Forrst Lands $200,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1bd4461a-ad9d-4589-9542-779ba0a01aef&Preview=1 Date 3/24/2011 Company Name Forrst Mailing Address Undisclosed Brooklyn, NY 11201 Company Description Forrst is a community of passionate developers and designers focused on helping themselves and others get better at their craft, providing thoughtful critiques, and sharing their knowledge to build better applications and websites. Website http://www.forrst.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “Forrst Lands $200,000 New Round”

BoroPharm seeks to expand at U-M North Campus Research Complex

When Pfizer closed its Ann Arbor, MI-based research facility in 2008, taking over 2,000 jobs with it, the community mourned the loss of such a prestigious, high tech employer. BoroPharm, however, saw an opportunity. “When they left…companies like ours were able to find people and offer them positions,” BoroPharm CEO Todd Zahn says. “In typical … Continue reading “BoroPharm seeks to expand at U-M North Campus Research Complex”

Cray Says Layoffs Make Room for Future Hires, Headcount to Stay Roughly Flat by Year’s End

Seattle supercomputing company Cray (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRAY]]) is cutting about 50 jobs as it reconfigures its employee mix, according to a regulatory filing. The company didn’t specify what types of jobs were being cut, or say where they were located, other than to indicate the losses aren’t concentrated in any particular place or category. Cray’s headquarters … Continue reading “Cray Says Layoffs Make Room for Future Hires, Headcount to Stay Roughly Flat by Year’s End”

Genzyme-Spinout Peptimmune Files for Chapter 7 Liquidation

Peptimmune, a Somerville, MA, biotech firm that has been developing a long-lasting drug for multiple sclerosis, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on Monday, according to a court filing. VentureWire reported the news this morning. The biotech—which was acquired by Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) in 1999 and then spun off from the Cambridge, MA-based drugmaker as an independent … Continue reading “Genzyme-Spinout Peptimmune Files for Chapter 7 Liquidation”

Accordent Buyout Provides Exit for San Diego’s TVC Capital

San Diego-based TVC Capital, a small private equity firm focused on software investments, realized a gain in Pleasanton, CA-based Polycom’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PLCM]]) $50 million cash acquisition of El Segundo, CA-based Accordent Technologies. In a statement today, Pleasanton, CA-based Polycom’s Sudhakar Ramakrishna says, “We believe Accordent has the most elegant video content management solution on the … Continue reading “Accordent Buyout Provides Exit for San Diego’s TVC Capital”

Alnylam Named in Complaint Over RNAi Patents

A week after settling litigation related to the patents on gene-silencing treatments, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and others have found themselves in another legal battle over the Tuschl patents related to RNA-interference treatments. This time the University of Utah has named Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALNY]]), Max Planck, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, MIT, and the University … Continue reading “Alnylam Named in Complaint Over RNAi Patents”

Gemvara Sparkles with $15M Series C, Leads Way in Mass Customization of Jewelry

Gemvara, the Lexington, MA-based online jewelry customization startup, announced today it has pinned down a $15 million Series C funding round. The financing was led by London-based Balderton Capital—who also led a $15 million round for Cambridge, MA-based mobile app developer SCVNGR earlier this year—and included returning Gemvara investors Highland Capital Partners and Canaan Partners. … Continue reading “Gemvara Sparkles with $15M Series C, Leads Way in Mass Customization of Jewelry”

Omeros Combo Drug Passes Cataract Surgery Study

Omeros has some news out this morning on one of the lesser-known members of its drug development pipeline. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OMER]]) said today that its experimental treatment for patients undergoing eye surgery to correct cataracts was safe, able to maintain pupil dilation during the procedure, and reduce postoperative pain and irritation. The … Continue reading “Omeros Combo Drug Passes Cataract Surgery Study”

Tethys Snags U.S. Air Force Support for Big Diabetes Prevention Study

Tethys Bioscience is making a big bet as a company that it can help prevent people from getting diabetes. Now it has got some critical support to help it prove that idea. Emeryville, CA-based Tethys is announcing today it has secured a partnership with the U.S. Air Force to see if the company’s PreDx test … Continue reading “Tethys Snags U.S. Air Force Support for Big Diabetes Prevention Study”

Motista Collects $4.5M, Relocates to Silicon Valley

Motista, which runs online market-research surveys for Fortune 1000 customers, said today that it has completed a $4.5 million Series A funding round. El Dorado Ventures was the sole funder in the round, and El Dorado general partner Tom Peterson has joined Motista’s board. At the same time, the company announced that it is relocating … Continue reading “Motista Collects $4.5M, Relocates to Silicon Valley”

Yale Spinoff Hadapt Hops Out of Stealth, Looks to Help Big Companies Handle Big Data

If you don’t know Hadoop from a hole in the wall, please meet Justin Borgman. He’ll break it all down for you. Borgman is the co-founder and CEO of Hadapt, a New Haven, CT-based startup that is coming out of stealth today at GigaOm’s Structure Big Data conference in New York City. Hadapt calls its … Continue reading “Yale Spinoff Hadapt Hops Out of Stealth, Looks to Help Big Companies Handle Big Data”

Who’s Going to Pay for Future Drug Development? (Part 2)

In the first part of this article, I detailed how pharma and biotech companies, along with the federal government, provide the majority of funding for biomedical research in the U.S. In this second part, I’ll turn my attention to a number of other sources, both for-profit and nonprofit, that also provide the capital that drives … Continue reading “Who’s Going to Pay for Future Drug Development? (Part 2)”

SV Life Sciences, Flush with $523M Fund, On the Hazard of Having a Lot of Dough

You’d think that when the venture capital industry is going through a historic shrinkage, life must be pretty good at SV Life Sciences. This $2 billion diversified healthcare fund, with main offices in San Francisco, Boston, and London, was one of the fortunate few VC funds that was able to reload with a $523 million … Continue reading “SV Life Sciences, Flush with $523M Fund, On the Hazard of Having a Lot of Dough”

HealthTap Raises $2.35M

Palo Alto, CA-based HealthTap said today that it has collected $2.35 million in convertible-note seed financing from Mohr Davidow Ventures and a collection of individual investors including Esther Dyson, Stanford professor and former Veritas CEO Mark Leslie, and Mint.com founder Aaron Patzer. Founded by Ron Gutman, who previously founded health information portal Wellsphere, HealthTap is building … Continue reading “HealthTap Raises $2.35M”

Inkling Snags Investments from McGraw-Hill and Pearson to Scale Up iPad Textbook Operation

McGraw-Hill and Pearson, the world’s two largest educational publishers, have both pitched in for a Series B financing round at Inkling, the San Francisco company founded by a former Apple manager to build interactive textbooks for the iPad. As with Inkling’s Series A round last August, the amount of the investment wasn’t disclosed, but in … Continue reading “Inkling Snags Investments from McGraw-Hill and Pearson to Scale Up iPad Textbook Operation”

Harvest Power Gets $52M, Zynga Buys Floodgate, Synageva Snaps Up $25M, & More Boston-Area Deals News

New England’s tech and life sciences companies are roaring into spring with a number of startup financings, acquisitions, and partnerships. —Harvest Power, a Waltham, MA-based startup focused on producing energy from organic waste, announced it had raised a $51.7 million Series B funding round led by Generation Investment Management, a firm co-founded by Al Gore and … Continue reading “Harvest Power Gets $52M, Zynga Buys Floodgate, Synageva Snaps Up $25M, & More Boston-Area Deals News”

Gemvara Lands $15,000,000 Series C Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2cacbccf-ceb7-4fe7-9bcf-b8419b32aa4b&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name Gemvara Mailing Address 92 Hayden Avenue Lexington, MA 02421 Company Description The term Gemvara is inspired by the ancient Sanskrit word for wish, vara. Every beautiful piece of jewelry that Gemvara sells is available as you wish: customized to suit your style. Website http://www.gemvara.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “Gemvara Lands $15,000,000 Series C Financing Round”

McAfee Acquires Sentrigo for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fd711baf-f972-4e7c-93a7-1543b080bf56&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name Sentrigo Mailing Address 155M New Boston St. Woburn, MA 01801 Company Description Sentrigo’s solution monitors all database transactions in real-time, and alerts or even stops suspicious activities in their tracks. DBA managers and IT managers are able to provide their technical staff with safe, unfettered access to … Continue reading “McAfee Acquires Sentrigo for Undisclosed Sum”

Polycom Acquires Accordent Technologies for $50,000,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1b3270e6-69a9-41e0-96fb-992b627e62f9&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name Accordent Technologies Mailing Address 300 N. Continental Blvd. El Segundo, CA 90245 Company Description Accordent enterprise rich media technology is the only automated, end-to-end infrastructure for creating, distributing, managing and measuring the effectiveness of multimedia presentation assets. Website http://www.accordent.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount $50,000,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Polycom Acquires Accordent Technologies for $50,000,000”

HealthTap Secures $2,350,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f5a2ae41-4383-493c-b2cf-470e17accf7b&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name HealthTap Mailing Address 37 Gresham Lane Atherton, CA 94027 Company Description The company operates a website and service that combines personalized medical information, social networking and game mechanics to help consumers manage their own health. Website http://www.healthtap.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $2,350,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds … Continue reading “HealthTap Secures $2,350,000 New Funding Round”

Motista Obtains $4,500,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c85045e0-ca14-4611-a501-90ef06533350&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name Motista Mailing Address 1777 Borel Place San Mateo, CA 94402 Company Description The company provides motivational insights that provide brands with information on what is motivating consumers. Website http://www.motistainsights.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,500,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes The company will use the … Continue reading “Motista Obtains $4,500,000 Series A Financing Round”

AMIMON Garners $15,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c5d3c174-5912-4371-aac2-b63a168331f6&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name AMIMON Mailing Address 2350 Mission College Blvd Santa Clara, CA 95054 Company Description AMIMON is a fabless semiconductor company pioneering wireless uncompressed high-definition video for universal connectivity among CE video devices. Website http://www.amimon.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $15,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The funding … Continue reading “AMIMON Garners $15,000,000 New Financing”

Wild Needle Receives $975,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6285ded0-f196-4543-8683-f2f536814081&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name Wild Needle Mailing Address 201 San Antonio Cir. Mountain View, CA 94040 Company Description We’re working on some great ideas for the next generation of social games for mobile devices. Website http://www.wildneedle.com Transaction Type Debt, Venture Equity Transaction Amount $975,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes … Continue reading “Wild Needle Receives $975,000 New Financing”

A Bit Lucky Secures $5,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c27e2d5f-2379-4f43-a1c3-f7897a8da44c&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name A Bit Lucky Mailing Address 1700 S. Amphlett Boulevard San Mateo, CA 94403 Company Description A Bit Lucky is the new generation of transplatform online social gaming. Our passion is to make great games, played and enjoyed by a lot of people. We are a team of … Continue reading “A Bit Lucky Secures $5,000,000 New Funding Round”

Inkling Lands New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b3e28c53-2ea0-478e-9d6d-6a8294f3dc63&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name Inkling Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description Inkling was founded in late 2009 to tackle the challenges of interactive publishing. Inkling’s partnerships with major publishers like Cengage Learning, John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, and Wolters Kluwer will yield next-generation interactive titles that replace traditional … Continue reading “Inkling Lands New Funding Round”

Color Secures $41,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ba44677c-46a6-4bbc-854e-d26688715368&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name Color Mailing Address Undisclosed Palo Alto, CA 94301 Company Description Simultaneously use multiple iPhones and Androids to capture photos, videos, and conversations into a group album. There’s no attaching, uploading, or friending to do. Website http://www.color.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $41,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds … Continue reading “Color Secures $41,000,000 New Financing”

Brilig Garners $1,800,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2ef17472-9ecf-455f-b120-d5ffafca03aa&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name Brilig Mailing Address 200 Church St. New York, NY 10013 Company Description Brilig provides an open, transparent and structured environment for the listing, combination, analysis and buying or selling of audience information for online advertising targeting Website http://www.brilig.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,800,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Brilig Garners $1,800,000 New Financing Round”

Mass Relevance Garners $550,001 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b9445310-1163-4724-8539-2ed804e9aa94&Preview=1 Date 3/23/2011 Company Name Mass Relevance Mailing Address 800 Brazos Street Austin, TX 78701 Company Description The company aims to help entertainment, media, retail and manufacturing brands to find, filter, organize and display relevant social content to the right audience in real-time. Website http://www.massrelevance.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $550,001 … Continue reading “Mass Relevance Garners $550,001 New Round”

Novalar Plans Shutdown Following Sale of OraVerse to Septodont

It turns out that Novalar Pharmaceuticals’ decision to sell OraVerse, its dental anesthesia reversal agent, was only half the story. Novalar CEO Donna Janson tells The San Diego Union-Tribune today that the venture-backed company has no other drug candidates in its pipeline and will soon shut down. The Union-Tribune says the company plans to lay … Continue reading “Novalar Plans Shutdown Following Sale of OraVerse to Septodont”

Varolii’s new CEO: Ex-Microsoftie

Seattle-based business software company Varolii has a new president and chief executive: Former Microsoft general manager David McCann. He replaces Nicholas Tiliacos, who was with the company for 10 years. Varolii makes tools for text messaging, voicemail and email that help businesses reach customers and employees. It was founded under a different name by two … Continue reading “Varolii’s new CEO: Ex-Microsoftie”

Own Raises Another $50,000, Nabs Coffee House Customers

It has been nearly two years of hard work but Own president/founder Verdi Erel Ergun can finally say what every new company wants to say. “We now have a real product with real paying customers!” Ergun e-mails me. Since Xconomy first profiled the Ann Arbor, MI-based startup last summer, Own has raised $50,000 from Invest … Continue reading “Own Raises Another $50,000, Nabs Coffee House Customers”

Allen Institute Adds Caltech Neuroscientist

The Allen Institute for Brain Science, the Seattle-based nonprofit backed by billionaire Paul Allen, said today it has hired Christof Koch as its new chief scientific officer. Koch comes from Caltech, where he spent 25 years on the faculty studying biophysics, neural computation, and neural systems, the Allen Institute said in a statement. “We are … Continue reading “Allen Institute Adds Caltech Neuroscientist”

See You at Xconomy Meetup With New Tech Writer Curt Woodward

We’re wrapping up our stories for tomorrow a little early so we can knock off for happy hour. In case you missed it, we’re having an Xconomy Meetup today from 4 pm to 6 pm at my favorite neighborhood dive bar, the Streamline Tavern, 121 West Mercer Street in Lower Queen Anne. This is a … Continue reading “See You at Xconomy Meetup With New Tech Writer Curt Woodward”

Amazon Pushes Ahead with “Appstore” Despite Apple’s Lawsuit over “App Store” – a Trademark that Microsoft also Opposes

The Seattle area’s two tech giants, Amazon.com and Microsoft, find themselves on the same side today—battling a trademark claim by Apple. As expected, Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) said Tuesday that it was indeed opening its new Appstore for Android, despite a recent federal lawsuit by Apple (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AAPL]]) claiming trademark infringement of that company’s App Store … Continue reading “Amazon Pushes Ahead with “Appstore” Despite Apple’s Lawsuit over “App Store” – a Trademark that Microsoft also Opposes”

$7M Blooms for CrowdFlower

San Francisco-based CrowdFlower, which helps big companies crowdsource tasks such as correcting business listings and categorizing e-commerce products to a globally distributed workforce, has collected $7 million in new venture financing, according to an announcement today. Harmony Partners led the Series B round, which was joined by existing investors Trinity Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners … Continue reading “$7M Blooms for CrowdFlower”

DotCloud Raises $10M

DotCloud, a Y Combinator-backed startup that offers managed database and server hosting services to other Web companies, has raised $10 million in new venture cash from Benchmark Capital and Trinity Ventures, according to a report today from Dow Jones VentureWire. The money comes on the heels of an $800,000 seed investment in February from individual … Continue reading “DotCloud Raises $10M”

Arboretum Helps NxThera Raise Nearly $13M

NxThera Inc., a medical device maker based in St. Paul, MN, said it raised $12.6 million in a Series B round from a group of investors that includes Arboretum Ventures in Ann Arbor, MI. Other investors include American Medical Systems, Aberdare Ventures, and GDN Holdings, the investment firm of former Medtronic vice chairman Dr. Glen … Continue reading “Arboretum Helps NxThera Raise Nearly $13M”

Shutterfly Orders Tiny Prints

Shutterfly (Nasdaq: [[ticker:SFLY]]), the Redwood City, CA-based photo sharing giant, said yesterday that it has agreed to acquire Tiny Prints, a Sunnyvale, CA, startup offering personalized greeting cards, invitations, announcements, and stationery. The cash-and-stock transaction, valued at $333 million overall, includes a $141 million cash payment and 3.9 million shares of Shutterfly common stock. “Shutterfly … Continue reading “Shutterfly Orders Tiny Prints”

JitterJam Bought by Meltwater

Bedford, NH-based JitterJam, a provider of social customer relationship management software, was acquired by San Francisco-based social media and news monitoring firm The Meltwater Group for $6 million, Meltwater announced today. All JitterJam employees will join MeltWater, and the company’s technology will be integrated into the social CRM platform Meltwater Buzz.

Verenium, Shorn of Biofuels Business, Returns to San Diego and its Diversa Roots

It felt like something was coming to an end last July, when energy giant BP said it was paying $98.3 million to acquire the cellulosic biofuels business of Cambridge, MA-based Verenium (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRNM]]). But as Verenium consolidates its headquarters and remaining operations in San Diego, incoming CEO James Levine told me in so many words … Continue reading “Verenium, Shorn of Biofuels Business, Returns to San Diego and its Diversa Roots”

SeaGen Inks Abbott Deal

Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]), said today it will get an $8 million upfront payment from Abbott Laboratories in exchange for the right to use technology that links targeted antibodies to toxins that make them more potent drugs. Abbott (NYSE: [[ticker:ABT]]) has gotten a license to use the Seattle Genetics technology against one molecular target on … Continue reading “SeaGen Inks Abbott Deal”

Clouds, Clean Air, Cancer, and Cardio: Some Massachusetts Companies On the Rise

Just catching up on a few financings around the state on this fine spring morning. —Waltham, MA-based CloudFloor, a stealthy cloud-computing startup, announced it has raised more than $3 million in Series A financing from undisclosed investors. The company, which started in 2010, is led by former Gomez execs Jaime Ellertson and Imad Mouline. According … Continue reading “Clouds, Clean Air, Cancer, and Cardio: Some Massachusetts Companies On the Rise”

Noteleaf Seeks to Sync Up Online Calendars, Contacts, For Meeting Prep On-The-Go

This is the second in a series of profiles of Y Combinator Winters 2011 (YC W11) startups. Whatever your thoughts about modern technology and whether it’s making life better or just busier, you can’t say that no one feels your pain. In fact, hundreds of new startups pop up every year to fix perceived pain … Continue reading “Noteleaf Seeks to Sync Up Online Calendars, Contacts, For Meeting Prep On-The-Go”

Who’s Going to Pay for Future Drug Development? (Part 1)

In case you haven’t noticed, heart disease remains a debilitating illness for millions. Cancer, despite some recent advances, has not been cured. Drug resistant strains of bacteria are spreading across the globe. There are still no effective treatments for Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and a huge number of other illnesses. The number … Continue reading “Who’s Going to Pay for Future Drug Development? (Part 1)”

AT&T Grabs T-Mobile, Online Retail’s Tax Drain, Thoughts from “Chasm” Author Geoffrey Moore, & More in the Seattle-area Tech Roundup

The Seattle area’s longstanding prominence in the wireless carrier sector was thrown into question this weekend with AT&T’s announcement that it was purchasing Bellevue, WA-based T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. It will take months to see how the feds handle this proposed acquisition. But at least in the meantime, AT&T is saying all the right … Continue reading “AT&T Grabs T-Mobile, Online Retail’s Tax Drain, Thoughts from “Chasm” Author Geoffrey Moore, & More in the Seattle-area Tech Roundup”

Verax Biomedical Obtains $1,287,036 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=094b5989-df81-4684-a041-1d20f11e27ff&Preview=1 Date 3/22/2011 Company Name Verax Biomedical Mailing Address 377 Plantation Street Worcester, MA 01605 Company Description Verax Biomedical is a leader in the development of rapid tests designed to detect a broad range of bacterial contaminants based upon its proprietary Pan Genera Detection (PGD) technology. Website http://www.veraxbiomedical.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Verax Biomedical Obtains $1,287,036 New Financing Round”

Visible Technologies Secures $2,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b4311ba4-60a5-49dc-8461-a6c194daee7a&Preview=1 Date 3/22/2011 Company Name Visible Technologies Mailing Address 3535 Factoria Blvd SE Bellevue, WA 98006 Company Description Visible Technologies empowers companies to track, analyze and participate in consumer-generated media to drive their business forward. Their innovative TruCast platform is the industry’s first complete solution for social media analysis and participation. Visible … Continue reading “Visible Technologies Secures $2,000,000 New Financing Round”