Spinal Kinetics raises $5.3M to treat degenerative spine diseases

Spinal Kinetics, maker of artificial disks used to treat spine injuries and degenerative diseases, has brought in $5.3 million of an anticipated $9.5 million round of debt, rights and securities, according to a filing with the SEC. The Sunnyvale, Calif. company did not list investors… Continue Reading

Oraya scores $42M for eye radiation treatments

Oraya Therapeutics, maker of radiosurgical tools used to treat eye diseases, has brought in $42 million in a third round of funding from Domain Associates, Scale Venture Partners, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Synergy Life Partners.

Based in Newark, Calif., the company says it will use… Continue Reading

Siimpel raises undisclosed round for low-power micro-cameras

Siimpel, manufacturer of precise low-power mobile and digital cameras, announced an undisclosed round of strategic funding from LG Innotek. The Arcadia, Calif. company previously raised $75 million from backers Motorola Ventures, DOCOMO Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Global Catalyst Partners, Portage Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners,… Continue Reading

diaDexus lands $9.2M for cardiovascular diagnostics

South San Francisco, Calif. biotech firm diaDexus just raised $9.2 million in sixth-round funding from Scale Venture Partners, GlaxoSithKline and Baker Brothers Advisors, according to peHUB. The company’s first and only product, the PLAC Test, is used to detect early indicators of risk for heart… Continue Reading

Discera pulls in funds for MEMS chips

Fabless chip maker Discera brought in a new round of funding exceeding $3.2 million from undisclosed investors. It will use the new money for development of its quartz-based timing products.

Previously, the San Jose, Calif.-based company has raised $35 million from backers including Ardesta, Horizon Ventures,… Continue Reading

Jaspersoft raises $12.5M for open source business intelligence

Jaspersoft, a provider of open-source business intelligence software, has raised $12.5 million in new funding. The round was led by Adams Street Partners, with participation from leading open-source company Red Hat and Jaspersoft’s previous investors Scale Venture Partners, SAP Ventures, DCM, Morgenthaler Ventures, and Partech… Continue Reading

AT&T acquires Wayport for $275M — now has 80,000 hot spots

AT&T acquires Wayport for $275M — now has 80,000 hot spots

AT&T has acquired Wayport, a company that built out about 8,000 WiFi hot spots including in places like McDonald’s, for $275 million in cash. The move is another signal that AT&T intends to become a WiFi access point giant — the company now boasts 80,000… Continue Reading

Set-top box company Entone wants to be TiVo-killer

Set-top box company Entone wants to be TiVo-killer

Entone, a company that sells a set-top box for Internet television that can distribute video to three different TVs at once, has raised $14.5 million in a second round of financing.

It wants to replace your TiVo.

The box is sold via 25 telecom operators that provide… Continue Reading

Musical chairs in Silicon Valley’s venture world: Theis, Brown, Lisbonne, Marshall, Ringo

Musical chairs in Silicon Valley’s venture world: Theis, Brown, Lisbonne, Marshall, Ringo

updated

Four venture capital personnel moves:

Robert Theis, a venture capitalist who left Silicon Valley firm DCM last year after serving for eight years, has joined Scale Venture Partners, also in Silicon Valley, as managing director. Thies will focus on investment in “technology infrastructure and applications.” At… Continue Reading

Biz360 gets more funding, says market research business is still wide open

Biz360 gets more funding, says market research business is still wide open

There has been no shortage of attention to market research in the past few years. Established business like Nielsen and J.D. Power have struggled to encompass the Internet and use its information to give their clients a better idea of how new products are seen… Continue Reading

PlayPhone acquires Pitch Entertainment Group for European mobile expansion

PlayPhone acquires Pitch Entertainment Group for European mobile expansion

Mobile entertainment provider PlayPhone is announcing today that it has acquired Pitch Entertainment Group as part of its global expansion. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed.

San Jose, Calif.-based PlayPhone aggregates mobile content and offers it directly to consumers, who can download it onto their mobile phones…. Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Jan. 31, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Jan. 31, 2007

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

5AM Ventures puts $3.3M into stealthy ImmunoNewco (VBLS exclusive)
NewLink Genetics raises $17M for cancer vaccine, immune drugs (VBLS exclusive)
Biochip, stem-cell biotech Minerva Bio ousts CEO Jim Czirr and sues (release)
Sonexa Therapeutics takes $30M for Alzheimer’s treatment (release)
Tissue regenerator Healionics pulls in $1.7M (release)
EGeen, clinical… 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

Citysearch, Merchantcircle connect their local business services

Citysearch, Merchantcircle connect their local business services

Citysearch, an online guide service about local US businesses, has partnered with MerchantCircle, in an effort to hold their own in the increasingly competitive area of local reviews.

The move comes as Citysearch is under attack from newer, fresher sites like Yelp, which offers reviews about… Continue Reading

MerchantCircle, helps small businesses market online — aggressively

MerchantCircle, helps small businesses market online — aggressively

Online advertising remains hot. But with Google, Microsoft and Yahoo fighting to serve advertising to large companies and publishers, smaller business clients are left neglected.

MerchantCircle, a controversial Silicon Valley company helping thousands of small businesses market themselves online, has raised $10 million in financing to… Continue Reading

Siimpel raises $21.5M for imaging technology for cellphones

Siimpel Corp., an Arcadia, Calif., maker of imaging technology for cellphone cameras, has raised $21.5 million in a fourth round of funding.

SunAmerica Ventures led the round. Other investors include Motorola, Qualcomm and Micron Technology and existing backers Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Scale Venture Partners, Global Catalyst… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007

Featured companies: Ablynx, Cardiosolutions, Carigent Thereapeutics, Elusys, Genome Corp., GlobeImmune, Novazone, Targanta Therapeutics, Waterfront Media

UPDATED at 5:45am on 9/27/07

GlobeImmune raises $41M for immune-system therapies — GlobeImmune, a Louisville, Colo., biotech focused on new forms of immunotherapy to treat viral infections and cancer, raised $41.2 million in… Continue Reading

FaceTime, provider of messaging control software, raises $15.6M

FaceTime Communications, a Foster City, Calif. provider of software that provides security control over communications within businesses, said it has raised $15.6 million in financing.

Here’s the statement,

The investment was led by the Credit Suisse NEXT II Fund, and included existing investors Sutter Hill Ventures, JK&B… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 27, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 27, 2007

Featured companies: Bravo Health, InfraReDx, MedAssets, Prestwick Pharmaceuticals

Prestwick Pharma raises $20M for neuro drugs — Specialty pharma Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, a Washington, D.C., firm that acquires cast-off drug candidates to treat neurological conditions, raised $20 million from existing investors, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Among those participating in… Continue Reading

Horizon Therapeutics: Combining generic pain meds for greater drug safety

Horizon Therapeutics: Combining generic pain meds for greater drug safety

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Horizon Therapeutics, a biotech that aims to combine existing generic drugs to fight pain, raised $30 million in a third funding round. The company’s lead drug candidate, known only as HZT-501, is a “proprietary” combination of the generic drugs ibuprofen and famotidine,… Continue Reading