Gist raises $6.75M for a smarter email inbox
Gist, a startup that helps people cope with information overload by organizing their email and more, has raised $6.75 million in a first round of institutional funding.
The Seattle startup is still in private beta testing, and I haven’t had a chance to see the product in action. Still, the concept sounds very cool — it integrates with Microsoft Outlook and Gmail to aggregate emails and related material (links, attachments, news articles) by people and company…. Continue Reading
Cancer drug maker BiPar sells to Sanofi-aventis for $500M
BiPar Sciences, maker of tumor-targeting cancer treatments, will be acquired by public global pharmaceutical company Sanofi-aventis. The two companies have signed a binding agreement that could deliver more than $500 million to BiPar, divided into varying milestone payments.
Based in Brisbane, Calif., BiPar creates therapies, primarily for breast and ovarian cancer patients, that use inhibitors to kill cancer cells by preventing them from repairing their own DNA. Its lead compound in this area, BSI-201, is currently… Continue Reading
Ember lands $8M for a hefty slice of the smart grid
The Ember Corporation, a major vendor of ZigBee wireless networking technology, just brought in $8 million in capital to connect household devices and appliances to the smart grid. Like most other companies in the space, the bulk of its business comes from equipping smart meters with radio chips and software that allow utilities and homeowners to easily share energy-consumption data.
As the leading provider of ZigBee services, Ember is in prize position to take advantage of… Continue Reading
Audience dials up $15M to suppress noise on cell phones
Audience, maker of mobile chips that can dampen background noise when people speak on their cell phones, just brought in $15 million in a fourth round of funding. This brings the Mountain View, Calif. company’s total capital to $60 million since its inception in 2004.
Audience claims that it modeled its product on the normal functioning of the human ear — allowing it to block out some sounds while focusing others. This allows users to have… Continue Reading
Semantic search engine Evri cuts staff by 25 percent
Evri, the search engine that lets you track keyword results across the web, confirmed today that it has cut its staff by 25 percent to better weather the economic downturn. Chief executive Neil Roseman says the Seattle-based company is doing well, having recently landed two major partnerships, but that it’s necessary to trim costs in case the market slumps further.
“We’re in a tough market, and we want to be prudent for our investors,” he says…. Continue Reading
BiPar snags $20M for inhibitor-based cancer therapies
Pharmaceutical firm BiPar Sciences just brought in $20 million in private equity and venture debt to advance its lead therapy, targeting breast cancer, to phase-three clinical trials. The investment will double the Brisbane, Calif.-based company’s cash on hand, a huge vote of confidence for its treatment methods based on inhibitors that kill cancer cells by preventing them from repairing their own DNA, BiPar says.
Its lead compound, currently in phase-two tests, could also be used to… Continue Reading
Redfin employees see pink in 20 percent layoff
Online real estate service Redfin Corp. slashed its staff by 20 percent yesterday in order to stay afloat during the economic downturn — despite strong revenue and $21 million in VC backing from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Madrona Venture Group, Vulcan Capital, BEV Capital and the Hillman Co.
The Seattle-based firm, which helps buyers find homes for sale and broker deals, was hit hard by the credit crunch in recent weeks. In addition to a 30 percent… Continue Reading
Google.org makes its geothermal play with investments in Altarock, Potter Drilling
[Update: Lost in the press blitz about the Google.org investment was the fact that Altarock took $26.25 million in total. Advanced Technology Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and Vulcan Capital all participated.] Here’s a fact: If you go outside, wherever you are, and start drilling a hole, once you get deep enough it will become very, very hot. Using that heat for electricity is the cornerstone of geothermal power, and it’s great if you can… Continue Reading
Evri launches semantic site to help blaze paths through the Internet
Evri, a startup spun out of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s investment firm Vulcan Capital and headed by a long-time software executive from Amazon.com, has an idea for how natural language processing and semantic technology can help people navigate the Internet. And their idea has nothing to do with search.
Like all semantic startups, Evri is all about helping machines connect concepts, using the structure and meaning of human language to create some order. The first wave… Continue Reading
ZoomInfo spins off its ad platform into Bizo, a new company
The business information search engine ZoomInfo has spun off its advertising business into a new company, Bizo Inc.
ZoomInfo started supplying the information it collects to other sites and advertising last year when it rolled out its ad platform. This allowed it to utilize the data it has on tens of millions of business people for ad targeting. This new company, Bizo, will extend upon that idea.
ZoomInfo’s customers include Microsoft, Staples, Sony, Apple, Oracle, Google, Yahoo… Continue Reading
Audience announces $15M for clear voice communications
Audience, a maker of voice processing technology that mimics the sort of audio processing that happens in the human brain, has announced its $15 million third round of financing.
We actually covered Audience’s unveiling in February, and first broke news on the funding, but the announcement fills out list of investors,and now includes Tallwood Venture Capital and VentureTech Alliance. We already mentioned Paul Allen’sVulcan Capital and New Enterprise Associates.
The Mountain View, Calif., company makes the A1010,… Continue Reading
Infinia, with $50M, becomes latest solar player to draw big investment
Although it’s over two decades old, Infinia is a relative newcomer to the solar market, having only been working on its solar thermal generator for a few years.
That may not prevent it from quickly becoming one of the largest players, though, with a new $50 million investment to kick off production and a slate of manufacturing partners ready to help fulfill its first orders.
The most notable detail about Infinia’s technology is that it’s based on… Continue Reading
Roundup: Kyte gets more, Microsoft’s ad deal, NetSuite’s golden IPO, more
Here’s the latest (updated) action:
1) Kyte.tv raises $15 million
2) Electric Sheep Company lays off 22
3) FCC receives 700MHz auction applications
4) Microsoft signs $500M ad deal
5) GPS devices fly off the shelves
6) Netsuite sets high price for planned IPO
7) Eric Eldon, celebrity at large?
Kyte.tv raises $15M second round — An online startup that offers a video player allowing near-live communications by video, photo and chat, Kyte has picked up some steam online, attracting a decent-sized audience… Continue Reading
Hypertext, secretive company wants to make web more “intelligent”
Hypertext is a secretive Seattle-based startup that says it’s focused on making information on the web more “intelligent.”
It comes to light after a publicly traded company, Insightful Corporation, announced it has sold its InFact search technology and other related intellectual property rights to Hypertext for $3.65 million in cash. This suggests Hypertext has some sort of financial backing; Paul Allen is reportedly behind it, says John Battelle (Update: Allen’s Vulcan Capital is indeed behind… Continue Reading
Redfin cuts out real estate agents, raises another $12M
[Note: This story was originally published Tuesday evening, but a software bug caused it to disappear. We're publishing again]
Updated
Redfin is one of the more controversial web companies trying to make home buying and selling more profitable. Specifically, it’s cutting out real estate agents.
Eager to do more cutting, it has raised another $12 million, led by venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. It is expanding its listings from most West Coast cities and Boston, now adding the… Continue Reading
Arcwave, supposedly one of Silicon Valley’s hottest companies, goes under
Arcwave Wireless, a Los Gatos, Ca. provider of wireless networks for small businesses has shuttered, just four months after being named one of Silicon Valley’s hottest companies.
Chief Executive Bill Sickler announces the demise on the company’s Web site, saying cable operators (its targeted customers) weren’t responding to the company’s sales efforts.
Investors Comcast Interactive Capital, Lucent Venture Partners, Mayfield, SBV Venture Partners, Venrock Associates and Vulcan Capital had invested more than $11.5 million into the… Continue Reading
BiPar Sciences raises $35M for cancer therapies
BiPar Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing cancer therapies, said it has raised $35 million in a second round of financing.
The round was led by Domain Associates. Existing investors participated, including Vulcan Capital, Canaan Partners, PolyTechnos Venture-Partners, Asset Management Company and Quantum Technology Partners.
BiPar said Jesse Treu, a partner at Domain Associates, and Wende Hutton, a venture partner at Canaan Partners, have joined the board of directors.
From the statement:
BiPar is developing multiple compounds designed… Continue Reading