Beyond 5×5: Five More Boston Startups You Should Know

We’re all gearing up for one of Xconomy’s biggest events of the year—today’s “5×5: Five Cities, Five Big Tech Ideas” forum, which is sold out. But I wanted to shine a little light on five other Boston-area companies I’ve been hearing about lately in my discussions with entrepreneurs and investors around town. Frankly, it’s impossible … Continue reading “Beyond 5×5: Five More Boston Startups You Should Know”

Watch Out Big Pharma: PATH, WHO Show that Nonprofits Can Develop New Meningitis Vaccine

Only a few giant corporations on the planet—companies like Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi-Aventis—are thought to have the money, the know-how, and the infrastructure to develop new vaccines that can make a really big impact on public health. So when a little nonprofit from Seattle called PATH is able to band together with some officials at … Continue reading “Watch Out Big Pharma: PATH, WHO Show that Nonprofits Can Develop New Meningitis Vaccine”

For Entrepreneurship Leaders at U-M, a Balance Between Teaching Innovation and Capitalizing On It

Timothy Faley, the managing director of the University of Michigan’s Samuel Zell and Robert H. Lurie Institute or Entrepreneurial Studies, has a unique way of measuring his job performance. “It’s always turbulent at the wave front,” he says. “I know I’m doing my job when I feel the tension.” And indeed, according to Faley, the … Continue reading “For Entrepreneurship Leaders at U-M, a Balance Between Teaching Innovation and Capitalizing On It”

How Health IT Firms Can Open VC Vault at OpenView Venture Partners

Boston-based OpenView Venture Partners has become more active in backing companies in the healthcare IT arena over the past several months, announcing two significant investments since September. Because this sector is so hungry for capital to fund new ideas, I thought it would make sense to chat with OpenView partner George Roberts about what it … Continue reading “How Health IT Firms Can Open VC Vault at OpenView Venture Partners”

Sonian Receives $4,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=15983264-1168-4ee0-9a52-c2b974cfbcad&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name Sonian Mailing Address 100 Crescent Rd Needham, MA 02494 Company Description Sonian is a technology platform and hosted services company on a mission to help millions of organizations world-wide manage their critical IT functions such as archiving, search, compliance, e-discovery and storage management. The Sonian platform is … Continue reading “Sonian Receives $4,000,000 New Financing Round”

DocuSign Garners $27,000,000 Series C Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=90a88dbc-c678-4a73-b5c7-85d09eab42c7&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name DocuSign Mailing Address 701 Fifth Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description DocuSign was founded in 2003 with one goal: to make electronic signatures as ubiquitous and simple as email. DocuSign delivers the final step in the online customer relationship—the ability to complete a legally binding agreement over … Continue reading “DocuSign Garners $27,000,000 Series C Financing”

Chegg Acquires Cramster.com for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b037d2d9-2dc5-4d9b-86b3-47fa746a55d7&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name Cramster.com Mailing Address 175 S. Lake Ave. Pasadena, CA 91101 Company Description Cramster is the leading provider of online homework help for college and high school students. Students can get unstuck on any homework problem whether it’s math, science, engineering, humanities, business, or writing help. Our tools, … Continue reading “Chegg Acquires Cramster.com for Undisclosed Sum”

Ardelyx Obtains $5,013,694 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=882a895f-c745-4a8b-9e56-3b44b608dc7a&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name Ardelyx Mailing Address 34175 Ardenwood Blvd. Fremont, CA 94555 Company Description The company develops therapeutics for disease treatment. Website http://www.ardelyx.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $5,013,694 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. M&A Terms Venture Investor Undisclosed

Sequenta Receives $13,000,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b32a76f5-c068-4778-b05f-4012a8be3f03&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name Sequenta Mailing Address 409 Illinois St. San Francisco, CA 94158 Company Description Sequenta is a venture funded biotech company dedicated to the discovery and development of clinical diagnostics based on a revolutionary new platform for understanding immune system status. Website http://www.sequentainc.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Sequenta Receives $13,000,000 Series B Financing”

Nimble Storage Secures $16,000,000 Series C Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3c0a278e-8f24-45cf-8d93-48b55c0ededa&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name Nimble Storage Mailing Address 2645 Zanker Rd. San Jose, CA 95134 Company Description Nimble Storage has developed the first converged storage and backup solution that significantly reduces the cost and complexity of storing, accessing, and protecting data for enterprises. Website http://www.nimblestorage.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Nimble Storage Secures $16,000,000 Series C Funding Round”

Kicktag Obtains $1,939,865 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=aeeec23a-52ac-47bb-a361-7bf27039f8f2&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name Kicktag Mailing Address 250 Brannan Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description The company is developing technology that helps video enthusiasts more effectively inform, educate and entertain audiences online – by enabling them to attach relevant and engaging data from across the Web to each moment in … Continue reading “Kicktag Obtains $1,939,865 New Round”

Salesforce Acquires Heroku for $212,000,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=81856d6b-976f-4048-aff3-71d9eba83baf&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name Heroku Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94100 Company Description The company is developing software applications that enable faster development of Ruby on Rails applications in a cloud environment. Website http://www.heroku.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount $212,000,000 Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms The acquisition will be … Continue reading “Salesforce Acquires Heroku for $212,000,000”

Giveo Secures $1,500,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=158fa11d-ff02-4353-b1f5-f4e2170d4b4e&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name Giveo Mailing Address 1048 Pearl Street Boulder, CO 80302 Company Description The service enables organizations to set up, promote and measure online cause marketing campaigns. Website http://www.giveo.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,500,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes This funding allows us to continue to … Continue reading “Giveo Secures $1,500,000 Series A Round”

Ortho Kinematics Lands $2,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b440342a-cd04-41b4-8f65-9e7ae1fbebb2&Preview=1 Date 12/8/2010 Company Name Ortho Kinematics Mailing Address 7004 Bee Cave Road Austin, TX 78746 Company Description Ortho Kinematics, Inc. is a spine diagnostics company focused on spine motion analysis products and services. Website http://www.orthokinematics.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes These new funds will … Continue reading “Ortho Kinematics Lands $2,000,000 New Funding”

Australia, San Diego, and the Algae Biofuels Revolutions

With the total market for algae biofuels projected to reach $1.6 billion over the next five years, Australia and San Diego are emerging as industry leaders. Both regions have significant research and development, as well as key corporations that are helping to commercialize new technologies. This event brings together key figures in algae biofuels research, … Continue reading “Australia, San Diego, and the Algae Biofuels Revolutions”

Waze Raises $25M to Turn Your Smartphone into a Traffic-Avoidance Tool

There are plenty of GPS-based smartphone apps these days that can give you turn-by-turn directions as you commute to work or drive to Grandma’s for the holidays. But there aren’t many that can tell you to get off at the next exit because an app user 10 minutes ahead of you got stuck in a … Continue reading “Waze Raises $25M to Turn Your Smartphone into a Traffic-Avoidance Tool”

New Paradigms to Fund & Manage Drug Development

BayBio, the California Healthcare Institute and BioCentury are co-sponsoring an event called “New Paradigms to Fund & Manage Drug Development” on January 13 and 14, right after the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. For more information on how to regsiter, click here.

Orexigen Beats the Odds, Wins OK from FDA Panel for Obesity Drug

Orexigen Therapeutics, the San Diego-based developer of obesity drugs, beat the odds today by winning a positive recommendation from an FDA advisory panel that said its lead drug deserves a spot on the U.S. market. The FDA’s expert panel on obesity drugs voted 13-7 in favor of allowing Orexigen’s combination of bupropion/naltrexone (Contrave) for sale … Continue reading “Orexigen Beats the Odds, Wins OK from FDA Panel for Obesity Drug”

Google’s News: E-Books and Android and Chrome, Oh My

Sometimes Google gives the appearance of being a loose confederation rather than a single company, as if its product units are all vying to make news at the same time. That’s definitely the case this week. Monday saw three big developments at the Googleplex in Mountain View. First came the launch of the Google eBookstore, … Continue reading “Google’s News: E-Books and Android and Chrome, Oh My”

Helix Wind’s Fate is Blowin’ in the Wind

Helix Wind, which appeared to be in critical condition last year when Scott Weinbrandt replaced co-founder Ian Gardner as CEO, says it’s now searching for a new CEO to step in for Weinbrandt, according to a regulatory filing. Weinbrandt, a former computer industry executive, left the company and its board on Dec. 2. The tiny … Continue reading “Helix Wind’s Fate is Blowin’ in the Wind”

FamilyMint, Fusion Coolant Systems, Shepherd Intelligent Systems Awarded Michigan Microloans

Three Michigan companies have received a combined total of $145,000 through the Michigan Microloan Fund Program, managed by the Ann Arbor Spark business incubator, bringing the total amount invested through the fund to more than $1.8 million since it was launched in July 2009. Microloans available through the fund range from $10,000 to $50,000 and … Continue reading “FamilyMint, Fusion Coolant Systems, Shepherd Intelligent Systems Awarded Michigan Microloans”

Healthrageous Releases Mobile Health App

Boston-based Healthrageous said today that it has launched a mobile app called “h!GO,” which is available to participants of the company’s employer-sponsored online health management plans. The app presents a user with his or her individual health measurements on a handheld device, based on data collected from monitoring devices like wireless blood pressure cuffs and … Continue reading “Healthrageous Releases Mobile Health App”

Zendesk Snags $19M for Web-based Customer Support That Users Can Grok, and Startups Can Afford

Three-year-old Zendesk has achieved quite a lot on just $6.5 million in venture funding. More than 5,000 companies are using Zendesk’s Web-based customer support software, 50,000 users have downloaded its iPhone app, and it’s got 70 employees—almost too many for its Townsend Street digs in SoMa. So it’s interesting to contemplate what Zendesk might do … Continue reading “Zendesk Snags $19M for Web-based Customer Support That Users Can Grok, and Startups Can Afford”

EvoNexus Evolves: CommNexus Absorbs Incubator, Accepts San Diego’s Independa as Latest Resident Startup

San Diego’s CommNexus wireless industry group has reorganized EvoNexus, the free technology incubator it created last year, and has folded its operations into the non-profit group’s programs, according to CommNexus CEO Rory Moore. Moore also confirmed that Cathy Pucher, who was hired as executive director when EvoNexus was founded, recently departed the incubator to head … Continue reading “EvoNexus Evolves: CommNexus Absorbs Incubator, Accepts San Diego’s Independa as Latest Resident Startup”

Dicerna Expands Kyowa Hakko Pact

Watertown, MA-based Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, a developer of second-generation RNA-interference drugs, said today it is expanding its collaboration with the Japanese drug-maker Kyowa Hakko Kirin to include research of gene-silencing treatments for immunologic and inflammatory diseases. The firms announced their original collaboration, worth up to $1.4 billion, in January 2010 to focus on treatments for cancer. … Continue reading “Dicerna Expands Kyowa Hakko Pact”

Why It’s Noble to Be An Innovator

Many Xconomy readers have spent their careers in the innovation field. How important is our work? We all have friends who are doctors, teachers, firemen, journalists… people who make the world better somehow. How about us? Does our work stack up as meaningful? If you are an innovator, what follows is a primer on why … Continue reading “Why It’s Noble to Be An Innovator”

Seattle Genetics, Millennium’s Encore: Souped-Up Antibody Looks Better in 2nd Trial

Seattle Genetics generated buzz at a medical meeting over the weekend with its new souped-up antibody drug for Hodgkin’s disease, and today it is coming out with an encore that tops the original performance. The biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) and its partner, Cambridge, MA-based Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, are presenting results today from a … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics, Millennium’s Encore: Souped-Up Antibody Looks Better in 2nd Trial”

Onyx Unveils Results for Myeloma Drug, Raising Stakes in Rivalry with Millennium

Onyx Pharmaceuticals is betting that it can keep growing on the strength of a new cancer drug that’s supposed to compete with a blockbuster from Cambridge, MA-based Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company. Today, Onyx is presenting key data to gird for the market battle. Onyx, the Emeryville, CA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONXX]]), is reporting today … Continue reading “Onyx Unveils Results for Myeloma Drug, Raising Stakes in Rivalry with Millennium”

Wings, the Facebook Dating App, Pulls an Icarus; Relaunches as DateBuzz.com

It turns out there’s at least one thing that Facebook isn’t good at: helping people find dates. Back in July I took a close look at Wings, a new Facebook dating app created by a Palo Alto, CA startup called Triangulate. At the time Sunil Nagaraj, Triangulate’s co-founder and CEO, called Wings the first example … Continue reading “Wings, the Facebook Dating App, Pulls an Icarus; Relaunches as DateBuzz.com”

IPO Still Awaits as Fallbrook Raises $39M

San Diego’s Fallbrook Technologies says today it has raised about $39 million in a Series E preferred stock private placement that encompasses $6 million the company disclosed in a June regulatory filing. Fallbrook, which has spent more than a decade developing advanced technology for a continuously variable transmission, says the latest deal brings its cumulative … Continue reading “IPO Still Awaits as Fallbrook Raises $39M”

Relume Technologies Foresees Growth Driven by Advances in LED Displays, Smart Grid

Relume Technologies might become one of the great growth stories in the state of Michigan’s tech sector next year. The Oxford, MI-based maker of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting products and networked lighting control systems is aiming for significant increases in revenue and employment over the next year, president and chief technology officer Peter Hochstein says. … Continue reading “Relume Technologies Foresees Growth Driven by Advances in LED Displays, Smart Grid”

Fluent Mobile Garners $5,498,880 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=17f625d4-9ab4-4e5b-9bf3-5f2e1a1f3f66&Preview=1 Date 12/7/2010 Company Name Fluent Mobile Mailing Address Ten Post Office Square 8th Floor Boston, MA 02109 Company Description Fluent Mobile, a pioneer in mobile content organization and delivery, develops applications that bring the speed, reliability and convenience of desktop Web browsing to handheld devices. By applying proprietary content relevancy and … Continue reading “Fluent Mobile Garners $5,498,880 New Round”

Zendesk Secures $19,000,000 Series C Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ece223aa-dcc3-4c41-9746-6449f70a8319&Preview=1 Date 12/7/2010 Company Name Zendesk Mailing Address 107 South Street Boston, MA 02211 Company Description Zendesk is inspiring the help desk 2.0 movement through a focus on enlightened customer support. By leveraging the benefits of Web-based communications and social media, Zendesk extends good help desk karma to any company looking to … Continue reading “Zendesk Secures $19,000,000 Series C Financing Round”

NetProspex Garners $5,500,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=67cf0b63-96f0-4a5d-a22c-ab0185904b9a&Preview=1 Date 12/7/2010 Company Name NetProspex Mailing Address 318 Bear Hill Road Waltham, ME 02451 Company Description Get accurate, targeted contacts for your sales and marketing needs. Find the right person, or people, at a target company who will respond to your message. NetProspex was founded with the mission to provide leads … Continue reading “NetProspex Garners $5,500,000 Series B Financing”

Threadsy Lands $6,261,896 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0cdd1672-19ab-4901-83dd-238b75b761e6&Preview=1 Date 12/7/2010 Company Name Threadsy Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description Threadsy is a new kind of messaging experience created for anyone to use. It combines all of your existing accounts in one place and enhances them with relevant information from your social networks and the public web. … Continue reading “Threadsy Lands $6,261,896 New Funding Round”

ESTECH Secures $8,500,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b4151b7b-2335-4caa-b561-8e63fd3d80ed&Preview=1 Date 12/7/2010 Company Name ESTECH Mailing Address 2603 Camino Ramon San Ramon, CA 94583 Company Description ESTECH is a privately held medical device manufacturing and distribution company located in San Ramon, California. Website http://www.estech.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Estech has been making great … Continue reading “ESTECH Secures $8,500,000 New Round”

Flurry Secures $15,000,000 Series C Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2c3400ef-e1ca-4c03-b0b1-67f82f7f1875&Preview=1 Date 12/7/2010 Company Name Flurry Mailing Address 282 2nd Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description flurry, inc., a Delaware corporation, is a leader in developing next-generation mobile applications. flurry is an easy-to-use mobile email and RSS solution that works on hundreds of different cell phone models and thousands of email … Continue reading “Flurry Secures $15,000,000 Series C Funding Round”

Gazzang Secures $3,500,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8823929d-ecd3-437b-8310-785d979e90e8&Preview=1 Date 12/7/2010 Company Name Gazzang Mailing Address 804 Congress Avenue Austin, TX 78701 Company Description We are a cloud infrastructure software company that helps organizations reduce the complexity and cost of enterprise computing. Website http://www.gazzang.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,500,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes The company will … Continue reading “Gazzang Secures $3,500,000 Series A Financing”

NanoString Scoops Up Breast Cancer Technology, Pushes Ahead in Diagnostics

NanoString Technologies has been talking for months about diving into the molecular diagnostic business. Now it is going full-steam ahead with a plan to use its genetic analysis instrument to help physicians better understand the severity of certain kinds of breast cancer. The Seattle-based company is announcing today that it has obtained an exclusive worldwide … Continue reading “NanoString Scoops Up Breast Cancer Technology, Pushes Ahead in Diagnostics”

NaviNet Buys Prematics

Cambridge, MA-based NaviNet, which says it has the country’s largest real-time healthcare communications network, said today that it has acquired Prematics of McLean, VA. “Prematics’ mobile clinical messaging and e-prescribing solutions will be integrated with NaviNet Insurer Connect, the industry-leading multi-payer portal, and NaviNet EMR and NaviNet PM,” the buyer said in a press release. … Continue reading “NaviNet Buys Prematics”

Dijipop Scores $1M

Providence, RI-based Dijipop, a maker of software for e-commerce marketing, announced today that it has raised a $1 million financing, led by angel investor Bill Cesare. Angel Street Capital and other Rhode Island-based private investors participated in the round, which brings Dijipop’s total funding pot to $2 million. The startup is an alum of technology … Continue reading “Dijipop Scores $1M”

Moritz on Stage, A Long Look at Blinkx, Gadgets for the Holidays, and other Bay Area BizTech News

The big event dominating Xconomy San Francisco’s calendar last week was our on-stage conversation with Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz, which was enlightening and well-attended, filling San Francisco’s KickLabs to capacity. I’m working on bringing you video highlights from the talk, which ranged from Moritz’s tricks for identifying great entrepreneurs to the funding options for … Continue reading “Moritz on Stage, A Long Look at Blinkx, Gadgets for the Holidays, and other Bay Area BizTech News”

Google, Amazon Play Catch-Up in Group Buying: Analysis and Reactions from BuyWithMe, Tippr

In the Wild West of group-buying and daily-deals sites, there’s about to be a major showdown. Investors have been talking about consolidation in this sector for a while now—and it looks like that’s where things are headed. But not without a few curveballs first. Last week, Google (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GOOG]]) was widely reported to be pursuing … Continue reading “Google, Amazon Play Catch-Up in Group Buying: Analysis and Reactions from BuyWithMe, Tippr”

Seattle’s HemaQuest Sets New Headquarters in San Diego

After hiring former Favrille CEO John Longenecker a few weeks ago, HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals said Friday it is relocating its headquarters to San Diego. The three-year-old startup, which is developing drugs to treat hemoglobin-associated diseases, plans to maintain an office in Seattle, but the center of gravity is now here. In its statement, HemaQuest also says … Continue reading “Seattle’s HemaQuest Sets New Headquarters in San Diego”

PacketMotion C Round Grows to $8.4M

San Jose, CA-based PacketMotion, which makes employee monitoring software used by large enterprises to guard against compliance violations and “insider threats,” announced on December 2 that its recent Series C funding round has grown by $2.7 million and now totals $8.4 million. Athenian Ventures and Reservoir Venture Partners provided the extra funding. Also participating in … Continue reading “PacketMotion C Round Grows to $8.4M”

EnerNOC Buys Global Energy Partners, Gains West Coast Access

Boston-based EnerNOC (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ENOC]]), a provider of support services and programs for electrical utilities, said today that it has made its biggest acquisition to date, with the purchase of Global Energy Partners of Walnut Creek, CA. The addition of the West Coast company, which has 55 employees and provides energy and environmental engineering and services … Continue reading “EnerNOC Buys Global Energy Partners, Gains West Coast Access”

Calisolar Pulls In $3M

Sunnyvale, CA-based solar manufacturer Calisolar has raised $3 million out of a potential $5 million in a funding round involving debt, options, and securities, according to a December 2 regulatory filing. Calisolar is a vertically integrated manufacturer that makes raw silicon into solar cells.  It’s gone back to the fundraising well frequently in the last three … Continue reading “Calisolar Pulls In $3M”