Archive for the ‘Virginia’ Category
Monday, August 8th, 2011
 HERNDON, VA – ePals, which has developed an online learning network, has raised $47.2 million in new funding, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC filing says the round attracted more than 100 investors.
Principals listed in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission include Phil Bronner of Novak Biddle Partners, Jean Case, Mitchell Kapor, and Miles Gilburne.
The company merged with In2Books in January 2007 to create what is says is the “world’s largest K-12 e-learning network.”
It offers primary and secondary schools, teachers, students and parents worldwide a safe and secure platform for building educational communities, providing quality digital content and facilitating collaboration for effective 21st century learning. ePals is used by more than 600,000 educators and reaches more than 25 million students and parents in 200 counties and territories.
The company’s Web site lists the following investors:
Miles Gilburne and Nina Zolt; Steve and Jean Case; Mitchell Kapor, Founder, Lotus; chair, Mozilla Foundation; chair, Second Life; National Geographic Ventures; Microsoft Corporation; Ted Leonsis; Yossi Vardi, Int’l Technologies Ventures; fomer chairman, ICQ; John Kao, Fellow, Royal Society of Arts; entrepreneur; author, Innovation Nation & Jamming; Nancy Peretsman, EVP, managing director, Allen & Co. Jesselson Capital; Sandy Lange, Partner, Hilan Capital; former chairman & CEO Pictorial William Raduchel, Former CTO, Time Warner; CSO, Sun Microsystems; Steve Arnold. Lucas Foundation.
That’s a formidable list of venture capitalists to have backing your company. Many of these folks, including Steve and Jean Case, Miles Gilburne, and Ted Leonsis, for instance, tend to invest in projects together.
Tags: ePals, financing, Herndon, Hilan Capital, Int’l Technologies Ventures, Jesselson Capital, Lucas Foundation, Miles Gilburne, Mitchell Kapor, National Geographic Ventures, online learning network, Steve and Jean Case, Sun Microsystems, Ted Leonsis; Yossi Vardi, Time Warner, VA
Posted in Education, Internet/New Media, IT, Money, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
 Tracking downloads by 4 millions users across the country from January through June 2011, a Pando Networks’ study revealed that some states are averaging connectivity speeds as much as ten times faster than those in other cities (see interactive maps at bottom).
The most striking findings were the core differences between the average speeds on a state-by-state basis. The data indicates that the fastest state was Rhode Island at an average of 894 KBps, which was almost three times faster than the slowest, Idaho, which had a dismal 318KBps. Rhode Island and Idaho may stand out as the extremities, but the disparities they highlight reflect more expansive, regional trends. The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region contained eight of the ten fastest states.
With California, Oregon, and Washington in the top 15, the West coast was also a remarkably a speedy region. On the other hand, the rural Midwest and Mountain-West states of which Idaho is a member comprise nine of the ten slowest states. Middle America’s slow connectivity could be representative of its more widespread populations and a lower demand for high-speed data infrastructure.
Generally, the slower downloading, rural states were also the least likely to complete a download once begun, with some notable exceptions. Users in Hawaii, dealing with a fairly sluggish average of 432KBps, still managed to complete 87% of their downloads. Colorado residents averaged a relatively slow 474KBps, but managed to complete 86% of their downloads.
Bucking the trend in the opposite direction, the District of Columbia enjoys an average of 759KBps but only completes 80% of downloads. Such findings suggest high-speed internet users may not necessarily hold the most stable connections (or be the most patient internet users). Culver City, CA, the headquarters of Pando Networks client Riot Games, had the highest average completion rate at 98%.
More interesting findings are visible when the data is broken down to the city level. The fastest download averages tend to be concentrated in fairly affluent, metropolitan suburbs. Topping the list is Andover, a suburb of Boston with a median income of $114,000 and average download speeds of 2,801KBps.
Other notable, high-average suburbs include Burke, VA (an average of 1,674 KBps) outside of DC and Santa Monica, CA outside of Los Angeles (1,428KBps, with an average completion rate of 96%).
Keeping with the statewide trends, the slowest downloading towns tend to be in rural areas with low incomes. Taking the bottom spot is Pocatello, a small community in Idaho with a median income of $34,000. Other notably slow communities include Yuma, AZ (290KBps) in the Mojave desert and Mission, TX (270KBps) near the Mexican border.
Also notable are the wide margins between the various major ISPs. Excluding business and private networks, the data puts Comcast Cable at the top spot, averaging download speeds of 890KBps. Other notables near the top of the list included Verizon (788KBps) and Cox (757KBps). At 673KBps, Road Runner was the slowest of the major broadband providers.
Such wide gaps also exist amongst the providers of wireless 3G and 4G data plans. Topping the list are AT&T with an average of 416KBps and Sprint with a respectable 391KBps. T-Mobile turned in an average of 364KBps, Verizon Wireless had an average of 216KBps and ALLTEL was the slowest with an average of 155KBps.
More specific city and ISP-related data can be requested from pando@triplepointpr.com.
Average Completion Rate by State (%)
Average Download Speed By State (Kilobytes Per Second)
Tags: CA, Culver City, DC, Hawaii, Idaho, Mid-Atlantic region, Northeast, Oregon, Rhode Island, State Internet connection speeds, Washington, wireless speeds
Posted in Internet/New Media, Mobile, Potomac, Studies, surveys, reports, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Friday, July 15th, 2011
 Reston, VA-based Razorsight, a firm developing web-based financial business intelligence and analytics software for communications service companies, has raised $7.3 million of an equity round targeted at $10 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company’s tools audit and analyze more than $50 billion in spending and revenue data from its partners.
Pong Research raises $5M for smartphone cases
Middleburg, VA-based Pong Research, which makes cases for cell phones intended to protect users from their radiation, has raised $5 million in equity funding, according to an SEC filing. Pong makes caes for HTC EVO, Droid, iPhone, and Blackberry phones.
Nible Storage lands $25M
Nimble Storage, developer of the first converged storage and backup solution, today announced that it has received $25 million in an over-subscribed Series D round of funding led by Artis Capital Management.
Artis Capital Management was the largest shareholder of Data Domain, which was purchased by EMC for $2.1 billion. Nimble Storage’s existing investors Accel Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital also contributed to the round. The investment will be used to support the company’s rapid growth by expanding sales internationally and is expected to bring it to profitability.
Based on the company’s patent-pending Cache Accelerated Sequential Layout (CASL™) architecture, the CS-Series enables fast inline data compression, intelligent data optimization leveraging flash memory and high-capacity disk, instant optimized backups, and WAN-efficient replication in a single device. This approach dramatically lowers equipment costs, reduces backup and restore time from hours to seconds, and streamlines storage management.
Tags: financings, Funded, Middleburg, Nimble Storage, Pong Reseach, Razorsight, Reston, SEC filings, VA
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Money, Potomac, Uncategorized, Virginia | Comments Off
Monday, June 27th, 2011
 Atlanta-based Digital Assent, provider of the award-winning PatientPad self-service patient check-in and patient education solution, has received $7.5 million in a Series B funding round. The lead investors were Sanan Private Equity, the BIP Opportunities Fund and Buckhead Investment Partners (BIP). Imlay Investments and BLH Venture Partners, who led the Series A funding earlier this year, also contributed.
The PatientPad is a wireless touch-screen solution that automates the patient check-in process and delivers targeted health information and advertising to interested patients while they sit in their healthcare provider’s waiting room, exam room or treatment room. This funding will fuel expansion of the company’s sales, marketing and product development efforts. Since January, the company has sold nearly 1,500 PatientPads to 175 practices in 25 states.
Atlanta’s Renewvia beams in $2.26M for solar tech
Atlanta-based solar power firm Renewvia has beamed in $2.26 million of an equity raise targeted at $6.15 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company raised a bit over $1 million in a round aimed at $2 million in June 2009.
The company develops, installs, owns and manages solar powr plants for commercial property owners and developers.
Regent Education raises $4.5M for college financial aid automation tech
Frederick, MD-based Regent Education has chalked up $4.65 milion of a $5 million equity offering, according to a filing with the SEC. The company previously raised about $1.85 million.
It sells SaaS solutions for colleges and private education institutions to automate financial aid processes. It caters to schools with non-standard or non-term offerings. It processes more than 1 million students a year.
Grotech sells LivingSocial stake for $200 million
PE Hub reports that venture firm Virginia-based Grotech has sold its stake in group local buying firm DC-based LivingSocial for $200 million. PEHub’s Jonathan Marino reports that Grotech did so without using secondary markets, instead making private sales to investors in multiple blocks.
Virginia-based MANDIANT closes strategic investment wiht One Equity Partners
MANDIANT, which sells detection and response solutions and services says it has closed on an equity investment from One Equity Partners. The amount of the financing was not disclosed.
Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., with offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, MANDIANT provides products, professional services and education to Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, government agencies, domestic and foreign police departments and leading U.S. law firms. MANDIANT comprises one of the industry’s largest incident response and forensics forces.
“Over recent months the importance of knowing whether your network has been breached has become alarmingly clear. MANDIANT is the global leader in helping major corporate and government entities answer this question and execute an effective response. With the experience and financial resources of MANDIANT’s new investors, we are confident MANDIANT will prosper in the years ahead,” said OEP’s Jody Gessow.
Foursquare locates $50M
Foursquare, the location-based mobile platform and social network that helps members gain points for sharing information about local venues and brands, has raised $50 million in a round led byAndreessen Horowitz with participation from Spark Capital and O’Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures and Union Square Ventures. TechCrunch says the company’s pre-money valuation is $550 million.
Foursquare co-founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai met in 2007 while working in the same office space (at different companies) in New York City. Working from Dennis’ kitchen table in New York’s East Village, they began building the first version of foursquare in fall 2008, and launched it at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas in March 2009.
Foursquare has about 10 million users globally and 3 million check-ins daily. More than 400,000 businesses are using its Merchant Platform. Headquartered in New York, it has about 70 employees.
Tags: Andreessen Horowitz, Atlanta, DC, detection and response solutions, Digital Assent, financings, Foursquare, Frederick, Funded, Grotech, Jody Gessow, LIvingSocial, location-based mobile platform, Mandiant, MD, New York, O'Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures, One Equity Partners, Regent Education, Renewvia, Security, solar energy investments, Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures, venture fundings, Virginia
Posted in Energy, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, Maryland, Money, Potomac, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
 TechAmerica Foundation announced today the winners for the American Technology Awards, which bestows the only “Best Of” awards that recognize all technology products and services across the technology industry. Nominations for The American Technology Awards, “The Termans”, were vetted by industry experts and technology companies. These awards were named after Frederick Terman, who is widely credited as being the father of Silicon Valley.
“We had a lot of nominations for these prestigious awards, and we congratulate these companies and individuals for their winning achievements,” said Senator Bob Bennett, Chairman, TechAmerica Foundation. “TechAmerica Foundation is excited to highlight these companies and individuals as they continue to influence technology development throughout the rest of the world.”
The American Technology Awards were presented for each of the inclusive segments of the technology industry: Aerospace and Defense; Clean Tech/Green Tech/Smart Grid; Cloud Computing/Software as a Service; Computers and Peripherals; Consumer Electronics; Cyber Security and Authentication; Electronic Components; Internet Services; Measurement and Control Instruments; Medical Devices; Server & Storage Technology; Software; Technology Consulting; Technology Services; and Telecommunications.
The Government Technology Executive of the Year was Vivek Kundra, the U.S. Federal Chief Information Officer. The Corporate Leadership Award was presented to Bill McDermott, Co-CEO of global software company SAP. In his keynote remarks, McDermott applauded Kundra’s efforts to reform federal IT management and urged government to harness three “mega-trends” — cloud computing, in-memory computing, and mobility — to save money and improve performance.
“Imagine spending less on IT infrastructure and more on accomplishing the mission, all with unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability. These goals and many more are possible today, driven by the innovative spirit we see in all of the Terman Award winners,” McDermott said.
The winners in all categories are:
Program Manager of the Year: Christopher Milowic, LBI Branch Director, OIT, Customs & Border Protection, DHS
Aerospace and Defense: Space Exploration Technologies (Space X) – Falcon 9 vehicle
Clean Tech/Green Tech: Petra Solar – SunWave System
Cloud Computing/Software as a Service: Akamai Technologies, Inc. – Dynamic Site Accelerator
Consumer Electronics/Computers and Peripherals: Logitech – Logitech Revue with Google TV
Cyber Security & Authentication: Daon, Inc. – Identity X
Heath & Medical Technologies: ConforMIS, Inc. – iTotal® Knee Resurfacing System
Internet Services & E-Commerce: webtrends Inc – Analystics
IT Services & Consulting: HP – HP NetTop
Semiconductors & Electronic Components: Atmel Corporation – maXTouch™ for Large Screens
Server & Storage Technology: DataCore Software Corporation – SANsymphony-V
Smart Grid & Smart Instruments: Petra Solar – SunWave System
Software: GPS Insight – GPS Insight Fleet Tracking Solution
Technology Manufacturing: 3M ™ – 3M ™ Cubitron ™ II Abrasives
Telecommunications: ViaSat Inc. – ViaSat–1 High-Capacity Satellite System
Breakthrough Technology: Flex Display Technology by NanoLumens
Tags: 3M, Akamai Technologies, American Technology awards, Atmel Corp., Bill McDermott, Bob Bennett, Charistopher Milowic, Cubitron, Flex Display tech, NanoLumens, OIT, Petra Solar, SAP, Space Exploration Technologies, SunWavesystem, Tech America, The Termans, ViaSat, Vivek Kundra
Posted in Government/Defense, Hardware, Internet/New Media, IT, Maryland, Potomac, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
 HERNDON, VA – The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) has named Sean Mallon, an experienced entrepreneur and investor, as Senior Investment Director for the CIT GAP Funds.
As Senior Investment Director, Mallon will be responsible for sourcing, diligence, and closing of seed- and early-stage investments on the GAP Tech Fund. He will also serve as a board representative to selected portfolio companies and help guide companies toward their next stage of growth and development.
Tom Weithman, CIT GAP Funds Managing Director, said, “The CIT GAP Funds represent a valuable investment vehicle that is addressing the lack of early-stage funding opportunities for Virginia’s promising entrepreneurs. As an investor and entrepreneur, Sean understands this market need and will be a great addition to our professional team. We are excited to have him as we continue to help grow emerging technology companies and jobs.”
Mallon joins CIT with 17 years of investment and start-up experience focused on aggressive corporate growth, transformation, and optimization. From 1999 to 2003, Mallon was a principal at Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds, a $200-million early-stage venture capital firm focused on technology companies in the mid-Atlantic region. Since 2003 he has held senior marketing, business development, and operating positions at Sentori, Qmobile, and Simplexity.
Tags: Herndon, VA, Virginia's CIT GAP Funds names Sean Mallon senior investment director
Posted in People, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The University of Virginia is creating a nanoelectronics center it says will focus on developing the next generation of electronics.
UVA, together with Old Dominion University and the College of William & Mary will run the center, which is initially funded by the Nanoelectronics Research Iniative, the Virginia Microelectronics Consortium and the three schools.
The center will do research on making faster, smaller and cheaper computer devices for many purposes, including vehicles and energy efficient homes.
The Center will be affiliated with affiliated with the university’s Institute for Nanoscale and Quantum Scientific and Technological Advanced Research.
Tags: College of William & Mary, Nanoelectronics Center, Old Dominion, University of Virginia
Posted in Hardware, IT, Potomac, University Tech, Virginia | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
 ALEXANDRIA, VA – Insite Wireless Group, a wireless tower owner/operator, has closed on a $6.5 million raise, according to a regulatory filing. Investors in the company include New York-based Catalyst Investors.
InSite Wireless Group owns InSite Wireless,, which specializes in the design, installation, operation, and maintenance of distributed antenna system (DAS) infrastructure solutions in convention centers, hotels and casinos, airports, sports stadiums, and transit systems, and InSite Towers, a privately owned wireless communication tower company headquartered in Alexandria, VA.
InSite Towers owns and operates approximately 400 wireless communication tower sites in the United States and Puerto Rico.
The company disclosed the raise in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Tags: Alexandria, Insite Towers, Insite Wireless Group, SEC filings, VA, venture capital, wireless towers
Posted in Internet/New Media, Money, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
 NEW YORK – PAETEC Holding Corp. (NASDAQ GS: PAET), a nationwide provider of comprehensive communications solutions, today announced the launch of an expanded portfolio of cloud-based products and the planned deployment of new data centers coast-to-coast. The move comes on the heels of a national study that says the majority of U.S. data centers are running out of space.
As part of its overall cloud and data center strategy and leveraging its breadth and depth of experience in the cloud and data center space, PAETEC plans to add 13 data centers coast-to-coast by the end of 2012 to its current set of seven centers which will result in the company operating 20 centers nationwide.
“With the advent of high-speed networks and continued migration of network intelligence into the cloud, the need for these network-based services has increased dramatically and we see that trend continuing into the future,” said Arunas Chesonis, chairman and CEO of PAETEC.
ETEC currently has data centers in Andover, Mass., Bethlehem and Conshohocken, Pa., Richmond, Va., Milwaukee, Wis., Houston, Tex., and Phoenix, Ariz.
In 2011, the company has plans to expand to McLean, Va., Tampa, Fla., Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Mich., and Charlotte, N.C. In 2012, data centers are also planned for Dallas, Tex., Chicago, Ill., Northern California, Rochester, N.Y., Pittsburgh, Pa., Denver, Co., Atlanta, Ga. and a location in the Pacific Northwest.
Tags: Atlanta, Charlotte, FL, GA, McLean, NC, new data centers planned, PAETEC, Tampa, VA
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, Florida, Georgia, Hardware, IT, North Carolina, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Friday, May 13th, 2011
 Updata Partners, a technology focused private equity firm, has agreed to acquire the Internet Security Business Unit (the “ISBU”) of CA Technologies. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
The ISBU has a 10-year history of providing endpoint security solutions — including anti-malware and anti-virus — to consumers and businesses worldwide. More than 60,000 businesses across a wide spectrum of industries have deployed the unit’s solutions. The new company, which will be called Total Defense, Inc., will be formed as the security software market is entering a period of rapid change.
This transaction does not affect CA Technologies enterprise security business, which is focused primarily on identity and access management software.
IDC estimates the corporate endpoint security market will grow from $7.1 billion in 2010 to $9.9 billion in 2014.
Updata has offices in Edison, NJ and Reston, VA.
Tags: CA, Edison, Internet security, NJ, Reston, Total Defense, Updata Partners, VA
Posted in Acquisitions, Potomac, Security, Virginia | Comments Off
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