Eight days after Fuze announced a $104 million funding round, the Boston-area communications software firm has replaced its founding CEO. Steve Kokinos, who co-founded Fuze in 2005, will now serve as executive chairman. The company has appointed Colin Doherty as CEO, according to an announcement Thursday. Fuze’s other founder, Derek Yoo, will remain the company’s … Continue reading “After $104M Round, Fuze Names New CEO, Shifts Co-Founder to Chairman”
His Gene Therapy Near Approval, Spark CEO Wonders: What Price Vision?
Perhaps this year, Spark Therapeutics could be the first ever in the U.S. to win approval of a gene therapy with its one-time treatment for an inherited form of blindness. But an approval could also throw Spark into the line of fire in the U.S. fight over drug pricing that includes angry members of Congress, … Continue reading “His Gene Therapy Near Approval, Spark CEO Wonders: What Price Vision?”
ReplyYes Raises $6.5M for ‘Conversational Commerce’ Platform
Seattle-based startup ReplyYes, which lets people buy things via text message, has raised $6.5 million and landed a major customer, Universal Music Group, for its conversational commerce platform. The Series A funding round was led by Madrona Venture Group, which incubated the company internally, and Cross Culture Ventures, Lowercase Capital, Muse Capital, and Arnold Venture … Continue reading “ReplyYes Raises $6.5M for ‘Conversational Commerce’ Platform”
Join Us: Xconomy Forum on Innovations with Widespread Human Impact
Over the past 30 years or so, design theorists have promoted the idea of putting humans at the center of the process that innovators use to design everyday things. At the UC San Diego Design Lab, director Don Norman talks about the importance of studying and understanding how people are actually using something—whether it is … Continue reading “Join Us: Xconomy Forum on Innovations with Widespread Human Impact”
Probiotics Maker UAS Laboratories Raises $21.2M From Investors
The Wausau, WI-based probiotics manufacturer UAS Laboratories says it has raised more than $21.2 million, according to an SEC filing that was recently made public. Twelve investors participated in the equity funding round, according to the filing. UAS Labs formulates, blends, bottles, and distributes probiotic products, which are designed to stimulate the growth of so-called … Continue reading “Probiotics Maker UAS Laboratories Raises $21.2M From Investors”
Regenerative Med Firm Surrozen Unveils $33M to Tackle Tissue Repair
Regenerative medicine technologies aim to tap into the body’s innate healing abilities to grow and repair tissue. But the triggers that activate these healing powers have been a mystery to scientists for years. New startup Surrozen believes it has a solution and has raised $33 million in funding to test its approach. The Column Group … Continue reading “Regenerative Med Firm Surrozen Unveils $33M to Tackle Tissue Repair”
Patent Judges’ CRISPR Ruling For Broad Leaves Daylight For Berkeley
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has made a decision in the patent fight over ownership of the landmark CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. The ruling is in favor of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, whose 2014 patents were challenged by a group led by the University of California, Berkeley (UC). But the ruling … Continue reading “Patent Judges’ CRISPR Ruling For Broad Leaves Daylight For Berkeley”
After CEO Hire, uShip Adds $25M to Further Freight Shipping Software
Austin—UShip, one week after announcing it hired a new CEO, said the company has raised a $25 million round of funding from German shipping logistics company DB Schenker, which uShip signed a deal with last year. Schenker announced in July that it signed a five-year agreement to use uShip’s enterprise freight-focused software to match freight … Continue reading “After CEO Hire, uShip Adds $25M to Further Freight Shipping Software”
EO2 Concepts Aims to Impress CME With Med Device Study, Gain Funding
San Antonio — For chronic wounds, there’s a bevy of treatment options attracting the dollars spent on care, from stalwarts like Acelity’s negative-pressure therapies to more standard, basic dressings. Now, a San Antonio medical device company has a product that it believes can potentially be more effective than other treatments and limit healthcare costs. And EO2 … Continue reading “EO2 Concepts Aims to Impress CME With Med Device Study, Gain Funding”
FarmLogs Co-Founder on Growth, Agronomics, and U.S. Ag Policy
Ann Arbor, MI-based agtech company FarmLogs has been one of the fastest-growing startups in the state since its launch in 2012. Last month, it closed a $22 million Series C round led by Naspers Ventures, a global investing giant focused on companies addressing big societal needs in high-growth markets. FarmLogs has developed software that enables … Continue reading “FarmLogs Co-Founder on Growth, Agronomics, and U.S. Ag Policy”
With “Go,” Amazon Identifies Another Job It Can Do Better
Early last year, I “fired” talk radio along with NPR’s morning and evening editions. That same day, I “hired” Amazon Audible as my commute companion. It wasn’t a difficult decision. Audible is far better than its predecessors at doing the job I need done as I travel to and from my office – provide on-demand … Continue reading “With “Go,” Amazon Identifies Another Job It Can Do Better”
Texas Roundup: TMCx, Katie Mehnert, UT System, Authenticated Reality
Let’s get caught up with the latest innovation news from Xconomy Texas. —Often those in medical fields come up with innovative ideas during the course of their work. What they lack, however, is experience in running a business, namely, raising money to help pay for research and development. Fundraising strategies for young medtech entrepreneurs was … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: TMCx, Katie Mehnert, UT System, Authenticated Reality”
Fintech VC Backing Dipped 13 Percent in 2016, Mirroring Rest of Tech
The final numbers on 2016 fintech funding deals are in from New York-based research firm and investment database CB Insights, and venture capitalists seem to be cooling on the industry. According to a report released today, financial technology companies around the world attracted $12.7 billion in venture capital across 836 investments last year. That is … Continue reading “Fintech VC Backing Dipped 13 Percent in 2016, Mirroring Rest of Tech”
With $20M, UCSD Spinout Jecure To Press New Attack On NASH
[Updated 2/15/17, 8:10 pm ET. See below.] Liver disease is challenging for doctors because it can develop without symptoms, making diagnosis difficult without removing cells for examination. For these reasons, fatty liver disease is often called a “silent disease,” says Ariel Feldstein, a gastroenterologist at the University of California San Diego. Feldstein has been studying the … Continue reading “With $20M, UCSD Spinout Jecure To Press New Attack On NASH”
Voice Privacy Experts: Careful, We’re Bugging Ourselves
A cybersecurity executive I talked to recently raised a scenario like this: You and your cousin swap opinions about a standout basketball player one night. The next day you get an email from your cousin’s friend. He says your cousin told him you’d like this new article about your favorite point guard, and he attaches … Continue reading “Voice Privacy Experts: Careful, We’re Bugging Ourselves”
Merck Alzheimer Drug Is Latest To Fail In A Big Study
Another Alzheimer’s drug has failed a major test. Merck (NYSE: MRK) reported late Tuesday that its pill verubecestat was not helping people with significant Alzheimer’s symptoms. The drug maker announced that it halted its EPOCH study early because an oversight group said there was “virtually no chance of finding a positive clinical effect.” Verubecestat is … Continue reading “Merck Alzheimer Drug Is Latest To Fail In A Big Study”
Panel: Big Data Can Be ‘Democratized’ For The Masses
Big data is a big deal, and it’s not too late for people who feel they know little or nothing about the collection, organization, storage, and retrieval of massive amounts of information to start paying attention. The trend isn’t going anywhere. Those were some of the themes of a panel discussion held on Monday in … Continue reading “Panel: Big Data Can Be ‘Democratized’ For The Masses”
Starting a Medtech Company? Try Skipping Venture Capital, VCs Say
San Antonio — What’s the best way to build a startup? Bootstrap it, raise little or no VC funding, and (ideally) sell it for hundreds of millions—or billions—of dollars, according to two venture capitalists. That’s what they did at least. Andrew Farquharson, now the managing director of InCube Ventures in San Jose, CA, was the chief … Continue reading “Starting a Medtech Company? Try Skipping Venture Capital, VCs Say”
Hologic Expands Into Medical Aesthetics With $1.4B Cynosure Deal
[Updated 2/14/17, 1:07 pm. See below.] Women’s health company Hologic has been looking for ways to enter the fast-growing medical aesthetics market, and the company has now found a way in with a deal to acquire Cynosure for $1.44 billion. It’s the second billion-dollar acquisition to be announced this week in the medical aesthetics industry. … Continue reading “Hologic Expands Into Medical Aesthetics With $1.4B Cynosure Deal”
FDA Turmoil, Biology Mystery On List Of Hurdles For Microbiome Drugs
In three years, investment has jumped more than twenty-fold in startups developing medicines that change the interactions between our bodies and the bacteria that colonize it, known collectively as the human microbiome. But as a panel of industry insiders noted yesterday at the BIO CEO & Investor Conference Monday, the field faces several challenges—including lack … Continue reading “FDA Turmoil, Biology Mystery On List Of Hurdles For Microbiome Drugs”
Lynx Bio Makes Headway on New Diagnostic for Blood Cancer Drugs
In 2009, as a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chorom Pak was part of a group of researchers working to understand how sensitive patients’ cells were to certain therapies for blood cancers, such as multiple myeloma. The group, which also included UW-Madison professors Shigeki Miyamoto and David Beebe, and postdoctoral fellow Edmond Young, … Continue reading “Lynx Bio Makes Headway on New Diagnostic for Blood Cancer Drugs”
BIO-Europe Spring
From the event organizer: The eleventh annual BIO-Europe Spring® international partnering conference will be held in Barcelona, Spain March 20–22, 2017 at the CCIB Convention Centre Barcelona. Produced by EBD Group, the event is co-hosted by Biocat, BIOCAT, the organization that coordinates and promotes the health and life sciences sector in Catalonia, and the ACCIO … Continue reading “BIO-Europe Spring”
Katie Rae Wants MIT’s The Engine to Build “World-Changing” Companies
Katie Rae has been tapped to run The Engine, an ambitious startup-support initiative launched by MIT that combines a venture fund, an accelerator program, and access to workspace and business services. On Monday, Rae was named The Engine’s president and CEO, as well as managing partner of its venture fund. Rae is well known in … Continue reading “Katie Rae Wants MIT’s The Engine to Build “World-Changing” Companies”
Roundup: B-Start, Givelify, Notre Dame Turbomachinery Lab & More
Here’s a look at innovation news from across Indiana: —Three Indiana University students won the top spots at a recent demo day competition hosted by B-Start, the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation‘s accelerator program. Zachary Burr snagged first place ($2,500) for Tydee Laundry, an on-demand laundry service; Christopher Podlaski won second place ($1,500) for Plant Software, an automated scheduling … Continue reading “Roundup: B-Start, Givelify, Notre Dame Turbomachinery Lab & More”
NeuroPointDX, JCI, Resnick, & More: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist
Keep up with the latest news from Wisconsin’s innovation community with these recent headlines: —NeuroPointDX, a business division of Madison-based Stemina Biomarker Discovery focused on diagnostics for neurological disorders, announced a partnership with New York-based Ovid Therapeutics. The collaboration is aimed at identifying novel biomarkers of Angelman syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by intellectual … Continue reading “NeuroPointDX, JCI, Resnick, & More: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist”
Allergan to Acquire Fat-Busting Medical Tech Firm Zeltiq for $2.4B
Botox-maker Allergan is filling out its medical aesthetics portfolio with a $2.4 billion agreement to acquire Zeltiq Aesthetics, a company that has commercialized a medical device that gets rid of unwanted fat. Under the cash deal, Dublin, Ireland-based Allergan (NYSE: [[ticker:AGN]]) will pay $56.50 per share to buy Zeltiq (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZLTQ]]), which is based in … Continue reading “Allergan to Acquire Fat-Busting Medical Tech Firm Zeltiq for $2.4B”
TMCx Brings On Largest Class, HealthIT Startups from US & Abroad
Houston—The Texas Medical Center’s TMCx accelerator announced today its largest class of health IT startups, the fourth cohort for the program. The 24-member class includes three Australian companies that are taking part through the TMC’s new BioBridge health technology startup exchange, a program with the Health Informatics Society of Australia that allows Australian entrepreneurs to … Continue reading “TMCx Brings On Largest Class, HealthIT Startups from US & Abroad”
Veering Off Topic With Rapid7 CEO Corey Thomas
It’s time to revive my ongoing series of executive interviews that take a bit of a left turn. Next up is Corey Thomas, president and CEO of Rapid7. Thomas has worked at the Boston-based cybersecurity firm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RPD]]) for almost a decade, and has served as its chief executive since late 2012. The 17-year-old company … Continue reading “Veering Off Topic With Rapid7 CEO Corey Thomas”
Amid Fake News, Authenticated Reality Launches “The New Internet”
Austin—At a time of fake news and “alternative facts,” it makes sense that a tech entrepreneur would try to find a way to innovate to ensure our encounters on the Internet are real. Chris Ciabarra, co-founder and CTO of Authenticated Reality, says the startup’s new browser—one that would require users to prove they are who … Continue reading “Amid Fake News, Authenticated Reality Launches “The New Internet””
Dear Tom Price: Bundled Payments Help Patients and Reduce Costs
With all the talk of repealing Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), people have been taking a closer look at what the law has done for our healthcare system. It turns out the ACA is about a lot more than the problematic healthcare marketplaces. There’s the extension of parental insurance coverage to age 26 and … Continue reading “Dear Tom Price: Bundled Payments Help Patients and Reduce Costs”
After Leadership Change, Zenefits Announces Sweeping Layoffs
What has already been a week of significant change at Zenefits, the embattled San Francisco-based startup that provides health insurance and other human resources services to businesses, continued Thursday with news the company plans to lay off nearly half of its workforce, according to a report originally published by Buzzfeed News. Once heralded as one … Continue reading “After Leadership Change, Zenefits Announces Sweeping Layoffs”
Seattle Genetics Puts Up $250M for Immunomedics Cancer Drug Rights
Seattle Genetics has agreed to pay $250 million up front for global rights to an Immunomedics cancer drug that it says complements the company’s pipeline of experimental antibody cancer therapies. If SeaGen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) is able to bring the drug to market, the Bothell, WA-based company would be on the hook for up to $1.7 … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Puts Up $250M for Immunomedics Cancer Drug Rights”
Michigan Business Challenge
The annual campus-wide, multi-round student business plan competition is back for a final session. Student startup teams will compete for $85,000 in prizes and will get feedback from local investors along the way. For more information, click here.
Senate Confirms Price for HHS, But Stock Deals Still Raise Questions
The Senate confirmed Tom Price as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services early Friday morning by a 52-47 vote that, as expected, fell largely on party lines. Price is an orthopedic surgeon by training who has been a member of Georgia’s congressional delegation since 2004. He will now oversee a department that … Continue reading “Senate Confirms Price for HHS, But Stock Deals Still Raise Questions”
Visterra, Braeburn Stumble After Solid ’17 Start for Bio IPOs
Just how open is the IPO window for biotechs in 2017? After a solid start this year for life sciences offerings, two companies haven’t been able to get to market—the latest being Cambridge, MA-based Visterra. According to IPO research firm Renaissance Capital, Visterra has postponed an IPO that was supposed to net the firm $50 … Continue reading “Visterra, Braeburn Stumble After Solid ’17 Start for Bio IPOs”
Five Questions For … Katie Mehnert, Founder and CEO of Pink Petro
Houston—Katie Mehnert watched her father lose his engineering job during the energy industry’s depression in the 1980s, and swore to him she would avoid oil and gas jobs. But she did eventually join the ranks of oil and gas workers, even deciding to form her own energy startup, Pink Petro, which aims to not only bring … Continue reading “Five Questions For … Katie Mehnert, Founder and CEO of Pink Petro”
Bio Roundup: Travel Ban Block, Gilead Shock, Dean Kamen Talk & More
The biotech community pushed back against President Donald Trump’s order to block travelers and refugees this week, and not much later, a federal court did, too. Patient advocates have scored big wins with recent approvals of rare disease treatments, but they’re not as happy with insurers’ coverage decisions or with Trump’s promises of massive FDA … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Travel Ban Block, Gilead Shock, Dean Kamen Talk & More”
Often Advocates Of Faster FDA, Patient Groups Wary Of Trump Deregulation
In the biomedical world, perhaps the biggest question looming over President Donald Trump’s upcoming pick for Food and Drug Administration commissioner is how drastically that person will help roll back FDA regulations. Trump said at last week’s meeting in Washington D.C., with pharmaceutical executives that he wanted to slash FDA rules by 75 to 80 … Continue reading “Often Advocates Of Faster FDA, Patient Groups Wary Of Trump Deregulation”
San Francisco Appeals Court Upholds Stay on Trump’s Travel Ban—For Now
The Trump administration’s travel ban will remain on a temporary hold under an order issued today by a federal appeals court in San Francisco, which held that the government had failed to make its case for lifting a stay won through a court challenge by the state of Washington. That means that for the time … Continue reading “San Francisco Appeals Court Upholds Stay on Trump’s Travel Ban—For Now”
EOW Reading List: Establishing Ethics in the Algorithm Era
In this edition of Xconomy’s End of Work Reading List, we’re running down expert opinion on the net effects of algorithms on humanity; a set of 23 principles agreed to last month by artificial intelligence researchers; progress on machine learning systems that make machine learning systems; new research on what drives cooperation or competition among … Continue reading “EOW Reading List: Establishing Ethics in the Algorithm Era”
CyPhy, Mitsubishi, and Soft Robotics Join Robo Madness on March 28
While Boston suffers through its first real snow day of the year, I wanted to update you on Robo Madness: A.I. Gets Real. We’re mapping out the program for our March 28 conference at Google in Kendall Square (looking forward to that spring weather). This will be our annual convention of robotics and artificial intelligence … Continue reading “CyPhy, Mitsubishi, and Soft Robotics Join Robo Madness on March 28”
Xconomy Is Growing: We Need Great Salespeople in SF, Texas, and NY
Since Xconomy’s founding nearly a decade ago, we have grown from a single bureau in Boston to having editors covering 11 innovation clusters around the United States. And over this time, we have cultivated a reputation for outstanding news coverage and events across high-tech business sectors—from information technology to life sciences and beyond. In the … Continue reading “Xconomy Is Growing: We Need Great Salespeople in SF, Texas, and NY”
Xconomy Forum: Human Impact of Innovation
What are the major innovations that will have the biggest overall impact on humans—on people’s lives, comfort, health, and security—and what role will San Diego play in the advance of these technologies? Xconomy is organizing a half-day forum to explore this theme, focusing on the innovations in the life sciences and technology that appear most … Continue reading “Xconomy Forum: Human Impact of Innovation”
Royal Oak Man Beats Staggering Odds to Win FourPlay’s $1M Prize
In September, we profiled FourPlay Football, a Birmingham, MI-based startup that billed itself as an alternative to weekly fantasy leagues by giving participants the chance to predict the winner of four NFL or NCAA football matchups in any given week instead of managing a full roster of players for the season’s duration. Co-founder Jeff Johnson … Continue reading “Royal Oak Man Beats Staggering Odds to Win FourPlay’s $1M Prize”
Boston Tech Watch: Uber, Zipcar, MassChallenge, Adelphic, Lola & More
Here are some of the latest headlines in the Boston tech scene: Pink slips —We start this week’s roundup with some bad news: layoffs. Bedford, MA-based Progress Software (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PRGS]]) recently announced it would let 450 employees go, which is more than 20 percent of the company’s workforce. The move is part of a restructuring … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Uber, Zipcar, MassChallenge, Adelphic, Lola & More”
Spredfast Says It Will Close Its Madison Office, Eliminating 47 Jobs
In August 2015, Spredfast, an Austin, TX-based developer of social media management software, acquired Madison, WI-based Shoutlet for an undisclosed sum. In a message announcing the deal, Spredfast said that the staff and headquarters of Shoutlet—which sold cloud-based software to help measure the impact of online marketing campaigns—would “become Spredfast’s newest development center.” Now, a … Continue reading “Spredfast Says It Will Close Its Madison Office, Eliminating 47 Jobs”
Acorda Touts Success in Parkinson’s Drug Study, Awaits Safety Data
Acorda Therapeutics took a calculated risk in 2014 when it bought Civitas Therapeutics in a bid to start accumulating drugs for Parkinson’s disease. But that deal has a chance to soon pay off for the Ardsley, NY, company. Acorda (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACOR]]) said that CVT-301, its experimental Parkinson’s drug, succeeded in a 339-patient Phase 3 trial. … Continue reading “Acorda Touts Success in Parkinson’s Drug Study, Awaits Safety Data”
Texas Roundup: Rackspace, 1st and Future, Manoj Saxena, & BeeHex
Let’s get caught up on the latest innovation news from Xconomy Texas. —San Antonio cloud computing company Rackspace is cutting 270 jobs in the U.S.—about 6 percent of its 4,500-person workforce—the company’s CEO Taylor Rhodes announced. The move comes almost five months after Rackspace was acquired by private equity firms for $4.3 billion. To help … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: Rackspace, 1st and Future, Manoj Saxena, & BeeHex”
Torchlite Helps Businesses Access, Manage Marketing Freelancers
Susan Marshall, founder and CEO of digital marketing startup Torchlite, has been working in the technology sector for about 25 years. Her experience is mostly in product development and marketing, and she’s worked for some of the most innovative companies in the world, including Apple, Salesforce, and Adobe. With Indianapolis-based Torchlite, Marshall has set her … Continue reading “Torchlite Helps Businesses Access, Manage Marketing Freelancers”
BlackThorn Therapeutics Appoints Gregory Vontz CEO
Neurobehavioral drug developer BlackThorn Therapeutics has named Gregory Vontz its CEO. Vontz comes to the South San Francisco-based company from Topica Pharmaceuticals, where he was president and CEO. His experience also includes positions at Connetics, Genentech, and Merck. Last October, BlackThorn raised $40 million in a Series A round that the company planned to apply … Continue reading “BlackThorn Therapeutics Appoints Gregory Vontz CEO”