Cambrios lands $14.5M for electronic display components
Cambrios, maker of conductive films used in electronic displays and monitors, has brought in $14.5 million in a fourth round of venture capital. Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., the company is backed by ARCH Venture Partners, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Alloy Ventures, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Avalon Ventures, Harris & Harris Group, Headland Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Kidron, Lux Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Oxford Bioscience Partners, Presidio Ventures, Sumitomo, Chisso and Nissha Printing.
Artemis raises $9M for prenatal diagnostics
Artemis Health, maker of technology for prenatal diagnostics, has brought in $9 million of an expected $10 million round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. The San Carlos, Calif. company is backed by Alloy Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures. It last raised financing in September 2008, bringing in $20 million in a third round of venture funding.
Knowledge Networks buys Dimestore Media
Knowledge Networks, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based consulting firm that aids product development, announced that it acquired Dimestore Media, maker of an online survey platform that can question people about ad campaigns across the web. Dimestore supplies surveys before and after people are exposed to display ads to collect data and optimize their performance.
Knowledge Networks, backed by Alloy Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, Oak Investment Partners, Maveron and Oak Hill Venture Partners, has raised almost $100 in… Continue Reading
Ravenflow lands $6M for app development intelligence
Ravenflow, a company that offers software and consulting services to help client businesses develop applications more efficiently , has raised $6 million in capital to open two new offices in Reston, Va. and Raleigh, N.C.
It’s primary product, a software package called RAVEN, helps teams at large companies like IBM agree on standards, requirements and specifications — streamlining the process for launching applications online. In addition to its new offices, the Emeryville, Calif.-based company has opened… Continue Reading
VivoTech tacks on $8.6M for wireless credit-card transactions
VivoTech, provider of infrastructure for wireless credit-card transactions, just added $8.6 million to a now $40 million third round of funding open since 2007. Its technology lets people make payments via radio frequency enabled credit and debit cards and some mobile phones. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has already sold 470,000 of its payment terminals in 35 countries. It is also developing systems for use with taxi cabs, vending machines and ATMs.
Previously, VivoTech raised $52… Continue Reading
Artemis licenses diagnostics from Stanford
Exercising its recently raised $20 million third funding round, Artemis Health has licensed non-invasive prenatal diagnostic technology from Stanford University. Initially, it licensed intellectual property from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but has mostly been working in stealth mode since.
The acquisition is expected to help Artemis develop a fetal monitoring system superior to a typical amniocentesis. For example, the Stanford technology could help identify trisomy disorders like Down syndrome more easily…. Continue Reading
Compensation software co. Xactly buys rival Centive
Xactly, maker of software that measures and tracks employees’ sales performance and compensation, has bought its major competitor, human resources software provider Centive. The stock-based deal gave San Jose, Calif.-based Xactly all of the company’s assets and employees for an undisclosed sum.
Incorporated under the name Xactly, the new entity will continue to support all of the products the companies have on the market right now for the next 18 months to ensure a seamless transition… Continue Reading
Crux pumps in $8M to prevent embolisms
Crux Biomedical has raised $8 million in second-round funding to cover its debt and finalize clinical trials on its device used to remove blood clots and air bubbles from the bloodstream. The Menlo Park, Calif. firm initiated testing in 2006 in Paraguay and implanted its first filter in the U.S. in October 2007. If used correctly, the device could prevent life-threatening pulmonary embolisms, the company says.
The recent funding came from Alloy Ventures and private investor… Continue Reading
KaloBios tacks on $12M more for engineered antibodies
South San Francisco, Calif.-based KaloBios, a biotech company that raised $20 million just five months ago, has added another $12 million in a second close of its fourth round of venture capital.
KaloBios has three antibody products in development, each of which targets a specific set of diseases. Two of the candidates, KB001 and KB002, have made it to Phase 2 clinical testing.
The new funding was led by Baxter International, one of the world’s largest healthcare… Continue Reading
Mavenir lands $17.5 million for mobile convergence
Mavenir Systems, a company that helps telecom companies evolve their networks to handle new calling options (like VoIP) and rich-media messaging, has closed a $17.5 million third round of funding. It plans to use the round to grow its market presence and continue developing its software portfolio. Its goal is to make accessing broadband connections easier for cell phone users — in turn, giving operators the chance to push a wider range of applications and… Continue Reading
Tech news network Giga Omni Media grabs another $4.5M
Giga Omni Media, the company that owns news blog GigaOM and its related sites, announced today that it has raised $4.5 million in additional funding.
The last few months have been busy for Om Malik’s fledgling media empire. He acquired mobile blog jkOnTheRun in July, followed by TheAppleBlog just a few weeks ago. He also promoted chief operating officer Paul Walborsky to chief executive, and announced some new syndication deals, including one with The New York… Continue Reading
ForteBio raises $25M for life science analytical instruments
ForteBio is a Menlo Park, Calif. company that makes instruments for biomolecular analysis in the life sciences. Its instruments can measure proteins, DNA, RNA and other small molecules without the use of labels.
Label-free measurement dispenses with the chemical markers that most techniques use, allowing for faster and cheaper analysis.
The company took $25 million from OrbiMed Advisors, MPM Capital, Alloy Ventures, Latterell Venture Partners, Versant Ventures and Vertical Group. This was ForteBio’s third funding; in its… Continue Reading
Engineered antibody maker KaloBios takes on $20M for clinical trials
South San Francisco, Calif.-based KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, which develops non-human antibodies for use in human bodies, has taken $20 million in its fourth round of venture funding.
KaloBios is currently going through seven first- and second-phase clinical trials for two drugs and is working on a third, newer drug. The drugs are aimed at patients with cystic fibrosis and autoimmune disorders like asthma.
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Genzyme Ventures co-led the round. Also participating were previous investors MPM… Continue Reading
3Leaf Systems raises $35 million round for enterprise virtualization technology
Virtualization technology is still buzzing with activity, as its adoption by large companies remains one of the biggest trends in the economy right now.
Virtualization grabbed headlines 13 months ago, when VMware raised nearly $1 billion in an initial public offering. Now virtualization chip maker 3Leaf Systems has raised $35 million in a third round of funding to expand its offering.
Virtualization technology saves money for big companies, because it reduces the number of machines or other… Continue Reading
YouSendIt gets $14M to send large files
YouSendIt, a company that lets you send and receive large files through your email, has raised $14 million in a third round of funding.
The financing comes from new investor Emergence Capital Partners (the online services-focused firm best-known for backing Salesforce.com) and existing investors Sigma Partners, Alloy Ventures, Sevin Rosen Funds and Cambrian Ventures. YouSendIt raised a $10 million second round last year.
YouSendIt has a range of offerings, including a free version of its basic service… 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
Zannel gets $10M for multi-media mobile messaging
While the idea of text messaging has grown in popularity — both via the phone and in the form of Twitter — startup Zannel seems convinced that people are more interested in sharing pictures and video, at least while on their mobile phones.
Zannel, which has been called “a multimedia Twitter,” lets its users post updates and start conversations using text, pictures or video, or any combination of the three. Users can keep track of their… Continue Reading
Novasys Medical takes $49.5M for women’s medical device
Novasys Medical is a Newark, Calif. medical company that makes a device for a specific condition affecting some women, called female stress urinary incontinence.
The device Novasys makes is the only real alternative to surgery for women with the problem, according to an interview with the CEO in VentureWire, which also reported the funding.
The $49.5 million was led by Versant Ventures, with participation from Skyline Ventures, Three Arch Partners, Affinity Capital Management, Alloy Ventures, Delphi Ventures,… Continue Reading
Genomatica has plans to turn the chemical industry green
The chemicals business has gone through massive shifts in the past, and it’s high time for another one, according to Christopher Gann, the CEO of Genomatica, who recently left a cushy position at industry giant Dow Chemical for the startup. Chemical manufacturing is perched atop the much larger fossil fuel market, thus suffering from the same high prices the rest of the world does — but, says Gann, it can be weaned off hydrocarbons.
Shifting away… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
OptiMedica takes in $16M for eye-treatment lasers (release)
Genome analyzer BioNanomatrix raises $5M (release)
Heart diagnostic startup Aviir gets another $1.5M (VBLS exclusive)
Pharmaca, integrative-pharmacy chain, draws $20M (release)
LifeWatch, cardiac-monitoring device maker, withdraws IPO (IPOhome)
Jerry DeVries, Steven Whitlock join PTV Sciences as venture partners (VentureWire)
OptiMedica takes in $16M for eye-treatment lasers – OptiMedica, a Santa Clara, Calif., medical-device maker, raised $16 million in a third funding round. Investors included Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Alloy Ventures and… Continue Reading