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 demo plant in Ohio.
Already, Powerspan is implementing its ammonia-based technology at a 120-megawatt demo plant that is slated to be operational by 2012. The company claims it will catch and… Continue Reading
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 the country, Verizon, is partnering with Google for these services. But Jumptap has business relationships with AT&T and 16 other carriers of various sizes, and has said it reaches around… Continue Reading
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 under $1,000 dollars.
While several startups, including 23andMe and deCODEme, are already offering cheap genetic testing for individuals, the technology Pacific Bio is looking at is about as different from those… 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 its drugs do well in trials, the company will likely head to an IPO, as we reported alongside its last $70 million fundung.
Managing Application Performance by Understanding Applications Learn more,… 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 like Toyota doesn’t want to exclude certain groups from an advertisement, but does want to make it appeal more to each individual. Visible World’s technology allows a special version for… Continue Reading
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 was made quietly, after the fact (see wording), quite low-key given the intense competition the company is facing in mobile payments. There are at least eight other players, ranging from… 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 in a muscle-like fashion by a special polymer that converts electrical energy into mechanical motion. It hopes to expand use of its technology into medical, automotive, energy and industrial applications.
The… 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 Investments Group, the venture arm of Pfizer; Lilly Ventures, the venture arm of Eli Lilly; RK Venture Group; and BioAdvance also joined the round.
Avid’s development efforts are focused on new… 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 Capital, the private investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; Goldman Sachs, T. Rowe Price, IBTM and CIDC. They were joined by existing investors Abingworth, Alta Partners, Advanced Technology Ventures,… 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, joined by existing investors Alta Partners, Bay City Capital, Biotech Turnaround Fund, Birchmere Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, KBC Funds, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, Pictet Funds (LUX) – Biotecho,… Continue Reading
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 oodles of other companies doing something similar, from Twistage, to Reality Digital, vSocial and GridNetworks.
Besides, no one can afford to let Brightcove go under. All kinds of media groups are… Continue Reading