Recent posts and comments

• IBM Eats Up Emptoris, 20th Acquisition in MA Since 2003

  News flash: Another Massachusetts software company is joining Big Blue. Armonk, NY-based IBM (NYSE: IBM) said today it is acquiring Emptoris, a Burlington, MA-based maker of supply and contract management software.... Read more »

• Hipmunk Homecoming: CEO Adam Goldstein Talks Travel Site Usability

  Into the lair of beasts strode Adam Goldstein. Armed only with his wits and a mean set of slides, he descended on the Boston area on a warm, early winter day. He was... Read more »

• TaskRabbit Runs Down $17.8M More for Expansion

  TaskRabbit, a San Francisco service-networking startup with roots in Boston, said it has closed $17.8 million in Series B financing led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Previous investors Baseline Ventures, First Round Capital, Floodgate... Read more »

• Jason Baptiste of OnSwipe Talks Tablets, TV, & Taking On Google

  Beware of CEOs who dress like their company logo. Beware of Jason Baptiste.

  Just kidding. Baptiste is one of the most intensely likable startup founders around (emphasis on intense). His company,... Read more »

• Curisma Beckons Consumers to Find Cool Tech, Go Gadget Shopping

  Gadget girl walks in carrying a red umbrella. It’s not just any red umbrella, though. This one is a “blunt” umbrella. It has round tips, instead of pointy ones, so you don’t... Read more »

• Mobile Startups Kinvey and Urban Airship Team Up, Share Stories

  This is a tale of two CEOs whose reputations precede them. It is a short tale.

  The news today is that Cambridge, MA-based Kinvey and Portland, OR-based Urban Airship have formed a technology partnership involving... Read more »

• Xconomist of the Week: Stephen Wolfram on Big Ideas & Companies

  Stephen Wolfram is not one to be summed up in a few pithy quotes. Well, too bad.

  Here is his life in a nutshell:

  “I grew up in England and went to all sorts of... Read more »

• In Zink’s Quest for Inkless Printers, $35M and New Co-CEOs

  Bedford, MA-based Zink Imaging said this week it has closed $35 million in Series B financing led by Genii Capital. The company, whose name stands for “zero ink,” is developing technology for... Read more »

• Progress Software, Led by New CEO, Buys Corticon

  Some interesting news from the business software world today. Bedford, MA-based Progress Software has acquired decision management firm Corticon of Redwood City, CA. Terms of the deal weren’t announced, but the... Read more »

• Abine Battles for Consumers’ Online Privacy in Post-Facebook Era

  How annoying is the Web? I’m not talking about the nonstop distractions, the social-media window into human stupidity, or even the endless pop-up ads that block your view of the screen.... Read more »

• Actifio Gets Active With $33.5M Led by Andreessen Horowitz

  Actifio is growing like a weed—just like the data it tries to help companies tame—and it has just raised one of the bigger Boston-area tech financing rounds of the year.

  The Waltham, MA-based... Read more »

• Dave Balter Joins Nicole Stata’s Boston Seed Capital as VC Fund Ramps Up

  The Boston ecosystem for tech startup investing just got a little more active. Boston Seed Capital said today it has hired Dave Balter, the CEO of BzzAgent, as a venture advisor (see photo, right).... Read more »

• Qualcomm Picks Up Pixtronix

  Pixtronix, an Andover, MA-based maker of low-power displays, has been acquired by San Diego tech giant Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), according to Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. Terms of the... Read more »

• A123 Lays Off 125 Staff at Michigan Plants

  Waltham, MA-based A123 Systems (NASDAQ: AONE), the lithium-ion battery maker, has laid off about 125 employees at its manufacturing facilities in Livonia and Romulus, MI. The news originally broke the... Read more »

• Retroficiency Reels In $3.3M, Buys Nexamp’s Energy Efficiency Division

  A Boston cleantech-software startup is making some noise today in a burgeoning market. Retroficiency announced it has raised $3.32 million in new financing led by Point Judith Capital. As part of the... Read more »

• Objective Logistics Moves to Cambridge, Gets $1.5M from Atlas and Google Ventures for Restaurant Tech

  Phil Beauregard is hungry. His scrappy startup, Objective Logistics, is hungry, too. Good thing they are in the restaurant business.

  Actually, the truth is they want to turn the restaurant... Read more »

• A Computer That Knows How You Feel? See Roz Picard’s Affectiva Demo at 6×6 Thursday

  Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and behold…the eighth wonder of the world. No, not King Kong, I’m afraid. But how about a computer that can read and interpret human emotions and... Read more »

• VMTurbo Revs Up With $10M More from Bain, Highland

  Waltham, MA-based VMTurbo, a maker of virtualization management software, said today it has closed $10 million in Series B financing led by previous investors Bain Capital Ventures and Highland Capital Partners. The company... Read more »

• Skyhook and Symantec Team Up on Anti-Theft Service for Devices

  Anti-theft technology for mobile devices just got smarter. Boston-based Skyhook Wireless announced today that its location-finding software has been deployed by Mountain View, CA-based Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) in its new... Read more »

• Six Cities, Six Big Tech Ideas on Dec. 1: Here’s the Agenda

  This is life’s big question: what should you spend your time on?

  If you’re starting a company, you probably want to do something fun that lets you be your own boss and maybe,... Read more »