents the single … Continue reading “Even More Greenbacks for Evergreen Solar”

Lycos Introduces Drag-and-Drop “Web 2.0 Publishing for the Masses”

Back in May we wrote about the re-launch of Lycos Cinema, which Waltham, MA-based Lycos had tricked out with a new chat interface that lets up to 10 friends in different locations watch and comment on the same movie simultaneously. It turns out that was just the first step in a multi-part strategy to reinvent … Continue reading “Lycos Introduces Drag-and-Drop “Web 2.0 Publishing for the Masses””

T2 Biosystems Diagnostic Holds Its Own In Comparison Against Hospital Tool

T2 Biosystems is putting some punch in a very small package. The company has gotten some early validation for its 8-pound prototype medical diagnostics machine, through a paper published last week in Nature Medicine, which says the T2 instrument performed on par with hefty hospital-based diagnostic tools that are the size of a chest of … Continue reading “T2 Biosystems Diagnostic Holds Its Own In Comparison Against Hospital Tool”

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Raises Another $8.4 Million for Next-Generation RNAi

Investors apparently can’t get enough of RNA interference. Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held developer of RNAi drugs in Cambridge, MA, has raised $8.4 million to cap off a first-round venture financing totaling $21.4 million. Dicerna attracted the newest cash from Abingworth, as well as additional funds from Oxford Bioscience Partners and Skyline Ventures, who seeded the … Continue reading “Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Raises Another $8.4 Million for Next-Generation RNAi”

Massachusetts Experts Expect Job Losses in Manufacturing Sector to Level Off, Possibly Reverse

For more than 60 years, the number of jobs in manufacturing has been on the decline in Massachusetts. But that trend is finally at an end, say the authors of a new report, Staying Power: The Future of Manufacturing in Massachusetts. The large employment losses are over because most of the firms that couldn’t survive … Continue reading “Massachusetts Experts Expect Job Losses in Manufacturing Sector to Level Off, Possibly Reverse”

Tips for Getting Acquired (and Acquiring Others), from Eddie Pasatiempo of The Clarion Group

Getting bought out. It’s the exit strategy of choice these days. With the IPO market drying up, venture-backed companies need to get acquired to provide a payout for early investors. Whether it’s Microsoft buying San Francisco-based Powerset or CafePress acquiring Seattle’s Imagekind, there is an art to doing these deals, and startups and big companies … Continue reading “Tips for Getting Acquired (and Acquiring Others), from Eddie Pasatiempo of The Clarion Group”

MediQuest Vying to Get First Drug Across FDA Goal Line, Put Raynaud’s in Your Vocabulary

Punch “Raynaud’s disease” into a simple Google search, and the first site you get is one from the Mayo Clinic that says it’s a condition of limited blood circulation that causes numbness in the fingers and toes in cold temperatures. “For most people, Raynaud’s disease is more a nuisance than a disability,” according to the … Continue reading “MediQuest Vying to Get First Drug Across FDA Goal Line, Put Raynaud’s in Your Vocabulary”

Spineology Inc. Obtains $7,500,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c7c3110d-66d3-431f-98d5-91f298b3ad8b&Preview=1 Date 7/15/2008 Company Name Spineology Inc. Mailing Address 7200 Hudson Boulevard North St. Paul, ME 55128-7055 Company Description Spineology was founded in 1996 by Dr. Stephen Kuslich. Dr. Kuslich was a pioneer in minimally invasive spine surgery, being one of the first in the U.S. to use the operating microscope. During … Continue reading “Spineology Inc. Obtains $7,500,000 New Round”

Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. Lands $20,000,000 Series D Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6f5d478e-63ac-42c4-9e7b-a9c9ffaec05e&Preview=1 Date 7/15/2008 Company Name Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. Mailing Address 400 Highland Corporate Drive Cumberland, RI 02864 Company Description Collegium Pharmaceutical is dedicated to the development of proprietary, late stage pharmaceutical products that add market value and clinical benefit to existing drugs. We apply customized pharmaceutical formulations and intellectual property (IP) strategies … Continue reading “Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. Lands $20,000,000 Series D Funding Round”

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Garners $8,400,000 Series A Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7cc4b138-0131-42dd-a220-b548acdfd631&Preview=1 Date 7/15/2008 Company Name Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 15 Peterson Circle Sudbury, MA 01776 Company Description Dicerna Pharmaceuticals is a venture-backed startup developing novel therapeutics in multiple therapeutic areas based on Dicer substrate technology, which makes use of the RNA interference mechanism. Website http://www.dicerna.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,400,000 … Continue reading “Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Garners $8,400,000 Series A Funding”

YouSendIt Secures $14,000,000 Series C Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=36f6460e-73e3-40a1-9773-30f9d26e4442&Preview=1 Date 7/15/2008 Company Name YouSendIt Mailing Address 1919 S.Bascom Ave. 3rd Floor Campbell, CA 95008 Company Description YouSendIt lets businesses, professionals and consumers move big files. If you know how to use email, you can easily use the YouSendIt service. YouSendIt currently has over 3 million registered users across 220 countries … Continue reading “YouSendIt Secures $14,000,000 Series C Financing Round”

Sierra Sound Secures Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=be733c61-c8b9-47c6-82d0-87d2e7eb03a0&Preview=1 Date 7/15/2008 Company Name Sierra Sound Mailing Address 3941 Park Drive El Dorado Hills, CA 95762 Company Description Sierra Sound is working to bridge existing high end sound designs with todays cutting edge technology. The iN STUDIO 5.0 is our introductory product, there was a combined effort around the office for … Continue reading “Sierra Sound Secures Series B Round”

CardioKinetix Obtains $14,500,000 Series C Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a207d59b-c9b9-4bff-8cfb-a74551d31b8f&Preview=1 Date 7/15/2008 Company Name CardioKinetix Mailing Address 925 Hamilton Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025 Company Description CardioKinetix, Inc. is developing new technology for treating Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). This is a catheter-based intervention implanted into the heart. CHF results from damage to the heart from several causes, which affects nearly five … Continue reading “CardioKinetix Obtains $14,500,000 Series C Funding Round”

Infinity Pharmaceuticals Pulls Plug on Treatment for Prostate Cancer

Infinity Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has halted enrollment in a mid-stage study of IPI-504 for patients with prostate cancer, after it didn’t see evidence the drug was working. The treatment, being developed in partnership with AstraZeneca, will continue to be tested against non-small cell lung cancer and gastrointestinal … Continue reading “Infinity Pharmaceuticals Pulls Plug on Treatment for Prostate Cancer”

Jeff Bezos and Amazon Are Banking on the Games People Play (on Social Networks)

iPhone, schmy-Phone. While games and other applications developed for Apple’s iPhone have been all the rage for the last few days, there’s another sector worth keeping an eye on: social-network gaming, or games made for online platforms like Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo, which typically need to be played on a desktop or laptop. VentureBeat is … Continue reading “Jeff Bezos and Amazon Are Banking on the Games People Play (on Social Networks)”

With New $9.5 Million Funding Round, ThingMagic Gets a Fix on Smaller RFID Readers

The RFID business is getting hot again. A few weeks ago, Waltham, MA-based RFID software maker OATSystems was gobbled up by New Jersey’s Checkpoint Systems, and last week Greg reported that Seattle-based Impinj had sold off its memory business and bought Intel’s RFID division. Now Cambridge, MA-based ThingMagic, an MIT spinoff that makes hardware for … Continue reading “With New $9.5 Million Funding Round, ThingMagic Gets a Fix on Smaller RFID Readers”

Daily TIPs: Electric Sports Cars, Parking By Cell Phone, Throttling Throttlers, & More

Should Hybrid Cars Have Solar Roofs? Japanese news reports last week said Toyota is designing a plug-in version of its hybrid Prius that would have solar cells mounted on the body to charge the batteries. Technology Review says engineers are testing car-mounted solar arrays as electricity sources for vehicles. Unfortunately, the systems may be too … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Electric Sports Cars, Parking By Cell Phone, Throttling Throttlers, & More”

NeoSaej Collects $7 Million More for MoneyAisle

MoneyAisle.com, a reverse-auction site where lenders compete to offer potential banking customers the highest rates for certificates of deposit and high-yield savings accounts, is getting a big boost from the financial industry itself. NeoSaej, the Burlington, MA-based company behind MoneyAisle (profiled here last month), said today that it has raised over $7 million in new … Continue reading “NeoSaej Collects $7 Million More for MoneyAisle”

Skyhook Launches in Europe

Boston-based Skyhook Wireless, which makes embedded location-finding software for a range of devices from mobile phones to digital camera memory cards, said today that it has launched sales and operations efforts in Europe. It will make its formal European debut at a Mobile Monday London gathering tonight, and it’s already working with companies like UK-based … Continue reading “Skyhook Launches in Europe”

InnovationRx Launches

Newton, MA-based InnovationRx, a medication reminder service that we profiled on June 24, has officially opened its doors to patients. The service, organized with Northeastern University’s School of Pharmacy, lets patients upload lists of their medications, then helps them create a customized plan for taking and refilling their prescription drugs on time—in part via e-mail, … Continue reading “InnovationRx Launches”

GT Solar Sees Brighter IPO Skies; Pfizer, Merck, and Eli Lilly Back Boston Startup; GSI Group Beams out $360M for Excel Technology & More Deals News

Last week must have been a good one, because I’ve got more than $100 million worth of venture financings, along with a couple of other deals, to tell you about. —Merrimack, NH-based GT Solar expanded its 15-month-old IPO plans. Originally targeting a $200 million offering, the manufacturer of solar-cell-making equipment is now aiming for an … Continue reading “GT Solar Sees Brighter IPO Skies; Pfizer, Merck, and Eli Lilly Back Boston Startup; GSI Group Beams out $360M for Excel Technology & More Deals News”

Sound Pharmaceuticals Applies to Test Drug Against Chemo-Induced Hearing Loss

Sound Pharmaceuticals said today it has filed an application to run a clinical trial of an experimental drug for hearing loss caused by cancer chemotherapy. The privately held Seattle biotech company said it plans to test the compound, ebselen, in patients with advanced lung cancer and head and neck tumors who received platinum-based chemotherapy. It … Continue reading “Sound Pharmaceuticals Applies to Test Drug Against Chemo-Induced Hearing Loss”

Lee Hood’s Proteges Strike Again: Nanostring Ships Its First Commercial Cell Analyzer

[Updated July 23, 2008, see editor’s note below.] Nanostring Technologies, a company born in the lab of biotech pioneer Leroy Hood, has grown up and is starting to sell a product in the real world. The privately-held maker of gene-analysis tools in Seattle has booked the first sale of its commercial product, and is planning … Continue reading “Lee Hood’s Proteges Strike Again: Nanostring Ships Its First Commercial Cell Analyzer”

Sand 9 Shrinks Electronic Clocks, Expands with $8 Million Round

Two local venture firms, Flybridge Capital Parners and General Catalyst Partners, have joined forces with Khosla Ventures of Menlo Park, CA, and invested in Boston University spin-off Sand 9, a start-up founded in 2006 to develop “nano-mechanical resonators” for wireless devices. Flybridge led the $8 Million A series round. A resonator can be regarded as … Continue reading “Sand 9 Shrinks Electronic Clocks, Expands with $8 Million Round”

Sand 9, Inc. Receives $8,000,000 Series A Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=127ecfd7-89bd-477b-ae56-4fb25c3970b6&Preview=1 Date 7/14/2008 Company Name Sand 9, Inc. Mailing Address 8 St. Mary’s Street, Room 628 Boston, MA 02215 Company Description Sand 9, Inc. is a venture funded startup company, dedicated to the design of Radio Frequency components that will dramatically improve the performance and increase the capabilities of wireless devices. Our … Continue reading “Sand 9, Inc. Receives $8,000,000 Series A Funding Round”

NeoSaej Corporation Secures $7,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=60ceef4c-d17d-4994-827e-51754cb85f65&Preview=1 Date 7/14/2008 Company Name NeoSaej Corporation Mailing Address 77 South Bedford Street Burlington, MA 01803 Company Description The company is conveniently located in Burlington, Massachusetts, and our mission is to be a leader in the e-commerce software space. NeoSaej’s innovative architecture, among other things, enables unique and disruptive technologies to address … Continue reading “NeoSaej Corporation Secures $7,000,000 New Round”

ThingMagic Inc. Secures $9,500,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4d31e12c-173e-4bf9-aef2-d8663dc9bfa3&Preview=1 Date 7/14/2008 Company Name ThingMagic Inc. Mailing Address One Broadway, 5th Floor Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description ThingMagic is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in RFID (radio frequency identification) readers, sensors, and other embedded and low cost computing technologies. Website http://www.thingmagic.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “ThingMagic Inc. Secures $9,500,000 New Round”

Gaia Interactive Obtains $11,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=83cccdb1-384a-47b6-ac93-777190195986&Preview=1 Date 7/14/2008 Company Name Gaia Interactive Mailing Address 1900 Mccarthy Blvd Milpitas, CA 95035 Company Description Gaia provides a fun, social environment that inspires individuality and creativity. With everything from art contests and poetry forums to fully customizable profiles and digital characters, Gaia is a place where teens can create their … Continue reading “Gaia Interactive Obtains $11,000,000 New Financing”

Engine Yard Obtains $15,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a6e1e5b4-b7bc-4ba0-98a8-9b3b81c9d7bc&Preview=1 Date 7/14/2008 Company Name Engine Yard Mailing Address 500 Third Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description Engine Yard came about in early 2006 because we saw a genuine need: clients were developing business-critical Rails apps, but they didn’t want to worry about deployment issues, nor did they want to hire … Continue reading “Engine Yard Obtains $15,000,000 Series B Round”

Avvo Expands to Three More East Coast States

Seattle-based Avvo, which runs a website to help people find and rate lawyers, announced it has expanded its service to Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland. Avvo’s attorney profiles are now available in 18 states, including Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon, as well as Washington DC. That covers 80 percent of the practicing attorneys in the … Continue reading “Avvo Expands to Three More East Coast States”

Daily TIPs: Fins to Wind, Artificial Photosynthesis, Republicans on Facebook, & More

FDA Approves Intel Health Guide Microprocessor-maker Intel is getting into the high-tech health business: its Health Guide has won approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The device records vital signs and allows for videoconferencing with doctors or nurses in remote locations. Daily Tech says Intel is marketing the device to nursing homes and care … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Fins to Wind, Artificial Photosynthesis, Republicans on Facebook, & More”

Boeing and SkyHook’s Zeppelin-Copter Faces Safety Challenges

OK, so this isn’t technically a Seattle story. But how can we resist a bizarre new flying machine being built by Boeing to travel to the farthest reaches of the Earth? This week, Boeing announced it is teaming up with Calgary, Alberta-based SkyHook to develop a “heavy-lift rotorcraft” that can carry a 40-ton load up … Continue reading “Boeing and SkyHook’s Zeppelin-Copter Faces Safety Challenges”

Alnylam Loses RNAi Patent in Europe; Analyst Says No Worries

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) isn’t used to losing patent cases, but it happened yesterday in Europe to one of the company’s RNA interference patents, known as Glover. The company said it plans to appeal. What does it all mean to the Cambridge, MA-based company and its quest to develop new drugs through the gene silencing … Continue reading “Alnylam Loses RNAi Patent in Europe; Analyst Says No Worries”

Venrock, Panorama Lead $7 Million Round for Shopflick

Los Angeles-based Shopflick, creator of a platform for Web-based video product tours and advertisements, announced today that it has raised a $7 million Series A venture round. The round was led by Menlo Park, CA-based Panaroma Capital and Venrock, which has offices in New ork, Menlo Park, CA, and Cambridge MA.

Momenta Gets Some Mojo As FDA Agrees To Review Application of Generic MS Drug

Shares of Cambridge, MA-based Momenta Pharmaceuticals rose more than 11 percent today after the FDA agreed to review an application filed by its partner, Sandoz, to sell a generic version of Copaxone, a billion-dollar drug for multiple sclerosis. Momenta, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MNTA]]) doesn’t have any marketed products of its own. So, naturally, the application to market … Continue reading “Momenta Gets Some Mojo As FDA Agrees To Review Application of Generic MS Drug”

You’re Listening to Radio Lab—Or You Should Be

I drove from Boston to northern Michigan last weekend to hang out with my parents over the 4th of July. It’s a 15-hour trek—plus another two or three hours if you forget your passport and you have to go south around Lake Erie instead of straight through Canada. But I didn’t mind the drive, because … Continue reading “You’re Listening to Radio Lab—Or You Should Be”

Spilling the Beans at the Taqueria

When I visited Palo Alto earlier this year, an attorney at a big law firm specializing in intellectual property told me about a mythical eatery in Silicon Valley—Mountain View’s Taqueria La Bamba. At lunchtime, a mix of suits and engineers line up outside the small Tex-Mex restaurant. According to the story, while they are waiting … Continue reading “Spilling the Beans at the Taqueria”

Courion Automates Computer Access To Keep Data Where It’s Supposed to Be

January, 2008: French bank Societe Generale discloses that it has lost $7.1 billion, thanks to unauthorized trading by a single employee, Jerome Kerviel, who apparently breached various controls on access to the bank’s computer systems. March, 2008: UCLA Medical Center fires 13 workers and disciplines a dozen others for snooping in the confidential medical files … Continue reading “Courion Automates Computer Access To Keep Data Where It’s Supposed to Be”

Keep Your Employees Happy (and Your Company Small) and All Goodness Will Flow, Says Founder of Jackson Fish Market

I had a good chat on Monday with Hillel Cooperman, founder of Jackson Fish Market, a Seattle-based startup that builds interesting websites. I had come across Cooperman’s blog last week in which he argued in favor of “bottoms up” management as opposed to the traditional top-down approach in companies. Given Cooperman’s experience—which includes almost 10 … Continue reading “Keep Your Employees Happy (and Your Company Small) and All Goodness Will Flow, Says Founder of Jackson Fish Market”