TradeBeam raises $7M for trade management software
TradeBeam Holdings, a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of software that manages global trade agreements online, has brought in $7 million to extend a $3 million round earmarked for expansion of its operations in China. Its product helps companies make sure they are complying with export regulations, inventory their assets, track their products in transit and oversee segments of their supply chains.
Serving more than 7,000 clients, the company has raised about $70 million in capital before… Continue Reading
Teachscape buys Edgenuity for teacher accountability software
Teachscape, a consultancy that provides online training to school teachers, has announced its purchase of Edgenuity, maker of software that helps schools craft instruction plans. The San Francisco-based firm plans to use its acquisition’s technology to build a web-based platform for school districts to measure how well their teachers and curricula are performing, enforcing a greater degree of accountability. Financial terms of the all-stock deal have not been disclosed.
Called the Edgenuity Achievement Suite, the software… Continue Reading
Public biotech firms Cadence, Affymax draw $128M from bargain-hunting VCs
Much has been written about how the IPO market froze out biotech companies in 2008, but it looks like times are also tough for those who went public before the economy soured. Cadence Pharmaceuticals has seen a dip in stock price from $9 to $7.53 and drug-maker Affymax has dropped from $25 to $14.12 a share since their IPOs in 2006. But VCs hunting for bargains just agreed to infuse the two companies with $86.6… Continue Reading
Medical imager Point Biomedical recaps with $25M
Point Biomedical, a San Carlos, Calif., developer of new biomedical-imaging products, raised $25 million in a recapitalization, peHub reports. Such recapitalizations often amount to a kind of “reset button” for existing investors and lenders, and usually suggest that a startup has run into some kind of significant — but not insurmountable — obstacle.
Investors in the recap round include new investor Vedanta Opportunities Fund and existing investors William Blair Capital Partners, De Novo Ventures, Institutional Venture… Continue Reading
Amgen, Relypsa and the art of the biotech-spinout-startup-restart
(UPDATED: See below.)
A common dilemma in biotech acquisitions is how to keep a startup’s entrepreneurial management happy and productive when they’ve just been assimilated by the Borg. The answer, often enough, is not to bother, and to let them spin out a new company with scientific “leftovers” that weren’t the point of the acquisition in the first place.
That’s more or less what Amgen has just done in launching Relypsa, a new Santa Clara, Calif., biotech just… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Sept. 17, 2007
Featured companies: Bioptigen, Echo Therapeutics, Forest Laboratories, Intrinsic Therapeutics, Microbia, Phreesia, Sontra Medical, TransMedics, Xanthus Pharmaceuticals
[NOTE: This is a catchup briefing, posted on 9/28/07. I've adjusted the item's timestamp to keep the briefings in chronological order. --D.P.H.]
Patient-info digitizer Phreesia takes in $10.3M — Phreesia, a New York company that claims to offer a “100% free” — but ad-sponsored — digital patient check-in application to doctors, raised $10.3 million in a second funding round. Investors included Polaris Ventures… Continue Reading
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 the funding were Atlas Venture, Sofinnova Ventures, Vivo Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Warburg Pincus and Pequot Ventures.
Prestwick said it raised the funds to acquire additional drug candidates. The company filed… Continue Reading
NeuroVista raises $33.8M for epilepsy devices
(CORRECTED: See below.)
Seattle-based NeuroVista, a developer of devices for the treatment of epilepsy, raised $33.8 million in a second-round funding and left behind its former name, BioNeuronics.
The company, founded in 2002 by whiz kid Daniel DiLorenzo, has been quiet about its technology and commercial direction. In April, however, DiLorenzo received a patent for a “neurological control system” using “closed-loop intracranial stimulation” for the “optimal control of neurological disease.” In other words, given NeuroVista’s public interest in… Continue Reading
Tibco to buy business intelligence software co., Spotfire, for $195M
Tibco, a Palo Alto, Calif. software company, said it has agreed to buy business intelligence software company Spotfire, of Somerville, Mass. for about $195 million in cash.
Tibco said its own software, which gives companies a way to manage their data infrastructure in “real time,” would be complimented by Spotfire’s business intelligence offering. It is the latest in a string of acquisitions of business intelligence companies.
See the Tibco’s statement about the acquisition and other info pages… Continue Reading
Infinera, optical networking company, files for IPO, at long last
Infinera, the Sunnyvale, Calif. fiber-optic equipment company that says its technology is superior to existing offerings, has filed to go public, submitting its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise about $150 million.
It isn’t profitable, but sales are showing momentum.
It brought in $44.3 million during the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to just $4.1 million for all of 2005. The company had losses of $89.1 million for last year.
There’s a good summary of… Continue Reading
XDx looking to raise $25 million more for personalized medicine
XDx, a Brisbane, Calif. company that monitors the immune system with personalized medicine based on insights from the Human Genome Project, said it is raising up to $25 million more in cash.
The news, reported this morning by VentureWire (sub required) would be the company’s fifth round of venture capital. The company has already raised a total of $100.5 million since being founded in 2000. The fact that such a mature company, with well-known backers, is… Continue Reading
Drug maker Affymax to issue shares, despite doubling losses
Affymax, a Palo Alto biotech company that makes synthetic peptide-based drugs to treat kidney diseases and cancer, is planning an initial public offering it hope could bring it as much as $84 million.
Its lead product, Hematide, is in Phase 2 trials in patients with anemia due to chronic kidney disease. The drug is also being tested to treat anemia in patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. The company has said it expects to sell 3.5… Continue Reading
Online health insurance co., eHealth, goes public
Online health insurance company eHealth raised $70 million in an initial public offering.
The 5 million share offering, which represents about a 24 percent stake in the company, priced at $14 per share compared with a $10 to $12 forecast.
The Mountain View company will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol EHTH.
The company had raised around $86 million in backing from venture firms including Sprout Group, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lightspeed Venture Partners, QuestMark Partners… Continue Reading