I first covered Hipmunk on August 18, 2010, the day after the online travel startup debuted its innovative time-based flight search interface. One year later, how’s the Y Combinator-backed company faring? Spectacularly well, actually. In an announcement marking its first birthday last week, the startup said that users are conducting a million combined flight and … Continue reading “Hipmunk on the Make: The First-Birthday Interview”
MI’s Growing Wind Industry Lobbies for Continuation of Tax Credit
Last week, Congressman John Dingell (D-MI15) paid a visit to the Canton, MI-based Danotek Motion Technologies, a startup company developing products for the wind, microgrid, and transportation sectors. Dingell was there to announce his support for extending the Production Tax Credit, a federal income-tax credit that supports the production of electricity from utility-scale wind turbines … Continue reading “MI’s Growing Wind Industry Lobbies for Continuation of Tax Credit”
Growing Need for “Big Data” Analysis Spurs Growth in Today’s SD Conference
More than 1,100 experts who analyze “Big Data” are gathered in San Diego today for the industry’s major conference on “Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining” (KDD). The registered attendance is a 22 percent increase over the 900 who attended last year’s KDD conference in Washington D.C. “In this field, at least, we’re experiencing a recovery,” … Continue reading “Growing Need for “Big Data” Analysis Spurs Growth in Today’s SD Conference”
Video: Seattle Genetics CEO Makes the Case for a $100K Cancer Drug
Seattle Genetics is making news all over the Web today, in the first full business day since it won FDA approval for its new targeted antibody drug for rare lymphomas. While the drug won FDA approval a little bit earlier than expected, the company kept everyone in suspense until today on one critical fact—how much … Continue reading “Video: Seattle Genetics CEO Makes the Case for a $100K Cancer Drug”
Sentilla Collects $15M
Redwood City, CA-based Sentilla, which makes data center analysis and planning software, said today that it has collected $15 million in Series C funding. New investor SingTel Innov8 Ventures led the round, which was joined by existing backers ONSET Ventures and Claremont Creek Ventures. The company said it will use the funds to expand sales and … Continue reading “Sentilla Collects $15M”
$3M for iScience Interventional
iScience Interventional, a Menlo Park, CA-based maker of microcatheter technology that helps surgeons reduce intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients, reported last week in a regulatory filing that it has raised $3 million in new equity-based financing. The company was founded in 1999 and has a long list of backers including Affinity Capital Management, Asset Management Company, Clarian … Continue reading “$3M for iScience Interventional”
San Diego’s Tandem Diabetes Raises $12 Million While Insulin Pump Is Under Review
Tandem Diabetes Care, a San Diego medical device maker founded in 2008, has raised $12 million of a financing round that could eventually total nearly $13.7 million, according to a recent regulatory filing. The company has applied to the FDA for clearance for its insulin pump, according to VentureWire. The company’s website says its wearable … Continue reading “San Diego’s Tandem Diabetes Raises $12 Million While Insulin Pump Is Under Review”
Xconomy Xchange: Consumers, the Cloud, and Beyond—New Rules for Innovation
A variety of forces from the struggling economy to the rise of super angels and new types of incubators to the lower cost of forming Internet startups are changing the venture landscape. But despite the turmoil come some areas of frenetic growth-in retail led by Groupon, Gilt Groupe, and a slew of wannabes, in gaming … Continue reading “Xconomy Xchange: Consumers, the Cloud, and Beyond—New Rules for Innovation”
Skype Snaps Up GroupMe
Communications service Skype in Luxembourg said in press release Sunday it entered into an agreement to acquire New York’s GroupMe. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the companies but a post at AllThingsD pegs the price at about $85 million. One-year-old GroupMe‘s app lets users send messages and start conference calls with groups … Continue reading “Skype Snaps Up GroupMe”
TwinStrata Snags $5.7M
TwinStrata, a Natick, MA-based provider of cloud data storage for businesses, has pinned down $5.7 million of an equity offering that could hit $8.7 million, an SEC filing shows. The funding came from 27 investors, according to the document, which lists Braden Bohrmann and Rich Levandov of Avalon Ventures as TwinStrata directors. Levandov will be participating … Continue reading “TwinStrata Snags $5.7M”
Seattle Genetics Sets Lymphoma Drug Price at $13,500 Per Dose
Seattle Genetics is now in position to start selling its first new drug, and it won’t be cheap. The Bothell, WA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]), fresh off its FDA approval of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) on Friday, said it will charge $13,500 per dose for the new drug for Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a related disease, anaplastic … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Sets Lymphoma Drug Price at $13,500 Per Dose”
MIT’s t=0 Festival to Include Hackathon, Startup Demos, Entrepreneur Speakers-Even a Bouncy House
MIT is looking to throw a party this September, but it’s not just all fun and games (more on that later). The innovation community has already been buzzing a bit about this one, called t=0. The idea for the festival is “to encourage students to start something that is big and world changing,” says Dharmishta … Continue reading “MIT’s t=0 Festival to Include Hackathon, Startup Demos, Entrepreneur Speakers-Even a Bouncy House”
Dendreon Adds Ex-ImClone CEO to Board
Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) said today it has named John H. Johnson, the CEO of East Brunswick, NJ-based Savient Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SVNT]]). Johnson was previously the head of Eli Lilly’s oncology business unit, and the CEO of ImClone Systems, the cancer drug developer, when it was acquired by Lilly for more than $6.5 billion in … Continue reading “Dendreon Adds Ex-ImClone CEO to Board”
Google, Motorola, SecondMarket: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News
While Wall Street burned last week, Silicon Valley fiddled. There was Web-wide discussion of the meaning of the week’s blockbuster technology news, Google’s announcement that it will acquire Motorola Mobility—including right here at Xconomy. —While many pundits focused on the 17,000-plus patents that Google will acquire if the Motorola deal goes through, our take was … Continue reading “Google, Motorola, SecondMarket: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News”
Roadify Clears Up Confusion on the Streets and Rails
Every commuter wants to find better ways to traverse busy cities. Subway delays and bus route changes may throw carefully timed travel plans into disarray. To ease such headaches, New York startup Roadify has developed a mobile app that delivers updates from transit agencies and input from users on the street. The app has already … Continue reading “Roadify Clears Up Confusion on the Streets and Rails”
Medify, Stocked with Farecast Vets, Digs Deep into Online Health Data
Saving money on a flight to visit your sick grandma is pretty easy these days. Finding out whether her doctor is using the latest treatment is another thing entirely. And piercing that veil in the healthcare delivery system is exactly what Seattle startup Medify is trying to do. The airfare comparison is no accident, by … Continue reading “Medify, Stocked with Farecast Vets, Digs Deep into Online Health Data”
Seattle Genetics: The Next Litmus Test for High Priced Cancer Drugs
[Update: 9:20 am ET] Dendreon ran into a buzz saw of opposition last year when it priced its new prostate cancer drug at $93,000 per patient. Genentech has loads of critics who say it has overreached on price with its antibody drugs for cancer, especially in cases where the data supporting the drug is controversial, … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics: The Next Litmus Test for High Priced Cancer Drugs”
Hopper, With $8M in New VC Bucks, Looks to Leapfrog Online Travel Search Via Big Data
In Baltimore, a “hopper” is a young, street-level drug dealer (as devotees of The Wire can tell you). In Montreal, Hopper is a young travel search company. In Boston, well, we’ll see what happens in Boston. Hopper is announcing today an $8 million financing round led by Atlas Venture, with previous investor Brightspark Ventures also … Continue reading “Hopper, With $8M in New VC Bucks, Looks to Leapfrog Online Travel Search Via Big Data”
TwinStrata Obtains $5,681,724 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fe9f57a2-35d5-42a2-8681-13470d36880d&Preview=1 Date 8/22/2011 Company Name TwinStrata Mailing Address 24 Prime Pkwy. Natick, MA 01760 Company Description To help companies address the challenges related to protecting and managing the growth of business application data, TwinStrata is delivering on its vision for intelligent storage clouds (ISC) solutions. ISC focus on key business needs for … Continue reading “TwinStrata Obtains $5,681,724 New Round”
Tandem Diabetes Care Receives $12,001,200 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3b42fca0-8cc9-4073-8ee8-3f84710305e1&Preview=1 Date 8/22/2011 Company Name Tandem Diabetes Care Mailing Address 11045 Roselle Street San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description The company develops medical devices for the treatment of diabetes. Website http://www.tandemdiabetes.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $12,001,200 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. Amount may include options, warrants … Continue reading “Tandem Diabetes Care Receives $12,001,200 New Funding”
Coskata Lands Series D Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fbb0ec5d-7610-431c-9144-ac70faf4fa53&Preview=1 Date 8/22/2011 Company Name Coskata Mailing Address 4575 Weaver Parkway Warrenville, IL 60555 Company Description Coskata is a biology-based renewable energy company that is commercializing technology to produce biofuels from a wide variety of feedstocks. Using proprietary microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, the company projects that it will be able to … Continue reading “Coskata Lands Series D Funding”
Sentilla Garners $15,000,000 Series C Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4cb67446-c41d-4c40-92ef-e4c9dde54cce&Preview=1 Date 8/22/2011 Company Name Sentilla Mailing Address 201 Marshall St. Redwood City, CA 94063 Company Description Sentilla is about making the real world — and everything in it — smarter, with software for small computers that can be put anywhere or attached to anything. Called pervasive computing, this technology is applied … Continue reading “Sentilla Garners $15,000,000 Series C Financing”
Cleveland Heartlab Lands $18,400,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fbdcb05c-19b5-4411-af22-d8a380ed34b8&Preview=1 Date 8/22/2011 Company Name Cleveland Heartlab Mailing Address PO Box 76150 Cleveland, OH 44101 Company Description Cleveland HeartLab, LLC is a specialty clinical laboratory and disease management company focused on novel biomarker technologies and the creation of proprietary diagnostic tests. Website http://www.clevelandheartlab.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $18,400,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Cleveland Heartlab Lands $18,400,000 Series B Financing Round”
Gingerd Receives $1,162,408 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0699de7c-c9bc-4dec-96cb-f29d1d6813b4&Preview=1 Date 8/22/2011 Company Name Gingerd Mailing Address P.O. Box 381 Toledo, OH 43697 Company Description Gingerd runs the DailyData, and it says that “We believe mobile devices can and will have a significant positive impact on our wellness. Website http://www.gingerinc.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,162,408 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds … Continue reading “Gingerd Receives $1,162,408 New Financing Round”
RealPage Acquires MyNewPlace for $74,400,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=abcfc911-aebe-40d4-b77d-4b08501ca068&Preview=1 Date 8/22/2011 Company Name MyNewPlace Mailing Address 343 Sansome Street San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description MyNewPlace is creating the largest and easiest-to-use online marketplace for apartment rentals, connecting renters and owners of all types of properties. Website http://www.mynewplace.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount $74,400,000 Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms … Continue reading “RealPage Acquires MyNewPlace for $74,400,000”
Thetis Pharmaceuticals Receives $1,500,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=514dfe79-bc43-443e-8a30-9da7cbb02edd&Preview=1 Date 8/22/2011 Company Name Thetis Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 167 Old Post Rd Southport, CT 06890 Company Description The company is developing treatments for for diabetes-related diseases. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The company expects to begin clinical studies with TP101 in 2012, … Continue reading “Thetis Pharmaceuticals Receives $1,500,000 New Financing”
Skype Technologies Acquires GroupMe for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=082c00d3-f9c2-446f-abb3-d25767fbb9d9&Preview=1 Date 8/21/2011 Company Name GroupMe Mailing Address Undisclosed New York, NY 10001 Company Description Ever send a text message to multiple people? Wish your friends could reply all? GroupMe enables you to organize and communicate with the groups of people in your life that are important to you. Website http://www.groupme.com Transaction … Continue reading “Skype Technologies Acquires GroupMe for Undisclosed Sum”
Diagnostic Innovations Lands New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=87eca418-a903-4af0-a1f5-f3840cd71462&Preview=1 Date 8/21/2011 Company Name Diagnostic Innovations Mailing Address 29328 E. Chanticleer Dr Southfield, MI 48034 Company Description Our goal at Diagnostic Innovations is to provide innovative products and solutions that significantly improve the productivity and satisfaction of our customers who are involved in the repair of vehicles. Website http://www.diagnosticinnovations.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Diagnostic Innovations Lands New Round”
Digital Chocolate Eats Up Sandlot Games
San Mateo-based social game maker Digital Chocolate said this week that it has acquired Bothell, WA-based Sandlot Games, a casual game studio known for Web and mobile titles such as Cake Mania, Super Granny, Tradewinds, and Westward. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. “Sandlot has built a great reputation in casual games,” Digital Chocolate … Continue reading “Digital Chocolate Eats Up Sandlot Games”
Health 2.0
From the conference website: “The Health 2.0 Annual Fall Conference in 2010 was our biggest and best yet! More than 1,000 people gathered to see the cutting edge of innovation in health technology, with several major product launches, ground breaking announcements and more than 100 live technology demos. 45% of the crowd called it “one of … Continue reading “Health 2.0”
Box.net Collects $19M in Fourth Round
Palo Alto, CA-based cloud document sharing company Box.net has upped the size of its ongoing Series D funding round to $35 million and has collected $19 million of that amount so far, according to a regulatory filing disclosed this week. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Draper Fisher Jurvetson are participating in the D round, along … Continue reading “Box.net Collects $19M in Fourth Round”
EcoFair Marin
EcoFair Marin is the first annual community celebration to inspire a healthy and sustainable Marin County. Presentations and attractions cover everything from saving water in your home to sustainable agriculture and using social media for social good. Information and schedule here. Admission $5.
RelayRides Boosts Series A Round
RelayRides, the San Francisco-based car sharing network, said this week that it has increased its Series A2 funding round to $10 million with help from existing investors Google Ventures and August Capital and new investor Shasta Ventures. Author and entrepreneur Lisa Gansky also contributed to the round. RelayRides raised $5.1 million in Series A2 funding … Continue reading “RelayRides Boosts Series A Round”
$650K Round, New App at drchrono
A Mountain View, CA-based electronic health records startup called drchrono announced this week that it has collected $650,000 in new funding from Russian investor Yuri Milner, the founder of DST Global, and General Catalyst. Drchrono makes an iPad-based app that helps physicians’ practices handle medical records, electronic prescribing, medical billing, and patient management. Drchrono also … Continue reading “$650K Round, New App at drchrono”
DEMO Fall 2011
At DEMO, startups get six minutes on stage to pitch their products. Special guest speakers this fall include: * Larry Augustin, CEO, SugarCRM * Satish Dharmaraj, Managing Director, Redpoint Ventures * Matt Cohler, General Partner, Benchmark Capital * Tom Gillis, Vice President & General Manager, Security Technology, Cisco * Christine Herron, Director, Intel Capital * … Continue reading “DEMO Fall 2011”
MedtechVision—Women in Medical Innovation
From the conference website: “The first-ever conference to highlight women on the forefront of medical innovation – bringing together business leaders, inventors, investors, physicians and policymakers for an interactive discussion of real-world solutions to the most challenging issues facing our industry today.” Information and registration here.
Seattle Genetics Wins FDA Approval of First Drug, a New Treatment for Lymphomas
Seattle Genetics’ big day has arrived, as it has won FDA clearance to start selling its first new drug on the U.S. market after 14 years in business. The company has received FDA clearance to start marketing brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) as a new treatment for U.S. patients with a pair of rare lymphomas—Hodgkin’s disease and … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Wins FDA Approval of First Drug, a New Treatment for Lymphomas”
Why All the Churn Around Clearwire? It’s All About the Spectrum
It’s been quite a month so far for Kirkland, WA’s Clearwire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLWR]]), and that would be true even if the markets weren’t riding out an anxiety-fueled funnel cloud that has hammered plenty of technology stocks. Then again, turbulence is nothing new to Clearwire overall—the company has been plowing ahead with a huge makeover in … Continue reading “Why All the Churn Around Clearwire? It’s All About the Spectrum”
Is Mobile Health the Next Big Killer App?
This evening event, sponsored by NYC Health Business Leaders, will examine the potential of mobile technology in healthcare. Speakers include Corey Ackerman, president of Happtique, John de Souza, president & CEO of MedHelp, and Dr. Katie Malbon of Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, who created a text messaging service for teens attending the center. Register … Continue reading “Is Mobile Health the Next Big Killer App?”
And Then There Were Three: Why Microsoft Is the Vital New Underdog in Mobile Computing
Hewlett-Packard’s surprise exit from the smartphone and tablet business yesterday means that WebOS is effectively dead. That brings Palm’s long legacy to an end and leaves just four major mobile operating systems standing: Android, iOS, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7. (Symbian would have been on this list until recently, but now that Nokia … Continue reading “And Then There Were Three: Why Microsoft Is the Vital New Underdog in Mobile Computing”
Evernote Buys Skitch, Announces Developer Competition Winner
At its first-ever developer conference in San Francisco yesterday, Mountain View, CA-based online notekeeping startup Evernote announced that it has acquired Skitch. The Australian startup makes a popular Mac application used to capture, annotate, and share images. Evernote has already made the Skitch app free (it formerly cost $19.95 in the Mac App Store) and … Continue reading “Evernote Buys Skitch, Announces Developer Competition Winner”
$15M for GoodData
San Francisco-based GoodData, which offers a cloud-based business intelligence software platform, said yesterday that it has collected $15 million in new venture funding. New investor Andreessen Horowitz led the Series B round, which was joined by existing investors General Catalyst Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners, and Windcrest Partners. The firm, which was founded by Czech-born serial … Continue reading “$15M for GoodData”
WaveRx Shuts Down: VentureWire
WaveRx, a Waltham, MA-based developer of treatments for dermatological disorders, has shut its doors, according to a report in Dow Jones VentureWire today. The firm raised $502,512 las year, and raised about $6.8 million of an $11.6 million equity financing in 2009, according to an SEC document. Its investors, 5Am Ventures, Three Arch Partners, and … Continue reading “WaveRx Shuts Down: VentureWire”
BAE and GD Win $1B in Army Contracts
The U.S. Department of Defense announced yesterday that it has awarded two metro Detroit defense firms nearly $1 billion in contracts to develop combat vehicles for the Army. Troy, MI-based BAE Systems Land and Armaments was awarded a contract worth almost $449.9 million to develop technology for the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Infantry Fighting Vehicle … Continue reading “BAE and GD Win $1B in Army Contracts”
Birchbox Nabs $10M
New York-based Birchbox, a membership site that sends samples of beauty products by mail, has raised $10.5 million in a Series A financing, according to VentureWire. The round was led by Accel Partners, and included contributions from Consigliere, First Round Capital, Forerunner Ventures, Harrison Metal, Lerer Ventures, Stanford University Endowment, and others. Birchbox was founded in … Continue reading “Birchbox Nabs $10M”
Exclusive: Pathway Medical Technologies To Be Acquired by Bayer’s Medrad Unit for $125M
[Update:8:25 am PT] Pathway Medical Technologies, the Kirkland, WA-based maker of a device that clears out blood vessel blockages in the legs, has agreed to be acquired for $125 million by Medrad, a Warrendale, PA-based medical device unit of Bayer Healthcare, Xconomy has learned. The acquisition hasn’t yet been announced by either company, and the … Continue reading “Exclusive: Pathway Medical Technologies To Be Acquired by Bayer’s Medrad Unit for $125M”
Software Industry Valuations Rise, Driven by Demand for Software-as-a-Service
Global spending on information and communications technologies is fueling higher valuations for public software companies, according to a quarterly report released by the San Diego-based Software Equity Group. Much of that increased spending, however, reflects an intensifying demand for cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS), as big-company CIOs increasingly accept the notion of … Continue reading “Software Industry Valuations Rise, Driven by Demand for Software-as-a-Service”
Pulmatrix Snags $14M, Embera Adds for $4.5 Addiction Drugs, Daktari Gets $1.2M, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
This week was dominated by financing news from younger, privately held New England drug developers and diagnostics and devices firms. —Waltham, MA-based Proteon Therapeutics inked a $15.2 million equity- and options-based investment. The firm is developing drugs for kidney and vascular diseases. —Fluidnet, an Amesbury, MA-based developer of electronic infusion pumps for administering IV fluids, … Continue reading “Pulmatrix Snags $14M, Embera Adds for $4.5 Addiction Drugs, Daktari Gets $1.2M, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Mascoma Receives $6,937,494 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=39d07ef3-b403-46f0-89f1-2bd4449d2395&Preview=1 Date 8/19/2011 Company Name Mascoma Mailing Address 67 Etna Road Lebanon, NH 03766 Company Description Recent advances in cellulosic ethanol R&D have led to the development of a new generation of enzymes, microbes and processes for economical conversion of cellulosic feedstocks into ethanol. With the combination of R&D advancements and increases … Continue reading “Mascoma Receives $6,937,494 New Financing”
Nuclea Biotechnologies Receives $3,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3c4b737d-3263-420a-a245-30bef4b105a9&Preview=1 Date 8/19/2011 Company Name Nuclea Biotechnologies Mailing Address 105 South Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 Company Description Nuclea Biotechnologies’ primary mission is to conduct genomic research in the oncology field so as to discover biomarkers and gene or protein expression profiles that are unique to oncologic diseases. Website http://www.nucleabiomarkers.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “Nuclea Biotechnologies Receives $3,000,000 New Funding”