Sonian raises $5.6M to store employee communication, ease compliance

Sonian, a provider of hosting services for companies looking to store their employees’ communications, has brought in $5.6 million in a first round of funding from Prism VentureWorks and Summerhill Venture Partners. About $1.3 million of the money came from undisclosed individual investors.

The company… Continue Reading

Astoria Software raises funds to produce technical and product documentation

Astoria Software, maker of applications used to produce technical and product documentation for the technology, lifescience and manufacturing sectors, announced that it raised an undisclosed amount of financing from Goldman Sachs, BluePrint Ventures, Prism VentureWorks and Ticonderoga Capital, according to VentureWire.

Based in San Francisco, Astoria… Continue Reading

iScience sees $20.5M for eye surgery instruments

iScience Interventional, maker of surgical tools for eye operations, has closed a prolonged sixth round of funding at $20.5 million after facing a bit more of a challenge due to the economic climate. The money will be used to commercialize its line of micro-catheters used… Continue Reading

Aptus takes $30M to repair aneurysms

Aptus Endosystems, a biotech firm working on a device to fix abdominal aneurysms, just brought in $30 million in third-round funding to finish off clinical trials of its Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair System, reports VentureWire. Heron Capital led the round, which also included Longitude Capital,… Continue Reading

Optiscan adds $5M tranche for glucose monitor

Optiscan Biomedical, developer of a less-invasive human glucose monitor for hospitals, received an additional $5 million in a second round of funding that now totals $53 million. The boost came from Wexford Capital, reports VentureWire.

The Hayward, Calif.-based company plans to use its new resources to… Continue Reading

Stealth mode Conduit Labs’ LoudCrowd revealed

Stealth mode Conduit Labs’ LoudCrowd revealed

The mysterious Conduit Labs has gone through pains to keep its nature under wraps. The company’s stated goal is to create online social experiences that are as rich as those we have offline, and it has managed to raise $5.5 million from Charles River Ventures… Continue Reading

Six Degrees Games raises $7M for sports virtual world

Virtual world creator Six Degrees Games has taken $7 million to develop a world for six to 14 year old children with a sports theme. The funding is the company’s first.

Six Degrees hasn’t given many specific details on the game, called Action AllStars, but the… Continue Reading

XLumena raises $6.15M for endoscopic devices

XLumena, a Mountain View, Calif. maker of endosurgical devices, has raised $6.15 million for a new line of endoscopic examination tools, according to VentureWire.

The company develop and sell ultrasound devices that are capable of clearly viewing internal organs.

Prism VentureWorks led the round, and was joined… Continue Reading

Ibeatyou is off to the races and on to the social networks

Ibeatyou is off to the races and on to the social networks

Competition exists in all walks of life. Ibeatyou capitalizes on that idea with a site that allows users to set up competitions across a wide range of fields, everything from dancing to comedy to music to yes, sports (checkout our full coverage here).

As an… Continue Reading

Life-science briefing: Monday, March 24, 2008

Life-science briefing: Monday, March 24, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Trius Therapeutics raises $30M for new antibiotics (release)
Genomas gets $1.2M grant for genomic side-effect tests (release)
Provasculon receives $500K, enters Biogen Idec incubator (VentureWire)
Animal diagnostics firm Quadraspec aims for $5M round (VentureWire)
MPM Capital names two executive partners (release)

Trius Therapeutics raises $30M for new antibiotics – Trius… Continue Reading

Sparkplay Media gets funds for MMO game with social networking ties

Sparkplay Media gets funds for MMO game with social networking ties

Full-scale massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) are generally built by giant studios, not venture-funded startups, but Sparkplay Media is one of the few exceptions, with an upcoming game called Earth Eternal.

The game will come with its own distinct Web 2.0 angle, though — the ability… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

MRI image-analysis firm Confirma receives $18M (release)
Specialty pharma Zogenix raises $18M (release)
Arcion pulls in $8.8M for topical pain gel (release)
Bayhill Therapeutics files for $87M IPO (Edgar)
Peakdale Molecular, chemistry-services provider, raises £1M (release)
Radiopharmaceutical maker Cellectar draws in $13M (release)
Critical-care drug maker Ikaria names Daniel Tasse… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007

Featured companies: Cyntellect, Lectus Therapeutics, NeoMatrix, Nexstim, Pearl Therapeutics, Proteon Therapeutics, SupplyScape

(UPDATED at 10am PT: See below.)

Airway-disease specialist Pearl Therapeutics raises $15.5M — Redwood City, Calif.-based Pearl Therapeutics, a drug-formulation company focused on respiratory disease, raised $15.5 million in a first funding round. Investors included New Leaf… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007

(UPDATED at 3:10pm PT: See below.)

Featured companies: Agendia, EndoGastric Solutions, FlowCo, Gentris, MedManage Systems, ParagonDx, Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Xoova

Presidio Pharma raises $26M for viral treatments — San Francisco’s Presidio Pharmaceuticals, a biotech developing new antiviral drugs, raised $26 million in a second funding round. Investors included Panorama… Continue Reading

Conduit Labs: social networking through gaming

Conduit Labs: social networking through gaming

Conduit Labs is a secretive new company, not launched yet, but which says it wants to build a new social network: One built around virtual world gaming, but with networking components that reflect real life, just like Facebook does for students on college campuses.

It has… Continue Reading

KickApps, social network builder, raises $11 million

KickApps, social network builder, raises $11 million

KickApps, which enables publishers to quickly add social network functions to their offerings, has just raised $11 million in its second round of financing.

Thanks to companies like Ning, PeopleAggregator, Me.com, and KickApps, the creation of new social networks has become a commodity, and people are… Continue Reading

Entrigue Surgical raises $6.3M for ear, nose and throat

Entrigue Surgical, a San Antonio, Tex., medical-devices maker, raised $6.3 million in a first funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription requires), crediting the San Antonio Express-News (no link available). Vertical Group and Prism VentureWorks provided the investment.

According to Entrigue’s bare-bones Web site — which features little… Continue Reading

Kiptronic raises $4M for podcast ad-insertion, a better Podbridge?

Kiptronic raises $4M for podcast ad-insertion, a better Podbridge?

Kiptronic, a San Francisco company that lets publishers insert ads into audio and video files before they are downloaded for listening on a device, has raised $4 million in a first round of funding.

The investment was led by Blueprint Ventures and Prism VentureWorks.

Kiptronic’s technology… Continue Reading