DailyMotion — the European YouTube — grabs $25M
DailyMotion, the online video company in Europe that resembles YouTube, announced that it brought in a $25 million round of capital led by French Sovereign Fund, a firm nearly half-owned by the French government, and designed to take minority stakes in promising French companies.
Based in Paris, the company has also been backed by Advent Venture Partners, AGF Private Equity, Atlas Venture and Partech International. Drawing about 60 million unique monthly visitors from around the world,… Continue Reading
Get ready for femtocells: Ubiquisys raises $11 M
If you’ve used an iPhone, you’ll know how frustratingly spotty its wireless coverage can be.
Fact is, wireless carriers such as AT&T (which serves the iPhone) are desperately searching for ways to unload the huge amount of traffic that are hitting their networks from iPhone and other smartphone owners. These users are slurping up large amounts of bandwidth to do things like browse the Internet and watch videos.
Ubiquisys is getting ready to attack cell phone dead… Continue Reading
Intuitive Surgical buys NeoGuide for less invasive surgical tech
Intuitive Surgical, provider of large robotic surgical equipment, announced its acquisition of NeoGuide Systems, a San Jose, Calif., company that makes minimally invasive surgical devices. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Intuitive says it doesn’t have a specific application for NeoGuide’s technology yet but is most interested in devices that access the body through the mouth, reports VentureWire.
NeoGuide was backed by Advent Venture Partners, Angels Forum, Halo Fund, Arboretum Ventures, 3i Group,… Continue Reading
Pathwork Diagnostics raises $20M for cancer diagnostic tests
Pathwork Diagnostics, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based maker of cancer diagnostic tets, has raised $20 million in a second round of funding. The round was led by new investor Abingworth Management, with participation from existing backers Advent Venture Partners, Novus Ventures, Prospect Venture Partners, Venrock and Versant Ventures. Pathwork previously raised $11 million.
Life-science briefing: Tuesday, March 11, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Affinergy gets $3M in grants for biological “linkers” (release)
Specialty pharma EUSA raises $50M, spends $23M for public biotech Cytogen (release)
Calderome takes in $12M for cancer diagnostics (peHUB)
Pulse Health raises $2M for handheld free-radical device (release)
LifeMasters takes in $15M for wellness, disease-management programs (release)
Dubai Techno Park launched $300MVC fund for life sciences, other sectors (release)
Affinergy gets $3M in grants for biological “linkers” – Affinergy, a Duke University spinout in Research Triangle Park, N.C., received grants worth more… Continue Reading
OreCon, another wave-power startup, dives in
Vast amounts of power are locked away in the movements of the ocean, but because of technical challenges, the number of startups that have attempted to harness wave power thus far is relatively small when compared to wind or solar.
OreCon is the latest, with plans for a sort of giant, self-contained buoy that floats atop the water, each unit generating a megawatt and a half of energy. The company has raised $24 million, which it… Continue Reading
Wireless USB on the way — Wisair grabs $24M
Wisair, an Israeli ultra-wideband firm, has raised a large round of funding and says it’s gearing up to deliver more wireless USB products to the market, a technology that could cut down on the clutter of wires on the average computer user’s desk.
USB is the standard connection for most electronics that you hook up to your computer, among them cameras and MP3 players, and some equipment like the keyboard and mouse. Wired USB hasn’t been… Continue Reading
Video site Dailymotion raises $34M to grab lead in Europe
Dailymotion, a Paris, France-based video-sharing site that’s a distant competitor to YouTube, has raised $34 million in funding, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The site, like many others, lets you share personal videos privately with friends or publicly with anyone. Like its competitors, people can also comment on each other’s videos, embed Dailymotion video clips in other sites, tag videos, view selected channels, etc.
However, Dailymotion has distinguished itself by tailoring its site to country locations…. Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 20, 2007
(UPDATED at 7:10pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: NeurAxon, VytronUS, Avila Therapeutics, CardioNet, Ventana Medical Systems, CytoLogix, PlaCor
NeurAxon raises $32M for pain drugs — You have to hand it to Waltham, Mass.-based NeurAxon — the company certainly knows how to keep itself in the news. Today, it announced it has raised $32 million in a second funding round, a week after it reported a positive early-stage trial result for its experimental migraine treatment.
Investors included Delphi Ventures, OrbiMed Advisors,… Continue Reading
Inflammation drug maker Conatus Pharma completes $27.5M round
Conatus Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego developer of drugs for inflammation and liver disease, closed a $22 million private placement that brings its first round of funding to $27.5 million. Investors included Aberdare Ventures, Advent Venture Partners, Bay City Capital, and Gilde Healthcare Partners.
Conatus was founded by former executives of Idun Pharmaceuticals in mid-2005 after Pfizer acquired their company. The funding will support mid-stage clinical trials of its lead compound, CTS-1027, for liver disease. The first… Continue Reading