DFine secures $35M to treat spinal fractures
Medical device maker DFine brought in $35 million in fourth round funding to develop and market its StabiliT Vertebral Augmentation System, a device that injects bone cement to heal fissures in patients’ spinal columns.
The original target amount for the round, $30 million, was reached in October. Investors include BB&T Fund, Highland Credit Strategies Fund, Prospect Venture Partners and Vanguard Ventures. The San Jose, Calif. company raised $18 million in previous investment rounds.
DFine stacks up $30M to mend spinal fractures
Healthcare developer DFine has brought in $30 million in fourth-round funding to commercialize a system to treat fractures in vertebrae caused by spine compression. Contributions came from BB&T Funds, Highland Capital Management, Prospect Venture Partners and Vanguard Ventures.
The San Jose, Calif. company has created an injection device, the StabiliT Vertebral Augmentation System, as well as human-safe StabiliT ER Bone Cement, to fill breaks. Osteoperosis, tumor growth and traumatic injury are the leading causes of the… Continue Reading
Novalux: Walking corpse from 2000 finally finds grave
Silicon Valley’s Novalux, after eating through about $300 million in capital and debt from at least a dozen investors, has finally found a peaceful end.
The Sunnyvale, Calif. company, which initially wanted to sell laser technology to telecommunications companies building out fiber-optic networks, has been sold for $7 million in stock to electronics maker Arasor.
Novalux was one of those “walking dead” companies you heard about after the last Internet boom. It was founded in 1998. After… Continue Reading
Konarka raises $45M more for solar, despite no clear direction
Konarka, yet another company experimenting with new-fangled technology to produce more efficient solar cells, hasn’t been able to articulate a clear business strategy in the six years since it started.
However, solar technology is hot, and the company has raised $45 million more in capital to give it more time to keep trying. It has now raised more than $100 million.
Like several other start-ups, the Lowell, Mass. company has been using non-silicon material to produce a… Continue Reading
Artificial Muscle to be powered by $20M
Artificial Muscle, a maker of actuators powered by an electroactive polymer, raised $20 million in a second funding round. The company’s release is here.
The company, founded by SRI International, builds components such as auto-focus lens positioners and a “universal” actuator whose movements are controlled in a muscle-like fashion by a special polymer that converts electrical energy into mechanical motion. It hopes to expand use of its technology into medical, automotive, energy and industrial applications.
The… Continue Reading
Asthma-device maker Asthmatx sells $50M stake to Olympus
Asthmatx, a Mountain View, Calif., developer of a bronchial device for asthma treatment, raised $50 million by selling a 15% stake to Olympus Medical Systems, a unit of Japan’s camera and precision-device maker Olympus.
Last October, Asthmatx withdrew an IPO at the last minute, citing a desire to pursue “alternative strategic options” — that is, better offers. And it seems to have found one; Dan Primack at PE Wire figures that Asthmatx’s current $280 million pre-money… Continue Reading
Casabi turns your home phone into an Internet phone, raises $10M
Casabi, a Cambpell, Calif. company, offers a service to turn your traditional home phone into Internet “smart-phone,” and says it has raised $10 million in a second round of financing from venture capitalists.
The Casabi service integrates your home phone with a phone directory, peer-to-peer VOIP calling, instant messaging presence, local search, and ring-tone and screen customization.
The company says distribution partnerships are being negotiated with Internet portals and regional telephone companies and that it will… Continue Reading
Latest SEC filings: Extreme DA, iForem, Casabi, Synfora and Newcross all raise new funding
The following Bay Area companies have raised new rounds of capital, according to filings at the SEC as reported by Thomson Financial’s PE Wire:
–Extreme DA, of a Palo Alto, Calif. developer of semiconductor design tools, has raised $7.57 million in Series B funding from investors including Foundation Capital and Lanza Tech Ventures.
–iForem (no Web site), a Redwood City, Calif. provider of a service for online storage and financial management of a trust, has raised… Continue Reading
Vocera raises $7M more for wireless communication badges
Vocera Communications has raised another $7 million for its wearable Wireless communications badges, which let workers talk over distances via WiFi networks, VentureWire reports today (sub required).
The Cupertino company’s technology allows workers to press a button on a small badge, and ask for someone and the system recognizes who or what the worker is asking for, and makes the connection.
The company said it achieved a valuation above $100 million after the investment, and that the… Continue Reading
Hansen Medical, a medical robotics co., raises $75M in IPO
Hansen Medical, a Mountain View medical robotics company, raised $75 million in its initial public offering, after pricing its 6.25 million shares at $12, within its $11 to $13 forecast. The shares represent about 30 percent of the company.
Hansen will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol HNSN.
The company had raised more than $50 million in funding from Prospect Venture Partners, Skyline Ventures, Thomas Weisel Healthcare Partners, De Novo Ventures and Vanguard Ventures.
Medical co’s., Asthmatx and BioVex, pull IPOs — Vanguard’s rocky ride continues
Just three weeks after setting terms for its initial public offering, Mountain View medical device company Asthmatx has pulled its IPO filing.
It joins Woburn, Mass. drug maker BioVex, which also pulled its IPO. They are the latest in a string of withdrawals and postponements in the health care industry this month.
Asthmatx’s withdrawal, for one, will deal a blow to Vanguard, the struggling venture firm that has been hoping for a decent profit from its… Continue Reading
VC veteran Jack Gill joins daughter’s firm, Maven
Jack Gill, a legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist, has become a partner at his daughter’s Menlo Park venture capital firm, Maven Venture Partners.
Gill’s move had been rumored in recent weeks, but Gill — who once oversaw one of the best performances ever for a venture firm — told VentureBeat in an interview that his decision is now official. The move is significant for two reasons: One of Maven’s initial partners, Marc Friend, left just as… Continue Reading