Onyx Pharma set to buy Proteolix for up to $851M
Onyx Pharmaceuticals, developer of treatments for liver and late-stage kidney cancer, has moved to acquire Proteolix, provider of a technology that can accelerate the death of cancer cells, for as much as $851 million. Emeryville, Calif.-based Onyx says it wants to incorporate this component, which has proved less toxic and more effective in patients, into its current offerings.
When the deal closes, South San Francisco-based Proteolix will receive $276 million in cash, with the option of… Continue Reading
Teranetics scores $2M for Ethernet chips
Teranetics, maker of chips that allow 10-gigabit Ethernet signals to be transmitted over copper wire, has brought in $2 million of a targeted $12.3 million round of equity, debt, rights and securities, according to a filing with the SEC. The San Jose, Calif. company was previously backed by Columbia Capital, GGV Capital, Global Catalyst Partners, LSI Logic, U.S. Venture Partners and Venrock.
Maskless Lithography takes $1M for circuit boards
Maskless Lithography, a company that prints circuit boards and surfaces for semiconductors, brought in $1 million of a targeted $1.5 million round of convertible promissory notes, according to a filing with the SEC. While the San Jose, Calif. company did not list investors in this round, it was previously backed by TL Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners. It has raised about $38 million to date.
Gear6 takes $4M for caching technology
Gear6, provider of caching technology that stores data in centralized locations, has brought in $4 million of an anticipated $12.7 million in a first round of stock and promissory notes, according to a regulatory filing with the SEC. While investors in the round weren’t listed, the Mountain View, Calif. company was previously backed by Horizon Ventures, InterWest Partners and U.S. Venture Partners.
Factery raises $1.2M to find facts in real time
There’s a flood information in all the links posted by users on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Delicious. Now a startup called Factery wants to help you dig up the facts in those links with a new technology called FactRank (the name is a nod to Google’s PageRank technology).
Right now, the Factery site is pretty bare-bones, but co-founder Paul Pedersen says the company’s goal is a combination of fact extraction and real-time search. It… Continue Reading
Gov’t shines on Solyndra with $535M loan guarantee
Vice president Joe Biden and Department of Energy Secretary Stephen Chu joined forces this morning to officially bestow the $535 million loan guarantee on Fremont, Calif.-based Solyndra, one of the leading makers of cylindrical solar panels. The company plans to build a photovoltaic equipment plant large enough to employ 1,000 people permanently.
Talk of the guarantee isn’t new — in fact, the DOE extended it to the company back in March and then waited for it… Continue Reading
Force10 lands $30M for networking hardware
Force10 Networks, developer of 10-gigabit networking hardware, has raised $30 million in equity, according to regulatory filings. The San Jose, Calif. company previously raised $125 million in its last, sixth round of funding in 2007. Past backers include Advanced Equities, Crosslink Capital, Meritech Investment Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, Worldview Technology Partners and New Enterprise Associates.
Force10 provides routers and switches to web-based giants like Facebook and eHarmony to help them manage large volumes of… Continue Reading
LV Sensors shutters, looks for buyers for assets
LV Sensors, provider of semiconductor technology for wireless sensors used in cars, has closed its doors and is pursuing buyers for its intellectual assets, reports VentureWire. Based in Emeryville, Calif., the company had no choice but to shutter after failing to raise more capital in the spring. Its past backers include Mayfield Fund, U.S. Venture Partners and Panorama Capital, contributing a total of $27 million.
Blekko raises $11.5M to take a run at Google search
Arguing that Google’s search product is becoming more and more antiquated, stealthy new entry Blekko announced that it raised $11.5 million in capital from U.S. Venture Partners and CMEA Capital to make a splash with its launch — though when that will be remains a mystery. Some at the company say three months from now, others say there is no set date yet, reports paidContent.
So far, the company has said only that it diverges from… Continue Reading
Dilithium ropes $8M for wireless multmedia systems
Dilithium Networks, provider of converged video services for wireless internet and mobile applications, has opened a round of funding targeted at $8 million. It last raised $18 million in 2005, bringing in $33 million total over three rounds from CM Capital Investments, Deutsche Bank, Infocomm Investments, JAFCO Ventures, Motorola Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners.
Sans IPO, Bayhill secures $350M in Genentech licensing deal
Months after giving up on its IPO hopes last year — when the market was especially brutal for lifescience companies — Bayhill Therapeutics has landed a licensing deal worth $25 million in upfront cash and equity with Genentech. It could bring in as much as $325 million more if it hits certain sales and regulatory milestones, joining the ranks of several biotech firms that ditched public offerings for lucrative equity deals, VentureWire reports (citing Elixir… Continue Reading
Ribbit, Sprout inject “voice” into ad campaigns
Ribbit, the company that lets people easily create phone-like applications within Web sites, has struck a partnership with the online marketing company Sprout to insert “voice” and other phone features into advertising campaigns.
Ribbit, now owned by BT, has captured the imagination of developers because of its cool technology that allows voice call technology to inserted in dynamic ways within Web sites. It is joining with Sprout, a company which has generated its own buzz with its photoshop-like interface for… Continue Reading
Dune snags $8.3M more for networking chips
Dune Networks, provider of network chips used to scale data centers and carrier equipment, has added $8.3 million to its second round of funding from Evergreen Venture Partners, Berkeley Ventures, Aurum-SBC Ventures, Jerusalem Venture Partners and U.S. Venture Partners. Previously, the Sunnyvale, Calif. company had raised $12 million in the round.
Dune says the new financing will go toward product development. It has raised $53 million in capital total — including contributions from past backers Cipio… Continue Reading
M-Factor raises new funding for profit optimization
M-Factor, which sells web-based software to improve profit and revenue, has raised an undisclosed round of funding led by UV Partners. The San Mateo, Calif. company’s solution looks at marketing investments, trade spending, and portfolio pricing for consumer goods companies and fast-food restaurants.
US Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, and Bay Partners also participated in the round.
ReShape beefs up with $20M to bust fat
ReShape Medical, maker of a non-surgical device said to treat obesity, just reeled in $20 million in second-round funding to launch a trial of its lead product. Based in San Clemente, Calif., the company’s actual technology remains fairly stealthy.
The investment came from US Venture Partners, New Leaf Venture Partners and SV Life Sciences. Previously, ReShape raised $7.5 million over the course of 2006 and 2007. It has eight employees.
Yoomba latest in wave of VoIP closures
Yoomba, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based company that let users send and receive phone calls and instant messages through their email programs, has shut its doors, reports VentureWire — continuing the trend of VoIP consolidations and failures that has emptied a once crowded space (including still afloat Jajah and Broadsoft).
There was a fairly salient flaw in Yoomba’s business model — users could only call others who had downloaded the program, and its market share just wasn’t… Continue Reading
4Info gets $20M more for text message advertising
4INFO, the Silicon Valley company that serves advertisements in mobile phone text messages, has raised another $20 million in funding.
The money comes from a previous backer, Peacock Equity, a joint venture between NBC Universal and General Electric Commercial Finance, according to a report in the WSJ. VentureBeat has heard that 4INFO’s advertising rates have plummeted since the onset of the economic downturn in October, though if it’s true, 4INFO would hardly be the only ad… Continue Reading
Sanarus raises $3M to battle breast cancer
Sanarus Medical, maker of a device used to diagnose and treat breast cancer, brought in $3 million in convertible note funding from existing investors, reports VentureWire. It’s currently working on a product that uses ultrasound technology to detect the early stages of the disease.
The Pleasanton, Calif. company already has several devices on the market, many of which are based on cryotechnology — basically, the freezing of small, targeted sections of breast tissue — which gives… Continue Reading
CFX Battery stores away $11M for rechargeable tech
CFX Battery, a company that uses nanotechnology to develop primary and rechargeable battery technology, just took an $11 million tranche of an anticipated $15.18 million round of funding. Contributors included CMEA Ventures, Harris & Harris Group and US Venture Partners.
Based in Pasadena, Calif., CFX spun out from research at the California Institute of Technology. The batteries it produces are tailored for use in cars, medical devices and consumer goods (like computers), as well as in… Continue Reading
Intermolecular lands $20M to improve semiconductor manufacture
San Jose, Calif.-based Intermolecular, a company that streamlines the manufacture of semiconductor components, has raised $20 million of an expected $30 million fourth round of funding from CMEA Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Symyx Technologies and US Venture Partners.
The company recently announced a collaboration with chipmaker AMD for molecular self-assembly technology — in which molecules would arrange themselves without outside guidance to produce an intended effect. Many of its operations are devoted to research and development. Before… Continue Reading