Reagent Proteins Unveils E-Commerce Site

San Diego-based Pfenex, which uses a fluorescing proteobacteria to make specialized protein-based products, says its Reagent Proteins division has launched a new e-commerce site that offers more than 2,300 high-quality, reagent-grade proteins for laboratory research. Reagent Proteins says its offering includes vaccine carriers, adjuvants, and antigens—available in both pre-clinical and cGMP grades. Reagent Proteins says … Continue reading “Reagent Proteins Unveils E-Commerce Site”

RIM, Intellectual Ventures Strike Deal

Intellectual Ventures, ex-Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold’s new-wave patent middleman business, has cut a new licensing deal with Research In Motion (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RIMM]]), makers of the BlackBerry smartphone. As Intellectual Ventures’ senior VP of licensing Don Merino described in today’s in-depth Xconomy interview, licensing deals like this are an increasingly common way that IV is using … Continue reading “RIM, Intellectual Ventures Strike Deal”

HelloFax Lets You Ditch Your Fax Machine and Sign Everything Electronically

This is the third in a series of profiles of Y Combinator Winter 2011 (YC W11) startups. You don’t run into many startups that are already planning for their own technology’s demise. But that’s the case at HelloFax, part of the Winter 2011 batch at the Y Combinator venture incubator. Ostensibly, the company’s service is … Continue reading “HelloFax Lets You Ditch Your Fax Machine and Sign Everything Electronically”

IT Employment Staging a Comeback In San Diego, Silicon Valley

Statewide employment data released last week suggest that California’s jobless rate is finally subsiding, as every major industry in the private sector added workers last month for the first time since the Great Recession began in 2007. Employers added a total of 96,500 jobs in February, reducing the statewide jobless rate to 12.2 percent from … Continue reading “IT Employment Staging a Comeback In San Diego, Silicon Valley”

Citrusleaf Launches with $2M

Citrusleaf, a Mountain View, CA, company offering “NoSQL” database software intended for high-performance, data-intensive Web and mobile applications, came out of stealth mode today and said that it has collected $2 million in Series A venture funding from Alsop Louie Partners, Kalpathi Investments and Draper Associates. The money will be used “to enhance products, expand … Continue reading “Citrusleaf Launches with $2M”

Cisco to Acquire NewScale

Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: [[ticker:CSCO]]), the San Jose, CA-based networking equipment giant, said today that it intends to buy newScale, a San Mateo, CA-based company whose portal software helps IT departments in large organizations automate cloud services provisioning. “With the acquisition of newScale, Cisco will be able to accelerate the deployment of cloud services through a … Continue reading “Cisco to Acquire NewScale”

Salesforce.com Buys Radian6

Radian6, the social media monitoring company based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, will become part of San Francisco-based Salesforce.com (NYSE: [[ticker:CRM]]) in a deal worth roughly $326 million in cash and stock, Salesforce.com announced today. Radian6’s technology helps companies see how they’re being described on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other channels, and lets them … Continue reading “Salesforce.com Buys Radian6”

Regulus Gets License From NYU

Regulus Therapeutics, the San Diego-based developer of microRNA therapies, said today that it has obtained exclusive rights from New York University to develop treatments against a couple of microRNA targets (miR-33a and miR-33b) which are thought to have potential to affect athersclerosis and metabolic syndrome. Financial terms of the license weren’t disclosed.

Sage Starts Takeda, CHDI Work

Sage Bionetworks, the Seattle-based nonprofit seeking to spark an open source movement for biology, said today it has begun work for a couple of partners—Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical and the CHDI Foundation. Both projects involve building computational models for neurological diseases. Takeda said it November that it agreed to pay $3.6 million over four years to … Continue reading “Sage Starts Takeda, CHDI Work”

Gemvara Grabs $15M, RueLaLa Spins Off, Mobiquity Launches With $5M, & More Boston-Area Deals News

New England’s tech firms inked a bunch of deals this past week. Here are a few of them. —Gemvara raised $15 million in a Series C funding round led by London-based Balderton Capital and joined by return investors Highland Capital Partners and Canaan Partners. The Lexington, MA-based online jewelry customization startup, which has now raised … Continue reading “Gemvara Grabs $15M, RueLaLa Spins Off, Mobiquity Launches With $5M, & More Boston-Area Deals News”

RatePoint Names New CEO from Carbonite

Needham, MA-based RatePoint, a marketing and reputation management company, said yesterday it has appointed Keith Cooper as president and CEO. Cooper was most recently president and chief operating officer at Boston-based Carbonite, the online data backup firm. RatePoint started in 2006, and its investors include Prism VentureWorks, .406 Ventures, and Castile Ventures. The company provides … Continue reading “RatePoint Names New CEO from Carbonite”

Clarisonic Cracks Big-Time With $100M Sales, Riding Rave Reviews From Lady Gaga, Oprah

One of Seattle’s hottest tech startups has nothing to do with the sizzly Internet trends you read about a lot—social media, location-based marketing, or mobile apps. It has everything to do with making more than 2 million women so far—Lady Gaga and Oprah among them—look good and feel good about themselves. Unless you read fashion … Continue reading “Clarisonic Cracks Big-Time With $100M Sales, Riding Rave Reviews From Lady Gaga, Oprah”

Follica Sheds More Light on Hair Re-Growth Invention

There’s been some buzz on the Web in recent weeks about Follica’s technology for treating one of the most common maladies of aging in men—male pattern baldness. The company, which got its start in offices of PureTech Ventures in Boston in 2006, sheds some light on its internal research in a patent application, published March … Continue reading “Follica Sheds More Light on Hair Re-Growth Invention”

Intellectual Ventures Creates a New Kind of Market from Scratch: Tales From the Wild West Era of Patents

[Updated at 9:35 a.m. with a correction, see Page 2.]Don Merino used to be the guy sitting across the table when someone went to Intel looking to sell a patent—sometimes he dealt with inventors, but a lot of times it was patent lawyers. Merino liked to say the job was about dealing with “random $40 … Continue reading “Intellectual Ventures Creates a New Kind of Market from Scratch: Tales From the Wild West Era of Patents”

As Kinsella Affair Goes Global, Sofinnova’s Papiernik Says Don’t Blame Big Pharma for Weak Biotech Ventures

Big Pharma has maintained radio silence since Avalon Ventures’ Kevin Kinsella launched a verbal attack last month on what he called the industry’s “predatory business practices,” saying they are doing “enormous damage to the life sciences venture capital ecosystem.” The San Diego biotech investor, in an exclusive interview with Xconomy, argued that pharma’s brass-knuckled M&A … Continue reading “As Kinsella Affair Goes Global, Sofinnova’s Papiernik Says Don’t Blame Big Pharma for Weak Biotech Ventures”

Yes, Now That Stranger Across the Bar Can Text You. No, It’s Not As Scary As It Sounds, Says Mobile App Developer PoKos

Imagine a world where you can point your phone at the people you’re interested in talking to, and a message magically appears on their phones, regardless of whether you’ve ever spoken to them before or actually have their digits in your possession. (Heaven forbid you actually talk to them face to face.) Now, imagine there’s … Continue reading “Yes, Now That Stranger Across the Bar Can Text You. No, It’s Not As Scary As It Sounds, Says Mobile App Developer PoKos”

EverFi Acquires Outside the Classroom for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=20dbd607-c9b0-4be3-98e4-4ceb7164402a&Preview=1 Date 3/30/2011 Company Name Outside the Classroom Mailing Address 250 1st Ave. Needham, MA 02494 Company Description We provide institutional leaders and their students with the information and tools they need to develop well-informed, cost-effective strategies for reducing alcohol-related risk and preventing harm. Website http://www.outsidetheclassroom.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed … Continue reading “EverFi Acquires Outside the Classroom for Undisclosed Sum”

Overland Storage Receives $22,227,071 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=17816106-15d2-4ca0-9ad4-891eae6f296c&Preview=1 Date 3/30/2011 Company Name Overland Storage Mailing Address 4820 Overland Avenue San Diego, CA 92123 Company Description Overland Storage is a market leader and innovative provider of smart, affordable data protection appliances that help midrange and distributed enterprises ensure business-critical data is constantly protected, readily available and always there. Overland’s award-winning … Continue reading “Overland Storage Receives $22,227,071 New Funding”

Citrusleaf Garners $2,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=743e08b3-6129-43e6-ae92-2d9bcf34aba8&Preview=1 Date 3/30/2011 Company Name Citrusleaf Mailing Address 444 Castro St. Mountain View, CA 94041 Company Description Citrusleaf 2.0 is in production use today, powering user-data storage solutions for real-time bidding for digital advertising. Common deployments are terabytes of data, billions of objects, and 100K- plus transactions per second with sub-millisecond latency. … Continue reading “Citrusleaf Garners $2,000,000 Series A Financing”

Screampoint Obtains Series C Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fe4aa02e-45ce-43ae-b999-9a9c589215cc&Preview=1 Date 3/30/2011 Company Name Screampoint Mailing Address 325 Sharon Park Dr. Menlo Park, CA 94025 Company Description Screampoint, a Sequoia Capital funded company, is a global leader in providing comprehensive 5D SMART(TM) technology; a unique, dynamic web application visualization platform (patents in process) that allows government officials, master developers and corporate … Continue reading “Screampoint Obtains Series C Financing Round”

LogRhythm Receives $10,000,000 Series C Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e7e3dc77-9e42-41fb-bf48-bada6260d230&Preview=1 Date 3/30/2011 Company Name LogRhythm Mailing Address 4780 Pearl East Circle Boulder, CO 80301 Company Description LogRhythm’s comprehensive log management and analysis software helps companies to efficiently comply with government regulations, secure their networks and optimize their IT infrastructure. LogRhythm’s log management system automates the collection, identification, centralization, archival and recovery … Continue reading “LogRhythm Receives $10,000,000 Series C Funding Round”

Silicon Valley Veteran To Lead Ann Arbor SPARK

Ann Arbor is getting a fresh infusion of Silicon Valley. Ann Arbor SPARK, one of four business accelerators in Southeast Michigan, said Tuesday that it named Paul Krutko president and CEO. Krutko, previously the chief development officer for San Jose, CA., will replace Mike Finney, who’s now CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Krutko … Continue reading “Silicon Valley Veteran To Lead Ann Arbor SPARK”

VMIX Unveils Technology to Rent Videos on Facebook, Watch on a Variety of Web Devices

San Diego-based VMIX says today it is offering video rentals on Facebook. Its technology enables users to watch movies, TV programs, and other video on the social networking site—or on a smartphone, tablet, PC, or Internet-connected television. VMIX, a six-year-old startup that provides a technology platform for video streaming and content management, says VMIX Social … Continue reading “VMIX Unveils Technology to Rent Videos on Facebook, Watch on a Variety of Web Devices”

Cheezburger Hits the Big Apple, Zaarly’s Big Debut, Sizing Up the Talent Crunch & More in the Seattle-area Tech Roundup

The Cheezburger Network‘s bid to dominate meme-dom took another leap forward this week with the acquisition of Know Your Meme, a site that attempts to trace the histories of passed-around bits of Internet pop culture that are the fodder for Cheezburger’s humor sites. But the purchase of Know Your Meme, said to be in the … Continue reading “Cheezburger Hits the Big Apple, Zaarly’s Big Debut, Sizing Up the Talent Crunch & More in the Seattle-area Tech Roundup”

Elemental, Riding Wave of Online Video Delivery, Picks Up More Broadcast Business as Rivals Exit

File this under “one to watch more closely.” Before I tell you about the company or its news, consider a few trends. People are watching more videos on their iPads and other tablet devices. Broadcasters, cable companies, and video content owners are starting to focus more on how to deliver TV shows and other entertainment … Continue reading “Elemental, Riding Wave of Online Video Delivery, Picks Up More Broadcast Business as Rivals Exit”

Bobber Lands $1.1M for Social Banking

Seattle-based Bobber Interactive, which makes a “gamified” software platform to help banks attract young people to money management, has raised about $1.1 million in Series A financing. That’s a bit more than half of the offering Bobber has in the market, according to an SEC filing today. Bobber says the round was led by PEAK6 … Continue reading “Bobber Lands $1.1M for Social Banking”

The Science, Technology & Commercialization of Solid-State Microcellular Plastics

Krishna Nadella of MicroGreen Polymers and Vipin Kumar of the University of Washington are the guest speakers on April 8th at the Technology Alliance’s Science & Technology Discovery Series breakfast event. They will talk about the science, technology and commercial aspects of solid-state microcellular plastics. RSVP by Noon on Monday, April 4, by sending a note … Continue reading “The Science, Technology & Commercialization of Solid-State Microcellular Plastics”

Frazier Buys Carefusion Unit

San Diego-based Carefusion (NYSE: [[ticker:CFN]]), said today it has completed the sale of its Onsite Services business to affiliates of Seattle-based Frazier Healthcare Ventures. OnSite offers medical instrument repair and instrument management programs to hospitals. The new company will have 240 employees, Carefusion said in a statement. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

TechStars Takes In $8M for Startup Programs

TechStars, the seed-stage investment fund and startup boot camp, said today it has raised $8 million for its mentorship programs in Boston, Boulder, New York, and Seattle. The latest round, from a number of venture funds and angel investors, brings Boulder, CO-based TechStars’ funding to nearly $11.5 million to date, and should enable the program … Continue reading “TechStars Takes In $8M for Startup Programs”

Anyleaf—Putting an End to the Old Supermarket Circular

Having a computer-science background, an appetite for risk, and an eye for solvable problems put you in a decent position be an Internet entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. But there’s also a downside to these traits. You wind up seeing all the flaws and inefficiencies in everyday things and wondering how you could use Web tools … Continue reading “Anyleaf—Putting an End to the Old Supermarket Circular”

Aerohive Buzzes with $25M Series D

Sunnyvale, CA-based Aerohive said yesterday that it has collected $25 million in a Series D financing round let by new investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Northern Light Venture Capital were also on board. The company makes wireless access points for local Wi-Fi networking in … Continue reading “Aerohive Buzzes with $25M Series D”

$20M for Adap.tv

San Mateo, CA-based Adap.tv, which offers server software supporting online video advertising campaigns as well as an online marketplace for advertisers and publishers, said today that it has raised $20 million from a group led by new investor Bessemer Venture Partners. Existing investors Gemini Israel Funds, Redpoint Ventures, and Spark Capital joined the round. The … Continue reading “$20M for Adap.tv”

Amazon, Challenging Apple Head-On, Makes Move Into Cloud-Based Music Service

[Updated at 1:40 p.m. with more pricing info, see below] Apple’s iTunes has become the default music store, playback platform and digital locker for millions of consumers. But the market-owner certainly has limits—chief among them are terrestrial storage and a limited number of machines authorized to use a given account. Seattle’s Amazon.com (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) is … Continue reading “Amazon, Challenging Apple Head-On, Makes Move Into Cloud-Based Music Service”

Mobiquity Makes Debut with $5M in VC

Boston-based Mobiquity, a mobile services startup founded by Bill Seibel and Scott Snyder, said today it has raised $5 million in Series A financing led by Longworth Venture Partners and Sigma Partners. The company aims to help big businesses take advantage of growth opportunities in mobile computing via smartphones and tablets (like the Apple iPad). … Continue reading “Mobiquity Makes Debut with $5M in VC”

Vertex CF Drug Shines in Late-Stage Study in Children

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:VRTX]]) reported today positive results from an ongoing late-stage study of its cystic fibrosis drug, VX-770, that show that the drug is working about as well in children as it did in older patients with the genetic disorder. The Cambridge, MA-based company said that the Phase III study of the drug, which aims … Continue reading “Vertex CF Drug Shines in Late-Stage Study in Children”

University Officials: Budget Cuts Won’t Hurt Campus Entrepreneurship

Universities and colleges across Michigan may be scrambling to reduce costs as state officials weigh deep budget cuts to higher education. But programs that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation will likely be spared, school officials say. The programs are well-established and often funded by outside sources and therefore won’t be directly affected by the state funding … Continue reading “University Officials: Budget Cuts Won’t Hurt Campus Entrepreneurship”

Apperian Adds $9.5M from North Bridge, Bessemer, Kleiner Perkins, Looks to Dominate in Enterprise Mobile Apps

It’s a big day for the New England mobile community. Boston-based Apperian, the maker of a software platform for enterprise mobile apps, said it has raised a $9.5 million Series A round from North Bridge Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (iFund, focused on Apple iPad and iPhone software). The … Continue reading “Apperian Adds $9.5M from North Bridge, Bessemer, Kleiner Perkins, Looks to Dominate in Enterprise Mobile Apps”

Catch: The Online Notekeeping System for the Non-Organized

Steve Brown, co-founder and CEO of Catch.com, a cloud-based personal content management system, says he’s the only dad at his daughter’s end of the season pizza party who remembers every single soccer game. And he can pull out the notes and pictures to prove it. During the season, Brown uses his phone to snap pictures, … Continue reading “Catch: The Online Notekeeping System for the Non-Organized”

Innovation Report Details Ups and Downs of San Diego Startups

San Diego’s innovation economy continues to move mostly sideways, with venture capital investments plunging and employment improving slightly among high technology and life sciences startups, according to a report today from Connect, the nonprofit group for technology and entrepreneurship. The mixed signals also showed San Diego’s merger and acquisition activity soared and federal grants to … Continue reading “Innovation Report Details Ups and Downs of San Diego Startups”

Epizyme, Riding High on Two Big Pharma Deals, Zeroes in on Personalized Cancer Therapy

Big Pharma companies are not exactly known for being nimble, but they have made a couple of quick bam-bam moves in succession to land deals with Cambridge, MA-based Epizyme. The company made news in January when it pocketed $20 million upfront, and lined up another $630 million in development milestones, through a drug discovery partnership … Continue reading “Epizyme, Riding High on Two Big Pharma Deals, Zeroes in on Personalized Cancer Therapy”

Apperian Garners $9,500,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3fb9272b-d8b9-4b5f-912c-a2050a09b1a0&Preview=1 Date 3/29/2011 Company Name Apperian Mailing Address 27 Wormwood St. Boston, MA 02210 Company Description Apperian currently makes enterprise-class iPhone applications for large companies seeking to engage consumers in new, innovative ways and enhance productivity among their employees and partners. Website http://www.apperian.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $9,500,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Apperian Garners $9,500,000 New Financing Round”

Mobiquity Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=66c8d0c8-ec89-4473-9fb0-f78f7b6dfca9&Preview=1 Date 3/29/2011 Company Name Mobiquity Mailing Address Undisclosed Boston, MA 02108 Company Description Mobiquity is a strategy-led, implementation driven Mobile Computing professional services firm focused on architecting, developing and deploying custom mobile solutions for the Global 2000. Mobiquity offers a broad range of services for clients seeking to leverage the power … Continue reading “Mobiquity Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding”

Toygaroo Secures $200,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d3aced7e-7f3c-49dc-857f-c865889215f3&Preview=1 Date 3/29/2011 Company Name Toygaroo Mailing Address 3917 Fountain Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90029 Company Description The company provides online service that allows users to rent toys. Website http://www.toygaroo.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $200,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Individual … Continue reading “Toygaroo Secures $200,000 New Round”

ClearEdge Power Garners $3,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4f2ce028-8799-4bd7-91c3-45b8d0bf1724&Preview=1 Date 3/29/2011 Company Name ClearEdge Power Mailing Address 920 Thompson Pl. Sunnyvale, CA 94085 Company Description ClearEdge Power is a pioneer and leading provider of ultra-clean and efficient on-site energy generation systems for homes and small businesses. With operations throughout the West Coast of the United States, our company is positioned … Continue reading “ClearEdge Power Garners $3,000,000 New Round”

Message Bus Garners $3,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d5d56759-b3e4-4e5e-b360-5d5914bee4ff&Preview=1 Date 3/29/2011 Company Name Message Bus Mailing Address 319 Miller Ave. Mill Valley, CA 94941 Company Description Message bus is developing technologies to help make email systems easier and more robust. Website http://www.messagebus.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed, however … Continue reading “Message Bus Garners $3,000,000 New Financing”

Offline Labs Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b79eae0e-8b23-4ce7-9af2-7af566f65e8b&Preview=1 Date 3/29/2011 Company Name Offline Labs Mailing Address 330 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description The company is developing an online service (besosh.com) that enables users to more easily discover and share memorable activities and events. Website http://www.besosh.com Transaction Type Debt, Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed … Continue reading “Offline Labs Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding”