Verdezyne raises $3M for organism-made biofuels
Verdezyne, a company that develops special microorganisms used to produce biofuels and biochemicals, has brought in $3 million of an expected $15.2 million round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Carlsbad, Calif., the company is backed by Life Science Angels, Monitor Ventures, OVP Venture Partners and Tech Coast Angels. It also received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Complete Genomics seals $45M for cheaper gene sequencing
Complete Genomics, provider of supposedly cheaper and faster DNA sequencing services, has raised $45 million in a fourth round of funding — a huge amount for a biotech company in today’s economic environment. Based in Mountain View, Calif., the company says it will be able to sequence people’s genes in only a few days, and for the bargain price of $5,000.
Apparently, genetic companies are where it’s at in the life science market right now. Earlier… Continue Reading
Novomer funnels carbon dioxide into plastics, nabs $14M
Novomer, a polymer company with disruptive potential, has made catalysts capable of transforming carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into plastics and marketable chemicals — and now it’s raised $14 million in a second round of venture funding to scale its technology. Based in Boston, Mass., the company, which relies on an extensive patent estate, is one of a very small handful of firms racing to create biodegradable plastics.
Turning carbon gases into feedstock for profitable chemical… Continue Reading
Tigo Energy charges up with $10M for solar power balancing
Tigo Energy, a company that ties together hardware and software systems to improve solar array efficiency, has raised $10 million in a second round of preferred stock, reports VentureWire. By balancing power evenly across solar deployments, the service prevents outages, improves reliability and increases net energy generated, Tigo says.
It raised $6 million in a first round of funding last June from Matrix Partners and OVP Venture Partners.
EnerG2 aims to improve ultracapacitors for electric cars, industry
EnerG2 Inc., an ultracapacitor startup that has kept quiet until now, is launching today with the official announcement that it has raised $8.5 million in its first round of financing. Founded in 2003, it has spent five years developing electrode materials that it claims can boost the performance of ultracapacitors, devices that are useful in electric cars and smaller electronic devices.
Unlike batteries, which store electricity chemically, ultracapacitors store energy as electrical fields and physically separate the… Continue Reading
EnerG2 raises $8.5M for energy storage materials
EnerG2, a Seattle, Wash. company making advanced materials for fuel and energy storage, has raised an $8.5 million round of funding, according to Xconomy.
Various nanomaterials that the company is working on could prove useful for holding methane, hydrogen and other fuels. Other new materials could also be useful for other alternative energy fields, like solar cells.
Initial work at EnerG2 was funded by state and Federal grants. This funding, the company’s first, was proided by OVP… Continue Reading
Mobile app maker MobUI acquires Action Engine to extend reach
MobUI Corp., a young mobile application developer, announced today that it has bought peer company Action Engine Corp. The latter has a software platform that streamlines the process of adapting one application to different handhelds and carriers, which could help MobUI scale. The cost of the acquisition hasn’t been released, and it’s unclear whether Action Engine executives cashed out or took equity in MobUI.
Bellevue, Wash.-based Action Engine had raised $65 million in venture capital before… Continue Reading
AdmitOne Security uses keystroke identification to screen users
Identity thieves are everywhere. A teenager snatched the login of his real-estate agent father and threw wild parties at homes that were up for sale. Students get someone else to take a test for them. Loan officers get hacked and the profiles of 7,000 of their customers are stolen.
This is the problem that AdmitOne Security is trying to solve. It uses the novel technology of keystroke identification. That is, it uses software to detect the… Continue Reading
CarbonFlow raises $2.9M for carbon trading software
CarbonFlow, a San Francisco, Calif.-based developer of carbon trading software, has secured $2.9 million in first round funding. It was led by Clean Pacific Ventures, with OVP Venture Partners and New Zealand-based Meridian Energy, a strategic partner, also taking part. One of the firm’s cofounders is CNET Green Tech contributor Neal Dikeman.
The company’s software suite helps carbon market participants manage their emission-reducing projects and sell credits that are in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol or… Continue Reading
Lucid Commerce raises $2.5M for business intelligence
Lucid Commerce, a Seattle startup that provides business data for direct-response marketers, has raised a $2.5 million first round of venture capital, according to VentureWire. OVP Venture Partners led the round, and Adconion Media Group chairman Neil Sunderland also participated.
There are a number of companies that help marketers analyze data and decide where spend their campaign dollars, but Lucid says it’s the only one to focus on direct-response marketers. The company made about $1 million… Continue Reading
Vantos raises $10.6M for enterprise investigation
Vantos, a Seattle-based software startup with a product that can help companies with internal investigations and auditing, has raised $10.6 in a second round of funding.
Regulatory changes like the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley have opened the way for companies like Vantos. New laws demanding tight controls and tracking of issues can cost public companies millions. While there’s no way to avoid some cost, specialized software can help accountants, lawyers and managers learn how to navigate the… Continue Reading
Tigo Energy raises $6M for solar panel boost
A Los Gatos company that says it brings together innovations from solar, IT and the semiconductor industry, Tigo Energy has raised a first round of funding for a combined hardware / software designed to improve solar panel installations.
Power output, up-time and reliability are all improved, according to Tigo, speeding payback time and heightening the effectiveness of solar panels.
The $6 million funding was co-led by Matrix Partners and OVP Venture Partners.
Life-science briefing: Friday, March 14, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Cantimer takes in $2M for dehydration diagnostics (VentureWire)
Recodagen launches, takes aim at cancer (release)
Juniper Diagnostics spins out of ChemSensing (VentureWire)
Cantimer takes in $2M for dehydration diagnostics –The mystery of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Cantimer has resolved a bit. We wrote about this stealthy company back in December and reached the conclusion that the company was developing a particular type of nanosensor intended to identify water levels in human tissue.
Now VentureWire reports that Cantimer is doing… Continue Reading
TZero raises $20M for ultrawideband chips
TZero Technologies, a Sunnyvale, Calif. wireless ultrawideband developer and chipmaker, is raising up to $20 million in a third round of funding, according to a financing documents sent to VentureBeat.
Ultrawideband is a wireless transmission technology with much higher speeds than WiFi, but it has not yet been significantly adopted by the market.
We reported in July of last year that the company was looking to take on $25 million more, so it appears that they’ve since… Continue Reading
GainSpan receives funding for wireless sensors
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… Continue Reading
M2E Power raises $8M for self-recharging batteries
Like the self-powered “kinetic” watches many people now wear, M2E Power’s batteries include a micro-generator that continuously recharges battery power as the user moves around.
Aiming at soldiers carrying mobile devices in the field, M2E says it can lower the battery weight they need to carry, saying soldiers often have to carry 10-30 pounds more due to battery-powered equipment.
Where most kinetic watches use the motion of a mechanical arm to wind, M2E’s technology uses magnets in… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Oct. 26, 2007
Featured companies: Allozyne, Arteriocyte Medical Systems, Arthrosurface, Bay City Capital, EnteroMedics, OncoVista, Novotech, Power Medical Interventions, Reliant Technologies
UPDATED: Expanded items on Allozyne, Reliant Tech, Power Medical and Bay City Capital.
UPDATE REDUX: Added item on EnteroMedics IPO.
Seattle’s Allozyne draws $30M for new interferon — Allozyne, a Seattle biotech focused on tweaking existing protein-based drugs to improve their properties, raised $30 million in a second round of financing. Investors included MPM Capital, OVP Venture Partners, Amgen Ventures, ARCH Venture… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Sept. 21, 2007
Featured companies: CG Therapeutics, Complete Genomics, ConforMIS, Flexible Medical Systems, LeMaitre Vascular, MAP Pharmaceuticals, ParaPro, Vascular Architects, Zars Pharma
(UPDATED on 10/1/07: See below.)
[NOTE: Posting has been slow recently for personal reasons. I'll be doing my best to catch up today.]
Complete Genomics raises funding for high-speed sequencing — Complete Genomics, a Mountain View, Calif., developer of high-speed genome sequencing technology, said it raised an undisclosed sum in a second funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The company said… Continue Reading
TZero, ultrawideband chip co., searching for more capital amid competition
TZero Technologies, a Sunnyvale, Calif. developer of chips for so-called wireless ultrawideband technology that can transmit large data files such as video in the home, is on the prowl for $25 million in a third round of funding, according to VentureWire (subscription required).
The search for cash is not surprising, because TZero plays in an competitive field, and it isn’t certain how much demand there is for its products. The company has already raised a significant… Continue Reading