Archive for January, 2009
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
ARLINGTON, VA – HealthCentral a collection of online condition-specific consumer health and wellness experiences, has acquired San Mateo, CA-based Wellsphere, a health technology company, adding nearly four million monthly unique visitors to HealthCentral’s audience.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
The acquisition combines HealthCentral’s high-quality, condition-specific interactive experiences, content and audience with Wellsphere’s aggregation of over 1,500 health and wellness bloggers and Health Knowledge Engine technology that deciphers highly specific health information.
The deal raises HealthCentral’s audience of its owned properties to ten million unique visitors per month, and makes the company says it makes it the largest organic aggregation of online health and wellness communities.
Growing more than 3,000 percent in monthly unique visitors from 2008 to 2009, Wellsphere serves nearly 300,000 health-related articles, over 250,000 health-related images, and nearly 20,000 health and healthy living videos.
HealthCentral is venture backed by IAC/InteractiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) , Polaris Ventures, Sequoia Capital, The Carlyle Group and Allen & Company.
Online: www.healthcentral.com
Posted in Acquisitions, Healthcare, Internet/New Media, Virginia | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
ROCKVILLE, MD – Michigan-based Altarum Institute, a nonprofit health systems research and consulting group, ha acquired KAI Research, which sells clinical research and IT services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
Financial details were not disclosed.
KAI, a 70-employee firm, will continue to operate from its present Maryland headquarters as a nonprofit unit of Altarum.
Online: www.altarum.org; www.kai-research.com
Posted in Acquisitions, Biotech, Maryland, Pharma | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC – The number of people in the U.S. who have profiles on social networks has jumped from 8 percent four years ago to 35 percent today, says a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
More than half of teens, 65 percent, use online social networks, the report says, and 75 percent of adults 18-24 use them, while only 7 percent of adults 65 and older do.
While media coverage and policy attention focus heavily on how children and young adults use social network sites, adults still make up the bulk of the users of these websites.
That’s because adults make up a larger portion of the US population than teens.
More than half of adult users–60 percent–restrict access to their profiles to friends.
Most social network users cite personal rather than business reasons for participating in the social networks.
People using them for personal and professional reasons often maintain different profiles on different sites, the report says.
Online: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/272/report_display.asp
Posted in Internet/New Media, Studies, surveys, reports, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
ATLANTA—Vocalocity, which sells hosted PBX VOIP services and infrastructure applications to small businesses, has raised $4.1 million in series B financing led by TechOperators. Existing investors, Noro-Moseley Partners, Pittco Capital Partners, Imlay Partners and members of Vocalocity’s management team participated in the round.
Noro-Moseley led an $8 million first round financing of the company in October 2007.
Vocalocity currently provides subscription, Internet-based business phone systems for enterprises with fewer than 20 employees.
Vocalocity says its solution improves the efficiency of the micro enterprise while realizing a monthly cost savings of up to 80 percent over traditional phone service with flat rate pricing and minimal upfront capital costs.
Founded in 2003, the company says it will continue targeting small businesses that are looking for a cost-effective and feature-rich business communications system. Leveraging the new funding, the company will accelerate its growth, unveil new features, and extend its application platform.
TechOperators partner Said Moharnmadioun said that Mohammadioun said of Vocalocity’s technology, “It’s a fantastic platform from which to provide a full suite of software-as-a-service applications for the small business market. We see Vocalocity as a way to enable small businesses to compete more effectively. The company has had great success to date.”
Previously on TechJournal South:
Hosted VoIP firm Vocalocity calls up $8M first round
http://techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=4095
Online: www.vocalocity.com
Posted in Georgia, Internet/New Media, Money, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
AHTERTON, CA – TechCrunch founder and co-editor Michael Arrington says a slapping incident in Germany Tuesday will result in his taking most of February off to reassess his future.
The popular TechCrunch blog covers startups, entrepreneurs and Internet companies, often with a skeptical tone.
A person deliberately spit in Arrington’s face during an event in Germany Tuesday, and Arrington wrote Wednesday, “This is where I draw the line.”
“I can’t say my job is much fun any more,” he writes. “Startups that don’t get the coverage they want and competing journalists and bloggers tend to accuse us of the most ridiculous things.”
He also says he and his family received death threats from an unbalanced individual over the summer and he had to pay $2,000 a day for private security and “hide-out” in his parents home for a time.
Arrington said that covering technology and entrepreneurship is important, but not so much so that he and his family should worry about their safety.
Arrington says that he will start his break from the blog next week.
Online: Arrington’s post, “Something Has Got to Change:http://tiny.pl/v568
Posted in Internet/New Media, People, Tech Culture | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
SARASOTA, FL – “The microbe business is wonderfully healthy,” says Lauren Danielson, executive vice president of Osprey Biotechnics.
The Sarasota company, which is one of the leaders in growing bacteria for cleaning and for agriculture, reports that its sales were up 32 percent in 2008 compared with 2007 – despite the nation’s economic problems.
In response to the sales growth, Osprey is quadrupling production in the new year 2009 and adding to its staff.
Osprey serves the agricultural, waste water, industrial, institutional, and environmental markets.
Its bacteria are bred to be hungry and to clean drains, septic systems and drain fields, protect vegetables, and clean up industrial and marine spills.
Online: www.ospreybiotechnics.com
Posted in Biotech, Florida | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
TAMPA, FL – With nearly a quarter of a million people in Tampa for Super Bowl-related activities, efforts to ensure tight security communications and response surrounding the event are underway.
The event uses E-SPONDER’s integrated solution for planning, tracking and reporting of all security matters surrounding the game.
For well over a year now, more than 60 Federal, State, regional, local and municipal authorities have been working with the E-SPONDER technology partnership to plan the security details for Super Bowl XLIII.
It is one of the only major sporting events that receives National Security status.
Beginning this week and continuing past the final game whistle, Missuouri-based E-SPONDER will connect onsite and remote authorities, allowing them to remotely track all activities in real time with mapping as well as 3-D displays, 2-way radio integration and immediate communication.
Additionally, Twisted Pair Solutions Inc will provide secure, real-time group communications and interoperability for two-way radio systems and other devices using its WAVE software technology.
Online: www.e-sponder.com; www.twistpair.com
Posted in Events, Florida, IT, Security | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
ATLANTA – Purewire Inc., a SaaS-based Secure Web Gateway vendor that protects business and social interactions on the Web, has acquired Opinity, a pioneer in online reputation management.
Financial details were not disclosed.
Founded in 2004, Opinity is an identity service provider useful for commerce, communities, social applications and blogging. The company has three years of data and intellectual property used for verification services, reputation metrics, portability tools and profiles.
Purewire says the acquisition strengthens its reputation technology and ability to provide business users with complete protection from malicious people, places and things on the Web.
Online: www.purewire.com
Posted in Acquisitions, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
NORCROSS, GA – The Network Inc., a technology-based company providing ethics and compliance, insurance claim reporting and employee communication services to nearly half the Fortune 500, has promoted Luis Ramos, 39, to chief executive officer, effective immediately.
He previously held the position of chief operating officer at The Network.
Under Ramos’ leadership, The Network recently launched ReportLine 3.0, a comprehensive solution in the ethics and compliance industry that allows organizations to better manage their ethics and compliance programs.
Ramos formerly held the positions of chief operating officer, senior vice president of operations and technology and vice president of risk management services at The Network, Inc. after stints at ADP and Crawford & Company.
Online: wwww.tnwinc.com
Posted in Georgia, IT, People | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
By Allan Maurer
JUPITER, FL—There is a lot more to South Florida than Disney, tourism and gorgeous golf courses. So says attorney Mark Mirkin, who recently left Williams Mullen in North Carolina’s Research Triangle to join law firm Carlton Field’s West Palm Beach office.
“I was astounded,” says Mirkin. “I see highly promising opportunities for venture capital investing, especially in life sciences, here, in large part because of Scripps Florida.”
“I see a tremendous opportunity for me to deploy the skills I’ve fine-tuned while working in the Triangle since 2003,” who specializes in corporate law and securities focusing on startup companies and entrepreneurs.
“I chose Carlton Fields because it is a relative newcomer to the world of entrepreneurship, because it is a successful full service firm poised for growth, and primarily for its culture and its people. Duke Law grad Tom Hanson, who runs the West Palm Beach office which is my new home, recruited me, so it’s all in the family,” Mirkin, also a Duke law grad, says.
Scripps helped make San Diego biotech hub
Scripps is often credited with helping make the San Diego region of California the biotech powerhouse it is today by generating numerous spinouts. Five years ago, Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California decided to create an East Coast life sciences center.
With generous help from the state, which provided $310 million to the venture, and Palm Beach County, which supplied 100 acres of land adjacent to the Florida Atlantic University campus, plus another $150 million for building construction, Scripps chose Jupiter for its new center.
“Three state of the art buildings have gone up—the grand opening is Feb. 26th—providing 350,000 square feet of laboratory and administrative space for the 300 Scripps scientists who have been hired or relocated here. Over the next four years that number should double,” says Mirkin.
Florida earmaked $150M to Venture investing
“Scripps is a magnet for researchers and scientists who wish to be near the center of action. Furthermore, Scripps will out-license technologies to newly-created start-ups as spin-offs.
“The greater San Diego community around Scripps’ headquarters is home to over 100 biotech companies and 300 medtech companies, which have attracted over $1.5 billion in venture investments.
“Hopefully that success will be replicated here. Mark Crowell, who has led the tech transfer operations at Duke, UNC and NC State, took over that role for Scripps this month,” notes Mirkin.
Crowell is widely regarded as one of the best tech transfer office directors in the business and scored numerous successes in helping North Carolina’s three major research universities commercialize intellectual property.
“Meanwhile, the State of Florida has earmarked $350 million in pension funds for venture capital investments, including $75 million for venture capital companies that support Florida companies,” Mirkin adds.
“The State distributed $10 million five years ago to each of the University of Florida for its Center of Excellence for Regenerative Health Biotechnology, the University of Central Florida for its Photonics Center of Excellence, and Florida Atlantic University Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology.”
Added to this cluster are the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in Orlando, the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies in Fort Pierce, the University of Miami Genetics Institute and the Max Planck Florida Institute for Bioimaging in Jupiter.
Investors looking for meaty deals
“The vibrancy and promise of South Florida as a life sciences center is irrefutable,” says Mirkin. Up until now, the IT industry has been the clear leader, the trail having been blazed by IBM, Siemens, Nortel, Motorola and Harris over the last 35 years.
Mirkin says that even while in the Research Triangle he frequently returned to his database of Florida investors, introducing them to RTP deals.
“I’ve been reconnecting on a face-to-face basis in the last few weeks and I’m pleased to report that they’re all looking to put money in meaty deals.”
Online: www.carltonfields.com
Posted in Biotech, Florida, Legal, North Carolina, People, Pharma | Comments Off
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