The first annual Social Upfront, presented by Efficient Frontier, will bring together executives from social media giants, advertising agencies, and media companies to discuss the impact of social media on brands, media, and marketing industries. Speakers include Steve Patrizi, v.p. of marketing solutions at LinkedIn; Andy Wiedlin, senior v.p. of sales for The Huffington Post; … Continue reading “The Social Upfront”
Fueling the Digital Economy’s Growth Engine
Come to CSN Stores for this free event, where Flybridge Capital Partners’ Jeff Bussgang will lead government and industry leaders in a discussion on what can be done to support the digital economy in the state. Later on, event attendees will break up in smaller groups to brainstorm. Register here.
Can’t Buy Me Love: Michigan Life Science Startups Best Cleantech In Cash, Not Attention
Given Michigan’s expertise in batteries and automobiles, the state’s top high tech sectors should be clean technology and advanced manufacturing, right? Wrong. Michigan, home to the Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors, is actually a life sciences state, at least according to the annual report of the Michigan Venture Capital Association (MVCA). Of the $215 million … Continue reading “Can’t Buy Me Love: Michigan Life Science Startups Best Cleantech In Cash, Not Attention”
EA Buys Firemint
Electronic Arts, the Redwood City, CA-based video game giant, said today it has acquired Melbourne, Australia-based Firemint for an undisclosed sum. Firemint’s games Real Racing and Flight Control have been runaway hits on the Apple iPhone and iPad platforms. The startup will become part of EA’s interactive division. “The Firemint team is remarkable for its … Continue reading “EA Buys Firemint”
Cleantech Open NYC
The Cleantech Open, a national business competition that allows promising clean technology startups from across the US to compete for prizes worth $1 million, will describe its mission and programs at this informational and networking event. The deadline for submissions to the contest is May 24, and details will be provided. Register here.
Anybots, DrChrono, TRUSTe Join Lineup for Beyond Mobile on May 17; How to Win Free Tickets on Twitter
The big IT event we’re running this spring, Beyond Mobile, is now just two weeks away. We’ve got a trio of big thinkers from big organizations coming in to help us grapple with our big question—namely, what comes after the current wave of smartphones and tablets? What will our computers look like, and how will … Continue reading “Anybots, DrChrono, TRUSTe Join Lineup for Beyond Mobile on May 17; How to Win Free Tickets on Twitter”
Skyhook to Power Mapquest’s Android App
San Francisco-based MapQuest, the mapping division of AOL (NYSE: [[ticker:AOL]]), will use hybrid GPS/Wi-Fi location-finding technology from Boston’s Skyhook Wireless in a forthcoming turn-by-turn navigation app for Android phones, according to an announcement today. The partnership helps to bolster Skyhook’s longstanding assertion that its location finding system is more accurate and reliable than the system … Continue reading “Skyhook to Power Mapquest’s Android App”
New York and San Francisco Firms Top List of Webby Winners
The winners of the Webby awards were announced in New York today, and included a fair amount of famous names (Justin Bieber, Jim Carrey) and usual suspects (Angry Birds, Foursquare, Dropbox). New York and San Francisco companies made a good showing, especially on the list of winners in multiple categories. Here are the most winning … Continue reading “New York and San Francisco Firms Top List of Webby Winners”
A Conversation With Bill Gates: Climate Solutions Annual Breakfast
Bill Gates will be the featured speaker at Climate Solutions’ 3rd annual breakfast on May 10. The event has reached its capacity of 1,200 people. For more information on how to get on the wait list, click here.
Web Directions Unplugged HTML5 Conference
Two days of workshops, networking, and more focused on using HTML5 to develop Web and native apps for platforms incuding Android, iOS, and webOS. Keynote on “The Convergence of All Things” by Google developer advocate Chris Wilson. More information at the website.
The Lean LaunchPad at Stanford—Class 8: Key Resources, Activities and Expense Model
The Stanford Lean LaunchPad class was an experiment in a new model of teaching startup entrepreneurship. This post—part eight—was the last formal lecture. Parts one through seven of the lectures are here, Syllabus is here. While this is the last lecture, the teams still have one more week to work on their companies, and then … Continue reading “The Lean LaunchPad at Stanford—Class 8: Key Resources, Activities and Expense Model”
BMW’s Bernhard Blattel on New York City as a Hub of Mobility Services
In February, Munich-based car giant BMW set up a corporate fund, BMW i Ventures, in New York City, with the goal of fostering startups that are developing location-based technologies. The fund’s first investment was MyCityWay, a company founded by three former Wall Street execs who created a series of apps designed to help people find … Continue reading “BMW’s Bernhard Blattel on New York City as a Hub of Mobility Services”
Software Equity Group Sees Improving Valuations, M&A Activity, in Software Sector
There were 394 software buyouts and mergers around the world during the first three months of 2011, with the cumulative value of all deals totaling $8.3 billion, according to a M&A tracking report from the San Diego-based Software Equity Group. That was down from the 421 M&A deals that amounted to a total value of … Continue reading “Software Equity Group Sees Improving Valuations, M&A Activity, in Software Sector”
Peel Ripens by $16.7M
Santa Clara, CA-based Peel, which has developed a personalized TV recommendation system that uses the Apple iPhone and a device it calls the Fruit to substitute for traditional remote controls, said May 2 that it has raised $16.7 million in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to about $25 million. New investor Lightspeed Venture … Continue reading “Peel Ripens by $16.7M”
Cobalt Adds $20M for Biofuel Refinery
Cobalt Technologies, the Mountain View, CA-based maker of butanol from woody biomass sources, said it has raised $20 million in a Series D financing. The round was led by The Whittemore Collection, and included Pinnacle Ventures, Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund, VantagePoint Capital Partners, Life Sciences Partners, @Ventures, Harris & Harris, and Burrill and Company. it has … Continue reading “Cobalt Adds $20M for Biofuel Refinery”
BuyWithMe Buys DealADayOnline
BuyWithMe, a group buying startup founded in Boston and based in New York, said today it has acquired Chicago-based DealADayOnline to expand its reach in the city. BuyWithMe, which has raised about $21.5 million in funding, said its service operates in 13 major cities in the U.S. and that it plans to hit twice that … Continue reading “BuyWithMe Buys DealADayOnline”
With Help from BMW, MyCityWay Rolls Out Popular City-Guide App Around the World
You often hear about inspiration prompting a great business idea, but for the three founders of New York-based MyCityWay, the impetus came from quite a different sensation—frustration. Archana Patchirajan, Sonpreet Bhatia, and Puneet Mehta were all working on Wall Street and struggling to find an app for their smartphones that would provide day-to-day information to … Continue reading “With Help from BMW, MyCityWay Rolls Out Popular City-Guide App Around the World”
Kleiner Perkins’ Organic Waste-to-Energy Play, Harvest Power, Bets $150M on Turning Compost Into Natural Gas
The team at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers gets inundated with pitches from entrepreneurs who dream of winning support for their own big ideas. But once in a while, the big VC firm turns the tables by hatching the idea, crafting the business plan, and recruiting the founding management team to make it into a … Continue reading “Kleiner Perkins’ Organic Waste-to-Energy Play, Harvest Power, Bets $150M on Turning Compost Into Natural Gas”
San Diego Health IT Startup, Cognitive Medical Systems, Recruits DefenseWeb CEO
Cognitive Medical Systems, a previously unknown health IT startup based in San Diego, is today naming local software industry veteran Douglas Burke as president—and employee No. 4. Burke, who was previously the CEO of San Diego-based DefenseWeb Technologies, announced the move in an e-mail blast to his professional contacts yesterday. Mary Lacroix, a longtime health … Continue reading “San Diego Health IT Startup, Cognitive Medical Systems, Recruits DefenseWeb CEO”
UW Business Competition Highlights, ExtraHop’s $14M Haul, PopCap’s Acquisition, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup
Anybody concerned with the future of entrepreneurship in the Seattle area would have been buoyed by the enthusiasm at the University of Washington‘s annual business plan competition last week on the waterfront. Nearly 40 teams were whittled down to a “sweet 16” by a horde of judges, but I picked out five that caught my … Continue reading “UW Business Competition Highlights, ExtraHop’s $14M Haul, PopCap’s Acquisition, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”
Tego Garners $2,139,600 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fe55a0b7-c22a-4f61-a9bc-ad592616487a&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Tego Mailing Address 375 Totten Pond Road Waltham, MA 02451 Company Description Tego is a fabless designer and producer of passive RFID tags with substantially higher memory and functionality than that offered by any competitor. Our proprietary RFID tag architecture incorporates recent advances in memory design and … Continue reading “Tego Garners $2,139,600 New Funding Round”
Avalara Obtains $10,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4473e7e3-2f6f-4412-9392-59ac9e83b0d5&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Avalara Mailing Address 435 Ericksen Ave. N.E. Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 Company Description Avalara was founded by a team of tax and software industry veterans to fulfill a vision of delivering an affordable, scalable sales tax solution. Thus making what was not economically feasible in the past … Continue reading “Avalara Obtains $10,000,000 New Funding Round”
AwarePoint Lands $14,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=21071857-306d-485a-be18-31eeec443368&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name AwarePoint Mailing Address 600 W. Broadway San Diego, CA 92101 Company Description In 2002, the founders of Awarepoint recognized that despite the tremendous potential of active RFID technologies to improve operational efficiency in medium and large businesses, there were no solutions on the market that offered good … Continue reading “AwarePoint Lands $14,000,000 New Funding”
NeuroVigil Receives Seed Stage Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c991c3ec-d3ca-4a0e-a2d8-a889fa93be67&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name NeuroVigil Mailing Address 7606 Fay Avenue La Jolla, CA 92037 Company Description NeuroVigil, Inc. is dedicated to the betterment of the human condition. By merging neuroscience, non-invasive wireless brain recording technology and advanced computational algorithms, an accurate and automated reading of brain wave data is rapidly generated. … Continue reading “NeuroVigil Receives Seed Stage Funding”
Aurora Algae Garners $3,718,192 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=93adeff0-34ae-4e97-8060-013b9f9ea453&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Aurora Algae Mailing Address 1301 Harbor Bay Parkway Alameda, CA 94502 Company Description Aurora Algae is an innovative alternative energy company with a revolutionary method of creating bio-diesel. Website http://www.aurorainc.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,718,192 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. … Continue reading “Aurora Algae Garners $3,718,192 New Financing Round”
Crown Bioscience Garners $27,800,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0a20c756-b966-4f12-a0f5-4b1b30a7ff64&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Crown Bioscience Mailing Address 4008 Burton Drive Santa Clara, CA 95054 Company Description Crown Bioscience Inc. is a US-based biomedical outsourcing company, providing efficient and cost-effective solutions for global biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Our company is headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, with a wholly owned … Continue reading “Crown Bioscience Garners $27,800,000 New Round”
OncoHealth Garners $1,600,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e94a789c-4174-4985-ad37-a51f0c49e844&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name OncoHealth Mailing Address 47853 Warm Springs Rd. Fremont, CA 94539 Company Description OncoHealth Corporation plans to commercialize unique proprietary tests for cervical cancer and other cancers associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV). OncoHealth’s tests will enable clinicians to triage HPV-infected patients based on their cancer-progression status and … Continue reading “OncoHealth Garners $1,600,000 New Round”
Rennovia Secures $4,333,333 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=58c2b525-208f-435b-bd91-eeed1dce0d03&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Rennovia Mailing Address 1080 Hamilton Ave. Menlo Park, CA 94025 Company Description Rennovia is developing advanced chemo-catalytic processes for the conversion of bio-derived, renewable feedstocks to major-market chemical products. These processes are designed to be readily scalable and to employ standard chemical production and purification equipment. Website … Continue reading “Rennovia Secures $4,333,333 Series A Financing”
Limelight Networks Acquires Clickability for $10,000,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=74434119-7b33-409a-a384-059ffbe7d24d&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Clickability Mailing Address 580 California Street 7th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description As a fully integrated solution, all Clickability components work together seamlessly to give the web publisher ultimate control over site publication and measurement; as individual modules, each piece can be integrated into an … Continue reading “Limelight Networks Acquires Clickability for $10,000,000”
Lot18 Secures $10,000,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ba37f637-c444-4113-872c-e0434bc7ad00&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Lot18 Mailing Address 6 E. 32nd St. Sixth Floor New York, NY 10016 Company Description Lot18 is a membership by invitation website for wine and epicurean products from coveted producers at attractive discounts. Website http://www.lot18.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $10,000,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds … Continue reading “Lot18 Secures $10,000,000 Series B Financing Round”
Tryton Medical Obtains $5,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b2b85dfd-8055-4cb8-b323-5cee2b3deabd&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Tryton Medical Mailing Address 1000 Park Forty Plaza Durham, MA 27713 Company Description Tryton Medical, Inc. is the leading developer of stents that are designed to definitively treat bifurcation lesions. 540,000 bifurcation coronary lesions are sub-optimally treated every year with a variety of time consuming and technically … Continue reading “Tryton Medical Obtains $5,000,000 New Funding Round”
COLOURlovers Obtains $1,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=37ba5e58-ec53-495c-a2d1-2a850542e682&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name COLOURlovers Mailing Address 333 S. State St. Lake Oswego, OR 97034 Company Description COLOURlovers is a creative community where people from around the world create and share colors, palettes and patterns, discuss the latest trends and explore colorful articles. Website http://www.colourlovers.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “COLOURlovers Obtains $1,000,000 New Financing Round”
RadiSys Acquires Continuous Computing for $120,000,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=788152e5-2a48-467f-bd7f-81fc7d6280c2&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Continuous Computing Mailing Address 9450 Carroll Park Drive San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Continuous Computing provides Network Service-Ready Platforms that enable telecom equipment manufacturers to rapidly deploy converged communications. Website http://www.ccpu.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount $120,000,000 Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Consideration for the … Continue reading “RadiSys Acquires Continuous Computing for $120,000,000”
Skillshare Secures $550,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=94e5580b-c67a-4694-a427-f6e360238882&Preview=1 Date 5/3/2011 Company Name Skillshare Mailing Address 284 Mott St. New York, NY 10012 Company Description Skillshare is a community marketplace to learn anything from anyone. We believe that everyone has valuable skills and knowledge to teach and the curiosity to keep learning new things. This means our neighborhoods, communities and … Continue reading “Skillshare Secures $550,000 New Financing Round”
What Do Amazon, Ezell’s, and Virginia Mason Have in Common? They Supply General Biodiesel
Biodiesel made from leftover kitchen grease isn’t going to wean the country off fossil fuels, but at least one Seattle-based company has shown there’s a market for this stuff, and enough local suppliers and customers to make this into a business. I’m happy to say that this organic waste-to-energy company, General Biodiesel, will be part … Continue reading “What Do Amazon, Ezell’s, and Virginia Mason Have in Common? They Supply General Biodiesel”
ExtraHop Lands $14M
Seattle-based ExtraHop Networks, which makes software to help businesses manage their information technology, has raised a $14 million investment round, according to this SEC filing. ExtraHop was was founded in 2007 by Jesse Rothstein and Raja Mukerji, formerly of Seattle’s F5 Networks. GeekWire reports the new round was led by Meritech Capital Partners. ExtraHop and … Continue reading “ExtraHop Lands $14M”
GPS for Budgets & Forecasts: What are your Value Drivers?
This breakfast event is aimed at CEOs, with discussions on how to keep a company in check with its budget. Register here.
CareInnovators Healthtech 2011
This all-day event will look at how technology is driving innovation in healthcare. Panels will discuss how health IT plays a part in healthcare reform, fitness and nutrition, mobile health, healthcare delivery, and more. Register here.
NWEN’s Lovell to GeekWire
Interesting hiring news in the Seattle-area innovation community: Rebecca Lovell of the Northwest Entrepreneur Network is now chief business officer at GeekWire, the tech-news startup run by former TechFlash and Seattle P-I journalists John Cook and Todd Bishop. Lovell has been executive director of NWEN for just over two years, and worked as program director … Continue reading “NWEN’s Lovell to GeekWire”
MTLC Breakfast Seminar – Building the Cleantech Ecosystem in Massachusetts
This breakfast session will take a look at early and mid-stage cleantech companies that are ramping up in the state and will explore the environment for the cleantech industry in Massachusetts. Register here.
Mobile Technology and the Cloud
Mobile Monday Detroit sponsors an evening forum featuring talks by Patrick Foley, Architect Evangelist for Microsoft, and Jim Jakary, Senior Regional Sales Manager at Fiberlink. From the event website: “As more and more companies support more and more complex mobile scenarios, the need for a reliable and cost-effective back-end solution is paramount. Users expect access to … Continue reading “Mobile Technology and the Cloud”
EU Product Launch Workshop
This event, hosted by the Almac Group, aims to give biotech firms a rundown of key considerations when looking to get a product out on the European market. It will spotlight the steps from applying for approval to distributing an approved drug to customers, so register here to check it out.
Dendreon Gets $28M Revenue in Q1
Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]), the maker of an immune-boosting therapy for prostate cancer, said today it generated $28.1 million in revenue in the quarter that ended March 30. Dendreon also said it had $15 million in sales in the month of April, which reflects its increased manufacturing capacity for making sipuleucel-T (Provenge) at a factory … Continue reading “Dendreon Gets $28M Revenue in Q1”
PayPal’s Pickup of Fig Card, the End of Eons, and the Bose-MIT Lovefest—Some Thoughts
I’ve been flat-out for the past week or so. Here are three pieces of Boston-area tech news that are worth catching up on, and a few thoughts on each: —Fig Card, the mobile payments company that just started last year, was acquired by eBay, via its PayPal division, for an undisclosed sum. Co-founders Max Metral … Continue reading “PayPal’s Pickup of Fig Card, the End of Eons, and the Bose-MIT Lovefest—Some Thoughts”
Hale, Royston Join Biocept Board
San Diego-based Biocept, a cancer diagnostics and advanced laboratory services company, recently announced that David Hale has joined its board of directors as executive chairman—a move that could pave the way for Hale to eventually step in as the company’s CEO. Forward Ventures partner Ivor Royston also has joined Biocept as a director. Royston was … Continue reading “Hale, Royston Join Biocept Board”
Open Letter to Mike Arrington: Please Stop Investing in Startups
Hi Mike, I’m one of your customers. We don’t really know each other. We’ve chatted at a few events, you’ve covered some of my antics, but I’m mostly just a guy who reads TechCrunch a lot. I find it’s a pretty good place to see what’s important in the industry. And you and your team … Continue reading “Open Letter to Mike Arrington: Please Stop Investing in Startups”
Autophagy in Health & Disease
The University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute presents its 10th annual LSI Symposium, “Autophagy in Health & Disease.” Top researchers from around the world specializing in all aspects of autophagy—the process in which cells break themselves down or reallocate resources—will discuss their latest findings at the Life Sciences Institute’s tenth annual symposium. Information and registration … Continue reading “Autophagy in Health & Disease”
Assessing the Best M&A Opportunities for 2011
As 2011 nears its midpoint, we’re now in a position to see how the recession-era and follow-on consolidation trends have impacted middle-market and growth-stage mergers and acquisitions. Large blue-chip technology companies, both old and new, have spent the better half of the past decade chasing the latest fads to generate growth and keep up with … Continue reading “Assessing the Best M&A Opportunities for 2011”
Life360, IndieGoGo, and KQED’s Bold Experiment: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
The local technology news last week was all over the map, ranging from mobile devices to crowdfunding to public broadcasting. There was also an interesting little flurry of acquisitions, with two San Francisco firms getting scooped up by outsiders and one merger going the other way. —As a preview of Xconomy San Francisco’s May 17 … Continue reading “Life360, IndieGoGo, and KQED’s Bold Experiment: The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
Sony Takes Online Entertainment Website Offline
[Updated 5/2/11 5:35 pm. See below.] A hacker attack that eviscerated the San Diego data center for the Sony PlayStation Network last month apparently led Sony to also shut down its Station.com online gaming website today. The episode involving the PlayStation Network prompted Sony executives to bow in apology in Tokyo yesterday, according to The … Continue reading “Sony Takes Online Entertainment Website Offline”