Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3a054bab-fe15-461c-b496-d007bf409391&Preview=1 Date 9/22/2011 Company Name Krux Digital Mailing Address 188 South Park San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description Krux Digital helps anyone with a website safeguard, manage, and make responsible use of consumer data signatures across devices, sources, and formats. Krux arms web publishers with the technology and know-how to compete in … Continue reading “Krux Digital Garners $11,000,000 New Funding”
ZocDoc Receives $25,000,000 Series C Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b68cd66e-0bac-4e56-93cf-87c0b5d7402d&Preview=1 Date 9/22/2011 Company Name ZocDoc Mailing Address 568 Broadway New York, NY 10012 Company Description At ZocDoc our mission is to make healthcare simple. We begin at the beginning: ZocDoc brings the speed and convenience of the web to finding and booking a doctor or dentist. Website http://www.zocdoc.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “ZocDoc Receives $25,000,000 Series C Financing Round”
Business Insider Receives $7,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9ce682ab-1aeb-4dab-b70a-97d0771d0b27&Preview=1 Date 9/22/2011 Company Name Business Insider Mailing Address 119 5th Ave. New York, NY 10003 Company Description Business Insider is a new business site with deep financial, entertainment, green tech and digital industry verticals. The flagship vertical, Silicon Alley Insider, launched on July 19, 2007, led by DoubleClick founders Dwight Merriman … Continue reading “Business Insider Receives $7,000,000 New Funding”
ContextWeb Acquires Datran Media for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d8d3398a-42c5-4a98-bd2d-ed82af30f8ef&Preview=1 Date 9/22/2011 Company Name Datran Media Mailing Address 345 Hudson Street 5th Floor New York, NY 10014 Company Description Datran Media is a leading digital marketing technology company that helps advertisers, agencies and publishers identify, engage and retain ideal audiences across all digital media channels, including social, mobile, the web and … Continue reading “ContextWeb Acquires Datran Media for Undisclosed Sum”
DisruptiveApps Obtains $1,200,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f4e8f12d-37a7-45be-ab46-18b95416b7ac&Preview=1 Date 9/22/2011 Company Name DisruptiveApps Mailing Address Undisclosed Boston, MA 02101 Company Description iJukebox is a smartphone app that lets you request songs wherever you eat, drink, shop or hangout. Website http://www.myijukebox.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,200,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms … Continue reading “DisruptiveApps Obtains $1,200,000 New Financing Round”
Salesforce Acquires Assistly for $50,000,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d512d5b2-821a-4217-94a3-5f57ab48bf81&Preview=1 Date 9/22/2011 Company Name Assistly Mailing Address 425 2nd Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description The company provides online tools that enhance an enterprises ability to deliver exceptional customer service. Website http://www.assistly.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount $50,000,000 Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms The acquisition will be paid for … Continue reading “Salesforce Acquires Assistly for $50,000,000”
Piictu Obtains $750,000 Seed Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d3aeaac2-d552-45dc-b1a1-d1d0f3b006ef&Preview=1 Date 9/22/2011 Company Name Piictu Mailing Address Undisclosed New York, NY 10002 Company Description Piictu is a powerful, fun and simple way to talk and play with your friends from your mobile phone using pictures. You simply snap a piic, post it to Piictu and your social networks, and watch it … Continue reading “Piictu Obtains $750,000 Seed Financing Round”
Aventura Secures $13,000,000 Series A Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6e818659-0d02-48e0-97b2-799fbe3a9f52&Preview=1 Date 9/22/2011 Company Name Aventura Mailing Address 1001 17th St. Denver, CO 80202 Company Description Aventura provides healthcare IT and workflow solutions for clinicians. Website http://www.aventurahq.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $13,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor HLM Venture Partners … Continue reading “Aventura Secures $13,000,000 Series A Financing Round”
Salesforce.com Snaps Up Assistly in Race to Dominate Customer Service Technology
Salesforce.com, the San Francisco-based cloud business services giant, announced today that it has acquired Assistly, a two-year-old startup focusing on technology that helps companies track complaints and other customer feedback on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Web chat, and e-mail. Salesforce.com (NYSE: [[ticker:CRM]]) said it paid $50 million for Assistly, net of cash; … Continue reading “Salesforce.com Snaps Up Assistly in Race to Dominate Customer Service Technology”
Closure of Pier 38 “Death Trap” Looks Inevitable, But City Commits to Re-Open Tech Hub
Yesterday I had a chance to catch up with Jason Wong, the CEO of San Francisco-based Rereply and i5labs, who’s been a longtime tenant at the Pier 38 startup hub and has been closely involved in efforts over the past two weeks to stave off the facility’s impending closure. Wong attended a meeting last Friday … Continue reading “Closure of Pier 38 “Death Trap” Looks Inevitable, But City Commits to Re-Open Tech Hub”
Calorie Count, owned by The New York Times, Taps Technology from Startup iSpeech
When New York-based website Calorie Count wanted a way to set its app apart from the competition, co-founder and vice president Igor Lebovic literally talked up its latest feature. Calorie Count’s iPhone app uses speech-recognition technology supplied by iSpeech, a startup in Newark, NJ, to help dieters keep track of what they eat. While demonstrating … Continue reading “Calorie Count, owned by The New York Times, Taps Technology from Startup iSpeech”
Ning, Rearden, Adchemy, ArcSoft & More: The Bay Area Deals Roundup, By the Numbers
The venture funding and merger & acquisition news flies so fast in Silicon Valley that we have a bit of trouble keeping up, to be frank. We’re experimenting with different ways of bringing you the highlights. Today: a by-the-numbers list of the major deals announced over the past couple of days. $150 million—The reported value … Continue reading “Ning, Rearden, Adchemy, ArcSoft & More: The Bay Area Deals Roundup, By the Numbers”
U-M Prof Snags MacArthur Fellowship For Stem Cell Research
When Dr. Yukiko Yamashita’s cell phone rang with the news that she’d been named a MacArthur Fellow, she ignored the call. “Nobody important calls me on that phone, only my family,” Yamashita says. “I held the phone for 10 full seconds wondering if I should answer or not.” Deciding that it was a wrong number, … Continue reading “U-M Prof Snags MacArthur Fellowship For Stem Cell Research”
TechStars Raises $24M More, Offers Each Startup $100K; Founder David Cohen Talks “Quality Over Quantity”
The early-stage tech accelerator business just got even more competitive. Boulder, CO-based TechStars, which runs seed-stage mentorship programs for startups in Boulder, Boston, Seattle, and New York, announced today it has raised a new $24 million fund from a long list of investors that includes Foundry Group, IA Ventures, Avalon Ventures, DFJ Mercury, SoftBank Capital, … Continue reading “TechStars Raises $24M More, Offers Each Startup $100K; Founder David Cohen Talks “Quality Over Quantity””
Computing on the Brink
What happens when the brightest technologists in the Puget Sound get together to talk, eat, drink and listen to each other? Spreadingscience will host a conversation about computing with invited guests Deepak Singh of Amazon Web Services, Sarah Killcoyne of the Institute of Systems Biology, and Jeff Paslay, president of Paslay Consulting. For more information … Continue reading “Computing on the Brink”
Investor Feedback Forum and Pitch Showdown
Ultra Light Startups presents an evening of pitches and coaching for entrepreneurs. Panelists include John Ason of Kewpie Associates, Paul Sciabica and Brian Cohen from New York Angels, and Jonathan Stillman, founder & president of Half Moon Ventures and managing director at Assembla. Register here.
Theraclone Enters Clinical World, With Flu Antibody That Might Be Handy in Pandemic
Theraclone Sciences has made a lot of news lately with its antibody discovery prowess, but now it’s getting to the point where the rubber hits the road in biotech—clinical trials. The Seattle-based biotech company, founded in 2005, is announcing today that it has started its first clinical trial. This study will look at an experimental … Continue reading “Theraclone Enters Clinical World, With Flu Antibody That Might Be Handy in Pandemic”
The Disrupt Experience
The decision to apply to TechCrunch’s Disrupt Battlefield competition wasn’t an easy one. TalkTo had been operating in stealth. We didn’t want to launch publicly, we wanted to launch successfully. Something changed once that application went forward. None of us knew if we’d even be selected as a finalist but we worked as if we … Continue reading “The Disrupt Experience”
San Diego’s Independa Raises $1.6M for Technology to Help Elderly Stay Independent
[Corrected 9/21/11, 1:05 pm. See below.] Independa, the San Diego startup developing Web-based services for the elderly, says it has closed on $1.6 million in early stage financing, and investor interest has been strong enough to extend the round to $2.2 million. [Corrected to show $200,000 loan is in addition to $1.6M investment] Independa CEO … Continue reading “San Diego’s Independa Raises $1.6M for Technology to Help Elderly Stay Independent”
Mascoma Seeks IPO, Tokai Takes in $23M, Boston-Power Gets $125 for Shift to China, & More Boston-Area Deals News
This week’s deals news in New England was dominated by cleantech and life sciences firms. —Quincy, MA-based Bluefin Robotics, a maker of autonomous underwater vehicles, acquired the assets of Hawkes Remotes for an undisclosed sum. Hawkes Remotes is a spinoff of Hawkes Ocean Technologies, a Bay Area developer of deep-ocean explorer vehicles. —Providence, MA-based NABsys, … Continue reading “Mascoma Seeks IPO, Tokai Takes in $23M, Boston-Power Gets $125 for Shift to China, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Brammo Obtains $5,222,943 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=eedad393-ba76-40c2-b8ce-567c3fca1624&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Brammo Mailing Address 550 Clover Lane Ashland, OR 97520 Company Description Brammo is in business for one simple reason – to drive change in the New Energy Economy. Our technically-advanced Enertia plug-in electric motorcycle – which gets up to 45 miles per charge – is the lightweight, … Continue reading “Brammo Obtains $5,222,943 New Funding”
Infinisource Secures New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=11017b69-ce70-46d8-b355-6949774aa34e&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Infinisource Mailing Address 15 E. Washington Street Box 889 Coldwater, MI 49036 Company Description At Infinisource, our No. 1 priority is people. Whether it’s the Customer Service Representative answering the phone, the client or agent asking technical questions or a plan participant calling about premium payments, it … Continue reading “Infinisource Secures New Round”
Lookout Mobile Security Receives $40,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2723cef0-0106-4498-a83f-09a637368a1d&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Lookout Mobile Security Mailing Address 500 Third Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description Lookout is a mobile security company dedicated to making the mobile experience safe for everyone. Website http://www.mylookout.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $40,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The new investment will … Continue reading “Lookout Mobile Security Receives $40,000,000 New Round”
CardioKinetix Obtains $44,000,000 Series E Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d8ea8f74-ed68-497d-9ea2-13b57b2499a4&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 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 $44,000,000 Series E Funding Round”
Intelleflex Secures $9,000,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8f36bbbd-a35f-44c1-b0de-2c528edea15a&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Intelleflex Mailing Address 2465 Augustine Drive Santa Clara, CA 95054 Company Description Intelleflex is a Silicon Valley company focused on the next generation of radio frequency identification (RFID) products and applications. Website http://www.intelleflex.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $9,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes The … Continue reading “Intelleflex Secures $9,000,000 Series A Financing”
Stitcher Garners $10,000,000 Series C Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7ad1d622-5b83-4a1e-aa36-31475bc0f961&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Stitcher Mailing Address Pier 9 Building 116 First Floor San Francisco, CA 94111 Company Description Our service enables you to hear the audio content you care about. We “stitch” it into personalized, always-current stations that you can easily listen to on your iPhone or computer. Website http://www.stitcher.com … Continue reading “Stitcher Garners $10,000,000 Series C Financing Round”
Zimride Lands $6,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bf7afdcd-b2dd-4757-b84d-33f6ac328bf3&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Zimride Mailing Address 548 Market St. San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description Zimride’s industry leading rideshare service helps organizations establish easy to use, private, social networks for ridesharing. The result: a critical mass of users sharing rides, saving money and reducing resource consumption. Website http://www.zimride.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Zimride Lands $6,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
Numenta Secures $5,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7408352f-0ac6-4c91-8ad1-70fb46f920dd&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Numenta Mailing Address 811 Hamilton Street Redwood City, CA 94063 Company Description Mobile computing pioneers Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky founded Numenta to develop a new approach to machine intelligence first described in Hawkins’ book On Intelligence. Website http://www.numenta.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,000,000 Transaction … Continue reading “Numenta Secures $5,000,000 New Round”
Adchemy Receives $61,000,000 Series E Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=68cb1b84-2134-4d90-a0c1-d235be6d6e10&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Adchemy Mailing Address 1001 E. Hillsdale Blvd. 7th Floor Foster City, CA 94404 Company Description Adchemy develops software that is revolutionizing the world of online customer acquisition. The company’s mission is to combine the vast amount of data on the Web with its advanced scientific algorithms to … Continue reading “Adchemy Receives $61,000,000 Series E Financing Round”
Rearden Commerce Obtains $133,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5d93119f-0650-479a-8b1d-d42f53416e38&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Rearden Commerce Mailing Address 1051 E Hillsdale Blvd 6th Floor Foster City, CA 94404 Company Description Rearden Commerce is revolutionizing the way people and businesses buy and sell services, with the first online marketplace for services of all kinds. Rearden Commerce is one of the leading forces … Continue reading “Rearden Commerce Obtains $133,000,000 New Funding”
Lockerz Acquires VodPod for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d6753d32-fc79-4a3e-ae64-0e8abe778569&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name VodPod Mailing Address 130 Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description VodPod.com is an online service that enables our members to build collections of video, and to share those collections with other people. We’d love for you to use our service. Our basic service is free, … Continue reading “Lockerz Acquires VodPod for Undisclosed Sum”
Rearden Commerce Acquires HomeRun.com for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a26886f5-21b3-46dd-9a16-5ce3c0a96bec&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name HomeRun.com Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco , CA 94111 Company Description The company is developing a website in the daily deals space. Website http://www.homerun.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed by the parties.
JustFabulous Secures $33,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=585a1791-ce91-48d9-a38c-ced56df96b5a&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name JustFabulous Mailing Address 2301 Rosecrans Ave El Segundo, CA 90245 Company Description At JustFabulous, we believe that every woman deserves to wear the same fashion-forward designs as the rich and famous regardless of her social status. Not to mention the fact that establishing an on-trend wardrobe filled … Continue reading “JustFabulous Secures $33,000,000 Series A Funding”
Dropcam Receives $5,800,000 Series A Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fa359814-02de-43e1-a04d-1a39688a4e3f&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Dropcam Mailing Address 160 Spear Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description Dropcams are easy-to-use wi-fi internet IP cameras you use to watch the things you love while on the go. Use your iPhone, Android, or laptop to keep an eye on home, monitor baby, or share … Continue reading “Dropcam Receives $5,800,000 Series A Round”
Neo Technology Secures $10,600,000 Series A Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=34fd520f-aac9-4002-b085-b07b593517ed&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Neo Technology Mailing Address 1370 Willow Road Menlo Park, CA 94025 Company Description As the world of data explodes in both volume and complexity, many applications and databases have difficulty handling sophisticated queries with high performance. Website http://www.neotechnology.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $10,600,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Neo Technology Secures $10,600,000 Series A Financing Round”
Glam Media Acquires Ning for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dc0d438a-a271-4b87-9ce8-bdd9eb3d46fc&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2011 Company Name Ning Mailing Address 735 Emerson Street Palo Alto, CA 94301 Company Description Ning is the world’s largest platform for creating social websites. Top organizers, marketers, influencers, and activists use Ning to create an online destination that weaves social conversations in content and inspire action. Based in Palo … Continue reading “Glam Media Acquires Ning for Undisclosed Sum”
Orexigen Revives Obesity Drug After One More Go-Round With FDA
Orexigen Therapeutics was left for dead earlier this year when its obesity drug was shot down by the FDA. But today it had a message for investors that could be interpreted as “hold on, we might not be dead yet after all.” The San Diego-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OREX]]) said today that has decided to re-start … Continue reading “Orexigen Revives Obesity Drug After One More Go-Round With FDA”
New Citrix Startup Accelerator Makes Seed Investment in San Diego’s Nukona
Nukona, a Solana Beach, CA-based software developer that enables IT administrators to manage consumer-oriented mobile apps, says today it has closed on a funding round led by Citrix Systems’ Startup Accelerator program in Santa Clara, CA. The corporate incubator program was launched earlier this year by Fort Lauderdale, FL-based Citrix Systems. The accelerator program, which … Continue reading “New Citrix Startup Accelerator Makes Seed Investment in San Diego’s Nukona”
Calypso Medical Technologies Acquired for $10M by Varian Medical Systems
Calypso Medical Technologies, a Seattle company whose “GPS for the body” technology helps target radiation at cancerous tumors, has been acquired for $10 million upfront by Varian Medical Systems of Palo Alto, CA. While there are unspecified earn-outs for hitting sales milestones, the price probably isn’t something that will make investors smile. Calypso raised $50 … Continue reading “Calypso Medical Technologies Acquired for $10M by Varian Medical Systems”
PacBio Slashes 28 Percent of Its Workforce to Conserve Cash
[Updated 2:20 pm PT] Pacific Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PACB]]), the Menlo Park, CA-based maker of a super-fast, super-cheap DNA sequencing instrument for medical, agricultural, and biofuels researchers, disclosed today that it’s laying off 130 employees, or 28 percent of its total workforce. The announcement came today in an 8-K report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. … Continue reading “PacBio Slashes 28 Percent of Its Workforce to Conserve Cash”
Shopobot, Angels, AT&T: The 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech
—A startup caught in the crossfire of Amazon.com‘s battles with big-box retailers and money-starved state governments is finding a new home in Seattle. Shopobot, a price-tracking site for electronics shopping, got its start in San Francisco, including a spot in the AngelPad accelerator program. But when Amazon dropped its affiliates over an attempt to make … Continue reading “Shopobot, Angels, AT&T: The 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech”
Fotopedia Photo Stories Arrive on Flipboard, As Photo Curation Goes Mainstream
The mobile Web is fostering a remarkable renaissance in traditional art forms such as photography—surprisingly, right alongside the explosion of videos, games, gossip, tweets, and other distractions. And if there’s one organization that has figured out how to use the Web and the latest mobile gadgets to showcase great images, it’s Paris- and San Francisco-based … Continue reading “Fotopedia Photo Stories Arrive on Flipboard, As Photo Curation Goes Mainstream”
It’s True: We’re Happy in Detroit
A few years ago, it dawned on me that I was driving to Detroit—80 miles each way–nearly every weekend. Why? Because there was nothing to freaking do in the city I lived in and Detroit seemed to have it all: concerts of every size and genre, live professional sporting events, awesome bars and restaurants. I … Continue reading “It’s True: We’re Happy in Detroit”
CustomMade, Hopper, OfficeDrop, Yottaa Join Xconomy’s Venture Chat on Sep. 26
We’re gearing up for a very interesting panel discussion next Monday, September 26, in downtown Boston. And the program just got even more interesting. Xconomy is organizing a venture chat around the theme of “Consumers, the Cloud, and Beyond—New Rules for Innovation,” which will tackle hard questions about what entrepreneurs and investors need to think … Continue reading “CustomMade, Hopper, OfficeDrop, Yottaa Join Xconomy’s Venture Chat on Sep. 26”
Jason Mendelson, the Elvis of Innovation, Offers Some Lessons for San Diego’s Tech Sector
I like you. Just maybe you’ve got a clue Meet my partners on a Monday, We’ll see if they can dig you too ‘Cuz I’m a VC, I’m a VC I drive around a Prius and meet over sushi I’m a VC. Uh-huh. Who are you? It takes more than PowerPoint slides to impress me … Continue reading “Jason Mendelson, the Elvis of Innovation, Offers Some Lessons for San Diego’s Tech Sector”
YoYo.com, Brainchild of Amazon-Owned Quidsi, Debuts Its Version of Toyland
A new online retailer of toys, YoYo.com, goes live today, out to grab its share of the coming holiday gift buying season. YoYo is the latest addition to Jersey City-based Quidsi’s gallery of online specialty shops, which also includes Wag.com, Diapers.com, Soap.com, and BeautyBar.com. Quidsi is part of the Seattle giant Amazon.com. “There was a huge opportunity … Continue reading “YoYo.com, Brainchild of Amazon-Owned Quidsi, Debuts Its Version of Toyland”
FDA at the Center of Huge Gray Area in Establishing Regs for Wireless Health, Execs Say
When Rob McCray founded San Diego’s Wireless Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA) in 2005, the group’s corporate membership constituted just three companies: Qualcomm; Johnson & Johnson; and TripleTree, a boutique banking and research firm where McCray was a partner. Since then, the convergence of healthcare and wireless technologies has become more obvious, and the WLSA has … Continue reading “FDA at the Center of Huge Gray Area in Establishing Regs for Wireless Health, Execs Say”
Tokai Snaps Up $23M From Novartis and Apple Tree to Challenge Leaders in Prostate Cancer
[Correction: 2 pm ET 10/6/11] The big bet at Cambridge, MA-based Tokai Pharmaceuticals is on prostate cancer, and now the size of that bet is getting a lot bigger. Tokai is announcing today it has raised $23 million in a Series D3 financing, which included its existing investors Novartis Venture Fund, Apple Tree Partners, and … Continue reading “Tokai Snaps Up $23M From Novartis and Apple Tree to Challenge Leaders in Prostate Cancer”
UW’s Shwetak Patel Named “Genius Grant” Recipient for Work on Sensor Networks
University of Washington professor Shwetak Patel, best known for his work on developing sensor networks that can be used to monitor power use in buildings, has been named a MacArthur Fellow—the award commonly known as the “genius grant,” which comes with a $500,000 cash prize that recipients can use however they want. Patel, 29, is … Continue reading “UW’s Shwetak Patel Named “Genius Grant” Recipient for Work on Sensor Networks”
Plunging Valuations and Surplus of Groupon Clones Sets Off Frenzy of M&A Activity
Buyouts and mergers of Web companies that offer online “daily deals” have accelerated sharply over the past five months, driven by a rapid decline in valuations and a surplus of Groupon clones, according to a report issued today by CB Insights, a New York data services firm. CB Insights counted 22 global mergers and acquisitions … Continue reading “Plunging Valuations and Surplus of Groupon Clones Sets Off Frenzy of M&A Activity”