Red Hat Dons Makara

Red Hat (NYSE: [[ticker:RHT]]), the Raleigh, NC-based provider of open source software support, said today that it has acquired Makara, a Redwood City, CA-based startup that specializes in software for managing cloud-based applications. Red Hat said the acquisition would “accelerate the development of Red Hat’s comprehensive Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution as part of its Cloud Foundations … Continue reading “Red Hat Dons Makara”

FitnessKeeper Grabs $1.1M

Boston-based FitnessKeeper, the developer of mobile app RunKeeper, announced today that is has wrapped up a $1.1 million financing, led by Bryce Roberts at O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. The funding round also involved full participation from the startup’s existing investors, who include LaunchCapital, Will Herman, Dave Balter, and Don McLagan. They backed FitnessKeeper for its $400,000 seed … Continue reading “FitnessKeeper Grabs $1.1M”

With a Lifeline to London, Blinkx Builds the World’s Largest Video Search Index

Celebrity obsession isn’t limited to Hollywood. Here in Silicon Valley, we’ve got our own versions of Brangelina and Justin Timberlake—they just go by names like Google, Apple, Facebook, and Twitter. Part of Xconomy’s mission, though, is to look beyond the headlines for firms that are innovating in unusual ways. So it’s been a pleasure to … Continue reading “With a Lifeline to London, Blinkx Builds the World’s Largest Video Search Index”

Project 11’s Katie Rae Named Director of TechStars Boston

TechStars, the seed-stage investment fund and startup mentoring program, announced today it has selected tech executive and startup personality Katie Rae as the new managing director for its Boston installment. She’ll take over for former managing director Shawn Broderick, who announced earlier this month that he would be leaving his role to focus more closely … Continue reading “Project 11’s Katie Rae Named Director of TechStars Boston”

Aileron and Scripps Ink Deal

Cambridge, MA-based Aileron Therapeutics, a  developer of peptide-based drugs, said today it gained exclusive rights to “click” chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. “Click chemistry describes synthetic chemistry tailored to generate substances quickly and reliably by joining (“clicking”) small reactive molecular building blocks together selectively and covalently to drive a spontaneous … Continue reading “Aileron and Scripps Ink Deal”

AisleBuyer, Growing Fast, Looks to Own Mobile Checkout With New Android App

Consumers may love the convenience of self-checkout stands while shopping, but getting those machines into stores carries a hefty price tag for retailers. Boston-based startup AisleBuyer is looking to bring that same convenience to customers without the installment cost to retailers, with its iPhone and Android mobile app, the latter of which went live today. … Continue reading “AisleBuyer, Growing Fast, Looks to Own Mobile Checkout With New Android App”

Selventa Changes Name from Genstruct, Reveals New Efforts to Help Pharma Match Patients with Right Drugs

The complex field of systems biology might be in need of some clarification. Cambridge, MA-based Selventa has been renamed from its former moniker Genstruct as part of an effort to clarify to pharmaceutical companies and others in the life sciences industry how the firm uses computational methods to help its customers match patients with the … Continue reading “Selventa Changes Name from Genstruct, Reveals New Efforts to Help Pharma Match Patients with Right Drugs”

Optimer Seeks Quick Green Light From FDA for Antibiotic Against Deadly Bug

San Diego-based Optimer Pharmaceuticals has spent more than $200 million and a dozen years of effort to get to the point where it can ask the FDA to clear its first product for sale on the U.S. market. And that’s the position Optimer finds itself in now. Optimer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OPTR]]) is announcing today that it … Continue reading “Optimer Seeks Quick Green Light From FDA for Antibiotic Against Deadly Bug”

Bill Warner on Building Your Startup From Your Heart, Not Your Head—A Preview of His Keynote at Xconomy’s 5X5 Forum

Bill Warner is one of those good guy entrepreneurs. Yeah, he has a track record of business success, founding Avid and Wildfire, among other companies, and selling them for lots of money. But more than that, he gives back to the entrepreneurial community—both as an angel investor and, more importantly, as a mentor to those … Continue reading “Bill Warner on Building Your Startup From Your Heart, Not Your Head—A Preview of His Keynote at Xconomy’s 5X5 Forum”

How To Keep Academic/Big Pharma Alliances from Going off the Rails

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston made headlines earlier this month after siding with Novartis in a brewing legal battle with a Dana-Farber spinout, Gatekeeper Pharmaceuticals. The disagreement stems from both companies claiming they are the rightful licensees of certain intellectual property (IP) created by Dana-Farber researchers. The IP, originally committed to Gatekeeper via an … Continue reading “How To Keep Academic/Big Pharma Alliances from Going off the Rails”

NanoBio Nabs $6M from Gates Foundation for Nasal Spray Vaccine

NanoBio, the Ann Arbor, MI-based developer of new vaccine formulations made to be more potent and easy to deliver, has snapped up a $6 million grant from the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The money will help fund development of the first nasal spray vaccine against one of the most common bugs that causes … Continue reading “NanoBio Nabs $6M from Gates Foundation for Nasal Spray Vaccine”

Heartland Robotics Raises $20M More to Develop Helper Robots for Manufacturing

Make no mistake—this is Boston’s big bet on the future of robotics. Cambridge, MA-based Heartland Robotics is announcing today it has raised $20 million in Series B financing led by new investor Highland Capital Partners. New investor Sigma Partners also participated, as did existing investors Charles River Ventures and Bezos Expeditions. All in all, it’s … Continue reading “Heartland Robotics Raises $20M More to Develop Helper Robots for Manufacturing”

It’s Complicated: Survey Reveals Rough Patches in FDA’s Working Relationship With Life Sciences Industry

The life sciences industry says its working relationship with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has improved, particularly for the early stages of the agency’s product review process. But a survey of 50 life science companies, primarily in California and Massachusetts, also pointed to rising concerns about the latter part of the product review process, … Continue reading “It’s Complicated: Survey Reveals Rough Patches in FDA’s Working Relationship With Life Sciences Industry”

Heartland Robotics Lands $20,000,000 Series B Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4461f8dd-3d40-472f-8911-55337fc18243&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name Heartland Robotics Mailing Address 485 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description Heartland Robotics is combining the power of computers – embodied in robots – and the extraordinary intelligence of the American workforce, to increase productivity and revitalize manufacturing. Website http://www.heartlandrobotics.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Heartland Robotics Lands $20,000,000 Series B Financing Round”

FitnessKeeper Receives $1,100,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=af2e1a65-c17d-435f-83a4-8a654f577c1e&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name FitnessKeeper Mailing Address 770 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02199 Company Description RunKeeper is a mobile fitness platform that we are building with a simple mission—to make fitness tracking and training easier to use and more fun. No need for expensive standalone devices, now you can use your … Continue reading “FitnessKeeper Receives $1,100,000 New Financing”

RingRevenue Lands $4,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dce63025-7db2-4327-af1c-fd51ebe3d04b&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name RingRevenue Mailing Address 125 E. De La Guerra St Santa Barbara, CA 93130 Company Description RingRevenue improves every marketing campaign with better quality leads, higher conversions and increased ROI. Website http://www.ringrevenue.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes This financing will allow … Continue reading “RingRevenue Lands $4,000,000 New Funding”

Payvment Receives $6,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0d4125cd-66be-40c4-9fba-2264482f6921&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name Payvment Mailing Address 650 5th Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description Payvment’s shopping cart was developed from the ground up as a Web Service. This means it requires no programming or purchasing of shopping cart software, and is easy to add to any website. To use … Continue reading “Payvment Receives $6,000,000 Series B Round”

PowerCloud Systems Obtains New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1238f3e1-b95d-4114-a4ce-820617b726f4&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name PowerCloud Systems Mailing Address 3333 Coyote Hill Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94304 Company Description PowerCloud Systems delivers cloud-based software that OEMs integrate with their business networking products. Website http://www.powercloudsystems.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A … Continue reading “PowerCloud Systems Obtains New Financing Round”

Abiquo Receives $10,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c9c52d46-7c43-470b-b34f-dfcc65741e4d&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name Abiquo Mailing Address 203 Redwood Shores Parkway Redwood City, CA 94065 Company Description Abiquo is a leading developer of Cloud management solutions founded in 2006. Abiquo envisions a future where private and public Clouds are fully interoperable and vendor neutral. The company embraces an open-source model where … Continue reading “Abiquo Receives $10,000,000 Series B Round”

Yammer Obtains $25,000,000 Series C Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b2f9e732-b6aa-46c6-9e20-31463d6734ef&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name Yammer Mailing Address 410 Townsend St San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: ‘What are you working on?’As employees answer that question, a feed is created … Continue reading “Yammer Obtains $25,000,000 Series C Financing Round”

Red Hat Acquires Makara for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d05d5c09-9e4e-4c58-a913-73f26bc44bed&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name Makara Mailing Address 2220 1 Broadway St., 2nd Floor Redwood City, CA 94063 Company Description Makara was founded by application deployment and management veterans that recognized the gap that exists between deployment and ongoing management of business-critical web applications in public, private, internal, and trusted clouds. Website … Continue reading “Red Hat Acquires Makara for Undisclosed Sum”

Vostu Receives $30,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=31997326-19df-4bee-b095-67c75630c869&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name Vostu Mailing Address 55 Fifth Avenue, 18th floor New York, NY 10003 Company Description The company operates a social gaming service. Website http://www.vostu.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $30,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The company will use the funding to expand its employee base and … Continue reading “Vostu Receives $30,000,000 New Financing”

Totsy Garners $5,000,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0c2f591d-bfb8-4645-b9e8-a0b285a6a178&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name Totsy Mailing Address 27 W. 20th St. New York, NY 10011 Company Description The company operates a member oriented e-commerce website aimed at mothers. Website http://www.totsy.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes This funding will help us to meet demand … Continue reading “Totsy Garners $5,000,000 Series A Round”

OfferPop Receives $1,300,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=468acc5b-9cbc-4fa0-8b17-d40a0085e68f&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name OfferPop Mailing Address 750 3rd Ave. New York, NY 10017 Company Description Offerpop automatically generates branded landing pages/tabs for your campaigns. Pages/tabs encourage user participation with simple social gestures. Promote pages/tabs through any channel – including your website, email or ads. Website http://www.offerpop.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “OfferPop Receives $1,300,000 New Round”

Travel Ad Network Acquires Travel Ad Network for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9a808434-fa36-4dba-87f7-8d64449c3a8e&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name Travel Ad Network Mailing Address 55 Broad Street 24th Floor New York, NY 10004 Company Description Travel Ad Network (TAN) is the leading advertising network in the online travel vertical reaching 12.5 million unique users through top tier website publishers, including BBC’s Lonely Planet, Rand McNally and … Continue reading “Travel Ad Network Acquires Travel Ad Network for Undisclosed Sum”

Standing Cloud Obtains $3,000,000 Series B Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=58bba5a7-12b0-4911-8695-4566b001fc46&Preview=1 Date 11/30/2010 Company Name Standing Cloud Mailing Address 1433 Pearl Street Boulder, CO 80302 Company Description Standing Cloud provides simple, yet powerful, services that make it fast and easy for you to run open source applications in the cloud. We allow you to focus on putting cloud applications to work for … Continue reading “Standing Cloud Obtains $3,000,000 Series B Financing Round”

See You Tonight at “Biotech’s Back in Seattle”

I’m getting ready for one of Xconomy’s biggest events of the year—“Biotech’s Back in Seattle“—which will be held tonight at PATH’s new headquarters in South Lake Union. More than 200 people have snapped up tickets so far, and only six seats are left at the time I’m writing this. So if you missed the last … Continue reading “See You Tonight at “Biotech’s Back in Seattle””

Hope to See You Tomorrow at Xconomy’s Michael Moritz Chat—Only a Handful of Seats Left

We’re nearly out of tickets to “Michael Moritz Unplugged,” our exclusive on-stage conversation Tuesday night with the famed Sequoia Capital partner. Register today if you plan to attend, as we can’t guarantee we’ll have any room for walk-ins at the event, which will be held from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at San Francisco’s Kicklabs … Continue reading “Hope to See You Tomorrow at Xconomy’s Michael Moritz Chat—Only a Handful of Seats Left”

Glaxo Buys $129M in Theravance Stock

Theravance (NASDAQ: [[ticker:THRX]]), the South San Francisco-based biotech company, said today that pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to buy $129.4 million worth of Theravance stock. Glaxo agreed to buy 5.75 million shares at $22.50 apiece—so it will now have about a 19 percent ownership stake in Theravance. The companies have been partners since 2002, and … Continue reading “Glaxo Buys $129M in Theravance Stock”

Socialwise Raises $3.5M for Teen Prepaid Card and ‘Bill My Parents’ Payment Solution

San Diego-based Socialwise, which has developed payment solutions that target teens and their parents, has raised nearly $3.5 million of a planned $4 million offering, according to a recent regulatory filing. As I reported a couple of years ago, former Gateway computer executive Jim Collas founded Socialwise, which trades on the Nasdaq over-the-counter market as … Continue reading “Socialwise Raises $3.5M for Teen Prepaid Card and ‘Bill My Parents’ Payment Solution”

Matrix Leads $4M Deal for CloudBees

Matrix Partners, a venture firm with offices in Waltham, MA and Silicon Valley, has led a $4 million Series A financing for CloudBees, a startup developing a cloud-based platform for Java computing and development, the company announced today. Individual investors Marc Fleury and Bob Bickel, both veterans of open-source middleware online community JBoss, also participated … Continue reading “Matrix Leads $4M Deal for CloudBees”

Ruckus Solves 3G Headaches, StumbleUpon Vies with Facebook, Woz Misspeaks, & More Bay Area Biztech News

The long Thanksgiving weekend put an early punctuation mark on last week’s technology and business news in the Bay Area. Here’s a glance back: —StumbleUpon, the San Francisco “discovery engine” company founded in 2002, now rivals Facebook in the amount of social-media traffic it sends to websites. I profiled the company, which has had a … Continue reading “Ruckus Solves 3G Headaches, StumbleUpon Vies with Facebook, Woz Misspeaks, & More Bay Area Biztech News”

City Uses Sewage Gas for Renewable Energy, Peregrine Semiconductor Files for IPO, Cooley Q3 Venture Report, & More San Diego BizTech News

San Diego could be the first city in the country to use sewage gas in advanced fuel cells to generate electricity. We’ve got that and the rest of San Diego’s tech news roundup, which was abbreviated last week by the Thanksgiving holiday. —The City of San Diego is set to begin construction next month on … Continue reading “City Uses Sewage Gas for Renewable Energy, Peregrine Semiconductor Files for IPO, Cooley Q3 Venture Report, & More San Diego BizTech News”

EcoSynthetix Raises $7.2M from U.S. Backers, Much More from Abroad

EcoSynthetix has garnered more support from both domestic and international investors, according to an SEC filing. The Lansing, MI-based company—which applies its “green chemistry” to make latex and other materials from renewable resources—said it has raised $7.2 million from U.S. investors in an equity funding round. The filing does not list the investors in the … Continue reading “EcoSynthetix Raises $7.2M from U.S. Backers, Much More from Abroad”

Intarcia Bets It Will Shake Up Diabetes Treatment With Implantable Device

[Corrected: 11:15 pm Pacific, 11/29/10] Diabetes is supposed to be one of the biggest public health threats facing the U.S. over the next decade, yet if you talk to anybody developing drugs for this chronic disease, times have never been tougher. So how can Kurt Graves, the executive chairman at Hayward, CA-based Intarcia Therapeutics, sound … Continue reading “Intarcia Bets It Will Shake Up Diabetes Treatment With Implantable Device”

Sparkbuy Emerges from Stealth, Unveils Laptop Shopping Site

[Updated 11/30/10 with signup link. See below] Seattle-based Sparkbuy has come out of stealth mode today, rolling out a comparison shopping website for consumer electronics, starting with laptops. The company also confirmed that it raised $1 million last month led by Benaroya Ventures and angel investor Geoff Entress. Sparkbuy’s website is now in closed beta … Continue reading “Sparkbuy Emerges from Stealth, Unveils Laptop Shopping Site”

Hygeia Therapeutics Aims Synthetic Hormone Therapies At Aging Boomers (Men and Women Alike)

Hormone-replacement therapy was once billed as the fountain of youth for aging women facing the symptoms of menopause, until controversial studies from the past decade showed the hormones appeared to raise risks of heart attack and stroke. But hormone replacements never went completely away, and now a small Massachusetts biotech is seeking to tap new … Continue reading “Hygeia Therapeutics Aims Synthetic Hormone Therapies At Aging Boomers (Men and Women Alike)”

The Myth of the “Patent Cliff”

Doctors, patients, and investors who follow the biopharmaceutical business all recognize that the industry is exceedingly complex and in the midst of change. Companies struggle daily with a multifaceted mix of scientific, clinical, and business unknowns. Will a drug be medically effective and make it through clinical trials? Will it get the thumbs up from … Continue reading “The Myth of the “Patent Cliff””

Dinner With Microsoft’s Craig Mundie: On Xbox Kinect, Instantaneous Total Recall, and a More Secretive Culture

I recently had dinner here in the Boston area with Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer. With just one other guest present, it was an unusually personal and far-ranging discussion. Most of the talk was of a general nature—more background than anything else. Still, a few things stuck with me as noteworthy. I … Continue reading “Dinner With Microsoft’s Craig Mundie: On Xbox Kinect, Instantaneous Total Recall, and a More Secretive Culture”

EcoSynthetix Obtains $30,240,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=67ef5440-b4f1-4f73-9898-614b51e4db38&Preview=1 Date 11/29/2010 Company Name EcoSynthetix Mailing Address 3900 Collins Road Lansing, MI 48910 Company Description The company’s mission is to be the world’s leading supplier of biolatex™ emulsions helping our customers reduce their reliance on petroleum-based products. Website http://www.ecosynthetix.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $30,240,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “EcoSynthetix Obtains $30,240,000 New Funding”

The Wireless Revolution: The Next Generation of Embedded Technology

UC San Diego professor Larry Larson, chairman of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, discusses advances in embedded wireless devices. As the technology evolves and costs come down, machines that were never originally created for this technology now have the functionality of being mobile workstations. Security devices, vehicle tracking, diagnostics and patient health monitors are … Continue reading “The Wireless Revolution: The Next Generation of Embedded Technology”

BVS La Jolla Biotech Day

Biotech Vendor Services hosts its 8th annual La Jolla Biotech Day, an event that brings together top scientists, exhibitors, and top-notch speakers from local life science companies. Tim Harkins, R&D Director of next generation sequencing for Carlsbad, CA-based Life Technologies, will talk on the personal sequencing of Life CEO Greg Lucier to identify medically relevant … Continue reading “BVS La Jolla Biotech Day”

Spinning San Diego’s CareFusion Out of Ohio’s Cardinal Health

The San Diego Chapter of the Association of Corporate Growth is hosting CareFusion Executive Vice President Joan Stafslien and vice presidents 
Virginia Sanzone and
 Nathaniel Sisitsky for a presentation about the spinout of CareFusion from Cardinal Health. Their talk is intended to address business issues encountered in structuring the divestiture, standing up a new public … Continue reading “Spinning San Diego’s CareFusion Out of Ohio’s Cardinal Health”

SPAWAR: The Navy’s Information Dominance Command

The military special interest group at CommNexus has invited Rear Admiral Patrick H. Bradey, commander of the San Diego-based Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, to discuss SPAWAR and the doctrine of information dominance in modern naval strategy. Brady is responsible for providing superior decision systems to achieve information dominance for the U.S. Navy and … Continue reading “SPAWAR: The Navy’s Information Dominance Command”

Android Building Blocks

Since Android’s public release in 2008, it has emerged as one of the most popular mobile operating systems being used by mobile device manufacturer’s worldwide. CommNexus has organized this event with Deepak Kundra, principal staff software engineer for Motorola Mobility, to cover the architecture of the Android OS, explaining the different functional blocks, release history … Continue reading “Android Building Blocks”

Bizness Apps Obtains New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bd3c625f-332c-4626-80bd-3554d5df0bb6&Preview=1 Date 11/25/2010 Company Name Bizness Apps Mailing Address Undisclosed Chico, CA 95926 Company Description The company provides a service that allows businesses to create iPhone applications easily. Website http://www.biznessapps.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Individual … Continue reading “Bizness Apps Obtains New Financing”