Archive for January, 2010
Friday, January 29th, 2010
By Allan Maurer
 Hitfix CEO and co-founder Jennifer Sargent  WASHINGTON, DC – Last year we missed Leonard Cohen in a concert because we simply got busy with other things and forgot about his appearance here until it was too late. If we had been using Hitfix, that wouldn’t have happened. The company’s entertainment and sports calendar keeps users posted on everything going on in the music, sports, TV, movie and entertainment world.
Founded in 2008 by veterans of the online entertainment industry, DC-based Hitfix offers news—not gossip—about everything from the latest video game releases to the newest movie trailers and TV listings.
But what differentiates it from other online entertainment sites is its event forecast calendar. You don’t even have to register or sign up for anything to use it. It automatically provides information based on where you are located.
Jennifer Sargent, CEO and co-founder of the company tells us she and co-founder and editor Greg Ellwood saw a gap in the market for a breaking entertainment news site that would bridge the gap between gossip sites such as Perez Hilton and trade journals such as Variety.
“We also saw a gap on the calendar side of things,” Sargent says. “Being an entertainment fan takes some planning.” You need to know when tickets go on sale for an event, when a favorite video game will be released, when your TV shows are on, even if you’re only setting your DVR.
In addition to the Hitfix Web site, already one of our favorite destinations, the company released its iPhone app four weeks ago. “We’re getting a lot of good feedback on that,” says Sargent.
The site has about 600,000 unique users monthly and about 800,000 visits. The company currently earns its revenue from advertising. A recent study estimates that a site with about 700,000 monthly visitors will make about $75,000 a month from ad revenue.
Hitfix raised a $1 million seed capital round from a New York-based angel group in 2008. The eight-person company is seeking a $1.5 million investment and is one of 60 innovative companies selected to present at the Southeast Venture Conference at the Ritz Carleton in Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 24-25. (See: www.seventure.org for more information).
Online: www.hitfix.com
Tags: entertainment calendar, Hitfix, profile, SEVC, sports calendar
Posted in Company Profile, Internet/New Media, IT, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Friday, January 29th, 2010
 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Diffusion Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage drug-development company commercializing first-in-class drugs to treat serious or life-threatening unmet medical conditions, has closed on $5.9 million in additional private financing during the second half of 2009, bringing the total the company raised in 2009 to $7.1 million.
The financing was a combination of private equity and convertible notes to existing investors. We reported part of this raise in August last year.
The company is testing treatments to diffuse oxygen to tissue deprived of it.
Potential clinical applications include cancer, critical care uses such as trauma, hemorrhage, stroke, and heart attack, as well as chronic conditions such as peripheral arterial and vascular disease, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disorders.
Since its founding, Diffusion Pharmaceuticals has raised a total of $21.7 million to date including $19.1 million in private funds, and $2.6 million in Department of Defense research and development contracts.
Proceeds from this financing will support the company’s ongoing operations, including completion of a Phase I/II clinical trial in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients for its lead drug compound, trans sodium crocetinate.
Previously on TechJournal South: Diffusion Pharmaceuticals aims to transform the future of medicine.
Online: www.diffusionpharma.com
Tags: Biotech, Diffusion, financing, Pharma
Posted in Biotech, Money, Potomac, Virginia | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
 Device used for bone stablization DURHAM, NC – Nu Tech 2010, a one-day conference focusing on investing in collaborative technologies, will include a presentation by Hitoshi Hitrata, Ph.D., M.D., a professor in the Department of Hand Surgery at Nagoya University demonstrating two devices developed for use in the treatment of hand and foot injuries.
The first device, a hand incubator, is a lightweight, low-cost way to reduce swelling in the extremities. It can be an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, edema, deep vein thrombosis, tumors and hand injuries. It can also help improve the quality of the skin, which may speed recovery from burns and skin grafts.
The second is a 3-D universal external fixator used for bone stablization. It is designed for use with complicated bone structures and fractures.
NuTech 2010 will feature more than 20 breakthrough technologies in the life science, biotechnology, and engineering fields Feb. 10 starting at 7:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Imperial.
More than 30 representatives from Nagoya University and the Japan Science and Technology Agency will be in attendance to network with area scientists and researchers.
Featured speakers include:
· North Carolina Secretary of Commerce, J. Keith Crisco
· Vice President of Eisai, Inc., Dr. Ray W. Wood
· Director of Aisin AW and President of EQUOS Research, Masao Ando
· President of Nagoya University, Dr. Michinari Hamaguchi
· President and CEO of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, E. Norris Tolson
Registration for the event is free of charge and includes continental breakfast, lunch and reception. To register for the event and learn more about Nu Tech 2010, visit www.nutechshowcase.org.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Friday, January 29th, 2010
 BOSTON & SAN FRANCISCO – There may be an app for that, but nearly half of smartphone users never bought one. And despite forecasts that mobile purchasing will surpass $1 billion this year, one-third of consumers remain frustrated by the high cost of some mobile apps and difficulties in paying for them. So says a survey of 400 smartphone users by asknet.
The survey, conducted simultaneously in Boston and San Francisco in late 2009, found that despite building consumer demand for applications, over a third (38%) of smartphone users said they were frustrated with the high cost of applications.
Not comfortable with using cards
A similar percentage (29%) said they were uncomfortable entering credit card details for mobile purchasing.
Overall, when asked why they didn’t buy applications – including music, games, business applications or consumer software – for their phone, 34% said that it was just ‘not worth the time or effort.”
In the survey, almost half of respondents (45%) said they had never bought applications or software for their smartphone.
Those who did spent less than $50 in a year. Most purchases were music (61 %). Games (41%), ringtones (35%) and news (29%) were also popular buys. Only 27 percent bought business apps.
Many users (38%) thought some apps just cost too much.
Opportunity for developers
When trying to purchase something with a phone, if the payment system takes too long or makes us start over, we just hang up. Another recent survey suggested that most mobile users won’t put up with balky or time-consuming payment systems.
There is obviously an opportunity here for companies to develop and deploy easy-to-use mobile payment systems.
Aston Fallon, president of asknet Inc., said that consumers struggling with e-commerce mechanisms may be having “the greatest effect on the rate at which consumers embrace smartphones for purchasing.”
Asknet sells e-commerce distribution solutions for leading software companies.
Online: www.asknet.com
Tags: mobile, mobile apps, survey
Posted in Internet/New Media, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Friday, January 29th, 2010
 OAK RIDGE, TN – A therapy that could restore both mass and function to damaged hearts and other muscles is a step closer to development. Batelle Ventures, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory contractor, has licensed patents on inventions based on the Nell-1 gene to NellOne Therapeutics,Inc., a company spun out of research performed at the Department of Energy laboratory.
The protein therapy treatment under development takes advantage of the Nell-1 gene’s cell-signaling pathway that controls tissue growth and maturation in mammalian organs.
It is based on research by Oak Ridge researcher Dr. Cymbeline Culiat, who is leading NellOne’s research efforts to translate the Nell-1 pathway discoveries into a therapy that restores both mass and function to damaged human tissues, such as heart and skeletal muscle.
Currently, there are no highly effective, permanent treatments for the restoration of heart muscle cells and function due to damage from heart attack.
If successful, the protein therapy could improve the lives of victims of heart attacks and severe muscle wounds. Other therapies, such as stem-cell treatments, have succeeded in triggering tissue formation but fall short in restoring the actual function of the tissue.
Battelle Ventures and its Knoxville-based affiliate fund, Innovation Valley Partners created NellOne as a “virtual company” with a $1.5 million seed investment in 2008.
Tags: Biotech, heart therapy, NellOne, regenerative medicine, Tennessee
Posted in Biotech, Healthcare, Tennessee, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Friday, January 29th, 2010
 DURHAM, NC – ACW Technology, a UK-based company that makes circuit boards and electronic systems, plans to open a Durham facility that will create 155 jobs.
The company expects to invest $4.9 million in the facility over the next three years.
ACW sells its digital, analog and radio frequency electronics to defense, aerospace and commercial markets.
This is the latest in a series of companies opening new facilities in the Research Triangle area. We wrote yesterday about the $1.9 billion in new investments the RTP region saw in 2009 (see: bit.ly/bLaNAT). The region needs the new jobs. Many of its largest tech employers have shrunk their workforces considerably over the last couple of years.
But it’s obvious the RTP still holds allure for many high tech employers.
Jeffrey Benes, company vice president and general manager of ACW, said, ““We like the high-technology pool of resources, availability of qualified work force and the strength of the supply base. Durham, centrally located in the Southeast, will allow us to serve future customers in the U.S. region.”
Online: www.acw.co.uk
Tags: circuit board, Hardware, jobs, North Carolina
Posted in Economic Development, Hardware, North Carolina, TechJobs | Comments Off
Friday, January 29th, 2010
 PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL – With security a concern everywhere today, biometric sensor technologies are poised to gain some traction. Sonavision, formerly Authorizer Technologies, which makes an ultrasound fingerprint sensor that uses less power than others, has raised $5.87 million of a mixed offering targeted at just over $7 million.
The company disclosed the funding in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company, spun-out of Cross Match Technologies in 2006, says its ultrasound technology is significantly more accurate than other methods and uses five times less power, making it ideal for mobile applications.
Market research firm Frost & Sullivan predicted the biometrics market would have a compound annual growth rate of more than 61 percent and produce revenue of nearly $4 billion by 2011.
Sonavision’s fingerprint senors, thinner than a postage stamp, provide identification and medical solutions for consumer, government and bio-medical markets.
Online: www.sonavation.com
Tags: biometric, financing, Florida, Security, sensor, Sonavision
Posted in Florida, Hardware, Money, Security | Comments Off
Friday, January 29th, 2010
 Carter Griffin, new Updata General Partner RESTON, VA – Updata Partners, which manages three active venture funds totaling nearly $500 million, has named Carter Griffin a general partner.
Updata is a growth equity investor in the IT and Interactive Media markets. Griffin is the firm’s sixth general partner.
Griffin joined Updata Partners following the successful sale of Brivo Systems, a SaaS security firm he co-founded. Growing the company, securing venture financing and executing the eventual sale of Brivo provided the ideal background to identify, invest and guide the growth-stage firms in which Updata invests, the firm says.
We know some of the firms in which Griffin led investments well. Griffin has led Updata Partners’ investments in iContact, Alert Logic, LogiXML and Bradford Networks and serves on the board of each. TechJournal South’s eWire is brought to you via iContact.
Online: www.updatapartners.com
Tags: Carter Griffin, general partner, Updata Partners, venture firms
Posted in People, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
 Logo for the RTP's five-year development plan RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – Growing companies announced a record $1.9 billion in new investments in the Research Triangle Region during 2009 for projects expected to create more than 10,000 jobs. The announcements came from both new and existing companies, domestic and international, in a broad range of industries and all across the 13-county region, in both rural and urban areas.
“These announcements demonstrate the confidence companies around the world have in the economic strength and vitality of our region,” said Charles A. Hayes, president and CEO of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership.
Among the investments announced during 2009 were:
* EMC Corporation, Durham County, $280 million new investment, 290 jobs.
* Talecris Biotherapeutics, Johnston County, $269 million expansion, 259 jobs.
* SAS Institute, Wake County, $70 million expansion.
* Shalag Industries, Granville County, $17 million new investment, 72 jobs.
* Deutsche Bank Global Technology, Wake County, $6.7 million new investment, 319 jobs.
* North American Aerodynamics Inc., Person County, $900,000 expansion, 375 jobs.
In 2010, RTRP moves forward aggressively to implement its new five-year strategic plan for economic growth. The plan, called The Shape of Things to Come, will guide regional economic development through 2014. It calls for creating 100,000 jobs and boosting employment in all 13 counties of the region.
Online: www.researchtriangle.org
Tags: Economic Development, investments, new jobs, Research Triangle
Posted in Biotech, Carolinas, Economic Development, IT, North Carolina | Comments Off
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
 A cancer cell EXCLUSIVE REPORT – DURHAM, NC – Individualized treatment of cancers holds great promise for improving treatment of the too often deadly disease. So we think this is good news: CancerGuide Diagnostics, a startup that plans to improve the management of cancer by providing doctors and drug developers advanced molecular diagnostics enabling individualized treatment, has closed a $10.5 million equity raise.
CEO Myla Lai-Goldman confirmed the company closed the equity round and tells us it will issue more information about the financing shortly.
We recognize several of the principals listed in a filing on the raise with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. They include Garheng Kong of Intersouth Partners, Clay Thorp of Hatteras Venture Partners, and David King of the Laboratory Corp. of America. The filing says the company has five investors so far.
According to the LinkedIn page of co-founder, President and COO Bill Haas, “CancerGuide is a high-value diagnostic product and services company that is actively licensing novel technology that may improve the quality of life for those iving with cancer. Through its commercial partnerships, CancerGuide provides a first-of-it’s-kind, scalable, development-to-market acceptance commercialization platform for emerging molecular oncology diagnostic technologies.”
He further says that it also provides companion diagnostic development services, such as tumor profiling and signature development services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their therapy pipelines.
The company plans to partner with R & D organizations, IVD manufacturers, managed care organizations, regulatory agencies, advocacy groups, academic institutions, and commercial laboratories to make personalized cancer treatment a reality.
Lai-Goldman tells us the company, founded in 2006, does not yet have a product on the market but will be developing and commercializing cancer tests and services in the personalized medicine space.
By Allan Maurer
Tags: Biotech, cancer, CancerGuide Diagnostics, equity, financing, venture capital
Posted in Biotech, Carolinas, Internet/New Media, Money, North Carolina, Pharma | 1 Comment »
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