San Diego businessman Art Brody has pledged $1 million to the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute to help the academic center turn some of its basic science discoveries into new healthcare products. The gift is being used to create the Art Brody Innovation Fund, which will support promising research that otherwise might not advance with the … Continue reading “Brody Gives $1M to Sanford-Burnham”
Zyrra Wraps Up $445K
Boston-based Zyrra, a provider of CAD-based technology for developing custom-fit bras, has raised $445,000 of a potential $1 million equity round, from 17 investors, according to an SEC filing. We first caught wind of the Zyrra seed funding, which includes Golden Seeds investors Jess McLear and Jean Hammond, when we profiled the company last month. Zyrra … Continue reading “Zyrra Wraps Up $445K”
MooBella Laps Up $9M
MooBella, a Taunton, MA-based provider of make-your-own ice cream machines, has scooped up $9 million in equity-based funding, from one investor, according to an SEC filing. Last year the company brought in $18 million from Inventages Venture Capital, shortly after revamping its technology to better scale at a number of locations throughout New England. Its … Continue reading “MooBella Laps Up $9M”
Coraid Raises $25M
Redwood City, CA-based Coraid, which makes scalable storage devices for businesses, said today that it has closed a $25 million round of Series C venture funding. Menlo Ventures was in the lead, and all of the company’s existing investors, including Allegis Capital and Azure Capital Partners, also participated. Menlo Ventures managing director John Jarve has … Continue reading “Coraid Raises $25M”
EMC Acquires Isilon Systems for $2.25B—Now the Real Work Begins
[Updated 12:30pm ET, see below.] OK, we knew this was coming—it was just a matter of when. Hopkinton, MA-based data storage giant EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]) announced today it will acquire Seattle-based Isilon Systems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISLN]]) for $2.25 billion in cash. EMC is paying $33.85 per share, a 29 percent increase over Isilon’s previous closing price … Continue reading “EMC Acquires Isilon Systems for $2.25B—Now the Real Work Begins”
ConnectEdu Closes $7M Round
Boston-based ConnectEdu, a provider of Web-based platforms for college admissions and career planning, announced today that it has closed a $7 million funding round, led by existing backer Allen & Co., and a return group of individual investors in the education, private equity, and Internet spaces. We first reported on this financing last week, when … Continue reading “ConnectEdu Closes $7M Round”
Cerulean Grabs $24M for Nano Drugs
[Correction—8:16 pm Eastern time on 11/15/10. See editor’s note.] Tiny drugs just got a big endorsement. Cambridge, MA-based Cerulean Pharmaceuticals has closed a $24 million Series C funding round to fuel development of its nanoparticle drugs, the company announced this morning. The deal gives the startup funding for a mid-stage clinical trial of its lead … Continue reading “Cerulean Grabs $24M for Nano Drugs”
“Changing the Way We Start Companies”: Q&A with AngelPad’s Thomas Korte
Last week I reported on the inaugural demo day presentations from startups at San Francisco-based AngelPad, the newest of the Y Combinator-style tech incubators springing up around the country. After the presentations I had a chance to speak with Thomas Korte, one of the founders of AngelPad, about the vision behind the program, and I’ve … Continue reading ““Changing the Way We Start Companies”: Q&A with AngelPad’s Thomas Korte”
Act-On Software Scores $4M from Voyager, USVP
Act-On Software, an online marketing startup based in Beaverton, OR, has raised $4 million in Series B venture financing, co-led by Seattle-based Voyager Capital and Silicon Valley-based U.S. Venture Partners. The startup makes marketing and sales automation software (across Web, e-mail, and social media) for businesses. This is a fast-growing and competitive field. Act-On’s customers … Continue reading “Act-On Software Scores $4M from Voyager, USVP”
Physio-Control, iPhone Appmaker Seek Smooth Wireless Data Between Ambulance and Hospital
Physio-Control has made some unhappy headlines the past few years because of quality control problems that temporarily caused it to halt shipments of its heart defibrillators. But at the same time it was trying to fix that short-term issue, it has been investing for the long-term in wireless infrastructure that it hopes could save precious … Continue reading “Physio-Control, iPhone Appmaker Seek Smooth Wireless Data Between Ambulance and Hospital”
Quest Buys San Diego’s BakBone, Novatel Acquires Enfora, West Wireless Health Institute Develops its First Prototype, & More San Diego BizTech News
It was a week of deals for San Diego’s technology companies, with some tales of new product developments thrown in for extra measure. Our briefing begins here. —Novatel Wireless (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NVTL]]), the San Diego provider of wireless mobile devices, said it is buying machine-to-machine specialist Enfora of suburban Dallas. Avondale Partners analyst John F. Bright … Continue reading “Quest Buys San Diego’s BakBone, Novatel Acquires Enfora, West Wireless Health Institute Develops its First Prototype, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Overland’s Ordeal: Turnaround Continues as New Management Team Sets New Course, Readies New Products
Not too long ago, I got a chance to talk with Jillian Mansolf, who joined San Diego’s Overland Storage (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OVRL]]) as vice president of global sales and marketing about 18 months ago. A few days earlier, Overland had disclosed its acquisition of Sunnyvale, CA-based MaxiScale, a three-year-old data storage startup, a deal that prompted … Continue reading “Overland’s Ordeal: Turnaround Continues as New Management Team Sets New Course, Readies New Products”
GREENtrepreneurs: The Challenge & The Opportunity (Part 2)
[Editor’s Note: the first part of this guest post ran on Friday.] Governments, Law and Regulations, Oh My! One of the hallmarks of the growth of the Internet was a lack of government regulation or involvement. While not the case for all green businesses, many of the larger opportunities and business sectors look to government … Continue reading “GREENtrepreneurs: The Challenge & The Opportunity (Part 2)”
RockMelt’s New Browser, AngelPad’s 8 New Web Startups, Flowtown’s New Twitter Services, & More Bay Area BizTech News
Companies offering new takes on social media and collaboration dominated the local business and technology news last week, as they seem to be doing an increasing amount of the time. —After two years in stealth, a Mountain View, CA, startup called RockMelt began distributing a new Windows and Mac browser by the same name. In … Continue reading “RockMelt’s New Browser, AngelPad’s 8 New Web Startups, Flowtown’s New Twitter Services, & More Bay Area BizTech News”
TokBox Raises $12M Series C
TokBox, a San Francisco startup specializing in Web-based software for multi-party video calls, announced today that it has collected $12 million in a Series C funding round led by DAG Ventures. Existing investors Bain Capital Group and Sequoia Capital also participated. At the same time, the company introduced OpenTok, a new service that lets Web … Continue reading “TokBox Raises $12M Series C”
TechStars Demo Day Yields 10 New Seattle Startups—and a Lot of Work Ahead
It’s pretty impressive what a few startup teams can accomplish in 90 days with a lot of hard work, mentorship, and late-night Maker’s Mark bourbon-fueled sessions. But their real journey is just beginning—and it will be a long one. That’s my main takeaway from TechStars Seattle’s first “demo day” on Thursday. The seed-stage mentorship program—which … Continue reading “TechStars Demo Day Yields 10 New Seattle Startups—and a Lot of Work Ahead”
Web 2.0 Summit
O’Reilly Media’s invitation-only executive conference returns to San Francisco. From the event website: “Fifteen years and two recessions into the commercial Internet, it’s clear that our industry has moved into a competitive phase-a “middlegame” in the battle to dominate the Internet Economy. At this year’s Web 2.0 Summit, we’re focusing on these shifting points of … Continue reading “Web 2.0 Summit”
Dave Morin’s Path App—A Rebuke to Facebook?
Ex-Facebooker Dave Morin’s much-anticipated Path service has launched on the iPhone. It’s built around photo sharing, and it’s being billed as a “personal network,” with an explicit limit of 50 friends, as opposed to Facebook’s 5,000. The news went out in a note to journalists tonight from Path’s public relations representatives. Using the free Path … Continue reading “Dave Morin’s Path App—A Rebuke to Facebook?”
Fusion Coolant Systems Cracks Big Problems in Manufacturing, Now Needs Customers
Manufacturers have made strides in rolling eco-friendly products like electric vehicles off their assembly lines, yet it might be a bigger challenge to entice industry to clean up its production methods. Ann Arbor, MI-based startup Fusion Coolant Systems is taking on this challenge with its brand new metalworking fluid technology. Steven Skerlos, a co-inventor of … Continue reading “Fusion Coolant Systems Cracks Big Problems in Manufacturing, Now Needs Customers”
Alkermes CEO Leans on Internal Pipeline as Bydureon Hangs Out in the Penalty Box
When biotech firms get bad news from the FDA, the fallout can have a dramatic impact on everyone from the CEO to the bench scientists. But Waltham, MA-based biotech firm Alkermes (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALKS]]) was able to escape a disappointing regulatory ruling last month without any impact on its day-to-day operations, Richard Pops, the company’s chairman and … Continue reading “Alkermes CEO Leans on Internal Pipeline as Bydureon Hangs Out in the Penalty Box”
Cerulean Pharmaceuticals Receives $24,000,000 Series C Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=eaf93f3e-e87b-4ae3-967b-941ff461dc70&Preview=1 Date 11/15/2010 Company Name Cerulean Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 840 Memorial Drive 5th Floor Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description Within the field of nanopharmaceuticals, Cerulean Pharma is uniquely focused on a next-generation approach we call Nanobiology. Cerulean’s nanobiology-based drug development is based on a deep understanding of the complex biological microenvironment of … Continue reading “Cerulean Pharmaceuticals Receives $24,000,000 Series C Funding Round”
ConnectEDU Lands $7,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=60202b5c-3549-4f99-bd31-99c48f7d7406&Preview=1 Date 11/15/2010 Company Name ConnectEDU Mailing Address 20 Park Plaza Boston, MA 02116 Company Description ConnectEDU is the nation’s leading technology firm dedicated to providing students, educators and employers with comprehensive solutions to successfully navigate education and employment transitions. Website http://www.connectedu.net/ Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $7,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed … Continue reading “ConnectEDU Lands $7,000,000 New Financing”
Ramp Holdings Secures $3,499,999 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8fd15190-666b-4f45-8e91-f90e187d7c0c&Preview=1 Date 11/15/2010 Company Name Ramp Holdings Mailing Address 300 Trade Center Woburn, MA 01801 Company Description The company develops platforms for workflow optimization for online publishers, media companies and broadcasters. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,499,999 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory … Continue reading “Ramp Holdings Secures $3,499,999 New Financing Round”
Act-On Software Obtains $4,000,000 Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1310695b-48c9-41b5-a425-f31773bfbe54&Preview=1 Date 11/15/2010 Company Name Act-On Software Mailing Address 4905 SW Griffith Drive Beaverton, OR 97005 Company Description We provide a next-generation communication and collaboration service that transforms business e-mail into a true 24/7 prospect and customer interaction service. Website http://www.actonsoftware.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,000,000 Transaction Round Series B … Continue reading “Act-On Software Obtains $4,000,000 Series B Financing”
Coraid Obtains $25,000,000 Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b2f15b8d-7fac-4411-81cf-e48fd1dfed02&Preview=1 Date 11/15/2010 Company Name Coraid Mailing Address 101 S El Camino Real San Clemente, CA 92672 Company Description Coraid redefines storage economics with its breakthrough line of EtherDrive storage solutions. EtherDrive delivers scale-out performance, Ethernet simplicity, and 5-8x price performance advantage over legacy storage. Designed from the ground up for virtualization … Continue reading “Coraid Obtains $25,000,000 Series B Financing”
GrubHub.com Secures $11,000,000 Series C Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=80c81eb7-f45f-411d-ae50-3eb8605fd4d5&Preview=1 Date 11/15/2010 Company Name GrubHub.com Mailing Address 1440 N Dayton Chicago, IL 60622 Company Description The company operates a website that allows users to learn which restaurants deliver food, view menus, reviews and more. Website http://www.grubhub.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $11,000,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes The capital … Continue reading “GrubHub.com Secures $11,000,000 Series C Funding Round”
Houzz Obtains $2,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6e035449-4acd-46dc-b2cd-79430467f57c&Preview=1 Date 11/15/2010 Company Name Houzz Mailing Address Undisclosed Palo Alto, CA 94301 Company Description Houzz is a community and photo database for home design enthusiasts, with the largest collection of high quality home design photos available online. Website http://www.houzz.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Houzz Obtains $2,000,000 New Financing Round”
TokBox Receives $12,000,000 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7df1d03e-41d6-41cd-a9bc-e7c31749acde&Preview=1 Date 11/15/2010 Company Name TokBox Mailing Address 128 King St 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description Tokbox is a free service that lets you talk with your friends over live video. Here’s how it works: you sign up and we give you a link. When you want to talk … Continue reading “TokBox Receives $12,000,000 Series C Round”
Digital Media SIG Event: You’re Being Followed – Online Privacy Today
This event, put on by the MIT Enterprise Forum Digital Media SIG, is designed to give you a peek into how firms track, target, analyze, and sell data of your online activity. Benefits and risks will be discussed from both the consumer and corporate perspectives, as will ways to manage the privacy concerns that pop … Continue reading “Digital Media SIG Event: You’re Being Followed – Online Privacy Today”
NW Biodiesel Network: Biomass and Commercialization
The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, manages 10 national laboratories around the country with one located in Richland, Washington – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL has approximately 4,700 staff and has a business volume of $881 million. So what does PNNL do? What type of research is being conducted, especially around biomass? … Continue reading “NW Biodiesel Network: Biomass and Commercialization”
Ambiq Micro To Move From Michigan, Says Talent is in Texas
Ambiq Micro, an Ann Arbor, MI, startup developing low-power microcontrollers for smart credit cards and ultralong-life sensors for homes and buildings, is moving out of its lab space at the University of Michigan to new offices in Austin, TX. The decision, first reported by AnnArbor.com, comes just a few days after Ambiq Micro announced it … Continue reading “Ambiq Micro To Move From Michigan, Says Talent is in Texas”
Y Combinator Adds Buchheit, Taggar as Partners
Y Combinator, the Mountain View, CA-based venture incubator, announced the addition of two partners today, the first to join its team since the outfit’s founding in 2005. They are Paul Buchheit, a former Google engineer who developed both Gmail and the original prototype of AdSense, and Auctomatic founder Harj Taggar, who has been advising Y … Continue reading “Y Combinator Adds Buchheit, Taggar as Partners”
Airbnb Reserves $7.2M
Airbnb, the San Francisco-based online and mobile marketplace for booking unusual accommodations such as rooms in private homes, said this week (PDF) that it has raised $7.2 million in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital and Greylock Partners. It’s the two-year-old startup’s first major cash infusion since collecting about $600,000 in seed funding from individual … Continue reading “Airbnb Reserves $7.2M”
Cyberposium 16
This MBA technology conference will bring together business leaders to talk about the impact of technology and innovation on business and society. Put on by the Harvard Business School’s TechMedia Club, this day will feature talks from executives from companies like Pandora, VMware, and HTC. Register here.
Cotendo Sued By Akamai, MIT
Cambridge, MA-based Internet content-delivery provider Akamai Technologies, alongside MIT, are suing Cotendo, a Sunnyvale, CA-based startup in the Web content space, according to documents filed this week with the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. They have claimed that “in an effort to compete against Akamai as a low-cost provider,” Cotendo has used content-delivery technology that Akamai … Continue reading “Cotendo Sued By Akamai, MIT”
Snyder Picks SPARK CEO for Transition
Michigan Governor-elect Rick Snyder has chosen Ann Arbor SPARK CEO Michael Finney to lead the economic strategy for his transition team. AnnArbor.com is reporting on speculation that Finney might also become the next head of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC). Ann Arbor SPARK is a regional economic development group and company incubator. Snyder is … Continue reading “Snyder Picks SPARK CEO for Transition”
Ramp Pulls in $3.5M
Woburn, MA-based Ramp Holdings, a maker of platforms for workflow optimization for online publishers, media companies, and broadcasters, has wrapped up a $3.5 million equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The firm’s previous investors include Accel Partners, Fairhaven Capital, General Catalyst Partners, Peacock Equity, General Electric, and NBC Universal. Ramp was founded by now … Continue reading “Ramp Pulls in $3.5M”
Targeted Genetics Seeks Merger
Targeted Genetics, the Seattle-based gene therapy company that has struggled to survive the past two years, said today it has agreed to merge with London-based Biocontrol. The deal seeks to combine Biocontrol’s science with Targeted Genetics’ technology for using adeno-associated viruses to deliver gene therapies inside cells. The deal must be approved by Biocontrol shareholders.
Motricity Ends T-Mobile Deal, Cuts Jobs
Motricity (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MOTR]]), the Bellevue, WA-based company that manages wireless data for carriers, has terminated a contact with T-Mobile and cut “a small number of jobs,” according to a report in TechFlash. A Motricity spokeswoman said the move will help the company expand its profit margins. The move is a bit of a surprise, given … Continue reading “Motricity Ends T-Mobile Deal, Cuts Jobs”
Rhythm New Media Adds $10M
Independent mobile ad network Rhythm NewMedia said today it has closed a $10 million third round of venture funding. QuestMark Partners was the lead investor, and existing backers Lightspeed Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, and Rembrandt Venture Partners returned for the round. The startup said it would use the funds to expand its network of premium publishers.
$3M for Kala Pharmaceuticals
Kala Pharmaceuticals, a stealthy Waltham, MA-based biotech startup, has raised $3 million in an equity and debt financing, according to an SEC filing. The firm’s board of directors includes the famous MIT inventor Bob Langer, Robert Paull, a managing partner of Lux Capital, Kevin Bitterman, a principal at Polaris Venture Partners, Justin Hanes, a professor … Continue reading “$3M for Kala Pharmaceuticals”
Punchbowl Buys Socializr
Framingham, MA-based party planning website Punchbowl.com announced it has acquired Socializr.com, a San Francisco-based event management platform. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Socializr, which was started by Jonathan Abrams, the founder of social networking site Friendster, will integrate with Punchbowl’s online party planning services, which include customizable invitations, potluck planning, local vendor … Continue reading “Punchbowl Buys Socializr”
RockMelt: A Great Social Browser for the Desktop, But Isn’t This the Mobile Era?
While nearly everything about the Web has changed since its emergence circa 1993—who’s using it, what types of content are available, how Web pages are constructed, how it’s all paid for—the desktop browser hasn’t. It’s still basically a big blank square that lets you navigate between Web pages, with a set of buttons and controls … Continue reading “RockMelt: A Great Social Browser for the Desktop, But Isn’t This the Mobile Era?”
Avila Therapeutics Pursuing Rival to Lung Cancer Drug in Dana-Farber Lawsuit
An experimental lung cancer drug discovered at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is currently at the center of a lawsuit involving Dana-Farber, Swiss drug giant Novartis, and Millbrae, CA-based Gatekeeper Pharmaceuticals. But while that complicated case continues to unfold, Waltham, MA-based biotech startup Avila Therapeutics is working on a similar molecule, which is designed to treat … Continue reading “Avila Therapeutics Pursuing Rival to Lung Cancer Drug in Dana-Farber Lawsuit”
Ambit Files for IPO, Arena Pharmaceuticals Says Weight-Loss Drug on Track, ESRI Launches Medical Place History Map App, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
New money and new product innovations seemed to be the intertwining themes of San Diego’s life sciences news over the past week. See if you agree. —San Diego’s Ambit Biosciences intends to raise as much as $86.3 million in an IPO, according to a regulatory filing last week. Ambit, which has been developing a drug … Continue reading “Ambit Files for IPO, Arena Pharmaceuticals Says Weight-Loss Drug on Track, ESRI Launches Medical Place History Map App, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
Ouch for Arch: VC Bob Nelsen Says Ikaria Will March On After Withdrawing Big IPO
If Bob Nelsen ever wanted to hide, yesterday would’ve been the time. Ikaria, the futuristic “hibernation-on-demand” company he bankrolled five years ago, was on the cusp of going public this week at a valuation of more than $700 million. It was a moment he had been eagerly awaiting a long time. Two years ago, Nelsen … Continue reading “Ouch for Arch: VC Bob Nelsen Says Ikaria Will March On After Withdrawing Big IPO”
Complete Genomics Goes Public, 23andMe Raises $22M, Genomic Health’s Dx Vision, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News
The stock market, and its lackluster appetite for new IPOs, was the story of the week on the biotech beat. —Complete Genomics, the Mountain View, CA-based company seeking to be a leader in the race to deliver complete human genome sequences for $1,000 or less, pulled the trigger on its initial public offering this week. … Continue reading “Complete Genomics Goes Public, 23andMe Raises $22M, Genomic Health’s Dx Vision, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News”
GREENtrepreneurs: The Challenge & the Opportunity
“So what is so special about green entrepreneurs?” This is an excellent question and was a central theme in my recently published book, Green Entrepreneur Handbook. Why is a green entrepreneur any different than any other sort of entrepreneur? Does it take a special entrepreneur with different skills to build a green business? Throughout the … Continue reading “GREENtrepreneurs: The Challenge & the Opportunity”
Genzyme Initiates Job Cuts, Dana-Farber/Gatekeeper Suit Advances, GTC Bought by LFB, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
Biotechs, research institutes, health IT companies, diagnostics firms, and the investing side of life sciences all made the news in the New England area this week with headlines of funding, litigation, and personnel changes. —Woburn, MA-based biodefense and diagnostics firm Pathogenetix, formerly called U.S. Genomics, raised a $1.3 million equity-based financing, and $900,000 of a … Continue reading “Genzyme Initiates Job Cuts, Dana-Farber/Gatekeeper Suit Advances, GTC Bought by LFB, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Axis Semiconductor Secures $1,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d48ccaf8-f819-499c-bfa1-72e10c0b74e9&Preview=1 Date 11/12/2010 Company Name Axis Semiconductor Mailing Address 225 Cedar Hill St. Marlborough, MA 01752 Company Description Axis Semiconductor, Inc. is developing an innovative solution for signal and data processing. Website http://www.axissemi.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. … Continue reading “Axis Semiconductor Secures $1,000,000 New Financing”