Here’s our weekly roundup of San Diego’s life sciences news. —Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), briefed reporters in San Diego on his efforts to make the regulatory review of new medical devices more predictable, transparent, and efficient. Shuren is undertaking reforms at a time when eight out … Continue reading “SD Life Sciences News: Auspex, BrainCells, and J&J’s Startup Center”
Alnylam Cuts One-Third of Workforce, To Save Cash for RNAi Clinical Plans
Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is getting rid of about one-third of its workforce, as it looks to save cash for clinical trials that it hopes will prove the value of its RNA interference drug technology. Alnylam (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) said today it’s cutting 33 percent of its staff, as it looks to concentrate its cash reserves … Continue reading “Alnylam Cuts One-Third of Workforce, To Save Cash for RNAi Clinical Plans”
Microsoft, Vulcan, RealNetworks Back Gay Marriage in WA
Microsoft is joining several other notable corporate names throwing their support behind full marriage rights for gay couples in Washington state, a move that could give a final push to gay-marriage efforts at that state Capitol this year. The companies—including RealNetworks, Concur, and Paul Allen’s Vulcan—announced their support for a possible state gay-marriage law on … Continue reading “Microsoft, Vulcan, RealNetworks Back Gay Marriage in WA”
Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model
Biotech companies used to think about how to build enduring companies with soup-to-nuts operations that had everything under one corporate flag, from research to development to manufacturing to marketing. Those models increasingly look like relics. Investors have grown weary of the long timelines, big bucks, and high risk that comes with building such organizations. Stung … Continue reading “Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model”
Mobile Madness 2012-Total Mobility
In the five years since Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, the mobile industry has changed radically. Wireless carriers are consolidating, and the battleground has shifted to mobile operating systems and platforms. Smartphones and tablets are ubiquitous, and they are transforming how we all shop, connect, get around, and lead our daily lives. In short, … Continue reading “Mobile Madness 2012-Total Mobility”
Twitter Acquires Vancouver’s Summify
Pulling signal out of the noise is getting much more important. And the folks at Twitter are getting some help sorting through the flood of daily updates by buying Summify, a Vancouver, B.C.-based startup that counts RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser among its investors. Summify analyzes a user’s media feeds, including social media and news syndication, … Continue reading “Twitter Acquires Vancouver’s Summify”
Xconomist of the Week Chris Rizik: Who Says A VC Has No Soul?
Chris Rizik is one of Michigan’s most important and successful venture capitalists. He’s the CEO and fund manager of Renaissance Venture Capital, a fund of funds that is perhaps best known for its early backing of the medical device company HandyLab, a University of Michigan spinout that was later purchased by New Jersey’s Becton Dickinson … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week Chris Rizik: Who Says A VC Has No Soul?”
Georgia Startups Have New York on Their Minds at Flashpoint Demo Day
A flotilla of fifteen startups from Atlanta presented their ideas in New York on Wednesday for a demo day at the offices of Union Square Ventures. Merrick Furst, director of the Flashpoint accelerator at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said the program helps entrepreneurs develop their concepts beyond their startup phase. “They are trying to … Continue reading “Georgia Startups Have New York on Their Minds at Flashpoint Demo Day”
A Good News-Bad News Night for Bristol’s Diabetes and Hepatitis Drugs
After the stock market closed last night, New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) announced that a cocktail containing two of its experimental drugs to treat hepatitis C obliterated the virus in some patients in a Phase 2 study. The results were so compelling the company used the “C” word in a press release, declaring, “This … Continue reading “A Good News-Bad News Night for Bristol’s Diabetes and Hepatitis Drugs”
We’re No. 5! Seattle Outperforms in PayScale’s Wage Index
Hey Seattle, are you feeling above average? You should, at least in the paycheck department, according to the latest report tracking American wages from Seattle-based PayScale. The greater Seattle area came in as the fifth-best city for wage growth in 2011, one notch ahead of the San Francisco area. Yep, that’s right—we beat the Valley at something. … Continue reading “We’re No. 5! Seattle Outperforms in PayScale’s Wage Index”
Join Us on March 14 for Mobile Madness 2012: Total Mobility
Everyone knows mobile is everywhere, and everything is mobile. Smartphones, tablets, and mobile software are transforming how we all shop, connect, get around, and lead our daily lives. In the five years since Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, the mobile industry—and the tech world, more broadly—has changed radically. So what are the emerging opportunities, … Continue reading “Join Us on March 14 for Mobile Madness 2012: Total Mobility”
Constant Contact Buys CardStar, Moves Into Mobile Loyalty Tech
The evolution of Constant Contact continues. The Waltham, MA-based online marketing firm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTCT]]) said today it has acquired Boston-based CardStar, a maker of a mobile app that lets people consolidate their loyalty and rewards cards. Terms of the acquisition weren’t given. The deal represents Constant Contact’s first foray into mobile rewards technology aimed at … Continue reading “Constant Contact Buys CardStar, Moves Into Mobile Loyalty Tech”
Join Kevin Starr, Corey Goodman, Carl Weissman & More in Seattle April 3
Biotech companies once dreamed of building soup-to-nuts operations that put everything under one corporate flag. You’d have research, development, marketing, manufacturing all together in one big team of bright people taking big risks. Think first-generation companies like Amgen, Genentech, Genzyme. The days of starting companies like that are mostly in the past, thanks in part … Continue reading “Join Kevin Starr, Corey Goodman, Carl Weissman & More in Seattle April 3”
Frazier Healthcare Aims for First Biotech VC Fund After Financial Crisis
Alan Frazier has been on record for a long time saying that the traditional biotech venture model is broken, and in severe need of updating. He’s been working on a new strategy for the past seven years or so, but the approach is facing its biggest test ever as Frazier prepares to raise his first … Continue reading “Frazier Healthcare Aims for First Biotech VC Fund After Financial Crisis”
OpenView Labs Aims to Prime Portfolio Companies for Big Growth
“Money is money, anyone can do that,” says Brian Zimmerman, managing director of Boston-based OpenView Venture Partners. Go on. “We have this idea of providing real value to our portfolio companies. If we’re going to call ourselves partners, we really need to be partners.” he says. Plenty of venture capitalists say they like to take … Continue reading “OpenView Labs Aims to Prime Portfolio Companies for Big Growth”
Brass Monkey Obtains $750,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=15d238ed-a2a6-44fc-8ad0-3116208fd285&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name Brass Monkey Mailing Address 2 Harris Ave Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 Company Description Brass Monkey is video game console that uses smartphones as controllers and any screen with a web browser as the main display. Website http://www.playbrassmonkey.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $750,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed … Continue reading “Brass Monkey Obtains $750,000 New Financing Round”
SeeWhy Garners $1,449,943 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f452a223-d498-4d27-b36f-86f478353451&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name SeeWhy Mailing Address 10 Milk Street Andover, MA 02108 Company Description SeeWhy delivers breakthrough improvements in website conversion with its Abandonment Tracker family of “on demand” services. Re-marketing to abandoned visitors using the SeeWhy service re-converts up to 50% of visitors who abandon their shopping carts, online … Continue reading “SeeWhy Garners $1,449,943 New Funding Round”
On The Spot Systems Receives $750,000 Seed Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=99a17d76-749c-4a9a-807d-a8f451482491&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name On The Spot Systems Mailing Address 14 Buswell Park Newton, MA 02458 Company Description On The Spot Systems develops mobile data collection systems with a real-time business intelligence platform to enable businesses to gather customer insights, service feedback, and achieve field data collection needs wherever and whenever … Continue reading “On The Spot Systems Receives $750,000 Seed Funding”
Constant Contact Acquires CardStar for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3ad052a1-5f98-4133-88c4-a0c903201553&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name CardStar Mailing Address 110 Chauncy St. Boston, MA 02111 Company Description CardStar lets you easily store and quickly retrieve loyalty, reward and club membership cards, where they can be scanned directly from your screen at most merchants. Website http://www.mycardstar.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round … Continue reading “Constant Contact Acquires CardStar for Undisclosed Sum”
Cadence Biomedical Lands $1,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=55674740-a850-4740-894f-ae88d4bb2c46&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name Cadence Biomedical Mailing Address 146 N. Canal St Seattle, WA 98103 Company Description Cadence Biomedical, headquartered in Seattle, WA, is an early stage medical device company that is committed to helping the 2.3 million Americans who suffer severe mobility impairments to gain a more mobile and independent … Continue reading “Cadence Biomedical Lands $1,000,000 New Financing Round”
ZestCash Garners $73,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5bf2e4b1-7163-4426-aa13-d39a3d73789c&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name ZestCash Mailing Address 6427 West Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90028 Company Description ZestCash offers a fair and transparent alternative for people who need short-term loans but do not have access to traditional credit. We designed ZestCash loans to help people meet their basic life needs without … Continue reading “ZestCash Garners $73,000,000 New Funding”
Channel IQ Garners New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a1ad20ea-2c7a-45d4-9be5-efbe99f4d87c&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name Channel IQ Mailing Address 350 W Ontario Chicago, IL 60654 Company Description Channel IQ is the leading provider of online retail intelligence solutions to manufacturers, distributors and retailers. Channel IQ provides real-time, online promotion and pricing information, empowering customers to profitably handle channel issues and competitive situations. … Continue reading “Channel IQ Garners New Round”
Varentec Lands $7,700,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=cb09ea84-9dac-44a6-87b6-652f6a2ac114&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name Varentec Mailing Address 1531 Atteberry Lane San Jose, CA 95131 Company Description Varentec is developing technology at the intersection of power electronics and the grid to deliver critical new functionality that can help utilities enhance and transform their power delivery infrastructure, while keeping costs low. Website http://www.varentec.com … Continue reading “Varentec Lands $7,700,000 Series A Funding”
LiveScribe Lands $10,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3d384695-4c62-477b-a49d-9077a8fb3ec7&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name LiveScribe Mailing Address 7677 Oakport St. 12th Floor Oakland, CA 94621 Company Description LiveScribe has developed a new low-cost mobile computing platform that enhances productivity, learning, communication and self expression for anyone that uses pen and paper. The Pulse smartpen revolutionizes the act of writing by recording … Continue reading “LiveScribe Lands $10,000,000 New Funding”
SmartRecruiters Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f4ea2477-16e0-4e9d-9105-fcf4a768be7f&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name SmartRecruiters Mailing Address 330 Townsend Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description SmartRecruiters was founded in San Francisco in September 2010 by Jerome Ternynck, a recognized recruiting expert and pioneer of the recruiting software industry. We raised $1m from several angels in October 2010 and are now … Continue reading “SmartRecruiters Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing”
WeFi Lands $10,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=75eccbe9-1fda-44a8-adc7-3d03170c4d38&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name WeFi Mailing Address 826 Broadway New York, NY 10003 Company Description WeFi is software loaded onto your laptop or mobile device. It enhances your existing WiFi management software with a more powerful connection tool. The WeFi software automatically detects and qualifies all WiFi access points within range … Continue reading “WeFi Lands $10,000,000 New Financing Round”
Namely Receives $1,000,000 Seed Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=32bc0cab-d506-4658-8448-a9acc8527ee3&Preview=1 Date 1/19/2012 Company Name Namely Mailing Address 33 Nassau Avenue 2nd Floor Brooklyn, NY 11222 Company Description Namely is the first talent management platform built for the professional services industry—specifically advertising. Namely enables agencies to manage their teams, retain key employees and grow revenues. Website http://www.namely.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Namely Receives $1,000,000 Seed Funding”
Community Engagement Lessons from the Travel Industry
Join MITX on a Thursday evening to learn what it takes to build a community that fosters customer engagement and drives purchases. Marketers from the travel industry, including TripAdvisor’s CMO, Barbara Messing, will share their experiences with content curation, community building, and increasing customer engagement and trust. Register here.
Tech Tuesday: Developers Wanted
MassTLC is hosting 2012’s first Tech Tuesday, an evening filled with networking and job opportunities with more than 15 technology organizations and startups. Learn what these companies are working on and meet other students and developers. Register here.
FDA’s Shuren Makes West Coast Swing, Talks About Regulatory Reform
Since he set out last year to revamp the way the FDA reviews medical devices, Jeff Shuren of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) has often met with industry leaders to hear their feedback and ideas for how to improve medical device regulation. Last week, he met with industry leaders in San … Continue reading “FDA’s Shuren Makes West Coast Swing, Talks About Regulatory Reform”
SOPA-PIPA Protests Blossom Across the Country
It’s not just Wikipedia that’s throwing its weight today behind the movement to stop the controversial anti-piracy bills moving through the U.S. Congress. While the English version of the world’s most-visited encyclopedia site has gone dark for the day to call attention to the perceived dangers of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect … Continue reading “SOPA-PIPA Protests Blossom Across the Country”
Five Questions on Tech in NYC for North Bridge VC Dayna Grayson
Dayna Grayson, principal at North Bridge Venture Partners in Waltham, MA, has been spending a lot of time in New York City of late. North Bridge wants to participate in the Big Apple’s technology renaissance, so Grayson has been spending one to two days a week scouting for investment opportunities. North Bridge’s New York investments … Continue reading “Five Questions on Tech in NYC for North Bridge VC Dayna Grayson”
Amazon Web Services Adds DynamoDB for Database Scaling
Amazon Web Services is unveiling a new service that it says will allow developers to adopt fast-scaling databases to handle the explosive growth that can squeeze digital companies. It’s called DynamoDB, and is designed to give customers a simple interface that will allow them to quickly dial up or down the performance they need from … Continue reading “Amazon Web Services Adds DynamoDB for Database Scaling”
Evernote Wants to Make Your Memories More Magical
Cloud-based notekeeping service Evernote found its first 20 million users through sheer geek appeal. Hardcore users (full disclosure: that includes me) love the ability to upload Web clips, documents, images, audio files, and other materials to Evernote’s online notebooks, then search and retrieve them at will, from virtually any device. They also like features such … Continue reading “Evernote Wants to Make Your Memories More Magical”
Women in Science 2012 Forum
“Inspiring women scientists” is the theme of this day-long conference sponsored by the City University of New York and Feminist Press. Speakers include Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute, Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for satellite and information sciences and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Doris Cully, … Continue reading “Women in Science 2012 Forum”
Cadence Biomedical Snags First $1M to Help Disabled People Walk
One of the co-founders of HealthTech Capital, Don Ross, offered Brian Glaister a blunt assessment last summer when the young entrepreneur came pitching a new device to help disabled people walk. Ross responded that his wife, Donna Jang, is a stroke survivor who struggles to walk more than a couple minutes at a time. She … Continue reading “Cadence Biomedical Snags First $1M to Help Disabled People Walk”
Inside Double Down: How a $500M Deal Started With a $1M Investment
In the spring of 2010, at a small startup in Seattle, some online gaming veterans were ready to send their latest creation into the world. It was a blackjack game for Facebook, fully legal because players couldn’t cash out their virtual chips. With much better production values and an ability to play with other users, … Continue reading “Inside Double Down: How a $500M Deal Started With a $1M Investment”
J&J Opens San Diego Biotech Startup Center, Says ‘No Strings Attached’
Johnson & Johnson’s West Coast research leader, Diego Miralles, has met with a lot of biotech entrepreneurs who are curious about what J&J is doing to foster more startups at its facility in San Diego. At some point, a skeptical question usually comes up. “What’s the catch?” Miralles says he’s sometimes asked. He insists there … Continue reading “J&J Opens San Diego Biotech Startup Center, Says ‘No Strings Attached’”
Flagship, Joule, Constellation, and More of The Week’s Boston Dealmakers
Web startups, venture firms, life sciences companies, and a biofuels developer rounded out the deals news this week. —Cambridge, MA-based Flagship Ventures announced it had closed a $270 million fund, surpassing the $250 million it had originally targeted for its fourth fund. —Extreme Reach, a Needham, MA-based startup developing cloud storage technology for delivering video … Continue reading “Flagship, Joule, Constellation, and More of The Week’s Boston Dealmakers”
What Should Students Study? Read the Xconomist Report on Education
Yesterday Bob told you about a special report we put together by canvassing the Xconomists—some of the world’s leading innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors—for their thoughts on what students should study to be prepared for the future. Well, the report is now live, here, with 22 thought-provoking responses. Computing, the scientific method, culture, Chinese, and how to start … Continue reading “What Should Students Study? Read the Xconomist Report on Education”
The World is Your Campus: Study with Rigor, Be Entrepreneurial
Two trends are driving the current job market: globalization, where everybody is becoming part of the economy, and innovation, which increases productivity and allows fewer people to do the same jobs. These two trends will not slow down during the next few decades. How should students train in college to build careers under these conditions? … Continue reading “The World is Your Campus: Study with Rigor, Be Entrepreneurial”
Merging Hand and Mind
My pat answer is mathematics (the universal language), biology (in order to master non-linear, dynamic thinking especially related to complex systems and ecosystemic issues) and Chinese (since in 10 years Chinese will be even more important than it is today in both the commercial and scientific domains). But let’s peek around the corner. Both design … Continue reading “Merging Hand and Mind”
Critical Thinking and the Scientific Process First—Humanities Later
If luck favors the prepared mind, as Louis Pasteur is credited with saying, we’re in danger of becoming a very unlucky nation. Little of the material taught in schools today is relevant to the future. Consider all the science and economics that has been updated, the shifting theories of psychology, the programming languages, political theories, … Continue reading “Critical Thinking and the Scientific Process First—Humanities Later”
Turning Data into Meaning
More than anything, they should be studying math, including statistics and probability, and programming. No matter what the subject, we will have huge amounts of data about it, and will need these tools to get meaning from the data. The areas I’m thinking of include medicine, genetics, nutrition, and neuroscience; human behavior; energy management and … Continue reading “Turning Data into Meaning”
Not All Tech Companies Are Alike
From cloudy Seattle to the vast suburbs of Silicon Valley, we covered a lot of ground on MIT Sloan’s recent technology trek, which concluded with a leg in Boston. The first stop was Seattle where it was predictably raining. Visiting Amazon, Microsoft, and Adobe, we came away with an appreciation for how much tech activity … Continue reading “Not All Tech Companies Are Alike”
Learning Across Disciplines and Cultures
The world is only going to become more technological and more global in the next decade. Students should be getting a solid enough grounding in mathematics, probabilistic thinking, physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering that they understand these ways of thinking and the values of these fields. They also need a liberal arts grounding and, particularly, … Continue reading “Learning Across Disciplines and Cultures”
CS + X, for all X
The impact of information-based technologies will continue to grow—probably at an accelerating rate. In nearly every segment of society, we see both quality and productivity improvements because of increased use of automation and digital communication. The impact is obviously huge in some sectors such as finance and publishing. And it will only grow in the … Continue reading “CS + X, for all X”
From AI to Bioengineering
First of all, students should be studying what they are passionate about. Clearly, computer science will continue to spread into all aspects of human life. Within computer science, I believe machine learning and AI are perhaps the biggest study opportunity today. Biology and medicine are also undergoing vast changes. Personalized medicine will become a big … Continue reading “From AI to Bioengineering”
Study the Boomers!
The Who once sang, “I hope I die before I get old.” Despite their best efforts to exit the planet early, most of them didn’t. They and their fellow Baby Boomers represent the greatest technology and business opportunity of the 21st Century. It is typical for each of us to be drawn to areas for … Continue reading “Study the Boomers!”
The Convergence of Biology, Medicine, and Engineering
I think learning the fundamentals of a discipline is the most important thing that students can do to prepare themselves for jobs both today and tomorrow. That discipline may be biology, bioengineering, chemistry, chemical engineering or others. I also think doing research is great preparatory experience. Furthermore, I believe the opportunities offered by the convergence … Continue reading “The Convergence of Biology, Medicine, and Engineering”