Soros pushes Powerspan to $50M for carbon capture

Soros pushes Powerspan to $50M for carbon capture

A group of investors, including George Soros, has funneled $50 million into Powerspan, a company that devises ways to remove carbon dioxide from coal plant emissions. The Portsmouth, N.H.-based company says it will use the new money to set up its system at a utility-scale… Continue Reading

Mobile search and ad company Jumptap raises $26 million more

Mobile search and ad company Jumptap raises $26 million more

Mobile search and advertising company Jumptap has raised $26 million in a fourth round of funding led by AllianceBernstein, with all previous investors participating.

The company has positioned itself as an alternative to Google’s search and ad services for mobile devices. The largest carrier in… Continue Reading

Fast gene sequencing in two years? Investors bet $100M on Pacific BioSciences making it happen

Fast gene sequencing in two years? Investors bet $100M on Pacific BioSciences making it happen

Representing a potential medical quantum leap similar to, but even more important than the commercialization of X-ray imaging, Pacific BioSciences has taken a whopping $100 million to make it possible to affordably map out an individual’s entire genome in a matter of minutes, and for… Continue Reading

Cardio drug maker Portola Pharmaceuticals takes $60M extension

San Francisco-based drug company Portola Pharmaceuticals has taken a $60 million extension to its third round of funding to see it through Phase II trials for betrixaban, a drug intended to prevent blood clots.

The company is also working on an antiplatelet agent called PRT060128. If… Continue Reading

Visible World, a targeted cable advertiser, raises $25M

Targeted advertising, based on geographic location, age, gender and other factors, is a pretty common concept by now. Visible World wants to bring it to cable television, with an added twist — editing of specific commercial spots to appeal more to individuals.

Say a large company… Continue Reading

Obopay adds $29M to warchest, amid competition in mobile payments

Obopay adds $29M to warchest, amid competition in mobile payments

Obopay, the Redwood City, Calif. company that lets you send payments to people from a mobile phone, has raised $29 million more in a third round of funding.

The service launched last year, and it’s not clear how much traction it has. The funding announcement… Continue Reading

Artificial Muscle to be powered by $20M

Artificial Muscle, a maker of actuators powered by an electroactive polymer, raised $20 million in a second funding round. The company’s release is here.

The company, founded by SRI International, builds components such as auto-focus lens positioners and a “universal” actuator whose movements are controlled… Continue Reading

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, maker of imaging reagents, raises $26M for clinical trials

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, a Philadelphia-based maker of “molecular imaging agents” that help highlight diseased tissue in various medical scans, raised $26 million in a third round to develop early-detection products for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

AllianceBernstein and Safeguard Scientifics led the round. Previous investors including Pfizer Strategic… Continue Reading

Cardiovascular biotech Portola Pharmaceuticals raises $70M, eyes IPO

Portola Pharmaceuticals, a South San Francisco, Calif., biotech aiming to develop treatments for blood clots and other heart-related problems, raised $70 million in a third round of financing dominated by late-stage and public-market investors.

Among new investors in the round were Brookside Capital; AllianceBernstein; Teachers’ Private… Continue Reading

Metabolex raises $32 million for metabolic disease treatment

Hayward, Calif.’s Metabolex, a biotech company developing treatments for diabetes and related metabolic disorders, said it has raised $32 million in a fourth round of financing.

It was led by MPM BioEquities. New investors AllianceBernstein, Deerfield Management and T. Rowe Price also participated in the round,… Continue Reading

Video service Brightcove raises $59M

Video service Brightcove raises $59M

Brightcove, a company that gives media outlets and other businesses a platform to deliver online video, has raised a whopping $59 million in a third round of funding.

Amid the trend of consolidation hitting the sector, this funding will help tide the company over. There are… Continue Reading