VentureBeat

Third-generation spinout Alverix, a San Jose, Calif., maker of hand-held devices for medical diagnostic use, raised $7.7 million in a first funding round. Safeguard Scientifics and New Venture Partners provided the cash.

The startup, which just spun out of Avago Technologies — itself a twice-removed spinout of Hewlett-Packard’s component division by way of Agilent Technologies — has spent 30 years producing optoelectronic products of one sort or another. Its current focus lies in developing portable devices that analyze laboratory diagnostic tests, particularly for tasks that previously required expensive bench-top laboratory equipment.

Alverix says its devices are not only cheaper, but also more accurate and far quicker than traditional methods for reading results from various blood and urine tests. For instance, the company says its technology can handle analysis of widely used antibody-based tests for illegal drugs, cancer, infectious disease, heart trouble and drug efficacy. Its products should make it possible to run these tests in doctors’ offices, at health clinics and even potentially at home, allowing patients to get their results far more quickly and potentially making immediate treatment possible if the results indicate a problem.

Founded just last year, Alverix aims to form partnerships with existing diagnostic companies that want to improve the accuracy and portability of their test analysis. The company doesn’t appear to have announced any such partnerships yet, although of course it might simply be keeping any such news under wraps.

Tucked unobtrusively away in corners and out-of-the-way places, sensors record the world around us — tracking air quality, electricity usage, temperature and other variables. The modern world needs such measurements, but installing and maintaining the sensors is costly.

GainSpan is a Sunnyvale, Calif. company that says it can help cut costs by using wireless sensors that tie into the same 802.11 WiFi radio bands that ordinary computers use, which reduces the number and complexity of the sensors needed. Also, having cheaper, more easily deployed sensors could help raise efficiency through more intelligent monitoring.

For example, if sensors are placed throughout a large industrial building they can monitor temperature more effectively, allowing selective use of heating and cooling systems.

Wireless sensors have been around for over a decade, but they’ve used costly non-standard wireless communication protocols for reasons of battery life. GainSpan says it has tackled the battery problem, extending the life of its WiFi sensors to a standard five to ten years.

If GainSpan can sell businesses and governments on using its sensors, they can be used both for the above scenario and dozens of other purposes, like tracking the movements of miners underground or monitoring the structural integrity of bridges.

There are, however, some challenges to GainSpan’s plan, including signal interference from too many devices. For more on the technical ins and outs, take a look at this paper by University of Virginia researchers. There are also competitors, including Ember and SquidBee, making WiFi sensors using the open-source ZigBee standard.

Opus Capital led the $20 million second round, while existing investors Intel Capital, New Venture Partners, OVP Venture Partners and Sigma Partners also participated. GainSpan’s total funding, with its $10.5 million first round, now stands at $30.5 million.